Big Sid's Vincati - Dads and Sons and Their Motorcycles

I just saw this article in my Google Alerts. It's actually a review of a new book, "Big Sid’s Vincati: The Story of a Father, a Son, and the Motorcycle of a Lifetime," by Matthew Biberman. The article is on the Opinion page of the New York Times and written by Stanley Fish. It's thought provoking and even involves motorcycles. If you ever read Pirsig's, "Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," you'll be even more interested in the article. If you never heard of Pirsig, read the article and then go get a copy. It's easy reading but deeply involved in philosophy too.

Here's an excerpt from the article, "Fathers, Sons and Motorcycles":

"What is it about motorcycles? I have never been on one for the same reason that I don’t go on roller coasters or other amusement-park rides. I’m terrified. Yet every so often motorcycles come into my life. When I met my wife in the middle ’70s her primary mode of transportation was a motorcycle (a small Honda). She specialized in terrifying situations. She rode it to and from work in South Philadelphia and was once robbed at an intersection while waiting for the light to turn green. She took the bike onto the Baltimore Beltway, where I felt nervous driving a car. She says now that she got it because something was missing from her life. And she bought it immediately after having read Robert Pirsig’s "Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values" (1974)." -- Stanley Fish

Now, read the complete article and don't forget the comments at the end.

Harry Potter's Motorcycle Rides

Since I was one of the people who started reading the Harry Potter 7-book series just as the new movie based on book 5 came out, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It turns out that Harry first appears riding on a flying motorcycle in the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Then in the last book (book 7) just released, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he again rides on the same flying motorcycle, this time with an attached sidecar.

The rider of the bike is the character Hagrid, a giant of a man. The owner of the bike is Sirius Black. You'll be following these two main characters throughout the books.

J. K. Rowling's astounding work of fiction took me the better part of six weeks to get all the way through to the end of book 7. You say this is a children's book? Maybe book 1 with 319 pages is but from then on, it gets darker and darker as Harry ages from 11 to 17. Book 7 is 759 pages of pretty much non-stop battle scenes. The new movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is based on book 5 that has 870 pages.

I was startled to see a motorcycle in book 1. When I got to book 7, the motorcycle was there again, this time outfitted for battle.

Harry Potter was a very good read and even better since it had a magic motorcycle in it. Way to go Ms. Rowling.

Motorcycle Choppers Picture Gallery

I have just completed a new Motorcycle Choppers Gallery similar to one I had on the old site. Of course, its growth depends on you. If you own a chopper, send me a picture and description and I'll place it in the gallery. I also have an article, Choppers, that gives the history of the chopper.

I recently reviewed the newest book by the OCC guys, Orange County Choppers: The Tale of the Teutuls. It traces their rise from obscurity to the top of the custom chopper heap. Whether you like these guys or not, their book is interesting reading and may change a few opinions.

Motorcycles Hit the Screen for 2007

Every year I hope for some decent movies or TV shows about motorcycles. Last year I liked The World's Fastest Indian about the life of Burt Munro. That one starred Sir Anthony Hopkins. I also liked the TV show, American Chopper, about the adventures of Paul Sr., Paul Jr. and Mikey Teutul of Orange County Choppers. I've watched almost every show in the series and observed their success as they built their world-wide fan base. I realize that American Chopper doesn't appeal to a lot of bikers, but I enjoy it and apparently so do millions of other people. Here's a review I did of their latest book, Orange County Choppers: The Tale of the Teutuls.

What about this year?

There are two major motorcycle-related motion pictures being released soon. There is also one Reality TV series that should be released as well.

The first movie is Ghost Rider starring Nicholas Cage and Eva Mendes. It's based on a Marvel Comics character and set to be released on February 16, 2007. Here's the Ghost Rider Web site that also gives a trailer.

The second movie is Wild Hogs starring Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy, and John Travolta. It also stars Jill Hennesy and Marisa Tomei. The four main characters are now making the talk show circuit. I saw them all on Oprah just yesterday. This is a story of four guys in a mid-life crisis who decide to take a road trip on motorcycles. Along the way, they encounter a few real bikers and that's good for a few laughs too. This movie will be in the theaters March 2, 2007. Here's the IMDB Website that will lead you to a trailer.

Finally, there appears to be a Reality TV series about a biker build-off of metric bikes. 22 builders have been chosen to create their own custom metric bikes and a winner will be chosen. This series has been looking for a network and now seems tied to ESPN2 for a release in the second quarter of 2007. Their information says that the first show will appear on ESPN2 at 11 a.m. EST on March 31, 2007. Now since the beginning of daylight saving time is starting early this year on March 11, please check your local schedules to get the correct start time. Here's a link to the Metric TV site with as much information as is available. The link to the trailer is at the very bottom of the page.

Do you know of any other new movies or TV shows with a motorcycle theme? Please leave a comment, below.

Bears, Books, How To's, Pics of the Week, and Leo

This is one of those days when my mind is just too full of the events of the day and what I've been doing that I have to compose this post in a somewhat disorganized way. Bear with me...

It was another Polar Bear Sunday, this time to a new destination, The Wearhouse Grill in Lake Hopatcong, NJ. Because of her knee and the rainy, foggy weather, Jane couldn't ride her trike the 160 mile roundtrip. So we took the car. Others did too. Maybe half the riders showed up. I took pictures. The best part of the run was seeing Mack and Karen. Mack is a regular Polar Bear member. He's also a member of my previous forum. Mack met Karen on the same forum. She's from Canada. Today, they both came on the Polar Bear run. Here's their picture taken with Mack's BMW. They're the second couple I know of who met on my forum and formed a serious relationship.

I've also been putting in a lot of time preparing content for my Motorcycle Views Web site. That's NOT this blog. It's the site I launched on my birthday, January 11, 2007. I just finished a book section containing 49 books that I recommend. I also wrote book reviews for many of these books. I have every single book linked to Amazon.com so that each can be purchased online. I found out that I have some valuable books. My Art of the Motorcycle book is out of print and people are offering their own copies for sale at prices up to about $2000. Wow!

I completed a set of 24 motorcycle How To's for the site. Newbies want to know things like "How to Start a Motorcycle" or "How to Shift Gears on a Motorcycle."

I also started my Pic of the Week for a man and a woman rider. That was an extremely popular feature on my old site. Here's Ginger and Ken.

At the Polar Bear run today, I spoke to Leo, a 90-year-old rider, about to turn 91 in the next week or so. Leo usually leads his group of riders but chose to drive them all today since one was having back problems. Leo is one of the oldest riders in the country. He's been riding longer than I've been alive, having started back in 1932 I believe. He's an inspiration to me. He was the oldest rider at the Americade rally in 2006. On the back of each of his two Honda PC-800s is inscribed: "Recycled Teenager."

Maybe I'll be more organized tomorrow. Then again ...