"Spring is just around the corner, it's almost time for motorcycle weather! Get a head start and jump start your fashion with this uniquely awesome lightweight LEGO motorcycle/dirtbike necklace. A perfect gift for Valentine's Day! The Cycle hangs on an 18" silver-plated chain and measures approx. 3.25" long."
Available from Gr0glmann's Fun Retro Jewelry
Via magicalpowermako-cosmos:External Link: ThreeWheelers.com
"The GM Lean Machine was developed by Frank Winchell of General Motors (USA) in the early 1980's as a concept car. The single seater vehicle is a "lean" machine in the true sense of the word as it leans into corners like a motorcycle whilst keeping the stability of a normal car. The original model was powered by a 15 hp 2-cylinder engine that produced a maximum speed of 80 mph with a fuel economy of 80 mpg at 40 mph. Shortly afterwards a second model was produced that was powered by a larger 38 hp engine. With a total body weight of 159kg this gave the vehicle outstanding performance and the Lean Machine was able to reach 60 mph in just 6.8 seconds with a fuel economy of over 200 mpg."
"Multiple-award-winning illustrator Doug Fraser premiers his first long sequential work. As a Pale Rider aboard an old pounded cop bike, Mort Grim travels the desolate blue highways of America in search of something lost. Could he find it in the diner waitress Gabby? Possibly. Just remember. "There is no justice, there just is!"Mort Grim is available through lastgasp comics.
Wiki"The Ford Gyron was a futuristic two-wheeled gyrocar first shown to the world in 1961 at the Detroit Motor Show as a concept car. One wheel was at the front and the other at the rear like a motorcycle and the car was stabilized by gyroscopes. The two occupants of the vehicle were seated side by side and, when the vehicle was stationary, two small legs appeared from the sides to support it. The vehicle was created for research and marketing purposes, with no intention to put it into production.
Alex Tremulis was the designer and the gyroscopic systems were based on Louis Brennan's theories. The Ford Motor Company of Detroit gave credit for the Gyron to Louis Brennan. Alex Tremulus had started his career with the US airforce and worked in 1948 at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on the concept of Military flying saucers. He then became the chief designer for the ill fated Tucker automobile before joining Ford and was involved the Gyron XU1 gyroscopic car.
Via The Kneeslider:"Michael Ulman is a “found-object” sculptor, taking things found in the trash, at junkyards and fleamarkets, almost anywhere and then using the parts and pieces to form his mechanical artwork. He’s focused on fantasy motorcycles but turns out the occasional speedboat or hot rod, too. His pieces look like they should start up and run but not having to worry about that gives him a lot more freedom which he uses to full advantage.link: Michael Ulman
Wild Arms: The Vth Vanguard (ăŻă€ă«ăăąăŒă ăș 㶠ăăŁăăčăŽăĄăłăŹăŒă (Wairudo Ämuzu Za Fifusu VangÄdo?) ) also known as Wild Arms 5, is the fifth video game in the Wild Arms series of Steampunk/Western-themed Science Fantasy role-playing games. The game celebrates the series's 10th anniversary by featuring cameo appearances of characters from the previous games
Wiki:
"Scorpio Rising was a groundbreaking avant-garde, experimental film by Kenneth Anger, author of the Hollywood Babylon books, starring Bruce Byron as the biker Scorpio. It features themes of leather-clad bikers, the occult, Jesus and Nazis. Its camp appropriation of popular culture included an innovative use of pop music, the erotic cult of James Dean, and comic books. The film was produced in 1964 and initially shown on the underground film circuit. The film features no lines of dialogue, accompanied instead by music from popular 50's and 60's artists including Ricky Nelson, The Angels, Bobby Vinton, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas. It is considered to be one of the first post-modern films and an influence to future directors such as Martin Scorsese and David Lynch."
External link: Review of Scorpio Rising
Via autoblog:
"Looking like it just time-warped from the set of Mad Max into the Motobike Salon in Moscow, Russia, is the Luber Custom Stilet trike. What looks like rusty metal body panels is really just an airbrushed effect; the body is molded from fiberglass. Powered by a 300 horsepower 5.7 liter V8 and automatic tranny of unmentioned origin (probably a Chevy 350), we imagine that this trike has no problem getting out of its own way.
Not into the post-apocalyptic look? No problem, Luber appears happy to paint the machine to suit your preferences, all for the price of $50 grand. This is one machine that will definitely stand apart from the crowd, whether at a bike show or your local hangout... which is more than we can say for the majority of bikes rolling out of the custom shops these days"
Wiki:"Jour de fĂȘte (aka Festival Day, The Big Day) (1949) is a comedy from the French director Jacques Tati. Jour de fĂȘte tells the story of an inept and easily-distracted French postal carrier who frequently interrupts his duties to converse with the local inhabitants, as well as inspect the traveling fair that has come to town. Influenced by too much wine and a newsreel on the rapidity of the American postal service, he goes to hilarious lengths to speed his mail deliveries aboard his bicycle.External Link: Tativille
In Jour de fĂȘte, several characteristics of Tati's work appear for the first time in a full-length film. The film is largely a visual comedy, with dialogue often reduced to the level of background noise. In spite of this, sound remains a key element of the film, as Tati makes imaginative use of voices and other background sounds to provide humorous effects.
The movie was originally filmed in Thomson-color, a process that became extinct before prints of the film could be shown. As the film could not be processed, Tati was forced to release the black and white version (which features occasional short bursts of colour, hand-coloured by Tati directly onto the frames) that was filmed as a precaution, in case the color process was not perfect. In 1995, the color copy was restored and published by Tati's daughter Sophie Tatischeff and cinematographer François Ede.
The film was shot largely in the town of Sainte-SĂ©vĂšre-sur-Indre and the surrounding region, and many of the locals played the roles of extras."
Wiki:"The Forever People are a fictional group of extraterrestial superheroes published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Forever People #1 (February 1971), and were created by Jack Kirby.
The heroes are a group of young New Gods from New Genesis who were originally on a journey to oppose Darkseid on Earth. In addition to the individual abilities and equipment of the members, the group can join to summon the powerful hero known as the Infinity-Man by using a Mother Box to handle particularly dangerous threats. The concept is essentially a reworking of the "kid gang" concept that Kirby and Joe Simon used during the 40's and 50's, with four to five adolescents dealing with their place - or lack thereof - in society, and their interactions with an adult mentor who was an extreme heroic - or super-heroic - character.
They first appeared in their own title, The Forever People, in 1971, which lasted eleven issues and ended on a cliffhanger. In the last issue, they summoned Infinity-Man, swapping places with him on a distant planet named Adon. Infinity-Man was apparently destroyed in combat with Devilance the Pursuer, leaving the Forever People stranded on Adon.
In 1988, a six issue Forever People limited series was published, showing what had happened to the Forever People on Adon. During this series, all the things that happened to them on the planet were reversed, and they were restored to our part of the universe. This series revealed that the Forever People were Earth born humans, abducted from different timelines, and gathered to protect the human race. They were told that a being named Maya had created the Super-Cycle.
The Super-Cycle is a piece of quasi-living New Genesis technology; it resembles a small three-wheeled car, rather than a motorcycle, and can carry several passengers. Despite having an open top, it can travel at supersonic speeds (on the ground or by flying) without harm to its passengers using electrons; it can also turn itself and its passengers intangible."
Fourth in its series, the MX4 racing sphere swept the nationals three years running before a tragic multi-sphere accident forced its retirement. The MX5 successor, powered by an even larger centrifugal gravity engine, proved unstable and ended the Spherodon Family’s racing dynasty.
Sporting a 300bhp V6 motor driving a tiny rear wheel, this cycle suffered from control problems due to excessive torque. Despite the weight over the drive wheel, it was absurdly easy to break traction. The subsequent loss of forward momentum usually resulted in a crash – and without a boarding gantry, the pilot would be forced to walk home. Even when running properly, a sudden stop could catapult the pilot over the front wheel and into the pavement. Later versions attempted to fix these issues with gyroscopic stabilization, but drivers had learned to distrust the vehicle by this time.Link: codextransportica:
"In March 72 in France a new motorcycle mag appeared. Culbuteur was the first to be dedicated to motorcycle culture and biker way of life. We found comics by Wolinski, Pichard, Nicollet, subjects about Hells Angels and choppers, photographs by Dister or others... Soon this against- mainstrean was at war against the powerful French official motorcycling federation and disapeared after 5 cult issues."
"WHETHER it’s a car or a motor cycle would be hard to say, but the inventor of the novel vehicle above declares it has the advantages of both. In motion, it rides upon two wheels, guided by a steering wheel. The driver experiences a pleasant swaying sensation as the machine tips like a plane or motor cycle for the turns. When the driver stops, a pedal lowers a pair of small auxiliary wheels at the sides for support. The photograph shows the odd gas buggy being driven by a mechanic in a tryout run at Miami, Fla. Another model has a seat for a passenger mounted behind that of the driver."
Hardy Blechman-Now you see his scooter.."Hardy Blechman is the man behind the Marharishi fashion label, which spearheaded 1990s combat chic. He customised his Honda Zoomer (AKA the Ruckus in the States) with DPM – Disruptive Pattern Material.
“My Zoomer has been very useful for my daily journeys between head office in Hackney and the store in Covent Garden. The leather I’ve added is luxurious, but also hard-wearing. I’ve attached BMX-style pads to the handlebars and the back to act as handles for when I need to lift it up steps. And the camouflage waterproof cover comes in useful when I leave it outside. The wider handlebars were inspired very much by those on Steve McQueen’s motorbike in The Great Escape.”
“The beauty of customisation is that it can go in any direction – there are as many perceptions of great style in the world as there are souls. And the boundary between customisation and design is increasingly blurring. A current example of this, and one of my favourites, is the world’s best toy designer Michel Lau’s Mr Shoe – 100 customisations of a Nike shoe.”
“I also own a monkey bike and I think the Zoomer follows in that tradition of cleverly designed and well built scooters by Honda. It’s more honest chunky and durable, and has more charisma than most scooters currently available. It allows people to express themselves by imprinting their own personality. It represents the ‘democratisation of design’, in that it puts design decisions in the hands of the consumer.”...and now you don't.
“People in the street are interested in this camouflage customisation and I’ve told them about the Maharishi connection. My aim is to present an alternative perspective on camouflage by using it outside of its military context. This ‘Bonsai Forrest’ pattern represents camouflage’s natural and artistic heritage – the clouds and trees refer to how shapes and colours of camouflage patterns mimic the natural world. It is sometimes forgotten that artists from many disciplines played important roles in the development of military camouflage.”
"Like to ride your bike after the sun sets? Are you a real Night Rider? Confused as to why trucks don’t seem to notice your pleads for attention and keep slamming your bones around the city streets? Well if you like life and don’t want to die while cruising down the avenues after dark, this bike design by Rudi Moosmeir the parter of Niklas Galler called “Tong City Bike” just might be all the vehicular enlightenment you’ll need. The designer’s concerns for your safety have manifested in this brilliant (pun intended) bike design that is not only low maintenance, but also safe and secure. The low maintenance aspect is in the all-in-one housing for the brake system, drivetrain, shock absorbers and gears. The safe aspect comes from the use of integrated light tubes that can be customized to any color you desire, making you a more obvious target. Last but not least, this rolling rig even comes with a mini lockable safe."
Biomega is an Surrealistic Cyberpunk action manga by Tsutomu Nihei. Set in the future city only known as the Megastructure It follows a character by the name of Kanoe Zouichi-a synthetic elite soldier created by Toha Heavy Industries and his AI companion Kanoe Fuyu whose luminous form is integrated into the system of his 4000XLA Toha Industries Motorcycle.
pict of the Australian-only cover via album-art.net"Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC for short) is an American garage rock band from San Francisco, California, now based in Los Angeles. Formed in 1998, taking its name from Marlon Brando's motorcycle gang in the 1953 film The Wild One. BRMC is known for its catchy brand of garage rock, blues, folk revival, neo-psychedelia and often religiously inspired lyrics, and its influences are groups and musicians such as Matthew Hilferty, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Rolling Stones, John Lennon, The Velvet Underground and The Jesus and Mary Chain."
"This heavily modified Ducati Monster S4 is the work of one Ferruccio Codutti, who, it seems, is a master craftsman in working with aluminium. This one-off special, commissioned by one of Codutti’s customers, took about one full year to build.
The Monster has been completely restyled. The front suspension, which looks like it’s been taken off a Vyrus 985, is much more interesting than the bike’s styling. Codutti designed the entire front end himself, after studying other bikes with similar front ends and even the Elf Honda 500 GP racer! The Monster chassis has also been modified in order to work with the new front swingarm.
Because of the space needed by the front suspension, the original radiator had to be replaced with twin radiators placed under the engine. The custom-built exhaust comes from Mivv, while three-spoke wheels are Marvic items."
"Inspired by movies, pop art, anime, music and comic books, Gianluca Fallone’s art is beginning to turn heads outside of his native Argentina. This particular illustration, At The Drive-In, was influenced in-part by Akira and Daft Punk. We’re excited to see an artist looking at the same worlds we do, especially since he’s combining them with motorcycles."
