Winter Projects

Winter is here. Sure you could complain about how you can't go out and blast canyons at warp speed. Or lament the lack of parking lot practice time. Or even give a foul whiskey mouthed  tirade about the dark cold rides home from the local watering hole. Or you can turn that frown upside down with the acquisition of some craigslist mechanical Prozac. You know the ones - 'Running when parked; Can't find title; Just needs carbs cleaned; Have to leave country and can't take bike'. The mere purchase of a yamahondasporty can do wonders for the spirit, while simultaneously decimating the joint checking account. Sorry honey - I know the kids wanted to go to Disneyland this winter - but daddy really needs another chop. With enough counseling the kids will understand.  

So Team Icon has shown you ours - know you show us yours. What are you working on this winter? Send us your photos and your build story - best submission will get something cool from the Icon garage. Second best submission will get a slight nod and a "That's pretty cool" verbal acknowledgement. Worst submission will get publicly ridiculed.

The Icon Garage Team intends to get it's hands bloodied within the corroded bowels of the Magnificent Bastard - she is scheduled for extensive lap-band surgery

The Icon Shitester's complete makeover into 1200cc glory has already begun - front end courtesy of Boeing

The bastards over at Quad Cam prepping for the next build - we're guessing it'll be a Sportster of some kind

Keron, the artist behind the Airframe Siren, gets ready for a winter rebuild

Icon's Anemic gets it's annual top-end rebuild

Carlos, from Detroit Brothers, cannabalizing the remains of his crashed ride

Even The Beard, Icon's in house facial haired celebrity (true story), gets into the act with his once proud CB550 stripped down to the point of crushed dreams

Engine Engine #9

We like naked Ducati's. Not Monster naked mind you - nothing of the prefabbed factory stock nudes. No, we like fine Italian supermodels that have been shucked of their couture outerwear. Stripped fashionistas that are at once both shamed and brazen. Such unholy conglomerations as the following trellis framed lolitta. Check out the wonderful world of BikeEXIF for the more of #9.

Variant Versus Vtwin

A few of the Vtwin royalty rocking the Variant lid. Seriously - if you put down some serious urban miles you will love this helmet.

Motopunk Rob via Quadcam Bastards

ChopperDave via Church of Choppers

Sideburn

The latest issue of Sideburn will be available on August 19th. In case you've been in a coma for the last couple of years - Sideburn is the boutique magazine with a singlehanded mission to revive the sport of flat tracking. Filled with great articles and pics, it's well worth the price of admission. 

Help keep CMYK alive - check out Sideblog to order a copy of Sideburn#6 today

Swag Vultures

A box showed up at our door last week. Not just any box mind you, but one marked CoC DSMN, IA. For those of you in the know that can mean only one thing - Church of Choppers. The swag vultures circled around the box waiting for the packing tape to be cut open - for the scent of gratis goods carries high on the wind. To their delight, the inside was a cornucopia of shiny metal, debossed leathers, and screened cotton. They cackled with opportunistic delight and dove beak first into the consumable carrion. The box and all it's treasures were summarily stripped clean and left for dead. The swag vulture's appetites were satisfied...if only for today.

Straight from the CoC 

Bastard Bash

If you haven't figured out that the Icon Garage Team's loves the venerable Sportster - than you haven't been paying attention. Hella durable, mechanically simple, awesome sound, relatively cheap, & full of American soul. The Icon recipe for cool Sportstering is quite simple;

1. Pick one up for cheap from your local tweeker (no teeth, no title, no keys, no problem)

2. Shitcan every last bit of HD billet chrome garbage attached to it (and there will be plenty)

3. Spend countless hours on Ebay finding late model Japanese sportbike componentry (we prefer R6 and ZX parts)

4. Find someone with a metal lathe and befriend them with room temperature PBR (or two hundred rounds of .223 reloads)

5. Get a really nice DeWalt angle grinder, oxy-acetylene torch, and a second hand mig welder (otherwise known as life skills)

6. Commence chopping that fuking Sportster to within an inch of it's life (you'll know when you've gone to far)

7a. If it turns out cool - Contact the Bastards at Quad Cam for an invite to Deals Gap for the third annual Bastard Bash rally
7b. If it turns out uglier than homemade sin - part it out on Ebay and speak of this sad episode no more

Though we don't approve of riding without protective gear we do approve of flogging your Sportster at all times. A flogged Sportster is a happy Sportster.