Chief Crystal Head

The Chief came through on x-mas eve w/ a bottle of Crystal Head vodka. Clearly a reference to his Native-American mystic roots... Check out what Dan Aykroyd has to say about it:

Movie Night Thursday 1/5/11

Ok, we've postponed the next movie night one week and we'll get back into the swing of things the first Monday in January. We're gonna kick the year off w/ the 1971 biker-horror flick Werewolves on Wheels.
It's about Satan, motorcycles, sacrifice, werewolves and it's from the 70s. Seriously, even if it sucks, it rules. That's all there is to it.
I was thinking of ordering from Happy's Pizza this time around. Check out the ghetto pizza and see how it stacks up. Just look at this shot from the flick... it's gonna be awesome!

Skulls, tits and snakes! Maybe the Magician will even see some of his hallowed 70's bush...

Anyone up for a ride about now?

Is this what the advanced rider course is like, Clean Cut?

Stolen from Cyril Huze blog. Very talented young lad.

Movie Night Thursday 12/15/11

Last week's kick-off was a lot of fun and I'm stoked to continue the series. Get there early to get a good spot watching the movie. Anyway, show up between 7:30 and 8 and we'll order pizza and get the movie rolling promptly.

We kicked it off w/ Larry Bishop's 2008 homage to classic era biker flicks, Hell Ride, and to contrast that we're following it up w/ Larry Bishop in an original biker flick from the early 70's called Angel Unchained.

It's your run of the mill scenario...  y'know... the age-old tale of dune buggies vs. choppers. How many times have we seen that one? I think it dates back to the ancient Greeks. So sharpen your pitchforks and grow your mustaches for next Thursday's moto movie madness. See ya then, fruits.

SR 800 and shit

I think I heard that SR 800 was sweet from the Café Racer mag, but don't quote me. I had looked it up a couple weeks ago for some reason. Anyway, here's a link to a quick review and what the yokels have to say about it, "Great quality pavement and maintenance on this road. I wouldn't hesitate to ride the stiffest roughest riding bike/car. Lots and Lots of high speed sweepers and smooth curves."


Sounds good to me. It's east of Zanesville, which you'll all recall was on our way to the Triple Nipple. So maybe we can finally do 26 (which now I'm beginning to think might be even better than the Nickel), 555, and 800 on a trip.

Speaking of rides, we gotta do Coldwater to Hell right off the bat. Maybe Irish Hills. A trip up to the UP.

So much to do, mangs. So much to do.

Movie Night Thursday 12/01/11

First up for this season is the newest cult biker flick backed by the infallible Tarantino; Hell Ride. Larry Bishop stars and directs in this homage to the late 60's biker genre. He was there when it all went down and we'll probably watch a couple flicks he was in this season; Chrome & Hot Leather and Angel Unchained.
So, come out this Thursday (Dec 1st) at 7:30pm. We'll order pizza and the movie'll start at 8. Bring some beer to pass around if you feel so inclined. We can leave extras here for future nights. Trust me, it's safe in my household!

We'll have the movie night every 2nd Thursday, and I'll post the upcoming movie trailer one week before.

Peace.

Wall of Death

Watch the video.

FSMC Prospect, Bad Eye, passed along this 15 minute documentary about the infamous Wall of Death. It follows a British carnie family who all ride the Wall of Death as part of a traveling fun-fair. Typical music and cinematography for the indie bike mini-doc's we've seen of late. Worth a watch.

I need me some of this!

You look like an alien, bro

I was reading the newest issue of Café Racer and this dude just cracked me up. How you gonna be Italian and ride a vintage bike like that and manage to look this dorky? Get a helmet and goggles that fit, mang! Or get a bigger face. Just do something.

This guy knows how it's done:

Look at that beard and those gloves. That's the shit.

Progressive International Motorcycle Show. Once again.

Maybe this year we can get a picture with Flo. That'd be swell.

Mark your calendars for January 6th - 8th. I'm guessing we'll probably rally the troops for Saturday the 7th? This year's show SEEMS to be the best yet. Triumph is finally making it to Detroit. The company seems to have a much higher profile over all and they're doing the whole tour this time around. The new Norton Commando will be there, too. There seems to be a lot more cool shit happening than in previous years. Check out the Novi list of events and whatnot. It's $13 pre-order or $15 at the door.
Check out the site for a list of marques present at this show.
Clean Cut has already signed on. I'm sure the whole crew will go. Word.

AM Garage: Check in #1

Today at work, Bandit and I took some time off to open up our new Custom Cycle Shop called AM Garage. We had three similar old UJMs from the 80's and we decided to do two radically different custom builds to show the true scope of our vision.

This was the unmolested donor bike.

Our first client wanted a Café Racer so to start we went to town chopping the rear fender, installing shortie pipes, a nice retro headlight, a custom racing stripe, rearsets, shorter fork angle, and some clubman bars. The bike was already Ferrari red so we didn't do a respray right off the bat. You'll see the client, Bender, was able to get into a nice tight tuck behind the faring to achieve the ton w/out hassle. Nay bother, mate!

Yes, that's a paddock stand.

Headlight by Pushpin Industries. A classic.

Ton up, me ol' lad. 

brap brap brap!

Our second client, Droopy, wanted to go the opposite route; he wanted a laid back retro chopper. We were excited to oblige so we got to fab'in! We started by raking out the forks, fab'in a custom sissy bar which we painted black, we had matching apes built and painted, chrome engine guards, and made some awesome chrome chopper pipes straight outta the Wild Angels. 

His mustache approves. 

The Man can't keep Droopy down. Not when he's riding this iron horse. 

B-b-b-b-b-bad!

The fruits of our labor are documented in the photoshoot seen here for the first time. Keep in mind, this was all done in less than one hour and there's more to come. We're contemplating swapping out the v-twin in the Café for something lighter and more period-correct. We're also looking at respraying the chopper to an even more radical color than the current pumpkin orange.

We're not sure what we're going to do w/ the third bike in our stable, but if the first two bikes are anything to go by, you know it's going to be one hell of a ride!
Stay tuned as we update the builds as they near completion...

Some spare parts we have lying around the shop. You'll see some sheet metal for bodywork, metal for pipes and bars, a couple monoshocks, and various other tidbits for us to work w/. It's serious stuff at AMG. This is grown men shit.

Ye Olde Garage

The Captain, Clean Cut and I made our way over to the Emory for lunch today. It was in the high 40s, but nothing that some gauntlets and thermals couldn't overcome. We made it down Woodward for a while and snapped some pics at Vinsetta Garage on the blast back. I've been wanting to do a proper photoshoot w/ the whole crew there one of these days. We'll have to add it to our list of things to knock out next season. ;) Fuck it, it's right around the corner from where we live.

Some older lady cut off the two of those guys twice and they both gave her some shit. Silly old cow.

New iPhone 4S camera isn't too shabby. These are unedited and the colors are a little saturated, esp the blacks at time, but it's way better than the freakin 3G. Woulda been better if we'd shot them in the direct sunlight, but alas, we missed that opportunity. 

Trial Riding - French Alps

His and Hers

First Hocking Hills Ride

2nd Annual Shitty Biker Movie Night

Alright moto-brethren, we're gonna kick off this season's films w/ Hell Ride. Clean Cut and I watched this a while back and it was the inspiration for the movie nights. It's an homage to the 60's films we watched last season. Larry Bishop wrote, directed and starred in it. He paid his dues in some original 60's biker flicks like Chrome & Hot Leather, Angel Unchained and the Savage Seven. I think I'll dig it a lot more on a second viewing after really understanding where it was coming from now that we've seen so many of the 60's biker genre classics. Having said all that, the movie is worth it alone for the women. "Beer, Bikes and Booty."

I've got some other gems lined up, too. We're gonna branch out from 60's FTW type classics and definitely check out Girl Boss Guerilla from Japan, as well as Detroit's very own Northville Cemetery Massacre (which cast real bikers from Detroit), maybe dabble in some 'Nam era flicks like Chrome & Hot Leather, check out the horror(ible) Werewolves on Wheels, see if the Mini-Skirt Mob are all they're cracked up to be, hop the pond and watch Psychomania, and eventually close it out strong w/ the Wild One. More women this time around. Can't argue w/ that.

We'll do every second Thursday starting November 17th at 7:30pm. I was thinking we could order from a different pizza place each week and have it delivered. 1) cuz everyone loves pizza, and 2) so it would save time and we wouldn't have to go out and pick up food etc.
Movie would start around 8.

Sound good? I'll send a reminder email the week before each movie w/ a link to the trailer of the flick that's on deck.

We'll also use the time to discuss clüb business for 2012, brothas...

Leave some comments on the thread if you have any suggestions or this is cool or whatever. Thursday worked for everyone except the Bandit is 50/50 on some nights. If it's not too disruptive we can move it to Mondays once in a while. That was second choice.

Outta sight!

Go Go Gadget

Thought you camera nerds might wanna check out the new GoPro. There's a press-release on engadget.

Full list of features and shit if you check out the above link. But here's the long and short of it:
"...The HD Hero2 competitively boasts that it's twice as powerful its 2009 predecessor, the original HD Hero. The new helmet cam promises to capture 1080p 16:9 footage from atop your sweaty noggin at both narrow (90-degree), wide (170-degree) and medium (127-degree) angles, and can snap up to ten 11 megapixel photos per second. The camera's mini-HDMI port, composite out, USB, SD card and HERO ports will help you share the spoils of your spills when your adventure ends -- at least until this winter, when GoPro's WiFi BacPac promises to enable live broadcasting and camera control over WiFi. Best of all? The Hero2 kills the original HD Hero's confusing 3-digit code interface in favor of a simple language-based menu.

The HD Hero2 comes in three $300 configurations: outdoor, motorsports, and surf editions, all of which are compatible with existing accessories. Too rich for your blood? Then you'll be happy to know that the previous models are getting price drops -- $200 for the original HD Hero and a paltry $150 for its "960" variant..."

About bloody time...

Finally, season 1 of Cafe Racer came out on DVD. I just bought all 13 episodes for $25 inc s/h from their site.  I'm looking forward to finally seeing it. I've watched all the Top Gear episodes from season 2-15 and I'm itching for something along those lines to chill out to. I thought the upside of getting cable was the ability to watch crap like Top Gear and Cafe Racer but I don't get either channel! The commercials would drive me insane anyway. So yeah, I'll probably have this in hand next week. Pretty stoked. Hopefully season 2 makes it to disc quicker than 1 did...

Separating the sheep from the goats

The Rapture was supposed to happen yesterday. It didn't. We're all still here on Earth. So that means unless the Mayans wipe us out in 2012, then we gotta hit up Deal's Gap. Check out this vid of a dude driving Tail of the Dragon in an Audi TT. drool...

MACHINE

Just another good short for a bike builder.

MACHINE from matt machine on Vimeo.

Throttle Yard

Looking for a vintage or collectible motorcycle? Then go here:

http://throttleyard.com/

1 of 150 made!



You can see the for sale ad at Throttle Yard.

Logo

I was a bit drunk and bored so I made this, Hope you guys enjoy!

Beat the Brat

I came across a website about Brat Bikes. Evidently it's a popular style in Japan right now. It seems to involve taking a bobber, a chopper, and a cafe and throwing them into a blender. It's like you took apart your favorite GI Joe's and mixed and matched to make a super cool dude (and inevitably ending up w/ some bizarre dudes from the leftovers, but anyway...). It's, it's... alive!

I don't know why I'm rambling, but check out the site and the extensive gallery. There are some really unique, personal bikes in there. I dig it big time.

I was gonna buy a shirt from them but after getting a quote from the guy in Yen and converting it into USD it woulda been $72 inc s/h! Screw that. I'll just admire from afar.

 

Dig the tires and apehangers. I be this looks rad riding down the street. Real clean lookin, but bad ass.

Love the pipes, fork and even the seat and little sissy bar. It's like a pint size chopper.

Looks like the whole bike melted. Interesting rear red wheel.

Interesting straight pipes. Just looks fast. I dig the retro seat, too.

There are zillions of bikes on the site. Check it...

Guerilla Warfare

Last night I watched a freakin rad movie called Sukeban Gerira  aka Girl Boss Guerilla. It's the third in a series of seven Japanese sexploitation flicks about girl bosses from the 70s. It's a sub-genre of Japanese cinema called Pink Film (aka softcore porn). But it's oh so much better than that...

These chicks are hot as hell, they ride motorcycles and kick major ass. The boobs are gratuitous, the fights keep coming, and there's girls getting peed on, priests w/ the clap, and monks banging bald nuns. And lots of beatings w/ sticks. Yeah, it's freakin crazy. BUT, it's actually a thoroughly enjoyable flick and I'm going to check out the other movies in the series b/c I really dug this one. It was straight up entertaining.

I noticed that the stunt drivers were...uh... dudes. They did little to hide the fact that they were dudes other than shoot from a distance. It was pretty hilarious.
Oh, the bikes... they rode small displacement UJMs from the late 60s. Almost exclusively Yamahas, but at least one Honda and MAYBE I saw a BSA but I need a second viewing. I had other things to look at.

The main boss was super hot:

I might bring this one back for movie night later this year. You cats need to see it...

Better than Bo-Rics

Tomcats Barbershop Video
I can't embed the video cuz it's Vimeo, but there's the link. It's about H-D's and haircuts in Brooklyn, NY. Very red-blooded 'merican. Captain will love it, but I don't know if he'd be stolen away from his stylist at the local salon. ;)

Some people collect stamps... others:

Stole this article from a friend on facebook. Just had to share. Look at all those beauties!

Captain, are all the roads like this in Utah?

We's gots ta go. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Chili con Moto

Clean Cut, the Captain and I went to the Chili Cook Off / Bike Show in Plymouth today.
We washed away our cares as we hit the freeway in absolutely perfect riding weather. It didn't matter that it was boring ol' 696 b/c it felt good to be alive and cruising on 2 wheels. I would trade away all the seasons just to stick w/ today's temperature. It ruled. Anyway...
The bike show was alright. We had a good time just hanging out together and whatnot, but the show is just... too family friendly! I prefer gatherings that your mother, daughter, sister, cousin, whatever, wouldn't find anything enjoyable about. This had chili, kids, cover bands, bullshit merchandise, "army of the lord" rider tents, old ladies, and happy normal people. Not my vibe. Throw into the mix a ton of Harley dudes and beige trikes, and the Prez gets sour. Having said that, we saw some diamonds in the rough. Norton Alley was there again, as well as a few really nice bobbers and choppers. We definitely saw some people do some cool shit w/ Harleys, too. Clean Cut was drooling over what someone had done to "his" bike in the way of bars and exhaust. Maybe if he ever signs on to the blog he can post some pics. He started chatting up a Rob Halford lookalike and Captain and I turned the other way. That's two nights in a row that Clean Cut has been talking to Halford-esque bikers... I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Anyway, the above bike is another Moto Nisto bike. It looked sharp as hell.

Here are some shitty pics I took real quick on ye olde iPhone. (sidenote: signed up for the iPhone 4S today and can't freakin wait to get it. i will actually spend more time taking decent shots and video from here on out once i have a phone/camera worth its salt. the iPhone 3 is way past its prime at this point...)

 Awesome gas cap. Some crazy nautical compass or somethin...

 Sick custom pipes! This was probably my favorite bike of the day. Just tons of great details. It had marbles all over it, beautiful patina on the seat, spitfire skateboard wheel for a chain tensioner (?)...

This was actually in the vintage category. Don't know how old it is, but they did a great resto' job. The paintwork was a little amateur, but it was still really nice overall.

Sweet lookin old Yamaha. The battery was strapped in place w/ an old belt. Too cool.

In summation, I think the All Clubs Day is far and away the single "do not miss" moto event of the year in Michigan. Battle of the Brits is second. You wouldn't want to miss either, really.
Although I didn't get to attend the Ypsi Ton Up this season since I was out of town, that's probably third. The Plymouth Chili CookOff would be fourth, and HarleyFest would round out the events at number five (we didn't even go this year. too much testosterone and samey-ness. It was cool when it was in Hell, but when it moved it kind of lost its "charm").

I'm listening to Ravi Shankar right now, brothers. I'm outtie...