NEW Bull City Rumble 10 small posters for sale NOW!

CLICK HERE TO BUY

Be the first kid on your block to have a Bull City Rumble 10 poster in their garage! 11"x17" of Martin Cimek designed (Cafe Racer TV, Triumph Motorcycles etc.) glory.

Only $5.99

CLICK HERE TO BUY

Bull City Rumble 10: $500 Cash for Best Bike in Show

We are upping the ante this year in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Bull City Rumble by offering a $500 cash prize for the bike that is declared Best in Show at the annual vintage motorcycle/cafe racer/scooter show scheduled to take place on August 30, 2014 at 1:00pm in historic downtown Durham. With a decade of history, the Bull City Rumble is one of the longest continuously running Mods vs. Rockers themed events in the world. The annual vintage motorcycle, cafe racer and scooter show draws hundreds of entries from all four corners of the globe ensuring that competition will be stiff. All bikes entered must run and yes, we will ask you to start it to prove this. You can trailer your bike to the show, but make no mistake, we will be looking for mud under the fenders, bikes are born to be ridden no matter how old. 

Categories include:

• Vintage British 1980 and older.
• Vintage European 1980 and older.
• Vintage Japanese 1980 and older.
• Vintage Competition 1980 and older.
• Retro Modern.
• Vintage Scooter 1980 and older.

Click Here to Pre-Register

For more info. go to: www.bullcityrumble10.com

Ton Up NC: 10 Years of Vintage Speed Demonology 2003-2013

Ton Up NC founding fathers in 2006: Patman and Marcus

Ton Up NC was founded in 2003 by one Marcus Rogers and Patrick “Patman” McGraw after a chance meet-up in Raleigh, NC. The story goes: Patman, then astride his Triumph Triple, was sitting at a local pizza joint (Lilly’s to be exact) enjoying a cold one and a hot slice, meanwhile Marcus rolls by on his angry Norton Commando (sure to cause a commotion wherever it is). Patman, recognizing the sweet tune of the Birmingham twin, chases down the Marcus and wallah, several beers later, Ton Up NC was born. 

Well, that was ten years ago and a lot has changed: unlike in 2003, cafe racers are currently the bike de jour, the Bull City Rumble Vintage Rally has taken on a life of its own and we’re not as young as we used to be. Meanwhile, a lot has stayed the same: Ton Up NC’s mission continues to be the riding, racing and restoration of vintage motorcycles, members continue to compete nationally in the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) series in vintage road, motocross, cross-country and trials, the annual Bull City Rumble continues to be a major focus of the organization and much time and care is spent maintaining and riding our vintage machines. So with this blog post we raise a toast to all Ton Up NC members, supporters, family, friends and you. Here’s to another decade of vintage speed demonology!

Ton Up NC 2013: L-R Chad, Jim, Eric P, Marcus, Brian (Eric G absent)

Ton Up Highlands 2013: L-R Doug, Patman, Daniel

Ton Up N⋆C est. 2003

10 Years of Speed Demonology

You can help support the Bull City Rumble and Ton Up NC by purchasing something at our webstore here.

-Brian

Bull City Rumble Poster Bundle

Get all three Bull City Rumble Posters in one shot for $9.98.

All posters are 11" x 17" full color machine printed.

Included in this bundle:

Bull City Rumble 7 event poster ©2011

Bull City Rumble 8 event poster ©2012

Bull City Rumble 9 event poster ©2013

All posters designed by Martin Cimek (Triumph, Mods vs. Rockers Comics, Ton Up Chicago).

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

New! BULL CITY RUMBLE 9 BUNDLE: (Shirt/Patch/Stickers for $20)

The Bull City Rumble 9 Bundle includes:

One Bull City Rumble 9 two-sided shirt: Small-XXXL
(note that XXXL's are one-sided print T's)

One Bull City Rumble 9 Rally Patch

Three Ton Up NC Stickers

A $30 value for Just $20 plus s/h

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Ton Up NC Nortons...

Marcus' Commando (top) w/ Brian's Commando.

The unapproachable, the roadholder, no matter what you call them, Nortons have long been a part of Ton Up NC, in fact you might say that 10 years ago it was a 1974 Norton Commando that started the club. Case in point, in 2003 club co-founder, Patman, heard familiar sound of a Norton roar by the local Pizza shop in Raleigh and had to know who was riding it. He chased down what turned out to be Marcus on his 1974 Commando and the two immediately bonded over their affinity for British motorcycles and made a pact to form a local chapter of the International Ton Up Club. And so it was done.  Since that meeting, other Nortons have joined the Ton Up NC family, here's a list:

Marcus: 1974 Norton Commando 850 Roadster

Eric G: 1974 Norton Commando 850 Roadster

Eric P: 1971 Norton Commando 750 Roadster

Brian: 1974 Norton Commando 850 Roadster

Chad: 1966 Norton Atlas

Eric G on his 74 Commando

Eric P's Commando

Brian's Commando

Chad's Atlas

Ton Up NC

 10 Yrs of Riding, Racing and Restoration 2003-2013

-Brian

Bull City Rumble 9 Retrospective...

Aerial view of the Rumble in the late afternoon byJohn Huber.

The Bull City Rumble #9: NC's Largest Vintage Motorcycle, Scooter and Cafe Racer show is now a piece of history. Thank You for attending or supporting our event in its 9th year. Many of you know the story of what started as a small get together of close friends in a parking lot in Raleigh, NC to what it is a now: thousands of motorcyclists from all over the country/world coming together in historic downtown Durham, NC for a weekend of rare motorcycles/scooters, great rock and roll/burlesque and camaraderie. This year's event broke all attendance records with nearly 400 motorcycles in the bike show and nearly 5,000 people in and out of the event over the weekend making it one of the largest mods vs. rockers themed events in the world. Now, onto planning for the 10th Anniversary of the Bull City Rumble scheduled for Labor Day Weekend 2014 and we hope you make plans to be there again to party with us. Its gonna be the best one yet. August 29-31, 2014.

Bike Show Results:

Photo by Audible Gasp

Best in Show: Ronald Ridfed- 1963 BSA Rocket Goldstar

Photo by Speedfoos

Best British: Rick Scott- 1973 Norton Commando

Photo by Bill Braile

Best European: Steve Schwartz- 1974 Ducati 750GT

Photo by Stephen Sellars

Best Japanese: Jacob Warner- 1979 Honda CB350

Best Competition: Johann Keyser- Honda CR750

Photo by Bill Braile

Best Scooter: Eileen Hood- 1957 Zundapp Bella

Best Modern Classic: Adam Musson- 2006 Triumph Bonneville

Best Vintage Custom: Chris Blare- 1967 Triumph T100R Bobber

Thanks again to everyone who showed up, the photographers whose photos I've used in this blog post, our sponsors: Ray Price Triumph, Combustion Cycles, James Joyce Irish Pub, Monk Mechanic Wipes, Sunex Tools, Continental Tires, Sunbelt Rentals, Velocity Cycles, Triangle Cycles, and Runaway Clothes and YOU. See you all next year!

-Brian

NEW! TU*NC support shirt for sale now.

Design concept by Marcus.

Whether you believe in the Ton Up NC mission of the riding, restoration and racing of vintage motorcycles or simply just dig shirts with skulls, we've got you covered with the new Ton Up NC supporter shirt. Wear it with pride. 

Only $20. Buy it HERE.

-Brian

The Rumble... Artwork retrospective...

Ton Up NC has been at this cafe racer thing for years. In fact, the North Carolina Ton Up Club has been hosting one of the largest and longest continuously running Mods vs. Rockers/Cafe Racer themed motorcycle rallies in the USA since Labor Day Weekend 2005. The Rumble had humble beginnings in a small Raleigh, NC parking lot with a handful of like-minded folks and has evolved into an legendary event that draws thousands every Labor Day weekend to downtown Durham, NC for bikes, bands and burlesque. Here's some of the artwork from rallies past...

You can buy prints, shirts, patches and posters of the past and present Rumble here at the Ton Up NC webstore: http://tonup.bigcartel.com.

Raleigh Rumble 2005 (Rumble #1)

Raleigh Rumble 2005 by Jay

Raleigh Rumble 2006 by Marcus

Raleigh Rumble 2006 Flyer.

Raleigh Rumble 2006

Raleigh Rumble 2007

Raleigh Rumble 3 2007 T-Shirt

Raleigh Rumble 2008  by Martin Cimek

Raleigh Rumble 2009 by Martin Cimek

Bull City Rumble 2010 by Martin Cimek (first Rumble in Durham, NC)

Bull City Rumble 2011 by Martin Cimek

Bull City Rumble 2011 (burlesque poster) by Death Ray Design

Bull City Rumble 2012 by Martin Cimek

Bull City Rumble 2013 by Martin Cimek

Bull City Rumble RnR Burlesque Poster 2013 by Steve Oliva.

2014 Bull City Rumble 10 alternate image (not used) by Martin Cimek

2014 Ton Up NC 10th anniversary shirt by Errol Engelbrecht

Bull City Rumble 2014 by Martin Cimek

2015 Bull City Rumble 11 by Martin Cimek

2015 Bull City Rumble 11 rally patch by Martin Cimek

2016 Bull City Rumble 12 by Martin Cimek

You can buy prints, shirts, patches and posters of the past and present Rumble here at the Ton Up NC webstore: http://tonup.bigcartel.com.

Ton Up NC = Riding, Restoration and Racing of Vintage Motorcycles

Races from Seasons Past: VIR 8.7.2010

One of Ton Up NC's founders, Patman, raced his 1969 Triumph T100S at one of the last AHRMA sanctioned events at Virginia International Raceway way back in August 2010. This was also one of Patman's final races before blowing this bike up at Road Hotlanta in the fall of 2010. The bike is still in the process of rebuild as I write. Pics follow...

Patman and his 69 T100S

The pre-race huddle with California Alex, TUNC's Chad and Portland Zed.

Patman heads out to the track.

Patman hits the straight.

Patman post-race. The race was red flagged.

Patman describes this video...
This is from the WERA 500GP race at VIR, August 2010.  Jack Hauman passed me on the first lap of the race. I chased him for the next 10 minutes until I caught him in the right turn going up the hill.  Jack was on a Honda 350.  The pass secured 3rd place in that race.  

Patman had four races that August weekend and took podiums in all four!

If you like what you see, support the Ton Up NC mission by buying a poster, shirt or patch here.

Ton Up NC = Riding, Restoration and Racing of Vintage Motorcycles

Ton Up NC

Ton Up NC is a registered nonprofit group dedicated to the riding, restoration and racing of vintage motorcycles. This is our blog.

Each year Ton Up NC hosts one of the East Coast's largest vintage motorcycle/cafe racer/scooter shows in Durham, North Carolina: The Bull City Rumble, The Meltdown in Hendersonville, NC and participates in vintage racing all over the USA.

To find out more about Ton Up NC or the Rumble visit the Ton Up NC Facebook page or the Bull City Rumble page.

If you would like to support our cause, you can purchase yourself a Ton Up NC/Bull City Rumble shirt, poster or patch here.

If you own a vintage British motorcycle, live in North Carolina, have a passion for vintage racing, event planning and are interested in becoming a member of Ton Up NC, please send us a message at TonUpNC@gmail.com