JAMIE ROBINSON: This is Hell on Wheels Moto Madness, and
I'm taking part in something.
That's Meatball.
These are vintage bikes.
This is Rideapart.
[CHEERING]
MEATBALL: It's geared toward someone finding something for
$100 with weeds growing through it.
And you bring it out.
And you don't have to be in great shape.
And everybody has fun.
And it's a bunch of buddies.
Steve McQueen, who had everything--
all the money and could do anything,
race cars, do whatever--
he chose to ride his $400 Triumph.
And us guys that don't have any money, we can do exactly
what he always wanted to do.
And he had all the money in the world.
We can do exactly what Steve McQueen did.
MALE SPEAKER 1: I work with Meatball
over at Hell on Wheels.
We kind of work together on putting on this stuff and
trying to get all these bikes running for this one day event
they have every year.
Just trying to tune them up and get them ready, you know?
JAMIE ROBINSON: So Meatball is quite a character.
MALE SPEAKER 1: Oh, he's definitely a personality to be
reckoned with.
RICKMAN: Got a 450 Honda.
You touch the front brake with one finger on that, you go
over the bars.
This thing here, you grab it with all four, and it goes
faster, I think.
But a lot of fun.
Lot of good people out here having a lot of fun.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Tell me, man.
How does that feel?
MALE SPEAKER 2: It sucks.
JAMIE ROBINSON: What sucks?
MALE SPEAKER 2: The feeling of motocross riding
altogether is bogus.
I like to sit on my couch and relax and tinker on
motorcycles, not ride them.
But I can barely move my arms.
My bike wouldn't run.
Broke another thing.
In practice, broke my throttle.
It was stuck wide open and no back brake.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Tell me about your bike.
MALE SPEAKER 2: It's one of Meatball's bikes he loaned me.
It's a 500 Frankenstein bike.
The seat is too high for me.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Sum up the experience
for me in a few words.
MALE SPEAKER 2: [BLEEP]
awesome.
Right?
I mean, look at it.
I'm riding a piece of [BLEEP]
on a racetrack.
And then all my friends at work, they-- what did you do?
I watched the racing on TV.
And I go, well, [BLEEP]
off, I raced.
JAMIE ROBINSON: What is it that attracts you towards
motorcycles?
MALE SPEAKER 3: They're fun.
You get your rush, you know?
It's like you're working with the machine.
And you're getting the same rush you get from surfing or
skateboarding or whatever, driving a fast car, you know?
It's the same deal but with the bike.
They're smaller.
They're easy to store and work on, you know?
You can bring them places, and you can do this.
It's like, I don't know.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Riding a motorcycle is a very
individual sensation, isn't it?
MALE SPEAKER 3: Exactly.
It is.
It's like--
JAMIE ROBINSON: A lot of vibration coming through.
MALE SPEAKER 3: Exactly.
You feel every little thing.
You feel when something happens to the bike.
You know something's wrong with it.
You know immediately.
Yeah, it's definitely like-- it sounds corny, but when
you're riding, you're one with the bike.
MEATBALL: --motorcycle is very free.
You're in the open air.
You're even freer than in an airplane.
Airplane, you're in the cockpit.
So it's very, very free.
It's great.
An explosion between your legs.
I mean, that's where your genitals are, you know?
You've got explosions going on between your legs.
MALE SPEAKER 4: This is a swap meet special.
I went to the swap meet.
I found a motor, some front ends.
I got an old speedway bike front tire, an [INAUDIBLE]
tread pattern in the back.
And you know, for a couple thousand bucks,
it's a good dirt bike.
And it's a bar-hopper, too.
Well, you just got to grab a handful of throttle,
pin it to win it.
But then again, there's a few ruts and things like that.
So you just go for what you know.
And you win by attrition.
There's a lot of bikes breaking down.
Get out there.
JAMIE ROBINSON: I'm hoping to ride something today.
I'm just waiting for somebody to give me something, and then
I'll go ride it.
MALE SPEAKER 4: Oh.
Well, I've got a bike in the back, a 490.
JAMIE ROBINSON: As usual, I'm on the blag.
And this gentleman has come up trumps.
He has a spare bike in the back of his truck, and he's
going to let me ride it.
MALE SPEAKER 4: It's already signed up and stuff, so all
you've got to do is put the helmet on and the goggles.
JAMIE ROBINSON: No way.
Which race do I take part in?
MALE SPEAKER 4: You're in the vintage 250.
OK, you're in the next race.
Yeah, they got them 250s up.
JAMIE ROBINSON: That may have only lasted a few minutes, but
that was epic, man.
Oh, wow.
You've got to try this.
This is vintage motocross at its best.
There you go, man.
Thank you.
It might have only lasted a few laps, but that was epic.
Beautiful.
Vintage bikes aplenty, and I've had so much fun.
Get a motorcycle.
It doesn't matter what it is.
Two wheels and an engine.
If it works, just come on the dirt and play it.
You will not regret it.
MALE SPEAKER 5: You got a Burly hat and a Burly banner,
and a Hell on Wheels calendar.
MALE SPEAKER 6: Luscious Lori from Huntington Beach.
Angie Vandalia from Redmond.
Give her a hand.
Came here by the skin of her teeth, everybody.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Will you be back for more?
MALE SPEAKER 7: Oh, definitely, definitely.
I think I'm hooked now.
JAMIE ROBINSON: What bike were you riding today?
MALE SPEAKER 8: I'm on a 1976 Yamaha TT500.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Wow.
And how much did that cost roughly?
MALE SPEAKER 8: I bought it for a grand at the Long Beach
swap meet about two months, maybe three months ago.
But we've been--
for the last four nights, one of the carburetors--
I think it was the float needle got stuck.
It's just been draining petrol into the engine.
And we've been draining it.
I got a new carburetor on it and got it kicked over last
night super late.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Wow.
MALE SPEAKER 8: It's awesome, and it's running great.
Oh, man.
I'm so proud of the motorcycle.
It got through the whole day.
MALE SPEAKER 9: I just think it's kind of--
I surf and skate as well, and it's that same kind of
adrenaline rush.
The second you start that bike up and you twist the throttle,
it's like you forget about all your worries, and you forget
about all your troubles, you know?
You just zone in and--
out here, I mean, I'm not the best racer, but it's just fun
to go as fast as you can and try to not kill yourself.
Yeah, it's a good time.
MEATBALL: It's very hard to make something run well or
even something old, where you can hear each
explosion, you know?
And so, I don't know.
Maybe I just think about it more and more internally
because I'm inside it all the time.
But it's what I do.
I think what's going to make this thing run and how it can
make extra songs sound better.
[MUSIC PLAYING]