Favorite Von Dutch Sign/Taking Off

I'm going to be away from the blog for a bit. Feel free to leave your comments and I'll post them when I can. In the mean time....
I leave you with my favorite Von Dutch sign.

From the Brucker auction

It's a Von Dutch Thing

I had seen the Kenford truck and read tales of the Toronado, but it was really cool to hear that one of my biggest Heroes owned the same kind of car as mine. Since I had already known how Dutch felt about "all things German", and of his personality, it figures that he owned a VW Thing.

I first got wind of Dutch's Thing (in 1995), while reading Hot Rods by Ed "Big Daddy"Roth. I was intrigued when Roth wrote, "Dutch started goin' to the Santa Paula Airport every mornin' cause he wanted to build a VW Thing airplane. He was gonna make the wings outta electrical conduit." I didn't know what to think and wondered what it would look like?

The mystery was finally revealed in 2002 when it was featured in a magazine.

This was Dutch's daily driver up until his death in '92. While not converted into a flying machine, it has various airplane features. It has a Pitot tube for airspeed up front, or knowing Dutch, is that a gun barrel?


I agree with the message on the back, "Have Fun, Don't Grow Up".


Dutch's humor/obsession with the obvious. Every where you looked, he painted labels or initials on the fenders and panels indicating "things" like, L.F. for Left-Front, and Right or Left, and so on. This guide key was painted on both rear side doors to keep it all straight.


The pilot's cockpit features only one seat, no passengers. Levers are for dropping Bombs? If it was anything like his Toronado, that would mean empty beer cans. The Horn Button is inscribed Von Dutch '85, so he seems to have owned it for a little while.


The Thing sports two fuel gauges. On the hood, a ball inside a plexiglass box connects to a float in the fuel tank, the other, a simple indexed sight tube, is inside the cockpit.


Dutch figured the engine lid may as well be useful if it was up while on the side of the road.

On the subject of planes and beauty, Dutch once told Roth , "They are not designed to be beautiful, they are designed to work and that's what makes them beautiful". I'll bet he felt the same way about his Thing.

More of DH's Dirty Sporty

In case you missed it on Stretch's blog, here's more of Dick's dirt bike.

Sort of a English Harley. You could build something quite similar starting with a '79 and up Ironhead.

The Dutch's Touches. The specs. of the bike are mention in the post below comments.

Von Dutched?

Recently Irish Rich did a post on this Dick Hirschberg Sportster. It was mentioned that it was painted orange and detailed by Von Dutch. It reminded of a bike and prompted me to find a photo from El Camino 1989.


Okay, it's different but, it also has that "From the hand of Von Dutch" look. The frame is pinstriped in a similar fashion. It has some interesting features. It has a hand shift. The brake pedal must be on the right side. It appears to be the front brake lever on the bars so, where's the clutch lever? Also, check out those frame, shock and swing arm mods. Anybody have any info about this unique machine?


Updated after some comments. Clutch Mystery Solved. You can see the clutch cable coming thru the motor mount and it's outer cable held at what at first seemed to be a pedal. The pedal is mostly lost in the black but it's looks like it's tip extends at the front of the primary right behind the top rear motor mount bolt.

Dutch Treat, as in Von

That's Kenny holding up the tiny Honda chopper. I believe it was called Teeny Weenie. I remember it from another magazine, maybe a later Choppers magazine. They re-ran some of the early issue features and bikes in the later large format magazine.


Big Daddy gives lots of good information about this mysterious man who had already become a character of legend in '68.

Von Stool

You guys got it right and quick. Here's a shot of the freshly painted stool I posted in the Quiz. The second thing about it: I checked the seat at the auction and it looked to be a small Harley solo off an early Sportster, K model, or yes, a Hummer. Looks like he painted the toe of his shoe when shooting it.

A Blog, a Bike, and Inspiration

Then came Hirschberg... and an inspiring machine.

Today I stumbled on to this photo of Dick Hirschberg and his cool cut down 69 shovel. It was found on Irish Rich's new blog Homage. His blog is mostly geared to the honorable task of paying tribute to the Heroes that inspire him. A duty I try to do myself every now and then.

I was jazzed to find the photo since I'm always on the hunt for cool swing arm bikes to serve as inspiration for my 65 Pan. Looking at the photo, I couldn't help thinking of Then Came Bronson and not just because of his sailor's watch cap. The pared down big twin takes on a Sportster look aided in part with what appears to be a 18" rear wheel. It also has the same English (Lucas), style tail light/license mount and similar (bobbed), fender treatment as the Bronson bike.

The man that launched a million Watch Caps. I bought one myself.

Dick's bike was built the same year (1969), the show aired. Is there a connection? Bud Ekins did and coordinated the stunts for the pilot film and TV series. Rich's blog mentions that Von Dutch did engine turning, lettering, striping, and engraving on Dick's bike. We also know that Dutch worked off and on for Bud. Did Von Dutch have a hand in the Bronson bike? Was Dick's bike influenced by the Bronson bike, the other way around, or was this just the style of the times?

Bronson sans a cap. Note the tail light and bobbed fender.

Update!
Information for the Bronson Sportster can be found at:
http://www.thencamebronson.com/cycles.htm

I went back to that website to see what it said. I had read the information there before but, forgot the details. It has interview statements from Bud Ekins saying that he was the one who customized the Sportster and the other bikes used in the show. It also has a MGM press release listing all of the mods done to the Bronson bikes with additional comments from Ekins. Von Dutch is never mention.

Did Bud actually do the physical work or did he have Von Dutch or someone else perform it? Whoever actually did the work, the Bronson and Hirschberg bikes are more or less connected through the Dutch /Ekins relationship.

From the same era. A proud Kenneth Howard displaying his handy work. Although the fender is not bobbed, it features the same English style tail light/license set up.

Ideas, influence, and inspiration come from different sources but, in the end, everything is connected.

Somewhere I once read, "There's a little Von Dutch in all of us".