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New Retro
Found this over at the BubbleVisor blog. Chad Hodges is a designer who dreamed these up as an alternative to modern full face helmets that all look the same. I believe he's just waiting for a company to back him or purchase the idea before we can all rock these sweet lids. I'll take a black and yellow please.
Indian Summer
It's been really hot the last few days. We're about a mile or so from the ocean and escaped the summer's heat this year, but not now. It was 109º nearby on Monday. Downtown L.A. set a record at 113º, 6º warmer than some of the local desert cities.
Just a lame excuse to post this.
Just a lame excuse to post this.
Finally broke down.
Just a quick note. I'm happy to say I have a new Gerbing's heated vest on order with my local dealer. I'll post my thoughts after a few weeks use.
The Bomb....er
I'm occasionally criticized by friends for my choice of gloves. For the majority of the year I wear thin bicycle or dirt bike gloves rather than proper protection. I have other gloves, I just prefer how these feel on the grips. Recently I found a good compromise, the fox Bomber glove. Still a fox glove like the thin ones I use on my mountain bike but made for motocross they offer a decent level of protection while being cheap and fairly stylish. Mine are black, naturally.
modifikasi street fighter picture
modifikasi streetfighter pictures 2
street fighter pictures 3
honda streetfighter pictures 4Fighter Friday
Friday already? I was in the city rather late so this morning I searched around and found this Moto Guzzi custom. It was built by Filippo Barbacane out of a Griso 8v and apparently he has plans to produce a few more just like it. This is so clean it could be a Guzzi concept bike, but i'll allow it cause it's still rather cool.
The El Camino Conundrum
El Camino can be a hard show to completely take in. The show opens at 8 a.m. and is basically over by noon. Yes trophies are announced around 2 p.m., but pretty much everybody else has split. Not a lot of time to fit it all in, especially when you get there around 9:00.
You don't really see things if your busy looking through a camera, so sometimes it 's best to put the camera down and just take in the experience.
Here's the drill. If I'm taking pictures, I'm really not checking out the show bikes. If I'm really checking out the bikes, I'm not taking pictures, or looking for parts. If I'm looking at parts, I don't have time for the first two activities. Then throw into the mix, running into friends every 10-15 minutes or talking with someone who is admiring the same bike you happen to be standing by. The day will race by, and later I'll think, what happened?
So here's my (limited) highlights of what happened.
A well restored early Sportster will always dazzle me. This '61 belongs to Glenn Bator. It started with 3 kicks and sounded real sweet. The overcast skies don't bring out the color quite as good as it really looked.
I didn't get a chance to read the board behind this bike.
The owner of this Super-Glide really wanted to sell it. It has a few incorrect items but is still very nice.
This black VL is refreshing.
Lowrider anyone?
It's nice to see old grubby bikes are still surfacing.
This was the first time I saw Keith Ball's Peashooter.
That tank art looks familiar? The fire extinguisher is actually an oil tank.
Original paint Sprint.
Police bikes shouldn't have whitewalls and look so much better without them.
Some probably hate the green. I like it much more than the typical red Injuns.
Can't go wrong with black.
These might be the best tank emblems HD ever offered.
Didn't see many vintage chops this year.
This sums up how this year went. I didn't take many photos, didn't really see all or check the bikes out that well, bought only one part, talked with several friends and a few other enthusiast.
Still a good time overall.
You don't really see things if your busy looking through a camera, so sometimes it 's best to put the camera down and just take in the experience.
Here's the drill. If I'm taking pictures, I'm really not checking out the show bikes. If I'm really checking out the bikes, I'm not taking pictures, or looking for parts. If I'm looking at parts, I don't have time for the first two activities. Then throw into the mix, running into friends every 10-15 minutes or talking with someone who is admiring the same bike you happen to be standing by. The day will race by, and later I'll think, what happened?
So here's my (limited) highlights of what happened.
A well restored early Sportster will always dazzle me. This '61 belongs to Glenn Bator. It started with 3 kicks and sounded real sweet. The overcast skies don't bring out the color quite as good as it really looked.
I didn't get a chance to read the board behind this bike.
The owner of this Super-Glide really wanted to sell it. It has a few incorrect items but is still very nice.
This black VL is refreshing.
Lowrider anyone?
It's nice to see old grubby bikes are still surfacing.
This was the first time I saw Keith Ball's Peashooter.
That tank art looks familiar? The fire extinguisher is actually an oil tank.
Original paint Sprint.
Police bikes shouldn't have whitewalls and look so much better without them.
Some probably hate the green. I like it much more than the typical red Injuns.
Can't go wrong with black.
These might be the best tank emblems HD ever offered.
Didn't see many vintage chops this year.
This sums up how this year went. I didn't take many photos, didn't really see all or check the bikes out that well, bought only one part, talked with several friends and a few other enthusiast.
Still a good time overall.
35 Years Ago Today
... I bought my first motorcycle.
I was stubborn. Right or wrong, I wouldn't by a motorcycle until I could afford a Harley. I thought spending a few hundred dollars on a Honda would be a waste of money and would just make getting a Harley take longer.
The day I bought it. Not much to look at, but I was jazzed.
Special features: 6 over forks and no front fender. In the early seventies, probably half the Sportsters sold had extended forks before leaving the dealer.
In the mid '70's, Harley's were in big demand in the LA area, so prices were relatively high for the times (especially when you didn't have a big network of bike riding friends). My outlook was pretty much limited to the local paper's classified pages.
Several weeks earlier, I had gone to the CHP auction and put bids on three bikes for $1,200-$1,500 each hoping I'd get one. I didn't, so the day I would have found out, I bought my Sportster. It was listed in the LA times. I was in Downey and it was close by in Paramount.
More special features: Radiator cap and dent in tank, Posa (or Lake?) Fuel slider carb, Braided vinyl fuel lines. The stock Tillotson carbs had a push inner coil for the throttle, so with this carb, it meant you'd rotate the grip forward to go. It was awkward.
The hillbilly who owned it, was the second owner and kept it in a backyard full of junk. It was only a 4 year old bike and the motor had already been rebuilt. By today's standards, the way it looked, you'd have thought it was a 10 to 20 year old bike.
I think I paid a whooping $1,300 for it, which was likely way too much, but I was getting impatient. Keep in mind, in 1975, new Sportsters were about $2,300 plus dealer fees and taxes at this time. Also, I had a friend with a '71 XLH who wanted about $2,000 for his bike.
More Special Features: Custom seat and sissy bar, a piece of cardboard for a battery lid, and no horn. Bonus feature: A tendency to jump out of third when getting it on.
In any case, I was happy, had plenty of fun with it and nine years later in '84, it got me $1500 credit towards a big twin.
I was stubborn. Right or wrong, I wouldn't by a motorcycle until I could afford a Harley. I thought spending a few hundred dollars on a Honda would be a waste of money and would just make getting a Harley take longer.
The day I bought it. Not much to look at, but I was jazzed.
Special features: 6 over forks and no front fender. In the early seventies, probably half the Sportsters sold had extended forks before leaving the dealer.
In the mid '70's, Harley's were in big demand in the LA area, so prices were relatively high for the times (especially when you didn't have a big network of bike riding friends). My outlook was pretty much limited to the local paper's classified pages.
Several weeks earlier, I had gone to the CHP auction and put bids on three bikes for $1,200-$1,500 each hoping I'd get one. I didn't, so the day I would have found out, I bought my Sportster. It was listed in the LA times. I was in Downey and it was close by in Paramount.
More special features: Radiator cap and dent in tank, Posa (or Lake?) Fuel slider carb, Braided vinyl fuel lines. The stock Tillotson carbs had a push inner coil for the throttle, so with this carb, it meant you'd rotate the grip forward to go. It was awkward.
The hillbilly who owned it, was the second owner and kept it in a backyard full of junk. It was only a 4 year old bike and the motor had already been rebuilt. By today's standards, the way it looked, you'd have thought it was a 10 to 20 year old bike.
I think I paid a whooping $1,300 for it, which was likely way too much, but I was getting impatient. Keep in mind, in 1975, new Sportsters were about $2,300 plus dealer fees and taxes at this time. Also, I had a friend with a '71 XLH who wanted about $2,000 for his bike.
More Special Features: Custom seat and sissy bar, a piece of cardboard for a battery lid, and no horn. Bonus feature: A tendency to jump out of third when getting it on.
In any case, I was happy, had plenty of fun with it and nine years later in '84, it got me $1500 credit towards a big twin.
Fighter Friday
This week is a bike that's dear to my heart. The Ema USA Honda 919. A rather mean and powerful bike right off the showroom floor this one has been massaged with a few high end parts to make it that much sweeter. Besides some extra paint here and there it has an rc51 front end, Pvm wheels, brake upgrades and an ohlins rear shock just to name a few.
No sleep till....
This Saturday is the Brooklyn Invitational. Well the Indian Larry show will be going on in NY too, but I think this is the better pick of the two. It's a custom bike show with a fair share of V-twins, but the right ones. Garage built bikes that actually get ridden. No chromefest here. So go party with Dice magazine, Asahi beer, and checkout the NY underground.
USD 4 UJM
Although I've been told not to bother I'm obsessed with the idea of swapping modern USD forks onto an older japanese standard. I've dug around on the web and found a few images off google that will reinforce why I must do this.
La Mirada, La Habra, El Camino?
The 35th Annual El Camino Antique Motorcycle Show is this coming Saturday. In some ways that statement isn't true. I don't know how many regular attendees know it, but it wasn't always at El Camino College in Torrance.
I first heard about the show in the Feb. '83 issue of Supercycle magazine (first one I bought), when they did a feature on the '82 show. It seems they usually had the show in La Mirada in those days. The first one I went to was in '84, but was held close by in La Habra. The following year it was again in La Mirada. La Habra, La Mirada... whats the difference?
They used to make some pretty cool posters each year. This one from 82 was printed in the Feb. '83 Supercycle. Check the credits for technical assistance. I have a couple of nice posters from some later years.
Any way, it moved to El Camino in 1986 and has pretty much been there ever since. One year it didn't happen as there wasn't a promoter to pick it up (I don't know the politics or how or if the So. Ca. Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America works with the promoters these days). It also, sort of got rained out one year (2007).
I do know that Glen Bator kept it going for quite awhile. At one time he was putting on the Del Mar show too, which was some years, only a week apart.
I forgot that '84 was my first year until I dug out this old shirt. Notice it was a two day event. The show bikes were invited to a ride. I only have a few other year's shirts. Most year's designs weren't to my liking.
In those days, it was like Antique M/C Season here in So Cal. Sometimes El Camino was on Saturday, and Sunday was the Long Beach Swap Meet. Other times they were a week apart. Some years all three events were in a week's span.
Two years ago Glen announced at the show, he's moving on and not doing it anymore and the show was going to die if someone didn't step in. It was strange as it had the largest attendance ever. It didn't seem right, everyone was in disbelief and disappointed.
When the current promoter (Classic Cycle Events), took over last year, he stated he's keeping the traditional date in Sept. but up until a few years back it was always on the first Saturday in Oct. Then it crept up to the last Saturday in Sept. Now it's in the middle of the month. So much for tradition.
The old shows were quite different for better or worse. The better, it was a free event held in a shopping center's parking lot and more like a field event with riding games/contests. The worse, the bikes were roped off from spectators. It was still that style of show the first few years at El Camino where they also first began charging admission ($3.00), in '86.
I've never missed a year yet, and don't intend to miss this one.
I first heard about the show in the Feb. '83 issue of Supercycle magazine (first one I bought), when they did a feature on the '82 show. It seems they usually had the show in La Mirada in those days. The first one I went to was in '84, but was held close by in La Habra. The following year it was again in La Mirada. La Habra, La Mirada... whats the difference?
They used to make some pretty cool posters each year. This one from 82 was printed in the Feb. '83 Supercycle. Check the credits for technical assistance. I have a couple of nice posters from some later years.
Any way, it moved to El Camino in 1986 and has pretty much been there ever since. One year it didn't happen as there wasn't a promoter to pick it up (I don't know the politics or how or if the So. Ca. Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America works with the promoters these days). It also, sort of got rained out one year (2007).
I do know that Glen Bator kept it going for quite awhile. At one time he was putting on the Del Mar show too, which was some years, only a week apart.
I forgot that '84 was my first year until I dug out this old shirt. Notice it was a two day event. The show bikes were invited to a ride. I only have a few other year's shirts. Most year's designs weren't to my liking.
In those days, it was like Antique M/C Season here in So Cal. Sometimes El Camino was on Saturday, and Sunday was the Long Beach Swap Meet. Other times they were a week apart. Some years all three events were in a week's span.
Two years ago Glen announced at the show, he's moving on and not doing it anymore and the show was going to die if someone didn't step in. It was strange as it had the largest attendance ever. It didn't seem right, everyone was in disbelief and disappointed.
When the current promoter (Classic Cycle Events), took over last year, he stated he's keeping the traditional date in Sept. but up until a few years back it was always on the first Saturday in Oct. Then it crept up to the last Saturday in Sept. Now it's in the middle of the month. So much for tradition.
The old shows were quite different for better or worse. The better, it was a free event held in a shopping center's parking lot and more like a field event with riding games/contests. The worse, the bikes were roped off from spectators. It was still that style of show the first few years at El Camino where they also first began charging admission ($3.00), in '86.
I've never missed a year yet, and don't intend to miss this one.
Rice O Rama
This year's Rice-O-Rama event went off with out a hitch despite the looming clouds all day long. As I wound up in a basement working on one of my own ratty Hondas I didn't make the long trip up to Mass, but here's some pics from a local rider. Sorry I missed it cause I've scored some great deals at the swap meet in the past.
Before & After
Here's a couple of pre-White Bear shots in it's silver phase before Joe went all out custom on it.
...and after he sold it.
Correction to the post below. It was Dominic Rutigliano not Bob Olsen who bought the bike. Dominic worked at EME. Joe 's built many versions of each bikes he 's owned and has been telling me so much information, it's hard to get it all right the first time.
...and after he sold it.
Correction to the post below. It was Dominic Rutigliano not Bob Olsen who bought the bike. Dominic worked at EME. Joe 's built many versions of each bikes he 's owned and has been telling me so much information, it's hard to get it all right the first time.
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