When I was out on Saturday night, standing outside in the pub garden the most AMAZING custom Harley Davidson pulled up. It looked beautiful, it sounded beautiful and I wanted to know more, so I took my slightly tipsy self over to introduce myself and ask him a few questions! I had a chat with friendly man who came with the bike and it turns out he had building the bike for over 6 years and wouldn’t divulge how much he’d spent on it!
Since then, I have been googling and ebaying custom Harleys and just can’t believe some of the things I have seen. These aren’t just bikes, they’re works of art!
Incredible engineering, sculpted into beautiful flowing shapes. Intricate paint jobs and masses of chrome. The amount of work and effort creates something really special. And like the guy I spoke to on Saturday, can cost a lot of money, so much that you don’t even want to say how much out loud! But I can totally appreciate why these fanatics do so, what they end up with something completely unique, a bike that is completely designed to suit the rider and I can imagine is completely rewarding.
Whilst looking for Harley Customs, I came across loads of really useful websites to help with the building of these bikes, lots of hints and tips and lots of website where you are able to buy custom parts.
I’d would love it if you could send in some pictures of your custom bikes and I’ll put them on our blog!
What do you get if you mix a group of gorgeous feisty young women, roller skates and a whole heap of adrenaline? You get the Dolly Rockit Rollers! Leicester’s first and only roller derby team.
We’re a big supporter of these ladies, they’ve only been together for just over a year but are already taking the UK and now the world in seems by storm. They recently announced that two of their team members will be travelling to Canada for the first ever Roller Derby World Cup! One playing for England and one for Ireland, which is huge deal!
If you don’t know much or anything about roller derby, in a nutshell:
Girls only.
It is a game played on roller skates on an oval track.
Two teams.
The two teams each send five players onto the track.
One jammer (scorer) and four blockers (defense), one of which counts as a pivot.
The jammer must legally pass all opposing blockers, the blockers try to stop the jammers from scoring.
It all sounds a bit confusing, but trust me, these girls are fearless, fast and full of energy!
Check out their promo vid below!
The Fasstrack Team are all going down to support these lovely ladies in their next battle, against the Hot Wheel Roller Derby called Club Tropicarnage! Come down and show your support and do something completely different with you Saturday afternoon, on September 10th at 1pm.
Love rock music? Love bikes? Then I think you’ll love this festival…
The ‘Rock and Bike Festival’ is moving to its new home this summer, Leicestershire! Over the years this festival has got bigger and bigger and now sees itself spread over three days in the amazing setting of Stamford Hall. It’s set to get going on the 14th July this year where you camp and party until Sunday 16th.
As the name suggests it’s jammed pack full of musical treats, with over twenty acts playing over the weekend. The festival has mainly local bands and artists playing covering a whole variety of genres so there’s something for everyone. As well as David Bowie, Prodigy and Black Sabbath, but only in tribute form I’m afraid but that’s good enough for me as the tickets are so darn cheap! £40 for the whole three days and that’s including camping tickets!! Which is an absolute steal compared to so many festivals nowadays.
So what about the bikes? Throughout the weekend there’s loads of stuff going on, competitions where you can get involved, bike shows including custom, trike, classic, American and British bikes and everything in-between and no doubt bikes all over the place for you to drawl over!
Can’t leave the kids with your mum all weekend? Do not fear, this is a really kid friendly festival with lots of day time entertainment, kid friendly rides and even some face painting!
If that’s not all enough, why not get in the spirit and join in with this years dressing up theme, pirates!
Ahoy me mateys, see ya’ll in the mosh pit!
With my new found love of being on a bike on the road, I was lying in bed one night drifting off to sleep when I had a peculiar dream about being in a motorbike gang! I was riding around Leicester with about 20 other Aprilia Habana riders and that was the extent of the dream to be honest! But it got me thinking, what were motorcycle gangs all about? What’s the history? How do you qualify to be in these gangs? And are they still going? Oh… and… which one shall I join?
The most famous and renowned motorcycle gang I can think of is, of course, the notorious Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. When I think of the Hells Angels, I think of big hairy men, on Harley Davidsons, wearing black leathers riding through the baron landscapes of America. And to be honest looking further into it, I suppose my first impressions aren’t far off. But there is more to them than we think, first formed in 1948 in California, later then coming to the UK in the mid 1960’s. There are many articles and stories of how the Hells Angels are part of a large criminal circle here, America and in Canada. The Hells Angels members have always denied that this is the case, claiming that are nothing more than a group of motorbike enthusiasts meeting to ride together and socialise. Most notably was the shooting of a Hells Angel member in 2007 on the M40, by member of a rival gang. This does make you think that maybe there is something more sinister to these supposedly friendly gangs formed of like-minded people. Hmmm… so reading up on the Hells Angels hasn’t made me feel like I would fit in there, who next?
The Rockers, this group of motorcycle riding, rock and roll listening, slick looking guys were formed in the 1950’s. You might know of them as Greasers or Grease, an insult used by the Mods (I’ll talk about them later) The Rockers centred around rock and roll music, hence their name. These guys were young, rebellious and a new generation of post war kids. They travelled up and down the country stopping and meeting at the transport cafes. One of the most famous cafes hey used to meet at was Londons ‘Ace Café’ which was reopened in 1997, and visited by thousands of motorcyclists each year, with organised meets still being arranged today. The Rockers rode bikes named ‘café racers’ these were bike customised purely for more speed and power, the rockers were sometimes named the ton-up boys, the reason being they customised and tweaked their bike with the aim of hitting 100mph aka a ton. A 100mph might not seem like a great deal to you guys, but back then that was seriously fast.I really like the sound of these guys, meeting up at a café, listening and dancing to Rock and Roll and then riding on as fast as possible to the next, to do the same!
The Mods, I suppose you could call them the rivals or enemies of the Rockers, originating from London in the 1950s. The Mods weren’t big bike riders but scooter riders, like myself. The Mods didn’t listen to Rock and Roll, they listened to Ska, Soul and R&B. As well as the music they listened to, fashion was a huge if not the biggest part of their subculture. Think sharp tailored suits, Fred Perry shirts, loafers and cool neat hair. It was all about how they looked, they were a new generation of youths, that had a new found wealth that they wanted to show off, they wanted to be seen as sophisticated and cultures, taking elements of Italian and French fashion.
Most famously Mods rode around on Vespas and Lambrettas, it was almost seen as a must have fashion accessory. They painted them in bright colours, accessorised them and added a huge amount of mirrors and lights. This seemed to be their way of saying, look at me, I’m cool and I have money!
Reading up about these groups or gangs has been really interesting, so whose gang would I join? I do love the sound of the Mods, their style, their music, their scooters but I don’t want to fight with the Rockers!
Maybe I’ll add some mirrors, wear Fred Perry and become a Modern Day Mod. What about you?
So Jorge Lorenzo didnt do it for Spain this year in Catalunya like I’d witnessed the previous year. This year the title was taken by Australian Casey Stoner, it took Stoner only two laps take first place from Lorenzo and stay there. Stoner seemed to win the race with ease, elbow down and bike practically horizontal!
Well done Casey!