Hard Luck Racing

It's interesting how many requests we get for the 13/Hard Luck Racing graphic. Is it because motorcyclist are a fearless breed who spit in the face of fate? Or is it because they dig crudely drawn rabbits with bloody stumps where feet used to reside? Truly a riddle that may never be answered. Anyways, enjoy the following snaps of a Domain '13' aficionado getting up close with some California tarmac.

The Hard Luck Racing patch - Crude and insensitive? Yep. And don't ask us why his teeth are pink - just accept it and move on.

The monkey, dressed appropriately in the Domain 13, letting it all hang out at Willows.

An old school MV dustbin fairing for extra style points

The Flats

The Icon Bombshell GoGo gear running across the Bonneville Salt - as interpreted by artist Stenie Aziere-Sattler

 

Icon Womens Gear - Proving once again that safety can be sexy

09 Fall B-Camera

The creative staff at Icon spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to get just the right shot. Due to space constraints some of our favorites don't make it into print. Here's a few of the lost photos from the 09 Fall shoot to stare at while you should be working. 

So you think you can dance?

Jason gets his Dunlop's for free

Pre-dawn Husky run through a local skatepark - permitted of course;)

Icon New Years Party

The Icon new years party is just days away. As indicated it is both a semi-private and semi-formal party. If you're interested in coming just sign in where indicated. You'll find the sign taped to the outside wall of Slabtown.

Icon & Portland...BFF :)

From deep within the bowels of the derelict Linnton Plywood factory. It's a Northwest thing....

Motor City Motors

Our good friends the Detroit Brothers show the world you don't need to build theme bikes to be on the Discovery channel; Motor City Motors premieres Monday the 26th at 7:00pm PST.

Merry Christmas

When we were asked what we wanted for christmas this year the answer was simple - a 3 3/4" Icon action hero. Up top he should be all Icon but his bottom half should be yoinked straight from Cobra Commander. And presto - wish fulfilled. Of course the gigantic helmet looks as if it was painted by a blind monkey but we will overlook that. Anyways - Merry Christmas to you and yours from the staff at Icon.

Turbo lover

When it comes time to redecorate the Icon Garage we're going to do it all Nagel. We'll be sure to take off our 8-ball jacket first so we don't get any paint on it.

Getting all Benatar...

Ah, the fond memories of the Stryper tour

This one is gonna get painted onto the hood of our Slant Nose Porsche

 

Visions

The airborne particulates rained down in an ashen flurry. The charred refuse of humanity - of civility. He always knew it would end like this. The twisted metal shrines perched atop the ruptured asphalt remnants of society.  A battlefield of remote SUV's and tweaking truckers. This is why he had spent his life preparing. The countless hours of urban close-quarters riding practice. The years of mental solitude and ritual bike crafting. And of course the hording of gear. Specifically the helmet. A laminated carbon shell specifically equipped for the years of hardship to come. It's shape dictated by the jagged landscape. A peripherally extended eyeport to increase his situational awareness. Venting and nex-gen liners that allowed him to ride for extended hours should the situation demand it. And of course the composite structure of energy management carbon and foam should it all go wrong. He had paid the price, now he would reap the rewards. 

Cops <3 Icon

Tony Carbajal of Team No Limit snapped a couple quick photos of a Washington DC police officer fighting crime checking out the Icon GSXR collection. Needless to say, the officer was amused by Tony's photography skills and tasered him in appreciation. 

Alliance SSR Rockets Dead Glare - Super Street Bike

Check out the RDG Helmet and Merc Gloves  as they grace the cover of Super Streetbike magazine - the January issue is on the newstands now.

Matte Black - Madass

Matte Black's bad ass Madass. It was still a work in progress when we saw it but sick none the less.

Suzuki 5.5" rear wheel inside a custom swingarm

Salvaged Korean motor suspended in place

Busted and Broken - Center Punched

I got into an accident in December of 2007, when a drunk driver turned in front of me. Long story short, I totalled that Suzuki truck like it got hit by a comet. My injuries are so extensive it sounds fake. I tore the aorta in my heart, ripped my brain, and crushed my arms, back, ribs, femur, not to mention shredding my tendons and ligaments as well as multiple bones. And that wasn’t the worst of it!

I tore my organs up: there was no reason for me to be living and breathing. My chest crushed in the gas tank on my Ninja 636. I was so swollen that  they cut me open and pretty much gutted me. To this day I have a 2 foot scar like an alien coming out of my stomach. I was in Stony Brook hospital for over two months and St. Charles for a month of rehab. I have over 6 feet of metal in my arms, hands, legs and 2 titanium experimental stents in my heart keeping me going.

And the best part is I didn’t have one scratch on me (ha ha!). All in all I made a 100% recovery - I do everything I used to do and you could never tell the difference. My Dad says I got better looking too!

I was wearing an Icon Domain 2 Rubatone when I went down. I still have it fully intact, but my Strong Arm jacket they cut off me like a cross. So I wanna say thanks for saving me! If I didn’t have that stuff on I'd be in a box.

Nick M.

Domain helmet post carnage - it's all about energy management

De-raking a 636 the hard way

Worlds Quickest Harley

Joey Sternotti mid launch on the 1000HP Ray Price Funnybike - the picture doesn't begin to do it justice - insane

Rocking a custom Automag suit and the 'Thirteen' Domain 2 helmet, driver Joey Sternotti and the Ray Price team layed down another seriously insane season. Check out the full write up on Joey's record breaking pass of 6.144 ET at a incredible 234.37 MPH on the Ray Price website.

Wanna see more? Check out the 900HP movie we put out a couple of years ago - that was 100hp less than he's currently running. Like we said - insane.

Bombshell

Bombshell ad shot a few years back at Motocorsa

The Icon Sporty Update

Someone once said "Cool is a journey - not a destination". And by someone we mean Icon.  So we continue on our journey - propelled ever onward by the rapidly growing fleet of Slabtown Sportsters.

From apes to flattracks to clipons the Ironhead formerly known as 'Cold Dead Fingers' continues to evolve. She has given up her dirt track aspirations in lieu of ruling the high banked ovals of the greater tri-state area. Therefore we will now refer to her only as the 'Iron Lung'. Is she fast? Son, you better ask somebody...

You may not recognize this beauty after her much needed face lift. Yes, this is the previously documented Shitester. Eight hundred and eighty three cubic inches of fury. She is what is commonly referred to as a mechanics special or in old english a 'Shitebox'. But not to worry - big changes are headed her way. Things are gonna change for her, I can feel it.

 

And making her grand debut is the 'Cast Iron Bitch'. Years in the thinking, weeks in the making - she's a '80/'83/'85 Ironhead powered oxymoron. Don't blame Hodaka for this creation - they had nothing to do with it. No, this fine bit of engineering is all Slabtown. Nothing says Anemic like the word Anemic written in tire pen on your frame. She's a fine steed no doubt and would make any Vans wearing, ollie popping, glittery helmed biker proud. Currently we are debating if we can add another bend to the jockey shift lever to increase her legitimacy. What's that you say? Hardtail drop seats are so fat tire. Dammit - that is time critical information - we need to get on a better tweet feed!

Haven't got your fill of the most noble of Harley's yet? Head on over to Quad Cam Bastards for a complete overload of Sportster love.

Field Armor MilSpec Vest

The Field Armor vest rewrote the definition of street protection. A truly innovative product that rightfully dominates the competition. Combining this product with our industry leading Mil Spec vest was an easy decision. All the low-profile protection afforded by the FA vest combined with the daytime and nighttime high conspicuousness of the Mil Spec vest. Truly a win-win situation. 

Visit the Icon website for product details and to find a dealer near you

Rocket Scientist

We found this gem during our daily scans of the YouTube time vacuum. So why are we posting it? Choose one of the following:

a. The lead actor is rocking an Alliance SSR Headtrip helmet - much love

b. Icon loves CBR's equipped with unguided rocket pods

c. It is incredibly irresponsible, dangerous, and juvenile

d. All of the above

'Til Death Do Us Part

Ms. Crossbone Racer and Mr. Death or Glory - True love forever. 

It's a Minnesotan Thing

It's been arctic blast cold here in Portland over the last week. But no matter the weather you can always count on Shawn, our lead developer,  to spool up the Gixxer for the bitter commute. He's been hard at work on his newest creation - a pretty knit helmet liner. He's from Minnesota so he knows a thing or two about pretty hats. He also has some matching mittens which are not pictured.

Matte Black - Final Suicide

Yet another Matte Black creation - 'Final Suicide'. The Icon garage team was pressured into test riding this beast in front of the mildly intoxicated home town crowd. To say it was a bit of a handful doesn't do it justice - this is one bike that definitely earns it's name.

FInal Suicide's proud owner displays the questionable 

ergonomics while the poster in the background begs 

us to stop before someone gets ruined - we don't

heed it's request

Based off a Yamaha 750 - or not - only the Matte Black

Garage Team knows for sure and they aren't talking

Kurt rides off, merrily chanting the Final Suicide's theme song -

"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die..."

Luckily it comes equipped with a change of trousers

to save post test ride embarrassment

Team Merc

Apparently #2 didn't get the memo...

The man, the myth, the legend - Jason Britton

Looks like the father of modern day stunt riding got a little anxious to wear his new signature series helmet. Someone from the Philly area sent us this photo of Jason warming up for his show at Clutch Control. This is all you'll see until we launch this helmet in January of 2010. Until then hold off on practicing those rolling burnouts, you're gonna need the tire money to put towards your new helmet purchase!

Blown Ducati

During one of our photoshoots we had Jason Britton take a Hypermotard for a spin; 

Word on the street was that the ride ended with 

the Duc looking something like this. The truth

is something a bit less messy, but...

Elongated wheelies and aircooled Ducatis...

...don't mix very well

This is a simulated image of what happened

The actual culprit was oil shooting out of the crankcase breather. Lesson learned - If you're going to impress the local gelato crowd with your extended 12 o'clocks you'd best buy the extended warranty.

*No Ducati was (permanently) harmed in the making of this blog post

Deus Ex Bridgeport

My Dad used to own a production machine shop in Detroit. I would work summers there as an assistant to Fritz the Machinist. I learned enough about machining to make me a huge danger to myself and those within fly cutter range. It's strange how sentimental I get at the smell of coolant, machine oil, and hot steel chips. The perfume of the Industrial Midwest. -Kurt

Fritz's purple iron killer 

 

Fritz's old handwritten tap & clearance chart that I still use to this day 

The Fluffer

Walter, (Icon's Photo Shoot Coordinator & Female Model Talent Scout) caught here doing what he does best. The man loves his work.

Go Go Go

Icon's video master, Matt,  going in for the kill. Careful where you're aiming that camera buddy - lets keep it professional.