SALON PRIVE CONCOURS, 2011

The ex-Steve McQueen 1931 Indian ScoutThe Vintagent is proud to début correspondent Julian Balme, legendary English graphic artist and gearhead, enthusiast of both cars and motorbikes, whose album art for The Clash  and other British bands is legendary. Julian sends his perspective on last weekend's Salon Privé Concours d'Elegance, which for the first time included motorcycles in the judged display. This is a watershed year of high-end car shows realizing that two wheels are fascinating and sexy.Egli-Vincent with custom alloy bodywork@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } "Truth be told,...

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THE UNIVERSAL RACING MOTORCYCLE

You need four different motorcycles to road race, motocross, trials, flat-track, and hillclimb...right? There was a time, not so long ago, when it was possible to have just one motorcycle, and race in any event with a chance of success in all of them.  Those days have passed in the world of serious competition, but with Vintage events cropping up all over the world, it's still possible to have serious fun - with a chance of winning - in every category, with a single bike.That's the vision of photographer Dimitri Coste, who is gradually traveling eastward in the US with his Triumph special, competing in events along the way, in his own version of 'Then Came Bronson' (a 70s TV show in which Bronson's HD Sportster magically became a Husqvarna...

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DEMONSTRATE YOUR LOVE: PARIS

 Nearly 15,000 motorcyclists in Paris swarmed on June 18th to demonstrate against repressive 'safety' laws targeting our favorite mode of transport. The French Federation of Motorcyclists, combined with Moto Magazine, made the call, and the response was enormous.  While it may seem like 15,000 scooters mass at every stoplight in Paris (especially in summer), such a gathering of motorcyclists demanding their rights is unprecedented in the city.Riders started at the Chateau de Vincennes in the east of the city, and blocked traffic for half an hour by the sheer mass of their numbers, as they rode to the Trocadero, and parked their machines.While we motorcyclists might find inspiration with so many machines filling the Place Vendome or...

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SILK FOR SALE AT BANBURY

Bonhams' Banbury Run sale next weekend in Oxford has a little-known gem in the ranks, a true connoisseur's machine, and the end of a long line of English two-strokes.  There was a time when most UK manufacturers had a 'smoker' in their lineup, even the esteemed Velocette built only quality two-stroke lightweights for many years before introducing their overhead-camshaft 'K' series in 1925.The first Scott of 1908 But the Scott was always something special; a remarkably advanced design when introduced in 1908, genius engineer Alfred Angus Scott created a water-cooled, twin-cylinder two-stroke, with a rigid, fully triangulated frame, two speeds, and telescopic forks!  Scotts were always very quick and handled beautifully, a fact...

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THE BLITZ BOYS

Fred and Hugo from Blitz Motorcycles in Paris brought two of their latest creations to Toulouse for a ride, and managed to park themselves in front of The Vintagent's camera so many times, and so successfully, that a Blitz photo album basically created itself.While this portfolio certainly looks like an advertisement, are we selling custom motorcycles, rides in the French countryside, beer, or handsome young men with beards?!  Perhaps all of the above.  Of course, a little advertorial ambiguity never hurt commodity fetishism...'selling the lifestyle'... (and if you haven't read your Kapital, just remember Karl Marx famously quipped "I am no Marxist.") I did toss the little Yamaha SR-based special around a gravel road near the...

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A RIDE FROM TOULOUSE...

After so much talking about, thinking about, and writing about motorcycles, I think its time for a ride.  Can we go for a ride now?  Let's go for a ride.Motorcycles are for riding... Okay, let's go, how about a big loop from Toulouse, with a bunch of characters, the usual kind who bring all sorts of crazy bikes, and who make you laugh all day, one way or another.Thanks to the Southsiders M.C. for organizing two days of fun in the south of France, to Vincent Prat for loaning his beautifully-sorted Norton Commando, to Derek at Lewis Leathers for the loan of one of his 'archive' jackets from '62, and Jérome Coste of Ruby for the loan of one of his fantastic (and super-light) helmets.The Friday Ride:  Toulouse to St. Ferréal to Saissac...

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