BONHAMS GRAND PALAIS, 2013

1926 Garelli two-stroke racer, they type which started many European champions on wheelsI rarely repeat press releases, but this one says it all...an impressive collection, at the most beautiful auction venue in the world.  Bonhams was forced by scheduling to skip a year at the Grand Palais (showing at an historic Paris warehouse instead, in Feb.2012), but it's welcome news they return to the grand old lady of Paris.  The Bonhams auction will of course coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Rétromobile show, at which it is rumored motorcycles will again be welcome (more on this as I find out...). If you needed an excuse to visit Paris for a few days, I'd say you've found a good one... Read to the bottom, for the Ultimate Coolness;...

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DENIS SIRE; 'BARON d'HOLBACH'

'Jimmie Guthrie' on a mid-30s Norton racer, in a situation I'm sure he would approve!Galerie Jean-Marc Thévenet in Paris is currently (thru Dec.5, 2012) exhibiting the work of legendary motoring artist Denis Sire, champion of inserting fantastical pinup girls into historical situations.  Sire was born in 1953 at Saint Nazaire on the Atlantic coast of France, and studied art in Paris at ‘L’Ecole des Arts Appliqués.  His work is most familiar to 1980s readers of Playboy and Heavy Metal magazines, and I've had a copy of his Velocette Thruxton sketch on the wall of my office for decades, admiring his outrageous mix of scantily clad femininity with hot rods, record breakers, fighter planes, and motorcycles.  Meeting Sire...

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MICHAEL LICHTER'S CANNONBALL FILES

Official Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Rally photographer Michael Lichter has sorted through the thousands of photos he snapped while riding (backwards!) across the USA, and they really capture the nature of the Ride - the endless miles, the sometimes empty expanses of treeless roads, the excitement of mountain passes, the continual repairs made in motel parking lots.  If you'd like to see the whole, annotated collection, take a look at his website - http://www.lichterphoto.com/client/m120901-mcr-all/index.htmlChris Knoop and his 1925 Invincible-JAP; that sidecar was soon ditched (along with his passenger) as the gearbox/clutch was simply not invincible enough...Do these fellows look nervous at the start of a 4000 mile ride?  Well,...

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SHINY PEBBLES IN THE CALI SUN...

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