(Here’s a scan of just 1 page from the 4 page article. Looks like fun! Except for the whole “makin’ out with the pavement” part.)
If you get Traditional Rod & Kulture Illustrated magazine in your neck-of-the-woods, then you’ll probably find lucky issue #13 on your shelfs by now (Spring 2008). Rod & Kulture is a sweet rag that holds 100 pages of Hotrod, Kustom, Pin-Up, Bike, Art & Music coverage of in between the leafs of of its glossy grandeur.
The magazine is normally pretty jam packed with sleds, rods, drag racers and an occasional bobber or chopper; so, imagine my surprise when on pages 76 – 79 I found SCOOTERS! Well, back in the 50′s and 60′s they called ‘em Mini Bikes. Ok, “YES” there is a difference, but they’re close enough.
The thing that really attracted me is the celebration of DIY bikemanship. Here’s a bunch of guys (gals too? I think I saw one or two in there) with a few bucks and/or parts laying around who are exercising a skill us Americans used to be proud of… something we were respected for world wide, “mechanical ingenuity”. In today’s world of virtual living, most of us have more battle scars from our computer keyboards than from our socket sets. We just pay other people in other countries to build things for us (generally speaking). Will the day come, in 50 years, where our hands are too soft to turn a wrench? Will our kids find mechanic work as foreign as farming? I’m no exception. I’m just glad I can change my own oil. BUT, I want to do more. I want that sense of pride and accomplishment from building my own… WHATEVER. My dad used to wrench on the car, I’m sure your’s did too and if you’re mechanically inclined, GREAT! Why not bring back that tradition of DIY? It applies to more than painting your walls or installing a new toilet. DIY mechanic work is to create, innovate, and inspire others to do the better so THEY can return the inspiration.
(This post has been written in honor of our raffle winner, Chris “CoffeeDrink”. Four more to go my man! Again, thanks to you and ALL of the generous supporters who helped Casey, our OWN DIY guy, get back in the saddle.)
(And their OFF! Thanks for the video link Tim!)
13. May 2008 at 3:56 pm
It was a great article and the photos were a hoot. I admire this sort of thing. I hope to learn how to weld in the near future and start doing stuff like this.