1921 Beverly Hills, Calif. Boardtrack Indian Footage

Scenesters Unite!

Finally, someone GETs it!

Angels From Hell

What a damn good biker flick. It's 1968, and after 4 years in the Marine Corps and two Infantry tours to Vietnam what would you rather do upon discharge but revisit your old MC and violently overthrow the pres? Therein lies the plot to my current favorite biker movie. See it on Netflix, viewer discretion advised...

Alien Abduction Run 2011

Memorial Day Weekend 2011 needs to be on the calendar of events for your summer. Hosted by a whole bunch of weirdos from the "Biggest Little City", the destination is the quaint and quirky town of Rachel, Nevada, just outside the famed airbase known as "Area 51". Desert scenery and the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range will be enough to get you and this hungry pack of wheeled werewolves to the middle of nowhere. Who knows what'll be seen, and if peyote is to blame or is there really is life out there. Show up, and you'll know too that the Truth is out there...

69 Mile Ride 2010

Where will you be on the 13th of November?

Afterhours Choppers Halloween Party

Gabe, waxing philosophical about riding attire:

"See, it doesn't matter what color flannel you wear, it makes you look good on a motorcycle..."




Had a great time eating killer grub that Gabe always cooks up. Rain kept the hordes at bay, so I ate myself silly trying to make a dent. Rode an hour in the pouring rain, and Gabe was such a good host he threw my stuff in the dryer and loaned me some appropriate fits to complement my costume! What a host... What a party.

Trevelen Rabanal on the rich history of the Chicano Biker

Stussy x NEIGHBORHOOD - Boneyards II: Conspiracy with Trevelen from Stussy on Vimeo.

Here's an interesting video interview of Trevelen Rabanal on the history of Chicano Bikers in East L.A., courtesy of Stussy.

Throwbacks Thursday Season Closer, 2010

A great time was had by all. Thanks to everyone that showed, and especially for DJ Ray, who raced out from Oroville to spin the tunes. Over 50 bikes of all types, from JapRats to Vintage BMWs, to BSAs and Triumphs, Flatheads, Knuckles, and everything in between. See you on the road this winter, and back at the TT again in April 2011!

After Party at the Nevada Club. Don't eat the hot dogs!

Throwbacks Thursday Season Closer, 2010

So this week will hark the closing of this year's newest upstart, the monthly gathering known locally as the TT. We've had fun, and gotten to know a lot of you over these summer months. Now it's time to hole up the in the heated crypt and knock out some new creations, or at least tweak what we've already been motoring about on.

Make it a point to meet up, 5-8pm or as long as you can muster. We don't want your money, and we're not a swap meet, but you just might find someone interested in your heap. Grab a taco, meet us and see a righteous machine or 20. Enjoy the DJ, bring your family. We don't bite. We'll be here Thursday, 21st October. Hope you will, too.

Throwba-Q

Pictures from the shin-dig this weekend. Top secret project photos not shown.

Shinya Kimura's Motorcycle Cannonball 2010

Here's one man's experience at one of the most challenging and original motorcycle race ideas around. Coast to Coast on a 1915 Indian! Read more about it on his own blog:

http://shinyakimura.blogspot.com/search/label/motorcycle%20cannonball

Daytona 1948

LIFE Magazine featured some of the most prolific and exemplary photos of Americana during its tenure. Here is a sample of photography from the 1948 Daytona Beach Races. Note the commentary is accurate and interesting for each photo, most of which were never printed. Final photo depicts the late great Floyd Emde, winner of the 200 mile main event on his 1948 Indian Big Base Scout, the last year Indian won at Daytona. Enjoy:

Click on the actual photo for the captions

Throwbacks Thursdays

The third Thursday of each month in the summer marks the humble public gathering of vintage cycle enthusiasts and traditional chopper fiends we call Throwbacks Thursday. Held in the quaint foothill town of Grass Valley, crowds of three and four score participants flock to the small parking lot the TT calls home. This isn't a bike show, this a ride-in event. Known for its rich history as a mining town in the California Gold Rush era, Grass Valley features "gold" of a second sort nowadays. Free of pushy sponsors, crowd mingling promoters, or commercial go getters of any type, all in attendance are free to roam the packed lot to see what wonderful two-wheeled miracles rolled in, and to share what they themselves rode.

The purveyers of the tiny taco joint called Paco's Tacos make their fare available during the meet, and with full bellies and plenty of gawk-worthy cycles to ogle the whole family can have a good time. Part of the success is the accessibility of the location, at the junction of Hwy 49 (California's scenic Gold Rush Trail) and Hwy 20, riders from as far East as Reno, Nevada and as far west as Dixon regularly make the ride out.

There's no fees collected, no admission, but this isn't your typical bike night either. Do-rags are rarely seen, and nary a billet barge has ever attended. There's no weenie bite competition, no river of beer, and it's not really even a show. Old guys and young guns alike arrive to show the fruits of their efforts and to swap contact information to fuel their next project. It is as it should be, and if that makes sense to you, we look forward to seeing you for our season closer on October 21st 5-8pm.

Johnny Chop revisited

Some of you may have joined the discussion over on chopcult concerning charlatans that would find themselves shallow enough to plagiarize his name, here's some video of the late "Johnny Chop" Vasko back in 2006 riding his latest creation "True Blue" to Sturgis for break-in. While there may be those out the attempting to do their own, un-original thing and try to cash in on his name, realize there is only one true "Johny Chop", a real original. This is but a snippet of the man. Enjoy:

Johnny "Chop" Vasko / True Blue in Sturgis - Dir Mikey Zoyes

Michael Zoyes | MySpace Video

Motorcycle Cannonball 2010

Coast to coast, nothing newer than 1915. This is some genuine motorcycle competition. Not for the feint of heart, a race like this sometimes requires ingenuity and inventiveness far beyond the scope of what is generally considered the norm in two wheeled competition. These challenges are the call heard by only the most gifted and brilliant in the field, whose undying dedication to their craft drive them to new heights of genius, and new applications of old technology.

Here is such ingenuity caught on film, a frame jig made from the most cutting edge materials available today (or at least on that day):

1914 frame jig from goose on Vimeo.

You like Flat Track like I do?

The Indy Mile, courtesy of VBS.tv:

Born Free 2

Throwbacks weren't there, but it looked cool. Also a killer soundtrack by the Black Keys.

Born Free Show from BornFreeShow on Vimeo.

Shinya

Another mad scientist.

A man of Faith

Here's a rendition of Epiphany. Hope you enjoy:

a prayer for cool from Marc Bencivenga on Vimeo.

More Falcon Motorcycles

So this is more of an aside.

Falcon Motorcycles: Setting the bar high

Ian Barry's Falcon Motorcycles brand is setting new heights in the standard of custom motorcycles. This video features his latest finished product, the Kestrel. Be amazed. The second video is of Falcon's creation of a few years ago, the Bullet:

DicE Magazine: Nor Cal Ride

DicE Magazine: Nor Cal Ride

Looks like others had a great time at Gabe's Philo Reunion!

Gabe's Philo Beddoe Reunion

My photos suck. I've no talent, nor the equipment to do the weekend justice. This fellow, Artkrhymes Cris, however does. While it can be distracting when someone runs around with a camera clicking all the time on a ride, the payoff is pretty huge when the photos turn out as good as his do. Thanks for putting up with all the threats, Cris. Check out his righteous photostream here:

Gabe's Philo Beddoe Reunion

From the only one of the Throwbacks to make the Saturday ride, here's my report:

Starting with the perfect weather that dabbled between 65 degrees as I rolled out of Grass Valley at 8am to the 85 degrees as we hit the alpine water of Sugarpine Reservoir, not a bead of sweat fell from my brow until negotiating the posted 5 MPH switchbacks of Iowa Hill Road. And it had nothing to do with ambient temp, it was sweat from considering the stakes if my Triumph's single 7 inch rear brake shoe or any of its components failed! Trying to keep up with Rory on his Sportster Scrambler certainly proved a challenge, and he was [I]two[/I]-up!

A cold beer at the bar on top of Iowa Hill (if anyone can answer the query of how you keep beer cold without electricity on top of a hill, open your own bar somewhere else, these people somehow do it!) and a mad dash back to Colfax and civilization via the most scenic canyon road I've seen in some time. Considerably refreshed we jammed back via the shortest, fastest route to HQ - the Grange Hall - for kegs of NAFTA Beer (domestic tastes on both sides of the contested US/Mexico Border were met) and some leftover cookies and spaghetti.

A big Thank You goes out here to Gabe's much better half, Lois, who whipped up some of the best background grub I've had this far from the dirty South. Hand-beaten biscuits, gooey cookies, killer salad (not that iceburg and ranch crap), all-day beans, the list goes on. Even grilled veggies to compliment Gabe's outstanding effort at the helm of his masterpiece; the Merrimack! What a grand Ironclad she is, capable of handling not only gargantuan tri-tip, but likewise smoking tube steaks with aplomb! Only Gabe himself could design such a contraption (experience help much?)

Beyond the food and drink, the overall atmosphere was perfect. No breaks in the shade in the 2 acre milling area surrounding the Hall, there was little need to venture indoors save to sample some of the treats Lois was preparing or swig some harder libations. The crowd was the best I've gotten to mingle with in some time, and no attitudes anywhere. Everyone had a great time, the raffle made a lot of people happy, and the shenanigans continued long after I stumbled home.