# 004 BULLDOZER by Officine Sbrannetti

DRAG PORTRAITS

Salt Flat Harley – Chris Bridgewater Racing

There’s some things that most of us would take for granted if we were intending to break a land speed record. Obviously an endeavour like that would take a lot of money – so you’re probably going to need a sponsor or twelve. And you’d also be wanting a whole bunch of top shelf engineers and support crew, too. Not to mention a brand new bike and some seriously hardcore safety gear. You getting this all down? Great. Now tear the list up and come salt flat racing the Chris Bridgewater way – on a wing, a prayer and a blown and rusty, 171 HP, S&S-equiped Harley.

Here’s Mike Quinones from ourcaste.com. He’s a friend of ‘Bridge’ and was fortunate enough to see the bike in action. “I can’t imagine sitting inches off the ground, completely exposed to the elements, straddling a 171 HP, and ripping at 200 mph across a barren dry lake bed… but I have a friend that can. Chris Bridgewater pilots this Harley Davidson, Pro Charger equipped land speed bike that pushes him to those absurd speeds; and all while we looked on in amazement.”

“We showed up to El Mirage last weekend to put some shake down miles on this behemoth of home-built engineering. The bike was freshly off the dyno at Bennet’s Performance, with the hand of none other than land speed legend Wink Eller tuning it.”

“From the moment this bike turns over you know it has one purpose; to absolutely obliterated speed records. The bike moves across the miles of open desert at such an incredible speed that it’s difficult to track it at times. As Bridge clicks each gear, the parched lake bed floor is shot out from under the tire as it struggles to make traction. The pound of the exhaust and the whine of that Pro Charger becomes hypnotic.”

Chris practices his 1000 yard stare

The bike is running fully worked Sportster forks at the front with a hard rear. The motor is a 100 cubic inch S&S Evo lump, pumped full of horsey goodness via a Pro Charger system with a bespoke intercooler from Chris himself. It’s running at 14 pounds of boost at 7000 RPM and the bike has been dyno’d at a rather impressive 171 equestrians. Carbs by the house of Mikuni. Elsewhere you’ll find a Rev Tech 5 speed box, Tarrozi rear sets, a modified Sportster tank and some freshly shaved Metzeler ME880s.

The Harley, alongside the Brawny Built ‘Mako’

“Bridge is an independent, meaning he doesn’t have some corporate machine fueling his land speed dream. He’s built this bike with his hands and hard-earned cash, and the occasional support of his friends and anything that they can contribute.”

“All in all, he’s what the true heart of bike racing is. And he’s what will continue to keep the sport pure. Remember, support the Independents!” Burt Munro, eat your heart out.

[Photography - Mike Quinones]

via PIPEBURN

What’s not to be missed at Art Basel 2014

Art extravaganza, development laboratory, high society meeting place – Art Basel has so many faces that it can be hard to keep track of the sheer number of attractions; hence our exhibition guide…

From 19 to 22 June, private jets will be arriving at the sleepy airport that serves Basel, located near the border where Switzerland meets France and Germany. Art Basel is one of the art world’s greatest spectacles – this year attracting 285 galleries from 34 countries, with works of classical modernism through to contemporary art making it the Swiss heart of the international collectors’ scene. 

Art Basel

The main exhibition ‘Galleries’ gather works from the well-known galleries in London, New York, Berlin, Rio and Tokyo, but smaller traders also come to sell their paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, prints, photographs, videos, and digital art: more than 4,000 artists are represented here. The mega-deals are, however, made at the opening on Tuesday, especially when it comes to the famous names.

Artistic all-sorts

The event is based around eight ‘sectors’, illustrating the “many dimensions of Modern and contemporary art”. For example, the ‘Features’ sector shows carefully collated projects from 24 galleries, often the work of a single artist, such as KOW Berlin’s early works by Santiago Sierra. Young and emerging artists are explored in the ‘Statements’ sector, while oversized artworks can be found in the sector titled ‘Unlimited’ – 70 large-scale installations, no less, comprising paintings, video projections and performances. The ‘Parcours’ sector, meanwhile, uses the urban area of ​​Basel as an exhibition space and offers a good place to visit at the end of a long day at Art Basel.

14 rooms

MoMA curator Hans-Ulrich Obrist and MoMA PS1 Director Klaus Biesenbach are both considered heavyweights in the world of contemporary art. For Art Basel, the two have teamed up to curate a highly promising live art event across 14 rooms, featuring artists of the calibre of Marina Abramovic, Damien Hirst, Bruce Nauman, Yoko Ono and John Baldessari.

Design Miami / Basel

Classical and contemporary design: there is plenty to admire in the Basel version of Design Miami – and also to buy. With 50 galleries showcasing their furniture and sculptures, the Parisian gallery Patrick Seguin is this year displaying an entire prefabricated house by Pierre Jeanneret and Jean Prouvé. Otherwise, the focus is on mid-Century design from America, Italy and Scandinavia, plus ceramics and jewellery.

The museums

Anyone with a little more time can enjoy the special displays at individual museums: the Fondation Beyeler is presenting a retrospective of Gerhard Richter, Schaulager shows selected works by Paul Chan, the Kunstmuseum Basel is celebrating the American artist Charles Ray and the Vitra Design Museum offers the work of designer Konstantin Grcic.

For more information about Art Basel 2014, see artbasel.com.