car time

with my apologies to johnny from 'asphalt squadron'- check the blog if you haven't already- here's todays fix of gearhead smut. you love it.

fresh scallops

i had some scallops at a posh wedding reception the other day but i'd rather have this type anyday. and a sidevalve to go.

gas gas

drilled drop axle, fenderwall headers wide open, halibrand spoke mags, moon tank, gimme gimme gimme

shine # 2

yeh you probably seen 'em...but they're still great shots of a great bike, jimmy shine's ace shovel rigid. bit of a indian larry influence goin' on with the big tank and magneto setup.

and a gratuitous shot of the 6x 2 carb set up off the shine-haas tri-chev gasser, pure gearhead porn, i think i was a magpie in a former life, patina's ok, but i dig on shiny shee-it.

new bikes

any way you cut it, old stuff rules. don't mean you can't have a sneaking admiration for custom work of this calibre, tho'. dunno much about it, other than it's the product of an outfit called 'zeus customs'. paint, sculpted tank and that seat unit all 1st class.

HELMET LAWS SUCK

ok, they're not such a bad thing after all...but how about this for a slice of choppa goodness, your humble author on a real 'amen saviour' framed cb750, new mexico 2005? i hooked up with one of the guys from hondachopper.com on a trip to see family out in the states, he kindly let me blast around on his late model twin-cam and this amazing chop he'd fixed up for peanuts before 'vintage' chop stuff went sky high.

highway riding without a lid is incredible...especially in desert heat on a real classic chop with 6'' overs. it sure makes you keep your wits about you. I couldn't make up my mind to shit meself or just have a ball, really you just have to go with it and enjoy.

good country, good bikes.

PARANOID

You wouldn't get much wedding work in THIS Jag, that's for sure. It'd get you up the 1320 plenty quick tho', that bodyshell (fiat topolino?)looks like it weighs about as much as a pack of blue rizla, other than that all ya get is short wheel-base tube frame 'competion altered'- class dragster. Quite a few teams used to use the old jag straight sixes, and they always gave the yank V8s a good run for their money. Check the finish too, deep candy red with gold leaf effect lettering definitely looked great flying up the strip on a sunny day. California dreamin'? too 'kin right, with a nice Brit twist too.

the 'other' bastardos...

...would be quad cam bastards. if you like hardcore kustom sporties, check out their blog, it's on of the 'original and best', if you get what i mean. here's a sample of stolen material for ya, a couple of mild but still smart evo XLs.

on a separate note, it seems summer's here. good job i'll be spending the next 4 days with me head in a book. bummer.

shine

gotta love shine's stuff, right? he's probably a good argument for thinking there's too much 'kustom' stuff on cable tv, but you can't deny he's one of the best rod builders around. saw his tri-chev gasser in the awesome french mag 'kustom garage', if you ever get a chance to check it, you won't be disappointed. couldn't say about the writing tho'.

random kool stuff

macen's road king

ok, not yer usual bastardos fare, but still a class ride. its owner is a class act too, macen is an old mate of mine from London. he's also a full-patch National Chopper Club member, so you can expect this ride is going to work as sweet as it looks when it's done.

check out that nice thick tube framework by CCD of norfolk, and the jackshaft sprocket setup arrangement. that's engineering. note the hayabusa USD forks and those mental rims. this bike was pretty smart when it had a simple makeover- rubbish stripped off, lowered, blacked out tins etc- when it's finished, it's gonna be cooler than an eskimo's nose.

some before and after shots

here ya go...some blasts from my dodgy choppa past. so basically the pink heap became the orange one you see before you here (yes i was coerced by BSH into running silly wide bars, what possessed me to get bleedin' RED ones i have no idea)and after a year or so of good service an engine build was required, which led to another frame-up build resulting in incarnation 3, the black one. from this point forward, things started to go very wrong...my standard line was 'it's gonna be great by the summer', and i ended up going to rallies in the car...DOH. 'kin daydreamer...

so screw it, the sporty might not be as kool, but it's a fuckin' HOTROD and it runs!

hard to handle

my 1st hardtail. scored this off a dude at work who'd a kent HA hangaround, big cliff. he'd gone on to a shovel, and kind of neglected this 750 SOHC. When he built this, the honda was the bike to chop- it was very much of its time, which ain't such a good thing when the time in question is the early 80s. There was some great moulding on the frame- or some dodgy-looking welds, depending how you look at it- and a great patina when it was in this state. i couldn't stand that pink tho', that's for sure.

basically stock front frame loop with weld-on rigid, 21'' front hoop and half the 'custom fasteners' catalogue bolted to it. leaked oil like a mexican pipeline.

i learnt an awful lot doing this project. sadly, most was how not to do things.


stay tuned for some shots of how it turned out.

WARGASSER

more great art for ya. enjoy.

rich man's ride

wot do you get if you cross an xr1200 lump, loads of cash and the design skills of one Roland Sands? Something not unlike this beauty. Not exactly in the usual spirit of bastardos, but who wouldn't want to get their leg over this?

cafe racers come and go, but you can't beat rearsets and drop bars, from tritons to GSXRs.

that left side view is great.

gasser wars

straight axle dual 4 barrel hemi fenderwall headers madness. wicked.

josh kurpius

one of the most gifted and hardest-working snappers out there; as seen in DicE and numerous other rags, Mr Josh Kurpius.I really like the last 2.

If you like this lot, have a look at his blog 'kemosabe and the lodge', from where these are stolen with my apologies.

In case you hadn't noticed, most of the stuff on the blog this week has been nicked off other sites and blogs, and cobbled together on my lunchbreaks at work. I have exams over the next week or so on which my life depends, or it feels that way anyhow. so, 'los bastardos' will be getting more original and more about 'us' shortly after they finish- but in the meantime, thanks for your patience and continued support. remember, contributions from followers and viewers are always most welcome; if you're reading this, you're part of the team already. peace out.

quad cam religion

massive respect to French site 'den of sportsters'.
'kin mental sporty chop. I've got an even nuttier pic of that front end spanning a wide ditch, will dig it out.

KISS

as in K eep I t S imple S tupid

as they say up north, 'right nice'.

how do you like yours?

just some random good stuff from around the web; lovingly half-inched for your pleasure.

top pic- shovel and 2 irons. . sporty tanks rule. so do invaders.

#2- awesome digger-style lowrider resplendent in vein-purple.

#3- very retro-contemporary styling touches off one of the sinners' sites. i have a bit of a thing for white grips(only if dirty and old), but not so sure of the whole scales 70s paint thing- trad scallops and flames are my thing- but this sure has been done nice.

wot's black, skinny, and needs wiring?

As hoped, here's some more shots ofTrawler's outstanding shovel project. He's sent us a spec sheet and a few words, so over to the man for the 'thankyous'...

'Benny Thomas for all the help and welds. Zippy for getting stuck in, Ian at 2nd City Customs for the wiring and engine check overs and Flakey Dave who understood my paint ideas perfectly . Lastly my cool wife Joanne for totally understanding my obsessive compulsive disorder with motorsickles'.

This bike's got so many neat touches, but still looks tough as a pitbull with issues. So much of this style you just don't see on British-built bikes. I'm lovin' that tokyo-style flipped rear guard, skinny firestones and alien tank; those window bars get the nod too.

Engine-wise, it's pure S&S Shovel goodness with original harley shovelhead tops, the seat's by Motheroad customs and thank god it's skinny, cos anything else woulda been so wrong. Check the brasswork on the pushrod covers- that's sum handmade japanese sheet right there- and more brass touches on risers, pegs and other bits. Headlight's worth a mention- everyone's seen a 5 1/2'' bates style before, but this one rocks a VW tribar bejewelled with a flawless emerald. Bling! Pipes are a neat custom touch too, made by Benny with hotrod ripple tube, coated heat resisto black, brass tips by Lowbrow Kustoms. Unique is the word, I think, and ain't that what it's all about? Sure, you can see a lot of influences on this ride, but it's all been put together in a really individual way. Dust off that trophy shelf bruv, you're gonna need some more space.