S.I.E. Sissy Bar

Vilmino of LoserRules posted a S.I.E. ad with this sissy bar in it.

This is likely the same as the one in the Dick Allen photo. I'm still not 100% sure they made mine. This one has flat fender mounts like the one Mark sent in. Mine has side mounting holes, is taller, and a license plate/taillight mount.

Puzzle Solved

This ad always puzzled me. I remember seeing it and wondering, could this possibly be White Bear repainted with some minor cosmetic changes or just a very similar machine? It seemed too soon to be the same bike but, at the same time, too similar.

Full page ad from the back cover of the Nov. '73 Custom Chopper. White Bear was in the Aug. '73 Street Chopper, not much time had passed between seeing both bikes published.

Same stance, mags, forks, bars, magneto, and tank with indents. Some other things while similar, are a bit it off? Sportster headlight wasn't chrome, exhaust are slightly different, the engine was not bead blasted but polished in places and sporting a SU carb. But, there was a small nagging similarity. It had exactly the same Harley-Davidson decal on the top edge of the oil tank.

37 years later, puzzle solved. I showed Joe the ad and finally got the answer. He sold white Bear for $1800 as a rolling chassis to Bob Olsen, owner of E.M.E so he could buy a Porsche 911. Pretty decent money for a roller back then.

Final Notes: Joe did later run a SU on White Bear. He knew and still knows the girl (Cindy). in the ad. He never saw the photo of her that they mention in the ad. The wheels advertised (U.S. Mag Corp.), aren't the same as the ones on the bike. They are the original American Racing Wheels.

Gift Ideas?

H-D T-shirts sure have changed. I like these better than the shirts today (especially the psychedelic trademark and XLCH), albeit not so tight fitting.

Credit Where It's Due

It figures. Irish Rich's blog was the place I saw the ad. I had a sneaking suspicion it might be there... and it was only posted last January. Should have double checked. The ol brains going to mush.

The Buzzard Mann Connection

Laid Back Jammin. Roth's pal Buzzard was featured in one of his "The Country's Grooviest Bike People" Posters. Note the antique bulb horn on the left side pullbacks. Was he the first to build six-bends? This bike is Bitchin! and there's a good reason this shot looks like a David Mann painting.


Buzzard in a early Choppers Magazine Wheelie Prones ad. It's a somewhat confusing ad for risers and slugs. Extending and trimming wide glide trees and legs seemed to be his specialty. He had also placed a few ads in the Beg Borrow and Steal classified section promoting these services. Buzzard later wrote an article on the subject for the Nov. '68 issue.


David Mann circa 1969. I remember seeing one of those ads stating that Buzzard was selling his bike since he was off to the "Joint", but can't find it. I also read somewhere that David Mann was the guy that bought it. For the longest time I didn't put the two together. Dave lost the front brake.


Dave and the bike in 1970. Now painted black featuring an SU carb, drag pipes, longer forks, and Finned Dish Pans.


Here you can clearly see a large brass horn mounted on the bars.


Art imitates life. Dave even used the bike as inspiration for this later Easyriders center spread art. The six-bend pullbacks, unique high pipes, and fork boots give it away. Note the entry info taped to pillar.


Later, when it was featured in Choppers Magazine Aug. '73 it sported a 20" over D&D springer and frame. This article never mentions that the bike was once owned by Buzzard. It does mention him as his friend and the builder of the Ankh sissy bar and pullbacks. I believe this sissy bar was on the bike when Buzzard owned it, but the additional side supports are not in the top photo. The article states the brass horn as being from a Bombay Taxi and questions how Dave acquired it. It also states that since the shoot, Dave had gone back to the original H-D frame and wide glide. What really puzzles me, I don't recall Easyriders ever doing a feature on Dave's bike?

Update

This familiar shot was recently posted on The Shame of it All blog. It shows a different horn on the bars. The top Buzzard photos look to be the larger Bombay Taxi horn.

Ed Newton, Art Hero 3

Here's an old AEE/ Ed Newton ad I kept from a 1969 Cycle Guide.


Ed Newton had been doing all kinds of cool art and designs for Roth. Since Roth and Tom Mc Mullen were friends, I guess it was natural for Newton to design the Big Twin. During this period, nobody was doing cooler stuff than Newton.

Ads '69

Forty Freakin Years Ago.

I saved this page from what I think was a 1969 Cycle Guide

The ads (below), are on the back



You don't see the H-D Outperformer art as often as the others.

1972 Chop Shop Ad

Kind of a cool shirt but the ol'lady ain't exactly doing it for me. Maybe because back then, my mom and all my aunts wore their hair like that!

Big Daddy Roth Fan Club

Two Heroes for the price of one

Ed Roth by Pete Millar, Drag Cartoons 12/64

More Williams via Roth

From March 68

Millar, Roth, and Robert Williams Patches

Stuff like this was "kick starting" my interest.

As stated in an earlier post, Pete Millar was a hero of mine. Since Pete and Ed were friends there was always something in Drag Cartoons about Ed, and many issues featured his ads. As Roth's ads began to increase their emphasis on choppers, so did my interest.


SHOCKING!?... more like WOW! At age 12, This was my only glimpse of the art and lifestyle. A Williams' biker holds a David Mann poster.

I had no idea who was drawing this stuff but I knew I liked it. At some point I learned of Ed Newton and David Mann. Many moons passed until I realized Robert Williams was another important Roth Studios artist.

The DC Roth ads from Jan. 68 and 67. I'd peer at these little images with awe and wonder. For many years, I only saw this stuff at this scale.


A whimsical Williams character pitches his patches. Only Robert could come up with such fun weirdness.


Robert aboard Roth's evolving "Oink", the coolest swing arm of them all!


Once familiar with his style, there's no doubt Robert's the artist.


The effect on my small brain. The influence of Williams' Devil's Chopper patch (above), and Newton's art (below), is evident. At that time I had no real knowledge of a Harley's workings. Note... push rods on left side. Most clues were gleaned from ads or the drawings by a school chum.

Ed Newton's art, also helped me get my head straight

Ed Newton, Art Hero 2

We're on a black and white art roll.

Another by Newt. In my book, he's The King of Line Art! I love that the whole ad was hand drawn with only the photos of parts and body copy dropped in. Even the name of the shop is hand lettered. You'll never see an ad done that way today.

Chopper Emergency?

Who ya gon'na call?...

24 hour service! This guy must have been a plumber.

Jim Phillips

All you Thrashers know him. Even if it wasn't signed, you'd know this as Jim Phillips art.

Jim wasn't a Hero of mine only because I hadn't seen much his work. I only knew of him from a few samples of his chopper ad art, mostly The Fiberglass Works. I was in to skateboards at a very young age but, that was before his fame in that genre. I rediscovered him (bought the book), a few years ago and his work blew me away.

Chopper Parts Ad Junkies Part II

It's hard to believe what $5.95 would buy back then

Roth used to run a Product of the Month ad in his Choppers Magazine

For Old Chopper Parts Ad Junkies

From Roth's Choppers Magazine July 1969.

Notice that the air scoop picture is from Roth's Candy wagon.

I have always been a huge Randy Smith fan.

Say no to billet....CAST PARTS RULE!

H-D Ad of the Week

What's holding it up?

One of my all time favorite H-D ads. Partly because my first bike was a 71 XLCH that I painted white but, also because of the dragstrip, christmas tree, pose, and the lighting.

My XLCH circa 1977

Factory Fotos 69