Suthbrother Checks In

Hey Chris,

I found this early '69 pen drawing I did in History class
at eighteen. I was always doing these instead of taking
notes.

As you can see, my knowledge was based on vague
impressions of what a chopper might look like as we
hadn't purchased ours yet. Btw, that's a binder
ring hole on the left.

I've been spending a lot of time reading your postings.
Bobber-Not a Bobber was great. Wondered
if the owners of those crappy looking fakers ever got
back to you with hate mail.

Later man,
Garster

Gary, My early drawings also suffered from lack of knowledge, I too drew push rods on the left side. It's still a nice "gesture" sketch. No haters yet. So far the comments and email has been supportive.
CK.

"Living in America"

My first bike was a 71 sportster that I painted white. This makes me want to paint my 72 white.

I took a photo of this 45 cover 4 years ago when I was helping a DJ musician with his house. He loved it so much that it was pinned to the wall at one time.

I can dig it.

Yesterday's Long Beach Swap Meet

Here in SoCal we're pretty fortunate for a few things. Not only can we ride all year but, we also have a great swap meet every month, and like usual I scored some great parts. Besides the assortment of parts it's also like going to a monthly informal show. For me, this is Sunday morning religion.

Amongst a sea of twin cams you'll usually see some interesting bikes so, after my third trip to the car to unload parts, I grabbed my camera and hoped some of the cooler bikes were still around.

This 62 had a cool presence that doesn't quite come across in the photos. Engine and trans were just rebuilt. Perfect example of a bike that's been kept alive by the swap meet. Tanks are 59 -60, bags and foot boards are from the 70's.


Those yellow ignition wires aren't helping any. A note said it also included a foot shift/hand clutch. Asking price was $11.5 obo.


I can't remember a meet when I didn't see this well ridden shovel parked up front. Seasoned bike equals seasoned rider.


A very nice knuck. Minor stuff like the modern rear brake and foot controls are a bit out of place for my taste. None too sure about that tail pipe but still a clean ride.


Turned out to be a fairly rare 41 model.


This original paint 1970 Electra-Glide is also always parked out front. I'd rather see old worn chrome than white paint.


The Garage Company usually has some pretty cool bikes for sale. You could be tying down this S&S powered Pan in your truck for $18.5. It's part of their recycling program. They buy parts at LB and build bikes like this with them.


Can you believe I heard a guy say to his friend, "hey look, a old Triumph"? Besides not knowing bikes, I guess he couldn't read.


Clean half 'n' half stock bobber Knuck.


The owner of this decked out 37 UL mentioned it was a ten year old restoration.


Although he acted like it was giving him problems, it started on the 4th or 5th kick. That tells you just how reliable those old flatheads are.

One day I'll probably leave LA and when I do, I'll miss the swap meet the most.

Knuckleheads Forever But,...

Remember this one?

Old T-shirt art (Not Mine)

Hardley David

For the Hippy Haters

This cartoon used to run in the back of Roth's Choppers Mag. They were signed Luke but it looks like Ed Newton's art.

The Shocking Truth

More Sutherland Brothers Photos

Once again some photos from my buddy Gary Sutherland. I'll let him do the talking.

Here we go...
We took these color shots in the Haight district in SF in the late 60s, can't recall exactly.

This chick seems to have had the first cell phone.

Lar just returned from Nam so it was probably early 69. Back then bikes were crude... even as late as 69. This was before Altamont. Notice the poorly rendered death head on the first color photo.


Gypsy Jokers and HA

Wild trike was motivated by a big block Olds.

The last color shot was taken at the Atlanta Pop Festival, July of 69... always wondered if this guy got lost... seems out of place for the redneck environs of Georgia. This was before the release of Easy Rider and we know how that film ended.

What's she smoking? Bare feet and hot pipes, a bad mix.

Btw, I found a notation on one of the knuck photos saying the total cash outlay was $1,997 total.

Bobber

Not a Bobber Part 2

I'm only posting bikes that were found labeled as Bobbers. Let's see how they fare on the Ol' Bobber Meter.

Bobber


Not a Bobber


Bobber


Not a Bobber

The More You Know...
This has been a Public Service Message.

WHAT SORT OF MAN READS MC ART?

A man's man. The sort of man that takes life by the handlebars and won't let go. A hip guy who knows where to find the MotorCycle entertainment his two-wheeled soul desires.

From Roth's Choppers Magazine 1967

Big Mother on the Creepy Crawler. Also used as a poster from "Some of the Country's Grooviest Bike People" series. When I saw it in Roth's ads, it was amongst my earliest exposure to choppers.

Pig was also in a poster but not this shot. He built a trike that was featured in a later issue.

More Williams via Roth

From March 68

VALENTINE'S DAY

Happy Friday the

Have a good one! There's three of them this year.

No superstitions here.

Drag Trike?

Very cool but, ...

this is what happens when you can't decide if you want a Fuel Altered or a Drag Bike.

Millar, Roth, and Robert Williams Patches

Stuff like this was "kick starting" my interest.

As stated in an earlier post, Pete Millar was a hero of mine. Since Pete and Ed were friends there was always something in Drag Cartoons about Ed, and many issues featured his ads. As Roth's ads began to increase their emphasis on choppers, so did my interest.


SHOCKING!?... more like WOW! At age 12, This was my only glimpse of the art and lifestyle. A Williams' biker holds a David Mann poster.

I had no idea who was drawing this stuff but I knew I liked it. At some point I learned of Ed Newton and David Mann. Many moons passed until I realized Robert Williams was another important Roth Studios artist.

The DC Roth ads from Jan. 68 and 67. I'd peer at these little images with awe and wonder. For many years, I only saw this stuff at this scale.


A whimsical Williams character pitches his patches. Only Robert could come up with such fun weirdness.


Robert aboard Roth's evolving "Oink", the coolest swing arm of them all!


Once familiar with his style, there's no doubt Robert's the artist.


The effect on my small brain. The influence of Williams' Devil's Chopper patch (above), and Newton's art (below), is evident. At that time I had no real knowledge of a Harley's workings. Note... push rods on left side. Most clues were gleaned from ads or the drawings by a school chum.

Ed Newton's art, also helped me get my head straight

Suthbros, HA on Wheels and More

Gary Sutherland sent more photos. I'll let him tell the tale behind the photo below. Sprinkled within the story is their later knucklehead build photos.

Hey Chris,

Here's that photo of me and my bro taken in the parking lot of the Bakersfield Inn during the filming of 'Hells Angels on Wheels'.

On the set 1966. Teenie boppin wanna-bee Heaven. Gary's with top hat on the left, Brother Larry with biker vest , on the right.

This was late Sept-Oct of '66. There was a guy with a moving van full of Harleys which he rented out to the studios and Hollywood production companies. He had a bunch of hogs parked in the lot in front of the Bakersfield Inn motel.

1969 Suthbros later basket case project

He was a collector of nazi regalia which gave us an 'in'. We showed him some of the medals and patches Larry had sewn onto his levi vest. This peaked the guy's interest. Kind of a big guy with an east coast accent. We were a little intimidated because we were still in our mid teens and looked like teenie bopper wanna-bees. He let us horse around on the bikes and said if any of the bikers gave us any shit, he'd kick their asses.

P.S. off to the side it looked like they were constructing some sort of mannequin with outstretched arms that they place on a trashed-out bike. I never got the significance of that until I saw how the movie ended. Let me tell ya... it looked just as cheesy on screen as it did in real life.

Gary later wrote:

Larry had a silver WW2 Wiermact Nazi dagger sewn onto the vest. On the back he'd painted a winged skull with the name 'Grim Reapers'.

That evening we returned to the Inn where the bikers were congregated and drinking beer. I think they were getting ready to shoot the last scene. I heard one of the bikers laughingly comment on Larry's attire... "Hey check out that guy", they all laughed "Ha Ha Ha". I ran off and told Lar he better not wear it, or risk getting stomped... "Hey man, those Hell's Angels were laughing at your vest" He couldn't get it off fast enough.

We later got to know a lot of these guys. They were mostly locals. There was an old club house behind the Bakersfield Inn were the bikers would meet. Larry knew one of them and impressed the club president with his photography skills. They were actually going to recruit him as their club photographer. They were even going to let him wear their colors with "photographer" on the rocker under the club insignia.

Later came the "Gun" incident. One of the members, a guy named Gene Lemond, showed up one night and needed one of Larry's guns for protection. Lar tried to reclaim it and they all turned on him. "hey man, that's Gene's gun... and you ain't leaving this house with it". Well, that was that.

The sad part was, I kind of liked hanging out at that place. There was this huge Nazi ship flag hanging on their living room wall... the drapes were always drawn and that flag was very prominent. Also, they had the cleanest bikes I'd ever seen. Showbikes, lots of chrome with molded frames and cobwebbing. These guys were meticulous.

Here's a shot of me wearing the ubiquitous fur hat we were talking about.
Bring Back the Fur Hat!

I'd mentioned to Gary, how some of the LIFE magazine photos showed guys wearing those fur hats you used to see.

Old School, Chopper Heaven, Out West Art Prints

I haven't posted much in the last few days, been setting up my new online Gallery/Store. In addition to the Desert Chopper prints (which I already plugged), the following prints are now available in the Gallery.

Old School


Chopper Heaven


Out West

I didn't want to "clog the blog" with a bunch of sales buttons and crap so that's all going to be in the Gallery where you can chose to look or not. I'll still show and tell here but all the detailed information will be in the Gallery.

Studio Still Life