The Legend of the Motorcycle
Greetings, Cruisers,
A celebration of the art of the motorcycle.
Big Uwe's girl friend Tracy enjoyed the show and the ride down the coast.
Jared Zaugg, event organizer
Legendary marques, classic lines.
This is Burt Munro’s Indian, the actual machine around which the movie The World’s Fastest Indian was based.
Ness-talgia by Arlen Ness
With the legendary Jesse James. Photo by Sandra Bullock.
Jesse's wild custom bike, ready for take off.
Gold Digger by Jesse James.
The Crocker, the “world’s first superbike”
The legendary Britten.
From Obi-Wan Kenobi to The Long Way Round: at the Concours with Ewan McGregor.
Legendary stunt man and racer Bud Ekins judging the classics.
With Peter Fonda.
With the legendary Mert Lawwill
May 6, 2006: Several members of Cruiser Customizing including Big Uwe and Kyle,
along with Kyle’s dad, rode their bikes over to Half Moon Bay to attend
the Legend of the Motorcycle. I was there, too, along with over four
thousands other riders. We hope that some of you also were in
attendance.
I arrived early for the Legend of the Motorcycle, the much-anticipated two-wheel Concours d’Elegance.
The show was expected to be a milestone event in the long and laudable
history of motorcycling, and no attendee would be disappointed. There,
shrouded in foggy mists overlooking the Great Pacific, stood some of
moto-history’s extraordinary sentinels, milestone machines of the
rarest breeds. From an 1895 Pennington and 1901 Quadracycle to the
futuristic Jet Bike of Arlen Ness and the airplane-engine powered FTW
of Jesse James; the show ran the gamut of more than a Century of
Progress. Here was a Festivity of Motorcycle Masterpieces, each
creation worth its weight in gold. The Monets of motorcycling stood
alongside the Rembrandts of riding. It was the entire history of motorcycling on exhibit; landmark bikes built by men of vision for no other reason other than if it can be done, then it must be accomplished.
Not surprisingly, the custom rides of Jesse James and Arlen Ness seemed to draw the biggest crowds…
I respectfully greeted Arlen Ness as he
strolled up to his Ness-talgia, the yellow ’57 Chevy Bel Air-styled
custom that I once had the honor of riding alongside one fine afternoon
a few years ago. Just then, Jesse James approached
Arlen and his wife Bev with all the due respect that a younger artist
holds for an elder. “This is Sandy,” he said casually. Arlen cordially
smiled and took the hand of Jesse’s lovely wife Sandra Bullock. The show was sparkling with a constellation of moto-celebrities.
The journalist in me focused the Canon XT upon Sandra, and she
stepped out of the eye of the lens. Without a hint of condescension,
she explained, “We’re not here for that. I’m attending the event to be
with my husband.” So I took a chance, “Since I can’t photograph you,
will you kindly take a picture of me with your husband?” “Sure will,”
she consented snapping the shot as Jesse smiled into the camera.
One of the bikes that Jesse showed was his powder blue and gold stretchbike Gold Digger, a sumptuous sixties-style custom that Jesse recently featured on his Discovery Channel special entitled “The History of the Chopper.”
Choppermania is a recent phenomenon on the TV tube, yet Jesse’s own
program with its emphasis upon the roots of the craft of bike
customization combined with his lasting respect for past artists, made
this historical documentary easily the best motorcycle program ever. In
“History of the Chopper” Jesse James has emerged as a talented
writer/producer, a man of multi-faceted talents who knows the technique
of conveying reverence for those whose footsteps in the sands of time
have imprinted their influence upon the emerging artists of the custom
ride. The Gold Digger bike is built upon an old-school frame that Jesse
and his long-time buddy Simo chanced upon in the back of a pick-up at
the Ventura Swap Meet in 1991. That frame would prove to be nothing
less than a gold strike for Jesse. For a decade and a half later, the
modern legend celebrated his roots in bike fabrication as he built Gold Digger
from the ground up before the TV cameras. The construction of Gold
Digger for “History of the Chopper” takes us viewers along for a
spirited ride of discovery through layers of lost decades like a Sierra
prospector digging for gold.
I noticed Jesse spending several minutes absorbed in contemplation
of the Britten race bike from New Zealand that rested alongside his own
creations. I must have interrupted his thoughts as I began narrating to
him what I know of this particular Britten, as follows:
Owned by Prof. Virgil Elings, a historic
bike racer and past professor of Physics at the University of
California, Santa Barbara, Elings years ago invented a microscope that
sees atoms. When Elings told his University that he wanted to market
his invention, the system tried to step in and appropriate his work.
Like a proper biker, Prof. Elings advised the UC management that they
could take their policies and shove them, whereupon he quit his job and
started up his own company. Eventually, with profits from sales, Elings
founded a motorcycle museum at Solvang, California; America’s “Danish
Capital.” Prof. Elings’ 1000 cc V-twin Britten is the only one of the
ten racers that late New Zealander John Britten built that has never
been raced. I concluded my narration to Jesse with the words,
“Eventually Prof. Elings sold his company for $100 million.”
“Was that $100 or $200 million?” The query came from behind me. As
I turned around, I was surprised to find none other than Prof. Elings
himself standing there, correcting me as though he was still standing
before a class. Elings turned to Jesse and asked, “Say, I’ve got some
Harley gas tanks, will you sign them for me?”
Right, Professor, $200 million was the correct amount, wasn’t it?
I turned to Sandra and mentioned that Jesse is in his element now
that he has emerged as a talented writer/director, and she agreed with
enthusiasm. Will Sandra Bullock’s creative touch also lend itself to
future shows by Jesse James? We can only wait and see…and hope. I
wanted to get in one last question, so I asked: “By the way, Sandra, do
you ride?” I asked. “Sure do,” she replied, “I especially enjoy dirt
biking!” Now we know what sets this jewel of the silver screen apart
from other Hollywood glitterati. She's a rider just like you and me.
I spotted another young biker who seemed to stand out from the
crowd, so I took a gamble and told him that he looked familiar. “I’m an
actor,” he replied in the Scottish accent of a cultured gentleman. “And
what might your name be?” I asked clumsily. “Ewan McGregor” he replied. I know that anyone under thirty-five could never forgive me for not recognizing the brilliant Star Wars star, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi. But for us riders, Ewan is better known for his book and seven-part video series Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows across the World,
about his 20,000 mile circumambulation of the globe on a BMW GS along
with his friend and fellow actor Charley Boorman (who also rode a GS).
Ewan pointed to an old Indian twin and asked me why dual pipes emit
from each of two cylinders. “Well,” I said hesitantly, “It’s like my
India-built Jawa, which is a twin pipe single. It provides better
exhaust.” (Readers can inform me if I was correct or just bluffing with a bad guess!) Within a few hours of my conversation with Ewan, I was to learn that both his book Long Way Round and mine, Motorcycle Yoga, had made the “Best Of…” moto-book list in Britain’s BIKE Magazine Guide to the World supplement for March of ’06.
As I strolled past more moto-masterpieces, renowned judges were
busy evaluating the more than 250 classics on display. Legendary stunt
rider and judge Bud Ekins
was hard at work taking notes, though he has been in a wheel chair
since last year, when in his mid-seventies at a race in Ireland he took
a nasty spill. It was Bud who did that legendary jump for Steve McQueen in the movie The Great Escape,
Hollywood’s first-ever thousand dollar stunt, and it was he who
accompanied Steve to Europe to participate in the International Six Day
Trials (ISDT) event. At Steve’s request, Bud also appeared in Bullitt
as not only the bike rider who slid his bike down in front of a
speeding car but also as the driver of the Mustang getting air atop the
hills of San Francisco.
AMA Hall of Famer Bud Ekins scored gold four times at the ISDT,
silvered once, and is the founder of the Baja 1000 off road race. Bud
had told us at the press meeting earlier, “Back in the fifties and
sixties you couldn’t meet the movie stars at Hollywood; they were down
at my motorcycle shop.” Displayed here along the green lawn of the Ritz
were several of Steve McQueen’s old bikes, as well as rides once owned
by James Dean, Elvis, Roy Rogers and others.
Judge Oriol Puig Bulto, one of the founders of Bultaco Motorcycle Company,
manufacturers of that once-great dirt and hill climbing bike of Spain,
was busy examining serial numbers and restorations for accuracy. Then
as Judge Peter Fonda strolled past a pristine white Mars motorcycle, a rare marque from Germany, I asked the Mars’ European owner if he had met the Easy Rider
star. “Oh Peter Fonda, is he here?” the Mars owner, “Classic Bike Mike”
Kron asked loudly and enthusiastically. “Yes,” I replied, “he’s
standing right next to you!”
I recognized Hall of Fame luminary Mert Lawwill,
a celebrated rider of quiet accomplishment and overpowering celebrity
as he made his way through the sea of bikers. Mert is best known as the
star of the all-time number one motorcycle film On Any Sunday,
and was the AMA Grand National Champion in 1969. Today Mert is famous
for his beautifully crafted Harley XR-type street trackers, which he
hand builds in Northern California. But Mert asked me to mention to the members of Cruiser Customizing
that he is currently designing and manufacturing prosthetic limbs to
help disabled motorcyclists get back into the saddle again. Learn more about Mert’s compassionate work by visiting www.mertlawwill.com.
As the day came to a close, I found myself sitting with the wife,
children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of Al Crocker, whose
Los Angeles-built Crocker motorcycle has been dubbed “the world first
superbike.” It was no surprise that each family member of the Crocker
clan cherishes the memory of their illustrious and ingenious patriarch.
Deservingly, the Crocker Motorcycle was the star of the show, and in
fact, a 1940 Crocker won the Best of Show award. I am sure that all
members of Cruiser Customizing share my pride in being part of
motorcycling, rich with history and development. I know all members of
Cruiser Customizing are proud to be riders at a time when the
contributions of so many individuals have contributed to us finding our
own Shared Passion and Individual Style.
Like the bikes themselves, the organizers, Brooke Roner and her
husband Jared Zaugg built the Legend of the Motorcycle from a dream.
Their vision and dedication deserve kudos from all riders in all
quarters, as well as for their superb handling of the details. The
event, featuring Vincent, Excelsior and Henderson, will be held again
next year. By all means, Cruisers, mark your calendar for the first
Saturday in May, 2007!
Cruise and be happy,
Miles Davis, (Pavandas)
Editor, Cruiser Customizing News
