Photography by Kenneth Benjamin Reed, copyright Vorpal Images 2011.
Funny thing about motorcycles, when you get one, you want two. When you get two, you want ten. Then one day you have ten motorcycles and you start to think about how to combine all the bikes into one bike. Not literally combine the parts into one bike, but take all the knowledge you have accumulated and build one bike that encompasses your vision of the ideal bike. The ONE Bike. (show website)
On February 5th the night of “The One Motorcycle Show”, the weather was drizzly and somewhat warm, as Portland tends to be. Across the street from our studio, I watched motorcycles of all types pour down Tillamook St, counting at least 40 in a span of five minutes. It was a great sight to see, to say the least. With $1 PBR, art, and motorcycles… it wasn’t surprising how heavily this event was attended.
The bikes ranged from ratty beaters to museum bikes, daily riders to kitschy customs. There was literally something for everyone. The attendees were all ages, and there was hardly any elbow room by 8pm. Looking around, you could see all types of riders in one space- it was a satisfying feeling.
Some of the coolest parts of the bikes were the small details, the personality of the owner showing through when you moved past the good ol’ once-over.
For the full album, go to the Vorpal Images facebook page. For more of my favorites, check out the ones I blogged.
Pictured above is a custom Yamaha XS 650 created by Jared Johnson of Holiday Customs, which was my favorite bike by a landslide.
This one I lovingly referred to as the porn bike.
Always keep your tools with you!
Yamaha Special 650. I actually saw this dude hauling his bikes back up North when I was traveling to Seattle the next day.
Clubmans.
You can’t quite tell from this angle, but the forks were at least 6 feet long.
I’m so excited to announce the project that I’ve been working on for two years… a book all about badass motorcycling women! In the MotoLady’s Book of Women Who Ride you’ll meet 74 of the most influencial motorcyclists of the last century. Motorcycle heroes, trailblazers, and record-breakers like Jessi Combs, Shayna Texter, Laia Sanz, Gloria Tramontin-Struck, the Van Buren sisters, and more can be found inside the 184 pages of this hard cover book celebrating motorcycling women!
Posted on February 6, 2011 in Motorcycles by Alicia Mariah Elfving