A LA MODE, IN THE MUD

The title of the GQ spread...will Enduro become chic again?  It was in the 1970s...

While on the Eurostar from London to Paris last week, I was delighted to discover a 12-page spread of classic dirt bikes flinging mud in the pages of French GQ (the December 2011 issue).  And who should be the photographer but Dimitri Coste, whose own adventures on his racing Triumph have been covered previously on The Vintagent.

Sam with his Bultaco Mk10 Frontera

When queried on the magazine feature, Dimitri explained, "I was asked by French GQ to shoot a "Biker" fashion story back in October. As I was kinda fed-up with the usual "biker" fashion story, I told GQ I wanted to shoot in the mud, with off-road vintage bikes, and they were down for it."

Tearing up a perfectly good field...

"So I called Franck (Chatokhine) with his pre-unit Triumph Tiger 100 Rickman Metisse, Stephane and his cute B50MX and Sam, Franck's brother-in-law, with his killer face and cool Bultaco. We shot at our off-road paradise in Beauval-en-Caux, hosted by famous Fabrice & Marion Bazire, and had lots of fun. They were allowed to get dirty, and went full throttle all day long."

Franck Chatokhine, a demon rider on tarmac and mud

The photos are a breath of fresh outdoor air tanged with exhaust, and a healthy change from groan-worthy 'model in the pool' fashion shoots...plus, this is probably the best advertisement for vintage dirt riding I've seen since the infamous Steve McQueen Honda commercial...

Stephane with his BSA B50MX

Yes, we're selling clothes here

Dimitri Coste, in his competition Ruby outfit

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THE VINTAGENT IN 'CYCLE WORLD'

 The October edition of Cycle World magazine is out in print, and includes my review of Falcon Motorcycle's 'Kestrel', as part of CW's 'World's Coolest Bikes' series.  Thanks to editor in chief Mark Hoyer for including the piece in this issue, and for a skilled editing job (most instructive, actually, how a few minor tweaks can integrate my florid writing style to the 'feel' of a modern motorcycle mag).

If you're not a subscriber, find it on the rack...it IS the biggest circulation motorcycle magazine in the world, so your local grocery store might have it.  Cycle World has always included a few vintage motorcycle articles among the hyperbike shootouts.  Their 'Rolling Concours' events are the best possible concept for a motorcycle show, where your show bike MUST be ridden on their day tour (75 miles or so) to be eligible for a prize...not just onto the podium!

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