L'amour de la moto, c'est aussi celui de la boue et de la crasse. Bon appétit !
AUTHORJoseph Caron Dawe
Vous aimez sortir des chaussées battues en moto, mais garder votre engin immaculé et brillant comme au premier jour ? Non. Nous non plus. Une partie importante de l'amusement réside dans le fait de se couvrir de boue des cale-pieds jusqu'au casque.
Pour votre plus grand bonheur, voici une sélection des moments les plus boueux et fangeux possibles. Ayez tout de même une pensée pour les pauvres diables chargés de nettoyer les machines après !
Growing up on the other side of the pond, filmmaker Joris Debeij was entranced by the iconic Hollywood movie cowboys that fought the unruly vandals of America’s Wild West. Recognizing that this dramatized version of an uninhibited land could no longer be found, Debeij set out to find the next closest thing. What he found was Gary Leffew, 1970 World Champion bull rider. “I was always wild ‘n’ reckless, kinda a free spirit, and I didn’t know if I was going to fit it in society”, Gary recalls, “so once I found rodeo and I found bull riding, it was the perfect scenario.” In a sport that requires as much a strong body as a strong will, Leffew’s approach, in theory, seems simple. “You can’t fit to ride on a animal like this without finding his center — and to find his center you must go through your own.” He explains that the bull knows its job — it’s bred to buck you off, and therefore its heart and adrenaline peak the same way yours would. “How you hand that mentally”, says Leffew, “is going to determine whether you become successful at it or you become a failure at it.” Now in his early 70s, Gary looks to pass along this mental approach to future generations of the sport. “I always tell my students, don’t hang around with people who make a bull sound impossible… he’ll tell you all the reasons why you can’t ride him. Yet, you walk over to a winner”, Gary disputes, “and he goes ‘You got him? That’s the one I wanted!'”
The first thing that came to mind when I saw ‘The Thing‘ at The Check Shop’s recent Track & Show event was a bathtub on wheels. I mean, what the hell was I looking at here? Having walked the entire parking lot where the show portion of the event was held at Fuji Speedway, the VW was a cool discovery that made me chuckle.
The VW Type 181 was the successor to Kübelwagen, or ‘bucket car’ – the Type 82 that was used by the German armed forces throughout World War II. But despite its military underpinnings, this one isn’t going to be participating in many tactical off-road missions any time soon!
The Thing sits on air suspension, which when aired-out over its rare ATS Type 5 wheels looks about as far away from a car as a car can get.
This model was commonly referred to as a ‘Thing’ in the US, so the name chosen for this particular project is both accurate and at the same time a little comical.
I just love the simplicity of it all – from the flat pastel blue paint, to the fold-down windshield and the fantastically functional way it’s all bolted together.
The interior is home to even more interesting touches, from the twisted iron bar shift lever to the real chain steering wheel.
Riding in The Thing must be a very comfortable experience, and who wouldn’t want to kick off their shoes and enjoy the fur-like long pile carpet?
The more I looked at it, the more I had a strange urge to fill it up with water.
With the soft canvas roof removed there’s a surprisingly vast amount of space in the back too.
To me, The Thing is another superb example of the great and unique creations that people in Japan are putting together in the ever-growing stance-oriented scene.