Arlen Ness' Private Party (10/03)
Got a call from Howard at Hot Bike. I expressed my thanks to him and his staff for kicking it up a notch. We got to talking and Howard had invited me to small dinner party at Arlens new facility. What do you think I said?

I've met Arlen and Cory a bunch of times. But with a family of this biking caliper I wasn't expecting a Whatzzzzuuupppp greeting. Really good folks. They're easy to talk to. I feel like we're neighbors talking about our summer vacations. That goes the same with the staff at Hot Bike.

Paul Yaffee was there to share his side of the story in the Discovery build-off with Indian Larry. CCI Europe, Kodlin and other well known locals were there swapping stories.

Arlen pulled a group together to tour his place. All 68,000 thousand feet of it. The building was designed and constructed by the family. A real world class facility. After the tour we were served a hearty meal in his museum. There's something about eating next to 40 of the most custom bikes in the world with 35 years of Ness Dynasty memorabilia.

After dinner I met Heather. An investment banker. A very inquisitive person. She owns and rides one of Arlen's creations and looks great in leather. She rules. I gave her a stack of pogs and asked her to slip them into her clients' pockets. (Thanks Heather.)

At the end of the night I was reassured that this industry is healthy. It has an appetite that feeds the moment you hit that start button.

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