Down with the kids

And I thought it was DicE that appealed to the young turks! That's Glenn's boy Liam in Oz (top) and Roman's boy in the States (above) lapping up issue 11.

Must have been Mike Davis's wheelie on the front...

He kept the Wicker Man waiting

Meant to post this a week or two ago when I heard about the death of Edward Woodward, one of the UK's finest actors, and star of one of my all-time favourite movies 'The Wicker Man'. If you haven't seen it... see it!

Tees on sale now

At last... they're here. Gildan 100% cotton heavyweight pre-shrunk tees. $25 per shirt includes shipping to anywhere in the world.

To those of you who have hassled me for these, thank you! And I'm so sorry it took so long. I hope there's a design you like.

Buy yours here.

Issue 12 on sale now

Just click on the image over on the right to go to the GK website.

I'm loading the tees to the online store now (how the fuck did I become a coder?) so they'll be available within hours.

Subs are dropping now, and your favourite retailers are stocking up on #12 as we speak.

So what's in it then? New photos of John Edwards' Pan in its new guise, plus Nate's fabulous 'Ice Queen' FL, cool Triumphs from Oz and the US, a crackin' Pan from Tokyo, an Ironhead and Shovel from Wales, a Jag-powered dragster, Rowan's memories of the 70s chopper scene in London, Scott Pommier's Born-Free coverage, a profile of Josh Kurpius, the magnificent Irish Rich... you'll like it. I promise!

Claudio's Pan

This is the senior chopper dentist's ride, shot by Roger when he was still living in Italy. We'll be running it in a future issue.

Davide, email me!

Time for tees

Thank the Lord... no more cheesy 'tees' puns.

They'll be for sale on the website this week I hope.

A design to suit every badass!

Feelin' Lefty

Hey I was out last night
Started a fight

Feeling bad this morning and looking a sight

Stumblin' and a bumblin' and feelin' for the knob of my door
Cause I just can't live that fast anymore

Well I remember when
The fun begin
Noon the next day before I come in
And the morning never bothered me after the night before
But I just can't live that fast anymore

Well take a look at me, and you can see
that all that fast living brings misery
Just a messed up hick at the end with blood shot eyes
Man you just can't live that fast and get by

Take my advice
Think it over twice
Live real slow and be real nice
You better heed this warning I'm giving you in this song
Cause you just can't live that fast very long

Well I remember when
The fun begin
Noon the next day before I come in
And the morning never bothered me after the night before
But I just can't live that fast anymore

Offline for a few days

Need some honkin' r&r.

Back next week.

Issue 12...

...will be available, along with our new tees, in a few days.

I love that Panhead!

GK issue 1 cover star is back!

Remember Buzz, who graced the first issue's cover in early '07 with his hand built (literally, down to the hand turned bolts) Triumph? Well, when he sold the bike, he got a very ropey UL basket in part exchange... and this is it, nearly two years later.

Buzz is one of those people who blows me away with their talents... when he says he's built a bike, he means it, from the paint ...to the pipes... to de-raking the frame... to engine assembly.

He won't thank me for posting this, as he's only just finished the bike and wanted to get some decent snaps done, but I hope he inspires you as much as he does me. Good work fella!

We'll be featuring it soon.

Flywheel

Imagine a TV show about choppers that wasn't completely lame.

Hard to imagine? Well, that's the premise for Bob, Benny and the 'Flywheel' team's TV series, which is looking good and should be on air here in the UK soon, and which they're hoping will go global. Check out some of the nicely shot trailers here.

Sixties... or noughties?

Dan Carr sent me some great images of his knuck (see the feature on him in issue 10)... and this one I like particularly because it's timeless. It really could have been taken in the early sixties.

Cool guy, even cooler bike.

Still on the fiddle

Well, the 'Poet's Pan' cutoff fender is on there... different peanut... but I don't think either will stay on the bike. I've got a more definite direction in mind now, but it's going to stay 'fat'. 'Phat'.

Sunday night instalment

Loomis Dean

I posted a few of LIFE magazine photographer Loomis Dean's shots at the beginning of the year, but was reminded yesterday just how cool some of his images are. He took this a couple of years after joining LIFE in '47... and I think that's my dream woman nearest the camera. Wonder if she's still around?

Brain's ticking over

I like this stage of making a bike 'yours'. Working out what'll work. And what won't.

I spent a while plonking various fenders and tanks on the Pan, just making it easier to visualise what I really want, and I think if I'm staying true to my take on 'Poet's Pan', I need to go with an axed tank, or narrowed fatbobs. As I want to retain the stock mounts (no hacking on this baby... Lordy, it's taken me so long to get to the point where I could find and afford an OEM frame) I think narrowed fatbobs are the go, as we used to say in Oz.

As I doodle and dream, I check the archives for inspiration, and Lukester did the axed tank thing better than almost any I've seen (above). Delicious work.

Goofin' around

With Freddy's help I stripped the Pan back some more and started playing around with bits and pieces to get a feel for where I'm going with this bike. I think I'm definitely gonna use that 70s seat and that fender, and throw an 18" hoop on the front. I'm also digging the flipped passenger pegs instead of footboards. Not sure the Wassell's doing it for me, so may try a couple of other shaped peanuts I have or go back to my original plan to find some cheap fatbobs on Egay and narrow 'em up.

I played around with the period bobber thing, and it just didn't light my fire. I'm heading for something a bit funkier, but who knows what'll happen this winter?

You can't beat Kool Krust

And Kevin Baas's Knuck has that in spades...

Coming up in the issue-after-next, lucky 13!

The Forest Gate Greasers

I found this by accident when I was scouring the web for something else, but it's an interesting first hand account of the biker security at the Stones' Hyde Park gig in July '69. This was a time when UK bike gangs started getting real charters from the US; an interesting transitional period...

Flipped Panhead

Hard ride indeed, if your bike was back to front.

Buy, beg or borrow a copy

You won't regret spending your time reading this one.

Real bikers...

... listen to Crazy Cavan and wear GK tees in winter. Arriving next week!

A package from Josh is always exciting

Brian Harlow's "Minnow" will be featured in issue 13...

The run

Inside the KuDa Kave

Things are happenin'...

TX Dennis's new project

If you've got the current issue, you'll have seen the feature on TX Dennis's seventies survivor Panhead 'The Professor'. Hot on its heels comes another super-cool Pan chopper (check the K model front wheel, chromed frame etc), which Dennis is putting the finishing touches to right now. It'll be in our pages soon...

Stand by your bike

'Stand by your bike' the photographer says.

Er, OK. I feel such a dork. Shall I put my hands in my pockets, or clasp them in front of me like a guilty vicar? No, I know... I'll casually drape one hand over one of the grips, and lightly finger the clutch lever, as if I'm itching to get away from this square scene and, like, get into the breeze man, and just ride, because that's the life of freedom I've chosen dude.

(What's the time? Is it really that late? Don't want to miss Australian Pop Idol. How long's this bloke gonna be, anyway?).

Oh, and try not to smile. Bikers don't smile. Damn, I always forget that one.