Topic: A little slice of awesome saved.

[Geeto67]

I am constantly depressed by how little appreciation the young generation, esp the "cafe" kids show toward old 1970's and 80's pinsripe and mural paint jobs that probably took the painter several days of their lives to create and a literal pound of peyote or LSD. Too often I tune into internet build threads to see things like airbrushed album covers or franzetta paintings being covered up by a can of krylon semi-gloss black. For shame.

So when I came across this beauty locally I had to snatch up the tank and side cover, just because it needs someone to protect it:













The bike was supposedly a "club" bike for one of the local african american motorcycle clubs and had a hard life of living out side and lots of visible crash and rash damage as evidenced by the broken cylinder block fins in the last pic. The gauges were literally crushed with 41,000 miles on the clock and it was obvious it was continuing to be ridden after the gauges were cashed in because the bars and the forks were straight. The Invader mags (there rear was there also but not installed) were cool as heck as well but I have no use for a 50lb set of wheels since I already own sets of lesters and shelby dowds I am not using. I did grab the airbox as well for parts for the others I have in the garage. The bike had no title and was mosly stock anyway. Had it had more to it than the tank, airbox, and invaders I would have tried to save it (I have titled frames) as a period time piece but really there wasn't enough there once you pulled off the tank. Interestingly enough the serial number was less than 4000 units away from my own 1975 which you can see peeking out on the right in the first pic. They might have even came over on the same boat.

But that paint. Oh that design. Frist off it has held up well for something from 1980 and that lived most of it's life uncovered outside, probably because it was buried under a mile of clear. Every single line is hand painted with a kafaka style liner brush and the swirls are even, tight and mostly uniform. It is seriously great technical work. The tank is redcoated and completely useable as is as a gas tank. the left side cover is done, but I have enough spare lefts I am going to try to replicate it based off what's left and the right cover. for right now it goes next to the 70's pinstriped laquer candy blue kz900 tank I have on the shelf, but once cleaned up and a few areas touched up (and maybe a coat of clear on top) I might try to run it on one of my 750s.

[750K]

That's killer, good on you for grabbing it. Too bad the left side cover was toast, as a pinstriper and a sign painter I love seeing this old work still holding up well. The old lead based one shot sure holds up, you couldn't get the new formula to look that solid after all those years in the sun.

[Geeto67]

yeah, I was a sign painter and striper after college and still dabble as a hobby. I really love seeing good old work, esp from people that are almost unknown. I remember this stuff being everywhere when I was a kid and now I rarely see it if ever.

[750K]

Nice, how much do you pick up a brush nowadays? I've got a spare tank for my K7 I'm going to gold leaf and stripe this year after it gets a repaint, really looking forward to painting something for me for a change lol.

Here's a link to my profile over at Pinhead Lounge.

http://www.pinheadlounge.com/Palefacedevils

[Black 750K8]

I don't understand how the numbers are so close but 5 years apart? did they start the numbers over when they went to the dohc? I do like the old paint.

[Geeto67]

I don't understand how the numbers are so close but 5 years apart? did they start the numbers over when they went to the dohc? I do like the old paint.

Both my Blue cb750K5 and the black SOHC 750 are 1975 bikes. The paint job is dated 1980 by the striper's signature. I think I remember seeing something on the bike that lead me to believe the bike was still on the road in 2004. Although the carbs were completely frozen the engine kicked through with surprisingly good compression. No signs of anything other than a stock clutch and stock internals (the tell tales are usually different color gasket bond, sloppy application, disturbed paint marks). 

[Geeto67]

Nice, how much do you pick up a brush nowadays? I've got a spare tank for my K7 I'm going to gold leaf and stripe this year after it gets a repaint, really looking forward to painting something for me for a change lol.

Here's a link to my profile over at Pinhead Lounge.

http://www.pinheadlounge.com/Palefacedevils

For a long while I was disgusted with striping and put down my brush in any professional capacity in 2006, and focused instead on collecting nice pieces of other's work. I was active on the sketchkult board for a while too. Striping was hella unpopular for a while as well and all those rat rod guys always had a buddy, and I lived in close proximity to Alex in Wonderland, Gary the Local Brush, Vic Kessler, and all the east coast greats. In the last year or so I have been doing it again for a lot of personal projects. I currently have a dresser I converted into a tool cabinet that I plan on laying lines on when the weather gets warm, and a Squire strat, a capri orange 1973 fender mustang, and a 1968 Univox Rythem and Blues (Pre lawsuit LPS copy) I want to do some lettering work on as well. The hardest part these days is the design layout because I am always exceding the ability of my rusty chops. Plus it is cold out and the wife wont let me stripe in the house. I would say in the last month I have maybe picked up the brush 5 or 6 times for small things. One thing I have taken to though is carrying around a set of colored pencils and a small notebook and doing design layouts when I have a moment. 

you do excellent work.

[AJK]

Give the tank a wash, then put a layer of clear over it. It'll keep its character, look great & last.

[750K]

I hear you Geeto67, I find myself hanging out more with some of the older sign guys locally than stripers. With the exception of a couple close friends, the sign guys are way more chill and are willing to share ideas and techniques where as the younger guys locally that stripe look at some of us as competition lol, and are more attitude and "I'm cooler than kool" a lot of the time. Rockabilly's usually rub me the wrong way, anyone that spends more time in front of the mirror than their girlfriend is retarded as far as I'm concerned...

Do you have any work you can link me to? I'd love to see some of it.

[754]

750k, i. Have a plastic knockoff German helmet, striped by BOOTS..in 66.. An early work of his... Saw alot of his work in the 70.s..
 A few years back hanging out on the gas and oil forum, i used to correspond quite a lot with Tommy 2Tone, out of Rochester MN....maybe you guys have seen his work.

 Seen a lot of Dave Bell stuff when it was fresh..

[MoMo]

Cool bike and it is a must to keep,  I rescued this fine piece of vintage art work from the crusher a couple years back.

[750K]

That's awesome Frank, Boots is still around and occasionally picks up the brush and stripes an art panel or ride from what I hear through the grapevine. He's pretty much a local legend around here, you still see work from him and Doc James all over the place.

Tommy 2Tone doesn't ring a bell, but when I was still living in Toronto I wasn't striping yet so a lot of the eastern stripers aren't as familiar to me sometimes. Back in the day it seemed every area had its local striper or sign painter, I love driving through towns or areas and catching all of their work in one region. One mans life's work if you will. Dave Bell sounds a bit more familiar though.

[Geeto67]

I hear you Geeto67, I find myself hanging out more with some of the older sign guys locally than stripers. With the exception of a couple close friends, the sign guys are way more chill and are willing to share ideas and techniques where as the younger guys locally that stripe look at some of us as competition lol, and are more attitude and "I'm cooler than kool" a lot of the time. Rockabilly's usually rub me the wrong way, anyone that spends more time in front of the mirror than their girlfriend is retarded as far as I'm concerned...

Do you have any work you can link me to? I'd love to see some of it.

Yeah there is a terrible new school attitude not just in striping but in bikes and cars in general. You can't mentor anybody because they won't stop trying to show you how much they know more than you, and you can't really talk shop with them because they have this ill do it my own way and my own way is a trade secret attitude. I'm technically a young guy because I am in my late 30's but I started striping when this stuff was very unpopular (the early 90's) and was fortunate to find some guys who took pity on me and showed me a few tricks to get started. I remember my dad hiring Alex in Wonderland to stripe the 1963 Mooney airplane we restored and that was the first time I ever saw a striper work and I knew then I had to try it.

Like most frustrated pinheads, I didn't keep much of my work. I do have a few pieces around that I can photo and post here.


MoMo: that is a nice save, and a really nice mural. Great contrast to the franzetta stuff you see some times. Proves that the 70's and 80's were not all about rock and roll/heavy metal, let's fight dragons and have sex with barbarian chicks who ride polar bears. I feel calm and peaceful just looking at it.

[MoMo]

MoMo: that is a nice save, and a really nice mural. Great contrast to the franzetta stuff you see some times. Proves that the 70's and 80's were not all about rock and roll/heavy metal, let's fight dragons and have sex with barbarian chicks who ride polar bears. I feel calm and peaceful just looking at it.

For me most of the 70s was not heavy metal but psychedelic rock and hippie type(It's a Beautiful Day genre) music.  Mural is signed and the metalflake paint was awesome, a bit of chips here and there now but still very nice.  Plan was to transfer tank  to a titled bike but that is on the backburner.  I did ride the bike for a short period of time with a not so legal tag but stopped.  Getting a title in PA is not possible ...Larry

[Geeto67]

For me most of the 70s was not heavy metal but psychedelic rock and hippie type(It's a Beautiful Day genre) music.  Mural is signed and the metalflake paint was awesome, a bit of chips here and there now but still very nice.  Plan was to transfer tank  to a titled bike but that is on the backburner.  I did ride the bike for a short period of time with a not so legal tag but stopped.  Getting a title in PA is not possible ...Larry

Larry, have you tried the VT title route? getting ready to do it with the rickman. should be good.

[greenjeans]

Sweet tank - great save Geeto.   I'd have that on my wall of tanks for sure.     I'm still a sign guy - I'm just old enough to have learned the trade before
there were computers and plotters available everywhere.   Now, it's just not the same.  Sign shops rarely have anyone capable of actually designin things.  It's one thing to pull a straight line, it's another to incorporate it into a cohesive design.    There is a guy here in town that is keeping the old sign painting/pinstripin tradition alive - he's even featured in a documentary about the subject.  I'll try and remember the name of the documentary - it's pretty cool to oldtimers (I'm only 45) like me.

[MoMo]

For me most of the 70s was not heavy metal but psychedelic rock and hippie type(It's a Beautiful Day genre) music.  Mural is signed and the metalflake paint was awesome, a bit of chips here and there now but still very nice.  Plan was to transfer tank  to a titled bike but that is on the backburner.  I did ride the bike for a short period of time with a not so legal tag but stopped.  Getting a title in PA is not possible ...Larry

Larry, have you tried the VT title route? getting ready to do it with the rickman. should be good.

I may try it but the bike was previously titled in Pa,  so getting a VT title  and then trying to retitle in PA could be an impossibility.  Of course, I could ride it forever with VT tags.  If you don't want to go through the hassle of applying for the VT title I found a resource that does it   http://www.motorecyclenow.com/title-service.html   Thanks for the compliment on the bike...Larry

[Geeto67]

Sign shops rarely have anyone capable of actually designin things.  It's one thing to pull a straight line, it's another to incorporate it into a cohesive design.   

You ain't lying. When I was doing it for a living it was more about vector graphics and vinyl cutting than brushes and one shot. I was constantly frustrated because I had all these great skills (and a minor degree in graphic design) and the majority of the work was scale the letter, print the letter. Still I did get to do plenty of line striping and I was also carrying my brushes with me all the time and doing lines on anything anybody wanted, often for free just for the practice. I once striped multiple overlapping flames on a 1980's chrylser minivan that had been krylon painted, because I was hanging out with a friend working the night shift at a 24 hour getty station and I was really bored and his car was a piece of crap. I did multiple overlapping flame outlines and as much fill in shapes as I could and it looked pretty boss. It was the fanciest car in the junkyard a year later.

I remember a lot of guys in the 90's loved waving flag checkerboard vinyl decals for their cars, stuff was so tacky. Not small little window decals, but big billboard suckers they could stick on the side of their 80's Monte SS. Everytime I printed one of those or a calvin pissing on a ford logo my soul died a little.

[Geeto67]

since this thread seems to be attracting the pinheads and sign painters I think I'll throw some more awesome in here while I wait for others to post pics of the great 70's art they saved.

This is an honest to God 1950's stock car helmet. It was worn by my father's friend Charlie when he raced a 40 ford in the 50's on Long Island. It was striped sometime in the mid 50's. Charlie passed away last year so I can't ask him the dates anymore. The helmet is now in a stock car museum somewhere on Long Island. But this is real deal 50's pinstriping:

[750K]

I'm still a sign guy - I'm just old enough to have learned the trade before
there were computers and plotters available everywhere.   Now, it's just not the same...


There is a guy here in town that is keeping the old sign painting/pinstripin tradition alive - he's even featured in a documentary about the subject.  I'll try and remember the name of the documentary - it's pretty cool to oldtimers (I'm only 45) like me.

A good friend and mentor if you will, just hit the 50 yr mark with sign writing. He refers to the early years as B.C., as in before computers lol. He's been a working sign writer ever since he finished trade school, blows me away sometimes. He worked for various shops over the years till he opened his own commercial shop, did the vinyl etc but never stopped brush lettering. Now he's back to 100% brush and stripes like a madman, he works in the film industry still as a sign painter on set within the scenic and paint depts. In his late 60's and still going hard.

Are you refering to Gary Martin? He was just in a documtary called "Sign Painters", he's based in Austin TX and does some fantastic work. He does a lot of tattoo shop signage and his style is unmistakable, some of my favourite work. It's nice to see the striping and sign writing making a come back or resurgence, even if some of the hipster kids picking it up will only be in it till they realize how much time you have to spend to master a brush. Maybe it will bring it back into favour with small business a bit more and increase the demand for hand made craftsman pieces again, as much as I hate vinyl it's here to stay for certain things.

[Geeto67]

as much as I hate vinyl it's here to stay for certain things.

Ever do a boat not in dry dock? I have. In september. That is one area where I don't mind taking 15 minutes to place a sticker rather than 2 hours to do a series of small details above the water line.

one nice thing about the plotters is the ability to make masks really fast and easy for complex work. yeah it's not as cool as hand placing every letter but it takes some of the stupid work out of large color fills that you would do with an airbrush anyway.

[750K]

The two boat I lettered last year were both out of the water, thank god! I've heard nightmares from my buddy about lettering boats in the water.

Most of the real working sign writers I know use vinyl mask or sign tape etc when needed, it sure does come in handy. Pounce patterns and the like are such a time saver especially if you've got multiples to paint, work smart not hard.

I always chuckle at the stripers that frown upon a pattern or some sort of guide or grid prior to doing a design etc, "that's not how Dutch would've done it" hahaha. They're the same guys that can't start or finish a line crisp and sharp if their life depended on it, I mostly go off the top of my head with striping but when I really want to plan something out I'll pre draw and pattern a design just like a sign. All I know is my #$%* is clean and tight whether I freestyled it or made a pattern, I could care less how it was done in the old school sometimes, I do things my way lol.

#$%* I'm just stoked to make some money painting signs and striping in my spare time, I got better things to worry about than if I'm following some sort of old school rules. Those old time guys probably just made #$%* up as they went along, rules are just the man telling you what you can or can't do man haha.

[Geeto67]

yeah it's funny how things that would have been a valuable technique for a jobber are something "ol skool" people snub. I had Skratch do a helmet for me last year (he's a friend, so it was more about having some of his work than having a striped helmet) and he used tape to start and stop his lines. I use it all the time but I refuse to stripe in front of people because I used to see guys say things like "thats cheating" to use a piece of tape to get a certain point to a line when guys used to work the car shows. It isn't like the number of stripers is increasing, so being a snob in this space is stupid.

I remember a while back I was asked to outline some letters for a buddy on the tank of his guzzi. when I started to lay down a guide line with 3m plastic tape (for those who don't know a guide line is one where you put your finger on and trace with the movement of your hand to help keep the design consistent) he got offended that I wasn't doing it "free hand" and took it to another striper who is one of "those guys" (and actually a really talented painter). What he got back looked like a 5 yearold traced the letters with a filbert brush. It didn't even hide the edge of the character. He was happy as a pig in slop but if I did it I would be ashamed of that work (and the guy who did it is a really talented painter and I think his work is usually great). Some people.   

[750K]

Lol, that always kills me. I know a guy a few hours away from me that lives that old skool mentality with his striping, he's the king #$%* in his region but only because he's one of the only stripers up that way. His quality of work is garbage, but he's all "this is how it was done back in the day, so it's right..." Blows me away how people continue to let him stripe their rides. Looks like a blind guy did it, corners over shoot and not straight. I'd be ashamed if I did work like that and got paid for it lol

[754]

 BOOTS. Stripes from 1966..

[754]

 I think these helmets were sold by places like Rat,s Hole..

[750K]

Rad Frank, how long have you had it for? Thanks for showing it.

[754]

I think about 10-12 years, got it from a lady in Portland..on ebay.
My buddy had a great idea..take it back to Boots, get him to add a few links, then resign it with current year..
 Hey I got an oil tank he did,not sure if it's signed.. Had the tank too but the guy that ended up with trumpet frame, talked me out of the tank..

 Wonder who Barny was?  ?

[750K]

I have a couple friends that might have boots phone number if you decide to do that, pretty cool idea. One or two of them took an intro to striping class boots used to teach at KMS Tools in coquitlam a few years back, I'm sure I could track down his contact info fairly easily. I've never met the man but he's still around, don't know how much longer hell be actively painting. Heard something about heart problems from someone.

[Geeto67]

That helmet is awesome!

[Geeto67]

spotted this one on ebay today:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1978-HONDA-CB750-750-FOUR-GAS-FUEL-TANK-17520-405-770ZB-PAINTED-986-/370638011599?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item564bbf3ccf&vxp=mtr#ht_470wt_810

the price is crazytown considering it looks like someone tried to remove the top with sandpaper. Still, some real near airbrush work from 1980.

[750K]

That ones been up for sale for over a year, shame about the big dent. I almost bid on it but its too smashed up.

I'll see if I can dig up up a pic of the kz1000 tank I got of eBay, frazetta ish cobra wrapped around a smoking bong. Very 80's and in runnable condition.

[Geeto67]

some of this stuff is really only good now as wall art, but when you can find a tank you can use and has killer work - that's golden.

[ekpent]

Crap as% picture, better somewhere, but a tank on a bike I use. Old , Vintage and signed by a local painter who is still around I think but the last I heard is drinking a wee bit heavy and maybe doing other things. Like those old airbrush things 

[MoMo]

Crap as% picture, better somewhere, but a tank on a bike I use. Old , Vintage and signed by a local painter who is still around I think but the last I heard is drinking a wee bit heavy and maybe doing other things. Like those old airbrush things 

Love the retro look, that is a keeper for sure Eric...Larry

[750K]

Here's the Cobra Bong tank, love this thing. Once I get a petcock for it and hand letter the sides I'll put it on my 78 kz1000.

[Humble Pie]

That Satellite wheel is pretty cool, would like to find one of them

[Thamuz]

thanks guys.  You are fueling my desire to get my chopper project done with real hand-painted stripping all over.  Try to make it as 70's as possible.

All of this is amazing and beautiful.  I love the hand done artwork.  It shows a sense of pride and quality in the overall bike/car/sign/anything.  those helmets are beautiful too.