Welcome to Friday Fudge. If it’s weird, funny, or strange motorcycle news, or it just plain won’t fit anywhere else on the site – you’ll find it here.
Martin’s madness
Ya gotta love Guy Martin. Despite the fact he has to stuff his head into a motorcycle helmet to earn a living, he insists on growing an unruly moptop, and sideburns that would make a Civil War general jealous. He must have to get those skid lids custom-fitted, to stuff all that extraneous hair in there. But hey, who are we to judge?
Martin’s madness doesn’t end with his hirsute appearance, or his thick accent. Lately, along with his work as a mechanic and his roadracing career, he’s been working on a television show called “Speed.” He’s tried to set all sorts of ridiculous records, including an attempt to ride a motorcycle on water, which we told you about a few weeks ago (he managed to do about 65 metres). He’s set a speed record for a human-powered aircraft in Episode 3 of the show, he’s pedaled a bike to 112 mph, and now he’s trying to set a speed record for a toboggan. You can check it out on January 19, if you can figure out how to watch UK’s Channel 4 television.
Source: Channel 4
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If you ride a motorcycle for a few years, chances are you’ll see one of these happen.
The dream life
It’s every motorcyclists’ dream: Spend your life riding around on a bike, without having to go to work. Frank Bircher, a 61-year-old man from the UK, lived this dream, until he went and wrecked it all … by being seen on his motorcycle.
Bircher, apparently, had a sweet scam going on. He was registered as disabled, avoiding the 8-5, Monday to Friday grind, and the Department for Work and Pensions was funding his lifestyle. His initial injuries had healed, but he had perfected a fake limp, which convinced the department’s workers he deserved their funds.
Alas, Bircher didn’t maintain his gimpy gait in public, and was seen walking along with little difficulty. Then, he was seen riding his motorcycle – something he shouldn’t have been able to do, with his alleged disability. He confessed to his criminal ways, and now is paying back a stiff £190 in fines after ripping off taxpayers for 10 months of disability. That ought to teach him a lesson!
Source: In-Cumbria
Return of the chopper
As we’ve told you before in Friday Fudge, the misfits at Orange County Choppers are back, building chrome barges with bolted-on accessories for a new show on the Country Music Channel. Guess who’s an upcoming customer? Why, none other than basketball Shaquille O’Neal!
Some of you may remember Shaq is no stranger to choppers – West Coast Choppers star Jesse James built him a custom bike years ago, which was featured on an episode of his show. There was a lot of hoopla, and Shaq made a big deal about how he wanted the bike to fit his height, which, we must admit, is about the only real reason to have a ridiculous raked-out bike for actual street use.
Alas, his stretched frame must not have matched up well with the bike’s stretched frame, because when the machine went up on eBay a few years later, it had supposedly seen less than 500 miles.
The OCC bike will be lucky if it sees that much mileage. It’s supposedly going to be 14 feet long, and judging by their past creations, it’ll likely have a “basketball theme,” and will likely involve such innovations as a a bolted-on backboard or some other such foolishness. But at least it’ll look cool, right?
Source: Dispatch
Three-wheeled thrills
Sure, your XYZ1000 sportbike can out-turn a Harley-Davidson – but can you beat a Tri-Glide in a parking lot drag race in December?
Ok, that Tri Glide racing in the snow reminded me of my cousin with his Yamaha 175 two stroke 3 wheeler on the lake, him on the trike, me on an old dirtbike, sliding big full lock lazy circles on the ice. Some of the best times of my youth include riding in the winter.
Been 26 winters since ya left us buddy, still miss ya bad.
A bunch of us used to race Z50 minibikes around a snow-packed parking lot long, long ago. It was just hilariously stupid fun to be so out of control and yet be going so slowly that crashing was actually fun.