Featured The Prowl 2025: This Chopper Show Is Now An Annual Event For Us!

Last year my hubby, Steve, and I found ourselves in the small town of Bisbee, Arizona right when The Prowl, an old school, chopper ride-in motorcycle show, was taking place. We'd planned an overnighter without knowing the event was happening that very weekend. Well, we enjoyed The Prowl so much that we vowed to attend again a year later. We did. And we loved it--again! This event is now a permanent fixture on our annual motorcycle event list.



Bisbee is an old mining town in southern Arizona that has managed to reinvent itself beautifully. When the copper mines shut down some years ago, the town languished. But in the years since, it has become a hub of cool stuff and one of our favorite small towns in Arizona. Great restaurants, galleries, museums, a mine tour, cool shops, and little oddities everywhere that make Bisbee very unique. Bisbee also host a number of festivals and weekend events including our favorite, The Prowl.

The ride from Tucson to Bisbee isn't a long one but it is definitely a beautiful one. This back route (other than a jaunt on Interstate 10) takes us through the small towns of Sonoita and Tombstone and through some beautiful rolling hills. What made this particular ride to Bisbee a bit different than usual was the weather. It was c-o-l-d!! And it was also very windy. The high in Bisbee on the day we arrived was only 46ºF and to get there we didn't ride through any areas that felt much warmer than that. And then, of course, there's that dang wind chill factor. Fortunately I'd fired up my heated vest and was grateful for it. I've been trying to get Steve to get one for years. Finally at the end of this weekend he said to me, "You can get me that heated vest for my birthday, honey!"





I opted to ride my Low Rider ST for this overnighter. It's not quite as cushy as my Street Glide but the fairing still provides plenty of protection and it's way fun to ride in the twisties! This photo was taken when we got back home, not when we left for Bisbee. When we left Friday around lunchtime, the sun was nowhere to be seen!



This year Steve and I organized the same deal that we happened upon last year. The actual show is on Saturday but we booked a hotel room for one night and rode down on Friday. After settling into our room at the Copper City Inn, we had a beer and a bite at a restaurant that's "the new kid in town"--the Bisbee Bad-Assery. We then strolled around and watched as some of the bikes trickled (er, roared) into town, checked out some galleries, and later had a great dinner at Cafe Roka.

The couple who own the Copper City Inn were the ones who told us about The Bisbee BadAssery. It's owned by a couple named Kevin and Jana who are avid riders. They've ridden their Harleys all over the U.S. and most of the decor in their new place consists of posters, stickers, and little statues and knick-knacks they've collected over the years. We got a chance to meet them but the place was hopping due to the biker event. Next time we ride to Bisbee we'll stop in again and maybe get a chance to get to know them a bit better.



Their logo was designed by their tattoo artist!



My view from my spot at the bar. There's Steve's arm on the left.



We were told "ya gotta see Bigfoot!" Hmmm, what's that all about? So we followed directions to had out of the bar and through their outdoor patio and then up the stairs.



And at the top of the stairs there's a little fort or "tree house" with one private table for BadAssery patrons.



The patio and the stairs up to Bigfoot and the private dining area.



Bisee and The Prowl 2025 continued in my next post

 

Bisbee and The Prowl continued

After some fries and onion rings washed down with local beer to hold us until dinner, we did what we most love to do in Bisbee--meandered around seeing what there was to see. The choppers were starting to show up in town and this cool old shovelhead was one of the first ones we spotted. Note Steve's winter attire.



The sign outside the Bisbee Social Club



And a cool Moto Guzzi not on the street but in a shop window! And not a motorcycle shop.



So many artistic and creative things in Bisbee



Steve made a dinner reservation at our favorite restaurant in Bisbee, Cafe Roka. Cafe Roka is one of Bisbee's iconic eateries. It has been around for 32 years is housed in a 1907 Art Deco storefront called The Costello Building, The restaurant has been up for sale for about a year now but the current owner is determined not to sell until "the right" buyer comes along. And that's a good thing for those of us who love this place.

Steve and I have eaten here many times over the 17 years we've been together and have enjoyed it every single time. But we both agreed that this time around our meal was the best we've had yet.

There are three levels, two of which can be seen in this photo. The 3rd floor is where we ate this time around which was a first for Steve and only the 2nd time for me. Next time we dine here we will definitely request it!



The upper or 3rd floor is very cozy feeling with a great vibe. Plus we were next to a window with a view down on Tombstone Canyon Road. On this evening we got to listen to the "music" of the choppers that continued to roll into town.





We both ordered the same dinner--the seafood special. Good thing because if one of us hadn't ordered it, we'd be fighting the other for it! It was that delicious.



Our sweet server, Memo, made our meal even more special with his great service, spot-on recommendations, and his stories about being a 5th generation Bisbean. We will certainly request one of his tables (always on the 3rd floor he said) the next time we have dinner here.



Bisbee and The Prowl continued in my next post. Yes, there will be lots of motorcycle photos soon--I promise!

 

Bisbee and The Prowl continued.

Well, I guess that shovehead that showed up twice in my last post thought there should be more moto photos, too.

After a good night's sleep in the Warren Suite in our three-room hotel, we awoke to.....SNOW! Ok, I thought I was done with motorcycles and snow after that ill-fated May trip last year in Utah. Some of you know what I'm talking about. Fortunately there was much less snow this time around in Bisbee than what I experienced at Bryce Canyon Lodge with my Street Glide.

Nonetheless, it's the principle of the thing that counts.....





The snow cleared relatively quickly leaving partly sunny skies, wet street, and wind. We headed across the street for breakfast and a steaming mug of coffee at the Cafe Royale inside the blue building known as the Bisbee Royale. This pic only shows about a third of the building which is quite large. It also has a night club and a (small-ish) movie theatre.



No photos of our breakfast but here's one of the recent addition to the Cafe Royale staff. Meet Isis, a breakfast present from the wife owner to her husband (co-owner). She was an absolute hoot--and a howl! Quite a vocal young pup.



Here's one of the numbers stairwells sprinkled throughout the town of Bisbee. There's a 5K stair run each year known as The Bisbee 1000. Yes, there are 1,000 stairs to tackle. I've several friends who have done that race but I'm well past that these days. Or my knees are anyway. This stairwell is right next to the Cafe Royale entrance and across the street from our hotel.



There were a few other vintage vehicles about in addition to the motorcycles including La Mamba.



The Bisbee Badassery early Saturday morning. That's Kevin's blue bike on the right and Jana's orange one on the left.



The Copper City Inn, our lodging for the night. And it's directly next door to the Badassery. Can't beat that. Our room, the Warren Suite, is behind the two french doors on the bottom right.



Another cool vintage vehicle



Ok, now we're making our way down the hill to Brewery Gulch where the show held. These bikes were parked on Tombstone Canyon Road, one of Bisbee's main roads. Tombstone Canyon winds its way up to about 5,820 ft from Bisbee's starting elevation of 5,350 ft.



For those of you still with me--and still waiting patiently for more motorcycles--here they come. In my next posts, I'll pretty much let the photos and bikes speak for themselves.

 

Bisbee and The Prowl continued

Well, I will start off this post with one more vintage vehicle that's NOT a motorcycle. I thought this car was pretty cool--and very BIG!



Ok, here come THE BIKES!!



















More bikes to follow......

 

Bisbee and The Prowl


I know it's billed as a "ride-in" show but come on man.......







Maybe the owner of this bike trailered his bike with the guy who owns the bike in the 1st pic? It would have to be a l-o-n-g trailer, that's for sure!





Not a chopper but certainly old school



The owner posing with his build



An interesting addition to the mix!







I'll share one more 10-photo post in this Prowl thread with some fun photos of particular aspects of the bikes I saw--a cool tank, timer cover, sissy bar, etc.

 

Bisbee and The Prowl -- the finale



















So long from The Prowl! See you again next year, "God willin' and the creek don't rise".

 

@Iron, if you’re out there somewhere, I thought you (in particular!) would enjoy these bikes we saw at a recent chopper event.

 

Yep, there were a lot of "crazy" bikes, @Markus! I'm not quite sure how their owners actually manage to ride them.

 

It was great fun in spite of the weather, @Bikerman. "Better" stories over the years come out of things like snow. Of course, the weekend following The Prowl the weather was perfect--no wind, sunny skies, and temps in the 70ºs!

 

What a bummer that the sun has disappeared on you, @Iceman. It's springtime, after all! I'll do my best to keep posting updates and ride reports that include blue sunny skies. Glad you enjoyed the write up.