Camo Stahlhelm

Modern Art?
This old WWI helmet's pattern would be cool for an old bob job's paint. The Germans were probably the first to use camouflage. The colors makes me wonder, where were they hiding?

Credit Where It's Due

It figures. Irish Rich's blog was the place I saw the ad. I had a sneaking suspicion it might be there... and it was only posted last January. Should have double checked. The ol brains going to mush.

Bombay Buzzard

I forgot to post this photo (for the story below), I stole from Irish Rich awhile ago. It clearly shows Buzzard with the Bombay Taxi Horn. I cleaned it up and tweaked it. Sorry Rich.

The Buzzard Mann Connection

Laid Back Jammin. Roth's pal Buzzard was featured in one of his "The Country's Grooviest Bike People" Posters. Note the antique bulb horn on the left side pullbacks. Was he the first to build six-bends? This bike is Bitchin! and there's a good reason this shot looks like a David Mann painting.


Buzzard in a early Choppers Magazine Wheelie Prones ad. It's a somewhat confusing ad for risers and slugs. Extending and trimming wide glide trees and legs seemed to be his specialty. He had also placed a few ads in the Beg Borrow and Steal classified section promoting these services. Buzzard later wrote an article on the subject for the Nov. '68 issue.


David Mann circa 1969. I remember seeing one of those ads stating that Buzzard was selling his bike since he was off to the "Joint", but can't find it. I also read somewhere that David Mann was the guy that bought it. For the longest time I didn't put the two together. Dave lost the front brake.


Dave and the bike in 1970. Now painted black featuring an SU carb, drag pipes, longer forks, and Finned Dish Pans.


Here you can clearly see a large brass horn mounted on the bars.


Art imitates life. Dave even used the bike as inspiration for this later Easyriders center spread art. The six-bend pullbacks, unique high pipes, and fork boots give it away. Note the entry info taped to pillar.


Later, when it was featured in Choppers Magazine Aug. '73 it sported a 20" over D&D springer and frame. This article never mentions that the bike was once owned by Buzzard. It does mention him as his friend and the builder of the Ankh sissy bar and pullbacks. I believe this sissy bar was on the bike when Buzzard owned it, but the additional side supports are not in the top photo. The article states the brass horn as being from a Bombay Taxi and questions how Dave acquired it. It also states that since the shoot, Dave had gone back to the original H-D frame and wide glide. What really puzzles me, I don't recall Easyriders ever doing a feature on Dave's bike?

Update

This familiar shot was recently posted on The Shame of it All blog. It shows a different horn on the bars. The top Buzzard photos look to be the larger Bombay Taxi horn.

This Month's Header

The photo for this month's header was the second post on the blog and was posted before I knew I'd be doing a monthly masthead. I felt it's just too good not to use this way, plus some of you may never have gone back that far to see it.

That's me on the left. Greg's mom took the photo in their backyard. For more on it, click this: Some History We really need to recreate this photo again.

Favorite Von Dutch Sign/Taking Off

I'm going to be away from the blog for a bit. Feel free to leave your comments and I'll post them when I can. In the mean time....
I leave you with my favorite Von Dutch sign.

From the Brucker auction

Dumb Stuff: Ugly, Lame, or Stupid...

or How to Destroy a Perfectly Good Motorcycle.

I've been holding back for a bit.

This blog is mostly about what I like, but like the header says, also Dumb Stuff. Those of you who have been reading the blog for awhile probably kind of "get" what I like and what I don't, so here we go.

Ugly, Lame and Stupid... and a waste of Knuckle Heads.


Grubby old bikes are OK with me, but I don't see how just piling on Garbage is cool.

Speaking of Garbage....

Holy Swiss Cheese! It slices and dices! There's a lot going on here.


I believe Ness makes these foot boards. Money and chrome don't necessarily=Cool.


Theme Bikes. WTF? The guy checking it out basically sums it up.

I've said it before: "Just cause ya don't like it, doesn't mean it ain't fun to look at!"

Last Born

You really don't need me to post a ton of photos of bikes that have already been all over the blogs, so this will be it.







History repeats itself. I predict... After everyone gets their fill of the Bates solo, contoured seats will be back.




Cool shirt


For the the last 10+ years guys have gone back to an aggressive riding position, but there's something to be said for the long laid back style of the early 70's.


Photo: Mike Davis
Final note: When I walked back to my bike, who was checking it out? None other than "Sugar Bear". A King of Long Choppers checking out a stock bike? I asked him if he wanted to cut it up? It turned out he once owned a '70. His ol'lady was trying to get him to leave so I didn't bother him for a photo. It was a pleasure talking with him and a nice way to end the day.

Ed Newton, Big Twin Again

Ed Newton, Art Hero 3

Here's an old AEE/ Ed Newton ad I kept from a 1969 Cycle Guide.


Ed Newton had been doing all kinds of cool art and designs for Roth. Since Roth and Tom Mc Mullen were friends, I guess it was natural for Newton to design the Big Twin. During this period, nobody was doing cooler stuff than Newton.

This Month's Header

For October I figured a Halloween themed header was the way to go.


At first, I was just going to post this art, then decided it would be better if it was something motorcycle related. I then thought, maybe I could make it a cool trike using part of my KnuckleReaper art.


The donor art.


It took about 4 hours of tweaking and color retouching to blend the bike into the scene. I think it came out pretty neat.

First Born

Highlights from last Saturday's Born Free Show


After pulling in, this was the first bike that caught my eye.


Row after row of old's'cool scoots showed up.

You don't often see bobbed stock fenders on chops like this. Check out the old time fork extension technique.

"Look at dem Brit bikes"!


OK, I'll come clean. I was the dude responsible for picking Best Shovel. The vintage style, stance, and the unique paint theme sealed the deal.

What sort of man reads MC art? Who the F#@K knows? If this guy had shown up just a wee earlier, He would have snagged Best Shovel.

Some of the hard charging staff. Mike was running all over and Grant was the MC. All day tons of Free stuff was given away. So much that, if you didn't win, you truly must be a Born Loser.

Not all the cool rides were chopped.


I love this style of sporty.


I believe John Edwards won Best of Show. It cracked me up when I saw him ride in wearing that real WWII German helmet. Later, he introduced himself, seems like a good guy.

This Pan just didn't want it's photo taken (every shot came out blurred). I had to include it anyway.
The show was a complete success and the gang should be happy. Where else can you see so many of the coolest rides around, enjoy free food and drinks (yes beer) , and win some really good stuff. Not just t-shirts and stickers but, stuff like Roth air scoops, and custom kicker pedals.

The only thing not cool about the show was the weather. It was about 100°. The high temp and glaring SUN took it's toll on my camera, as an unusual number of my pictures came out bad, therefore some bikes won't get covered. Or, ...maybe it was the beer.
More to come.