Saturday 29 May 2010

New Paint for my Road King

The weather was good this morning, so I rolled my Harley-Davidson Road King out of the garage and took some pictures of it. This is the bike I will be doing the tour of the USA on. As you will see, I have had the bike repainted in its original black, but with portraits of Hollywood movie stars.

I found the sun being out was both a help and a hindrance. It helped give a lot of light, but there were considerable reflections, so one day soon I might get the bike re-shot in a studio where the light can be controlled a lot more.

The bike was painted by Tony Evans and I have got to thank him for doing such a marvellous job. Here is a link to his website. The portraits are all air-brushed and I think they are stunning!


















































































































































Audrey Hepburn




















Judy Garland




















Lauren Bacall



















Marilyn Monroe




















Vivien Leigh




















Jane Russell



















Marlene Dietrich



















Deborah Kerr




















Liz Taylor





















Sophia Loren








































The Author

18 comments:

SonjaM said...

These ladies will keep you good company during your road trip. For sure an eye catcher. Wonderful artwork, beautiful bike. I like Sophia Loren the most.
Too bad, that you are not riding further up North, I would have loved to meet you, the ride and the ladies.

682202 said...

Ah, Lauren Bacall and Audrey Hepburn two of my favorites. Where ever you travel you will be graced with beauty!

Farmer Jim said...

Wow, that's some impressive airbrushing right there! Bike looks great man.

FLHX_Dave said...

Sweet! I dunno, all those beauties might distract me while I'm burning blacktop.

Awesome artwork. Seriously, if you get out to CA on your trip you need to stop by. I got a brewery across the street and the owner is a Brew Meister from the U.K. Maybe beer will motivate you to make the entire trip.

Learning to Golf said...

Very impressive art work by Mr. Evans and the shine is stunning! Maybe, just maybe, our paths will cross out there this summer and I can see it in real life.

Gary France said...

Sonja – Just me and ten ladies. I hadn’t thought of it that way. There was just so much choice of where to go on the tour – I would have loved to have gone to many more places than I am going to be able to.

Gordon – AH is my favourite, but I must be fair to all of my ladies!

Jimmy – Thanks. I think Tony did a great job.

Dave – I will be there for that beer and maybe a ride. I get to CA at the end of my tour in October. I will contact you before that about meeting up.

AHD – I am going to be quite close to you – Prescott is near you, right?

iansolley said...

Bikes looking great and whenever you stop for gas or a bite people will come up and chat just to talk about their views on your great paintjob. For that reason alone its a great investment. June on Tuesday.....nearly time to go! Really looking forwards to following your travels.

IAN

Canajun said...

Great paint job. Sure to be an eye-catcher, but I'd wager most viewers wouldn't have a clue who any of those ladies are/were. Even Sophia Loren (my fav) would go largely unrecognized I expect.

Oz said...

Very impressive. You will get a lot of conversation on your trip here in the states. Great painting.

Mike said...

Your bike is one-of-a-kind, Gary! Very beautiful and it looks very comfortable. Your bike will definitely start some conversations here. You'll have a great trip!

Gary France said...

Ian – I think you are right that the bike will be a conversation starter. Not much time left now, so it is a good job nearly everything is ready.

Canajun – I agree with you that would apply to most bikers, but I think most H-D owners with their average age of nearly 50 would recognise a few! I used to have a crush on Sophia Loren when I was young.

Oz – I hope so. I like meeting people.

Mike – I can’t wait to get going now. I am looking forward to it a great deal.... It will be fun doing my first blog post which will be from New York City!

Learning to Golf said...

Yes Gary, Prescott is just about 100 miles from me. But I'll be in Boston area in early July also.

Unknown said...

Gary:

all those lovely ladies and not one comment about your PINK foot attire, which makes me smile. Welcome to the other side.

I like Judy Garland, I used to stare at her in those Andrew Hardy movies. What ! NO Racheal Welch ? Well, you can't have everything

You have a stunning bike, it is sure to draw attention everywhere you go

bob
Wet Coast Scootin

Gary France said...

Bob – Thanks for your kind words about my bike, but that isn’t the important thing. You get 10 out of 10 for observation.

I am so glad that you were the first person to mention it. Trust you to notice what I was wearing on my feet!! I tried to get them in the picture in a very subtle way, but I thought it was too subtle as nobody had commented on them before you. That has made my day....

Maybe I should have included Rachael Welch. She was lovely....

Eve said...

Hi Gary, I'm just joining on here. Your Road King is just beautiful! Fantastic artwork. I look forward to following your travels. Personally, I might have planned my route to cruise the Smokey Mountains http://www.smokeymountainrides.com/
but you can plan that for your next trip!!! :-)
I just got my first Harley Davidson and am one happy rider!
Can't wait til your adventure begins...in the mean time, I'll be checking out your older posts.

Eve said...

PS. The route you have through NY State I've personally ridden over the years when I lived in the Thousand Island area.

Gary France said...

AHD - We must meet up either in Boston or in Arizona. I will send an e-mail to you about where / when I will be near Boston so see if it will work there.

Gary France said...

Eve – Thank you for visiting and welcome to my blog. I am pleased that you like the bike! It is a shame I couldn’t include the Smokey Mountains on my route. My original plan was to visit every State, but alas time just didn’t allow that. I guess you are right that my next trip should plan for that (plus all the other places I will miss on this trip). Getting your first Harley is exciting! I certainly remember when I got mine. I hope that you enjoy reading some of my older posts and the new ones I haven’t written yet....

I just took a quick peek at your blog - great photos. Going back for a longer look now....