He's so bad!

Haven't seen Bad Lieutenant in years, but caught it on TV last night.

Some pretty confronting scenes. Those schoolgirls with the broken tail light... Harvey Keitel is magnetic and repulsive. But does he find redemption? I can't remember... I fell asleep with about half an hour to go.

Yowser

How good is this? Dave Barker of SpeedMetal's amazing Knucklehead, shot for GKM by Mark Kawakami.

Can't wait?

Well, unfortunately you'll have to. Dave had promised the bike to another US mag first, so we'll be bringing you our feature right after they show their pictures.

I admire a man of his word! But oh my, the waiting is hard... I LOVE this bike.

Always interesting

So, before ChopperTown and the realisation that Rico was one of the founding fathers (fury?) of The Sinners, he and I had a sudden, intensive to-ing and fro-ing across the ether by email, during which I realised I had met – or at least come across – him in the eighties. In London.

See, I used to drink quite often in the Devonshire Arms in Camden Town, and more often than not Shane McGowan would be whiling the evening away in a corner with friends. One of the characters often hanging around was this big guy with a bleached flat-top, who I used to see in there and at various gigs around the area: Rico.

Apparently he was a roadie for the Pogues in a previous existence, and I was a Camden barfly at about the same time. Did the fact we'd laid pints on the same Camden beermats and locked bloodshot eyes across north London dancefloors mean I was happy to stride up to him at Born Free last year and introduce myself? While he was having an intensive chat with the Hater? Well, what do you think? (He looked at me then with the same indifferent gaze he has in that shotgun photo with JJ, above.)

Anyway, he's an interesting character who does interesting work in an interesting shop, which now has an even more interesting website.

You people got something special coming your way

Can't say any more at the moment.

Back in a few days.

TriCo – coolest shop in LA?

Damn, I so wish I could be at this launch party on September 3. Matt called me the other day and I worked out it was about 3.30am or something LA time... he was in the store painting!

A lot of hard work has gone into TriCo, and they will be stocking loads of cool stuff – from DicE merch to Great Frog jewellery, Dixie stuff to GKM! So if you can, get down there on the 3rd and give our friends the support they deserve.

Ironhead fever: be careful, it's catching

Two tasty – and contrasting – Sporties, both soon to be featured in GKM.

TOP: Benny's Cutter, currently for sale on Ebay starting at £2500 with no reserve. Early seventies chopped frame, '79 motor.

Bottom: '73 Sporty built by The Gas Box in Lakewood, Ohio. Handmade fender, sissybar, handlebars, pipes.

Mop my brow!

My road testing career didn't last long

Harley-D just forwarded this to me from my Street Bob road trip to Scotland in June...

News from Moon

As you may have noticed, I don't throw ads up here (or in the mag) for other people's products unless I know them personally or have used the parts on my bike.

So I thought I'd pass on a message I got from Moon as I like Shige Suganuma a lot and respect what he has done in reviving the Mooneyes brand. I also like many of the parts in their motorcycle range.

These grips (above) will be available in October and are made from the same vinyl as the Moon steering wheels; coincidentally, if you're in the UK, you'll be glad to know that Miles at Jackhammer Hot Rod Supply is now stocking the bike stuff – he gave me the catalogue at the Hayride.

If you're anywhere near Vienna, Virginia on Labor Day weekend...

... then Rob of Rob's Used Harley Parts assures me this is the place to be.

The Antique and Custom Bike Show attracts some great machines, and it's all for a good cause.

Rob is a great supporter of GKM and I know many of his engines, transmissions and other parts have found their way across the pond. Looking for a titled, rebuilt, matching cases old Harley motor? Rob may have just what you're looking for.

I'm closing in

Photo: Gareth Buddo

Small world

Whilst manning the GKM table at the Hot Rod Hayride, I got talking to a nice bloke called Miles who works at Frith Street Tattoo. His lady was Australian, so we got talking about Sydney and it turns out Miles lived there for a good few years and tattooed at a couple of Sydney's best known shops, Illustrated Man and Inner Vision. We never crossed paths in Oz, but he is a good friend of Joycey's, who was a mate of mine and whose Triumph (with the JD springer) we featured back in issue 6.

Weird how this passion we share for old machines links us all, wherever in the world we are.

What's my name?

Why does the life I lived over thirty years ago feel more real than the one I live now?

Am I getting old?

Windsor

A blast from the past.

Kevin's done it again

This time with a '64 XLCH.

If you remember Kevin Price's orange '74 tracker from issue 18, you'll realise he has a real talent for putting together nuggety, minimalist Sportsters. This one is already in Japan... but hopefully you'll be glad to hear we got some snaps of it for GKM before it got crated up.

In 1999

I decided to start a website dedicated to fifties and sixties style choppers and hot rods. I called it Greasy Kulture, which is cringeworthy now but then seemed like a fair summation of the fifties aesthetic and burgeoning nouveau kustom scene (which saw everyone growing goatees and painting their hot rods flat black).

Chopper Dave helped me get the site going (emailing me on how to construct the site and which of these amazing new 'digital' cameras to buy), and used to send me mags from California; I remember sending him a copy of Custom Car magazine that featured a tiny photo of his bike at one of the first Blessing of the Cars. Those were the days... when you had to search out the choppers hidden behind cars in magazine photos! I remember the Hater sending me a few copies of a cool magazine – or more like a fanzine – called Greaser, featuring the SoCal scene's hot rodders and chopper riders at the end of the nineties. Black and white, hand stapled... that must have been one of the first independent mags covering the new 'old school' thing.

I used to ride around on my shovel, wearing my Coop t-shirt and German helmet, thinking I was the hippest cat in north London. I dread to think what anyone from SoCal would have thought of my wannabe-ness.

Funny how one photo can bring on the sentimentality. I think there's a book to be written about those early days of the traditional hot rod and chopper revival in California. But perhaps we need to wait a few more years before it becomes proper 'history'...

It's all happening in Oz

Where were all the cool bikes when I was living there?

This is Stu's rather nice Triumph, impressive for a first build... coming soon to our pages.

Roland's '47 UL: back to the source

Bikes like this from Sweden were exactly what sparked the idea to do a GK website 12 years ago... these kind of motorcycles were, and are, my constant inspiration. You would only ever glimpse them in rare copies of MCM or tucked away on Chopper Dave's website. And I don't care about backlashes, backbiting, period-snobs or what the trend is this week – Jap sportsbikes, FXRs, vans, street scramblers, diggers, penny-farthings, BMWs – this for me is where it still begins and ends.

Roland's bike features "lots of old stuff, Hummer, VL, Bates, Anderson... Old genuine bolts, CP1038 too. Linkert, of course. Equipped with real old Goodyear 5.00-16 rear tire. Leather bag from Swedish Cavalry, around WW2. Kelly Green and Dark Gold flake. Red bronze risers, rough castings...". Coming soon in GKM.

Cool stuff for sale: be quick

Times are tough. I have a Panhead engine rebuild to find the money for. So some of the bits and pieces I was keeping for future makeovers and projects are being sacrificed.

This is (almost) all rare stuff. Lots of it is NOS. Google these parts for average prices, then pick up a bargain. First come, first served – emails to choppers@greasykulture.com. Shipping is not included in these prices, but will be at cost. I would rather this stuff gets posted to the UK, but will ship worldwide. If you want any of this stuff, don't procrastinate... it will either go onto Ebay or back into my shed when I change my mind.


Very rare Goodyear Eagle HST 18" and 16" tyres. These are worshipped in Japan. The 18 was NOS when I found it, and I have put about 400 miles on it since. The 16 has a good tread, but is starting to crack inside. Many people would run it, some wouldn't. £99 for the pair. Will split.

Le Pera-style vintage 70s chopper seat. Ran it on my Pan last year, super comfy and good nick. Very small 1cm tear in lower front which can't be seen when on bike. Those rubber strips were to save my paint and peel off. SOLD

NOS Robbans Speed Shop (Sweden) ribbed Panhead valve covers. Never run. Will polish up beautifully. Allows valve lift up to .540". These are £395 from Robbans. SOLD


Nice little Autocycle headlight with lovely rippled lens. Like the one on Huggy's Knuck. Perfect patina, cool three way switch. SOLD

NEW 7 Metal West aluminium ribbed ducktail fender for 16" tyre. 5" wide. A little shelf wear. These are the strongest on the market, handmade in the USA. The strength of steel with half the weight. SOLD

NEW Golan 'click-slick' ball bearing petcock/fuel tap. Backwards-facing nipple. These are superb quality, made from show chromed 360 brass. Smooth, leak-free, lifetime warranty. New in box. 3/8 NPT fitting ('75-'93 BT, etc). £60.

NOS Superior 'straight flow' mufflers. Rare, never been on a bike. Fingerprints will polish out, chrome is good. SOLD

NEW aftermarket '55-'72 Harley tail light. Unused. Get that Love Cycles look with a flat rear fender! SOLD

NOS Chicago Motorcycle Supply kicker pedal, green with swirls. SOLD

Emails to choppers@greasykulture.com

We still miss Daisy

The top photo was the last one we took of her, sunning herself on the front doormat.

Two years ago today, and it still hurts.

KDS-Trump... coming soon

Karl's a friend of a good friend in Oz and we met at the Yokohama show last year. He's a talented fella, creating everything from glorious paintwork (like you see here) to leatherwork, through his company KDS Designs.

His '73 Triumph is coming up in GKM soon.

Danny Lyon: the Iron Horse magazine interview

The March '94 issue of Iron Horse featured David Snow's interview with Danny Lyon, as far as I know the only time he's talked so specifically about the making of the Bikeriders book in print.

Hope you can read it.

Stefan Marjoram... what a talented bloke

With so much nihilism in the air, it was refreshing to click on an interesting-looking new link on Eat the Rich's bloglist and find some lovely sketches from the Hot Rod Hayride (amongst many other events) by Stefan Marjoram.

No wonder he's he's a dab hand with a pen and brush, he's a CD at Aardman Animations. As if this geezer wasn't brimming with enough talent, you then click onto another link on his blog and discover he's a superb automotive photographer as well.

Sickening.

Check out the links... really inspirational stuff.

Anarchy for the UK...

...it's coming sometime, and maybe...

'Gold Digger' BSA

Jon Rispante sent me a couple of shots of the 'Gold Digger': his Born Free three show BSA.

I like it!