The best part of the book though is the four, start-to-finish, painting sequences, which include two baggers, one total custom and one flame-painting how-to.

Advanced Custom Motorcycle Painting goes to the printer later in June, and we should have early-release copies ready to ship about 30 days later.

The new Dave Perewitz how-to book should be out by late July.

On the Road Again
Every year there's a book publisher and seller's convention called BEA – Book Expo America – and it's pretty much a must-do deal for our little publishing company. So on May 28th I flew into L.A. and made my way to the depths of downtown, and the hotel located a few blocks from the Convention Center.

In between meetings with our distributor I had a chance to walk the aisles and see how a hundred other publishers, both large and small, design, print and sell their books. The convention center is like a huge think tank and provides an opportunity to learn from other publishers where they print, how they promote, and the best way to sell on the internet.

My evenings were pretty much open and I managed to do a fair amount of time exploring the concrete canyons of LA. Among my discoveries: a bar where I was not only the oldest patron but also the whitest, a neat little Irish bar with a four-piece jazz band, and a lot of people on the sidewalk looking for “just a couple of bucks so I can get something to eat.” I tend to be a soft-touch when it comes to panhandlers, and I just kept a few loose dollar bills in my pocket each time I went out. Yea, maybe they should be looking for a job, but in the meantime it costs so damned much to stay in LA that an extra buck here or there doesn’t even qualify as pocket change anymore.

George Barris
I brought home a few treasures from my trip. The best of which is a real Barris Crest, given to me by George himself. I was lucky enough to spend a few hours with George and his son and daughter, admiring the shop and discussing the success of our recently re-published Kustom Techniques of the '50s books.

The crest was originally meant as a way of telling a real Barris car from an imposter.

At the age of 80, George Barris is still rockin and rolling. Each weekend there's a car show where George is a featured guest and/or judge. And between the shows he's working on some new DVDs and organizing his archives of film. You don't realize how many famous cars George worked on until you look at the size of the archives and start reading the labels on the end of the many, many boxes.

George and family backed by the original Batmobile.

Before leaving L.A. I did a photo shoot for next year's Classic Triumph calendar. With help from Randy Baxter of Baxter Cycle fame, and Greg Hult, owner of some very nice old Turnips, we photographed six bikes. Most of these were done on or near the beach and pier at Seal Beach, a nifty little beach community south of downtown. Greg actually obtained a permit from the city to photograph pretty much anywhere we wanted. I was shocked. Normally we just figure it's better to ask for forgiveness after the fact. Bobby Sullivan called the method, 'click and run.'

Just one of Greg's treasures, parked on the Seal Beach pier.

From Los Angeles I drove north to Monterey and the shop of Bruce Terry. The best part of spending time with Bruce is the fabrication sequences that we always do, but it's really more fun to just walk through the shop looking over his current projects. Like the Ferrari with the new hand-fabricated rear body section. A few of us have talent, and some are blessed with an artistic eye, and then there are people like Bruce who combine both to create large motorized sculptures.

If you’re lucky enough to own a Ferrari and unlucky enough to have an accident, you need Bruce Terry, a metal man of awesome talent.

The next stop on the road trip took me to visit a friend in Livermore, California, which just happens to be right down the street from the Arlen Ness shop in Dublin. Arlen gave me a tour of the shop and then turned me loose on one of the new Victory Baggers. Arlen and I have had a number of discussions regarding the tendency of Harley Baggers to wobble and gyrate at high speeds, and he's fond of saying, “The new Vision is rock solid at 100 miles per hour.” I set out to experience this for myself, but it was nearly 4:00 PM and absolutely no chance of going more than about 30 mph on the nearby freeway. The ride was fun none-the-less and I look forward to a more extended cruise in Sturgis, where you can actually go more than 30 on the freeway, even at 4:00 PM.


The road trip didn’t end there, but I think I’m out of time, so we will save one more significant visit for the next blog.

Yours truly on one of Arlen’s Customized Victory Visions