It’s business time

Via The Pursuit Aesthetic

Details

via motoguru

Philip-Lorca diCorcia

BMW R100 spotted

I took a beautiful ride through Reefton, Victoria on the weekend.  The alpine roads wound rhythmically through the silent land.  The best part of the ride was the complete absence of traffic except one oversized truck that took up most of the road, thundering towards me.  The weather was sunny and cool and the surface was dry.  One of the best rides I’ve been on for awhile.

On our way to Marysville, a town slowly recovering from the terrible fires last year, we were swiftly passed by a beautiful BMW R100RS, in impecable condition.  The elderly rider waved politely as he passed us at a roaring speed.  It was when we got to Marysville that we got to view the bike up close, which was a real treat.  There were many gorgeous bikes out that day but this late seventies bike was certainly my highlight.  I really wished I had my camera on me but I’ve been doing so much photography lately that I made an effort to leave it at home this time.

Upon my internet search on this bike I discovered how versatile and widely interpreted the BMW R100 has been.  Here are a few examples.  The first image is probably closest to the one I spotted.

 

Lost things

The thing I miss about film photography is forgetting what was on that film and rediscovering the images when you finally have the photos developed.  A few months ago I went on a ride with a coupe of guys I met in the city.  I approached them because I admired their retro bikes and we ended up going for a ride a few weeks later.  Of the two guys I rode with, one had the coolest name of Marlon Slacks, who rode a cafe’d Yamaha SR400 which he blogs about.  The other was a quiet, thoughtful guy named Matt, who pottered on his largely unmodified SR500.  These are a few photos from that trip that I unearthed.  I had asked Marlon to take a few for me but unfortunately NONE  of them were in focus.  I suppose I should have specified more strongly that my old camera required manual focusing.  He did let me ride his bike though, so I’m not too upset.

Matt writes beautifully on his own motorcycling blog called Contemplative Motorcycling.  Well worth checking out as a reminder of why we ride.

Deus – Sydney

I went up to Sydney to see the Annie Liebovitz exhibition but I couldn’t overlook the Deus store on this trip.  It was a beautiful store full of retro stuff and stuff made to look retro… but who cares!  It was a treat seeing all those beautiful bikes in the same room.  Here are a few images from the store.  Click on the images for a higher res versions.

Mischief Makers Photo Shoot

Here is a small sample of a photo shoot I did with custom bike maker Mischief Makers in Brunswick, Melbourne.  Owned by Craig, he specialises in customising Yamaha SR’s among other Japanese retro bikes.  The model’s name is Lydia Turner and she was terrific at channeling the pin-up charm of the old style garage posters.

Hop over to my photography site to see the series…  jasonlauphotography.

Retro Photography

I came across Luke Robert’s flickr site while searching for Deus bikes.  He has a fantastic folio of retro bikes with very thoughtful post processing and shallow depth of field photography to evoke a sense of nostalgia.  Some gorgeous work, worth checking out.

Police Bikes

The Kawasaki Concours 14 was announced recently as the new police bike in the U.S. with 153bhp and 100lb/ft of torque, and it was surprisingly not ugly.

So I got thinking about what other police bikes looked like in other countries.  Hope you like my little survey.

Broadford Bike Bonanza 2010

My first time at the Broadford Bike Bonanza and my last ride on my Honda VTR 250 before I trade up to my 09 Triumph Bonneville SE.  There was a fantastic display of cafe racers and classic bikes, and not just for show as the owners had the opportunity to race them on the track.  Here are some of the highlights for me.  Wish the pics could be better but I only had my mobile phone camera on me.  A great day and a fitting farewell for my little Honda.

Before Turtlenecks

Steve Jobs on his BMW.

Totti Bikes

Some very interesting bikes from Totti Motori.  Don’t have much information on these customs because the site is not in english but they seem to have a fantastic eye for detail and individual flair.  The second bike, believe it or not, is a Triumph T120.  Check out their site for more of these crafted beauties.

Custom Retro Helmet

Came across this site called Old School Helments.  They take new retro helmets and create custom pinstripe and leaf designs to the customer’s liking.  Great creations and actually affordable.  I love it when people start something out of their passion rather than a marketing exercise.

Red bikes

Red bikes are nice…  Left, 1960 Aermacchi Chimera, Right, Ducati MH900 made around 2000.  The first one what I like to call a future-retro bike, like it belongs in the Jetsons.  The latter bike, an absolute beast with a phenomenal exhaust sound.  Check out the clip below to hear the roar.  I love how the retro style can be interpreted in so many ways, and how good design doesn’t seem to become outdated, at least to me anyway.

Vintage Safety video.

Featuring the beautiful mid 70s BMW R90s.

Enfield… Royal Enfield C5

“The Bike they forgot to stop making”, as often quoted by several reviewers of this classic British/Indian motorcycle, the Royal Enfield C5 is a retro bike made to appeal to those who remember the ‘good ol days’ and those who just want something different.  What piqued my interest was the newly designed 500cc EFI engine.  I have no interest in tinkering with a broken bike, nor do I want to sacrifice performance to relive days that I was not alive in.  This new engine was completely redesigned by some smart guy from Japan and is said to be far more reliable and powerful than the previous models.  Did I mention this was several thousand dollars cheaper than a Triumph Bonneville?

I sat on one the other day at my local dealer, and being a little vertically challenged, the low single seat felt very comfortable to me and it did not have the porky weight of the Triumph Bonnevilles and Thruxtons to shift around.  As I started up the bike (via an ignition button) it rattled to life and I marveled at how primal the bike sounded, with it’s single cylinder thumping away.  I felt very comfortable in its upright seating position but still involved.  Vibrations were aplenty but this is said to subside after a few thousand kilometers on the odometer.

I am having a little identity crisis as I feel like this is a bike to own when I’m a little more grey and for now I should stick to something more sporty.  However, sitting on the Enfield, it felt alive and full of personality.  I’m going to test ride this soon and if the power and handling is of any decent quality, it may be time for a change.  It will be the black model for me, and I’d like to swap the mudguards to something a little shorter and perhaps chrome and change the tail light to lighten up the look.  Just dreaming for now, but that’s how many great things start isn’t it?

If you own this bike, drop me a line if you have a review or just let me know what you think of it.