It has arrived! Kaneda’s bike from the seminal anime, “Akira”. Lovingly built by Masashi Teshima, he spent seven years and $121,000 dollars creating this fully functional interpretation of the bike. He has done such an amazing job that it will be part of the “art of Katsuhiro Otomo” exhibition, creator of Akira.
via NerdApproved
Here is the classic scene that inspired it all…
via motoguru
Hillarious… Sent to me by my friend Mark.
Check out this video from the Deus Blog featuring a raucous racing event between a variety of outrageous custom bikes and equally colourful characters – including the Bali Stig. More on their site.
This is one of the most insane stunts I have seen in awhile.
There’s so many things I like about this picture, I’m actually not sure where to start. Instead, I’ll let Guy Martin explain it in the clip below, if you can understand what he is saying. Rollerburn, hailed as a “festival of motorised death traps and roller derby vixens”. This is an even that will take place in November this year in Nottinghamshire in the UK. Proudly presented by Sideburn magazine!
I’m not normally a huge fan of the now cliched instagram and hipstermatic images from iPhones but I did recently have some fun re-editing some of my older bike photos on the app pixlromatic. Hope you can forgive my self indulgence as I thought these retro effects were particularly well suited to these classic bikes.
via Martin Schoeller
via Dossier Journal
Michael Wiles spotted the cast-off cooker on the nature strip where it had been left for rubbish collection and, not wanting to splurge on a new one, decided to pick it up and take it home… The 29-year-old proceeded to thread his body through the barbecue’s frame and popped up the grate in front of his helmet before setting off along the Eastern Freeway in Kew on January 27, 2008, reaching estimated speeds of 75km/h…
But his plan came unstuck when a stunned passer-by snapped a photograph, which was subsequently published in the media and led to Wiles’s identity being revealed and a visit from the police.
In a further setback, the barbecue turned out to be “a dud”
Magistrate Lionel Winton-Smith said he had never encountered a case such as this in all his years as a magistrate.
“I have seen people with perhaps bits of wood sticking out of the car, but a barbecue?” Mr Winton-Smith said.
“I’m trying to think of a word to describe it.”
“Ridiculous?” Mr McClure suggested.
“Ridiculous. That will do,” Mr Winton-Smith said.
Via The Age
Click and check out these “Motivator Posters”. Hope you find them as funny as I did.
What to do when you drop a heavy bike? Here Atlas Rider documents his struggle with good humour. Thanks for sharing your pain. Worth the 8 min video.
I think Atlas Rider has seen one of these instructional videos before (see below). Ignore all the safety stuff at the start if you want to skip ahead to the actual lifting bit. Once again, a fantastic effort by Atlas Rider and never a fun situation to be in.
My short holiday period seems to be themed with robots and classic motorcycles. I have been energetically researching “modern” retro bikes like the Kawasaki W650s and Triumph Bonnevilles and the various customised incarnations. I adore their beautiful simplicity and charm.
I have also recently watched the latest Transformers and Terminator sequels. Despite my mixed feelings about the movies, something about futuristic robots fighting will always be entertaining to me. Featured in this clip above is one of those strange moments when worlds collide. It begins a little odd and low tech (like watching a Red Dwarf episode for the first time) but stay for the quite impressive ending.
I have fallen in love with these retro wonders; robot transformations not required. These bikes are solidly built and a blank canvas for someone to tinker with to express their individual tastes. I don’t think I’ll ever be mechanically minded enough to customise or restore a classic bike myself. That’s why companies like Deus Ex Machina exists; to inspire and remind people about the passion of classic motorcycle design and to charge ridiculous amounts of money for the pleasure of owning one. Being in the presence of these restored mechanical beauties would cause many motorcyclists to question – what more do we need?
Our pace of advancement leaves many feeling alienated, and even for someone like myself who embraces new technology, I yearn for simpler things that connect me to the physical world; not the one of smoke and mirrors. These old bikes link us to an age where disposable was a strange and new word. Resurrecting a classic bike breathes new life into our past and values lost. However, if I were to remain true to this ethos, I would simply continue to ride my current bike and get on with my life. I must admit that I like the smoke and mirrors (even in the guise of something old), but instead of labeling this contradiction as hypocrisy, I’ll settle for calling it a hobby… for now. There will be no shortage of bikes, robots and robot-bikes.
