{"id":32987,"date":"2026-05-17T00:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T07:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=32987"},"modified":"2026-05-04T08:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T15:36:15","slug":"a-distant-memory-memphis-bike-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/05\/17\/a-distant-memory-memphis-bike-night\/","title":{"rendered":"A Distant Memory: Memphis Bike Night"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

This is a sort of a Wayback Machine post, one that goes way back.\u00a0 It’s from June of 2012, which is way before Gresh and I started the ExhaustNotes blog.\u00a0 I used to write the CSC Motorcycles blog (it’s where I started as a blogger).\u00a0 \u00a0I was thinking about Tennessee the other day and I remembered that I had written a blog about the Memphis bike nights, but I couldn’t find it in the ExNotes archives.\u00a0 Then I realized: It predated ExNotes.\u00a0 It was a CSC blog.<\/p>\n

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I have got to be the luckiest guy on the planet. I\u2019m taking this great tour through the South, and yesterday we found ourselves in Memphis.\u00a0 Memphis is a great city for many reasons, not the least of which is Graceland.\u00a0 As I mentioned in the CSC blog yesterday, Susie and I took the Graceland tour and we loved it.\u00a0\u00a0 It was beyond awesome.\u00a0 I\u2019m a great Elvis Presley fan, and the opportunity to visit his home was not one to be missed.\u00a0 Folks, if you ever get to Memphis, Graceland is a must!<\/p>\n

Well,\u00a0our good fortune did not end there.\u00a0\u00a0 We had an awesome dinner at the Rendezvous, a super barbeque joint my good buddy Georgia Robby recommended.\u00a0 Folks, trust me on this\u2026barbeque just doesn\u2019t get any better than this!<\/p>\n

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The Rendezvous in Memphis…the best of the best!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After our great dinner, we moseyed on over to Beale Street.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s kind of like the Memphis version of New Orlean\u2019s Bourbon Street\u2026it\u2019s the place to be in Memphis.\u00a0 We noticed a lot of motorcycles heading that way, and then, hey, we saw that the street was shutdown\u2026and it was nothing but motorcycles!\u00a0 Turns out that Wednesday night is Motorcycle Night on Beale Street!\u00a0 Check this out\u2026<\/p>\n

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Midweek Memphis Moto Madness on Beale Street!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Memphis moto night is one big street party, folks!\u00a0 We were having a blast talking to the riders there.\u00a0\u00a0 They saw my California Scooter shirt and everyone wanted to know about the CSC bikes.\u00a0\u00a0 It was awesome.\u00a0 We met a lot of people and made a lot of friends.<\/p>\n

The photo below shows Carl and Ryan, a father and son team.\u00a0 These are cool guys.\u00a0 Carl was on his Gold Wing, and Ryan was on a CX500 he and\u00a0Carl rebuilt.\u00a0 Ryan just graduated from technical school, and when his father asked him what he\u2019d like for a graduation present, Ryan just asked to go with Carl on his next motorcycle trip.\u00a0 That\u2019s pretty cool stuff, folks.<\/p>\n

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Wisconsin Carl and his son Ryan…riders extraordinaire!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We actually rode alongside these guys about 100 miles east of Memphis without meeting them.\u00a0 Susie recognized the Gold Wing when we saw them again at the Memphis moto night.\u00a0\u00a0 Talk about a small world!<\/p>\n

I grabbed a lot of photos on Beale Street.\u00a0\u00a0 Every body was having a good time.\u00a0\u00a0 I asked the fellow below if I could grab a shot, but he kept smiling for every shot and looking like too nice of a guy.\u00a0 I asked him\u00a0to strike a tougher pose, and wow, did he ever!<\/p>\n

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He’s really a nice guy!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were having a lot of\u00a0fun.\u00a0\u00a0We noticed police officers at each intersection making sure that Beale Street allowed no one other than motorcyclists, and\u00a0I asked a couple of them if I\u00a0could grab their photo.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They\u00a0said sure, but only if Susie was in the picture\u2026<\/p>\n

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Susie with two of Memphis’ finest!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The police officer on the left looks like he\u2019s having a good time\u2026but the guy on the right looks like he wanted me to explain that traffic ticket I never paid\u2026<\/p>\n

Well, hey, the next day we had an absolutely awesome Memphis breakfast.\u00a0 I had a French toast fluffer-nutter with whipped cream and blueberries, and hash brown sweet potatoes with marshmallow.<\/p>\n

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There’s peanut butter and bananas sandwiched between those slices of French toast!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Hash brown sweet potatoes with marshmallows!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Steve saw the above photos and told me I might need to lower the gearing on my CSC motorcycle when I returned to California.<\/p>\n

The next night we made it to Mobile, another great southern US city.\u00a0 \u00a0In the morning, we toured the USS Alabama, a floating museum just outside of Mobile.\u00a0 It was beyond awesome.\u00a0\u00a0 The ship bristled with guns.\u00a0\u00a0 I was amazed, and I have to tell you, it\u2019s worth a trip to this part of the country just to see this magnificent battleship.\u00a0 After seeing the USS Alabama, we followed the Alabama Scenic Byway to the Emerald Coast in Florida\u2019s panhandle, and we had a great grilled amberjack dinner in Fort Walton Beach.\u00a0 Imagine bone white sand and emerald green water, and you\u2019ll have a pretty good handle on Florida\u2019s Emerald Coast.<\/p>\n

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That trip was 14 years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday.\u00a0 Good times brought to life once again through the miracles of the Wayback Machine!\u00a0 The blog you read above evolved into a Destinations piece for Motorcycle Classics<\/em> magazine.\u00a0 You can find it and more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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