Michael Lichter’s Custom Bike Show in Sturgis
“Motorcycles as Art” exhibition at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally this summer is titled “Ton Up! – Speed, Style and Cafe Racer Culture,” focusing on the origins and continued popularity of the Café Racer movement worldwide.
Co-curators Michael Lichter (LichterPhoto.com) and Paul d’Orléans (theVintagent.com) have assembled a comprehensive display of 32 machines from 12 makes and 6 decades, plus never-published photography – from the original café racing scene in 1960s England to the present, paintings by Triumph ‘resident artist’ Conrad Leach, images from the Ace Café Collection, vintage leather ‘Rocker’ jackets from the Lewis Leathers archive, the “One-Show” 21-helmets display of custom painted helmets, painting by Andrea Chiaravalli and photography by Erick Runyon with other artists to be announced.
The 30+ confirmed bikes for this exhibit include premium examples of 50s/60s Café Racers (Gold Star, Norvin, Triton, Dunstall, etc) from Herb Harris (Harris Vincent Gallery), Yoshi Kosaka (Garage Co), Mark Mederski (National Motorcycle Museum), Gordon McCall (Quail Motorsports Gathering), plus Willie G Davidson’s #0001 1977 XLCR, and machines from Alain Bernard (www.santiagochopper.com), Arlen Ness (www.arlenness.com), Barry Weiss, Brian Klock (Klock Werks Kustom Cycles), Bryan Fuller (www.fullerhotrods.com), David Edwards (www.bikecraftmagazine.com), David Zemla (www.burlybrand.com), Dustin Kott (www.kottmotorcycles.com), Giuseppe Carucci (www.southgarage.com), Greg Hageman (www.docschops.net), Jason Paul Michaels (www.dimecitycycles.com), Jay Hart, Jay LaRossa (www.lossaengineering.com), Kevin Dunworth (www.loadedguncustoms.com), Ray Drea (Harley-Davidson design director), Richard Varner (www.championsmoto.com), Roland Sands (www.rolandsands.com), Shinya Kimura (www.ChabottEngineering.com), Skeeter Todd, Steve “Brew Dude” Garn (www.brewracingframes.com), Steve “Carpy” Carpenter (www.cb750cafe.com), Thor Drake (seeseemotorcycles.com), Vincent Prat (Southsiders MC) and Zach Ness (www.arlenness.com). Included in the show are original or modified machines by BMW, BSA, Ducati, Honda, Harley Davidson, Moto Guzzi, Norton, Rickman, Triumph, Vincent and Yamaha.
Each year, the “Motorcycles as Art” exhibition garners tremendous media coverage from around the globe, and thousands of enthusiasts in person. This year’s exhibition will get even more recognition as it will live on in the coffee-table book “Ton Up – Speed, Style and Cafe Racer Culture,” published by Motorbooks International. Michael Lichter will photograph all the motorcycles in his Sturgis studio for the book, which will also include the jackets, artwork, and photographs from the exhibit. Paul d’Orléans’ is writing a comprehensive history of the Café Racer movement for the book; from its deep origins in speed-modified road bikes from the ‘Teens, to the ‘classic’ period in England in the 1950s/60s, through its various resurrections in the 1970s, 80s, and especially, with the advent of Internet motorcycle blogs, TV shows, and ‘Café Racer’ magazines, the explosive popularity of the style in the 21st Century.
“Ton Up! – Speed, Style and Cafe Racer Culture” sponsors, without whom we couldn’t include GEICO Motorcycle, DHL Worldwide, Handy Industries, Hot Leathers, Keyboard Motorcycle Shipping, Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys and Spectro Performance Oils. The exhibition will be open August 3rd – 9th 2013 and is located next to the east gate of the Buffalo Chip and offers free admission to the public, and Buffalo Chip guests.
The ‘Motorcycles as Art’ exhibitions are hosted each year by the Legendary Buffalo Chip, this year celebrating its 32nd consecutive annual concert series, which attracts the music industry’s hottest stars to their famed camping resort every August during Sturgis Bike Week. The “Chip” is set on 580 acres 3-miles east of Sturgis.
