Hart customized a 2022 Indian Chief Dark Horse for The Walking Dead and The Punisher star, Jon Bernthal.
Hart channeled his high-performance, motocross background in the style and design of the bike, with classic, clean lines and sporty, performance features.
Hart is one of the most recognized names in all of freestyle Motocross. His father bought him his first motocross bike when he was only four years old in hopes of spending some quality time with his son.
However, what had originally started as a father and son pastime quickly turned into Carey’s passion. By the time he entered his first local race as an amateur, he was hooked and by high school graduation, he was a professional Motocross rider, racing AMA Supercross circuit.
‘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
Sister Wives star Meri Brown surprised her fans with a tidbit of information about herself — she rides a motorcycle!
Meri typically plays it safe when it comes to her lifestyle, so it surprised her fans to hear that she’s a biker.
The 50-year-old TLC star took to her Instagram account on Tuesday, September 14 to touch base with her fans.
Meri told her followers that she was using her day off to get some “random” things done and to “step away” from her plans.
Along with a pic of herself posing with her daughter Mariah’s dog, Mosby, Meri included one of her signature motivational captions.
It read, “Just another Tuesday morning where I get to step away from plans and do something random, like take my motorcycle in for repair…. 😁 (Don’t worry, Mosby and I drove the car for the pick up, I wouldn’t have put him on the bike, just in case you were worried lol!)”
“Working for myself, being in business for myself, making my own business decisions, creating my environment, exploring the world, finding my peace, living with joy, these are all the things I’m grateful for.”
“I’m dedicated to supporting and empowering my family, friends, team members, business partners, and anyone else who wants to own their own business and work toward their own dreams! Because dreaming is where it’s at!”
Upon reading that Meri took her motorcycle to the shop for repair, her fans immediately took to the comments section to make sure they didn’t misread her post.
“Motorcycle?! 👏” one of Meri’s followers commented.
“Haha yep!” Meri replied.
Another one of Meri’s followers asked her, “since when do you have a motorcycle?!”
Meri revealed that she has been riding for at least 12 years when she answered, “@sophiabrionez_ since 2009 I think? Lol!”
One fan commented that they weren’t aware that Meri had a motorcycle (as most of her followers probably felt the same) and asked her, “Wow didn’t know you have a motorcycle! Can we see it ? 😍❤️”
“@robertsbev I should find an old photo!” Meri replied.
Meri found a fellow biker in the comments when a follower wrote, “What kind of bike? Tennessee Harley rider here!! 👍”
Although Meri doesn’t ride a Harley, she noted, “@mbenz1965 Welllll….. a Honda VTX. I’ve had Harley riders tell me, at least you’re trying…. 🤣🤣”
Meri, who’s sporting a shorter new hairdo, recently returned from a vacation in Cancun, Mexico where she used the time to “let go.”
Meri enjoyed time with her LuLaRoe colleagues and shared pics and video of sea turtles being released into the ocean, a highlight of her trip.
Meri will join her estranged husband Kody Brown and her sister wives Janelle, Christine, and Robyn Brown for an all-new season of Sister Wives, returning in November.
Sister Wives fans are curious to see what happens with building homes on the Brown family’s property at Coyote Pass and how they’ve managed to survive living as four separate families. Stay tuned!
Sister Wives is an American reality television series broadcast on TLC that premiered on September 26, 2010. The show documents the life of a polygamist family, which includes father Kody Brown, his four wives (Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn) and their 18 children.
Sister Wives returns to TLC and Discovery+ on Sunday, November 28 at 10/9c.
Outlander ‘s Sam Heughan posted a picture of himself posing on a Harley Davidson as he holidayed in LA.
The 41-year-old actor has been enjoying some down time since Outlander wrapped back in June.
He recently travelled to Mexico and before heading into the US where today he posted a picture of himself riding around LA on a plush Harley Davidson bike.
He wrote on Instagram: “Been cruising in the California sunshine! Thank you @harleydavidson for the loan of these sweet wheels. Nothing beats driving on these awesome bikes, to some good music and an epic landscape! @harleydavidson_uk @westcoastharley #harleydavidson #motorcycle #motorbike #ad.”
Back in July, Sam posted a similar Harley picture but instead of LA, with the stunning backdrop of the Scottish Highlands.
The picture was for a new campaign for his Sassenach whisky brand.
Sam donned a leather jacket as he perched on the Harley – with the number plate ‘WH15KEE’, and over looked a stunning view of hills.
In August last year, the actor passed his motorbike driving test in Rutherglen after taking a lessons for over a year.
He has since been out and about in Glasgow on his bike and now he posted the new snap in the Highlands while visiting for a work shoot.
Outlander is a historical drama television series based on the ongoing novel series of the same name by Diana Gabaldon. Developed by Ronald D. Moore (the Battlestar Galactica developer), the show premiered on August 9, 2014, on Starz. The series has been renewed for an 8-episode sixth season and a 16-episode seventh season.
Outlander series of historical fantasy novels is written by American author Diana Gabaldon. Gabaldon began the first volume of the series, Outlander, in the late 1980s, and it was published in 1991. She has published eight out of a planned ten volumes.
Motorcycles & Moonshiners: Motorcycle riders and fans of the popular “Moonshiners” television series were in hog heaven Saturday during the inaugural Bootleggers Run motorcycle rally that began and ended at Loess Hills Harley-Davidson near Pacific Junction.
The rally, a fundraiser for the Northeast Elementary School playground project, included appearances by Tim Smith and Josh Owens – cast members from the “Moonshiners” docudrama that’s been airing on the Discovery Channel since 2011. The show features a cast of characters, many who reside in wooded regions of the Appalachian Mountains, that make their own moonshine. Smith is also well known for his legally-produced Climax Moonshine that’s made from a century-old family recipe.
Saturday’s motorcycle rally attracted more than 200 riders and included scheduled stops at establishments in Shenandoah and Macedonia and Glenwood’s Keg Creek Brewing Co.
Smith and Owens, donned in their trademarked bib overalls, signed autographs and posed for photos at each stop along the rally route.
The 2010s were an amazing year for cable television, with many calling our current time the golden age of television. In fact, with all of the excellent shows available, there might have been some that you entirely missed in spite of their popularity. So now that the new decade has just begun, we thought it would be a great time to review the brightest and most popular shows of the last, in part to inform and in part to shamelessly invoke nostalgia.
“So I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area, and I just kind of thought, well, what do I know?” showrunner Nichelle Tramble Spellman (“The Good Wife,” “Justified”) explained during Apple TV+’s press junket for “Truth Be Told,” the newest drama to hit the fledgling streamer’s lineup.
What does Spellman know? A lot, to be honest. And, while “Truth Be Told” examines the impact of media on public opinion and the ripple effect true crime leaves in its wake, the showrunner delves deeper, using the character of Poppy Parnell (played by Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer) as an in-road to pay homage to her real-life hometown, Oakland. In the show, she examines big topics, like the class differences that exist in cities separated by a few simple bridges, and tells stories based on the nonfictional locals, like the real-life storied motorcycle club, the East Bay Dragons.
Parnell is a fictional journalist who begins questioning her role in the incarceration of Warren Cave (Aaron Paul). As her posh lifestyle and public reputation get threatened, demons from Parnell’s past bubble up, leading Parnell to venture to her old Oakland stomping grounds. Spellman found this locale to be perfect for reminiscing on her childhood, in effect highlighting the profound influence a long-running regional African American motorcycle club, the East Bay Dragons MC, had on her forming identity.
Now in its 60th year of existence, the East Bay Dragons are one of America’s first-ever all-black motorcycle clubs. The group, which initially started out as a car club in the late 1950s, rides customized Harley Davidson motorcycles (also known as choppers) and is a well-loved fixture of West Oakland. In “Truth Be Told,” Spellman illustrates the juxtaposition of that kind of East Bay and North Bay life.
“I like the idea of driving across the [Golden Gate] Bridge,” she says. “So it’s just like, you know, money Marin and then you go over [the Bay Bridge] and it’s funkier, more bluesy Oakland. So we played with that, visually. When we’re at the family bar, it looks different than it does in Marin, where it’s very crisp. The music and the soundtrack are different … just to kind of show all the facets of this one character with Octavia.”
Part of Parnell’s character is rooted in her father’s life. Parnell’s father Leander “Shreve” Scoville, played by “This Is Us” star Ron Cephas Jones, is a former Black Panther who has put all his energy into family — both his biological one as well as his thriving biker community which, according to Spellman, is directly inspired by the East Bay Dragons.
“I remember them fondly as a little girl because they used to have this black family day picnic every year up in Nolan Park, and that was huge,” Spellman explained. “You look forward to it all year. So they were like all these tough biker guys and everything else, with all these kids around and it was a big Bay Area event and they were kind of the backdrop of my childhood.”
The East Bay Dragons formed in 1959, during a time when the image of a black man riding a motorcycle could provoke a strong reaction. They nevertheless built up a positive reputation in the neighborhood, supporting the Oakland area while giving voice to the oppressed during a time before the civil rights movement really took off. Their friendship with the Black Panthers may have caused confusion for law enforcement, oftentimes putting the bikers in contention with police, but that bond placed the crew in the spotlight which energized members of the East Bay community.
The MC previously inspired the fictional motorcycle club The Grim Bastards in Kurt Sutter’s wildly popular FX series, “Sons of Anarchy.” However, the representation of the biker group featured in the new Apple TV+ series feels further developed. Instead of getting a passing look at Sutter’s all-black biker gang, “Truth Be Told” gives audiences a nuanced understanding of the familial connection this motorcycle club has with Parnell. That conflicted bond she has with her father and his crew makes this story component resonate. They aren’t called The East Bay Dragons in the show, but the group inspired by the real-life MC deeply anchors the plot.
For Jones, playing the biker and bar owner not only provided him a fully developed character to sink his teeth into — something he refers to as “a dream role” — the subject matter helped him tap into his own New Jersey upbringing.
“I grew up with the same exact story, and there were the same black biker movements going on,” he revealed. “My dad had a little bodega restaurant in Paterson, New Jersey, and he would keep it open because there was a bar across the street where they all would congregate and celebrate. There would be black bikers from all over the country that would drive all the way to the East Coast. I remember staying up late making hamburgers and hot dogs for these cats into the wee hours of the morning to feed these guys after they would come from the club.”
“Soul on Bikes,” a book written by East Bay Dragons’ founding member Tobie Levingston, provided insight for both Spellman and Cephas Jones, who acknowledge their shared memories of the club as all positive. And for an MC, especially one featuring all black men during a notorious time of civil unrest in America, the representation given to this East Bay community is an uncommon one. Add in the cultural differences between regions separated by a few simple bridges, and Spellman found a personal formula that ticked off all the narrative boxes for her.
“I hadn’t seen it on screen and I just thought it was such an interesting flavor to add,” Spellman continued. “Meeting the Poppy character, and if we stayed with her an entire episode just in that environment in Marin, you would just have no idea.”
New episodes of Truth Be Told drop every Friday on Apple TV+.
with Charlie St. Clair, Laconia Motorcycle Week Executive Director – and – Paul W. Cote – Massachusetts’ Motorcycle Awareness Period & Check Twice Night at Laconia . . . Looney Bin Monday June 10th
Sons Of Anarchy TV show was celebrated as a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. The main reason it connected with 21st century audiences included the MC presented as a family. The MC was not just a club but had a brotherhood thick as blood.
Mayans MC is a spinoff from the epic Sons of Anarchy and tries to capitalize on One Percenter Motorcycle Club curiosity.
TMFF Talk – Racing Dakar 55 minutes – Free to watch
Lawrence Hacking has been a motorcycle racer since 1971, he has raced the 21-day long 2001 Paris Dakar Rally and was the first ever Canadian to complete the toughest off-road race on earth. Since then, Lawrence has written a book “To Dakar and Back” and manages Overland Adventure Rally held each year in Ontario, Canada.
Christophe Barriere-Varju started racing motocross at the age of 14 and lifelong motocross racer, he has competed in the Dakar Rally 4 times, twice in Africa and twice in South America. His last Dakar Rally race has been captured in 10x Award Winning Film, Dream Racer — the timeless story true to all of us, one’s pursuit of lifelong dreams, whatever those dreams might be.
Lawrence and Christophe were interviewed by Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival Director, Caius Tenche in a fascinating 55-min video interview.
This interview is for all of you wondering what it takes, and what it feels like — to race the almighty Dakar Rally, and how this event can alter the course of one person’s life.
Sit back, and enjoy great life insights and personal stories from these two racers whose lives changed course after racing the world’s toughest motorsport race, the Dakar Rally as privateers.
An Interview with Lawrence Hacking, Dakar Rally Racer
DR. How did it feel racing that last stage on Lac Rose and crossing the same podium as these legends?
LH. That day was a highlight of my life, it was January 21, 2001, we rode from the hotel on a liaison to the beach where the special stage started. Hubert Auriol made an emotional speech, we the riders talked while we waited. That moment was what I worked an entire year for and crossing over the podium was pure euphoria. That feeling is so addictive and so difficult to achieve that the quest to relive that feeling is life changing. You start dreaming about ways to recapture that feeling and it is nearly impossible. It is almost dangerous.
DR. Ok, time to reflect now…what would you tell or recommend to anyone wanting to race the almighty race?
Many think in their own mind they have what it takes but soon find out they don’t. It is a hard pill to swallow. In the Dakar there is no hiding in the shadows, everyone in the World is watching how you perform under the most difficult conditions, you have to be prepared to accept whatever happens. One of the most important things to remember is that it is far less difficult to live with 2 or 3 weeks of extreme hardship than a lifetime of disappointment.
Some of the most inspirational films are available on Dream Racer TV.
Our films serve a purpose that go beyond entertainment — they are truly inspirational, show ordinary people can achieve extraordinary feats – and inspire others to achieve their own dreams and life aspirations.
Sons Of Anarchy TV show was celebrated as a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. The main reason it connected with 21st century audiences included the MC presented as a family. The MC was not just a club but had a brotherhood thick as blood.
TMFF Talk – Racing Dakar
