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.

Article on 'Colors' magazine

Found this fairly informative write up on 'Colors Motorcycle Magazine' here today. It was a very short-lived (1970–71) thing and is really hard to find these days. I've cited this publication before in terms of precedents for Head Full Full of Snakes. In particular the use of color, the kind of dilettante compositional quality, but also the fact it was a very grass-roots publication that aimed to document something that wasn't going to be dealt with elsewhere, and was made by the people who it was also essentially aimed at... rather than a larger publishing company. It didn't last long but was, I believe, influential in 'Easyriders' being started, and obviously that became fairly huge (while turning into something quite different too, in my humble opinion!).

Danny Lyon's 'The Bikeriders'

Not the greatest article here, but interesting to see that Danny Lyon's book 'The Bikeriders' is being rereleased in its original form. Very much 'up-my-alley' I guess. I have one of the early 2000's reissue versions:

But they're nothing like the original:

Can't wait to compare 'em in the flesh.

Auckland Star 1960 (Hells Angels Auckland)

I've been stupidly busy lately and also we haven't had the internet on at our new house for the last month, but I'm hoping to get back to some sort of normality soon? I haven't even been riding much, which pretty much makes me feel like life ain't worth living! Anyway while I haven't been posting much here, I have been collecting various bits and pieces that I do want to put on here...

Since beginning this blog a bit over three years ago now one of the things I've become more and more interested in is the history of motorcycling culture in New Zealand, and of course (because it's played such a large role in that here) the evolution of the club/gang scene. I read Jarrod Gilbert's recent book 'Patched' earlier this year and that provides a fascinating account of the early years of the MC scene in NZ, and then the evolution into the more recognizable 'gangs' of the late 70s, 80s, and 90s

Accuracy aside this is an interesting article, largely because it is very different to most other reporting around these clubs at the time (especially internationally). That the reporter has actually visited and talked to the club stands out, as does his framing them in a very positive light – "... a force for good among lads who might otherwise drift into hooliganism and delinquency."
The article is from The Auckland Star, 1960... I can't actually remember where I found this article but it's been sitting here on my hard drive for a while now.