kinda asking for trouble with that coat hanging on everything also, guy doesn’t seem to give much of a shit about anything
I just wanted share some pics of my friend Tom Smith he's 89 and raced bikes throughout the 50's.Scrambles,Bonneville and drags. The one of him on his Wla was from 1949.The one on the the hummer was at Catalina in 1952.The one where he"s on his belly is at Bonneville 1954 he was doing over a 140 mph. The panhead and knucklehead were owned by Joe Fernandez from Fontana, Tom drag raced those in so cal.
Hello, As someone that took photos here and there, I always experimented with color of different kinds. At the time, the motorcycle hard core folks in the industry versus, those out and about riding around were in a “tussy” about what is a chopper. To us folks who have some history in custom hot rods and drag racing, we had our own version. A good photo, a good build, is what the whole industry was heading for in photos and written stories. So, what kinds of builds are scrutinized as to acceptance? Oakland Roadster Show Oakland, California It was a hard sell to magazines in the early days if the custom chopper was not a Harley. Even if the photo was of a very nicely constructed Triumph motorcycle or a Honda, it was hard to sell it as a chopper. The Harley "hardcores" were thinking of “Bad Boys” in old movies and wanting to keep the status quo in identities. The association was fine, but not all Bad Boys portrayed in movies rode full Harley choppers, but whatever they could get their hands on for transportation. Harley hogs in full regalia were the most common association, so are they choppers? Jnaki Now, we were in the middle. It was hard not to tell someone that their creation was not a chopper. Even if they were not in the "1 percent" as associated with chopper riders. So, custom motorcycles was a better approach to getting some good photos of different varieties of motorcycles. Note: at one time, there seemed to be a run of many consecutive issues of magazines with only 32 fords as a cover car, a centerfold car and many features. As if they were saying if you don’t have a 32 Ford, it is not a hot rod. 32 grilles on other car model builds to copy the so called "Original" was also prevalent... So, what may have started in the hot rod world may have started the same idea of Hondas, Triumphs, and other non Harley motorcycles as not being a “chopper.” YRMV The Custom Motorcycle section of the Oakland Roadster Show...
It seems like Triumphs have always been a part of the chopper world, and deserve to be! They run great, sound cool, the engines just look damn good and they’re a blast to ride. The blue 500 twin still having a swing arm (with solid rod replacing the shocks) would make sense to be labeled as a custom bike but it sure looks like a damn chopper to me! But Honda’s?…I try to cut them out of the picture like this camera guy did…
Note the shaky flame job It was Per Blixt who did the paint,he later emigrated to USA and became/is painter at Jay Leno.
I'm building my 4th one of these now, did this one a few years ago. I'm down to the bottom of my used parts pile, but it'll run good:
Damn another cool one! Good job, keep em coming.. I’m glad there’s a place on the HAMB we can share bikes and see what people are up to aside from traditional Hot Rods & Kustoms.
I used to be a big fan of the CL350 Hondas, built a whole garage full of them until parts started getting spensive, then I switched to Brits: Has everything I like about BSAs and none of the stuff I don't like about BSAs
Love that look BSA has always been one of my favorite bikes. Never owned one but can always keep dreaming. Here a couple old want to be wall of death bikes I had a while back.
I have 4 BSAs that are tagged and insured. Not run for a few months, I've getting them going now and I'm 2 for 2 on one kick starts!
Hello, One day, I had a photo shoot lined up and called to make sure of the location. When I arrived in Los Angeles, the custom motorcycle was beautiful. The smooth lines and build style was reminiscent of the low rider style of drag bikes we had seen in the late 50s-early 60s in Long Beach. The small tank, the lowered style and the custom, but minimal riding style just made the grade for a great photo story. But, I knew the editors of several magazines were very picky about the custom motorcycle builds. One wanted nothing but Harley choppers with long front springer front ends. Another wanted springer front ends with a seat larger enough for a cool looking, tough girl on the back. Finally a 3rd editor wanted nothing but fancy bright colors of custom paint, swirls, fades and lots of chrome. So, with this photo shoot and story, I was zero for three. Ha! Good luck in getting it in a color page, let alone a two page written story and photos. Jnaki So, while getting the custom Triumph was getting prepped for the photo shoot, I asked if they knew of anyone that had a pool. My first choice was the blue ocean in Long Beach or the South Bay area of So Cal. But, the custom Triumph was too far inland, landlocked. They said that a friend had a small pool in his fenced in backyard. The one thing was that no oil must leak on the paved surfaces around the pool decking, was the pool owner’s request. The motorcycle owner was aghast at that idea, since his custom Triumph was oil free, having just come from a daily ride and car/motorcycle show in Long Beach a week earlier. When we finally arrived at the small pool, the blue water and nice cement decking area was a great location. But, as usual, I was happy there were only a few trees surrounding the pool and the neighbor’s trees were not a problem for composition of people or tree obstruction free photos. I knew any obstructions would give any editor the right to reject the photo, due to intrusions that take away from the subject at hand… a custom motorcycle that speaks for itself. The choice was going to be a difficult one for any of the magazines as far as color, but when the first editor saw the color Ektachrome color slides, it was a happy moment for me… a guaranteed color page and written article. Yea… diligence pays off. I gave the custom Triumph owner plenty of free color and black/white photos for a thank you gift. Note: All of the color slides and negatives of this Triumph are gone. I had one last color slide in a miscellaneous box crammed into a video film container. Even the magazine color article is gone… but lucky me… I still had one photo left and tons of memories from those exciting days. A low slung racing drag bike style, but full custom build started "the arms on short handlebars, low to the ground style" of So Cal bikes... YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
