We live in exciting times!

Indeed! This week I'll have a smorgasbord of bikes to look at.
Starting tomorrow, the 33rd Bangkok International Motor Show kicks off at the Impact Arena in Muang Thong Thani. Of course yours truly will be there early in the morning to avoid the crowds, I hope, and get some great pics of both bikes and models ;-)
Go to the Motorshow WEBSITE

Also this weekend, the 2nd SR Thailand meeting will take place in Suphanburi, gathering a never before seen amount of SR's, all in one place. Again, I'll be there to document it all and if everything goes like planned....get hopelessly pissed.

aaaahhh Life is good! :-)))

Bike of the Week #36

"FREE" short film

Here's a lovely little video shot by Andrew Quinones, telling us what we all know on some level: the subtle pleasure in the unity of road-bike-rider.

Bike of the Week #35

Wooaaa! Ducati 749 custom
see more pictures HERE.

 

BOSOZOKU.BIKE.BONKERS

 

The story goes like this: A few weeks ago somebody posted this picture of a Yamaha SR on a facebook group page.
My first reaction was "WTF! What have they dome to you?"
After looking at it for a little while, I concluded that the owner must have been in a funny mood and that he must have taken some spare parts from his garage, put them on the bike, taken the pic and then back to normal.
Nobody could actually be so crazy to ride a bike like that, right?!


WRONG


I discovered that there is a whole genre dedicated to modifying bikes and cars in the most bizarre ways.
They call themselves BOSOZOKU and live in the Land of Contradictions: Japan.

I couldn't believe it at first, but I did some research on the net and found some interesting stuff. Bosozoku, literally meaning "violent running tribe" started out in the 50's as a bike gang with heavily modified bikes (mostly for power), as a rebellion against the mainstream culture. New Yakuza members were recruited from the Bosozoku gangs. Participation in the gangs peaked at 42,510 members in 1982.
Nowadays the groups are much smaller, but most certainly crazier with their modifications.






Here is what Wikipedia says about the bikes:

 

Bōsōzoku are known to modify their motorcycles in peculiar and often showy ways. A typical customized bōsōzoku bike usually consists of an average Japanese road bike that appears to combine elements of an American chopper style bike and a British café racer, for example: over-sized fairings like those found on café racers, raised handle bars like those on a chopper. Loud paint jobs on the fenders or the gas tanks with motifs such as flames or kamikaze style "rising sun" designs are also quite common. The bikes will often be adorned with stickers and/or flags depicting the gang's symbol or logo. There are also marked regional differences in motorcycle modifications. For example, Ibaraki bōsōzoku are known to modify their motorcycles in an extensively colorful, flashy way. They will often have three or four oversized fairings in a tower like way in a motorcycle painted in bright yellow or pink with Christmas light–like adornments. Their motorcycles were often cobbled together from stolen motorcycle parts and thus suffered from numerous break downs and maintenance problems.

 

Bōsōzoku also have a distinct style of car modification, eponymously called "bōsōzoku style".^[4] These cars are often modified with large exhaust pipes, bright paint, and large aero kits, the latter modelled on Group 5 “Special Production Cars” of the 1970s.^[5] Also popular are oil coolers or less commonly large turbo or supercharger intercoolers with highly polished tubing, usually mounted in a prominent position in the front bumper.

 

Finally, what kind of person would do such a thing to a bike or car....?

 

OOhhh, now that explains everything ;-)

SR Thailand Meeting #2

We are nearly there.
I've waited 2 years for this moment.
Last year it had to be postponed due to the massive floods in Thailand.

It's the biggest Yamaha SR meeting in Thailand!!
Held in Suphanburi, about 1 hour North-West of Bangkok, on Saturday, 31st of March and Sunday, 1st of April, it will be a great opportunity for SR owners and fans to come together and share their (our) passion.
Thailand has the biggest SR following outside Japan and I'm sure there'll be some great bikes to photograph.

HERE's a small teaser video for this year's meeting and the one below is from last year (2010 actually).

For more information go to
http://www.srthailand.com/forums/index.php?topic=5766.0

See you there!!

DIY GPS holder

...Some say he can build a  working carburetor out of toothpicks...
others swear to have seen him racing a beam of light in Italy...
all we know....he's called the Omega Racer!


Another day, another project.
Today I finally decided to repair my GPS holder that broke about 3 months ago. While pondering on how to do it, I decided to build one by myself. My wife said I should just buy another one, but being a DIY enthusiast and a poor teacher, I quickly dismissed that option.
I already had a nice spare aluminium bracket and a sheet of plexiglass. That was enough to get me started. After that I had to find a way to keep the GPS in place, so I made a soft cover with some pieces of leather I had laying around. A few rivets here and there and tataaaa...my new GPS holder was born, better, stronger and cheaper than the original one. Sure, it's not the most beautiful and the design could be tweaked a bit, but it's practical and unique for sure.......a bit like me. :-)

Yamaha SR Animation

It's finished!

6 days of hard work and 550 pictures later, the Yamaha SR400(S) project is finally completed.
A few weeks ago I got a delivery from Japan, containing 4 boxes of the Aoshima 1995 SR400(S) model, scale 1:12. This is not the ordinary model, but a (S)pecial one, as it includes parts for both the original bike AND a custom tracker version. Custom parts include a long and a short Supertrapp exhaust, small tank, different seat, headlight, handlebar, fenders etc. etc.
It's been great fun to build it. My model sports a handmade leather seat and a Ducati paint job.

If you like it and are interested in a model, I still have a couple up for sale. Drop me a line and I'll get back to you as soon as possible with more info and pictures.

Bike of the Week #34

Moto Guzzi Griso 8v, 1200cc

Build by Alexander Loviselli, Italy