Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die

Keira for Chanel...

2011-11-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

On a Ducati. A bit late with this one, but its still good.

ThinkMaven

2011-10-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I was fortunate to have an interview with Ben Wang of ThinkMaven. As you can see, I'm really not the best guy for video and interviews... I did my best.

LEN HIGA from ThinkMaven on Vimeo.

Thanks Ben!

Around the corner

2011-10-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

Summer came and went. As we are well into October, Two Wheels Brazil is right around the corner. Paulo is putting together a great show along with some of the best bike builders. check it out if you're in Sao Paulo.

Paulo was also one of the judges for Born Free 3 and chose my entry for Best Cafe Racer

Thanks Paulo

Queen Mary

2011-09-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

Always a good showing of cars... And this year, there will be motorcycles as well.

Video Days

2011-08-17T00:14:00.000-07:00

Random videos that have nothing to do with each other.

Had to dig this one out again... Had to break the monotony of the DC shoes Gymkana video. Although it is a really good video, it gets tiresome after everyone(I mean everyone!) keeps posting it on Facebook.

The home team! Mililani represent!

Saw this a while back on my good friend Jayne's blog (Stop it Right Now). She always seems to have neat stuff. Its a good one.

The GHOSTS from Eddie O'KEEFE on Vimeo.

It's been so long

2011-08-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

I've been really lagging with blogging... Just been trying to catch up with some work. Here are some photos from the last month or two.

Summer rides, The Speed Merchants, Comic con, Giant Robot, Maine, Rally Racing, FTWco, Kung Fu Tap and Taco, Big Tomato Pizza co, Iowa, Lucas Off road, Flipping over 5 times.

Born Free 3

2011-06-29T01:05:00.000-07:00

Ok I failed to take pictures this year. Forgot my camera at home, My phone was low on battery and I had no sleep the night prior. Excuses, excuses. Held at Oak Canyon ranch in Silverado, the setting was perfect for a bike show. The show just gets bigger and bigger every year. Theres going to be a ton of show coverage on the Born Free blog in a few. Sit tight. I think they need to gather themselves after all their hard work .

Falcon had their 3 completed bikes out of the 10 they are going to construct.

Caleb Owens wins the invitational build. This picture doesnt do this bike justice. It truly is outstanding.

We ended up getting Best Cafe racer. Couldn't be more thankful. Ill post some pictures later of the build process.

2010 Best Original and this years Best Cafe racer

Got to catch up with Kyle from Death Machine. Thanks for the product and great seeing you.

Speed merchant is Brawny's new venture along with Dan and Mark. Some of the best quality parts I've seen. I mean with those guys doing the R&D and design, you cant expect any less.

Oscar by Alpinestars

2011-05-25T00:00:00.001-07:00

Look Book.

Earlier this year I was blessed to be featured in the Oscar look book. Its still blows my mind why I was one of the chosen few. I mean If you look at the caliber of builder/fabricator/rider/racer that is in this book, you too will say "Why the hell is Len in there?" Anyways, here are a few photos from the book. Images are captured by the talented Adam Wright.

Drake McElroy

Dimitri Coste

Josh Alverson

Yours truly

Cole Foster

Kiyo and Yoshi Garage company

Jeff Decker

Roger De Coster

Quality made goods

2011-05-12T01:05:00.000-07:00

That are too expensive for me.

Giant robot Scion video still got more hits than this. Boom!

2011 Corsa Moto Classica

2011-04-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

Another year passes.... And another year I didn't make the race. Next year? Lets hope so, being a spectator is getting old .

Something to be said about

2011-04-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

Handmade Portraits: Liberty Vintage Motorcycles from Etsy on Vimeo.

Very true.

Here we go again....

2011-04-14T22:55:00.000-07:00

I think it was last year that I said i'm not going to do anymore race team support/maintenance/mechanic stuff. I guess I was wrong. Early in the year team owner Stephan Papadakis approached me to do some work on his new Scion drift car and his Honda Ridgeline Pro-Lite truck. The deal was pretty damn good so I went back on word. I mean I've know Stephan for a longtime now and he's always ran a good race program. Also, all the guys already involved on these projects are on top of their game. The first event was last weekend in Long beach. Here are a few pictures pre-Long beach.

The Pro-Lite truck is in the background... More on that later.

Frederick Aasbo@ Long beach Formula D

Testing at Willow Springs

Aryton Senna

2011-02-24T23:01:00.000-08:00

We drove out to Encino today to watch the Documentary on Formula 1's greatest driver... Ever. Although I wasnt a huge fan of Formula 1 in the 80's and 90's, I did hear a lot of good things about Senna. I wish I had paid more attention to F1 back then since the current Formula 1 is soft lyrics. Only if they could some how persuade Valentino Rossi into driving F1. That would make it pretty exciting. Maybe? With the 2011 switch to Ducati he's working his way toward a Ferrari deal?

Anyways, heres trailer for Senna. If they end up bringing the film back to the states I suggest to see it. Good stuff.

(Today was the last day showing in LA)

Origami... Folding table

2011-02-08T22:47:00.001-08:00

Not exactly Origami, but half the meaning... Ori = folding.

I was kind of jonesing to build something fun, functional and aesthetically pleasing (to me). This is what i ended up with. Made this one for Michelle. My take on the folding leg tables my grand parents and parents had growing up.

Materials include- Butchers block, golden oak, aluminum and stainless steel.

Each hinge was hand machined aluminum and stainless steel hardware was used.

A spring and ball bearing locking mechanism helps lock the legs in both open and closed positions.

In its closed state, it can be stored under the bed, vertically between bookshelves... Anywhere I guess.

Laser Beams and combustion

2011-01-27T21:51:00.000-08:00

Over the last couple of years I took a few classes at ATEP to learn some new techniques. Learned quite a bit from the instructors there as well as some students. I'll probably be posting old projects I did sooner or later.

Here is one I did on the laser cutting machine. Its just packaging I came up with for spark plugs. I thought a bomb would portray the function of what spark plugs actually do... Make air and fuel combust. The instructor, Haryn Deleon taught this class along with using various 3D printers and CNC machines. She also has her own Laser Cutting Shop in San Pedro.

You can never stop learning new shit

Zen Garage t shirts in stock now!

2011-01-11T20:53:00.000-08:00

Got in a few shirts from the Zen Garage exhibit at JANM (Japanese American National Museum). The exhibit featured works of Shinya Kimura (Chabott Engineering), Eric Nakamura (Giant Robot), David Choe and Len Higa (Oni Motorworks). Each of the artist logo is printed on the shirts as well. Eric and I got together to design the shirt. I think it has a good vibe to it.

Got a small supply left in the Oni Motorworks store ----->

Get them while they last... Or if you're in Little Tokyo, you can get them at the JANM store.

Stand Up

2011-01-09T23:12:00.000-08:00

Jensen Oda of HRD LCK, full spread ad courtesy of Tropical Blends. Congrats Buddy! Man, I used to give Jensen hell about going to a stand up paddle board (He's a good surfer without the paddle too)... Until he made me try it one day when I was back in Hawaii. I failed at it pretty bad. I gotta give it up to those guys. Seems like a lot of people are getting into it. Gerry Lopez has nice picture in the magazine as well. Go out and buy it. Standup paddle Magazine.

This is a good one... Puffy cheeks and all

Hahaha Jensen burning Reyn. What a Jerk! (Above)

Even funnier! Dougie boy snaking Jensen. (Below)

Makes me miss home!

A few short films

2011-01-06T22:09:00.000-08:00

Heres a couple of shorts that were playing at the Japanese American National Museum during the Zen Garage opening.
Eric Nakamura with help from Oscar Rios and music by Goh Nakamura put this one together for the Famicom Scion Xb.

This one is solid. Super inspirational film on Shinya.

Henrik Hansen did this one.

Zen Garage at JANM

2011-01-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

Some pictures just minutes before the exhibit opened to the public. Although I carried my camera the whole night, I failed to take pictures of all the great things that happened that night. Eric (Giant Robot) and Shinya and Ayumi (Chabott Engineering) took some really nice pictures and some are posted on their websites. If you havent seen them already please check them out!

I thought the exhibit had a really nice feel to it. Clement at JANM did a great job and work around the clock to make it all happen. Thanks a million Clement!

Shinya Kimuras Spike. I cant say how much detail went into this motorcycle. A true art piece. But, not just art! He races Spike Bonneville and El mirage. Incredible.

I found this really cool. Anyone could draw/write on a chalk board as well as a work bench where you could build/play with building blocks and such.

Shinya 3x! Film on Shinya by Henrick Hansen, Spike and Modeater.

These guys were the last to leave but with good reason! The ended up passing Return of the Quack on their first time playing it!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

2011, Year of the rabbit!

Have a safe and happy new year!

Tonight!

2010-12-30T11:34:00.000-08:00

I know its a bit late but if you're in the area please join us! A lot of good stuff to look at. Shinya Kimura/Chabott Engineering, David Choe, Giant Robot/Eric Nakamura and I will have art/works at the exhibit.

A good way to end the year.

Happy hoildays !

Pixel Pushers show recap

2010-11-24T01:34:00.000-08:00

A fun night indeed. Got to meet some really nice people and I got to see friends from the LA area which i dont see enough!

Eric/Giant Robot/Scion did such a good job on executing the concept. An art show, yes. But one thats interactive allowing show goers to play with the art (pachinko machines, car/video games, projector art and mini arcades). ALL the artist had really neat work.

It was really cool seeing everyone having fun with all the games.

The music for the night and the game (Return of the Quack) was created by this. Yes Gameboys.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

Parker-Jean

2010-11-22T23:10:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to Jensen and Crystal on the new addition to their family! See you guys in December!

On another note this guy likes to make me miss home with pictures like these... Usually ill get them once every two weeks. Thanks guy.

Giant Robot + Scion Present: Pixel Pushers

2010-11-06T00:27:00.000-07:00

Centering around the Famicom inspired custom Scion art car, which will project the Giant Robot produced video game, Return of the Quack, Giant Robot’s Eric Nakamura curates an exhibition featuring not only video game inspired art, but a bank of retro custom pachinko machines in a pachinko parlor-like installation, an interactive environment, by a renown digital

conceptualist artist, 8-bit sculptures, projected digital visuals, and 4 mini game consoles.

Heres a preview of the Scion/Giant Robot Xb that we built.

Work from some of the artist

Here are some links to check out for more info and pictures.

Scion Art Flickr

Facebook.com/scion art

Return of the Quack Page

Garageland

2010-10-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Had the honor of having a write up in the latest Giant Robot magazine (been a fan since 1999). Eric and Martin are the masterminds behind the magazine/stores/restaurant. Super talented and smart guys. I like the way they think and see things. As I listed The Clash as one of my favorite bands. They named the article Garageland... Perfect. A favorite Clash track.

In the feature, theres a section called Project Blackbook. In it, one of the questions are proudest moment. With the magazines on the stands now... I can easily say this is one of them.

This is the cover... Support independent magazines. Especially any of the ones that have inspired you one time or another.

It also comes with this rad video game

Thanks Eric!

Laguna Seca USGP recap

2010-10-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Alpinestars, we were invited to the Laguna Seca Moto GP last July. Here is a video of some of the guest that were invited. An interesting take on design and art and how it correlates to functionality and motorsports.

Also, Thanks to Vespa for loaning us our rides

New project

2010-10-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

Ended up getting another project... Should be fun as well as a lot of work. 1988 Hawk GT, a.k.a NT-650, a.k.a RC31. Cant wait to start digging into it. It came with a CBR F2 front end and a VFR rear wheel with a bunch of other goodies.
These bikes have a cult following, especially since it as only offered in the states for 3 years. The frame design is rad. Pretty much the same style frame as an RC30, RVF750, NC30 and MC28 NSR250... So yeah for its time, it has a lot of racing technology into it. Its going to be such a fun bike.

Cant wait to do this again. Circa 1994. My first RC31. HRP sweeper

My second one. Circa 1995. This one was dialed in. probably the best handling bike ive owned. HRP off camber. I think this is the year I won the Lightweight SS/450cc/twins class. CJ Remington and I won the Endurance race series in the same class that same year.

1995. Same year as above I also borrowed Paul Umholtz RS125 for half the season... And I think I got 2nd in the formula 3 class series.

Fun times. Now I just need time to work on it.

Anyone got a Fox twin clicker rear shock?

This Sunday!

2010-10-01T22:13:00.001-07:00

If you're in the San Diego area, check out Motor Union. 5&ADime and Crooks & Castles putting it together. Going to have good vibe and a nice mix of automobiles.

Although its the 1st annual Motor Union... The same bunch put on The Daily Driver show last year with an unreal turn out. For a good cause too.

Karlson Tea Party 2010

2010-09-28T23:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the Karlson Tea Party in Costa Mesa. Went to see a few friends and support their work. Since I was busy talking story I didnt get to take much pictures... But I did get a few of some of the bikes.

Adam Wright from Road Course had a neat display as well as Scott Pommier

Troy Lees Moto Lab

2010-09-24T00:52:00.000-07:00

1st annual Moto Lab... At the Lab.

It was trippy seeing all these bikes posted up all over the mall... Or anti-mall as they call it

Danny and I also went to the annual El Camino Cycle swapmeet and show.

Usually dont care for BMWs but I really liked this one.

never get sick of these things

This ones for Jensen!

Japanese Classics

2010-09-15T00:33:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was the annual Japanese classic car show. Good to have it back at the Queen Mary in Long beach. Nice weather and a good vibe.

Motul oil brought out some neat BRE datsuns. Racing legend John Morton was there as well.

Moon has this Crown for sale.

Love these 411s ... One day.

Wild Zero!

More old race cars...

Mark Fatlace had his Hakosuka on display... Later drove it back to the bay area.

A few old Skylines there

This Kenmeri was stashed in the parking lot. Had a good feel to it.

This Toyota Crown was pretty tuff

Hawaii trippy

2010-09-04T22:54:00.001-07:00

Flew back to Hawaii to help judge a car show. Stayed for a few extra days to hang out with family and friends of course. Heres what we did in short.

The winner. Pretty much had it picked out early on... Wish i took pictures of the engine.

HDM?

Thanks for the board Mike

Pretty much surfed everyday... I need the practice

Koko head shooting range

Kaena Point !

Some swag I got from Jensen. Its his new gig HRD LCK. For everyday people enjoying their everyday lives... Sometimes life is tough. Hard luck

Thanks bully

Superhawk feature

2010-08-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

Last month Nelson, Dustin and Noah came by the shop to shoot the '61 Superhawk for The Horse magazine. Some of you may be wondering "Isnt the Horse a chopper magazine?" Well for the most part I guess... Chopper, bobber, cafe or whatever, I think most of us just like building stuff in general. Pretty fortunate that the guys liked it. I mean there are some really neat bikes with tons of style featured in that magazine.

Well, the magazine should be out or will be out this week. Check it out.

Here are some behind the scenes photos they took during the day.

Besides contributing to Church of Choppers and Chopper Daves, Nelson has Pakajunk Where he writes about good food, good people and occasional dead rats. Aloha in the LBC

Rally Car... X games

2010-08-03T00:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Gary, Ben and I had the pleasure of helping out Chris Duplessis and team with his X-Games debut. Man, its so refreshing working with people/team/driver without huge egos. Chris is a super talented driver... And he probably taught some of the other drivers competing in X-Games. At 23 years young, he has a bright future in rally. He may have not got on podium this time but his career is just starting while others may be ending.

(The pictures above are swiped from Autoblog.com)

Thanks to everyone who contributed and worked their asses off. Hope everyone had safe travels home.

Team 70... Good vibes

Moto GP Laguna Seca

2010-07-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

For the last 15-20 years, I have always wanted to watch a Moto GP race. Thanks to Alyasha, Chris and Alpinestars for making that happen... I mean they really made it happen. Paddock passes, pit tours, hospitality suites. The whole 9. Still amazed at the involvement and presence Alpinestars has with their riders and Moto GP and a whole. Their R&D is seriously top notch.

It was a good time with great people.

The legendary Corkscrew.

Mondo showing Adam and Rick a V-twin can rev at 22,000 rpm's

*Chris just corrected me the Ducati GP bikes use V4's.... 22,000. Shit thats still nutso

Randy Mamola giving Mark a ride along... So lucky!

Ducati engineers warming up Casey Stoners bikes

How boss is that?? Alpinestars brings out their seamstress from Italy to repair their team riders suits.

The Alpinestars Hospitality suite. All sorts of good food brought in from Italy

Mid-day pretty beat.... Re-couping and watching the race from the inside. Yeah, we got spoiled

Thanks to Vespa, this was our transportation to and from the track.

The crew

Rally America... New England Forest Rally

2010-07-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we were out in Maine for Rally America. We ended up getting 2nd in class but still won the series championship. Driver Chris Duplessis and co-driver Catherine Woods both win championships and got their invite for X-games.

Maintenance at the Duplessis garage.

They have a Wallabee!

Ken block during the test day

On our way back from New Hampshire, Forest took us to some breathtaking sites.

Thanks for the champagne all over my camera guys

Born Free 2 in a nutshell

2010-06-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

Pretty much sums up the vibe at the show.

Born Free Show from BornFreeShow on Vimeo.

Sneak Peek

2010-06-24T23:36:00.001-07:00

Heres a little teaser of the project I worked on with Giant Robot Magazine for Scion. Really want to show more but it'll have to wait until the new Giant Robot issue comes out.

It was a great pleasure meeting and working with Eric from Giant Robot. The build was really fun with the help of Ben, Gary and Danny. Hands down the coolest Scion.

Not so seedy

2010-06-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Picked up a couple records that I've never seen. Some rare Clash tracks and a Ramones cover by OP-IV. Both good.

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant!

2 record set

They did the soundtrack to a really good movie Blue Spring (Aoi Haru)

How the hell??

2010-06-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

So i ended up winning Best Original at the Born Free 2 chopper and classic cycle show. I dont quite know how that happen. None the less, I am speechless. Chopper Dave who picked the bike must have had a hell of a day judging. There were tons of neat bikes!

Thanks Dave!

Someone very lucky won the Born Free Panhead!

Some goodies that came along with the trophy! Really cool stuff! Like always, most of it don't fit me.

But probably the best thing was getting these stickers from Brawny . So good!

I snagged this photo below from Yukio of the talented collective The So-so's. Thanks!

It was great weekend. Michelle got her masters degree and i got to play with motorcycles.

This Guy!!

2010-06-16T05:44:00.000-07:00

Born Free 2010. Its been a while since i have posted anything on here, Found this on the SoSo's blog. Len won Best Original!!

Congrats guy!!

Aloha

Born Free 2

2010-06-14T22:59:00.001-07:00

A really good time with a ton of nice bikes. It really had a good vibe going. The guys over at Born Loser MC and Freedom Machine and Accessories put on a spectacular show. I think they captured what they were going for. Job well done.

Dustin won best sportser. Nelson was saying on his way to the show he cracked his handle bars doing a wheelie. Went home welded it back up, put a COC sticker over it and wins. Rad

This guy rode all the way from Sioux city Iowa. The day of the show he goes to start it and blows his tranny. Bummer. Well not so much, he wins best in a category (I forgot which one... best chopper? Shovel?)

And the Best in show winner is....

"Time is Speed, Speed is Time" - Dennis Hopper

2010-06-09T23:17:00.000-07:00

RIP Dennis Hopper. A little late on the subject but why should it matter. He truly had a great style to his acting. Been seeing of photos and movie clips in homage to him everywhere but havent seen anyone post clips from this movie. King of the Mountain.

STAND ON IT!

Help

2010-05-26T23:35:00.000-07:00

Giant Robot Magazines needs your help. I'm pretty sure they could have sold the magazine for tons of money to some corporate publishing company many of times. That would have also defeated the purpose behind an indie magazine.

Probably some of your favorite artist and bands got their start up from this magazine. Always been a fan of it as it helped me discover tons of music/art and life lessons as well.

Every little bit counts. So if you have some extra cash, why not help out a magazine that helps your future favorite artist.

Donate here: Giant Robot Donate

Not only are you donating to a great cause, but you get some really neat stuff in return!

Best Coast

2010-05-21T23:18:00.000-07:00

Finally got to watch some highlights of last weekends Monaco Grand Prix. Webber definitely killed it.
Also stumbled on a Best Coast video that uses the 60's movie Grand prix(Monaco) although its an unofficial video, I think its pretty damn official.

Heres the original trailer for the movie

2nd place 1st rally

2010-05-18T16:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I got to travel to Oregon with one of the cars we've been building. Not bad for its first time out. 2nd place usually means first loser but not in this case, a lot of cars dont even finish the rally. Its was a good time with good people. It was really cool that a crew of 15 people who barely know each other got a long so well. I think it played huge part in the great end result for the team. It was nice doing race support again.... But rally racing is no joke... A lot of long nights and hard work. We got lucky the weather held up nicely.

Frank Frazetta RIP

2010-05-12T00:14:00.000-07:00

You probably heard the news and know more about him than I do. But Seeing all of his artwork gives me nice sense of nostalgia. I was about 5 when my brother and I were into D&D... well I cant actually claim I was into the game since i didnt really understand how to play it. What really caught my interest was the characters and lead figurines we used to get. If we were lucky my mom would take us to The Legionnaire in Kalihi where we would buy figurines, books and puzzles. The puzzles are how I learned of Frank Frazetta. Not sure if my parents kept the puzzles... A few of them were laminated with resin and framed. But i do know i have a box of lead figurines in my old room in Hawaii. Its funny how i just read that Alyasha had the Death Dealer figurine too. I also had it but when i bought it i thought it was Sauron from lord of the rings. Paint job really horrible.... I was 5 or 6!

to be continued

Japones boys day...

2010-05-05T00:06:00.000-07:00

Also, Cinco de Mayo! May 5th, Japanese Boys day (also known as childrens day).

Some photos of Boys day displays

Koi/carp are flown representing the family.

Happy boys day and Cinco de Mayo

Jyumoku

2010-05-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

Just picked up a new/old book bag from my buddy Ted. Jyumoku is his new project. Its been a while since hes been hunting around and collecting quality reclaimed materials. Really dig the concept of the brand. I know, I know, its not the first time anyone has used recycled materials, but every Jyumoku bag is unique in it own way. One-offs with some material you may never see again. A lot of character in these. Check out the site he may have a couple more in the store?

Random 1960s

2010-04-26T23:29:00.000-07:00

Found some old pictures in my hard drive. All pictures featuring 1960s Honda motorcycles.

Corsa Moto Classica 2010... Bust

2010-04-24T21:32:00.001-07:00

I thought 2010 was the year I'd finally race in the Corsa Moto Classica... Nope. Yet another year I missed it. Not enough time to prep the bike. Still, it was great to watch and talk with some of the vintage race gurus.

Love this Aermacchi

This CB160 paint was rad. Reminded me of a recent project I just completed.

This this was insane! Triple motor 2 stroke?? Drag bike I guess?

CB160 class is always fun to watch. Super close racing and a Le Mans style start!

So I guess the goal is 2011?

LBGP

2010-04-20T01:31:00.000-07:00

8 years in California for me. The Long Beach Grand Prix pretty much is an anniversary. Always a good time hanging with friends and BBQing. Heres some pictures from Fridays practice and Saturdays ALMS race.

LMPs interest me way more than Indy cars... As you can see

Long Beach Formula D

2010-04-13T01:50:00.000-07:00

Made a quick trip to Formula D in Long Beach on Friday. Just for qualifying... The main event on Saturday gets to crowded. It was fun for a little bit. Drifting is getting way too corporate for its own good... And most cars are getting uglier and uglier. Grumble grumble grumble...

Ross 's Bike... Radical. Seriously Boso. Coolest thing there for sure

Apexi FD3S. Jensen and I built this car sometime in 2003. Same year we won the D1 Japan Championship. Great to see it still running well. Chuck and Keith did an awesome job updating it.

Corporate guys watch out... This guy and his crew are gunning for you. 90% of the cars/drivers dont deserve 1 point judged for style... Matt, Tommy and crew are the other 10% that gets 10.

His S14 looks like a shoe Methamphibian did somewhere around 2005.

Early days of motocross

2010-04-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

Last night i got an invite to the Early days of motocross museum from Alan over at Sparco. His co worker Michaels Family host/runs the show. A humbling story goes with the creation of this museum... And a ton of hard work. If you have a minute check out their site. There was way too much neat shit there.

This AMF harley had the most unusual rear shock set up. I have never seen anything like it

This Huqvuarna had 1 of 10 500cc twin engines. This engine won Husquarvna a lot of races.

This Suzuki was the first production Japanese motocross bike sold in the USA.

A lot of really cool jerseys, pants, boots.... pretty much everything

A huge thank you to the White family for having us!

No big deal

2010-04-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

Only a 1000+ horsepower GTR at the shop. Belongs to our good friend Mike of D-sport magazine. Mike always helped me out a lot so its good to return the favor by doing the updates to his rollcage.

Gary helping the Sakiokas with their Lotus Elise Cup car.

Pictures do these cars no justice. It looks insane seeing either of these cars on the road.

Oscar

2010-03-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

I'm fortunate to have worked with Oscar/Alpinestars on this jacket. Top notch quality from a company with roots dating back to 1963. The Oscar brand is a perfect way for Alpinestars to show off their rich racing heritage.

Keep your eyes peeled for Oscar at your finest motorcycle and apparel stores. Try to stay on top of things, everything is made in limited runs.

Its nice out... Go out and enjoy the day

Memorabilia

2010-03-24T23:32:00.000-07:00

My good friend Yaya frequents Japan and always brings back the coolest things for me.

A few years ago she brought back this scroll/flag/bandana. I have referenced a lot stuff off of this. All the best Honda grand prix bikes from 1959-1967.

This year i got these really neat pins one of an old Honda GoldWing and the other of the Honda CR77 race bike.

The Local and the Loyal

2010-03-11T01:07:00.000-08:00

The Lovewright Co. has done it again. Another solid season with denim in the line up. Check out the write up on Hypebeast. Lovewright Spring 2010

Baby Face Hardy

2010-03-10T01:07:00.000-08:00

Francoise Hardy. Pretty much deserves her own post(In regards/continuation to the last post). A motorhead in her own right. Super classy with style for days.

Girls havin' fun too

2010-03-10T00:29:00.000-08:00

Some of mens favorite things, motorcycles and women. Recently, Alyasha sent me this picture. It has a fun vibe and captures the time period. It also made me think to post others like it that have been either been sent to me or got off of another site.

The Runaways.... Wonder how the new movie is going to be?

Blonde Redhead

2010-03-06T00:34:00.000-08:00

I go this from Jan a long time ago. Quite happy I stumbled upon it again.

AHRMA or bust!

2010-02-22T23:57:00.000-08:00

Finally got my rims laced and true with stainless steel spokes. WM2 and WM3 Shouldered Aluminum rims. Now I need to get my drums turned and shoes arced... And by the looks of these pictures I need new sprockets. Hopefully someone makes a 520 conversion.

AHRMA in April or bust!

Sunday Nostalgia

2010-02-21T13:27:00.000-08:00

A few series i followed as a little kid. I think they played a huge part in my life as far as what i find interesting.

This first one is an all time favorite intro. Quentin Tarantino actually used the dialog in Kill bill. Pretty cool that he even went on and used Sonny Chiba (the main actor playing Jubei Yagyu) in his movies.

In in Kage no Gundan -Shadow warriors, Sonny Chiba also acted as Hattori Hanzo. Same basic role as in Kill Bill. Even the commercial lead in was bitchin. I need to get this series from my brother. Trav?

A few post ago I spoke of Kikaida... with a greater liking for Hakaida here is why.

Watch and enjoy, you wont be disappointed

Inspiration LA

2010-02-15T22:46:00.000-08:00

A nice Saturday afternoon at the Santa Monica Airport. Inspiration LA was such a neat idea. In a sense it was refreshing to see all the vintage maniacs and the interest everyone had there. Oscar by Alpinestars had Roger DeCosters motorbike displayed along with Kenny Roberts race suit(Does it get any better?). Also, the craftsmen who were there making quality goods on site was awe inspiring. Good to see perfect examples of what seems like a long lost craft in America.

Here are some pictures. Enjoy.

Santa Fe deli Saturday

2010-01-31T12:23:00.000-08:00

Met some friends at Santa fe deli for lunch. A once a month thing where everyone meets for good food and good fun.

Usually the last Saturday of the month... Check out CoC for more pictures

Robots and super heroes

2010-01-29T21:17:00.000-08:00

My good friend Alan brought this mouse pad back from Hawaii for me. Never noticed it before but Kikaida has an awesome front drum brake set up on his motorbike. Looks like a Suzuki GT750 front drum. But his bike is a Kawasaki triple... Did these bike come with this drum brake??

If you ever have an event in Hawaii where you need people to attend... Call for Kikaida. Seems like he does appearances every month.Weird but rad that he is a household name in Hawaii. Although I thought Hakaida was much cooler.

Found this Kawasaki race bike online. Wonder if this is the same set up as Kikaidas motorcycle.

While on the subject of japanese super heroes. Got to see Eric from Giant Robot last weekend at the Scion art gallery where he had some really fun video work on display. Super genuine dude.

Also, last weekend was two good friends birthdays. Eddie's and Nelson's. Forgot my camera but it was good times at both. Happy birthday guys!

The destroyer

2010-01-23T00:40:00.001-08:00

Final night for Conan O'brien. Found this on Baravettos site Bloggavettski . Great to see everyone supporting Conan. And plus, proceeds from this print/shirt will be donated to the Haiti fund. Win win situation.

The finale was epic

Works

2010-01-05T18:12:00.000-08:00

Late 2009 to now I've been trying to gather pictures to use for a hard copy of my portfolio. Just need to start documenting some of my work. Here are some pictures that i found of past work/ projects.

Welding (TIG)- DOM tubing/steel coupler

Welding (TIG)- Chromoly

Welding (TIG)- Aluminum

Welding (TIG)- Walking cup method on steel

Sketching on colored paper

Foose coupe

Hand formed aluminum mounts for Pro-drive WRC dry carbon wing (clecos used temporary)

Hand formed aluminum gas tank and tail section for 1961 CB77

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

Growing up in Hawaii, this is how we rang in the new year.

Hauoli makahiki hou!

Hands on

2009-12-01T02:26:00.000-08:00

Messing around and learning about other materials. Hand cut and sculpted to mimic a 1960's Ericofon phone. 20pcf urethane foam. Work wonders and picks up good detail... And also bad detail. A good exercise for balance and proportion.

Chocolate Ray guns are the best. Mold made from vacuum formed PET-G. Formed over shaped urethane foam.

Surfboard wax is up next

Mortar mix over shaped EPS foam...

Shaka

SEMA 09

2009-11-17T22:46:00.000-08:00

Late with the updates as usual. This years show wasnt too bad, with the recession going on and all. Seems like everyone was focused and there for work instead of the B.S.ing and partying. Hopefully the recession is filtering out the crappy knock-off brands.

Funny, but my favorite car of the show was this 1974 honda civic. It just had so much character... I mean 146 mph at Talladega speedway?? Insane. Plus it just looked good. Full of soul.

Troy and Five Axis did a great job on the new xB. As always his work is impeccable.

Sean Smith of the So~sos design just keeps on progressing. Loved his and his dads Flatback 2010 Mustang. Great job buddy.

Objectified

2009-11-08T20:24:00.000-08:00

A bit old, but I finally got to see this documentary. Interesting.

Karlson Tea Party

2009-10-08T00:07:00.000-07:00

After the Cycle Zombies and Born Free shows, Danny and I decided to go home to relax for a bit. So what we thought was wrong... Got home, checked my invite for the Karlson tea Party not knowing it started at 5. Damnit! Called Dan-o, Hopped on my bike and rode back to Costa Mesa.

Nelson did a great job on getting the bike/art show together.

A busy Saturday. But a very nice one at that.

Born Free

2009-10-06T00:49:00.001-07:00

After the Cycle Zombies/Hurley gig, Danny and I made our way to the Born Free show in Orange. It was super hot... But worth every bit of it. A ton of really nice motorcycles. Here are some of them.

More to come on another day.

Cycle Zombies/Hurley

2009-10-03T00:18:00.000-07:00

Pictures from last weekend. Cycle Zombies and hurley hosted a really cool event. Free food from TK burger, Live music... Thee Cormans!? No complaints here. Best of all, riding with friends.

Another busy one

2009-09-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

A lot of good stuff going this weekend folks.

See you there

El Camino Cycle Swap

2009-09-21T00:05:00.001-07:00

Went to the El Camino cycle swap Saturday. A bunch of cool bikes all around. A bit disappointed with the swap meet though... Let me rephrase that, There were a lot of goodies there. Just not anything I needed at the moment. Yeah, i shouldnt be starting a new project just yet.

Here are some pictures. A lot more bikes but youll probably see them on everyone elses coverage.

This thing was rad! Bonneville record holder. 100cc Honda engine

Some really clean lines on this bike. Good Italian design.

CR93 Production racer. Dual overhead cam engine!

A set of mid-1950's Hondas for sale.

All in all it was a good turn out. Got to see some friends too. Wish I found some of the parts I was looking for though. Maybe next years, ill find a new project to start.

Ray Gun

2009-09-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

Been messing around with some different materials and techniques. A bit different from metal but same basic skill set.

Carved foam into a ray gun

Vacuum formed plastic

Filled with chocolate!

Ready to eat!

Love playing around with new mediums and techniques. Chocolate today..... Maybe a mold for a new part tomorrow?

Reunion

2009-09-10T00:52:00.000-07:00

Labor day weekend turned out to be a good one... Even though i had to work on Labor day.

The guys from In4mation rolled in from Las Vegas on Friday night.

The next day we had lunch at Roscoes in Long Beach. Chicken and Waffles with a side of collared greens. Doesnt get much better than that!

Later that night we ended up back in Long beach at the Pike. Called Macy to come through. Good to hear hes getting flowed by Alphanumeric now. Its a good move for both Macy and A#. Mini Jun Jo? Lets hope so. The world world be a much better place with more Jun Jo's.

Time to leave and meet up with Alan and Lisa at the bowling alley. We didnt get to bowl but it was fun watching them anyways.

Next morning, woke up early to beat the rush at the Westminster park. Havent woke up that early to skate since 1992. It was good to roll around again. Miss it tons.

Ryan got warmed up to the park pretty quick.

After the morning session, we met up with Nelson and Brandon for some lunch at Riveras in Long beach. Its been years since They have seen each other. It was a great time seeing everyone catch up.

We get home and what does Alan have? A new grill. Rad! Rhandy gets stoked and wants to Bbq. Next thing we know, we have a mini Luau!

Weekends like these are priceless.

Santa Fe Importers

2009-08-31T00:14:00.000-07:00

Had a nice little Saturday ride to Santa Fe importers for some of the best sandwiches.... Actually everything on the menu looked awesome. Been around since the 1940's. Kinda tells you something... They must have good food!

Heres a few pictures... For more, check out Church of Choppers, Chopper Daves or Blue Collar Moto

Some of Brawnys work. Reallly clean work!

Good food, good people, good times. Gotta love these days

IN4MATION Ohana

2009-08-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

Heres a teaser for the In4mation video. Good to see the guys doing big things. Cant wait to see them next month!

IN4MATION NYC PROMO from patrick cook on Vimeo.

Really anticipating the full length!

Daily driver show

2009-08-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend 5&A Dime and Alphanumeric hosted a car show/get together... Guerilla stylee. Jay and Danny camped out all night to secure all the parking stalls on 8th and G street.

I forgot my camera again... But had to get some pictures of this 1971 Skyline "Hakosuka". Probably one of the cars that goes into my "top 10 cars I want to own"... A GTR version of it though. Definitely not a 4 door.

Sorry for the outdated phone camera pictures. Vintage phone, vintage car, vintage everything. Ya'll like that vintage stuff dont'cha

Going to miss it

2009-08-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

Every year I say "This year I'm either going to the Monterey Historic races or to the Bonneville salt flats for Speed Week."

once again, I'm not making any of them.

If youre in the area, you should check it out. This year its a salute to Porsche. Celebrating 40 years of the legendary 917. Porsche 917= Steve Mcqueens car in Le mans

Going on now!

Burning money

2009-08-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a little jam session over at El Toro air base. I think its been a couple of years since I last drifted. Super rusty.

Sorry, dont have any action shots... I was driving. No time to take pictures.

I needed a few times to get it back... But after that, tires had no chance!

Tire wore uneven.... There was a long sweeper joining 2 runways. 3rd/4th gear entry into it.

Speaking of drifting... Imagine doing it on 2 wheels... Never noticed it until now but it looks like this bike is a CB750 four.

Been lagging on new entries. Working, paying bills, surfing, riding, driving. Its summer time... Do something.

Best Birthday

2009-07-26T22:37:00.001-07:00

My girl is the best ever! For my birthday she took me out flying on a 2 seater WACO Biplane. One of the raddest experiences I've had! I wish I knew how to fly it!

Look at how sick this thing is.

The Jacobs radial engine sounds crazy! 7 cylinders!

-Tower, this is Ghost Rider requesting a flyby.

-Negative, Ghost Rider the pattern is full

This yacht-er must have sh!t himself as we were diving down toward him.

We only had the best scenery of the coast/surf!

As you can see here, we're banking pretty hard.

As we were landing, two things were going through my mind. How can i fly one of these and I'm going build a plane one of these days.

I sure do have my work cut out for me on what to do for Michelles birthday!

Agenda @ Huntington Beach Hyatt

2009-07-24T20:03:00.000-07:00

Didnt get to take much picture over at the Agenda show (July 22-23)... But I got some snaps of the amazing Alpinestars display at the entrance. Mark Arcenal(Fatlace) had his newly finished Rukus done by Brandon at Bowls. Also on display was a Ducati Desmosedici RR! And what looks like to be Casey Stoners(2007 world champ) Suit.

Alpinestars NEVER lacks in details... As you can see here they even went about using a Beta tool box. If you were at Agenda, you probably seen or heard of the insane pieces Alyasha (Stack-Aly) did with Alpinestars... The talk of the town!

I'm still blown away that Alpinestars used my motorcycle in their booth. While I was racing motorcycles in my teens, I could have only dreamt of owning anything Alpinestars... Always been a huge fan.

Also on display in their booth was Sal Barbiers (SLB) racing suit. Really cool that hes going out to the dry lakes and running his 53 Ford.

Its really neat to see companies like Alpinestars do refreshing things. Probably no one else could pull off what they are doing since the company has such a rich motorsport/apparel history. Been around since 1963. Outfitting some of the most famous racing legends.

Years ago... '06?

2009-07-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

These are some photos i took while I was in Japan in 2006... Maybe some were from 2005. I came across them in my computer and though it would be cool to share. By no means are they nice pictures... Just some awesome machinery.

Ritchie Ginther's 1965 Honda RA272 Formula 1 car

Along side with Jenson Buttons 2005 007 F1 car

Got to visit APR (Apex Racing). It was the Japan race team of the company I used to work for. Really amazing race engineers. Below is the 2005 Super GT/GT300 Champion car (MR-S) and runner up (ASL Garaiya) in 2004 and 2008.

The Reckless MR-S and the ex- ARTA MR-S (2002 GT300 Champ)

Thank goodness for blogs

2009-07-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

I got these photos of the cb77 from some really cool sites/blogs. I'm sure youve probably seen, heard or know about them already. Right??

This first one is from the one and only Chopper Dave. Not only does he have an awesome website, he also builds some of the coolest bikes around. Fabrication and casting is second to none.

LOUD FAST RULES

The next two photos are from the Blue Collar Moto blog. I dont personally know Chris, but going off of his blog, He seems like a RAD guy.

Blue Collar Moto

Thanks for the photos guys

Last weekend pt.2

2009-07-15T00:38:00.001-07:00

Some friends invited me over to Suru on Melrose for the Celeritas gallery. As soon as I entered, I was awe! They had Alpinestars sponsored riders suits hanging for display. All of which are legendary. Great job by all of the artist, Alpinestars, American Suzuki, Oakley, Pirelli and Redbull.

And it was all done for a good cause. Riders for health- www.riders.org . All proceeds from the silent auction went to Riders for health.

Last weekend pt.1

2009-07-15T00:28:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Mitsubishi had their owner appreciation day at their corporate headquarters in Cypress. We dropped in for a bit since we had a few cars on display there... Also, we wanted to see their 4G63 powered formula car and Dakar Rally Lancer.

The 4th

2009-07-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

Finally got the bike up and runnin... Although it still needs work, I had a blast riding it to The Sinners liberty gig. Got to catch up with a few friends old and new. It was good seeing Nelson and Brandon (Brawny). Both of whom I went to high school with. From skateboarding at Waena courts with Jem and the Holograms (Ryan from In4mation+Brawny's skate crew in 1987-haha!) to riding motorbikes at Westminster Elk lodge with the creator of NOT-Zine (Nelsons all-things-rad magazine back in the 80's!), one would only guess that they would be doing big things. A lot of respect for these guys and the rest of The Sinners.

Nelson also did a little photo session with my bike. Check it out at

http://www.churchofchoppers.blogspot.com/

Although i had my camera, I forgot to take pictures at Hisako's BBQ. A lot of fun went down there too!

1966 RC166

2009-06-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

Good friend of mine Wen sent me over some amazing pictures from the Honda worldwide site. Its of the RC166 6 cylinder race bike. The pictures he sent possessed me to find video and sound of how this motorcycle ran. I was seriously blown away on how amazing the exhaust note was/is. 18,000 RPM... No prob

pictures from http://world.honda.com

fuckingu sugoi

Lovewright @ UNIV

2009-06-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

Some coverage of Saturday nights Lovewright gig over at UNIV.I didn't get to take much pictures although Bert always has good coverage and nice pictures. Check out his site DONT SLEEP: http://upstartsociety.blogspot.com/

Travis and Jay (5&aDime) got some really cool photos on their blog too.

http://www.5andadime.com/blog.php

Thanks guys!

Thee Strychnines/Upstarts

Flying Panther Tattoo

Million thanks to the Lovewright co., UNIV, Rob Benavides Flying Panther tattoo and Profile for the music and pictures.

10 years

2009-06-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend made 10 years since I won the inaugural NHRA / IDRC west coast national race (Hot Rod/quick 16 class). Can't believe its been that long. It being 10 years, it made me reflect on everything that cars/racing has done for me. The people i've met, the things i've learned from them and the self discovery of figuring things out mechanically and mentally. I think I started to learn after high school.

Since it was the inaugural race for that series, they didn't issue Wally trophies for the winners. Not sure if the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) was sure on how involved they would get into the series. Although NHRA pulled out of the series in 2008, they did issue Wally trophies to all the winners in pro classes since. I should have... and still should contact NHRA to see if I could get an re issue of the Wally trophy. During the time I didn't really care about what form the trophy came in... i was just so stoked on winning and NHRA getting involved. If anyone has a contact over at NHRA, please let me know.

Funny facts: It was said that I was the only one who won a pro class and drove the car home that day ( I may be wrong... Just what I was told). Most cars were race cars which were trailered to and from the race.

It was a good thing i kept registration on it since spending money on parts and travel to race killed my budget on a trailer.

preview

2009-06-19T02:36:00.000-07:00

Almost done... Lovewright/Univ/Oni motors pop-up store this Saturday(flyer below).

Saturday!

2009-06-15T08:36:00.001-07:00

Come one come all! the Lovewright Co., Univ, Rob Benavides tattoo, and Oni motorworks. Music by Profile of Thee Strychnines/Upstarts. Need I say more? Checkout Lovewrightco.com for more info.

Been working on the motorbike for this... Which is the reason for lack of updates.

Covers

2009-06-07T22:14:00.000-07:00

I think its fair to say you CAN judge a book by its cover... Especially by their titles.

Nostalgia

2009-06-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, Alyasha ( www.stack-aly.com )sent me a clip of an old japanese super hero(Gekkou Kamen). I actually remembered my brother having the action figure... Dont remember the show though. After watching a few youtube videos of it i wandered deeper into nerd land. Vintage otaku if you will... Im all about though. Then i realize why I am into motorcycles.

Cheers to the nostalgia of feeling like a kid again!

Last months Corsa Moto Classica

2009-05-30T11:30:00.000-07:00

So these are from last months AHRMA race at Big Willow(Corsa Moto Classica). A bit late but I found more pictures in my camera. Again, good racing and good friends.

Fast Eddie and Goose (The So-Sos) watching the start line.

Super lap Battle

2009-05-27T16:53:00.003-07:00

Last weekend was Super Lap at Big Willow. Kind of a weird race since it was latched onto a bunch of other NASA race series. We were out there in support of Tyler Mcquarrie (BC racing, Cwest, Designcraft S2000) and Dusty Nabor (101 pipe & casing, NNI racing STi). This race was mainly a test day for the upcoming Redline Time attack this weekend.

Tyler and the S2000 got fast lap of the weekend breaking the track record.

We got Dusty's car dialed in too. This car should kill it this year.

At these NASA events you'll find a variety of all sorts of shit.