Also read the note by Bandit in the article…. Editor’s Note by Bandit:“In a changing world, I ask myself constantly about the mindsets behind different chopper movements in the States and as you will see here in the Nordic Countries. I would love to listen to their conversations.”
Sound has more impact on life than we know or credit it for. Sound is not just significant to humans but many lifeforms.
We now have turned sound to music. W have a whole range of music genres to choose from – for entertainment, for ‘edu-taiment’ of kids, for relaxing, for hitting the gym, for romantic night dinners, for wild parties and more.
In this article, there are also a few examples offered of some myths & inspirations from iconic Rock group ‘Creedence Clearwater Revival’ music & songs.
Often people assume meanings of songs based on lyrics, music style or other socio-cultural information from the period when a song first appeared.
by James “The Tileman” Conway with photos from James and Sam Burns
It was Thursday mid-morning as I was sitting in my work truck… My phone rang I looked down to see who it was, and it was Hicks.
Hicks is one of those friends who normally only calls when he needs help. He’s married and has been going through drama. Knowing this I answered the phone with some apprehension.
He mentioned he had a room already for the River Run and that one of his other Bros had backed out on him. As I sat in my truck, I contemplated back-and-forth the pluses and negatives of going to Laughlin on such short notice.
Friends as diverse as their range of motorcycle brands ride India’s Countryside
There is this wonderful group of riders who have accumulated a million kms and plenty more goodwill.
Musafirs motorcycle club started in 2010 and camaraderie, discovery, adventure, expertise and fun have ensured that they have been on a group ride almost every month since they started their club.
The word ‘Musafir’ literally means ‘traveller’.
There is plenty of information about The Musafirs group on their website and social media links.
Do check it out and follow them on social media in case you plan to visit India anytime for long-distance riding adventures to splendid destinations.
The destination for 149th ride of Musafirs motorcycle group was Kolad.
The ride was in a single-line formation. The neon-green reflective vests are for most of the riders. The red ones are for ‘Pilots’, ‘Pointers’ and ‘Shepherds’.
I worked with Mike and his wife Patty for about 40 years covering his restorations, working with him on project bikes such as the Dicey Knucklehead which I still have.
Hell, I made a deal to retrieve a Panhead from a brother partially because it held a Linkert Carb rebuilt by Mike Egan.
I owned a 1931 VL for 25 or so years, which was owned by Lou Kimzey, the original Publisher and Editor of Easyriders Magazine. It was restored by Mike Egan, and I was offered the matching sidecar, which I mistakenly turned down.
This is the third year that the American Legion Riders Post #104 gather to remember their brother, a retired Air Force veteran with 22 years of service.
The annual memorial event this year was a Poker Run and Fundraiser with all proceeds being donated to K9s for Warriors.
K9s for Warriors Mission: “Determined to end veteran suicide, K9s For Warriors provides highly-trained Service Dogs to military veterans suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury and/or military sexual trauma.”
Articleby Rogue – Founder of Biker Lives Matter, Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame
I have been asked a lot why I and some others started an organization named Biker Lives Matter and why it is important to me. My answer is simple, there is a need for an organization that calls attention to the tragic loss of lives and livelihoods from motorcycle crashes.
In the 1970s, I became involved in motorcycle rights and safety. At the time, motorcycle injury and death rate were high so the government and insurance companies began trying to pass laws that they hoped would help protect motorcyclists when crashes happened.
I have been riding motorcycles for 69 years and both my life and that of the others who ride has always been important to me.
I have seen many people injured and I know too many that have died.
I consider myself one of the lucky ones to still be riding at the age of 83 years old.
‘Nitro Circus’ star, ex-motorcycle racer team up to open creative business campus in Zaferia
A gearhead and an adrenaline junkie meet at a trade show. There is no punchline.
Andy Bell and Roland Sands hit it off immediately nearly 20 years ago and have been friends ever since. The two went on to create separate businesses—Roland Sands Design and Sweatpants Media—and, after years of operating out of their respective headquarters, have come together to create a joint home base in Long Beach’s Zaferia neighborhood.
The companies together purchased a multi-building property at 1365 Obispo Ave. with a vision for a creative campus. Along with their firms, the graphics company Spin Imaging and Moxi Roller Skates also will call the campus home in a building separate from Sands’ and Bell’s space.
“We just wanted like-minded but different companies here to fuel a vibe of people that are stoked and doing rad stuff,” Bell said.
“People we can hang out with,” Sands added. “Fabrication, 3D fabrication, film, photography, graphics, printing—it’s all here. Almost any project is possible here, and that’s a pretty special thing.”
The friends almost missed out on the space, Sands said. The building was listed in 2018, but he was not in a position to take on the project by himself—and Bell was not ready to jump into such a massive undertaking. But when another buyer went into escrow on the site, the pair said they instantly knew they made a mistake.
“This place was built in the ’40s, and it’s gorgeous,” Sands said.
After months in escrow, the deal fell through, and Bell and Sands pounced. They bought the property for about $3 million in July 2019.
The Roland Sands Design custom motorcycle shop inside the company’s new Long Beach headquarters
The tenant had a few months left on their lease, so the roughly $2.5 million buildout did not get underway until just before the pandemic, which slowed progress on the rehab. But after nearly two years, the companies are celebrating their grand opening Saturday.
The space features a retail store (open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), a screening theater, 3D and other fabrication facilities, a wood-working space, a motorcycle garage, design rooms and a slew of offices. It also includes a bar, a two-chair barbershop for special events for clients that could also be utilized by a tattoo artist, and dozens of motorcycles and helmets on display.
A third building is currently set up as a jam space for musician friends of Bell and Sands. The room has a stage and is full of vintage and modern musical equipment. The two said they have toyed with the idea of turning it into a legitimate music venue, but that won’t happen until well into the future, if at all.
Bell and Sands each had a career riding motorcycles—the latter racing on the roads of the U.S., the former flying through the air in freestyle motocross—before they met each other in the early 2000s at a motorcycle trade show in Indianapolis.
Sands, a Long Beach native, grew up around motorcycles.
“I was fully immersed in the culture because my dad was in the motorcycle industry,” Sands said, adding that he would work in his dad’s shop as a kid.
In 2005, after a racing career that included winning the 1998 American Motorcyclist Association 250cc Grand Prix Championship, Sands turned his success—and name—into a brand. The firm specializes in creating custom bikes and parts (some of which are 3D-printed). The company has grown to include a clothing and apparel line as well as a racing team.
Bell, meanwhile, was not so much into the technical side of the sport.
“I’m more of an adrenaline junkie,” Bell said, sitting in his new office complete with a beer tap. “I never liked building and working on the s—, I liked riding and jumping them.”
After his professional freestyle motocross career, Bell went on to become a stuntman, appearing on numerous TV shows and films, including “Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory” and “Jackass 3D.” Most notably, Bell starred in the “Nitro Circus” films and MTV series alongside Travis Pastrana and a host of other extreme-sport athletes.
Bell founded Sweatpants Media in 2012.
“I needed a change from getting hurt for a living and all the crap we used to do,” Bell said. “I didn’t know anything about production, but I’d been around it as talent. I’ve never owned a real business before and a decade later, here we are.”
Today, Sweatpants has numerous high-end clients, including Toyota, Red Bull, Mercedes, Lexus and Japanese powertool manufacturer Makita. With over 15 million views on YouTube, Sweatpants’ “The Pitch” for Toyota was the most widely viewed commercial in the U.S. in the third quarter, Bell said.
“The Pitch” – 2022 Toyota GR Supra Commercial by Sweatpants Media (15 million+ views since June 2021)
Bell and Sands try to utilize each other and their respective businesses as much as possible. The companies have teamed up on projects, including creating a custom bike for BMW with an accompanying video. After the premiere, the pair and their wives rode BMW bikes around Italy’s Lake Como.
On another project, Sweatpants flew three Toyota trucks into Vietnam and then drove them across the country. Sands and Bell were two of the three drivers who made the trek.
“We don’t like to fake s—,” Bell said. “Instead of pretending we were in Vietnam and pretending we flew trucks under helicopters, we actually did it. There is a tinge of adventure in everything we do.”
“We like to combine work and play,” Sands added.
Sands convinced Bell to move into a house around the corner from his on Naples Island in 2010. The best friends were neighbors for years before Sands moved to Park Estates.
For the last 12 years, Los Alamitos was home to Sands’ business, but he said he has always wanted to open a space in his hometown, closer to where he lives. For nearly nine years, Sweatpants operated out of the historic Villa Riviera in Downtown. But the two are looking forward to the quasi-business merger.
“We’re stoked. It’s fun being best friends and business partners,” Bell said. “There’s a little bit of yelling and a lot of hugging; a lot of wanting to punch each other and then a lot of wanting to drink beers together.”
“Thankfully for us,” Sands added, “we want to drink with each other more than we want to fight.”
The Roland Sands Design retail space at the company’s new joint headquarters with Sweatpants Media
