South Bay Riders Late 70's

More photos courtesy of Kerry Crist.

Gary from the Dairy. His bike looks a bit like a cross between White Bear (paint style), and Earing Mike's chopper (dual seats & anodizing). Dick Allen springer, chrome rear fender, Sportster headlight, open primary, flip up gas cap, and Bruce Parrish paint, all common features among many South Bay Bikes.

Gary, Tim, Little Bob, and Big Roy on the 405. More on Big Roy's trike to come.

R.I.P. Neil

It's a sad state of affairs when the first astronaut to walk on the moon dies of old age before we pick up where we left off with the Apollo missions.

Born Free 4 Engine Art

No blab, just eye candy. Some photos aren't of the best quality, but they'll have to do.

South Bay Originals II

As Frank Zappa once said "you want some more? ...well here's some more!"Joe Hurst sent these photos via Angel Marc's FaceBook page. Ownership of these bikes are based on his recollections.

It doesn't get better than this. Filthy Frank and his trike on the Hermosa Beach strand. It just screams of the era and illustrates how drag racing and hot rods were influencing the chopper scene. That's the oil tank on the back bone and the gas tank up on the forks. This is the kind of stuff that got me hopped up as a kid. I remember seeing a trike with beer keg seats running around town back then. This might have been it.
Joe thought this was Angel Marc's bike, but Marc now (updated 1/13/15), informs me it belong to his Brother Bob Kurek. If you were a Hun, one day you faced a choice, become an Angel, or be nothing. Joe believed that Randy Smith was responsible for these photographs and the last set of South Bay Originals posted. Marc says most of the photos were taken by free lance photographer Bill Miller who was like an unofficial club photographer.

Speaking of South Bay Originals...

...the Mermaid Restaurant at the foot of the pier in Hermosa Beach closed on July 29th. It will reopen under new management until the new owners get approval to build a hotel which could take 2 years. That means the whole block including the Poop Deck will then get torn down. The Mermaid has been there for 62 years. The step daughter of the deceased original owner Quentin “Boots” Thelen said, the family had to sell since they can't pay the 49% estate taxes on the land (from Good Stuff to the Mermaid), valued at $24.5 million. It's kind of strange since "Boots" had passed away on the same day July 29th, 5 years ago.

This is the last face of old Hermosa and it should have been designated a historical site. I hate to see it go.

Born-Free 4-4 Some From the Field.

Starting with a Flathead. Bones Legacy brought out several wild bikes. Why they all have to have extreme showboat features is beyond me? I suppose it works for a show setting since there was always a crowd around them, but lots of lookers doesn't always translate into positive attention. At this length there maybe leverage issues but I wonder why you never see folks running a milder version of these springer rockers, for say a couple of inches or so of added height?


This 45 would be much nicer if you removed some of the gee wiz stuff. Yeah, I said it. I'm sorry I didn't get shots of their Pan VL.


Again, nice craftsmanship but those pipes... really?!!!


Interesting Sporty. Hard tails and this kind of height aren't usually seen together. Wish I'd taken a better look at it. Is that a rear head spun around and mounted up front?


Last year's give away bike. It's getting ridden.


Slims latest personal bike. I don't think I've seen a chopped Mach III since the Seventies. It's got to be fast as hell.


Was this ridden in? Strange choice of wheels and tires. What's up with that fender?


Ending with a Flathead. Something a little more restrained, Drew's UL.

WHAT SORT OF MAN READS MC ART?

A hands on man. The sort of man who's in touch with his machine. The kind of guy who knows where to find MotorCycle entertainment that's totally in tune with his own interests and tastes.
Foreground photo of Loose Bruce adjusting Earring Mike's chopper courtesy of Kerry Crist.

More Earring Mike

In the Blue Velvet post, I mentioned that Kerry Crist had sent me some old photos from the South Bay scene. First off, more of Earring Mike and his Sano Shovel.

This profile shot shows off how the bike sits. That's one beautiful springer.


What a Jewel! It bears repeating just how nice the details and metal work is on this machine.


This is truly Engine Art. The big chromed out SU carb is beautiful. I find it interesting how the early cam cover looks high tech when anodized gold. I really like this (the original version), of the winged gas tank. Paint by Bruce Parrish.


A bit of frame stretch can really keep a bike low. From left to right, Gary from the Dairy, Mike, and Big Roy.

Click Here to see all Earring Mike Posts.

This Month's Header

You probably couldn't tell how much I like Flatheads based on the lack of postings on them, so I'm dedicating this month to the Flathead Harley. There is just some 'thing' about them.

The Header's art is from this Bic pen drawing, sketched while day dreaming in class. A sharp eye will pick up some similarities with Joe Hurst's White Bear. I love the look of these engines. I've probably doodled more 45's than any other bike.