Rippin-kitten.com has been awarded: The Addicting Blog Award.
This award was sent by Gabrielle Faust of www.gabriellefaust.com/
Awarded by
Gabrielle Faust
to Rippin Kitten
Thanks to Gabrielle! She’s got a great horror-themed blog, so check it out if that’s your thang!
Bruce Rossmeyer thinks that the average Harley-Davidson rider these days is a RUB (rich urban biker, a term coined by Harley-Davidson enthusiasts to refer to executives, lawyers and other professionals who buy expensive motorcycles as status symbols).
Rossmeyer, who owns 14 Harley-Davidson dealerships across the country, just acquired Boston Harley-Davidson and also opened up a high-end HD shop to sell overpriced t-shirts and gear to tourists on illustrious Newbury St.
He was quoted in a recent article written in the Boston Herald newspaper as saying:
“The image of Harley-Davidson bikers as ‘rebel riders’ is pretty much gone these days. We’re ‘Rolex riders’ now.”
Huh? Perhaps that’s the case in Mr. Rossmeyer’s world, but I think he needs to buy himself a clue. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the face of the modern biker is changing. Gen X and Y are getting in on the action and they definitely do not fall into the RUB category. There’s a younger demographic of riders out there just waiting to be tapped and the HD mothership gets that.
This video accompanies the announcement of HD’s Dark Custom line of bikes that’s had the motorcycle world buzzing for weeks now. These bikes are stripped, chopped and raw and extremely cool looking!
Even reading some of the comments on youtube the clash of the age groups is palpable:
“…you need a young spine to ride a hard single seat with your hands above your shoulders all day. these “radical customs” are poser bikes. hard core riders ride roadies, dynas, and softies and not fatbobs, nighsters, or boneses. you just cant sit on one all day.”
“Harleys aint for the old anymore - just ’cause i am 24, doesn’t mean i want a p-o-s bike. i want a harley, now i am gonna get me one. thanks for finally acknowledging not all gen x is broke…”
This is an interesting time to be a younger biker. I think I’ll sit back, watch and go along for the ride.
Last week the movie poster for the eagerly anticipated, Quentin Tarantino produced Hell Ride (which I posted about back in December) was released to the waiting world.
Hell Ride premiered at Sundance earlier this week (and was reviewed favorably, which you can read here) and is a throw back to the 60’s & 70’s style biker movie that promises to be filled with lots of testosterone and violence (or according to the movie review, the three B’s: bikes, beer, and booty!)
According to another recent article on shocktilyoudrop.com, Hell Ride could eventually become a trilogy:
Leave ‘em wanting more. Films with the Quentin Tarantino touch seem to have that effect. Hell Ride may be no exception. Larry Bishop’s revenge tale, presented by Tarantino, premiered last night at Sundance to a sold-out crowd and already those involved in the project have the word “sequel” on their lips.
Co-star Michael Madsen tells us during an interview, “I hope this is going to be a trilogy.” In the film he plays a well-dressed biker named The Gent and it’s a role he’s looking forward to revisiting. “The Gent’s story has not been completely told.”
When we later spoke to writer-director-actor Bishop, we inquired about a possible “trilogy” and Madsen’s desire to slip back into The Gent’s skin, to which Bishop merely sat back, raised his eyebrows over his dark shades and smiled, “Absolutely.”
As of right now, there is no release date for the movie. Dammit.
Bikers and tattoos go together like peanut butter and jelly. The two cultures are intertwined in a never ending love affair. Tattoos became utilized by biker gangs to signify their allegiance to specific gangs and to convey an image of rebellion that would set them apart from the rest of society.
“The Tattoo Artist” by Norman Rockwell, Saturday Evening Post, March 4, 1944
After World War II tattoos became further stigmatized by their associations with bikers and juvenile delinquents. Tattooing had very little respect in the American culture. In 1961 there was an outbreak of hepatitis, which caused an even bigger backlash against tattoos and sent the tattoo world into a tailspin.
tattoo flash by Sailor Jerry
Here in Massachusetts, there was a ban on tattooing in effect since 1967, until local underground artists lobbied to legalize it in the late 90’s, partly because of health and safety reasons. Tattooing was finally legalized in this state in 2001 and shops began to spring up everywhere–the first legal shops being Fat Ram’s Pumpkin Tattoo and Darkwave Tattoos (which then spawned Lightwave Tattoo Studio). Natan Lin, owner of Darkwave and Lightwave, was a large supporter of legalizing tattooing in MA and has been running the wildly successful annual Boston Tattoo Convention ever since.
photos by Forrest Frazier (see more motorcycle pics at ffphoto.com)
Tattoos today are more acceptable and popular than ever before. And it’s getting even more mainstream with TLC hitching its programming trailer to tattoo shows like LA Ink, Miami Ink, and London Ink. Acceptability and high demand for the best artwork have put some artists on the map. Certainly that can partly be contributed to the quality of inks and needles that just weren’t around forty or fifty years ago. People now revel in the highly artistic nature of tattoos and artists are now truly fine artists.
Kat Von D from TLC’s La INK
While Billy Lane still faces trial for charges of DUI manslaughter from the September 4th, 2006 fatal crash that killed Gerald Morelock, I thought it might be nice to remember happier times when the world was Billy’s oyster before this ill-fated incident. (If you’re interested in keeping up to date with news of the trial Brain Bucket Magazine is a pretty good resource.)
This Harley-Davidson V2 engine computer case mod runs for real!
OK, you may be wondering what in the hell I’m talking about, right?
Well, apparently some guy decided that having a cool-looking computer case wasn’t enough: he had to build a computer case that’s a 1:1 scale Harley Davidson V2 engine from scratch. The engine runs for real, pistons pump water through the system to cool the components. He included a bunch of Harley Davidson motorcycle pieces into the mod, including chromed out exhaust pipes.
The actual computer inside this crazy case has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Abit AW9D-MAX motherboard, and the 2 x XFX7900GT video card, in case you were wondering.
You can read the full, tech-laden article and see lots more photos at bornich.org.
I’m not a big fan of motocross, although I will say it takes a fearless (or stupid) soul to be a competitor. Corey Hart is the one big name I knew of, until I heard about Brian Deegan, who is a veritable rock star in the sport.
Disposable Hero is a documentary chronicling Brian’s recovery after a near fatal accident and determination to be back on top. Here’s the description from Netflix:
“The impressive scar on Brian Deegan’s abdomen says it all: He’s been through a lot during his reign as an X Games champion and freestyle motocross icon, a journey that’s explored in this riveting documentary that chronicles the ups and downs of his professional career. A Guinness World Record holder who’s racked up more motocross medals than any other person on the planet, Deegan has lived his life outside the lines.”
I haven’t seen this yet, but you can be sure that I’ve added it to my queue.
The 2008 Motorcycle Bloggers International Choice Awards are under way and accepting nominations! So, check out the site, view all of the categories and get to nominating! The nomination period ends on February 10th.
Yours truly has been nominated for “Women riders booster of the year“-how cool is THAT? But already the competition is tough. I’ll be sure to remind everyone when the voting period begins, so you can vote your lil hearts out! Until then they need you to go nominate your favorites. Go go go!
The other night I was reading through my massive inbox of messages, friends requests and spam when I came across one that I got a little excited about when I started reading it. And now I pass it on to you guys:
Hey, My name is Peter and I am a Producer for Gigantic! Productions in New York City. We are currently producing an episode of an MTV documentary series called True Life: I’m Going to Bike Week. We are looking for people who appear between 18-28, to participate in the show and I was hoping you might be able to help us. It would be great if you could help get the word out about this project to people who might be interested in participating.
Anyone interested in learning more about the project can email them at casting@gigantic.tv or call 212-343-2674.
There, I’ve done my due diligence. Feel free to pass the info along to anyone you know that might be interested. I wonder what “bike week” they’ll be featuring…Hey, if you end up contacting the producer and actually get on the show, drop me a line!
I don’t know how old this commercial is or where it ran, but it’s pretty amusing!
