Smash Palace First Annual Bike Show

Had an amazing time at the Smash Palace Bike show on Saturday, so many great bikes, and an awesome bunch of people too. The weather was total bullshit on the Friday night and so I was very happy to wake up on Saturday to clear blue skies. I headed in early to lend a hand, although I mostly ended up drinking coffee and fucking about chatting with people about their bikes as they arrived.

Was really great to see Tom McCleary's Norton in the flesh finally (that's Tom 3rd and 4th photos from the bottom here), Greg Leaman's bike gives me a total hard-on every time, and PZ (aka Jimmy Hazard, aka James Meharry) unveiled his speed twin project that he's been documenting in HFoS (photos 13 and 14 from top). Another stand-out bike for me was Simon Lawrence's home built electric bike (15 and 16 from top). I had a ride on this later in the day and this little sucker is WILD! Hoping Simon might do something about it for the next issue?

Following the show at the Pallet Pavilion we all packed up and headed to Smash Palace for the award announcements and some beer! I can't remember exactly who won what but I know PZ's bike won Best Bodgie, Paddy won something (Yank Tank?), Darryl's killer Harley chopper won something, a guy from Wellington won a couple of things (he'd ridden down, so well deserved), a Triton I think took out Best of British... that's about all I can remember. Greg Leaman and Tom McCleary shoulda' gone home with a trophy if you ask me, but that's how the chips fall eh.

The rest of the night was a total blur... stayed at Smash for ages, then rolled to some bar in town I've never been too and have no idea where it was? We then all took a bunch of taxis out to Ilam (via bottle store) and suprised the McCleary boys who were having a few quiet drinks... a bottle of whiskey, a bottle of tequila, and many beers later we ended up crashing a student party, watched it get closed down by the cops, and ended up walking all the way home!

Smash Palace Bike Show THIS SATURDAY!!!

I've been a bit shit at posting here lately cause I've been sooo stupidly faaarking busy! But hey, ya'll better know about this... THIS SATURDAY at 12pm is the Smash Palace First Annual Bike Show – it'll be like all our previous bike nights rolled into one mental extravaganza. A bunch of the guys have built new bikes for this show and you can be sure there'll be some weird twisted excuses for motorcycles there. So yeah: 12 – 3pm at the Pallet Pavilion, and then we all pack up and head to Smash palace for the afterparty... which, if the HFoS party there was anything to go by, will be a total fucking knees up!

This (above) is the second poster I did for this event, after the venue was changed just after I did the first one. Free risographed posters available at the show...

Counterfeit Colours (or, A Great Way To Get Your Ass Kicked)

I just had to put this up here. Can you imagine this!? Madness, total madness. But hey if you're into taking risks and all here's the link – HERE

Forms of Delirium

"We only have a few years to rescue the soul of holy Russia," Alexei Weitz said. "Just a few years." Weitz is a leading member of the Night Wolves.

David Bennewith sent me this link – HERE – to an article by Peter Pomerantsev about a Russian MC called the Night Wolves, or  Nochnye Volki as they'd say it, and their relationship to political power (Putin has had lots of photo ops with them) and the popular media. It's really worth a read, it's quite mad... "In heaven there is more joy at the 1 per cent of sinners who confess than the 99 per cent who have no need of salvation." Yep they're Christian fundamentalists too!

Above: 'The Surgeon', Pres of the Night Wolves hangs out with Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.