The best thing about working for yourself is being able to try whatever hair-brained idea you please. And a couple of months ago, we did just that.

With a small, highly mobile band of brothers (and sisters), we hit the streets of Richmond to film a 30-second TV spot for our strange little company.

Many thanks to Adam Ewing for the crappy footage, Devin Bousquet for the goofy edit, Bill Grishaw for the cheesy music and Jeff McManus for the dirty mix. And of course, we could not have done it without our difficult actors Patrick Biedrycki and Kristy Heilenday. Everyone dug deep to create a perfectly awesome train wreck of a commercial.

Look for it in unexpected places in the future — or the past — whichever comes first.

 

It's been a shamefully long time since we've posted here, but we've been blitzed with orders since before the holidays. It's a good problem to have, as they say, and you'll get no complaints from us. That said we've been trying to figure out a reasonable way to handle new build requests and manage our waiting list.

As you can imagine, when someone asks me to work up a build proposal for them, it takes a lot of time. Definitely not like going into the Honda dealership and asking for a brochure. We try to design bikes that reflect the owner's personality based on a pretty extensive back-and-forth with them. And as much as I love this process, it's too time consuming to offer as a free service, when oftentimes the builds don't pan out for whatever reason.

Boom. You know what's coming next.

Starting next week, we'll be charging for a full design and pricing workup for potential builds. The fee of $250 USD will cover our time to concept and estimate your Classified Moto build, and it will reserve your spot on the waiting list. New to the process is that you'll receive a large format exhibit-quality printout of your dream bike complete with build specs and handwritten notes. And, the $250 will be credited to your build, provided you initiate it by an agreed-upon date. Seems fair enough, right?

Obviously this doesn't apply to the build proposals already in the works. Look for the listing in our online store next week.

And please note that we still welcome all your general questions about potential builds, pricing, your own projects and the like. We don't charge for that stuff, so keep 'em coming.

— JR

PS: There is so much nutty stuff in the works at Classified Moto in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to see how we handle it...

 

I got my first job in the summer of 1983 — washing dishes at the Jamestown 4-H Camp just outside Williamsburg, Virginia. It was brutal, but in my 14-year-old mind it was worth every minute. For every unidentifiable mess I cleaned up, every fork I fished out of the trashcan, every second-degree burn I got , I was one step closer to my dream of building the ultimate BMX bike.

What I ended up building was a Hutch Pro Racer. What I really wanted was a "P.K. Ripper". But as it turned out, the Ripper was above my pay grade and no amount of scrubbing and mopping could fix that.

As a kid, I couldn't care less about team sports (Ok, I liked soccer) but was obsessed with bikes. And when I took notice of the BMX craze in the late 70's, that was all she wrote. I would tag along to the grocery store to read copies of BMX Action and BMX Plus magazines in the aisle while my parents shopped. On special occasions when I actually got a copy, I'd read every single word and scrutinize the photos. Everyone in the pictures — even the people standing around watching the riders — was pretty much the coolest person I'd ever seen. It was hard to even imagine that Southern California was a real place, inhabited by all these fearless BMX warriors...

Fast forward to a few months ago when Classified Moto client Timothy McClellan and I were having one of our friendly boxing matches over the design of his Classified XS650. I would say no paint, he would say metal flake paint. He would say all black. I would say why? Me, tomato. Him, potato. Until finally he said, "powder blue."

To look at the Classified portfolio, you might think pastels wouldn't fly. But PK's were powder blue (a lot of them were, anyway) and the coolest ones had black mags. Just like Timothy's bike. Hmmm.

So we struck a deal. I would embrace his powder blue if he would let me pay tribute to the might Perry Kramer, SE Bikes and their game-changing P.K. Ripper.

The folks at SE Bikes have been great, sending us tons of historical references as well as factory graphics files so we can incorporate some of their iconic typography into the finished product. Be sure to check out the SE Blog to see what all the fuss is about.

As inspirational as the legendary PK is, it's harder than I thought to do it justice. The blue frame on the XS helps, but there's just no getting around that 650cc engine smack dab in the middle of the bike. Never fear, though. With any luck the "CM Ripper" will have all the attitude and presence of the original, even if it never drops in to empty pool.

Stay tuned for an oldskool photoshoot featuring both bikes in all their glory. Meanwhile, look for updates on the Classified Moto Facebook page and on Twitter (@johnryland). — JR

PS: Thanks to Greg Ownby and our dashing intern Manny for all the hours lately. And also to photog extraordinaire Patrick Biedrycki for stopping in to document our Monday. Much appreciated.

Recently, the impressive Australian blog Pipeburn.com featured our latest completed bike — Christina Cairo's Honda Twinstar. They pretty much give the full story behind it, but it makes sense to have it on our own blog, too, I suppose.

Some time ago, broadcast producer extraordinaire Christina got the urge to go two-wheelin' right about the time our friends Rex and Norma were selling their pet project Honda. Arrangements were made, and the bike stayed in the family. And we made it our own pet project. Little by little we got to work cutting, unbolting, mixing and matching, until suddenly — a year later — we were finished.

Fittingly, as I write this, Christina is completing Day 2 of her M-Class license course. By 5pm she'll be legal to hit the streets on her elegant Tiny Moto.

The bike started life as a faux cruiser that was visually ahead of its time. And by that I mean that even though it was a 1978 model, it looked very "eighties". We swapped out the wheels for 18-inchers front and rear to give it a level stance. Then we removed everything that didn't need to be there. The tank was snagged from an old Suzuki dirt bike and nickel plated to prevent rust. After some waffling on color, we decided to do a copper stripe on top of the tank. Worked out nicely and matches the seat crafted by our friend Roy Baird.

There are lots of little bits of personality on this diminutive moto, including a quick release nickel-plated basket that incorporates an old Cypress Gardens water ski. The taillight is made from a stainless steel fishing rod holder that I snatched from my ancient Aquasport before it went to boat heaven...

What this one lacks in power, it definitely makes up for in character. We're psyched that it's going to Miss Cairo. —JR

 

 

One of our most challenging (and exciting) projects of late is not a lamp or a motorcycle. It's our new website. Up til now our existence in Cyberspace has been scattered around between this blog (johnryland.posterous.com) our Facebook page and my Twitter. And frankly, even though it's been a mixed bag of random efforts, we can't complain about the response we've gotten. But our new website definitely ratchets up the quality in a big way.

Designed and built by a killer team at Big River Advertising here in Richmond, Virginia, the site gives you access to all the happenings at Classified Moto. Finally, we have a full gallery of Adam Ewing's incredible photographs so you don't have to backtrack through a year's worth of blog posts to see your favorite bikes.

The online store is also easily accessible should you decide to pick up a front end swap kit, lamp, poster, tee shirt — or of course, inquire about a moto build.

The new site will feature a blog that includes archived posts from this Posterous page as well as new entries on a regular basis. And speaking of Posterous, we'll be hanging out here with our 100+ subsribers as well.

Once again, we're stoked to be working with creative folks whose great talents have not gone to their heads. Everyone at Big River has been amazing, humble and down-to-earth with zero ego. And most of all, they get what we're trying to do with Classified Moto.

When you get a chance, visit the new site and see what we've been up to. It's a work in progress, so let us know what you think. Over the next few weeks, we'll be optimizing the site to make it better-stronger-faster, so a bug or two is to be expected.

Thanks again for all the support. It's been a blast so far. —JR

The Classified Moto ball has been rolling along at an alarming rate, hence the long delay in making a post here. I'm giving myself 10 minutes to call out some of the larger happenings between now and the holidays.

The December issues of both Top Gear Magazine (UK) and Playboy Magazine (US) will be running articles on Classified Moto. Booyah? Yes, booyah. Top Gear has 2.5 million subscribers in the UK with another 500,000 newsstand copies, and who knows what Playboy's numbers are like. One thing is for sure, if you want a moto lamp any time in the near future, get your order in now. Both mags are slated to hit stands very soon. Playboy hits the press today. Lookout.

What about bikes? Well, Christina's "Tiny Moto" Honda CM185T (above) has finally come to life. And Scott at Pipeburn.com just posted the full Adam Ewing photoset on his fine website. Check the pics out HERE.

Timothy McClellan's "P.K. Ripper"-inspired XS650 sits waiting for a few key parts due in this week, and will start to snowball shortly thereafter. I'm trying my best to get his bike to him "while it's still warm enough to ride". Got cold here quick, though.

Other builds in progress are an XV1100 coming along nicely, an old GS750, a CB750F, Brant Shalikashvili's Nighthawk 250 city bike, Mondial Creative's KZ1000 and the most excessive XS yet, Eric's Eleven. Needless to say, until we start knocking down walls and hiring an army of techs, we're pretty much at our limit. I have a couple of build proposals out at the moment, but we'll be cutting off orders before the end of the year until we get caught up. If you think you want a Classified Moto of your own, read our Build Inquiries Post and let us know soon. Once we stop taking orders, we'll implement some kind of waiting list. Stay tuned for that.

And last, but certainly not least, we're launching a new website any day now. The folks at Big River Advertising here in Richmond, have done a killer job pulling all our scattered stuff together into one great site. There will no doubt be some growing pains as we transfer, update, troubleshoot and optimize, but it'll be worth it. This blog will remain up and running, but it will also be incorporated into the new site, as will a full gallery of all the Classified Moto bikes and adventures from the last year. Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook for more on the launch.

There's more, but my 10 minutes are way up. —JR

 

 

Our buddies at Mondial Creative here in Richmond, Virginia, blew us away recently with this video. On some random weekday, they followed us around as we scavenged, de-rusted, polished, welded, wired, boxed and shipped one of our funky fresh Classified Moto Lamps. The result was fantastic, we think.

Once again, we're counting ourselves very lucky to be able to work with such talented creative folks as we carve out our alt-moto niche. Be sure to check out their other work, and expect to see more collaborations — both video and moto — in the near future.

And while we're talking lamps, check out our latest design — a Classified Moto Lamp you can mount right to your wall. They're frankly a pain to make, but we're really happy with the design. Always nice to mix it up around here. 

There's one waiting for you in our online store...

Two weeks ago today our buddy Cindy Hicks tested the limits of human resiliency by launching herself onto the unforgiving asphalt of Richmond's south side. While her trusty moto "Lefty Lucy" is in need of a new wheel, tank, set of forks, etcetera, Ms. Hicks got the shorter end of the stick. The current tally includes nine broken ribs, a concussion, a broken scapula, broken collar bone, bruised lung and lacerated liver.

Thankfully, Cindy's boots, jeans and jacket saved her from an even more uncomfortable recovery.

Believe it or not, she's up and walking around and looking surprisingly spry considering her near death experience. I took her out for some therapeutic BBQ today and we traded info about the crash. In between wide-eyed grimaces (ribs shifting, no doubt) and requests not to make her laugh, Cindy recounted her time in the intensive care unit at the Medical College of Virginia. She doesn't remember me visiting her the day after the wreck, or for that matter, anything from a few days after that. Judging from the way her helmet looked, I guess that's understandable.

In reality, Cindy wasn't much help in reconstructing her flashy dismount, so I developed my own theory. I've watched Cindy leave me in the dust on plenty of exit ramps, so I was not exactly surprised when such a ramp existed at the scene of the crash. I'm guessing she snaked through the downward esses, looked over her shoulder to see if it was clear to merge and drifted a tad too far left where a eight-inch curb was waiting to greet her.

It's just a theory, but Cindy says it's fair enough.

Of course, Cindy being Cindy, there's no talk of hanging up her helmet, only plans to be extra careful once she and Lucy are all patched up and riding again.

Needless to say, here at Classified Moto, we're all feeling very lucky that our friend is alive and on the mend. That outcome was not a given, and we're sincerely grateful. And our hearts go out to the staff at MCV. There's no telling what Cindy put them through during those days she can't remember. Oh man. —JR

 

A calendar, in any case, is a good idea. It lets you organize the week, month — even year, in a handy two-dimensional format. Brilliant! But imagine if there was a calendar that not only helped keep track of the passing days, but contained photos of some of the sweetest motorcycles from around the globe. What would you do then? You'd buy it, that's what.

Bigger and better than ever, this year's Bike EXIF calendar features 13 awesome machines — two of which were built right here in the Classified Moto workshop. Many of you know Bike EXIF is the tastefully curated and hugely respected website of Aussie Chris Hunter who knows what's up in the world of vintage and custom motorcycles. Needless to say we're beside ourselves. 

Gracing the month of June is Adam Ewing's dandy 1982 Yamaha XS650 Heritage Special — the first of our projects to appear on bikeexif.com. It's a scrappy little bike that's hard to categorize, but features a set of gnarly tires and a modified Suzuki RMZ front end and supermoto wheel.

And on the back cover, Devin's Classified Kawazuki makes a cameo to wrap things up. In a year of big things for Classified Moto, this takes the cake. Many thanks to Chris for letting us be a part of such a cool piece.

The calendar is already flying off the shelves, and it's not even on the shelves yet. Pre-order yours HERE. Besides something from the Classified Moto catalog, can you imagine a better Christmas gift?

(Calendar image courtesy of Bike EXIF. All others by Adam Ewing.)

I have joked in the past that I'm going to print a front end swap how-to on a t-shirt and sell it for $100. I still might. It's not top-secret information, but it definitely represents a LOT of time invested in refining the technique. Nonetheless, I gladly answer a lot of questions about swaps each week, and as time allows, I'll continue to do so. However, if you're inclined to save your brain, nerves and patience some premature wear, Classified Moto reluctantly yet happily announces our front end swap/exchange service.

"Reluctantly" in that we'd much rather build you a true Classified bike than half of one. "Happily" because we know you'll dig it. 

It works like this. Perhaps you own an old XS750 and you scored a sweet deal on a Ninja front end. Simply send us the triple trees from the old bike and the modern forks and very quickly, we'll return a set ready to bolt on your bike. The cost is $485 plus shipping and, again, it's an exchange. You would be called upon to provide the roller bearings, forks, brakes, wheel, etc. Although, if you want us to source parts for you, let us know and we'll work something out based on what you're cooking up in your garage.

I'm tempted to go into a long discourse as to the reasoning behind our pricing, but let's just say that's what we need to charge to make it worth the effort and service before and after the sale. And we think you'll be lovin' life long after the sting of 485 bones has worn off.

Look for the official listing to appear on our online store in the next day or two. In the meantime, if this sounds like the news you've been waiting for, email me and we'll get you set up.

Meanwhile, we're doing our best to get back to the bunches of build inquiries we got after some great press on Bike EXIF, Uncrate and other killer sites around the web. Rest assured, we'll be getting back to you asap, but feel free to drop us a line to keep us on our toes.

Many thanks, as ever, to everyone for keeping tabs on the happenings at Classified Moto. We feel really lucky and humbled to be doing what we're doing. Look for some special appreciation on our Facebook page and on Twitter as we head full throttle into the holidays. —JR

(Photos: Adam Ewing)