When it comes to art deco design on two wheels – the undisputed king is Randy Grubbs. He’s the man who built Jay Leno’s tank car, the Decoliner and the Decoson – all of which are wonderfully shiny testaments to what can be achieved with a little bit of metal and a large hammer, if you know what you’re doing.
Sadly, I do not know what I’m doing. Which means the below video by Randy Grubb would come in very useful if I ever decided to embark on the weekend project of creating my own art deco motorcycle helmet. If I’m honest, this project would end in tears, but I never let personal incompetence get in the way of ambition. Most of us would never get anything done if we did.
This might be a good point for me to tell you not to actually go riding your GSX-R with a bent sheet of metal strapped to your head, as you’ll die in a spectacular and rather messy fashion whilst Charles Darwin nods knowingly to himself.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
The Off Grid Tools Survival Companion Multi-Tool was developed by a team of Minnesotans as a pocket survival tool that can be easily carried on road trips and off road excursions. The small, lightweight tool includes long-lasting magnesium and ferrocerium rods (one on either side), sliding the back of a knife down the rod fires…
The Apollo 3500 GT is one of the most remarkable American GT cars of its age, it’s largely unknown by many due to its relative rarity, but this hand-built car showed that the Americans could design a vehicle just as capable as those from Aston Martin, Ferrari, Jaguar, and Maserati. America has a long history…
Editor’s Note: This film was transcoded from VHS so it’s not perfect, there are also a couple of black screen sections where I assume the original ad breaks were – I suggest fast forwarding through them. The original Widowmaker Hill Climb took place on a hillside in Draper, Utah. It became a world famous event…
Motorcycle tank bags are an incredibly useful thing, using a series of ultra-strong neodymium magnets on the underside they latch on to your steel fuel tank, giving you a handy place to stash items that would otherwise be in pockets or require a backpack. This magnetic tank bag by Poet Motors and Tchoup Industries in…
The Merlin Hamlin is a Kevlar motorcycle hoodie designed to offer some of the same protections as a motorcycle jacket but in the more comfortable package. Under the top layer you’ll find a 100% Dupont™ Kevlar® protective lining for world class abrasion resistance, a YKK jacket-to-pants connecting zipper is also included to keep the…
The original Petromax lantern was designed in 1910 in Germany by Max Graetz, the name of the lantern is a combination of “petrol” and “Max” a reference to its fuel source and its creator. Graetz developed the lantern based on principles that were already well-understood at the time, he differentiated his lantern from its competitors by…
