This is a 1959 Moto Guzzi Falcone that was customized in period by Kenny Howard, a.k.a. “Von Dutch,” the artist, pin striper, metal fabricator, knifemaker, gunsmith, provocateur, and a founding member of the original Southern California Kustom Kulture movement.
The name Von Dutch is best-known today for the clothing line Von Dutch Originals. This brand was founded by Mike Cassell who bought the rights from Kenny Howard’s two daughters, Lisa and Lorna. The brand became famous, using Kenny Howard’s original art, his unique pinstriping work, and his signature emblazoned across the chest of black t-shirts.
Fast Facts – A Moto Guzzi Falcone By Von Dutch
- Kenny Howard, known as “Von Dutch,” was a prominent figure in Southern California’s Kustom Kulture movement. A talented artist and craftsman, he was known for pinstriping, metal fabrication, and custom work. Despite his artistic skills, he was also known for being difficult and struggling with alcoholism later in life.
- The motorcycle featured is a 1959 Moto Guzzi Falcone customized by Von Dutch in the early 1970s. It won the Best Street Custom award at the 1971 Cycle World Magazine Show. The bike features unique fiberglass bodywork designed by Von Dutch, including a custom front fender, headlight cowl, and seat base-rear cowl section.
- The customized Falcone retains its original 498cc single-cylinder engine and four-speed transmission. Von Dutch added special touches like cadmium plating on the frame, machine-turned open flywheel, and polished spoke wheels. The bike showcases his skill in blending custom design with the Moto Guzzi’s original engineering.
- The Moto Guzzi Falcone was produced from 1950 to 1967, featuring a distinctive forward-pointing cylinder for improved center of gravity and cooling. This unique Von Dutch custom is set to be auctioned by Mecum in Monterey, California, offering collectors a rare opportunity to own a piece of Kustom Kulture history.
Kenny Howard a.k.a. “Von Dutch”
There were few characters in the early Southern Californian Kustom Kulture world more provocative than Kenny Howard. He was known as a serious drinker and a difficult person to get along with, belying his early life growing up in Los Angeles as a star track and field athlete – at one point he was named “the fastest person in LA.”
Here we see a clipping from a period magazine showing Kenny Howard, or Von Dutch, applying pinstriping to an MGA.
Howard was born into a family of artists, his father was a well-known sign painter and Kenny took to it like a fish to water – he could reportedly letter and pinstripe professionally by the age of just 10 years old. He attended Compton High School where he became a top athlete, his stubborn personality also earned him the nickname “Dutch” as, according to his bio, he “was as stubborn as a Dutchman.”
He would later add the “Von” to create a unique name to use for his art – creating the moniker “Von Dutch.”
In the 1950s Howard starting pinstriping professionally, alongside fellow pinstriping legend Dean Jeffries. He would begin customizing cars and motorcycles, he created the famous flying eyeball logo, and he pioneered the use of the letter “K” in “Kustom Kulture.” He also created the pearlescent color Candy Apple Red – used on Marilyn Monroe’s car first, before becoming a staple of the custom car world.
Howard was friends with many major celebrities of the time, including Steve McQueen with whom he did some paintwork on a vintage Indian motorcycle one night, reportedly after a few too many drinks. The bike remains unfinished to this day, and you can see it here.
There have been claims that Kenny Howard was racist, and other claims that he just hated everyone equally. Later in life his alcoholism seemed to lead him down a dark road, and he would die from alcohol-related complications in 1992 at the age of just 63.
The Von Dutch–Built 1959 Moto Guzzi Falcone
The motorcycle you see here is the only one like it in the world, it was built by Kenny Howard in the early 1970s, once complete it would win the Best Street Custom award at the 1971 Cycle World Magazine Show.
The Moto Guzzi Falcone was given “upside down” telescopic front forks, an advanced concept for the time it was made. It was also given chrome-plated friction dampers in the rear which were lightweight but perhaps not as refined as telescopic shock absorbers.
Far from being just a bolt-together custom motorcycle, this bike has a unique body designed by Von Dutch. A series of molds were created and fiberglass was cast, these parts were then painted and fitted to the bike – they include the front fender, headlight cowl, and seat base-rear cowl section.
The bike has twin headlights tucked inside the front cowling, with a tachometer up top. The original Moto Guzzi frame was cadmium plated before reassembly, and the fork stanchions slide on two large roller bearings built into each fork tube.
The original drum brakes remain front and back, as does the original Moto Guzzi 498cc single-cylinder engine and four-speed transmission sending power to the rear wheels via a chain drive. The open flywheel was machine turned by Von Dutch, and polished spoke wheels were fitted, along with a chrome megaphone silencer, and a pair of bar-end rear vision mirrors.
The Moto Guzzi Falcone was built by Moto Guzzi between 1950 and 1967, it was first shown to the world at the 1950 Geneva Motor Show, and it features an unusual forward-pointing cylinder that helped lower the center of gravity and ensure even cooling to the head and barrel. Moto Guzzi had used this layout a number of times in the past, dating back to 1921.
The 498cc single-cylinder engine is angled forward, this both lowers the center of gravity and ensures that the head and cylinder receives equal cooling air flow at all times when the bike is underway.
The Falcone offered seating for two, a reported top speed of 135 km/h (84 mph), a dry weight of 170 kgs (375 lbs), and a power output of 23 bhp at 4,500 rpm – considered good for a motorcycle of this displacement at the time.
The bike is now due to roll across the auction block with Mecum in Monterey, California in mid-August and it’s being offered with no reserve. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Mecum
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