Oakland

Max about to drop into the best half pipe I have ever skated. Sadly I heard its been torn up now, what a waste


Jasin

Oakland is a great place, it reminds me very much of Ladbroke Grove in the '70s. Thats the neighborhood I grew up in in London. Good times.

London pub toilet vandalism

Events plural

So these two fall on the same day, at around the same time and quite near each other, I know, what a crazy mixed up world we live in right?
What's sweet is we get to go to both and have a really good time. Bingo.

Event

Those rather nice chaps, the Deathtrap MC are having a party in Copperopolis, Nor Cal, October 3rd. The bar is splendid, one of the oldest in CA and the roads around those there parts are some of the best California has to offer.

bikes

Justin's Vincent and Nicks pan, both from issue 28.

Another satisfied customer then #2

Yoink

Got to spend Saturday working on my bike, brill. I'm almost there and I have to say I'm really quite pleased with the way its turning out. Still no magneto though, I'm waiting for it to come back from Morris. Honestly, I'm really getting twitchy not being able to go for a ride, its starting to get to me. Y'know? all moody and stuff.

Attire: part a

Well, the scenester/poser debate rages on, blahdy blahdy blah and seeing as me and Dean have been called scenesters a few times, even by our closest friends, I'm thinking it must be some kind of compliment. I'd never heard that word till I spent more time in the US. So without further ado, here is some clothing that's good to wear on a motorbike. Now some motorbike riders wore this stuff back in the day, so if the shit fits, wear it....literally. And are clothes more important than riding? of course not. And do certain clothes make me a poser? well I guess they do. Remember, above all else, have fun.



Harley white vinyl jacket from the '60's. I got this from Joel and Mary of Vintage Klass as a trade for some Dice bits and bobs and a little bit of cash. Its killer. Waterproof. And you can wipe it clean, sort of.



Blanket vest, early '70s. Fantastic, $10.00, Rose bowl. I saw a brilliant one which had a 3 piece, top and bottom rocker patch from the '60s on a booth. It was close to $800, Blimey! thats ridiculous.



US navy deck jacket, worn on aircraft carriers. This one is from, I think, about 1945. Bought this quite a few years ago now and its served me well. Great for London winter riding. They are very good at keeping out the cold and wind, in fact near perfect I would say. Not bad in the rain either, can cope with all but the heavist downpour. You can find them pretty easy at the Rose Bowl flea market and places like that. Price depends on condition. Most are quite knackered 'cos of their rough life but I saw a perfect one today for $125.

Vantastic patches

Matt Darwons Norton

from a few years ago, Atlas motor in an ES2 frame, lovely.

Bish, Bash, Bosh

So we stripped Deans Pan down using a pair of pliers, some metric spanners and some of Jeff ( Barracuda magazine ) Fox's homemade beer, nice one. All the proper tools were strapped to my bike on route to LA from the NJ Gypsy Run in the Biltwell van, so beggers can't be choosers right? Luckly all the nuts and bolts were new and not one drop of Locktite anywhere. Remember that scene at the end of the Blues Brothers when their police car falls to pieces? well it would of been a bit like that if Dean had got to ride it any distance.

Paparazzi

Damn, this is too easy. Sod Dice magazine, I'm taking this up for a living. So where's my first cheque then?

Hey? what! wait a minute!!!

Bloody hell!!

"two...

...Triumph motorbikes, both alike in dignity. In fair Los Angeles and Texas, where we lay our scene, from ancient times break to new machinery, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two builders. The black and flamed whose misadventure overthrows, Brian Bass the builder that is he. The fearful passage of green and gold, the 'Trumpster' is its name, Scott Craigs vision nought could remove"
Will Shakepeare, Romeo & Juliet

Damn hippies

Issue 28....

.....coming soon, very soon. And its great.

Steve's pan

This was Steve's panhead, how fantastic does it look? one of my all time fav bikes. We shot these pics about 5 years ago now and Steve still looks handsome.

Boat

I used to live on this 100 foot long 1927 Dutch barge on the river Thames in London right near Battersea power station and the Albert bridge. Dean and I did the first 10 issues crowded around 1 Dell computer in the Skippers cabin. Thats the silver bit at the very back of the boat with Janny written on it and with port holes. Good times. Funnily enough we work out of a room smaller than that now but these days we crowd round 2 Dell computers, thats progress for you. The big joke at the plumbing place where I used work was "Can I come on your boat?" now you need to know a bit of Cockney Ryhming slang to get that, here is a hint, Boat Race = face. Hillarious.

Conrads issue 6 cover

This is actually a bloody huge painting that Con did which he sold, but not before we used the image for the cover of issue 6

Things we wish we hadn't sold: # 2

and its a big one, my 55. I got this off a bloke in Texas about 5 years ago. He used to watch the car race when he was a kid so when the owner, builder and racer passed away he jumped at the chance to buy it. He got stuck for cash so I ended up with the lace painted beauty. I drove around the US for a bit when I came over for a holiday then shipped it back to London. The Chevy was my daily driver, It was a hard car to own in the big smoke 'cos it was basically a race car. But I had the most fun. I sold it after one very bad winter, no heater, crap brakes etc. Selling the 55 was the single most stupid thing I have ever done in my entire life, I miss that car so bad. Actually there are probably tons of other stupid things but I can't think of any right now.

Panther

Sometime in the mid 80's they had this anti helmet law rally in Hyde Park right in the middle of London. I went and there was a ton of bikes. One that stood out from all the others was this Panther chop and I still remember it to this day. I think it was called Fat Freddys Cat or something like that. So I was talking to Sumo about it on the Gypsy Run and he remembered the bike too and very kindly emailed me over a couple of pics. Thats his blog on the right there, Vintage Chop.

paint

What?!! is this super sweet or what? we wanted brown, we wanted blue, we wanted pink and we wanted swirly ribbons too so Jaymes @ Blue Moon Kustoms painted this for us for a sort of secret project we is working on, know wot I'm sayin'?. All will be revealed pretty soon I reckon.

The Gypsy Run

Went over to the East coast for the run, its always good to see a lot of friends I haven't seen for ages. Walter is a hero. I broke down on the first day in the pouring rain, my magneto decided to tell me to piss off and its been sulking ever since, bastard.
Matt