Rock Store

Rock Store
Originally uploaded by Elrod Racing

Nuff said...Roland Sands...his bike..far from ordinary...but it's a tractor...purty ... but still a tractor!

Why is it an inline V is considered the "ultimate" engine for a custom bike; when it is nowhere near as aesthetically pleasing as a British made twin or triple?

Ace Cafe - Spring Riot 2009

Ace Cafe - Spring Riot 2009
Originally uploaded by roka kustom kulture

It's not jsut bikes we like, there is the whole Kustom Kulture schtick that some think came to it's ultimate with the Hot Rod.

Rods and Chops and Bobbers and hardcore Rock and Roll... finest combination in the world!

Every Picture Tells a Story

James Dabill
Originally uploaded by yamahagarn

This one deserves a much wider audience.

Would have loved to have had this viewpoint watching peeps do things with bikes that nobody thinks is possible. Like running one up a vertical rock wall. Huge cojones!

This is HARDCORE!

Honda CM90 / C50 / Innova hybrid
Originally uploaded by Lawrence Peregrine-Trousers

Face it you puny weekend adventurers on your 1200 GS Beemers and your KTBooms... this is Hardcore Adventure Motorcycling.

This is the steed of the true optomist!

This is mad as cheese!

And I feel kinda dirty that I like it so much!

Brass Balls Bobbers Has the Hot Model 1

Brass Balls Bobbers Has the Hot Model 1
Originally uploaded by BRASS BALLS BOBBERS

Okay it's a production bobber, not a home built job.... but it's what I would build anyhow...if I wanted a tractor... :)

www.brasssballsbobbers.com for more info

2nd Chop and Stock Custom Show

A selection of pics from a day out at the Chop and Stock show near Leicester.

All of the images can be seen on our Flickr pages

Book Review

These are the days that must happen to you - Dan Walsh.

Dan Walsh was a writer for Bike magazine and decided to ride the length of Africa.... okay so far so good...then got another bike and tried it for the length of the Americas. He sent regular reports back, and therefore got a wage while doing it, that were mildly entertaining ... he manages to write in a New Journalist/Gonzo style, as he states himself ,that he never quite gets right; he himself agrees his style is part Hunter S Thompson, part early Mark Williams, and part Nick Cohn , and a big dollop of Tom Wolfe.

Essentially like many long distance riders there is a sub plot and with Walsh it is constant battle with not becoming a statistic like many of his friends back in Manchester , or the Manc scally drug mules he visits in a Central American prison. Realising he needs to grow up as mainly alcohol,occasionaly recreational drugs and constantly travelling starts out to first destroy his relationships then his health... then the bike dies... he tries to obtain a balance in his life.

As the book is actually, as stated earlier, a collection of columns that he wrote for Bike it feels as such. Each chapter becoming a fully formed item, and there are some sections that you know he wrote purely to meet a deadline and others have a great deal more craft lovingly applied to them.

It made me mutter "Twat" a lot while reading, but not always in the negative and some sections made me laugh out loud. At time things shine through, the sheer joy of riding , the essence of the pose factor , the sheer rebellion of riding in todays sanitised car based societies.There is some incitful writing that makes you nod in agreement , but a book needs to be taken as a whole entity and as such it is not a classic, but as a bit of entertainment I would recommend it.

Be a good one for being stuck waiting on a flight , or like I was. on a train to London and back.

Life is too short to blog...

Or is it ? I keep having ideas to post to the blog and forget them... I have a huge photo archive I never have enough time to get digitised... I have videos still on tape...I need more time or do I need to spend less time riding?

Well we have an expedition planned into Europe and an EeePC... time to start blogging again!

Criminal compensation

The Motorcycle Action Group has launched an e petition on the 10 Downing St site to challenge over zealous police reaction to alleged risks at motorcycle events.

The petition follows a parliamentary question on the subject that MAG member Lembit Opik MP tabled in Parliament earlier this year.

MAG is concerned by the apparent enthusiasm displayed for closing events on the basis of information about criminal intent which police are not obliged to share with event organisers.

MAG President Ian Mutch said, ‘I suspect that the police are themselves victims of a health and safety culture which is leading them to pick the safe option of closing events to avoid becoming targets of criticism if something goes wrong.’

‘It is intolerable that event organisers should face financial ruin because of factors that are not of their making. We feel that if organisers are eligible for compensation under such circumstances then pressure may be exerted on the police which could restore balance to a situation which appears to be getting out of control.’

The petition reads as follows:

Criminal compensation

Compensate fully the innocent organisers of public events where police have achieved cancellation based on undisclosed 'intelligence received' regarding the potential criminal actions of parties unrelated to the event organiser.

To sign the petition, go here:

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Eventsatrisk/

MAG-UK