A Rare-it-"T" and the "Z" Man

When Bruce Parrish told me he still had a Dick Allen T-shirt, I told him he had to send some photos.

This may be the Holy Grail of vintage chopper T-shirts. I find it interesting that it says California. Perhaps, so Dick could use the same design no matter what city his shop might move to.

I'm not sure if this is a dark photo of the same shirt or a black one. Bruce designed Dick's lettering and drew the art. Joe Hurst said Dick looked like the Zig-Zag man and says he suggested using his head on the art, but Bruce said it was from a cigarette (I never heard of and can't recall the name), that Dick like to smoke. I have to admit, it looks like the Zig-Zag Man to me. Bruce, send me the name if you get a chance.

I don't know about the T-shirt art, but....

Update: Joe called and said the cigarettes that Dick smoked were (sounds like), Shebeedees or Zabedees). That's what Bruce had mentioned. When Bruce told me I did a search, but came up empty. I now found Azadbidi, a brand of bidi cigarettes. That's likely it. Bidis (pronounced bee-dees) are small hand-rolled cigarettes manufactured in India and other southeast Asian countries.

These are not Azadbibi, but show the type. Azad's usually have an elephant on the pack. Bidis are tobacco wrapped in tendu or temburni leaf . Traditionally they are tied with string and come in flavors, like chocolate, mango, vanilla, lemon-lime, mint, pineapple and cherry.

Happy New Year

Be careful today too. Hung over drivers are almost as bad as drunks.

Hardly David 3

Also from Choppers Magazine Nov. '69 issue. These cartoons are always signed Luke? As mentioned before, they look like they could be Ed Newtons work.

Mann Hunt

Every now and then I get questions from readers in regards to certain David Mann illustrations.

Here's the latest inquiry from Scott:
I have been watching MCArt for a couple of years. After a whole lot of searching, I thought you might be somebody to ask about a Mann illustration.

Somewhere, I came across one of his works which featured an orange bike in profile - as if on a drawing board, in the planning phase. I don't remember what kind of bike it was, just that it was in profile and there was a sketch of the exhaust along with it.

Does that ring any bells with you, or do you know where I might find an example of it? I haven't been able to find it anywhere.

Well, that put a bug up my butt since I knew I have it and had looked at it recently. The trouble was, what issue was it in?

I thumbed through some old issues and was puzzled why I couldn't find it. I then remembered I had a folder of saved samples of David Mann art from issues I had tossed.


I thought I'd share this one since it's a bit different from the more common bike scenes that David did. It's sort a playful dance between 2-d and 3-d with the art and the art process being being part of the still life. Dave like to incorporate these types of illusions in his art and did so from time to time, but it's also sort of a behind the scenes look at a bike he'd probably like to have built. It's a tight little bike, reminiscent of his own pan/shovel shown below.


The current owner restored Dave's bike to a slightly earlier version than how it looked when sold. Photo ripped from the Bikers, Hippies and Tattooed Freaks blog.

I don't know what month/year issue it's from since I tossed the rest of the magazine. I thought it was a shovel, but it turns out that the art bike has an Evo engine. That and since it's a stapled center spread, means it's likely from the mid to late 80's.

"Little Stevie" and "Coffin Pete" by David Mann

I especially love David Mann's early work, and love seeing artist's work that I've never seen before. So, when Joe Hurst first told me he had a original David Mann painting, I immediately thought, I can't wait to see it.

I was totally jazzed when he brought it along on our visit to the Wailing Wall.


Stevie is on the left and Pete is on the red bike. It's Pete of Pete's Panhead of Choppers Magazine Feb '69. Stevie made a deal with the devil and the devil cashed in early. Joe and his buddy Nez asked Dave to paint it.

I really dig Dave's work from this period. 1971 was the same year he started doing illustrations for Easyriders.

The painting has endured some stains over the years and Joe hoped it could be cleaned. I told him it was very likely painted with gouache (pronounced "gwash"), and since they are opaque watercolors it would probably bleed if any attempt at cleaning was made. I then added, if it can't be cleaned, it's still a totally cool piece to own.

Later, I suggested he contact Jacquie Mann to find out the media Dave used. He immediately called her and she confirmed it as gouache.


I can't leave things alone, so as an exercise/challenge , I did some Photoshop retouching.

I love night scenes. This is now one of my favorite David Mann pieces.

Friday's Funnies, Peanuts Gone Wild

Never mind the caption, I wonder if the art is authentic? Probably not.

Got Ticket?

Got mine. I'm not the type to say I'll win, but see it as a way to support the effort and cost these guys are putting out with the added benefit of a chance.

A Creative Artist

I've been out of town for more than a week with no TV or Internet, so I hadn't heard the sad news of Frank Frazetta's passing until today.

Frank's fame and influence went far beyond just fans of Comics, Fantasy, or Sci-Fi books. His art was featured on covers of heavy metal music, movie posters, and was often copied and painted on the hoods of cars, the side of Vans, and of course, MotorCycle gas tanks.


One of us. Frank relaxes on his '48 Panhead. Little did he know, one day his art would adorn many a chopper.


The "no swipes or photographs" statements makes his art that much more impressive. Early in my art training I remember being very disappointed to find out that most professional artist took photos or swiped images and traced their references.


Frank was a master of the human form. Based on his statement above, we'll cut him some slack on the bike.

Frank's passing marks another end of an era. He'll be missed by many.

Doctor's Orders?

I was out of town and also got sick so I haven't been very active with the blog.

A strict medicinal regiment for wellness.

So where does the image of a medicine man/witch doctor with Top Hat originate? The latest Disney animated film "The Princess and the Frog", (set in New Orleans), features such a character as the villain.

The flip side is even cooler.

Mo better now.

Dave Willardson H-D Tank Art

Dave Willardson and Charles White III were friends and illustrators who teamed up at one time. They both played a big part in the revival of the airbrush for use in illustrations during the '70's. If you 're old enough, you may have had an album or two featuring their cover art. In 1980 they did 4 illustrations including the cover for the Harley brochure. Dave later went to work for Disney doing all the movie posters for their animated movies. He may still work for Disney.

The above art by Dave Willardson, one of the cooler illustrations from the 1980 H-D Brochure. These were the good old days. It's tough being an illustrator now. Today, almost nobody uses illustrations for music CD's, movie posters, print ads or brochures.

Bam!, Xmas is Here

Time's Up

Only 366 days till next year.

Happy Thanksgiving

Taking off for the Holiday so I won't be posting for awhile. Keep leaving comments and I'll post them when I can. Later!

Art Imitates Life

Many of the crazy images that were put out by Roth had some basis in reality. Note the Iron Cross on the gas tank.


Dick Cook aboard "Big Daddy's" mini bike. It was said to be too big for Ed. This thing is more ridiculous than in the art.

World's Fastest?

When? ..... it's a Cool Decal, anyhow.

Ed Newton, Big Twin Again

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.

No Choppers!

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!

Dick Allen Chopper Hero

As a kid buying chopper magazines certain individuals took on rock star status. One of those guys was Dick Allen. Any time a magazine featured something related to Dick you knew it would be cool.

Dick's bike as featured in Choppers Magazine Oct. 68. Here you can see how the secondary sissy bar bolts to the fender and at the bar up top.

Take note of the art and also that skinny 26" front wheel.

During this period, not too many ran a stock bobbed Harley fender on this style of chopper.

Really tall stacks, ...a slight crack?!

It's interesting how time changes things. At that time, many guys dumped their panheads in a flash for the better performance of a shovel. So why did Dick go from a pan to a shovel then latter a knuckle? Some say knucks are the best.

An earlier photo of what appears to be the same bike. Forks are early Sportster that look to be fitted with slugs for extension (check the area between trees). The trees look raked and the lower one still has the fork boot mounts attached. The antique 26" front rim and spokes was still black at this time.

A later shot of Dick on his knuckle "Locomotion", sporting some of his trademark features: 12 spoke 15"mag with car radial tire, swooping sissy bar support, long narrow springer, 2 to 1 collector exhaust, cobra seat, tall z-bars, and Sportster headlight. These features became almost a standard for the South Bay (beach cities L.A.).

Ed Newton's art for Roth's t-shirts and decals. Tall pipes, Indian forks, tall skinny front wheel and a crazy bearded rider. Was this inspired by the wheelie incident or drawn before and later modified for the article? This could have been Dick, as Newton's California Chopper art also seems to be a depiction of Beautiful Buzzard.

The engine here is a shovel and the tanks match Dick's paint. Only Ed Newton would know the back story.