Movie Night: Thurs December 20th

This film comes highly recommended. It was a bit more difficult for me to get ahold of but I bought a copy on Amazon. I wanted to stray a bit away from the American genre flicks of the late 60's and bring in some more British shit. Back to my roots. Y'know. ;)

This is from 1964 and it's about café racers in a love triangle. It looks awesome. Definitely a bit of kitchen sink drama, but looks to have a lot of Rockers with killer Brit bikes from the 60's, so we'll be in for some amazing style.

So, slick back your hair and wrap up with your white scarf and I'll see ya in two weeks.

This time we're going to PJ's house! His address is in your email...

Movie Night: Thurs December 6th

HOT STEEL BETWEEN YOUR LEGS!

What's up. Kickin' off the season on Thursday December 6th at the Prez's house with the Cycle Savages. Be there at 7:30. We'll order pizza and get the film rolling promptly at 8pm. I'm gonna go with Dan Good Pizza this time. They just replaced Dolly's on 9 Mile. It's some good shit. Better than Dolly's imo. 

Here's the synopsis of Cycle Savages from Netflix: Infuriated that an artist (Chris Robinson) has been observing him and drawing pictures of his activities, volatile motorcycle gang leader Keeg (Bruce Dern) storms off to find the unwitting illustrator and teach him an excruciating lesson he'll never forget. Written and directed by Bill Brame, this brutal exploitation flick features serious beat downs, drunken orgies and an unbelievable appearance by famed DJ Casey Kasem.

What a bizarre concept. Biker gets mad at dude for drawing him. Amazing. But it's filled with "serious beat downs" and "drunken orgies" so it can't be half bad. 

So yeah. Be there. Two weeks after this we're heading over to the Pope's house. We'll figure out some schedule to include Bandit and Clean Cut's cribs after that...

WOO!

I can't find a trailer on YouTube, but here's the righteous theme song to get you stoked. Or stoned.

Tail of the FSMC

The Professor burned me a disc with some of the pics he took while we rendezvoused at Tail of the Dragon. I thought I'd post a few for the rest of the crew to see. Thanks, Prof'.

The sign sort of says it all.

Looks like Clean Cut has been working in a coal mine. And cut those sleeves, CC!

Apart from being the greatest road we've ever driven, it's not to shabby to look at either.

And...we're off for another run as the sun starts to set. One more trip down and up the Dragon before we leave.

Clean Cut removed his baggage so he would look more fly in the photos.

the Prez didn't remove shit and looked like a scrub.

Easy motherfuckin' rider.

Clean Cut, President Helmet Hair, and Chief Easy Rider. With some gawkers in the background.  The end.

at the GAR Building in Detroit

Fortunate enough to hit up TEDxDetroit today w/ the Bishop. There was a stop at the GAR Building (that rad castle-loooking thing on the corner that's been vacant for 30 years). Left a calling card...

Yes please

Badassery!

FSMC Dragon Slayers

Girls do it better?

Gilmore Vintage Motorcycle Trip.

Had a blast this last weekend riding out to the Gilmore vintage motorcycle show with PJ. The ride out was perfect minus a few missed turns. North Territorial Rd is pretty fun once you are past Ann Arbor.













We took in the sights around the lake and chomped some bomb ass brats that PJ's folks cooked us up.

 

The Sunday the Gilmore show awaited us. Probably the most bikes I've ever seen in one spot and this was just one of the 3 parking lots.

Lots of classic Brit and Jap bikes in the show itself were much better sight than the sea of HD Baggers and Goldwings out in the parking lots.

I'd definitely make the trip again.

Scala G9 Reviewed

A couple of weeks ago I picked up the Scala Rider G9 Power Set. The G9 is a really cool but complicated little gadget that lets me run my GPS, iPhone, and music all into my helmet without wires. Oh and you can use it to talk to other riders up to a mile away...

Opening the box after picking up the 2 unit power set I was greeted by enough cords, mounts, and adhesive pads to connect the units to just about any helmet. I then tore the padding out of my Icon Variant helmet and used the adhesive mount to adhere the G9 to the helmet (there is a clamp as well if you don't want it permanently on your helmet). After that it was just a matter of snaking the wiring for the 2 speakers around the helmet and sticking the speakers on. That, however is right where the easy stops.

 The pairing process extremely complicated with hooking up my GPS and iPhone. I'll spare the details but it was way too hard and took a couple of phone calls to get things in order. However if you use the G9 with just one device its fairly simple to connect. The sound on the G9 is good and the speed sensitive auto volume is great. This is nice because finding the volume button is hard once the helmet is on and the G9's 6 buttons aren't visible. Also Each of these buttons have multiple features depending on how long you hold them (pretty damn complex for riding in traffic). Luckily there are a few voice commands you can make to get to the majority of the features.

On to the good...

 Music through your phone or GPS is great and the FM radio seems to be pretty good as well. All you have to do is pop on you helmet and start you music. No more fiddling with headphones before and after each stop on a long ride. The communication system works great too. Clean Cut and I tested it out on the last ride in intercom mode. Intercom mode is like talking on a phone where no button push is needed to page the other rider. Up to 4 riders can talk this way with the G9. In the other mode up to 9 riders can talk by paging the other riders in the group. Another cool feature is that the unit auto interrupts the conversation or music when a call or GPS directions come through.

The G9 is about $290 for one unit but the system is backwards compatible with the G4 which has less features at $220.

All in all its a pretty sweet device with a pretty steep learning curve that I am slowly climbing. Devices like the G9 would make long rides much easier to coordinate directions, stopping points, and recovery of lost bike parts on the expressway. I'm looking forward to another rider to chat up on a long ride or to hit the best feature on the G9 the mute button...

Gay Paris

The Parisian bike scene isn't all that hot. The town is crawling with scooters instead. Every once in a while you'd see a Bonnie roll by if you were lucky, but most bikes you saw were sport bikes and the occasional oddball Parisian trying to be different by rolling on a loud Harley. Respect to those guys. But yeah, there are scooters every fucking where. And the worst thing is that they're modern 3-wheel scooters. Sick. 

Anyway, I did find this one gem. See the above pics. This guy did a lot to this bonnie. 

Some stuff I noticed: shortie front fender, no rear fender, mini front and rear turn signals, blackened headlamp casing, new exhaust and mufflers, different front foot pegs, blackened rear shocks, some custom engine cases, monza gas cap, custom decals, blacked-out Triumph badges, new seat, new gauge, new fluid reservoir cover, blackened triple tree, new mirror, clip-ons, new grips (I think), it might be lowered, and the whole thing was painted a matte black. Bravo to this chap, whoever he is. 

Ace of Spades

Best person to visit it with, of course.

The other pilgrimage I had to make in England was obviously to the legendary Ace Cafe in London.

Thankfully my travel companions accompanied me without complaint. We took a train for about a half hour to the northerly outskirts of London and made it to Ace Cafe in the late evening. We walked out of the train station and started seeing metal motorcycle cut-outs of vintage cafe racers lining the sidewalk every 50 feet or so. The two-dimensional cut-outs were pointing the way to the holy moto-grail.

I was super stoked to see it, and to see a bunch of bikes and a bunch of great classic cars parked outside on a random weeknight. I felt right at home.

We walked around the outside and I took some pictures on my iPhone. I really dug the old Jensen cars people had brought. We admired some Jags, Mercs and Rollers. Obligatory Minis and Austin Healeys.

Then we got inside. It rules in there. Very down to earth. Exactly what you'd expect, only surprisingly their menu had some fake meat options for us of a gentler persuasion. We had eaten dinner, so I didn't indulge, but I did have the world's worst milkshake. I kid you not it was inedible and unbelievable. It was just like a glass of white milk with a dollop of ice-cream in it, and a teaspoon of cocoa powder. I watched her "make" it. I know she was doing something and pulling levers and shit, but this was the worst excuse for a chocolate milkshake I'd ever encountered. So I ordered a sticky toffee pudding and that was amazing. 

It's definitely very Rocker in there. But the cool thing is that they don't cater exclusively to old codgers on Norton Commandos with greying pompadours. The bike scene is very diverse. Lots of street bikes and some cruisers. It's not just a hang out for cafe racers. And it's definitely not just a hang out for bikers. Car nerds are just as welcomed. There's always an event going on. Every night there seems to be a different gathering, party, show, or happening of one type or another. It's sweet. A really cool place and it exceeded the hype for me. I'd love to go on a super busy night or a cafe night.

Of course, I picked up a shirt (not the generic one, though) and a pin. And I brought stickers back for the FSMC. So next time I see you take your pic of the stickers.

Triumph, and defeat.

Bitch, I'm from Detroit. Let me in!

We stayed with my uncle in Barwell, which happens to be minutes from Hinckley. So, one of the only sites on the whole trip I had planned on visiting was the Triumph factory. It was right on our doorstep, so why not. I checked the site for months and contacted them trying to get a tour of the factory, but to no avail. Ultimately, we drove up there and I pleaded my case to the kind security guards knowing fine well there was no way I'd get in. And I didn't. So I took some photographic evidence and then we went to look at some boats and feed the ducks.

Fine.

Sidenote: Barwell is where they build the might Noble. I didn't see any on the road, but it's a funny old world. Who would have thought Hinckley and Barwell would be producing the coolest motorcycles in the world as well as a 6 figure supercar?

These guys don't know rain like we do.

Still a neat video. Can't wait till we ride out!

Amazing Saves

Headache

No Helmet, No Care

Premier Snyder signed the Michigan no helmet law today. Now you can be "cool" like Rosie...

Guidelines for Cafe Racer

Interested in blacking something out...

but don't want to ruin the chrome finish or painted surface. Maybe you want to change a part a different color but then decide next week you want it back to how it was. However, you are like me... CHEAP and LAZY. I have the perfect solution for you!

PLASTIDIP!

I recently found out about this product and decided to use my bike as a guinea pig (since I have a lot of chipping paint). Basically this paint comes in a liquid and spray form. From what I have gathered it is best to spray 4 to 5 coats of this paint on to your item, so you can easily peel it off when you want it back to normal. Also, I have read that after the plastidip has been on the item for a year or more, the plastidip might not peel as easy (but still will, just in smaller chunks). Best part of it all is there is no prep work really involved except for making sure your item is clean.

Here are some videos for ideas/evidence whatever:

Powerwashing plastidip:


Metal effect plastidip:


Removal of plastidip:



If you are interested, you can get matte black at Home Depot or any similar place for around 5.98 a can.

Stoopid driver!

I would be PISSED if this happened to me.

Got a grand burning a hole in your pocket?

Design your dream helmet...

Came across this amazing helmet company from Paris. Their helmets start at around 800 bones and climb up to approx $2k. They have an awesome customization shop where you get to spec out your helmet like it was a bespoke suit. But that starts at $1k. I'm gonna try and visit the shop when I'm in gay Paris this Spring. And walk out empty handed of course.

the Bandit would love both of these, I bet.

Coolest helmet ever???

Movie Night Thursday 3/29/2012

I'm sitting in a cube at our Seattle office. It's cold and overcast. You guys are riding around in sleeveless shirts, getting tanned from the unseasonably warm sun, and laying jazz on hot mommas. Wish I was there.

Clearly with the onset of Global Warming we are reaping the moto-benefits in 2012. And with that it means an early riding season and but an early close to the Movie Night season, too. Next Thursday will conclude this year's Motorcycle Movie night.

We opened with the modern take on the classics, and we're closing with arguably the archetype that spawn the b-movies biker genre in the 60's. We're wrapping up with 1953's The Wild One.

It's a bit campy, but fuck it, it's great. "Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against?" "Whaddya got?"
There's a line for an FSMC shirt...

Anyway, come out. Last one of the season. Let's ride...