My "cool" phase is OT and Harley-related. In the early 90s I rode a '46 FL. I was the one who answered when somebody asked "Who's knuckle is that parked outside?". I was the badass who kick-started his bike at closing time amid a sea of starter buttons. I basked in all the attention. I played the part too. Buckled boots, check. Leathers, check. Attitude, double check. I did the runs. Redwood, check. Hollister, check. H-A Poker, check, check, check. I was living the lifestyle, riding everyday to and from work. Galavanting around on weekends. But one day something occurred to me during one of the countless times I sat on the side of the highway broke down and wrenching. Other Harleys drove right on past. Damn near every import bike stopped and asked if I needed help. I realized then I wasn't as "cool" as I thought. I realized the same wind hits you in the face no matter what you ride. I started returning the raised hand greeting to any motorcyclist riding the other way, much to the bewilderment of my "bros". I dropped out of the scene. Stopped participating in Harley-only events. Started wearing short sleeve shirts over my flame sleeved dealer shirts. Dropped the "holier-than-thou" attitude I could now plainly see in all the rest of the Brando-come-latelys. It culminated in the sale of my bike in '08 when it finally needed its cases cracked and a complete upper, lower, and tranny rebuild I couldn't afford. It's now in Germany. End of "cool" phase. I learned a lot from that time in my life. One thing is I'm getting too old for jumping jacks. I'll have a Harley again, but this time it'll be a reliable Evo that starts with my thumb.
I had this long passage dreamed up in my brain when I opened this thread about how I feel sorry for the kids of today 'cause I think the "cool" has been beaten out of the entire generation, and ruminations on how I possibly grew up in the last generation that didn't have to search out cool... Fuck that, Gotgas's entry in a couple of paragraphs just sparked the memories of my buddy's dad, Lee Lebheart, the guy that taught me welding and so many of the other skills I use everyday, starting each day with exact same lighting of his cig... The guy oozed cool from every pore of his soul with his "uniform" of jeans and a white t-shirt with the cigarette pack rolled in the sleeve an crew cut. This wasn't made up, ironic, "searched for" cool, 'cause this was the height of the disco laden mid seventies and it was just flat how this guy had been when his personal "must improve and change with the times clock" ran out in about '55 or so. I ended up being better friends with Lee that I did with his sons Rick and Rob out of this deal, and I miss the guy everyday...
Jeez, I'm still stuck on you spent $30 for a haircut.....back then..... Never tried to be "cool". Too busy with music and cars. Then came family.....
cool...i tried to be "cool" it never really worked. i feel that i have come into my own and what i liked and what i didnt. forget being "cool" i am sure that as i get older things will change again. if only i knew then what i know now...then again im sure i will say that again in another 30 years. alright everybody. go out and be cool.
My quest for cool ended with reading glasses, male pattern baldness and hemiroids. Now I can wear khaki shorts with socks and jesus boots, and not even feel a pang of embarassment. Its such a relief. Middle age does have some benefits...
I was the opposite if cool. Picture this: dad comes home from Goodguys Pleasanton around '90. He brings gifts to his adolescent son.. A pair of flamed shorts and a trucker hat with a bucket T on the front and a real louvered piece of metal on the brim. I thought I was the bees knees! I'll barely made it home alive from school the next day. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
No offense Ryan but with all the OT Crapola thats been posted as of late this is a Godsend....or maybe a Ryansend! All my faith in the almighty HAMB has been restored. Great read and great responses so far, hell I may have even flirted near COOL afterall, but then not being cool didnt realize it. I was lambasted a while back for a thread I started....hell all I was doing was looking for kool... Our roadster is a big deal to me, I'd better find a bit of cool pretty soon so I dont stink up the lil roadster. Your pics are a great start.....absolutely perfectly cool. Circle tracks, fabricating, paint, bondo, and muffler shops....done them all, that just made my day!
I was born into cool. Me on my sisters lap in the rumble seat of our roadster. My long haired stoner brothers. We live across the street from the High School. Fuck our whole family was cool. My Brothers & sisters started to grow up in the early 80's with alot of Odd Un-Coolnees of the times, shit, other kids made fun of my "Clown Bike" a 68 Shwinn Orange Krate. But that was the time I learned, FUCK GROWING UP!!!
I've slowly read through all of these posts and I'm sad to say, if you have to explain what "Kool" is, then you never had it. You can't become Kool, you just are. There's not enough ratrods, old clothes or grease to make you Kool. I'm over 60 and always hung out in older kid's garages. I got kicked, burned, punked all the time. I was certainly not Kool. Last night, I took the '40 to a local cruise in that I have not been to in a couple of years. Mostly new, 70's and 60's cars. I just backed in, and stood a car away to listen to all the remarks. One guy came up to me and said, " I saw you pull in from across the lot and just had to come over and check it out. That my man is what hotrods are all about". He was in his late 40's and early fifties. Then he said, "Can sit in it, close the door and hang my arm out so I can feel Kool?" See what I mean?
What's funny to me is that, isn't that exactly what the guys who were "cool" in the 40's-60's were doing in the 80's-90's with their grey tweed interiors, modern drive trains, pastel paint jobs. They lived it the first time around, and just wanted to cruise reliably in comfort....only to be mocked and copied by us youngsters full of piss beer and vinegar. Funny how life comes full circle. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Shit, I don't pay $30 for a haircut today! Bad ass photos Ryan-share more of the album if there's any more pics. Pretty sure the photo of the starter with the red flag is Paradise Mesa in San Diego.
By the way, I had to say how much I enjoyed the TACO chip animation. When the Incredible Miss Judy gets drunk, she doesn't just tell boozie dumb girl jokes... She wants to Karate kick everybody within a 1 block radius and call my friends gay as they kickstart their panheads...
Hey Gotgas...Been there done that,,The old guy you refer to was Oscar Byrd,,, back to Ryan,,we thought we were the "coolest" back in the 50s with our peg pants and white bucks and ducktail haircuts..
What!! No pic. at the Halloween Party? I'm really disappointed,but cool story. We all had our stages, some last longer than others. In 1986 went to Lead East where the 50's has been 'in' for a long time. I remember seeing some young people from England that really dressed the part, but met a few older people that still lived the part( greased back ducktails, white t's with the cigs rolled up in the sleeve, peggers, white socks and loafers.) One guy says, "Hey, I dress like this everyday". What ever makes you happy, Carp
How could any of us NOT be cool, with kids. wearing those Stupid Sagging Skinny Jeans & everyone else driving the same gray 4 door? As long as you're not poking your palm with your index finger all day, you're Cool.
I am with Dreddybear on this one. About the time Ryan was hanging out with McPhail I would have been at BTT50s hanging out with my boss from the bicycle shop in Mpls. You see, he was a teen in the 50s and him and his buddies were probably where the term Goldchainer started. Nice guys, wore gold chains and drove VERY NICE stock or mild custom 50s cars. The MN guys know the group, they ALWAYS parked on the same corner at Cooper and Wright on the Fairgrounds. Anyway, I was what they thought just a kid that rode bikes and came along to see what it was about. I had fun that night as the cars cruised by. As this group of guys that actually LIVED through the 50s commented on the cars this 24 year old kid kept correcting them After 30 minutes or so they started testing me and after an hour my boss Rich looked at me and said "we grew up with all of this, just how the hell did you get all this car knowledge!?!?!" I wasn't cool, I was prob wearing cut-off Army BDUs and Tevas with some mountainbike race tshirt. But, to those guys that night I was kind of an anomaly that left them scratching their heads! Thanks for bring back that memory.
The Jalopy Journal
