Throwbacks: September 2010

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

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

Friday, September 17, 2010

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.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

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):