Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Odd Bike

http://www.odd-bike.com/2015/04/mondial-piega-honouring-favour.html?m=1

I've really gotten into reading this site lately. The guy does a great job researching this stuff. This story makes me want to start a motorcycle company funded entirely by bank robbers and mobsters to produce the world's most expensive production bike before I vanish into the Darien Gap after 4 examples are produced.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Negative inspiration



   http://www.bikeexif.com/2006-suzuki-katana


Sometimes I'm inspired to try harder when I observe the results of a complete lack of effort, either by myself or someone else.

The following is an example because of BikeExif writing about this bike, the shop building it, and the customer paying for it, all as if it were a legitimate custom motorcycle worth writing about, building, and paying someone else to build.

Reason 1 this sucks:
A friend of mine bought a crashed katana for a few hundred bucks once and slapped a light on it, and it looked remarkably close to this.  It was a brilliantly cheap, fun bike, and he didn't try to pass it off as a professional custom job. This thing is basically a stock katana with the fairing removed and some cosmetic details.

Reason 2 this sucks:
The article says the tires were chosen for looks. Custom bikes and the articles about them these days feel like a budget interior decorating show on TV; “They seemed to really pull the look together.”

Reason 3:
It's a daily commuter with no front fender and no airbox? A shop that builds bikes for people needs to know something about riding them.
They call it's style "urban assault". What are you going to assault with this thing, ice cream stands on sunny days?
When it rains it might run over urban pedestrians because of the stream of water in the rider's face from the front tire--I guess that's urban assault.

Reason 4:
Someone really had to pay a shop for this? I would never put down a bike like this if it were not  a professional effort. Katanas are cheap and very capable bikes with fantastic engines--so what if the frame is heavy and hideous?

But a pro shop built bike?


Monday, April 6, 2015

No idea where I get it from

Some photos of my Dad's Bug, circa 1968






All custom work done by him with "really cheap shit material".  Photo credit to him as well but the last photo may have been taken by the cat.

Here is the sad story of this car's demise:
"That Bug and I were headed out 94 just about to go up the big hill before Brookfield square.  The Bug had brand new tires put on the day before, all around.  I was going 60MPH.  I had a fishing date with a women out on North Lake.  The minnow bucket was full just behind my seat.

Then I was upside down and headed to a railing on the left side of the road. Then I was sliding across the highway to the other side and hit that railing.  Another flip and the smashed Bug rested in the middle of the road.  A car whooshed by as I was climbing out of the Bug.  The car stopped and a man ran to help me get up.  As I looked around I noticed minnows flipping all over the road.  I had received no injuries.  The Bug was totaled.  It was later learned that I had suffered a blowout which caused the car to flip."

Saturday, April 4, 2015

I think this could be a fun day for us...



Anyone have one of Kenny's or Barry's old bikes?

Thursday, April 2, 2015