The Jockey Journal

I’ve been taking a break from this site… Obviously… But came across a video this morning that I though you guys would enjoy. Essentially, it’s footage of a man with a very funny accent hand-painting a factory Royal Enfield tank. The juxtaposition of the indian accent with the subject blows me away…

Doug, or “Dragon as most of you guys knew him, first became a pain in my ass about 6 years ago. He would constantly barrage me with emails pertaining to my lack of competency. I finally grew tired of him and banned him from the forum. My actions didn’t deter him. In fact, he just became more relentless.

After about two weeks of this nonsense, I threw in the towel. I figured if this guy was so damned passionate about motorcycles and seeing this community thrive, I might as well make him a moderator. It worked… I no longer got any harassing emails and the classifieds section he was put in charge of really began to straighten up. In time, Dragon began to kind of take over the forum.

See, I don’t know shit about motorcycles really. I know what I like and it’s relevancy to the outside world or history is actually pretty minimal. That’s just how I am… I’m a hot rod guy with a mild interest in two-wheelers. Like most guys with a fleeting thought, my interests fades in and out. As a result, this site has suffered tremendously. In fact, if it weren’t for Dragon I’m not sure this site would even be around anymore.

When I was busy, Dragon took up the slack. When Jason was busy or on the road, Dragon stepped in. When something needed to be done, Dragon did it. Hell, half the decisions Dragon made I didn’t even agree with; the other half I probably didn’t know about. But he made decisions when I didn’t. And he did what he thought was right with an unwavering sense of duty.

To do this day, I’m not sure why Dragon did so much for this site. I know he was very sick and I know he couldn’t get around much. He often told me that moderating the site was a good cure for boredom and maybe it was, but Dragon showed more passion than boredom allows. To be honest, I never REALLY new Dragon and further, I’m not sure he cared for me much… or maybe he did.

Today, he died and I feel like I’ve lost someone I knew a lot better than I did. This site is gonna miss him more than anyone could ever know.

RIP Doug.

More condolences here.

Holy shit. For real? A bunch of hooigans in Detroit found an abandoned velodrome on the North East side of Detroit. After a little maintenance, mostly consisting of kicking beer cans off the track and weed whacking, the boys were ready to ride. Fucking AWESOME.

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I’m probably late to the news room with this, but forgive me… This kind of shit is right up my alley. Axel Budde is a German stunt driver in the movie industry. Not only that, but he also fabricates all kinds of crazy rigs for in-car cameras, booms, etc… He’s talented. And in his spare time, he builds vintage Guzzis that perform like modern sport bikes. I’ve never ridden one so no reviews here, but holy hell do they look right.

Check it out on Southsiders.

Rad, right? That’s Jim Hunter in 1956. He was the third fastest bike on the salt that year… He turned just under 163mph.