Not Heading to Sturgis?

Happy 150th Henry!

Innovator.

Oily Souls Featured Photographers - Josh Kurpius, Troy Critchlow and Michael Schmidt

Photo by Michael Schmidt

Photo by Troy Critchlow

We're stoked to be featuring three of the best photographers in the moto-world - Josh Kurpius, Troy Critchlow and Michael Schmidt at Oily Souls Detroit on August 24th here in the D.  Check out the Oily Souls blog for more images from each of the three featured photographers and more details on the show.

Our Daily Sled #310

A great shot by Sleepy (Fuel Magazines Craig Metros) during our GK mag shoot of Terry's ShuVL last winter. Come see Terry's bike in person on August 24th at Oily Souls Detroit

Born Free 5 - PT6 - The Night Before

Spent part of the night before Born Free 5 at Cro Customes in Culver City.  Caleb and Matt were getting the Frankenpan ready for the show. Always good to spend time with these guys and the chance to check out the bike in person before anyone else was cool.  Caleb had just received word from the doc that he was OK to ride after months of re-hab and healing from his accident last fall.  Needless to say the mood was light and the humor flowed

Sporty TT Goes to Sturgis!

Ton Up! Speed, Style and Cafe Racer Culture”

Lucky number 13 for the annual "Motorcycles as Art" exhibition at the legendary Buffalo Chip during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally this summer is titled “Ton Up! - Speed, Style and Cafe Racer Culture,” focusing on the origins and continued popularity of the Café Racer movement worldwide.

Co-curators Michael Lichter (LichterPhoto.com) and Paul d'Orléans (theVintagent. com) have assembled a comprehensive display of 32 machines from 12 makes and 6 decades, plus never-published photography - from the original café racing scene in 1960s England to the present, paintings by Andrea Chiaravalli, Brent Wick, Guenevere Schwien and Triumph ‘resident artist’ Conrad Leach, images from the Ace Café Collection, vintage leather ‘Rocker’ jackets from the Lewis Leathers archive, the “One-Show” 21-helmets display of custom painted helmets, photography by Erick Runyon and other artists to be announced.

The cafe racers in this exhibit include premium examples of 50s/60s Café Racers (Gold Star, Norvin, Triton, Dunstall, etc) from Herb Harris (Harris Vincent Gallery), Yoshi Kosaka (Garage Co), Mark Mederski (National Motorcycle Museum), Gordon McCall (Quail Motorsports Gathering), plus Willie G Davidson’s #0001 1977 XLCR, as well as custom machines from Alain Bernard (www.santiagochopper.com), Arlen Ness (www.arlenness.com), Brad Richards (Zen of Neato), Brian Klock (Klock Werks Kustom Cycles), Bryan Fuller (www.fullerhotrods.com), Chris Flechtner (www.speedshopdesign.blogspot.com), David Edwards (www.bikecraftmagazine.com), David Zemla (www.burlybrand.com), Dustin Kott (www.kottmotorcycles.com/), Greg Hageman (www.docschops.net), Jason Paul Michaels (www.dimecitycycles.com), Jay Hart, Jay LaRossa (www.lossaengineering.com), Kevin Dunworth (www.loadedguncustoms.com), Kim Boyle (Boylecomm.blogspot.com), Ray Drea (Harley-Davidson design director), Richard Varner (www.championsmoto.com), Roland Sands (www.rolandsands.com), Shinya Kimura (www.ChabottEngineering.com), Skeeter Todd, Steve “Brew Dude” Garn (www.brewracingframes.com), Steve "Carpy" Carpenter (www.cb750cafe.com), Thor Drake (seeseemotorcycles.com), Vincent Prat (Southsiders MC) and Zach Ness (www.arlenness.com). Included in the show are original or modified machines by BMW, BSA, Ducati, Honda, Harley Davidson, Moto Guzzi, Norton, Rickman, Triumph, Vincent and Yamaha.

Each year, the "Motorcycles as Art" exhibition garners tremendous media coverage from around the globe, and thousands of enthusiasts in person. This year’s exhibition will get even more recognition as it will live on in the coffee-table book "Ton Up - Speed, Style and Cafe Racer Culture," published by Motorbooks International. Michael Lichter will photograph all the motorcycles in his Sturgis studio for the book, which will also include the jackets, artwork, and photographs from the exhibit. Paul d’Orléans’ is writing a comprehensive history of the Café Racer movement for the book; from its deep origins in speed-modified road bikes from the ‘Teens, to the ‘classic’ period in England in the 1950s/60s, through its various resurrections in the 1970s, 80s, and especially, with the advent of Internet motorcycle blogs, TV shows, and ‘Café Racer’ magazines, the explosive popularity of the style in the 21st Century.
"Ton Up! - Speed, Style and Cafe Racer Culture” sponsors include GEICO Motorcycle Insurance, Handy Industries, Hot Leathers, our official exhibition shipper Keyboard Motorcycle Shipping, Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys and Spectro Performance Oils. The exhibition will be open August 3rd – 9th 2013 and is located next to the east gate of the Buffalo Chip and offers free admission to the public, and Buffalo Chip guests.
The ‘Motorcycles as Art’ exhibitions are hosted each year by the Legendary Buffalo Chip, this year celebrating its 32nd consecutive annual concert series, which attracts the music industry’s hottest stars to their famed camping resort every August during Sturgis Bike Week. The “Chip” is set on 580 acres 3-miles east of Sturgis.

Wauseon - PT2

Another great year - a blur at times. I got there really late but still managed to find some much needed bits for the bikes - even sold a motorcycle! We topped it off Sunday afternoon with a 200 mile ride including a rip down the Maumee river road - one the best roads you can find around these parts.  Already counting down to next year....

Our Daily Sled #309

Mind Bending '50 Panhead TT owned by a guy named Marty.  I've heard about this bike for years but have never seen it.  I never saw it sitting still at Wauseon so thanks to the Fast is Fast blog for the pic!

Wauseon - PT1

Wauseon!

Tons of coverage coming soon....

Sunrise, Shayna & the Sporty TT

I stood behind Michael Schmidt At 6am the morning before BF5 when he was setting up these shots so this is the artistic equivalent of tracing someone else's work.  I'm sure Michael's pics are much better (they should be coming to some of our favorite mags soon). I was stoked with these shots I took, but my little point shoot was getting a lot of help from the subject matter and that amazing southern California sunrise.