Author Archive

Posted on June 17, 2013 - by Glamorous Assistant

Motorcycles cultures conference and exhibition…

 

Motorcycle Cultures: fashioning bikes, building identities, is co-curated by Caryn Simonson and Space Station Sixty-Five. This artist-led exhibition captures some of the motorcycling identities that make different motorcycle ‘cultures’ distinct.

Motorcycle culture has been a source of inspiration for fashion, film, literature and music ever since motorcycles and their riders were first seen on the streets. The exhibition brings together contemporary art, photography and design, image and object, concept and documentation. Motorcycle Cultures seeks to explore the close link between motorcycle styles and visual identities that are fashioned in tandem with these. Themes addressed include: the aesthetics of speed; the DIY ethos of the custom culture scene; and the importance of community, lifestyle and value that the motorcycle can engender.

The work shown is a curated eclectic mix of designed objects, advertising, fashion, photography, film and textiles rather than a comprehensive survey of styles.

Exhibits include: Cathie Pilkington’s Gonk sculpture; Sam Christmas’ custom culture photographs; Phil Polglaze’s original documentary photographs of the Rockers’ Reunion; Mac Motorcycles’ prototype motorbike; Tom Helyar-Cardwell’s ‘Battle Jacket’ paintings and drawings; Philippa Brock’s woven denims ‘Cherish’; Kate Smith’s video work; Caryn Simonson’s ‘dressed up’ motorcycle portraits; Nick Clements’ re-enactment photographs; Erling T.V Klingenberg’s motorbike painting performance; Craig Fisher’s hazard installation; Kathryn Round’s jacket on jacket; Chris Watson’s Bad Motorcycle screenprints; and David Simmonds’ photos exploring speed and embodiment at the TT. 

Exhibitors:

Philippa Brock, Nick Clements, Sam Christmas, Craig Fisher, Adam Fuller, Tom Helyar-Cardwell, Rachael House, Erling T.V. Klingenberg, Ellis Pitt, Cathie Pilkington, Phil Polglaze, Kathryn Round, David Simmonds, Caryn Simonson, Kate Smith, Chris Watson.

Posted on May 20, 2013 - by Glamorous Assistant

Day Five…

Day Five

 

[clop clop]

ARTHUR: Halt! Hello! Hello!

GUARD: ‘Allo! Who is zis?

ARTHUR: It is King Arthur, and these are my Knights of the Round Table. Who’s castle is this?

GUARD: This is the castle of my master, Guy de Loimbard!

ARTHUR: Go and tell your master that we have been charged by God with a sacred quest. If he will give us food and shelter for the night he can join us in our quest for the Holy Grail.

GUARD: Well, I’ll ask him, but I don’t think he’ll be very keen. Uh, he’s already got one, you see?

ARTHUR: What?

GALAHAD: He says they’ve already got one!

ARTHUR: Are you sure he’s got one?

GUARD: Oh, yes, it’s very nice-a (I told him we already got one)

ARTHUR: Well, um, can we come up and have a look?

GUARD: Of course not! You are English types-a!

ARTHUR: Well, what are you then?

GUARD: I’m French! Why do think I have this outrageous accent, you silly king!

GALAHAD: What are you doing in England?

GUARD: Mind your own business!

ARTHUR: If you will not show us the Grail, we shall take your castle by force!

GUARD: You don’t frighten us, English pig-dogs! —Go and boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur-king, you and all your silly English knnnniggets. Thppppt!

GALAHAD: What a strange person.

ARTHUR: Now look here, my good man!

GUARD: I don’t want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper!…… I fart in your general direction! . Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

GALAHAD: Is there someone else up there we could talk to?

GUARD: No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time-a!

ARTHUR: Now, this is your last chance. I’ve been more than reasonable.

GUARD: Fetche lavache!

GUARD: Quoi?

GUARD: Fetche lavache!

[mooooooo!]

ARTHUR: If you do not agree to my commands, then I shall– [twang] [moooooooooooooooooooooooooo] Jesus Christ! Right! Charge!

ALL: Charge!

[Knights charge]

GUARD: Ah, this one is for your mother!

[twannnnnnnnnnng]

ALL: Run away!

SCENE 8

D o u b l e s h e e t

A huge thank to Ellis Pitt and his glamorous assistant Tracey to have made it possible !

Valentin Benzi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7zbWNznbs

 

Posted on May 19, 2013 - by Glamorous Assistant

Day Four…

Day Four

After 3 days, i realized that 07h30 on my phone meant 06h30 !!! which means also a way too early for normal humans, even for the most motivated ones ! Breakfast: Motorcycle + Eggs on toast + oat package + PRUNE JUICE + a very interesting lessons of English vocabulary.

A while after Ellis introduced me to Linda, a delicious lady and ‘the girl next door’, a very nice music and French teacher. Both of them were fond of France for different reasons that i can fully understand: food and weather ! We have to leave in the hour. Even if the exhibition of the Boneshaker has been cancelled, the character have to be seen ! Directly taken from the roots of motorcycle universe, let me introduce you Benny ‘Boneshaker’. From those atmospheres that people usually see on the net and want to join at any prices. Not an easy

life, just the native freedom that you choose against a society empty of your reflections.

Custom bikes everywhere, five on the ground floor holding the main door and thirteen on the first floor staring at the guests. In this castle, ‘Benny and the gang’ melt the living room with all the workshop: How the design of the room could be better to welcome

Petrol head customers ? There is no other way than breathe oil, glowing metal, leather of seats, parquet, tires, smokes of the fireplace and black coffee’s aromas. As the Ying & the Yang, both of messiness and thoroughness are required to be able to achieve such a work.

I like to compare a battlefield with a Japanese garden, both are the same, it’s just a matter of scale.

 

Posted on May 19, 2013 - by Glamorous Assistant

Day Three…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day Three

Breakfast: Motorcycle + English tea + toast & oat +Enough prune juice for now.

We left the Malt Loaf at 09.00, both of us ready to travel on times thanks to the visit of the Birmingham motorcycle museum. Five hours of deep emotions lead by wrought iron and engineering sickness. The exhibition allowed us to literally dissect a lot of old combustion models (since 1870) to the nowadays electric ones. My diploma’s project push me to see the past as the next future without reproducing it. Although craftsmanship has been supplemented by serialized process of huge industries, it used to show us how the two wheels concept could be mutable. Each brand had their own way to design a motorcycle for the better (or the worse !). But a genuine challenge were animating our grey matter. If globalization has opened inspirations and subculture, on an other hand it has also reduced the local brands design. The breaking news about the visit is that saw my concept with a century year old: The 1904 Singer. What a weird experience to see something you really like on internet and see it in front of you knowing that the «designer» of Singer did it 110 years before you even started to think about it. All in a nutshell, the museum wasn’t only a mechanic experience but also a human reflection about yourself as an industrial designer and what you can truly invent to improve the everyday life of people. I would like to thank Ellis for this and i consider this experience as a gift and a ‘turn’ in the track of a future motor cycle designer.

Posted on May 19, 2013 - by Glamorous Assistant

Day Two…March 28th 2013

 

 Day Two: March 28th

‘Bonjour Monsieur !!’

Breakfast: Motorcycle + cereals + yoghurt + fruits + honey + milk. Have you ever heard about a three wheels vehicle with a V-Twin engine in the front built in 1930? I was amazed by such engineering eccentricity and ingenuity. It was 3 hours of pure handcraft’s madness through 4 main workshops (Metal, Wood, leather, Polish & Trial) and a very strong speaking accent (probably from a far away somewhere in the north!) I met Matthew, a brilliant engineer who designed the 2 years old 3 wheeler revival. Found of mechanics and trial motorcycles as well, he taught me how the factory produces its 300 models a year. Morgan has a very distinctive design. It implies some simple questions we discussed with Ellis along the journey: How a signature can evolve in the future without being a caricature from the past? There appeared terms like ‘clues’ or ‘keys’ in design. How to extract a DNA of a brand who’s living on the same models for a century to refresh its design and make people expecting something else from the Morgan company.  Even if the past is always a daily basis to build the future, the traditional way of design (like craftsmanship) with all its associate values (precision & durability) should be able to be adapted to the next generation of Morgan. Here is the original thought:

‘Le travail de Morgan doit etre méticuleusement décortiqué par système de valeur. 3 wheeler = Manifacture + design industriel L’ADN de la marque doit être soigneusement retiree du produit et être adapté ou réintroduite dans un corps embrayonnaire de génération futur. Bien souvent plus facile à dire qu’à faire !!’

 

Posted on May 19, 2013 - by Glamorous Assistant

‘Bienvenue en Angleterre’ as it says on a few road signs near ferry ports…

 

We’ve had lots of unsolicited e-mails from ‘Young Turks’ (this in the name given to the new breed of upstarts, impatient for change and keen to take over from their superiors) hustling for opportunities to work at Mac, internships mainly. We’ve replied to all of them. One or two have ‘stalked’ us, sheepishly hoping that repetition will be their ‘USP’ (the marketers’ parlance for a unique attribute or distinguishing feature of a product or service). Most haven’t tried again. One did. He’s called Valentin Benzi and he’s studying for a Masters in transport design at one of the prominent universities in Paris.

 

We had a handful of ‘Skype’ conversations talking about his work, leading to a discussion about his final project. He came to visit us over the Easter holidays and this is the story of his trip.

 

The first morning, over an English breakfast, we got talking about how he got interested in motorbikes and Valentin talked about how he could recall, as a small boy, the smell of his father’s military uniform, the polish used for the upkeep of the leather, his epaulettes, the way his ceremonial gloves had been stitched together, the texture of his military helmet and the garage with his father’s motorcycles in. He remembers what he calls ‘the mess’ ; helmet, jacket, boots, keys and gloves strewn around as his father dressed and undressed between journeys. He recalls thinking that all motorcycle riders looked like ‘robots’ to him. The shiny parts of what could have been a rocket ship attracted his wide, young eyes and when his father plonked him on the seat of his XS 1100 no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t reach the handlebars. Occasionally, his father would collect him from school and, as he clung to his father for the ride home, his nose was pressed tightly against the back of his leather jacket, he inhaled a cocktail of leather, spent combustion gases and whatever the Parisian neighbourhood smelt like that day.

 

The rest, in his own words (no Google translation, no phrasebooks, no dictionaries), is the story of his trip.

Day One:  March 27th

Here we are, on the 26th night of March, 01.30 am. I have to reach Dieppe from Bourg la Reine before 03.30 am and then catch the first ferry of the day leaving at 05.00 a.m to Newhaven. Gniiiiigniiiii Vroummmmm..Freezing but exciting! Couldn’t be a better occasion to improve my techniques against the cold of a perfect winter night. After a (1°C) while, i am finally laying on the cosy sofas of the ship.  Good morning England – NewHaven: left side. What a good sport for a froggy especially after having slept 3.30 hours. However happy to be back on the road again! I had a delicious breakfast : Soft gull screams and a winter sun. And after almost being killed on the first roundabout and lost a dozen of times, my bike and i were absolutely delighted to meet the sweetest person ever, dressed like a petrol service lady of Pendock who drew us a lovely map of this very special area so called: Eldersfield or ‘wonderful nowhere of Worcestershire !’. ‘Would you like a cup of tea ?’ was the first sentence that i heard whereas i was still wearing my helmet. I knew at this particular moment that i wasn’t that lost and the kind people i heard about and pictured in my head were standing in front of me. RTS RACING PRODUCTS Grass Track – Longtrack – Motorcross Modern & Classic & the most 4 passionate riders were chatting by the Spud. Roger, tuning race-winning engines for 40 years Mark, Roger’s eldest son who rides like the smoothest «snake» style Andrew, who sees us all through the lens of his camera At least but not last, Ellis, who breathes and lives it in his own way to create Mac Motorcycle in 2009 Open your eyes, you’re living a daydream ! I was surrounded by mechanic pieces, organs and stories. I was drinking my milked tea wordlessly, fixing of all those pieces of art, silent and noisy in the same time. They couldn’t hold their past taking Roger & his son Mark as perfect witnesses.

Posted on February 10, 2013 - by Glamorous Assistant

”Canny Lad”

We had an e-mail recently from a young engineer called Simon, he’s just starting out on his career. He’s bagged a good job with a prominent car manufacturer here in Blighty but Simon has a dilemma, read on…

‘Hello Ellis and the chaps at Mac,

growing up in the small, North Yorkshire Moors village of ‘Goathland’ (a region of northernEngland, not far from the coast, which is loved for its wilderness and open roads), I have been around motorbikes from a young age. My Dad used to ride an old Ossa (photo attached), taking it up on the Moors for trail riding.

Ever since I was big enough to reach the foot pegs, I was keen to follow suit. After moving to Harrogate some time later we continued our green-laning antics with the addition of a Yamaha Serow 225. This mainly included seeing who could find the biggest, deepest bog and then riding through it to get hopelessly stuck. This continued until I left home and became a poor University student and other activities “Ahh hemm” (mimicking the sound of coughing artificially here suggests that Simon engaged in, shall we say, ‘extra-curricula pastimes’ during his days at university) started to consume all my money. Through the Motorsports Engineering degree I had enrolled on, I had the opportunity to volunteer with the University Formula Ford Racing team. This kept me out of trouble at the weekends and also gave me a good grounding in tinkering. After graduating from university I went off on my travels which included touring across South East Asia by motorbike, doing a better job than the boys at ‘Top Gear’ (photo attached) I bought the best Honda Win 125 ever made and set off on a two-month expedition riding through some of the most idyllic countryside on the planet. Good times.

After getting back home, I was offered a job as a Powertrain Engineer with a well-known car manufacturer in the north of England. I had harboured an ambition for many years to build my own motorbike, from scratch. With a healthy wage coming in every month I decided the time was now. I was inspired by a few different builders with different styles. Seeing Ian Berry’s bikes from Falcon Motorcycles for the first time was staggering, I didn’t know it was possible for a bike to look that good. “Café Racer Dreams” were also something special, perhaps because they reminded me of my Dad’s Ossa. The only thing I was certain on was that style was priority number one. Luxuries such as rear suspension or a comfortable riding position went out the window from day one. I wanted to create a bike that had a vintage feel to it but also looked fast, something a rebel would ride!

I set up shop in a local industrial estate, renting an empty 400 sq. foot unit. A few shelves here, a workbench there and I had a second home. I had bought an old, Yamaha XS250 ‘non-runner’ which needed a lot of TLC for the project. I wanted something I needed to take apart and fix. Buying a working engine felt like cheating for some reason. From concept sketches, I made CAD models of what I wanted to build. From this I was able to make technical drawings for the frame jig and the frame itself.

It was exciting fabricating the first tubes, watching the frame take shape. Finding spare time was difficult but eventually the frame was fully-welded and the rebuilt engine was in. Hearing it fire up for the first time was amazing (even if I did have to persuade it with ‘EasyStart’). I was almost in disbelief. It had no exhausts on and sounded loud and untamed, it was one of the best points of the project. Following this I had to buy in every component needed for the build which kept the postman busy. The bike turned into a ‘Frankenstein’ of a creation, a rear wheel from a Honda CB, front forks from a Kawasaki S1, a few donor parts taken from a Yamaha frame.

The project soon picked up momentum and I began to see light at the end of the tunnel. The scale of the project was bigger than first expected and the thought of finishing was becoming a relief. The finished product was exactly how I envisioned it. The low clip-on handle bars force you to arch your back and tuck your arms in to form a racing position, the hard-tail added a rugged feel but also kept a vintage flavour to it. I love it. (photos attached)

This project has left me thinking ; What opportunities are there for people like me who would like to work in the motorcycle industry full-time ? Is it possible to earn a living in the industry, without having hundreds of thousands of pounds stashed away ?

I would like to thank Ellis and the people at MAC for publishing my story and their time helping me with insights into answering some of these questions.

Simon’

A message from the chaps at Mac…

Simon’s not alone in his dilemma ; a good job in an industry short of skills, working for a strong employer who’ll train him well and provide job security but perhaps his heart lies elsewhere. We’ve all had that ‘fork in the road’ at sometime in our lives and Simon would be keen to hear from those of you who have guidance for him.

Please feel free to post your thoughts here or e-mail Mac’s ‘Glamorous Assistant’ via info@mac-motorcycles.com and we’ll put you in touch directly with Simon.

P.S. this is about helping Simon with his thought processes by those of us who care and can help him figure it out. If we get so much as a sniff that you’re from an agency and want to pimp him, you’ll be barred, just saying…

 

Posted on January 19, 2013 - by Glamorous Assistant

‘My Norvin and other animals’…(with apologies to Gerald Durrell)

My latest folly is the purchase of a Rocher Cucciolo 50cc moped on which I intend to ride coast-to-coast next year to raise funds for our local MS centre and also celebrate my 60th birthday by displaying my continued inability to act sensibly but, to be going on with, here’s the story of my Norvin.

The Norvin project was started in 1966 by a friend of mine named Ron. He and I lived close to a well known Norton “racing dealer” called Reg’ Dearden. Manx Norton parts were bought as funds allowed and Vincent parts were gleaned from Hillgate Motors in nearby Stockport.

In ’66 the Norton Manx was not a truly competitive race bike in either 350 or 500 class international racing but on home circuits was still a good “clubman’s” mount. The Vincent was no longer in production but its engine was still by far the most powerful one available for road use. The outcome was that a ‘Nor-Vin’ hybrid was the ultimate road-going special, in the mind if not in reality.

The project progressed slowly as Ron was a commercial electrician and worked away from home at power plants and industrial premises, factories etc. As the bike was taking shape he used a Matchless or AJS 500 single as transport and for runs to rallies and race meetings at weekends.

In 1969, we were at a rally in Blackpool when a chap turned up on a 750 Honda 4, a K0 road-test bike from Honda UK – we all knew it was over. This was a jewel, only MV and Honda made multi-cylinder bikes and up until then they were GP racers. No one ever thought a production bike could be so exotic.

After the Blackpool rally, the Norvin took a back seat development-wise as it was conceived as a sit-up-and-beg tourer rather than the current arse-in-the-air cafe creation. In the back of Ron’s mind I think he knew “The Japs” had moved production motorcycles to a higher level. All we needed was the money to buy one, they were very expensive. I contented myself with a new BSA Lightning 650 in 1972 which cost me £ 405. Ron soldiered on until (another) crankpin went on his AJS as he slogged up over the Barton “high-level” bridge on the then M63 loaded down with camping gear and a ‘substantial’ girlfriend. I carried on to the “Sidecar Safari” rally in the worrying Cleator Moor (‘League of Gentlemen’ territory) and Ron went to Queens Park Motors in Salford to invest the best part of £800 in a blue CB750 K2.

Years of touring and rallies followed with the CB750 giving way to a Jota and eventually a 1000 Exup Yam. The Norvin lay at the back of the garage unfinished and unloved still sporting its high bars, dual seat, twin 6v batteries, chrome headlight and a Lyta “motorway” 5 gallon tank.

Life moved on for Ron and he found himself moving to Ireland. I bought the Norvin from him in 1991 (the photo without the tank and seat). A full time job and heavy mortgage ensured progress was slow until I took “early retirement” from BT (our once nationalized telecommunications company) after 28 years of slog.  Working then as a freelance telecomms contractor freed-up time and money to complete the project in time for the 2001 ‘Thundersprint’ held that year in Southport.

The transformation from tourer to cafe racer was done by the simple expedient of buying as much genuine and reproduction Manx Norton kit as I could lay my hands on. Much came from McIntosh in New Zealand. The baffled Manx “IOM” petrol tank came from Pearson’s in Dartford and the oil tank was custom made by a local craftsman (sadly no longer trading) in Rochdale. Other than a front and rear mudguard, very little came from Unity Equipe who, at that time, owned the Manx Norton manufacturing rights.

The engine was treated to a once-over. It had been fully rebuilt early on in the project and some modifications made to oiling, provision of a oil filter, conversion to 12 volt electrics, adoption of Lucas Rita ignition (which transformed starting) and replacement of the alloy idler gear with a steel version. All Ron’s hand-made brackets were retained such as the torque arms on the front “dopple duplex” Robinson brake and if I needed to make bracketry I resisted the temptation to “CNC” them and resorted to hacksaw, drill and file in order to keep them looking “1960s”.

Ron came over from Ireland to witness his Norvin move for the first time under its own power at the ‘Thundersprint’. As he looked over the bike I presented him with his start number and entry – he was the entrant and jockey ! A couple of runs later we indulged in a well-earned drink and the rest of that day and night is very hazy……

The bike has been run round the banking at Montlhery, raced around Donnington Park and more recently taken part in this year’s Kop Hillclimb (photo of me on it wearing a silver lid, sorry helmet)

It’s a lovely old nail and its my “sheep in wolf’s clothing” being soft in delivery of its punch but with teeth to bite you if you aren’t careful with the throttle-hand in the lower gears. My pal Craig had his first run on a ‘Vin at Kop Hill Climb and was very surprised to find it would loft the wheel “on the throttle” in 1st gear and spin its rear wheel on poor surfaces.

TTFN

Mike

”‘TTFN’ (stands for “ta ta for now”, in more recent times the catchphrase of the late British radio presenter Jimmy Young but, thanks to military usage, the phrase was popularized during World War II. The expression also found airtime briefly in both the 1966 Batman episode called ‘Better Luck Next Time’ when Catwoman uses it but then has to explain it to Batman and by ‘Tigger’ in A.A. Milne’s ‘The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’ – so now you know !)

 

Posted on January 18, 2013 - by Glamorous Assistant

Dave was here… (with apologies to Mr Chad and Kilroy)

The first known example of modern-day graffiti survives in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (part of Turkey). The image depicts symbols which the locals reckon point the way to a nearby brothel. Graffiti, derived from the Italian word ‘graffiato’ meaning scratched divides opinion,  some claim it’s vandalism and some think it’s art but we’re not going anywhere near this debate here.

We had an e-mail recently from a chap called Dave Johnson in Nebraska,USA. I have to confess that before I called Dave, I had to take a look at the map and see where Nebraska was and to help me understand the time-difference. Dave had already figured this out and told us in his reply.

Dave’s an architect and runs his own practice out of Lincoln, Nebraska’s capital city www.studio951.net . To the best of our knowledge he’s never designed a brothel (or defaced a building for that matter) but he has been riding for 35 years (which means he’s nearly as old as we are !) and has owned allsorts of rides from Kawasakis, H-Ds, through to Triumphs and a Beemer for the long-haul stuff. Dave’s keen to build a Mac ‘Spud’ with a little help from one of his buddies. We talked this through and we’re making plans to get a rolling-chassis over to Dave in the next few months. But here’s the reason for posting this, e-mails are great and they help with getting in touch when others are in bed, they don’t cost anything blah, blah, blah but when you get talking all sorts of stuff just tumbles out, like these pictures here of Dave’s studio wall bearing the graffiti of a Mac ‘Spud’ done by a local artist from just down the road in Omaha.

Thank you very much Dave, we’re looking forward to working with you over the next few months.

Posted on August 17, 2012 - by Glamorous Assistant

Helmet Hair…

in our quieter moments (ha-ha) we’ve been thinking about one or two items that would complement a Mac motorbike. We’ve been wearing Davida ‘Jet’ lids for donkey’s years – the girl in the picture wearing my ol’ ‘Jet flame’ was taken a few years back when I was getting my barnet cut. She pushed a couple of powder scoops under the brim as pretend goggles.

Davida’s ‘Jets’ are super-comfortable, aerodynamic and, therefore, quieter than any full-face helmet we’ve ever worn, you can rubber-neck for loony drivers more easily and, being open-face, you get a real sense of your surroundings – you know when you’re riding past a sewage works, you can detect the wiff of perfume of a foxxxy lady on the pavement at a thousand yards, smell what part of your lower anatomy is cooking nicely on a hot piece of metal and snack on insects in your flight-path between beer stops – the benefits are endless…

So just before Goodwood, we discussed our ideas with Mark and Ian at Xenophya and talked nicely to Alan at Davida about having a few sample ‘Jet’ helmets made in time for the show and they both delivered, against a very tight timescale. We’ll sort out some pricing, sizing, colours etc. and take some better snaps of them shortly but here’s a few photos of what happened…

P.S. the picture of the old boy in the white ‘piss-pot’ with ear-flaps is none other than Sir Stirling Moss about to squirt up the Goodwood hill in something old, now tug your forelock.