Friday, December 11, 2009

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






Thursday, December 10, 2009

Team Merc


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

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

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!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

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


Monday, December 7, 2009

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.


 
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