Joy of Rebellion.

The Texas-born and now New York based photographer Hugh Lippe captures the spirit of rebellion with his shoots.

Above photos taken from his web site, check it out.

Is it a Bimmer? Is it a Ural? Is it a IMZ? No, it's a CJ!!

When I first saw these bikes on the streets of Beijing during the olympics, my immediate thought was "Cheap bimmer knock off".

After some research on the web recently I have discovered otherwise and found some interesting facts, pics, sites and clips of this awesome old school (for real) bike, the CJ750.

According to a wiki article on the CJ750:

"The CJ750 motorcycle is based on the 1956 Soviet IMZ (Irbitski Mototsikletniy Zavod) M-72 which was derived from the 1938 BMW R71. Nearly all of them have sidecars. They are often erroneously referred to as BMW "replicas" when in fact, they are copies (or "knock-offs") of the IMZ M72. The term "replica" implies many things that aren't applicable to these machines.

Production began in the late 1950s or early 1960s. (Different sources cite different dates.) They were originally produced for the Chinese military and are powered by an air-cooled, four-stroke, opposed flat-twin engine displacing 746cc. The rear wheel is shaft-driven........

.......CJ technological history includes racing bikes, experimental engines and futile attempts at modernizing the appearance of a long obsolete machine. In the 1990s, China opened its markets to foreign motorcycle manufacturers which expedited the end of CJ750 mass production. Today, the marque is kept alive by interest from foreign hobbyists."

There are many different sites on the internet with info on this bike and there are plenty more that sell and ship them across the world. Here are some pics I've found from one such site called cj750.net.

Different paint schemes of the same bike, really makes a difference in the look of the bike.

Here are some clips I found on youtube of CJ owners from different parts of the world.

From the USA, Mr Greg Stewart of ScooterBob's EuroBike. Check out their web site, they import, restore and sell these babies.

From Japan, a youtube user "nitroyouki" has done a great job on his CJ.

An expat in Beijing having some fun on a CJ.

"The Bloodnok"

Here is a new creation from Deus.

Built from a 2005 Kawasaki W650, custom rear frame, frame mounted speedo, ikon rear shocks and other goodies. They named this "The Bloodnok".

Here are some more photos:

Clean and simple, I like it!

AirBorn et TAG Heuer

The French helmet company AirBorn has collaborated with Swiss watch maker TAG to produce these fine looking helmets.

This white one is called "classic" and the black one is called "modern".

Both look very classic and cool to me. I especially like the visor/goggle.

Goggle strap in the back which loops down unlike most of the others.

Do you have a HONDA?

Nothing beats a little Japanese wackiness, check out this ad.

Mowie?

Diesel, Italy's answer to Levis has teamed up with AGV (Italy's answer to Shoei?) to create a helicopter/pilot style helmet called the "Mowie".

Here is a couple of ads I came across on Youtube.

This one is a little, shall we say "bizarre"?

Not a bad looking helmet.

Guzzi Cafe - Old but New

Here is a clip from youtube of the Moto Guzzi V7 Cafe Classic ridden around "the city of seven hills" at the 2009 launch.

Great looking bike, not too sure about the lime green colour though. A white version is also available, according to the Australian Guzzi web site.

Where is the "PORN"?

Ever hear people say that a particular brand of sports bike's look is "Pure Motorcycle Pornography!"?

I hear it quite often and read about it a lot more on internet forums. I don't have a problem with people's free personal opinions but I often wonder what they are on about.

Take a look at these pics of different sports bikes.

Which one looks best? Please don't answer that because there is no right or wrong answer and as they say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

This isn't a post to bash sports bikes or their riders, I own a 2003 Fireblade and one thing you can't argue about is the exhilaration you get from riding a sports bike. I love it!

Does the look of the bike add to or take away from the enjoyment of riding? My personal answer to that is "No!".

Do I care about the way my bike looks? My answer to that is "Hells Yea!". It's motorcycle vanity and we are all (guys and gals) guilty!

Would it be unfair to say that all modern sports bike look the same? I think it would be, because they don't all look the same. However, I think it would be fair to say that the differences in styling is VERY, VERY, subtle.

Put it this way; if the manufacturers hired a team of designers to each design a single part for the next model sports bike, than the guy working on the headlights would get the creativity award and the rest of the bunch would be lined up against the wall and shot. For they have brought shame to their families and dishonored their companies!

To ask someone which sports bike looks best would be like asking "Who is better looking, Mary-Kate or Ashley?".

Gixxer fun

Check out this ad I found on Youtube!

The GSX-R sports bike range from Suzuki is affectionately known as "gixxers" around the world. The one shown in this ad is the 1000 version. In the world of sports bikes where the style and engine displacement from different manufacturers are almost identical, the gixxer offers something different. For almost 25 years, Suzuki has continued to produce the 750cc version as well as the obligatory 600cc and 1000cc variants.

According to the Suzuki web site the GSX-R 750 is "A machine so dominant that other brands abandoned the 750cc racing class because they could not compete.". Okay....

New to Blogging

Hi all!

As you can see this is (will be) a blog about cafe racers and mod bikes and other cool stuff about motorcycles in general.

I'm new to this blogging thingy and hope you will forgive my amateurish attempts. As time goes by I hope to share with you the things that I find interesting and cool about old style bikes and other motorcycles.

I usually troll around the internet to find information and would share thoughts and pics on whatever I find interesting.

More to follow!