WTF is Slabtown Cycle Works???

The 'Slabtown Cycle Works' name and its various logo's appear on a multitude of Icon jackets. We've never really described what this name means or why we use it. So for those of you who stay up at night wondering wtf is Slabtown - read on.

Specifically Slabtown refers to a geographical location in northwest Portland. It's a mixed use/light industrial area north of Lovejoy running out to around Vaughn. The area got its name due to the 'Slabs' of wood that were often stored in the yards of it's poor immigrant inhabitants. A 'Slab' is the scrap of wood that remains when a log is trimmed down from a cylinder shape into rectangle. Nowadays the slab is turned into sheet product such as OSB or MDF, but back in the day they were coveted as cheap firewood.

So why does Icon use this name? Simple - our office is located in the heart of Slabtown - a mere block away from the Slabtown bar and discotheque. Slabtown Cycle Works is the custom bike building arm of Icon consisting of a group of Icon employees that comes together on nights and weekends to fabricate custom motorcycles. Though the Icon brand is most commonly associated with sportbikes - any genre of bike is fair game at Slabtown. We work on everything from sportbikes to street trackers to rat fighters to frisco chops. But really - Slabtown is a more a mentality than a location. A DIY low-dollar busted-knuckle approach to custom bike building. Anybody can be Slabtown. Anyplace can be Slabtown. Build whatever bike you can with whatever tools you've got. The result will be your child and in the end that is what counts.

So next time you see the Slabtown patch on the chest of an Icon jacket you'll be in the know. That knowledge and a $1.80 will get you a coffee at Starbucks.  

Icon Garage Team Loves Big Twins

Busted and Broken

Our crashes are vicious street episodes. We aren't talking about some lame gravel trap slide because you can't negotiate turn three. Ours are more like two lanes of oncoming and a bus type encounter that makes you rethink this whole motorcycling thing. Hunter Thompson knew about our type of crashes - Wacko! - enter sausage creature. At Icon we work to provide you with the gear to walk away.  We, (apparently alone) know this begins with making the gear look like something that you actually want to wear. And we have been pretty successful. Icon has put more protective gear on more unprotected riders than any other company. While every other brand (insert fancy euro roadracing logos here) ignored the street rider we embraced them. While they mocked and scorned - we designed and developed. Where they patently dismissed - we championed the cause. We will continue to push forth our street agenda one avenue, one suburb, one highway at a time. But for all our effort there will come a time when it is just you and the tarmac. A solitary statistical tumble. The Icon staff has been there and will most likely be there again. Because of our own painful lessons - we implore you to wear your gear! As a tribute to the select group of Icon abrasion and impact researchers we offer a token of our appreciation. Busted And Broken - earned the hard way. Not available in a store near you.

PDX Waterproof Gear

Following our mission to create real riding gear that doesn't suck, we give you the PDX line from Icon. Birthed in the rain soaked laboratories of Portland, Oregon the PDX is our answer to Mother Nature's fury. The pattern of the ripstop waterproof shell is cut full to fit over your normal riding gear. The unique roll-up hood seals against the neck during your ride, then unfurls to cover your helmet hair when you arrive at your destination. A couple of well placed pockets, complete seam sealing, reflective graphics and wind flap elimination straps complete the program. The PDX, keeps you dry while keeping you 'fresh'. New Hi-Viz colorway available now.

SHOCKING

So what gives - the kings of the urban landscape making one piece leathers? The poster child of American moto-hooliganism out on the track putting the wood to next-gen exotic race bikes? When it comes to roadrace gear, just because we haven't doesn't mean that we can't. The fact is Icon does produce a killer suit - we're talking MotoGP starting grid level suit - and no, you can't get one. Unless of course your name is Valentino Rossi. In which case we'll send you one tomorrow. BTW - The helmet in the photo is an Icon Airframe Chrome Claymore - an awesome street or track helmet.

Events

Be sure to catch the latest and greatest bikes on display at the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show when it rolls into your hood. We'll be there with the new Icon gear so be sure to stop by our booth. Next stops are Dallas, TX Nov. 13-15, 2009 and San Mateo, CA Nov. 20-22, 2009

Operator - Operating

The Alliance SSR Operator helmet on patrol in Afghanistan. And yes - the photo is real. 

Bikes of Icon - Operator

We got this thing for a sweet deal. The story goes that it was stolen and in the course of the joyride, wheelied over backwards. Most bikes can handle that kind of abuse and still fetch a fair price. Luckily for us, Ducati's can not. You see, most Ducatista's aren't doing their bike shopping out of the Nickel Trader. They prefer getting raped in the clean confines of an OE dealer while Swedish techno reverberates softly over German speakers. Icon on the other hand is not too proud to beg, barter, or borrow our bikes. So we offered the towing company a trade of two Home Depot gift cards, four cans of baby formula, a Hi Point .45, and $1300 cash for this fine bit of Italian kit. Sure the plastics and most of the subframe were scattered over a half acre of corn, but the price was right and the motor ran reasonably quiet. So it was back to the Icon lab to complete the metamorphasis of this rancid tent worm into a beautiful olive drab shitemoth. Some angle grinding, alloy bending, and rattle canning and she was ready to roll. The previous owner rode her like he stole her, which he did. We ride her like we hate her, which we don't, but its a clever thing to say.


Model  1999 Ducati   SS900 //  Front Tire Michelin Power Race 120/70 R17 //  Rear Tire Michelin Power Race 180/55 R17  //  Levers CRG  //  Exhaust Werkes USA Titanium Can  //  Airfilter K&N  //  Clutch Assy Barnett  //  Saddlebags Mount .50 Cal Ammo Cans Handformed Aluminum  //  Number Plate Handformed Aluminum  //  Headlight PIAA  //  Tailight Shucks LED Trailer Light  //  Mirror CRG  //  Chain RK 520 O-Ring

Alliance Operator Helmet

Hooligan Operator Jacket

Sub Operator Glove

Down for the Set

Icon Mainframe Subhuman helmet meets ZX-14

Bikes of Icon - The Speed Cretin

When it comes to custom bike building there is always a price to be paid. Most bike builds cost loads of money. Almost all extort countless hours of time. And some, such as the Speed Cretin, can nearly cost you a marriage. Or two. To understand the sordid history of the Cretin one must travel back in time to 1984.

The Cretin originally came into the Icon family in '84- indeed when Icon was only a glint in Part's eye. Found for sale on the side of a lonely Oregon highway it was an ill-considered impulse buy - but a deal that was to good to walk away from. By way of the neighbor's borrowed pickup truck, the TT was proudly shuttled home to display to the loving wife. Alas she was not nearly as impressed with the purchase. Apparently the clipping of coupons and skimping on named brand peanut butter was not meant to free up capital for roadside Yamaha thumper acquisitions. But in time, the true genius of the purchase would be revealed and harmony would once again returned to the household. For this was a bike that would change things, this was the bike that would simultaneously open doors while shutting down the competition. For years the Cretin would rule the dark shadowy world of Tillamook Burns. But with all things that spend too many weekends in the deep woods - time would exact a heavy toll. Pegs broke, kickstarters stripped, and wheels bent. Sumps would crack and cheap 30 weight would soil the soil. And then one day, without warning there would be a new girl. All plastic and shiny. The other men called her an XR400 but the TT new what she really was - whore! And so it came to pass that the TT would take the dreaded ride to the shed out back. There she would sit amidst the broken mowers and boxes of dusty Transformers . Waiting. Plotting.

The Speed Cretin's second attempt at home wrecking came in the Fall of 2008. Her makeover was going to be a quick two-week affair. Just some small tweaks to give her a new life as a cheap old-school street legal motard - a far better life than she was living since her unceremonious retirement. Not a major build - new tires, new seat, new VIN numbers, and maybe a fresh coat of Krylon. But as with many good intentions, the Speed Cretin gleefully paved a road to hell. First the stock front end, with its pathetic front drum, had to go. Spools and mini-drums are applicable items for dirt ovals and fire roads, but the first stop light you accidently blow through can quickly change your perspective on the need for 'cool' at the front hub. Of course changing the front end almost always requires a redo of the rear, vanity demands it. So numerous swingarms were acquired and test fit into the stock TT frame. The YZ490 arm, with its aluminum construction and monoshock mount proved to be the perfect match - once it was flipped upside down. A rear shock was cannibalized from Icon's stash of derelict donor bikes and welded into the frame. And it went on like this for months, get miscellaneous part, fit miscellanous part, chop miscellaneous part, weld miscellaneous part, ad nauseam. So long did this process take that aforementioned wife, whilst holding screaming newborn child, began to question the necessity, nay the very sanity of this build. "Why?" she would ask repeatedly upon viewing the Cretin build. "It won't be very fast you know", the blasphemous words rolled off her tongue. "Is that the real seat - it doesn't look very comfortable" quickly followed by "Are you sure it's safe - you aren't a very good welder". The verbal blows rained down threatening to extinguish what little flame was left in the soul of this Icon build. The Cretin, sensing its very existence was in jeopardy, fired on the first kick. As if to say "I am the Cretin of your dreams, and I will gladly shuttle you into a new dawn of motorcycling". So we girded our loins, strapped on our hot shoe, and prepared for the inaugural run. The test ride went amazingly well. Save for the catastrophic failure of the rear wheel, which was reverse mounted to eliminate the need for a cush drive. And of course there was the nervous slapping of the handlebars caused by our overzealous shopping cart of a rake angle. It would appear that everything we touched on this build turned out a bit wonky. Luckily we outsourced the painting, so the tins came back beautiful which makes up for the aforementioned transgressions. And then it ended. The Speed Cretin was done. Divorce averted - accolades received - history made.