Saturday, June 6, 2009

Sonny Barger...

rode some very cool machines.
Here's my top picks:


Sonny B. aboard a perfect Knucklehead Bob Job in 1956. Note the high mounted mid foot pegs.



Knuckle in a wishbone, Late '50's. Dick Hirschberg's Pan that was shown in a 1960 Hot Rod magazine looked very similar.


I believe this is the same Knucklehead redone and now with dual carbs


After blowing the motor, it was rebuilt, this time using a pan


A very cool half Bob half Chop straight leg Pan (date unknown).


In the mid 60's he seem to mostly ride Sportsters. Here on a '66. I've seen other pics on a '65.


Ralph aboard a '67 E-Glide that's under going transformation and again, I'm loving it!


In Hells Angels '69 a shovel with a Sportster front fork. This is probably the first bike I'd ever seen with the front pipe going out the left. Didn't see anybody do this again until years later. This bike would totally fit in today. The guys in Japan are building bikes like this now.


Does it get any better than this? It's the yellow Pan again, credited as 1960. It's high on my list of top 10 favorite bikes of all time. The only change I'd make are the pipes, which you can't see from this side. According to a Hunter S. Thompson documentary, Hunter took this bitchen photo.