Cowtown Stockyards

At the Tarrant Chapter meeting of TMRA 2 this month, there were some
discussion about one of the weekend activity spots in our own metroplex city
of Ft.Worth.. For the uninformed about it, the Stockyards was one of the
must visit weekend area for many bikers.. Saturdays and Sundays, it wasn't
unusual for thousand of motorcycles to gather in that area.. Entertainment
galore, regional type food establishments, stores to buy Texas memorabilia,
and of course there is the landmark beer joint.. Billy Bob's... The tourists
from faraway places also flocked to the area .. They too were fascinated by
the bikers and their rides.. taking pictures and spending lots of money..

A few years ago, the commercial parking lots began to complain of the lost
revue because the bikers were not parking in their lots.. The fact that
they'd charge the same for a four wheeled vehicle as they charged for
motorcycles, even though there'd be up to four bikes in one spot.. coupled
with the motorcycles damaged by drunk drivers who'd run over them in that
lot.. had nothing to do with the bikers reluctance to park in those lots..

Their complaints to the city council of Ft.Worth and the Stockyards board,
prompted the Ft.Worth police department to crack down on the motorcyclests
... Parking tickets and citations for moving violations began to multiply ..
One concession was made by the parking lot owners and they finally built a
fence and dedicated a 50 X 50 ft. area dedicated to motorcycles.. Helluva
deal.. right ?

The result was, bikers avoid the area and their attraction and spent money
has been directed to other places..

Me and one of the bro's hadn't been over there for a long time, so we
decided to ride over to Ft.Worth and check it out.. That's a pretty nice
little ride from Irving, even though it is all freeway.. We parked in the
designated fenced area and took a look around.. Those Stockyards are a
shadow of the former colorful and exciting place it once was.. Even the
tourists were bored and ready to get out of there.. All told.. there were
maybe 30 or 40 motorcycles in the area.. I didn't see but a couple of bikes
that looked like a serious biker would be riding them.. The rest were
definitely the Yuppy versions of Poser bikes.. you know the type..

The highlight of our Stockyards visit was that we ate a pile of ribs and
filled up with iced tea.. mounted up and got the hell outta there.. The pity
of it all is that bikers have lost a consistently good place to go and
associate with each other, when there is not much going on.. <sigh> Oh
well.. there are several more places in the metroplex where we can still
gather without being concerned with police harassment ..

Bill Walker
Irving