At The Jam Handy Building
Article & Photos By: Jeff Jolly/Hold Fast Photography
Originally Published In The December 2016 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine
On Saturday August 27, 2016 thousands packed the Jam Handy Building on E. Grand Blvd in Detroit. They came from all around the country for the fourth installment of the Oily Souls annual BBQ at the abandoned Dorais Park Velodrome. The cement bicycle track had been lost until 2010 when a Detroit group, the Mower Gang, rediscovered it while cleaning up the park. The Venturos put on a great party filled with food, beer, racing, crashes, a bon fire and camping in the park. We started Saturday at the Hamtramck Hustle with a car show put on by the Dead Last Car Club. From there it was a short trip to Oily Souls. As we pulled onto E. Grand around 6pm motorcycles were already starting to fill the street. By 8pm the median between east and west bound was also filled. Motorcycles of every variety lined the street. If you add in the vans, hot rods and classic cars, there was a show happening outside as well as inside.
Over the years the Oily Souls has been held in a distillery, a O vacant Detroit Fire House and this year the Jam Handy Building. The bigger building allowed the organizers to bring in more bikes. They did a great job selecting which builders to invite. There was a large array of motorcycles including Stockers and choppers from America, Europe and Japan. There was a motorcycle for everyone, no matter what their taste. Gene Payne brought a large display of H-D XR race bikes complete with racing leathers and historical photos. In all, over forty motorcycles were in the show. The Jalopy Brothers laid down the evening’s soundtrack for the crowd while they ogled the master craftsmanship of the builders. Hours were spent looking over the minute details the builders put into their machines.
The builders were all present, accessible and spent time answering questions people had about their awesome motorcycles. Some of the highlights for me included Brad Richards’ Knucklehead named “Josephine”, Reece Zylstra’s Evo chop, Seth from Disorder Studios killer chopped Sporty, RAS Moto’s turbo Honda and Coop’s Shovelhead chopper. Oily Souls has a very laid back atmosphere. The show is like a huge block party. After checking out the spectacular builds inside we hung out for hours on E. Grand Blvd. talking to friends, new and old. We made sure we also checked out the bikes and cars that lined the streets. Then it was time to ride home. All the while you wished you had five more minutes to look at the details of that bike that really caught your eye. As Ted Nugent says “Detroit City is the place to be.” Stay tuned to www. oilysouls.com for details next year or better yet come to Oily Souls next August, I promise, you will not be disappointed.
