Evening rides and changeable weather as the summer ends...
The Concours/1400GTR hanging out in a graveyard at sunset... as you do.
***
I've been playing with some design concepts for the WW2 historical fiction novel, Under Dark Skies (coming soon!). I'm currently working on dividing the original manuscript into three young adult sized novels.
I'm always looking for period bike images. Never know when I might be able to use them for a reference on an original drawing. I've been up to those too, creating scenes from the novel:
t-shirt transparency
Sketched variation - I might have put my face on that subconsciously.
... and some sketched (pen and ink) scenes from the novel:
Here's a mock-up book cover concept based on a 1940s comic book style:
I've been monkeying around with the blog logo too:
... and may eventually put a t-shirt out:
***
We managed an afternoon at SMART Adventures before the end of the summer:
It's never a bad time, but I went in the 'expert' group which consisted of a dad who wanted his son on a bike that was too big for him. The kid came off it so often that it became tedious, so we rode back to base and he switched to a smaller bike and then fell off that a lot too. We still got some good trail riding in and our instructor (Louise) was fantastic, but 'expert'? Not so much. We spent a sizable portion of our very short 3 hours picking this kid up or riding back and forth for his various equipment change needs. His finally move was to ride into a massive puddle and drop the bike in the middle of it, causing us to spent 20 minutes getting it out and then following him and his dad as they two-upped back to the office.
I'm not sure how to address that as I've been going to SMART for a long time and I did have a good afternoon, but when I'm paying quite a lot of money for three hours of riding and almost a third of it is taken up with catering to what was clearly a non-expert rider, I'm left feeling (for the first time ) like I didn't get my money's worth.
***
We went to Stratford yesterday to Perth County Moto's 5th anniversary. T'was a good time. If you find your way to Stratford, Ontario at any point, look them up, they're right downtown:
I haven't been spending much time in the garage beyond upkeep and maintenance on the two operational bikes. I'm saving the Bonneville project for the cold months when I need to keep my hands busy and riding is far away, though I did start re-assembling the frame (seemed like a logical place to start).
The oil filters came in for the end of year oil change (I always put in fresh oil and filter and run them through before the big hibernation). It's a depressing delivery, but I've still got another six weeks or so before the snows fall. With the filters I got some tank pads to stop myself sliding around on the Concours.
Next week we're aiming for the Wine y Cheese Rally on September 24th. We're going to head down to St. Catherines on the Friday and then be up and at it by 7am on Saturday morning. This is the only rally we've been able to line up this busy summer, so I'm looking forward to it. We've been fettling the Concours to make it as functional and capable as possible for this long haul. We finished our last one on the Tiger last summer, so I'm not even super concerned with finishing so much as I am just having a good time with it. Signups still seem to be available, so if you're looking for an excuse to ride and ride next weekend (cooler temps but the weather looks good), then give it a go.
Gotta get time in the saddle in before the snows fall!
Friday night had me home alone in the first time in forever. After a rough week at work I was wiped and on the verge of a cold, so it was a low impact night. I went looking for some escapist media and stumbled upon EXIF's Top 6 Best Motorcycle Films. I'd seen Shinya Kimura in The Greasy Hands Preachers, but I'd never seen the film that set him out as a motorcycle media icon, it's just shy of three minutes of perfection: Shinya Kimura: Chabott Engineering Another one I hadn't seen before that does a great job of capturing a northern motorcyclist's winter dilemma is Waiting out the Winter. It's a short video, but it sets the mood of tinkering while we wait for the snow to recede in the frozen north wonderfully: Waiting Out The Winter WAITING OUT WINTER from Andrew David Watson on Vimeo. Those short films made a great appetizer, but I was looking for something a bit more long form. If you're ever looking to pass a lazy hour or two in another time and place, Cycles South will take you to the early 1970s. Like the '70s themselves, Cycles South looses the plot half way through, but discovers itself again before the end. If you're delicate and can't handle the very non-politically correct sensibilities of the early 1970s, don't watch this, but if you can let it all go and are willing to exist in another time, Cycles South makes for a psychedelic road trip (man). The whole thing is on Youtube in 15 minute segments, they connected together automatically with a few seconds of delay between, mercifully commercial free.
Google/Youtube lost its mind after I watched the series in order and started shooting motorcycle themed video at me from all directions. Next up was Fifty Years of Kicks, a twenty minute documentary about two off road motorcyclists well into their seventies. I wasn't initially hooked, but the quality of filming and the narrative they were building had me after a few minutes. There is something about watching old guys fight the clock that is heroic. It makes me want to celebrate any small victories they have before the inevitable happens.
Looking for something on the history of motorcycles I came across The History Channel's documentary on Youtube. It's a bit wiz-bang flashy and over edited, but you get some Jay Leno, and the jet powered Y2K. When they went from that to some Dodge Viper powered thing I began to think this was less about motorcycles and more about bored rich people. I didn't get to the end of this one.
Have you ever wished you had an old, British uncle with an encyclopedic knowledge of motorbikes who would natter on about them indefinitely? I was afraid Classic British Motorbikes: 100 Years of Motorcycling was going to be an advertisement for a dealership in England, but the big green Triumph Tiger in the opening moments kept me playing it. This video takes place sometime in the early two thousands (hence my model of Tiger sitting in front of the dealership). The idea was to invite in classic bikes and celebrate 100 years of motorbiking in Britain. The camera work is amateur, as is the interviewing, but you'll still pick up a lot of history from the owners and the knowledgeable interviewer. I watched until he interviewed the owner of the dealership who seemed entirely disinterested in the whole thing and was apparently running the family business because of his dad's love of bikes. He made a stark contrast to the enthusiasm of every previous interview. If you're interested in British bikes and especially their history, you'll enjoy this one (with a bit of fast forwarding).
It's amazing what motorcycle media you can dig up on the internet with a bit of luck.
I've been watching Ride With Norman Reedus on AMC over the past few weeks. What you have here is an incredibly approachable celebrity who is obviously a giant bike nerd doing all the rides in the continental U.S. that he's never gotten around to doing. This isn't some Harley-or-nuthin kind of biker exercise either, Norman throws his leg over everything from a Rolands Sands BMW R9T Special to a Zero electric bike, and that's just in the first episode! By the end of the season you've seen over a dozen machines from half a dozen different manufacturers. Norman obviously loves his bikes and he isn't particular about the flavour.
He likes his customs, but you'll also find him riding everything from state of the art Ducatis to 1950s BMWs, often in the same episode.
Another nice touch is that this isn't a boy's own/Charlie & Ewan masculine and manly bike trip. Norman goes out of his way to find motorcycle subcultures when he's riding, and that often includes female riding groups and partners. You don't notice what a change this is from the usual testosterone charged motorcycle media until you see it done this differently. The production values are excellent. With aerial establishing shots and a wide variety of atmospheric images used throughout the ride, it doesn't feel like you're following a map so much as actually being where the ride is (much like you would on a bike). Norman himself has directed film and published a book of photography, and he's frequently stopping to take photos of his own or bragging on the nice little SLR he's using. A camera geek after my own heart! In stark contrast to the hard man he plays in Walking Dead, Norman has an easy going Californian vibe that makes him both approachable and a joy to watch. When a woman at Deal's Gap says he looks like Darryl from Walking Dead he shoots right back, "yep, that's me!" with a big smile on his face. This show is going to get a lot of people interested in trying out motorcycling. I hope to goodness AMC is already planning for another season (though calling five episodes a season is a bit much). This show can't cost that much to produce and it has a ready and expanding audience. Ducati and Triumph should both get a nod for obviously ponying up new bikes for use in this, but it was money well spent. The others should be lining up to provide bikes for the next round. A surprise riding partner or two (Valentino Rossi?) would be most excellent. Having Vale show Norman around Tavullia would be epic. In case it isn't clear, I'd highly recommend this if you enjoy travel documentaries. If you're into motorcycles at all you'll love it. Norman in Europe? Norman in Japan? With so many motorcycle subcultures to explore, this could easily become a world wide phenomenon.
The oil filters came in for the end of year oil change (I always put in fresh oil and filter and run them through before the big hibernation). It's a depressing delivery, but I've still got another six weeks or so before the snows fall. With the filters I got some tank pads to stop myself sliding around on the Concours.
