Selasa, 13 Agustus 2013

'TON UP!' EXHIBIT IN CYRIL HUZE POST

This has been an incredibly busy summer for The Vintagent: writing a big chunk of the BikeExif/Gestalten book 'The Ride', organizing the 'Ton Up!' exhibit for Sturgis Bike Week, and writing the 'Ton Up!' book for Motorbooks.  Cyril Huze stopped by the 'Ton Up!' Michael Lichter exhibition hall at the Buffalo Chip in Sturgis, and filed the following report on his mega-popular Cyril Huze Post on Aug. 6th, 2013.  It's worth a click-back to his site, to read the comments attached, which are always an entertaining mix on CHP...

From the Cyril Huze Post, Aug 6 2013:

TON UP EXHIBITION: SPEED, STYLE AND CAFE RACER CULTURE EXHIBIT AT THE STURGIS BUFFALO CHIP 
[Robert Carter painted sign]
An exhibition focusing on the origins of the Cafe Racer movement is certain to draw huge crowds. Especially it is organized by internationally renowned photographer Michael Lichter. Mike’s 2013 Sturgis Buffalo Chip exhibition to celebrate motorcycles as art is called “Ton Up – Speed, Style and Cafe Racer Culture.”
[Paul d'O with Michael Lichter]

Co-curators Michael Lichter and historian Paul d’Orléans have assembled a comprehensive display of 35 machines from 12 makes and 6 decades. Included in the show are original or modified machines by BMW, BSA, Ducati, Honda, Harley Davidson, Moto Guzzi, Norton, Rickman, Triumph, Vincent and Yamaha.
[the Godet-Egli Vincent of Mars Webster]

 In addition the exhibition features never-published photography from the original café racing scene in 1960s England to the present, paintings by Triumph ‘resident artist’ Conrad Leach, images from the Ace Café Collection, vintage leather ‘Rocker’ jackets from the Lewis Leathers archive, the “One-Show” 21-helmets display of custom painted helmets, paintings by Andrea Chiaravalli and photography by Erick Runyon with other artists to be announced.
[the 'Klock Werks' modified Triumph Thunderbird Storm]
Each year, the “Motorcycles as Art” exhibition garners tremendous media coverage from around the globe and last Sunday 4th, a record breaking of over 1000 members of the industry attended a media reception offered by Michael, Paul and their sponsors – Hot Leathers and Keyboard Motorcycle Shipping. This not-to-be missed exhibition is now open for the public to view free of charge until Saturday August 10th at the legendary Sturgis Buffalo Chip.
[Klock Werks headlamp]
[Lossa Engineering CB77]











This year’s exhibition will get even more recognition as it will live on in the coffee-table book “Ton Up – Speed, Style and Cafe Racer Culture,” published by Motorbooks International. Michael Lichter will photograph all the motorcycles in his Sturgis studio for the book, which will also include the jackets, artwork, and photographs from the exhibit.
[Brad Richards' 'Sporty TT']
Paul d’Orléans is writing a comprehensive history of the Café Racer movement for the book; from its deep origins in speed-modified road bikes from the ‘Teens, to the ‘classic’ period in England in the 1950s/60s, through its various resurrections in the 1970s, 80s, and especially, with the advent of Internet motorcycle blogs, TV shows, and ‘Café Racer’ magazines, the explosive popularity of the style in the 21st Century.
[Cyril Huze with Paul d'O]
[Willie G. Davidson]
Among the featured builders: Herb Harris (Harris Vincent Gallery), Yoshi Kosaka (Garage Co), Mark Mederski (National Motorcycle Museum), Gordon McCall (Quail Motorsports Gathering), plus Willie G Davidson’s #0001 1977 XLCR, and machines from Alain Bernard, Arlen Ness, Bryan Fuller, Brian Klock, Dustin Kott, Greg Hageman, Jason Michaels, Jay Hart, Jay LaRossa, Kevin Dunworth, Ray Drea (Harley-Davidson design director), Roland Sands, Skeeter Todd, Steve “Brew Dude” Garn, Steve “Carpy” Carpenter, Thor Drake, and Zach Ness. Included in the show are original or modified machines by BMW, BSA, Ducati, Honda, Harley Davidson, Moto Guzzi, Norton, Rickman, Triumph, Vincent and Yamaha."
[Champions Moto 'Brighton']
[Bryan Fuller of Fuller Hot Rods]
[Text and photos copyright Cyril Huze Post]

Senin, 12 Agustus 2013

IAN BARRY AT KOHN GALLERY: FROM THE NYT

While I was in Sturgis installing the 'TonUp!' exhibit, this article cropped up in the New York Times, which I reprint here in its entirety, with the accompanying photos.  I'll post my own photos and story of the exhibit soon.


CUSTOM MOTORCYCLES AS SCULPTURE: 'THE WHITE, THE BLACK, THE KESTREL'
[the White installed in the Michael Kohn gallery in Los Angeles]
The artist Ian Barry’s newest sculpture could easily be mistaken for a mere motorcycle. It is an impressive piece of hand-built machinery, but that’s not how Mr. Barry sees the newest creation in his Falcon Ten series. To him, his custom motorcycles exist on a different plane than the two-wheel conveyances people drive on public roads. His bikes are the gasoline-powered embodiment of living, breathing, moving art.
In 1998, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presented “The Art of the Motorcycle,” an exhibition that focused on vintage motorcycles as sculptural objects. The new exhibition “The White, the Black and the Kestrel” by Mr. Barry at the Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles, adds fresh traction to that line of thought. The exhibition includes three of Mr. Barry’s functional motorcycle sculptures. It also includes eight framed works he has culled from raw materials, including industrial clay, aluminum and solvent-dewaxed heavy paraffinic in his Los Angeles studio.
The centerpiece of the show is the public introduction of the White, a completely custom motorcycle built around a a 1967 Velocette Thruxton “Squish head” racing engine, held above floor level at its center on a very slender cylindrical mount. It is the fourth motorcycle in Mr. Barry’s Falcon Ten series, a sequence of 10 custom motorcycles he plans to complete over the next several years. The three displayed at Kohn will be there until Aug. 31.
The Black.  photo: Ian Barry
“One thing I can say about that particular engine is that it’s extremely rare,” Mr. Barry said in a phone interview. “Only nine of them were ever made. It was made specifically to compete at the Isle of Man. That exact model holds the record for averaging 100 miles per hour in an endurance race. That one point was an interesting fact to me. It was an extreme; it’s done something in its history that carries a certain energy. It’s a charged object.”
Mr. Barry has built a following among vintage motorcycle enthusiasts since he helped found Falcon Motorcycles in 2007 with his partner, Amaryllis Knight, an industrial designer. The Bullet was the first motorcycle in the Falcon Ten series and was based on the 1950 Triumph Thunderbird. It was the recipient of the Custom Culture Award at the 2008 Legend of the Motorcycle International Concours d’Élégance in Pebble Beach, Calif.
Mr. Barry produced the Kestrel in 2010, based on a modified 1970 Triumph Bonneville. The Black originated from a 1952 Vincent Black Shadow in 2011.
“Each one carries a particular meaning,” said Mr. Barry. “They are breeds of falcon. That particular naming applies to the work itself. There is an extreme nature to a falcon. They mate with the same partner for life; there are a lot of facts surrounding falcons. They deal in extremes.”
The Kestrel.  photo: Ian Barry
The White is the standout among the trio and is Mr. Barry’s most involved creation. He said the White was built over 6,000 hours during the last two and a half years. The shiny, futuristic finished work bares no resemblance to the monochromatic, utilitarian Velocette racing motorcycle it was originally.
“It starts with foam, clay, modeling, but there is no methodology,” he said. “That’s by design.”
Unlike the other motorcycles in the series, the White strays from historical context. He said he fabricated the parts almost entirely by hand, apart from the engine and the tires.
“Each one is an evolving concept,” he said. “On the first three I chose these historical references, and now I’m choosing to ignore those things and move forward. They will all complete a bigger story of the whole. It’s more about forms and a study that’s not linked to history in any way.”
The White finds Mr. Barry pushing boundaries on the motorcycle-building and sculptural processes, flirting with lightweight, exotic alloys — like unusual types of aluminum, copper and titanium – sometimes used in aircraft construction.
“The fact that I have to research all the mechanical properties informs the work in a way that traditional sculpture doesn’t,” he said. “After I got the materials, the specs disappear and I focus on what I’m trying to communicate.”
Mr. Barry said he was introduced to the Michael Kohn Gallery, which provided a more ideal setting for his vision than a motorcycle show, through the artist Case Simmons.
The Bullet.  photo: Ian Barry
“I made a decision to not ever show at a motorcycle concours again,” Mr. Barry said. “While I appreciate that environment, and those people are enthusiastic and appreciate what I’m doing, it’s something that carries history.”
The Falcons are very much functional works of art, though Mr. Barry shies away from sharing the more technical components of the engineering.
“I’ve ridden the Black over 100 miles per hour and for a couple hundred miles, and I love that riding them is part of their possibility, but it’s beside the point for me,” he said.
Mr. Barry said he had his work cut out for him to top the intricate production process in the remaining six motorcycles.

“I’d imagine that it’d be a decade or more before I close the chapter on this series,” he said. “I hope I get to see them all together one day.”

Jumat, 02 Agustus 2013

Born-Free 5 Part 4- More Bikes

 Oil's in the left tank.

Rigids are easy, Swingers are harder to get right. 

Dirt Bike? Sorry, I just don't get knobbies for street  bikes.

Keeping it simple.

I like grey. Except for the cool factor, the Evo is likely the best motor Harley ever made and actually quite a cool runner.

More Knobbies. I guess this time it's a Flat Tracker.

It's OK, I think it's hers.

More simple.

We'll end it in (South Bay), Style.

~good times~








Kamis, 01 Agustus 2013

JEFF DECKER'S 'BLACK LIGHTNING' AT AUCTION


From the Bonhams Quail Lodge auction catalog (which I wrote!):
Jeff Decker is rightly famous for his sculpture, the motorcycle equivalent of Frederick Remington, which has earned him the position of ‘official Harley Davidson sculptor’; his twice life-size ‘Hillclimber bronze statue outsidethe Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee is truly magnificent and a testament to his tremendous artistic talent.  Mr. Decker is also a collector of rare motorcycles (Crockers, genuine racing Harleys from the 1920s onwards, Speedway machines, etc), motorcycle memorabilia, motoring artwork, and ‘1%er club cutoffs’, the sleeveless vests emblazoned with motorcycle club logos.  All of his obsessions with the art and culture around motorcycling have made him a legend in his lifetime, especially for his outspoken opinions on these same subjects.

Jeff Decker is equally outspoken regarding his ultra-famous customized motorcycle, a 1952 Vincent Rapide which he calls ‘The Black Lightning.Decker uses the term ‘Lightning’ to emphasize his machine’s full-race specification, and to puncture any inflated notions that the infamous Vincent Black Lightning – of which only 31 were built – was the greatest motorcycle ever.  In truth, the men who made Vincent famous by setting numerous speed records and winning ‘drag races’ all across the Southwest - Marty Dickerson and Rollie Free – used race-tuned Rapide and Black Shadow models.  

The fact that the most famous Vincents are not actual ‘Black Lightnings’ is critical to understanding Jeff Decker’s motorcycle: the parts used in its creation are mostly ex-Marty Dickerson, as used in his Bonneville Salt Flat record attempts and drag-racing career. They were gathered from archVincent collector and recognized authority Herb Harris, who supplied the ex-Dickerson crankcases, two front cylinder heads, and genuine Black Lightning wheel hubs.  Most parts used are genuine Vincent, and the engine is tuned to Black Lightning specification, with MkIII racing cams, and two ‘front’ cylinder heads.  As the important parts of his machine were actually used in competition, Jeff Decker says “my bike’s got more racing history than 90 percent of the Lightnings out there.”

After collecting the necessary basics, Decker set about narrowing the fuel tank by 4.5” and lowering that tank as much as possible onto the engine to emphasize the brutal beauty of the Vincent V-twin engine.  The tiny ‘banana’ seat is cantilevered from the rear engine mount, and makes the saddle height nearly 8” lower than stock.  He fabricated a custom exhaust system with terminates in a ‘waffle box’ silencer underneath the engine.  The handlebars are straight, with Decker’s own custom-fabricated controls.  The headlamp is a tiny unit tucked well into the girder forks, which use a custom hydraulic shock absorber.  The alloy wheel rim flanges are ‘Deckerated’ with aesthetic drilling, along with the brake cooling ribs, andan original Black Shadow speedometer crowns the front girder fork.  The complete machine is amazingly compact and light, weighs significantly less than a standard Vincent, and looks lean and tough.


Jeff Decker’s “Black Lightning” is a rare thing; a custom motorcycle built by an actual artist, with his hands and by his own design, as an homage to the machines which passed into legend through their racing and record-breaking success.  It is especially rare being a ‘sculpture’ by a famous artist which can actually be ridden down the road, and ridden hard.

'THE RIDE' HITS THE BOOKSHOPS

Apologies for being near-absent a few weeks on TheVintagent, but I've been finishing my contribution to the BikeExif book, 'The Ride', published by Gestalten in Berlin, which I co-wrote with Chris Hunter, David Edwards (Bike Craft, Cycle World), and Gary Inman (Sideburn).  Gestalten publishes big, beautiful art books; this is their first motorcycle book, but as 'The Ride' is already #1 on Amazon's 'motorcycle' search results, they'll likely publish another!  I met with Robert Klanten (publisher at Gestalten), in both Biarritz (for Wheels and Waves) and in his offices in Berlin; as a lifelong rider, he's the perfect guy to pursue the subject.

'The Ride' is a survey of contemporary Custom motorcycle-building culture via the BikeExif slant - ie, what's cool and new-school, and the current trends in various 'styles' - Cafe Racer, Bobber, Board Tracker, Street Tracker, Chopper, etc.  And finally, of course, it's possible to hold a book in your hands to look at these machines, rather than pixellated images limited to 250kb/32dpi....

The book is available on special offer via Amazon.com now.  And of course, I'm in the middle of writing a second book!  Based on the 'Ton Up!' exhibit which I'm installing -right now- in Sturgis, for Bike Week, all about Cafe Racer culture from the 50s to today - bikes, art, photography, writing.  It will be published by Motorbooks, and I'll keep you posted on developments!

Here's the unwieldy link to the Amazon order page (sorry, my iPad Blogger app doesn't do hyperlink text!) http://www.amazon.com/The-Ride-Custom-Motorcycles-Builders/dp/3899554914/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375367499&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=the+ride+bikeexif

Rabu, 24 Juli 2013

Born-Free 5 Part 3 "Choppers Not"

Although Born-Free was/is really about vintage choppers, Mike and Grant have always encourage attendees to ride in vintage bikes of all types. As for myself, I enjoy seeing them just as much as the choppers. Here's a few that caught my lens.
 
Vintage '48 Panhead? By the looks of things, this may be a wholly new bike. Check the heads and the tranny with the electric starter.

 Nice 1961 Harley in Hi-Fi Purple?

Whatever the case, it appears a bit pinker than usual.

1947 Kucklehead with great patina.

1949 or '50 Panhead... or just built from parts? Never the less, a clean machine.

It was nice to see Dr. Sprocket (aka Rich Ostrander), take home the trophy for "Best Bobber".

He originally restored his 1940 Knuck as a stocker then later Bobbed it.

An interesting blending of parts. 

Chuck Vogel took "Best Original" with his 1928 Henderson.

That's a wrap, time to go.