A show aimed specifically at motorcycle dealers could seem of little interest to anyone who isn't one, but this is where the very best in aftermarket products first see the light of day. The object being to generate interest so that dealers and builders from all over the world would stock and/or use their products, the net result being one of the most impressive custom bike shows in America.

The Friday night get together party featured well known American Nu-Rock outfit 'Smash Mouth', a lucky booking as the lead singer had fancied getting his bike customised, contacted CCI and CCI had asked him and his band to play at the party. Unfortunately Mandie and I missed the set, getting into San Francisco way too late, but by everyone's account Smash Mouth kicked up a storm, at one point featuring CCI's Frank Esposito and Dave Sadler on backing vocals.

After checking in on Saturday, we spent an exhausting day trying to see everything and meet everyone. CCI had set up the show inside what was normally their parts warehouse, a vast space inside the impressive HQ building. To get there we had to walk through the R&D workshops and while access was obviously restricted, bikes and parts had been set up to look at, and were even lit for dramatic effect - a nice touch.

We walked through R&D into an Aladdin's cave of finely wrought treasure - bikes and parts crafted by Custom Chrome's most prestigious parts designers and suppliers. Performance Machine, K&N, Arlen Ness, Spyke and dozens more, all eager to show off their latest products. Some of the parts and accessories were so new they were being presented to CCI themselves for possible inclusion in the next catalogue.

CCI themselves were unveiling the brand new RevTech 110 inch motor, so new that even John Reed couldn't get his hands on one for his Street Fighter Vee kit bike project that I was lucky enough to ride for Issue 5 of American-V. As I mentioned in Issue 5, the evening presentation of that machine was a highlight of the show, involving helicopters and impressive burnout action.

There were plenty of burnouts all afternoon too, courtesy of Bubba the Buell stuntman, blasting up and down outside the huge hospitality tent. Not my cup of tea admittedly, though many others found the Buell screwing, tyre popping action a laugh. The stars of the afternoon for me were the two lads on trials bikes riding opposite ways inside the Cage of Death. I stood literally open mouthed, along with the rest of a sizeable crowd. How the lads timed not colliding with each other, at times either fully horizontal or even completely upside-down, was quite beyond any of us.

While the trading stopped in the early evening, the party most definitely did not with a terrific disco and a casino to keep the gamblers happy. Highlights included interviews with many of the builders who had brought their latest machines. Paul Yaffe impressed us all by shooting flames out of his gobsmackingly gorgeous red chop - a bike built by Paul for Dave Nichols, the Editor of Easyriders.

Afterwards John and Genny Reed collected me and Mandie and took us to their table next to Arlen Ness and his family. What Arlen did not know, and everyone else did, was that he was to receive a special presentation. Arlen was called to the stage, sat comfortably on one of Mike Corbin's fabulous '57 Chevy settees, and sat through a very professional video of his life story. Arlen may well have known about that part of the presentation - what he didn't know was that CCI had arranged for many of the USA's top bike builders, all of them Arlen's good friends, to sit up there with him and tell everyone in the room embarrassing tales about him. Don Perowitz, Mike Corbin, Paul Yaffe, John Reed and Cory Ness among many others, all had a story to tell. Absolutely brilliant for the audience and it was good to see that Arlen, definitely one of the most talented builders ever, but also probably one of the nicest guys in the industry, was visibly moved.

I was very lucky to be invited to the Custom Chrome International Dealer Show, an event that is in effect a private affair between CCI, their suppliers and their network of dealers worldwide. They perhaps understand that not just their dealers need to know about the new products which appear in every new issue of the Custom Chrome Catalogue, but potential customers - like you - need to know they're available too and on behalf of American-V I'd like to say a heartfelt thank you.