Brit bikes doco

This is a really good 1hr BBC doco on British motorcycle culture. Really great to see something on motorcycles on the internet that is longer than 5 minutes, informative and watchable!

I was totally obsessed with the whole 50s/60s Rocker scene when as a teenager I got my first bike in the 1980s. Little did I know then that it (well cafe racers at least) would become such a big fad again now! It's nice to be reminded of what I liked about this stuff in the first place. I still think, despite being such easy hipster fodder, that the cafe racer is the ultimate motorcycle of the 20th century. Choppers get fucked!

Thanks Jimi for the link.

Buy Fonzie's bike!

Just saw here that Fonzie's bike from the TV series 'Happy Days' is for sale through Bonhams in LA. Apparently it's been sitting about for 15 years and the guy who had it was unaware of it's celebrity TV heritage! I guess Bonhams would have checked its authenticity, but it does look a little different now – the handlebars, the tank rack, the pillion seat, and the muffler (just the heat shield maybe).

As cheesy and twee as it was I have to admit to quite liking 'Happy Days' as a kid, and probably Arthur Fonzarelli played some sorta part in planting the idea in me that I must ride an old British bike one day. Although, funnily enough, Henry Winkler, who played 'The Fonz', couldn't actually ride a motorcycle.

The auction is in LA on November 12... needless to say I won't be there.

Here's The Fonz riding the bike in the intro to the show:

And here's a bit of The Fonz jumping barrels outside the diner. God knows why they'd put the fried chicken stand at the run-off end!?