What is so special about motorcycles?

I was thinking about this last night. What is it about motorcycles that make them beautiful and so attractive? Even the biggest chrome barge and the shittiest rat bike - if they run - still have an underlying beauty - style, or lack there of, aside.

I think what makes motorcycles so beautiful and fascinating is that they are the simplest form of powered vehicle and yet they are reliable and powerful.

Look at the gas tank - no pump is necessary to make it work... gravity, the simplest force, makes it work. The gas goes to the back of the tank and drains out, if you go up hill, it gets the gas back there, if you go down hill, it doesnt matter because you dont need gas to go down hill. You dont need a battery to make a motorcycle run, you can kick them or even roll them down hill.

Motorcycles require little, if any, suspension - a little air in the tire and some springs on your seat. And in the end, two pulleys run the whole show - one to the transmission and one to the wheel. Hell you dont even need the transmission.

Motorcycles offer little protection - maybe a fender to keep the mud and water off, or maybe not. If you want to protect yourself, you wear goggles and a jacket....

Sure, we all know or see people with dvd players and cup holders and heaters and probably air conditioners on their bikes. In a sense, that merely reinforces the utility of the vehicle. And underneath all that interesting crap, there is still a simple machine that will start and go even if you pull all that off.

The simplicity makes the machine a great platform for power and artistic innovation. It is literally one man, one machine. Personal, yet universal.

So next time you see the billet barge lumbering down the lane, go ahead and admit that you love it -- you love what it is in its soul.

Technorati Tags: motorcycle, chopper, panhead, beauty, art, asthetic, function over form

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beyond vintage

Been an interesting few days.  I picked up a donor, but it wasn't what I intended, it just all came about at once. 

I was bound and determined to build a nice sporty hardtail.  I had it all worked out as well, but days of fretting and figuring ended up playing against me and I decided to let it go.  There were a lot of reasons.  I love sportsters but messing with chopping something new and expensive is sometimes a bit daunting.  I'm sure it would be no big deal, but it just doesn't seem as much fun. 

So I was sitting pondering how I was going to make this sporty thing work when I just decided it wasn't going to happen.  Too many factors.  One of the big factors was that no matter how you look at vintage Honda CB750 choppers, they are just bad ass.  Nothing says chopper more than a stretched, chopped, CB750.  Nothing like the contrast between long skinny bike and that huge, wide engine.  That fat heavy but nimble, powerful mill.


So all this time, it's like "that Sporty isn't REALLY what you want".. no matter how cool you make a sport custom bike, it is still a sporty and they are pretty common.  What I wanted was still the anti-harley.  It's been the theme continuously and why I have a Triumph and a Moto Guzzi.

So instead of thousands to buy a Sport to tear apart, I spent a couple hundred. 



I wasn't expecting much for the price.  The owner said that it ran, but that there were problems with the charging and battery ... blah blah blah...

I didn't expect it start, esp after he had to put another battery on it to crank it.  But it fired up immediately.  And it was music.  Not many bikes have that much character out of the box.

So now it is home.  Waiting for the time I can devote to getting it going into something.  I know what I want and it is lurking just about.  I just have to get it to that point...

Speaking of vintage.  Some people were posting cool photos on the Jockey Journal, so I thought I would add a few.  These are beyond vintage and really demonstrate what even the early motorcycles could do.  I thought I would add a couple because they are interesting and great shots of the detail of the bikes to a small degree.  These were in Mexico chasing Pancho Villa...




And of course, to give equal time, the great guerrilla himself....



Be good






















Technorati Tags: honda, cb750, cb 750, vintage, harley, pancho villa, villa, pancho, mexico, pershing, indian

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Evo Bastards? What's wrong with sportys?

Funny.

I've seen a lot of posts on some boards that kind of poke people who chop, wrench or ride Evos because they aren't riding some 'classic' engine or bike.  If it is new, it must not be worthy of running because it doesn't require constant maintenance just to get to the grocery store....

I've never owned a new, or even current model Harley, while the model was actually current.  It wasn't until a few years ago I could even afford to buy a new motorcycle.  I bought a Triumph for a lot of personal reasons, not the least of which I have owned Triumphs before, they are a little more unique, and my old man owned and wrenched them back in the day.

Sure 45s are cool.  I spent a bunch of cash trying to get a 45 together and frankly, trying to find every blessed piece and part gets tedious.  If I really wanted one that bad today, I'd just buy one that is running.

But back then, the boys weren't riding and cutting 45s because they were classic or bad ass, in fact, until just a few years ago, you could still pick them up for a pretty good price.  They have only become more 'classic' now that other models are out of reach.

But the boys were wrenching them because they were cheap, parts were plentiful and there was a lot of info out there and experience, based on the military and gov't use.

The simple fact is that popular means available.  Right now, there isn't much out there that is as plentiful and inexpensive as an Evo Sportster - in the sense of used US or European iron.  The Jap stuff is holding its value pretty well these days and isn't much cheaper than used Evos, if it even is.  Of course, the used Jap stuff will probably net you more bang for the buck as far as displacement and horsepower goes.

But the guys who think that you must ride a pan just because that's what the guys in the 60s and 70s rode are missing out on the whole point.  At the time, the pans were the evos, twin cams and shovels of their day - cheaper and more plentiful and a good parts base. 

There is probably nothing 'classic' about the Evo look - although I'm starting to think maybe there is a classic look sitting in there.  But there is something to be said for the idea that you can get a running bike as a donor or rider that is both inexpensive and fairly reliable.  I know there is nothing more sexy than a bike that has to be wrenched on every time you fill up the tank, BUT, I have news for you... there is nothing LESS sexy than a bike that doesn't run.

Once I decided I was going to go over to the Evo side, I started noticing just how common they were amongst builders and chop-ers.  I would even bet, in a related way, many of the current new builds using shovels and some pan heads are actually new mills built as shovel heads and pan heads, as S&S sells these days. 

Panheads are of course, about the most classic design there is.  Sure knuckleheads are cool just because they are rare and take some skill to make run and keep running.  In fact, most knickles have to be restored to get to the hard running bike.  That process of restoration and rejuvenation is a huge part of what makes the knuckle beautiful.  But for sheer styling and retro cool, it's the Panhead.

I would love to buy one and love to ride one.  I'm sure I can afford one these days.  But the cool that I could garner from owning and riding one, would only be a bit more than the generic cool of building/customizing your own ride, regardless of what it is.  So for a lot less money and a lot more riding time, the Evo seems to be the one to beat these days.

When I get my Evo going and have what I want, when I want it, I think then I will probably start to look for something more classic to hobby with.  Not because I won't be cool until I get one, let's face it, my cool days are probably passed... but because I would like one.

But it won't be long before the next generation comes along and they will be looking for that Evo look, well just as soon as we can get a cool movie with the type of influence that Easy Rider had, to showcase the Evo and make us all leaving the theater wanting the bike and forgetting about the other lessons of the movie...

What matters is riding, not what you ride...  unless of course youre at Panstock - and then it matters...










  Technorati Tags: 45, 74, 61, evo, sportster, flathead, panhead, sporty, harley, evo bastards

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Custom chops, bobbers and knobbers

First, I promised a picture, this one has always been popular.  I called it the world's ugliest Indian.  I caught this at Smoke Out West I.  It has subsequently been featured in a couple magazines, I believe Cycle Source, but hey, I was mistaken once before.



This one pic has made my server go over quota more than once on traffic, so much so that I had to move the picture and change my web server plan.  Too cool.  The bike is an awesome example of the clever use of parts and the marrying up of diverse parts from "incompatible" (?) bikes.  Not to mention a good dose of style and a little humor.  I dont know how far he rode it to get to Cottontree/Cottonwood (WTF) AZ, but it must have been interesting.

I hear SOW is going to be in Santa Rosa NM this year?  Somebody did a WTF comparison and noted that Santa Rosa was 1000 miles from LA and 1500 miles from Rockingham, NC.  How is that WEST?  I mean are they trying to make it easier for the Easties to show up?  West is west.  Needs to be in AZ or CA.   Just they way it is.



 


Technorati Tags: indian, ugliest indian, smoke out, smoke out west, SOW

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Las Vegas, Sammy Hagar and Motorcycles

Vegas.  I used to hate Vegas.  It all seemed luck such a tourist trap and a money gouge - and it is.  But I have never really tried to enjoy myself like I would in any other town.  The gambling wears off quick.  We won about enough to pay for our room and a couple meals.  Then we spent twice as much partying. 

Our goal was to rest by the pool for 3 days, but we spent all of about 3 hours by the pool.  No rental car.  We were going to taxi or walk, but instead we discovered the bus!  The Deuce that roams the strip at about 2 miles an hour proved to be fairly good transportation.  7 bucks for 24 hours or 15 bucks for 3 days.  At least no matter what happens, if you are close to the strip, you have a ride eventually.

We also scored a private driver to the Palomino.  The Palomino is on the extreme north end of town, past the old downtown and the Fremont Experience, and on into North Las Vegas.  But we had a blast at the Palomino, even if we blew a bunch of cash (and credit>)...

We got some cheap internet rooms at the Tuscany Suites.  Not a bad place for the great price my wife got.  But we decided from now on, we are headed for the old downtown.  The Fremont Experience wasn't anything to write home about, but anyplace you can walk, semi drunk, and not have to worry about cars, listen to live bands rocking, step in and gamble, buy trinkets, etc, all at one place, is pretty cool.  Cross over Las Vegas Blvd after youre done into the REAL part of town and check out the Griffin and the Beauty Shop.  We stumbled onto some live music in a very casual setting. 

Even google maps doesnt venture far down here. But let's face it, THIS is where you would hang out if you lived here.... 

The Strip is of course fun for oogling the tourists, if ya know whaddi mean...  We saw the leather covered chopper in Vince Neil's Ink...  It was definitely cool if impractical.  For some reason, I decided I was too cool for my camera, and now I missed out on pics of the Leather bike and an even BETTER creation at the Hard Rock Hotel on display next to the HRH shops.  Right next to the John Varvatos clothing store, or whatever the fuck it was.  I saw a cool pair of shoes in there and I snuck in to check them out, before any sales people could hone in on me.  Not bad, a quick glance at the price tag ....  848 bucks !?!  WTF???  Over?  Man a guy could by a frame for that price....  so I decided just to wear my own shoes until they were a cool, 'distressed' vintage leather.... fuck me to tears...

SO, I have no new pictures of cool bikes to share, today anyway. 

Heading out we had a bite in Sammy Hagar's beach bar in the McCarran Airport.  I didn't know it was a Sammy Hagar thing until I was sitting down and bludgeoned to death with the Sammy Hagar slide show.  Talk about Pimp My Sammy.... !!!  SO we got some nachos (the wife was jonesing and that was the reason we went in...).  The nachos were for shit.  Crummy chips, not like blue and white corn, just some cheap ass corn chips.  I got a Marguerita.  who can screw up a 'Rita?  Well, it wasnt bad, mind you.  Sammy has his own signature brand of Tequila...  but when I realized I was charged 13 bucks....  I thought she billed me for two, then I thought maybe it was a double.  Recheck the menu and... hmmm there are no prices on the 'Ritas.... well I'll be damned.... talk about caveat emptor...  Anyway, it was a mediocre 8 buck marguerita.  Talk about hype.

You know Vegas is about hype, nothing new there.  But I think I spent about 18 minutes in the Hard Rock.  I've been to the Hard Rock in Cairo and it was a cool place.  Pretty small with cool memorabilia on the walls.  This place was massive and impersonal, but man, the fucking POSERS.... everywhere.  I mean, afterall, it's just a casino....  Staying there or playing there doesnt make you Angelina.... hell I doubt she would be caught dead there...

But this idea that I might go to a restaurant because it has the name of a rockstar... or stay someplace just because it is expensive or has some name association... that is just plain dumb.  I just because you make great music doesnt mean you know shit about tacos...  Just because Elvis was the King, and he owned caddys and Harleys doesnt mean he could wrench on them.  Well, let's not bring Elvis into this, he hasn't done anything wrong....

So, it's time I get this off the ground.  I have a couple blogs, but I'm done with them.  I'm done with politics.  I want to spend some time with shit that makes me happy, not aggravated.  Anymore than computers aggravate just by existing...

....... hang in there

~mike  

 Technorati Tags: motorcycle, v-twin, chopper, its a chopper baby

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