Metier Moto Show | Episode 3 With The Seattle Cossacks

** Recorded live at the Spokane Motorcycle Show** 

In this episode of The Metier Moto Show, host Brad Columbus sits down with members of the Seattle Cossacks Motorcycle Stunt & Drill Team to explore the legacy, discipline, and passion behind one of the most historic riding groups in the country. Riding vintage Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the Cossacks share what it takes to perform precise formations and stunts rooted in tradition, teamwork, and mechanical mastery.

They dive into the history of the Seattle Cossacks as the nation’s oldest motorcycle drill team, what goes into maintaining and riding vintage machines, and how their culture is built on trust, coordination, and a deep respect for the art of motorcycling.

Key Takeaways:
• The precision and trust required for vintage motorcycle drill riding
• What it takes to maintain and ride classic Harley-Davidson motorcycles
• The history and legacy of the nation’s oldest motorcycle drill team

About Our Guests:
The Seattle Cossacks Motorcycle Stunt & Drill Team is the nation’s oldest motorcycle drill team, known for their synchronized riding and commitment to preserving the traditions of precision motorcycling. Riding vintage Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the team showcases a unique blend of history, skill, and showmanship at events across the country.

Connect with the Seattle Cossacks:
https://www.seattlecossacks.com/

Subscribe to The Metier Moto Show for weekly conversations with riders, industry experts, builders, and the passionate people who make motorcycling more than just transportation.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:04

Doing something special here at Spokane Motorcycle Show 2026. Sitting here with my friend Jimmy from the Seattle Cossacks. Welcome Jimmy. Hey, thank you for having us. Yeah, no problem, no problem. We'll just get right into it. What is a Cossack? Me.

SPEAKER_03 0:18

No, just a Cossack is a motorcycle stunt rider that rides an old motorcycle. Right. And uh one of the biggest parts about being a Cossack is extended family. So for us, having kids join the team, you know, grow up with the team, then join the team, having friends, trying to get more people in, we're all about that. But Cossack to me is riding the old bikes, being a good rider, being a good extended family member.

SPEAKER_04 0:45

Right. Yeah, I've seen that, you know, the last couple times I've seen you guys, and you I keep hearing you talk more. And you've got what, three boys? Four boys. Four boys and active Cossacks. Correct. That's yeah, that's awesome. That is awesome. And you're a second generation. Second generation guy.

SPEAKER_03 1:00

Yeah, my dad and my uncle were in the team before I was born. So my uncle started, I think, in 1973. And there's always been a member of our family on the team since. Really?

SPEAKER_04 1:08

So that is awesome. That is awesome. So how did how did the Cossacks come about?

SPEAKER_03 1:15

Um, Cole, you want to take that? Gotta get some of these young guys in here. This is the future of our team, so we gotta make sure they start talking.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Yeah, so the team was actually founded by a group of hill climb racers. Um, hill climb used to be this gigantic thing, bigger than almost any form of racing. And then in between events, they started messing around, just kind of paling around, like, hey, like, let's try to do this crazy thing on this bike. As they were doing that, they noticed, man, there's more people paying attention to us than the races themselves. So they said, you know what, let's bring our regular bike so we don't got to change them for the races or anything, and let's be an official team and let's kind of hog the attention. And that's what we still do today.

SPEAKER_04 1:53

That's hog the attention. I like it. That's exactly how it felt. I love it. So it starts with hill climb races. Isn't that kind of like how Sturgis started with hill climb races or something like that?

SPEAKER_03 2:01

Same type of stuff, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:03

Yeah. And so go from that, and somebody decides we're just gonna start a team and we're gonna start doing stunts.

SPEAKER_03 2:09

Yeah, they were doing that. They started doing the stunts during the intermission, like you said. They started seeing the crowd and what the people the way the people were following it, and more people watching that than the races. So uh in 1938, they decided they wanted to be formal, right? So they got sanctioned by the AMA. Okay. Got their charter. Okay, and uh as soon as they did that, it just took off from there.

SPEAKER_04 2:29

Really?

SPEAKER_03 2:29

Yeah, it's it's pretty awesome. When you when that's the reason why we use the same type of bikes that they used when they first started, same type of outfits, same type of uniforms. Right. We try to keep the team as it was. Okay, okay. That's a huge history for us.

SPEAKER_04 2:42

Okay, and so the uniforms you guys are wearing today, how long has this fit, this style been that right? I see that some of the older ones here.

SPEAKER_03 2:52

Yeah, so I believe these uniforms came in late 60s, early 70s. Okay. Uh and this uniform here, the green one, is from way back around the time that the team first started. This one here is 50s, 60s, and then what we're wearing now, a variation of what we're wearing now, is what they were doing. They changed the colors to maroon and white.

SPEAKER_04 3:11

So who who makes the decision on that, say, ten years from now, boys are like, we need new colors. Is that something or is it?

SPEAKER_03 3:17

It can it definitely can happen.

SPEAKER_04 3:18

It can happen.

SPEAKER_03 3:18

It just has to be a vote by a majority of the team. Majority of the team, okay.

SPEAKER_04 3:23

So Okay, and so if I wanted to be a Cossack, could I be a Cossack? I mean, yeah, are you ready? Because we need you. You jumped me, yesterday. We're ready.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

We're ready. No, uh, to become a Cossack, you gotta come up with a bike that fits the criteria. Okay. So to fit in the criteria is hand shift, foot clutch, which is on the other side, of course, sprung front end, rigid, stock type Harley Davidson. Now we realize they're not gonna be all stock parts. We were talking yesterday uh at the Mateira 360 stage, and these bikes are not perfectly stock. They're like they were, but they're not perfectly stock, right? To have perfectly stocked parts on this, we're not gonna be doing burnouts and jumping them and piling 10 guys on them and stuff. So a lot of these bikes are swap meet specials. These guys can give you a little bit more information on that, but just about everybody that's joined the team, a lot of those bikes were never together. It wasn't something that somebody bought and just painted. It was something where they bought a frame here, a lower end here, cylinders here, and then they put it all together, and it becomes a Cossack bike. That's cool.

SPEAKER_04 4:20

That's cool. So then, okay, so now you got the bike. Now, now is there a tryout or is there Yeah?

SPEAKER_03 4:26

So we we have a one-year, uh, I guess we call it a rookie season, you can call it a probationary season. Right. So you come out, you don't have you don't you have to earn your uniform. So you come out with the bike, we ask you to have it painted these colors. You come out, you do your thing with us for a year, then you have to have a hundred percent vote of the current guys on the team. And since 1938, we've had about 135 members. 135, wow. So, you know, it sounds like a lot, but then when you think about since 1938, not very many. That's not very many at all. That is especially when seven or eight of them are in my family.

SPEAKER_04 4:56

Right? Yeah, right. Has there ever been a break where where the Cossacks just didn't do anything? Only during World War II.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

Only when it wasn't very long. So it was just, you know, some of the guys broke, went to war, came back, and then they jumped right back in.

SPEAKER_04 5:10

And been going ever since. Correct. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

And you guys traveled all over the world, the United States, or mostly the United States. We've been as far east as Boston, Massachusetts. Okay. We performed in a town called Wusta. Wusta. And that was pretty good. That was for a hog rally. Uh we've been down as far south as the Mexican border, and then just about, I'd say at least half to three quarters of the states in between. We've hit him at one time or another.

SPEAKER_04 5:33

Okay, okay. And uh I I saw something on uh I think you guys were talking about it or on one of these posters you were on America's Got Talent.

SPEAKER_03 5:40

Yeah, yeah, that was a few years ago. That was fun. He got famous.

SPEAKER_04 5:45

World famous. Motorcycle royalty.

SPEAKER_03 5:48

I'm sitting with motorcycle royalty. I love it. Uh no, it that was a pretty good time. Uh we didn't make it past, I think it's so the first round, you have to go in and meet him like at a hotel. So we went downtown Seattle and we had they gave us a little flack because we're like, we got to bring a bike upstairs. And they're like, bring the bike upstairs. You're not riding the bike in the hotel, and we wanted to, and they wouldn't let us know. Yeah, absolutely. But we still uh we still con the guy downstairs into letting us put it into the elevator and take it upstairs. Really? So when we went into our initial tryout, we walked back there and we had the bike with us, and there was because there's right now we have uh 14 active guys, 14 or 15, and I think we had about the same, maybe a little bit less back then. And we showed up and we rolled the bike in and we played a video, and they're like, You're in. Really? We went, and yeah, we did the the physical performance down there in uh San Francisco, and it was a great time. Okay, okay. Great time. We didn't make it past there, but we should have.

SPEAKER_04 6:38

Was it nerve-wracking? To be honest, nah.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

I mean, you guys are already already always on stage basically, anyway, so it's not like Yeah, it it really didn't bother me that way, as far as like, oh, there's so many people in here because it was a packed house. To me, it was just cool to do, and when we heard them chanting Cossacks after we were done, it was pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_04 6:54

That that is awesome, pretty awesome, right? So I forgot one question about like membership. So you said you had active 14 right now? Yeah. Okay. Say you had six more. Is there a maximum? No, no, no, and you can have 30.

SPEAKER_03 7:09

Yes, and we would love that. Right because man, it'd make the the stunt lists and the shows and how we put it together a lot easier.

SPEAKER_04 7:15

Right, right, right. What about a minimum? I mean, would you put on a show if you had five guys?

SPEAKER_03 7:18

Absolutely. Really? Okay. As long as I know I can speak for the four of us for sure. Right. As long as one of us is here, there will be cossacks. That's cool. That's that's really cool. They they got they've been so uh I'm 46 now, growing up with the team, uh, just before I was born, I guess mid-mid 70s, they got down to a spot where they had three or four guys. Wow. And you know, obviously they couldn't do the shows like we do today, but they were killing it, and they were all really talented, so they kept it going, you know, which which was awesome. And then we had a pretty good boom in the 90s, and I think we got up to about 20 or 21 guys. Wow, and that's the most, as far as I know, that's ever been in the team. So our average is about 15, 16. Average, okay.

SPEAKER_04 7:58

Yeah. And you guys, I mean, probably pretty busy during the mostly summer, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 8:03

But I yeah, so this is our first show of the year here at Spokane Motorcycle Show in March, and then we got a little all till about the end of April, and then we're busy all the way through September. That is that is epic. Yeah. Epic. You guys all have regular jobs and yeah, we're a 51c3 nonprofit organization. We're all volunteers. Each guy owns and maintains his own bike. Well, fuzzy helps us maintain most of it. I gotta meet this fuzzy guy. We could get into that conversation a little bit later, but if it wasn't for him, the bikes wouldn't run. That's awesome. But yeah, each guy owns and maintains his own. Um, you gotta earn your uniform, like we talked about. The team uh retains that they own the uniform. Okay. You know, so this is still you gotta supply the boots. And then the team.

SPEAKER_04 8:41

That is really neat. Now, do you guys all ride outside of the stunt bikes?

SPEAKER_03 8:46

Yeah, uh, just about everybody, I think just about everybody has a street bike. Cool. So I know I I have a few of them. We like to go on some long distance rides when we can. It's just we're so busy doing this in the summer, it's hard to find time.

SPEAKER_04 8:56

Right, I bet. I bet. So what what's your go-to outside of this bike wise? I like riding the old ones the best, but the wife likes it when we ride the ultra. I hear that, I hear that. I hear that.

SPEAKER_03 9:07

She's like, get the geezer glide out.

SPEAKER_04 9:09

Yep. What about you boys? What are we rocking outside the stunting?

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Uh so since I was 16, I've had a Sportster, which is honestly one of my favorite bikes, but I've also just updated to the geezer glide because uh my wife thinks it's more comfortable. And me, I got the Road King, so set up like a geezer glide, so all Harley so far. Uh I also have a sportster, um, but I really want to get a streetclip. Oh, don't let him lie.

SPEAKER_03 9:35

I I have I have two geezer glides, he steals one of them all the time.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

But same thing, my girlfriend likes the bigger back seat, so I can totally relate to that.

SPEAKER_04 9:45

Yeah, the wife's the same way. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 9:46

So I'll tell you, when I'm riding down the highway, uh-huh, we're having a conversation, I'm kind of hard of hearing. Right. When I turn around sideways on the seat to talk to her, she gets really good. She doesn't like to have her. When I stand up on the seat while we're going down the freeway. Yeah, she's not she's not too into that, but you know, we make it happen.

SPEAKER_04 10:01

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

So you've been, you said you've been in for Um, I think technically I have 20, I have 28 years good, but I actually have 30 years. So you only ride one rookie year, and then if you want to don't make it the first year, you ride the second year, you have to ask for permission. They made me ride three rookie years. Really? They were pretty tough on me. Wow. And what constituted that? Um I was pretty young, making some silly decisions, and and um I talked to you earlier about the extended family. I grew up with all those guys, right? Okay. So at the time that I started, I was 16. So they're all like dads, too. Yeah, dads are. So you got that on top of that, right? So they're like, uh, you're not making the best decisions. Let me go ahead and you're not gonna make it this shit. Right. So after the third year, uh, I think that's the record. After the third year, I made it, and here I am 30 years later, right? So it's I just can't explain it to you. Especially, you know, you get that feeling you have kids, you watch them go do something, play sports, right, soccer game, football game, whatever, you watch it, and you're like, oh man, this is so cool. When you see your kids get involved in this, it is just I can't even explain it. And then grandkids, right? I have my grandson is two, uh, he'll be fourth generation cossack. We're already building this bike, right? But but a story there is my dad rode in the team and he had a 1941 EL knucklehead. I'm actually riding it this weekend because I broke mine. So I'm riding his. Anyway, uh, right after I was born, a couple days, I was only a couple days old. My dad brought me home, put me in his left arm, rode me around on the 41 EL. So the four boys, I did the same with them on the same bike. Right. And now we did it with my grandson. So it's you know, four generations have been on that same motorcycle.

SPEAKER_04 11:44

That is that is uh wow.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

And getting the kids out getting the kids out there doing that when they're you know riding them around, of course they don't remember that, but just them seeing the pictures of it. I think the Pacific Northwest Museum has pictures of the kids on the bike when they were real young.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Right.

SPEAKER_03 11:57

So, but it's pretty neat, and then when you watch them start getting into it and they start getting involved and they start learning how to ride the bike and start the bike, and then all of a sudden they're a better rider than you are. It's pretty awesome to watch. Pretty awesome to watch. We actually have Spencer over here, she's seven.

unknown 12:11

Hi Spencer.

SPEAKER_03 12:12

That's that's Nate's daughter, and she's all about Cossacks. I think she's written in more shows than some of the guys in the team. Yeah, so she's she's all about it. And seeing that and bringing that and keeping this alive, that's that's pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_04 12:24

So there's no rule, no, no rule, no girls or anything. Nothing like that. None of that.

SPEAKER_03 12:28

No, no, we're we're all for that. And in fact, anybody out there who wants to be a Cossack, give us a call. If we can figure it out, we're all about it. How many um ladies have been Cossack? Just one, really, just one, yeah. And um, it's actually one of the current members, it was his daughter, and she rode with us for five, six, seven years, I think, as an apprentice.

SPEAKER_04 12:47

Yeah, uh last summer, where did we see you guys? You had a uh She was there, Riley is her name. Okay, that's yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:53

Yeah, Riley McGee, and she rode with us. Uh well not rode with us, but she did stunts with us and and was involved with the team for the last six or seven years. Uh, she's not riding with us this year, she's getting a few things done. Okay. She gotta get her bike done, get her license, get a few things going. But we're definitely open to anybody that wants to join the team. And uh we want to keep this thing going. You know, we're pushing 90 years. Right now we're at 88 years, and and we're hoping for another 88 more.

SPEAKER_04 13:18

Well, uh not just the the the family thing and carrying it on, but these motorcycles, I mean, as the years go on, they're I mean, getting harder and harder and harder to find. So, you guys are also carrying that on and the knowledge about them because that's getting to be a lost art too, you know.

SPEAKER_03 13:35

You've heard us talk about fuzzy, and you and we're always joking about him, but one of the things that we've actually started to do, and we did it on this bike when we built it a few years ago, we're starting to video him working on these bikes. Because he's brilliant. Right? He's so good at it. And we actually talked about putting that on YouTube and some things like that. But this motor right here, I have it, I have videos of him when the cases were split apart, flywheels are busted apart, we put it all together, and we videoed it, and then we put the top end on, got it all together, and then you see me riding off on it. So we're trying to video catalog as much of that stuff as we can because we all tinker with them, right? But there's two or three guys in the team that you could take this whole thing apart, throw the nuts and bolts, scatter them out throughout the floor, and fuzzy's one of them guys could come up, pick this up, and he'd be like, I know right where that goes. So we're we're trying to get that knowledge. Uh Cole built his bike from the ground up, Kirby helped build his bike from the ground up. George has had his apart too many times just because he keeps breaking it. But uh, and and we drag him out there working on the rest of them. So we all have a little knowledge, but there's a few key guys, Rob, Fuzzy, that are just dynamite on these motorcycles.

SPEAKER_04 14:37

You boys better soak this up. Yeah, soak it up. Um okay, so uh like a refresh. Uh how often are we doing that on these? Like build the motors? Yeah, build the motors.

SPEAKER_03 14:50

Um George's bike belonged to uh a great Cossack. His name was Delon Rebrun Sandmeyer, and he was in the team for about 34 years before he passed away. Started in his 40s. Um that bike has two different size pistons in it. Really? Okay. George is still riding it, and they built the motor in 1977. Wow, it's still running. It's still running. He's gonna be riding it today. You rode it yesterday. Wow. Two different size pistons in it, and like we told you, Swap Meat Special. So it's not perfect, but three or four kicks most of the time. Awesome.

SPEAKER_04 15:25

So that is awesome. We might have to talk to the producer of this, and maybe at the end of this uh show we can take a walk around all the bikes. You tell me a few things about it.

SPEAKER_03 15:32

We gotta get you on one of these. You ever ridden a foot clutch?

SPEAKER_04 15:34

No. Uh like a chopper foot clutch, but not this. Yeah, I I want to try it. The rocker clutch is where it's at. Alright. We're gonna do it today. All right, perfect. I like it. Um as far as is there a hierarchy? Uh a captain, or you the boss kind of thing? Do you get voted in to be the boss? Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:55

So officers, we have elections every two years. Okay. And uh, so it's for a two-year term. We have captain, lieutenant, and sergeant. Kirby's our newest lieutenant. I was like a lieutenant. He doesn't he? He's a little too strict sometimes, dude. I don't want arm wrestling. But uh I've I was lucky enough I was lieutenant for the last 18 years. Wow. And I just moved up to captain. So um we're hoping to get some of these young guys into it. Our sergeant, he's not here right now, but he's one of the young guys, and it's actually Sam's son, so he's a second generation Cossack, and he's 27, and he's a sergeant. So we're trying to get the younger guys more and more involved to keep this thing going.

SPEAKER_04 16:30

Yeah, you guys are it blows my mind. I d yeah. Trying to think of what the museum? Yeah. Yeah. Uh but speaking of, um this museum that we threw together here, the Matir Boys threw together for this. What do you I mean I I've walked around in here several times over the weekend and read the stories and the articles and stuff.

SPEAKER_03 16:56

It's crazy. It is. Uh I what I gotta get some of these other guys talking, but I will tell you this. I've been around this my whole life. I walked in here and I've seen these boards before, right? With the uniforms, with the bike, with the trophy. Right. Trophies. It was just awesome. I think I've walked in here about six times this weekend and growing up with it and seeing all this stuff, and I still love to see it. Yeah, it's just so cool. Yeah. Plus, once in a while when someone else walks there, I'm like, You see that guy? Yeah, you see that guy? Look for me.

SPEAKER_04 17:25

That that is awesome. What would be your favorite um your favorite performance, the favorite thing you've guys you you have done as a Cossack?

SPEAKER_03 17:36

Man, that's tough. That's really tough. We've done some really cool shows. We've done shows in front of the five to ten thousand, we've done shows in front of five to ten people. Right? It just depends on where you're at. We do a lot of small town fairs and stuff. Uh the America's Got Talent, obviously, that stadium was packed. I can't remember how many it holds, but it was packed. Uh the I'll be truthful with you though, I like doing the shows uh for kids. Yeah. You know, Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, Children's Hospital, stuff like that. I you walk in there, those kids just treat you like a rock star. Oh, I bet. Which is awesome for you. But they're the rock star, they're the one going through the trouble. Yeah. But to see them smile and for us to be able to help out like that, that's a big one.

SPEAKER_04 18:19

That is too cool. That is too cool.

SPEAKER_03 18:21

What about you, Kirby?

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Yeah. I agree. Anything with the kids. Um, like we'll go around and do shows, and as long as I'm waving at the kids, because you see them smile, and either they're covering their ears because the motors are too hot, or pulling their nose, or pulling them too stinky. Yeah, if they got a VL or something, you know. But it is, it's all about the kids and stuff. And I mean the adults are cool, don't get me wrong. You know, we after we do our show and stuff, we'll do some drills and we'll do high fives to the kids. And I think that's one of the coolest parts because people see these motorcycles coming out, and I'm like, what's going on? And just high-fiving them. Everybody gets into that. So I I really like that. And the family aspect of it, of everybody hauling together, helping each other out, you know, getting involved with this team is just uh everybody's coming from a different perspective of taking bikes to a shop and finding out these guys are Cossacks or coming to a show saying, Hey, I want to do this, you know. And then once, like Jimmy said, finding that bike and building it or you know, swamp meat special like my two bikes are, you know, and that that's what it's really cool. And then just guys dropping everything to come help you, you know. Jimmy lives on the east side of the mountains, I'm on the west side, and I'm like, Jim, Fuzz, I need some help. And man, Jim and Fuzz, next thing you know, snow, rain, hell, whatever, they're they're over the mountain pass coming helping me and stuff. So it means a lot to me because it's just a lot of guys coming together. And Fuzzy, who's my sponsor of the team, you know, that's how I got involved with it. And so, like, being able to have, you know, ride with him now being a lieutenant, it's cool because I looked up to Jimmy and Fuzz and Sam and some other guys, and it's like, wow, that's just crazy, it's just this full circle. You know, after about 18 years, now I'm helping lead in drills, and I'm so used to being in the back. Right. And there was like, you're gonna do drills. I'm like, what? You know, and you're giving seems to look at my eyes like, no, you got this kid, you know, and it's like, all right, you know, kid, I'm not that much older than him. Well, don't let him say that. You're younger than he is. How long have you been a Cossack for? 18 years. 18 years, no. How'd you get into it? Uh I actually had uh my dad's panhead took it to Fuzzy's shop and they restored it, right? And they told me, because my dad's panhead was a tanks-year-foot clutch, and they said, Um, take our old knucklehead on the back streets of Des Moines there and learn to ride. I'm like, but that's a knucklehead. They're like, ha ha ha. I'm like, what's so funny? He's like, oh, we crash them, catch them on fire all the time. And so I'm like, all right. So I learned to ride on Fuzzy's uh 47 Nook, and then they said, Hey, come to a show, and it was a uh show down uh uh the ocean. Came to uh watch them there, and I'm like, I saw the stunt called the spread eagle where the guy gets between the two bikes. Right. I'm like, that's what I want to do. And so I was finishing up college and stuff, and Fuzzy and Jim were like, hey, you need to come out, and so I was like, okay, cool. Then I found a 45 and bought that, and we just got her ready, and like Jim said, you just rode for a whole year, and at the end of the year, for some reason they voted me in, and you know, here it is, you know. So that's awesome. That's kind of my story. That is cool. I'll toss it over there. Cole.

unknown 21:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

Cool. How long have you been a Cossack for?

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Uh I have been a Cossack for I believe 12 years now, since I was 16.

SPEAKER_04 21:08

Yeah, did you ever did you ever go? I don't want to be a Cossack.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

No. No, never. Yeah. No, um, just like it's in your blood, literally. It literally is um the oil and the gas run through the veins. Yeah. It's one of those things, just like he said, uh, they put us on the knucklehead from almost day one, and it's just a connection, uh, especially with family. And I remember being five years old and standing on the sidewalk with the people watching the Cossacks, and it was just the coolest thing in the world to me. And my brothers and I just thinking, God, we want to do this, we want to do this. And it was almost one of those things that felt like it was never gonna happen just because of how time works. And then it just felt like out of nowhere, one day they said, Hey, do you boys want to come try to do this? And we're like, Of course. And then from that day I remember we're spending all day trying to learn how to do a headstand on the ground, and we're falling over on top of each other. And trying to ride the bikes and it was such a mess, but I loved every minute of it, and I'm so happy and proud of what it's led to here for us now.

SPEAKER_04 22:08

You guys are amazing. I every show I go to and I hear you're gonna be there, and I'm like, I gotta run. They're going on. And I watch every I've watched so many, I have so many videos of you guys, and never really thought that I'd actually get to meet you guys. Yesterday you were in a show. Yeah, I know. I got to get jumped. How old are you? How old are you? You're 45. 45. How old are you? 28.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

28? 22. And young box. It's killing me. I want to be young again. Right? How long do you think you're gonna do this for? Till I'm dead. Till you're dead? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:43

So if I if I'm lucky another five years, maybe? No. No, I'm I'm thinking I I don't know. I'd I hope I make it to 75 or 80. That's awesome. Uh, we've had some guys ride up in the team till they were I guess Delon was still kind of riding with us, but mid-70s, late 70s. Right. So is there a an age out thing or uh I gotta be honest with you, there's lots of back and forth within the team about that. Really? But uh we've had a few guys that were getting, you know, pretty old, having a tough time. Sometimes these things are hard to crank. Oh yeah. These guys sitting right here, you can't crank it, we'll crank it for you. And there were some of them that there's some of them that stick being part of the 2026 spoke. Some of them some of them that could still ride so good, right? You'd fire it up for them and you're thinking, oh, and then they'd go out and ride it like nothing. So it's just one of those things, but right. We we hate to tell the show closes at four o'clock, we need to see their own.

SPEAKER_04 23:36

Yeah, sorry about that. We're at the Spokane Motorcycle Show. We're getting ready to open the doors here. 10 to 4 today. Thanks again for being part of the show. We're gonna keep going. Yeah. Okay, we're gonna keep going. What do you guys think of the Spokane Moto shows? Since we're here right now.

SPEAKER_03 23:48

I want to say this is probably our fifth time doing it. Right. Fifth or sixth time. We do it every other year, and uh everybody's great to us at the show. The great turnout, good vendors. It's a really, really good time.

SPEAKER_04 23:59

Yesterday, your first performance was magical. I got goosebumps talking about it. It the snow coming down and you guys performing was I it was awesome. It was like magical.

SPEAKER_03 24:08

Yeah, it was funny. We obviously we were talking about it, and a couple times we were doing a few stunts, and it snowed super heavy. We got a few pictures of it. It was hitting me in the eyes I couldn't see. Yeah. It was that was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 24:18

I bet. That was really cool. So, what uh what's your next stop after here?

SPEAKER_03 24:23

Um, we got some practicing to do because it's the beginning of the season, so we'll do some practices, and then we have a static display at Mohai Museum of History and Industry in Seattle. Okay. Um they're doing uh a deal with Pacific Northwest uh museum, motorcycle museum, and it's called Kickstands Up. And we have a bike there and a uniform there and some boards like this there. So uh we're gonna do a static display for them. Okay, and that is oh man, putting me on the spot. April 18th. Something like that. I think it's April 18th. And then after that, our next show will be up in the Marysville area. Okay. A touch-a-truck event for the military.

SPEAKER_04 24:58

And then we already we said you're gonna be at the One Moto show.

SPEAKER_03 25:00

Yeah, but we're excited about Independence Oregon.

SPEAKER_04 25:03

Yes, we tell them about that. I didn't mean let's get out of the bag. Yeah, no, we're good. We're good. Yes. For everybody listening and watching, the Seattle Cossacks will be at the PacWest Motorcycle Show this year. Last year we got AMA sanctioned. Oh. So we are official AMA sanctioned event. So cool. No big deal, and we got really cool people supporting us, Mateer Motorcycle Lawyers.

SPEAKER_03 25:24

Yeah, shout out to them. They support us big time.

SPEAKER_04 25:26

Yeah, I'm really, really excited about having you guys out this year. It's gonna be awesome. And then we were chopping it up right before. We were talking you were asking me if we had a pre-party and everything, and they said, Yeah, they're bringing in some some tire burner stunt show wheelie guys, and you asked if you could perform there, and I think I'm gonna try to make that happen. That'd be pretty cool. Right? We would love to do that. I don't I don't think you know we're gonna check into it. I doubt it's gonna be a problem. So speaking of independence and the Pac West Motorcycle Show, I'm super excited about having you guys out. Should probably start wrapping up because you guys are probably on here soon. We're getting ready to open the doors here at the Spokane Center.

SPEAKER_03 25:58

Yeah, and there's a few of us, it takes a few minutes to start those bikes.

SPEAKER_04 26:00

Yeah, yeah. Let's uh let's go take a walk and show me a few of those and give me a few stories of them. Sounds good.

SPEAKER_03 26:05

Just want to say one more time thank you to you, thank you to Mathir, thank you to the Spokane Motorcycle Show. No problem. We're happy to be here and we're looking forward to independence. One more.

SPEAKER_04 26:12

How do people find you? How do we find you if they want to get a hold of you?

SPEAKER_03 26:16

Best way is www.seattalcossacks.com. Um we don't always update that website, but we're always checking it. Okay, and you guys are on the social medias. Social medias, yep, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 26:25

We'll link and tag it. We'll link and tag it all on this episode and people can find you.

SPEAKER_03 26:29

That sounds good, yeah. Cool. Come find us, come watch some shows. And on our website, we will have our current schedule on there. So if you want to go to a Cossack show, see where we're at, that's the best place.

SPEAKER_04 26:38

Perfect. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you for having us. Boys, thank you so much. Very much. Let's get that right. Perfect. Good.