Born-Free 7 Invited Builders Part 1

These photos are from Saturday. The semi cloudy weather was nice but made taking good photos a bit difficult while dodging the crowds of spectators.

This first post shows half of Invited Builders Bikes starting with my four favorites.

I didn't hear who won best builder but (to me), this bike pretty much stole the center stage. A lot of us have seen the David Mann Roth poster Building a Chopper this bike is based on, but what a great idea and really good foresight to actually build it. Looking at the poster I always thought it was a weird design with it's winged tank and never really liked this type of seat or a curved springer, but it all works when it comes together. 

This is one wicked chopper! I call it a fifteen year old's dream since it's the kind of chopper that would rock your world if seen at that age. It goes against all my adult sensibilities but really re-kindles what's left of my dwindling teenage spirit. A big tip of the hat goes out to it's builder Arie Vanscyndel.

Big Scott's Banana Cream Dream (un-official name). It would be right at home at a sixties era show.

Scott is re-living his own teenage passions with it's Schwinn Sting Ray inspired elements. Besides the seat and bars, note the risers.

Jason Weber's Booger Sugar panhead was another sixties style favorite.

Despite being somewhat squeezed into a tight corner of the display field, I believe it earned 'Peoples Choice'.

Jeff Leighton's white Triumph rounds out my top four. Another jewel of a bike that would be right at home in a sixties era show. 

It's also another bike that would have shown better had it been in the center of the field instead of at the end by a fence.  I think bikes can get a kind of overlooked when on the end of the line up.  I had to shoot over the end barrier fence to get this shot.  In the future I'd suggest making sure the bikes on the ends get a bit more walk around space.

Bobby Middleton's blown Shovster digger didn't like it's picture taken. Every shot I took (except the one below), came out blurred. 

Lane splitter?... Not... with that far out carb!

Dalton Walker's Panhead was another Digger that didn't like it's picture taken. While I'm not the biggest fan of the Digger style, I will say he was very sucessful at capturing that late 70's early 80's vibe. The fabrication skills are impressive.

Jon Rispante's Heavenly Blues. In my opinion the extreme high bars and the scalopped tank both distract from the bikes overall good looks. His builder video on the Born-Free blog is a clever take off of the Wild Angels film's opening. 

Anyone who has seen Jon's bikes already knows he's a 60's Triumph show bike fan. The furry smokey display brings it home.

Jordan Dickinson's Knucklehead appeared to be unfinished. The bare metal shows off the metal fab skills but let's hope it gets painted.

The Show Class (People's Champ), by J.P. Rodman. Tons of work and fab skills but sorry... I don't get it... especially that seat?

Kyle Edgar's Flathead is nice but the pipes and narrow bars don't quite cut it for me. If the bottom pipe was longer it would look more balanced. Maybe I'm just an old coot but I don't get the obession with extemely narrow bars a lot of guys have these days.

That will do it for now. More Invited Builder's Bikes will be coming shortly....

One Week To Go

Can you believe year 7?

Juxtaposition Is Everything

More from Angel Mark

Marc says: Larry and I were roommates at one time. We did a lot of riding together and to make it easy when we parked, we would use one chain through both rear tires to lock the bikes. Well with my Jewish star and his Nazi gas tank, we got a lot of looks.

Little Brother Larry (AKA Kansas City Larry), and his Nazi Helmet gas tank. 

Angel Marc pushing his Pan.

The photos are cut because they were once part of a collage under the glass of Marc's coffee table.

Kerry Scores

A few months ago there was a post on the Born Loser blog of a Panhead belonging to Kerry but without any information other than something like he plans on getting it back on the road. The pictures looked old. A bit later Kerry emailed me with another photo explaining that he scored an old buddy's Pan.

Sitting in a Long Beach garage for the last 22 years. It looks a lot like Kerry's Blue Velvet and Arte's '65 Pan.

The two photos below are the photos which were posted on the Born Loser Blog.

Nice Score!

Since antique bikes were getting all pluck up I had predicted some years ago that vintage choppers would become the next barn/garage finds.

Roy's Beer Keg Trike

Somehow this photo was left out when I posted Big Roy's trike a few years back. It's been in a few post. Click here for another look or search the 'Trikes' label for more.

Photo courtesy of Kerry Crist

The Mysterious Model Maker

This was sent a little bit ago by Dr. Sprocket with no explanation or any details other than the subject line 1912 H-D. Work like this blurs the line between model making and fine art sculpture.

From what I can read on the plaque: Dave Kafton 1912 H-D, 2010 Cannonball.

He also made a very cool trophy for Born-Free a couple of years ago.  Perhaps we are witnessing a whole new career is in the making.

A Wild One Favorite

One of the best scenes from The Wild One.

One of the coolest bikes in the film too.

More South Bay Coolness From Marc

Angel Mark sent these follow up photos of the South Bay Originals.

Filthy Frank wheelies while Marc (to the left), and others watch.

Marc says Big Chuck was not holding the bike up, just worried as the bike was firmly planted. That said, it does look a bit precarious.

What to do with a 65 Panhead?

As stated in an earlier post, Every now and then I do little thumbnail sketches to explore ideas floating around in my head.

Although I have all the parts to put my '65 Panhead back to it's former police orgins, I'm thinking of  having some fun with it before doing so. I even have an extra frame I could hard-tail if the urge is strong. Basically, I have almost enough extra parts to build another complete roller.

Anybody can build a nice rigid, but swingarms can be a challenge. 

The style below is practical since it's an easy bolt-on process to go back to stock.

It aint much other than sort of a Dick Hirshberg style Fat Bob. Due to the rear shocks some pipes styles (like up-sweeps), don't work well with a swingarm. A Dick Allen style collector fits the style well. 

It's A Small World After All

From The Better Late Than Never Archives

Kerry & Arte
A Short Tale of The Brotherhood Between Builders

5/27/2014
Hello Chris, how is everything?  Still liking your MC art blog. Always interesting and informative. Anyway I was really liking your story and pics about your friend Arte. I remember meeting this guy at the swap meet too, I think he bought some stuff from me. He had this red and black panhead in Supercycle that I really liked. Found out we had a mutual friend so I got together with him and went out to his place.  Back then he was the only guy that had a disc on his VL front end. So he let me measure everything up so I could do it to my bike. Very cool of him to do that. Had a great day with him checking out some of his work. Back then I thought he built some of the nicest bikes around. Saw some of his other builds in Supercycle. I agree with you that he has a certain style and that he is still building killer bikes! Does he still have that sweet pan in the pics? Man he should ride that out to born free and let some of these youngsters check out that. Do you know if he might be going? Like to say hi again. Glad to see he is still out there doing it.

Arte still has this Panhead and it looks as new as in these photos. The collector is a Dick Allen unit but Arte built the header pipes. A Cal Mag brings up the rear.

Kerry's Panhead. Other than more chrome it's pretty much the same formula from the bars to the brake. Both bikes also feature Fat Bob tanks with emblems, rear disc brakes, dual button seats, tool box and bullet (guide type), running lights.

Kerry continues:

I liked his style and simple paint jobs so much I used some of his ideas on a couple projects I did up here in Placerville. Candy red and black shovel I put together for someone and a paintjob for another guy. Sorta looks like a Arte bike.  Thought you might get a kick out of these pictures.

The South Bay Originals

This should make up for the recent lack of posts.

Around 2006-2007 I went on a mission of surfing the net to see if there were any good vintage chopper photos floating around. At that time motorcycle blogs were just starting to take off and there were some really cool photos showing up here and there. 

That exercise eventually lead to the creation of this blog in 2008. Through the blog I was fortunate to connect with guys like Joe Hurst, Bruce Parrish, Kerry Crist, and lately Angel Marc which really helped in sharing some of the best vintage chopper photos out there.

About two and a half years ago I posted three South Bay Originals photos that Joe sent and was totally knocked out by them. They especially touched me since I had memories of seeing choppers on  my visits to Hermosa Beach in the late sixties. Other than they were being shared by a few old South Bay friends on facebook, I did not know their orgins. Then recently I was contacted by Angel Marc who filled me in. As metioned in a previous post they are photos of his Huns brothers taken by the club's unofficial photographer Bill Miller.

I had hoped there were more and now it turns out there is. Marc has sent me several more to which I have included the three previously posted ones to round out this set.

They were taken around 1967 in Hermosa Beach. Some in front of the pier and a few others near the pier by the old Taco Bell. 

These are as good as it gets and it would be hard to pick a favorite. Because they were taken at night they have a great aura about them. I'd put them right up there with the classic photos of the Hells Angels by Bill Ray or Irving Penn.

2x4 Joe. He got his name after one time when his bike wouldn't start he picked up a 2x4 and beat it.

Alky Al

Filthy Frank 

Rac

Steve Drale

Ron

Dishpan Dave

BSA Bob

Lindsey

Thank you Marc for sharing.

Rat Fink Tacos & Roth

Here's a photo I shot of Taco Bill's mini bike collection at the Mooneyes Rat Fink Reunion back in 1997. 

The Roth Trike Body in the background was an extra bonus. $250 what a deal! The For Sale lettering on the body looks like Big Daddy might have written it. After all, he was in attendence that day.

South Bay Originals- Angel Marc Setting the Record Straight

My name is Marc, AKA Angel Marc.  I was a founding member of the Huns MC So. Cal. in Hermosa Beach and one of the seven Huns who patched over to became the Hells Angels So. Bay.  I moved out of California over twenty years ago. Several years ago, living away from my friends and family, I joined Facebook in order to share photos with them.  A lot of my old Brothers had passed on, Dick Allen, Fats, Randy Smith & Outlaw Chuck among them.   I decided to share the memory of them by posting some of my old photos, first on my Facebook page and then after it was started on the South Bay Originals page.  I posted quite a few old photos for my old friends to enjoy. One old friend and Brother is Joe Hurst.  I got together with Joe when I rode down to the Kern River for the Fats Memorial Run and he told me of your site and that he had sent some of the pictures I had posted to you, among them Dick Allen doing the wheelie, Frank on  trike and the bike with the Huns colors on it.  I realize that when you post on the internet, you’re showing it to the whole world, so if more people enjoy the memories of my old South Bay Brothers, that’s Ok with me.  Which brings me to the reason I’m writing to you, I want to set the record straight as to the bike with the Huns colors on it. You wrote that Joe thought it was my bike, but that beautiful Pan belonged to my Brother Bob Kurek.  Bob was shot dead the year after this picture, so I feel it is important that he gets the credit that is his as the builder/owner of that bike. I enjoyed looking at your art work and pictures.  A nice bit of history.  You have some nice pictures of Randy Smith too, so I thought I would send one of him and me from the last time I saw him.  Also sending one of Bob with his bike.  Use any of the pictures you like, quote me if you want, but at least put Bob’s name with his bike.  Oh and most of the pictures I have were taking by a free lance photographer named Bill Miller.  He was like our unofficial club photographer.

 Angel Marc and his Pan circa 1967.

Hun's at the wall behind Taco Bell in Hermosa Beach. Left to Right: Marc, Lindsey, Dishpan Dave, Filthy Frank, Nez with Copper up front.

Bob Kurek with his Panhead.

One story was left out of Marc's email which will be included in a future post.

Joe Hurst always says the history of the South Bay Chopper really can't start without the tales of Marc and his brothers at that time. Therefore, my thanks goes out to Marc for sharing this history.

XAVW Von Dutch, Ed Roth & Randy Smith

Most of you have probably heard of Von Dutch's XAVW (the VW powered motorcycle once featured on American Pickers), but may not know this part of it's history. It seems that Von Dutch might have been disappointed with the results, so took it apart and sold or traded it to Ed Roth. Randy Smith, an admirer of Von Dutch, bought it as a basket case from Roth and put it back together. 

Volksworks.com said Randy moved to Tennessee taking the XAVW with him where it sat in a barn for 30 or so years. Thanks to MC art reader (Doc), he says it was actually Tom Burke who took it to Tennesse.

Many people credit Mike Wolf for saving this incredible piece of Von Dutch's work, but if it wasn't for Randy Smith, it might have never been saved in the first place.

The article below from Custom Chopper magazine dated May '71 does not mention Roth, but several sources state that his name is still on the registration/title.

Go Fast - Look Good

 My buddy Arte sent me this ad.

Love the motto. From the Randy Smith memorial page.