This is a link to a motorcycle club in America and their magazine with some interesting articles. https://thevintagent.com/
  Happy Wednesday. I was so glad to visit the Barber Vintage Festival (at least Thurs/Fri) for the first time in over 10 years. It’s grown and changed, but the most interesting development was in the Barber Motorsports Museum itself: for the first time, they have made space for rotating exhibitions, recently premiering ‘100 Years of Ducati’ (about which we’ll soon publish an article) plus ’40 Years of Suzuki GSXR’.  These exhibits take up premium space in the center of the museum, and are consequently very visible from the entrance. I’ll admit to having issues with the Barber in the past, feeling its exhibits favored flash and visual impact over education and accessibility: the stacked radiating motorcycle columns look great, but you can’t study the bikes up close. Now, with rotating exhibits, and an extension to the museum itself, and the new Advanced Design Center, the whole vibe is different, with a vital and relevant feeling. Great work by the Board on this one: the Barber now joins the very small number of motor museums in the world with properly curated, timed exhibits.  I hope you give a read to Wendy Pojmann’s article Futurism, Fascism, and Italy’s Culture of Speed. It’s a fascinating piece, adapted from an academic paper she delivered at the New York State Association of European Historians conference last weekend, originally titled “The First Motorcyclist: Futurism, Fascism, and the Making of Italian Motorcycle Culture.” I love that we have a forum here for academic work around motorcycles. Funny aside: I ran into Kevin Cameron at the Barber, and introduced him to Steve Del Vecchio, who hosted this year’s IJMS conference near Seattle. Kevin asked what IJMS was, and further asked, “What is there to study about motorcycles?” To which I responded, “How about your whole career writing about them?”  [Above, my homage to Futurism for Apocalypse Magazine] If you haven’t read my article on Futurism, please do: I consider it the first and most important modern art movement, the origin of so many aesthetic trends we take for granted today, from graphic design to performance art to artistic depictions of speed. Futurism was the only art movement that embraced motorcycles as suitable subject matter; a natural fit, given these artists’ obsession with speed and machinery. But the Futurists have had celebration since WW2, because of their association with the rise of Italian Fascism: Filippo Marinetti, who wrote the Futurist Manifesto in 1909, was a speech writer for Mussolini. Not all the Futurists were Fascist supporters, and regardless their ideology, eventually even Marinetti suffered, as Mussolini aligned himself with Hitler in mid-1930s. A spectacular 2018 exhibit on the Futurists at the Prada Foundation showed how the movement started with tremendous energy and creative joy, but devolved into a dark documentation of Italy’s devastation as the War progressed and turned against them. At any rate, Fascist associations proved problematic for the Futurist’s subsequent reputation: it’s hard to celebrate the groundbreaking work of these artists in the ‘Teens and 20s, given how it all played out. Still, their artistic innovations laid the foundation for all modern art movements that followed – and they all followed. Surprise: we had the first new addition to my Top 100 Most Expensive Motorcycles list over the weekend. At Bonhams’ Autumn Stafford sale, a matching-numbers 1930 Brough Superior SS100 with JAP motor and Bentley&Draper triangulated swingarm rear suspension, of the type a certain Mr. Vincent soon copied for his own machines. The SS100 sold for $433k, which proves that the very best of the blue chip bikes are still fetching strong money, while everything else on two wheels languishes…clearly, those blessed with a LOT of money are willing to spend it on the right stuff. Not many such bikes come up for sale though – their owners are afraid of low prices – and we’ll see how similar machines coming up in Las Vegas will fare, like Bryan Bossier’s B-S SS100, Series A Vincent Twin, and unique Indian-Vincent prototype. Machines like that filly my Top 100 list, but many of those sales were 5 or more years ago, so we shall see what things look like today. Bottom line, though, it’s still a great time to buy a motorcycle.  I didn’t buy the original and beautifully patinated 1974 Yamaha TD3 above (serial #9, with ‘Nixon’ scratched into the crankcase paint), but sure thought about it. Have you bought any bikes in this buyer’s market? Tell me about it. I answer every email. And if you’ve seen a film with motorcycles that kicks ass, ping our Curator for Film, Corinna Mantlo. Follow us on Instagram too. – by Paul d’Orléans Futurism, Fascism, and Italy’s Culture of Speedby Wendy Pojmann”The relationship between Futurism and Fascism was complicated: it would be misleading to draw a straight line from Futurist art to Fascist politics. Some Futurists, most notably its founder Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, embraced Fascism, but the movement also contained competing political and ideological currents. But the Fascists didn’t need to invent the cultural language of speed and machinery. It was already there. Speed. Youth. Physical strength. Technology. Machines. The Italian Fascist party appropriated those ideas and put them on display.”  Malle Rally 500 Scotlandby Darroch William”Friday evening, Drummond Castle. Built in 1490 and sister castle to Grimsthorpe where the Mile Mile Festival takes place. Tents go up in the fading light, and dinner follows with a whisky tasting. This is Malle’s first 500 Rally in Scotland, a small taster of what the bigger rallies offer. Rider’s complete registration and collect their logbooks and rally numbers. But the real business of the evening comes once the plates are cleared: the route announcement. We know we are going into the highlands but only Robert, Malle’s co-founder knows exactly where the next two days will take everyone.”  A Vintagent Selects: The Girl on a Motorcycle (Short)by Nathalia Pizarro”Fueled by vicious rock ‘n’ roll and the promise of escape, Rebecca takes off on her 1967 Electra Glide in search of Daniel—the lover she has built into something close to an ideal. But somewhere between the open road, desire, and fantasy, the line between escape and delusion begins to blur. The Girl on a Motorcycle is a visceral ride through youthful rebellion, romantic obsession, and the intoxicating freedom of leaving reality behind.”  The Long Wayby Susan McLaughlin / Paul d’Orléans Thanks for everyone who came out on Saturday to see our photography. It was a full house, and the exhibit will be up another two weeks if you missed the reception at Catharine Clark Gallery. Our portfolio/book is on full display along with several large-scale framed prints of our tintypes on the walls. * Advertisement *  Mecum Las VegasFebruary 3-6 There are already 400 motorcycles on Mecum’s Las Vegas auction site, and more are coming in every week, with an anticipated total of over 1000 motorcycles. We had a look at this early list, and picked out a few of our favorites: take a look at the Las Vegas list, and let us know your favorites! It was a buyer’s market last year, with plenty of bargains…make your plans now to attend, or to bid online; it’s super easy.    Copyright © 2026 The Vintagent Media Company, All rights reserved.You are receiving this email because you opted in at website https://thevintagent.com Our mailing address is: The Vintagent Media Company2443 Fillmore St #256San Francisco, CA94115Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. |
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