Remember Flathead Phil?

I have a file of magazine clippings that I put together when I chucked away piles and piles of motorcycle mags about a decade ago (I know, I know). This is one of them.

This feature was run by BSH in 1992, and believe me – with the exception of maybe Huggy and a couple of others – no one was riding bikes like this or rockin' the Loveless look in the UK back then.

I loved this bike, and still do – why I still have these pages, I guess.

Who are you, Flathead Phil? And what are you riding now?

I could have hung around all day...

... at Chopper Dave's unit in Hawaiian Gardens. So much cool stuff in every corner. I'd be a happy old codger if this was where I headed every day for work.

Look out for a feature on CD soon.

Dirty Indian

'47 Chief, getting a workout... after getting a workover by Spice MCs. Check out their Blog.

This photo by our good friend Mochi, from GKM issue 7.

Won't you be?

"You look like Alvin Stardust", my wife told me today, disparagingly.

"You don't know what a compliment that is", I replied.

But you know what? She was right... even down to the fisting glove.

BornThree: It's on!

If you only go to one show next year, make it this one.

Lose it

What do you know about Bob Fanniff?

Benny & Zippy

Benny & Zippy are top blokes and have built a couple of the nicest proper choppers I've seen in the UK.

They ride them too.

Look out for features in GKM soon.

Thanks Pete for the company and Bob for all your help.

1992: a publishing dynasty

Moto Guzzi V50 vs Ironhead Sportster.

We both loved V-twins. My brother was always into the Italian stuff, and I was always into the American stuff.

Schott Perfectos were the jacket du jour, and I'm rockin' a Riverside Cycles shirt (strange to meet Jeff M again in France this year after so long).

In case you didn't know, my brother now publishes Italian Motor magazine.

13

CxTxM.

17.

The treasure is unending

Mindsnapper

Garage Company is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most amazing shop I've ever been to.

No messin'

I love Joel's shovel chopper (we'll be featuring it in issue 17)... and this photo could have been taken on the set of any Roger Corman flick, until you see there's something a little more modern sitting on Joel's hip.

No messin'!

SOLD: Old chopper parts for sale :SOLD

This stuff has sat on the shelf for too long.

1. SU carb in good order with Panhead manifold (but they work well on Shovels too). Will polish up well. One small dimple on manifold (3rd pic down). £125
2. Wassell peanut tank. Has seen some action and lots of paintjobs. Has surface rust inside and out but nothing bad or structural. No tabs, but some have obviously been removed in past. £125
3. Steel trumpet muffler. But it ain't gonna muffle anything because it's straight-thru. Probably off some old racer. Inlet is 1 3/4" ID, other end is 3". £18


All sales via PayPal. Email me at choppers@greasykulture.com if you want any of this stuff. First come first served etc.

I will ship anywhere, fast, at your expense.

Reasons to be cheerful

For a glass-half-empty person, life sometimes has a way of confusing me by reminding me of some of its better aspects. I've seen, heard and received a few things recently that have made me fleetingly happy, and that's enough isn't it?

On the other hand, perhaps Pete S's only reason to be cheerful is that he's still alive after our ride today. But that's his story to tell.

The GKM Piston

You may remember the GKM engraved piston that I noticed on one of the forums and posted a picture of here last month. It was done by someone I knew in Sydney, Dave 'NeoDutch' O'Hanlon, and I emailed him to express my admiration for his work and the honour I felt at having the mag's logo so lovingly and permanently rendered.

Next thing I know, it arrived it the post.

Thanks mate. I truly appreciate it. It's sitting in pride of place on my desk at GKM HQ as I write this.

Here's the link for Dave's work again in case you're inspired to get him to engrave something equally lovely for you.

The ultimate accolade?

There's an interesting thread on the Jockey Journal at the moment about the bikes that have most influenced people over the past 10 years. I started reading, trying to work out in my own mind what my top ten might be, when I came across this: a guy from Seattle who actually cited my old Shovelhead as one of his top ten.

It must be one of the greatest compliments I've ever received. Considering the bike was built as a reaction to the contents of Chopper Dave's website (so is really a tribute to the bobber/early chopper style), it's amazing to think that other people liked it enough to call it an influence.

And to be mentioned in the same list as heroic fabricators like Indian Larry, Walt Siegl and Chopper Dave makes me feel just plain uncomfortable...

Built for speed

Getting chili

I forgot how great it is eating out in LA... there's so much choice and the quality always seems good, whatever you choose to eat.

One of the places Matt took me to was Barney's Beanery (the Pasedena one) – an LA institution, and one of those sports bar/restaurants they do so well in the States.

Big menus, big screens, big portions, cute waitresses, Stella on tap and Harleys on the bar. My kind of place.