The Indian Chief was produced from the 1920’s up until the Springfield factory ceased production in 1953. It is undoubtedly a motorcycle that well represents the type of design that was popular in America at the time, and you could say to some degree it has a philosophy that has continued to this day, with America’s love of bigger is better! Continue Reading →
I had an idea to put the word out that I would be looking for custom bikes to shoot while I was in Florida for Daytona’s Biketoberfest. By far the best place to further this goal in 2009, was to inform Cyril Huze, so that the plea could go out on the industries number one blog. It turned out to be one of my better inspirations, and threw up some stunning gems like this Buell Bobber. Continue Reading →
Many people are surprised when they discover that this speed icon Suzuki Hayabusa street bike, has been built by legendary American custom bike builder and painter Dave Perewitz; but they really shouldn’t be, as it only shows that Dave has his finger on the pulse of what is new and happening in today’s custom bike world. Plus, in such dire economic times, who would be dumb enough to turn away work just because it didn’t come with a Milwaukee built V-Twin engine? Continue Reading →
To your knees dogs, the king is coming! Blown away, does not really come close to the feelings evoked when I first set eyes on this, Warren Lane, hand crafted motorcycle. And hand crafted it is, from the heavily modified early 1934 VLD Harley-Davidson springer front end, through the ‘one-of-a-kind,’ twisted stainless steel frame, yes! Stainless steel!!! to the trick tail light, and super short fender at the rear. But there are so many more one-off, and hand-fabricated parts on this bike it will be hard to mention them all. Continue Reading →
Jake Smith is something of an anomaly, a guy who most certainly deviates from ones expectations. For a start, he is a Jewish skinhead, which in itself is unusual. He is also heavily tattooed, but loves to make artistic items of pottery, strange! The bottom line is, he doesn’t look like your typical biker, and certainly not what you would expect your custom bike builder to look like, but he is a biker through and through, and one hell of a talent with the spanners, lathe and welding torch. Continue Reading →
A No Win Situation!
With just ten days to build a ground up, jaw dropping, custom bike, I was more than a little surprised that there was not much activity the morning of the first day; instead of Russell Mitchell and his Exile team getting stuck into the project, the Discovery film crew eroded most of the available time setting up their lights and completing other ancillary tasks. 
Continue Reading →
Jeff Tiedeken is one half of Metal Morphosis Cycles, in the past, I have shot a number of bikes that have been built by Jeff and his older brother Jason, but this was to be the first solo construction by the young buck. 
Continue Reading →
David Covington comes to the fore with this truly stunning modern high tech incarnation of a chopper. He has learned his metal craft well from father Jerry, at Covington’s Cycle City of Woodward Oklahoma. Continue Reading →
Steve Carr, Rick Bonin, Vicki and Mollie Griswold make up West Coast Florida’s Lightning Rod Motorcycles. Mollie is the cutie you see modelling with Retro Racer, but she is a whole lot more than just a curvaceous body and pretty face! Mollie is a certified bridge inspector and President of her own company, Bolt Underwater Services. Continue Reading →
….continued
Like the pennies, copper details used throughout this bike are no accident, like I’ve already mentioned, it has, over time, become Mike’s signature style to use copper; check out the risers, and oil tank for such examples of the man’s work. Continue Reading →
I overheard some bikers talking in a Daytona bar, they were discussing some wild, crazy and insane customs that they had seen out near Rossmeyer’s Destination Daytona Harley-Davidson dealership, at an area known as The Battlegrounds. Continue Reading →
Roxanna’s 1995 Panhead started life as a Harley-Davidson Heritage Nostalgia. And that started out as a dream fifteen or so years earlier, when in her twenties, she began to hanker after a vintage bike. Continue Reading →
Being able to create the coolest looking choppers with your bare hands is a real talent, but in Billy Lane’s case, it was a talent that he learned through hard graft, blood sweat and tears. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, custom bike builder extraordinaire, Billy Lane, holds an Associate of Science Degree from Florida State University, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Florida International University. Continue Reading →
Michael Barragan, Evil Spirit’s driving force has one hell of a convoluted past. If you enter his name into just about any Internet search engine you will be confronted with a Wikipedia encyclopedia page informing you about the 1990s rock band ‘Plexi.’ Continue Reading →
Steve Kelly sent us this fine shot of the Rats Hole show from this years Daytona hooha….
Looks like some fine baggerage was in attendance poolside
What a little sensation this Bling inspired chopper is, but what really attracted my attention to this back to basics, style of rigid, was the fact that Andy Bergin and his girlfriend never seemed to be off it. Continue Reading →
and think happy thoughts, like this young lady is doing!
image; Steve Kelly Photography
ULA Super-6.Pt2 by Steve Kelly Photography
….continued…. Continue Reading →
A fine photo by Steve Kelly Photography…. If you are in Daytona and want your fine machine captured by this powerhouse talent – email him here:
stevekellyphotos@hotmail.com
Email him NOW!
Courtesy of Steve Kelly Photography…who is looking for bikes to feature by the way…. contact him here:
stevekellyphotos@hotmail.com
Email him NOW!
Chica’s Pearl @ ULA Super-6. Pt1 by Steve Kelly Photography
The attack on Pearl Harbour Naval Base in Hawaii on the morning of Sunday December 7th 1941 came as a surprise to the United States. Continue Reading →
Nows ya chance, get in touch with Steve Kelly, photographer extraordinaire – he’s in Daytona and can make even YOU look like a rockstar!
stevekellyphotos@hotmail.com
Email him NOW!
bike by Kevin Boyle (Motorcycle Medic)
As you can tell from the photos, this was no ordinary bike shoot, you might even exclaim, ‘what bike?’ But that didn’t stop the SCC pole bike from becoming the cover feature for German motorcycle magazine Bikers News. And, in fact, the bike was built primarily for the purpose of attracting attention and only secondarily as a test bed for Strip Club Choppers motorcycle parts. Continue Reading →
I came across Nelson Citta’s 1938 Knucklehead chopper at the Eustis Antique Motorcycle Show in Florida that is held the first weekend of Daytona Bike Week each year. It is very unusual to find custom bikes at this show, or any antique motorcycle show for that matter, as most of the bikers who own vintage motorcycles or attend such events are fanatical purists who believe that bikes of a certain age should be left as the factory produced them, rather than seeing them cut up and turned into custom bikes of one description or another. Nelson however, is quite rightly very proud of the bike that he has built, so took it along anyway. Continue Reading →
My god, where do I start to tell you about French Melanie? She is the sort of girl that makes you think, what the hell have I been doing with my life? When she starts to tell you about all the places that she has lived, and all of the things that she has done. Straight off the top of my head, I can tell you that she has lived in four of the liveliest cities in the world: Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles. She has always been heavily into the biker/Rocker world. She started riding motorcycles in the UK before she even learnt to drive, I guess at the age of about nineteen. Continue Reading →
There are many different stories regarding how cafe racers came into being, but cafe racers are indisputably one of the first widely customised style of motorcycle. Rockers modified their British iron to reflect their individual style, but more importantly to build themselves a motorcycle that was as agile and as aerodynamic as possible, so that they could flash along twisting leafy country lanes and the newly built arterial motorways at the coveted average speed of 100mph. A Dave Degens’ Dresda Triton is arguably the world’s first super bike. Continue Reading →
Flying back to Europe after Daytona’s Biketoberfest, I learnt a valuable lesson; never put anything in your checked luggage that you can’t afford to lose! While clothing and such was covered by travel insurance, the lose of the contact details for the owner and the specification sheet for this unique bike has meant that, until now, Black and Tan has remained unseen as I have been unable to write a feature to go with the imagery. Continue Reading →
When Harley-Davidson’s first Sportster debuted back in 1957, it portrayed a tough and rebellious image that was refreshing to many who were turned-off by the factories bloated FL big-twins. Continue Reading →
picture of the day….great shot! Continue Reading →
The Bonneville Salt Flats of the western Great Salt Lake Desert were formed through the evaporation of the Pleistocene-era Lake Bonneville. The salt flats are actually the bed of that once massive lake which rivalled in size to the present Lake Michigan. The flats are composed mainly of potash salts ranging in thickness from less than one inch to around six feet, (1.8m) and cover one hundred and fifty nine square miles (412 square kilometres) extending some nine miles along US Highways 40 and 50 and the Western Pacific Railroad. Each rainfall erases tyre marks and re-flattens the densely packed salt. Continue Reading →
The Bonneville Salt Flats of the western Great Salt Lake Desert were formed through the evaporation of the Pleistocene-era Lake Bonneville. The salt flats are actually the bed of that once massive lake which rivalled in size to the present Lake Michigan. The flats are composed mainly of potash salts ranging in thickness from less than one inch to around six feet, (1.8m) and cover one hundred and fifty nine square miles (412 square kilometres) extending some nine miles along US Highways 40 and 50 and the Western Pacific Railroad. Each rainfall erases tyre marks and re-flattens the densely packed salt. Continue Reading →
Oh come on, you’re too old to be reading about the three bears, and in any case, this is a true story so; if you are sitting comfortably, I will begin. Whatever next, an honest crook? Continue Reading →
My god, where do I start to tell you about French Melanie? She is the sort of girl that makes you think, what the hell have I been doing with my life? When she starts to tell you about all the places that she has lived, and all of the things that she has done. Straight off the top of my head, I can tell you that she has lived in four of the liveliest cities in the world: Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles. She has always been heavily into the biker/Rocker world. She started riding motorcycles in the UK before she even learnt to drive, I guess at the age of about nineteen. Over the years, she has owned many motorcycles, ranging from a 1954 BSA through to a chopped GSX1100 Suzuki. And somewhere in between she rode a sweet little 550/4 Honda café racer and a big inch, stroked, hardtail Harley-Davidson. Continue Reading →
My god, where do I start to tell you about French Melanie? She is the sort of girl that makes you think, what the hell have I been doing with my life? When she starts to tell you about all the places that she has lived, and all of the things that she has done. Straight off the top of my head, I can tell you that she has lived in four of the liveliest cities in the world: Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles. She has always been heavily into the biker/Rocker world. She started riding motorcycles in the UK before she even learnt to drive, I guess at the age of about nineteen. Continue Reading →
My god, where do I start to tell you about French Melanie? She is the sort of girl that makes you think, what the hell have I been doing with my life? When she starts to tell you about all the places that she has lived, and all of the things that she has done. Straight off the top of my head, I can tell you that she has lived in four of the liveliest cities in the world: Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles. She has always been heavily into the biker/Rocker world. She started riding motorcycles in the UK before she even learnt to drive, I guess at the age of about nineteen. Continue Reading →
Part 2…
Now for the story of how 43 FTP came about, in Warren’s own worlds. Continue Reading →
Eddie kicking it in Sturgis: photo Steve Kelly Photography
Warren Lane’s latest chopper is, unsurprisingly, a real stunner. FTP, stands for Fuck The Police, or so I thought, but after checking with Warren just to make sure, typically, I can now neither confirm nor deny this definitively. Continue Reading →
Ken Conte took time out from his busy schedule during the 70th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally to allow me to shoot his recently finished custom bike that is known as Blood Stains, Speed Kills. Ken runs a PR company in Denver Colorado called Rise Above Consulting; in fact, it is through his business that we became acquainted, as he promotes many motorcycle companies, parts manufacturers and motorcycle events. Continue Reading →
Knucklehead Dan’s Smoked Bacon
Dan has thought about pretty much nothing else other than motorcycles since getting his first motorcycle age six. Continue Reading →
One of the hallmarks of a professional is the lack of drama that accompanies their activities, especially in regards to their chosen trade. I’ve spent enough time with and around Steve Kelly to know that his ability to get the job done in an excellent and timely manner is rooted in a tradesman’s sense of pride. Steve gets it done, on time, on budget – in a aesthetically pleasing manner – he’s got a great eye and a feel for his subjects. I’d hire him in a minute..as a matter of fact, I have! – Stephen Berner Continue Reading →
Cool comes when you dance to a different tune
Former casino security guard, El Pitts of Vegas City Choppers is possibly the most laid back person I have ever met. From the shade of his booth at Sturgis he casually cast his sleepy eyes over me as I introduced myself, and when he answered my questions about VCC’s bikes he responded in a slow drawn-out drawl. I asked if it would be possible to shoot the bike known simply as 187 first thing the following morning, El responded, ‘sure, I’ll see you at noon’. I guess he dances to a different tune to most folk. Continue Reading →
