Donnie Smith' 75th Birthday -

Hamsters Winter Nationals 2017 - Donnie Smith' 75th Birthday!

Being invited by the famous Hamsters, to join their Winter Nationals meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, and celebrating my friend Donnie Smith' 75th Birthday, was something I'll never forget.

When I was a young kid, obsessed with custom bikes, all I could get to satisfy my hunger for custom bikes, was American magazines that featured bikes built by people like the Hamsters, like Arlen Ness, Dave Perewitz and Donnie Smith. And when I met Greg Wick many years ago, Hamster in South Dakota, we became good friends and, like they say, 'the rest is history.'

Donnie Smith, one of my heroes, celebrated his 75th birthday yesterday and I presented him a pair of wooden clogs, with beautiful hand painted artwork on them by Birgit, Dutch Tattoo artist (www.artoeage.nl). It was one hell of a party, and we had a great time at great Donnie Smith Bike and Car Show during the weekend, more about that later.

 

Text & Photography by Onno "Berserk" Wieringa and G-Rat www.madnessphotography.nl