Tag Archives: film

Watch Tassie custom motorcycle film

Custom bikes and Tasmania’s scenery feature in a new 60-minute film called Wide of the Mark which the makers hope will be released on one of the streaming channels next year.

Filmmaker Jake Ashe says the film idea was to send six riders around Tasmania with road bikes that they’d custom-built into off-road bikes.

“We spent two weeks traversing around the rugged landscapes of Tasmania and essentially living off the backs of the bike, pushing them to the limit and taking them where they’re not meant to go” Jake says.

Film inspiration

The inspiration came from Jake and two friends creating a 50-minute motorcycle film last year called Handcrafted which they put out on YouTube for free.

“That was a trip down the east coast of Australia, and we dug into some of the garages and best custom bike builders in Australia,” he says.

“We wanted to keep the adventure going and we were really inspired to push the limits.”

This short film shows some of the more adventurous riding on Benders Track.

Jake says the trip was challenging.

“We were posed with all kinds of new and exciting opportunities and things we weren’t expecting,” he says.

“So many things went right, and we had so many amazing destinations. But a lot of things went wrong, too. It was really challenging in so many different ways.

“The name of the film, Wide of the Mark, comes from the idea of aiming for a point but essentially missing it, in a good way.”

Jake was the director of photography, cinematographer and editor. It was directed by his friend Cameron Grant and another friend, Tom Gilroy, was one of the main riders.

Five other riders were also involved.

The film was recorded just before the lockdown and the makers are now negotiating distribution.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Royal Enfield stars in Kiwi surf video

Two Royal Enfield Himalayan adventurer motorcycles have starring roles in an upcoming Kiwi winter surf film called “Lost Track New Zealand”.

There, that’s a sentence you never thought you would hear!

This trailer indicates a film that is beautifully shot and seems to capture the adventure and freedom of both riding and surfing.

For anyone who has ever ridden a motorcycle around New Zealand they will know that it is filled with winding roads through spectacular middle earth scenery.

”Lost Track New Zealand” follows surfer Torren Martyn and film maker Ishka Folkwell as they embark on a four month motorbike adventure to explore the island nation’s roads and surf.

They customised the Royal Enfield Himalaya bikes to carry surfboards as well as their camping gear.

Torren and Ishka ride through storms and survive near-death experiences on their quest to escape into nature and surf perfect waves.Surf sheep livestock roadkill New Zealand

The coming feature film, produced by wetsuits manufacturer needessentials, includes an outstanding original soundtrack composed by Headland and Nick Bampton.

There is no date or screening venue yet for the film, but we will update when it is availablew.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle film festival goes online

If you want to look on the bright side of the current coronavirus pandemic, some motorcycle events are now being held online including the now-free Black Hills Motorcycle Film Festival.

So even though you may not be able to travel to the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota — home of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally which is surprisingly still going ahead next month — you can still attend this festival.

The film festival is being put together by the Rev Sisters, a newly created partnership of three women motorcyclists who plan and manage motorcycle events.

Earlier this year they announced a series of motorcycle film festivals to be held across the United States.

The first festival, Santa Cruz Moto Film Festival, was cancelled earlier this year due to a ban on public events.

Free film festival

Public enemy number one motorcycles sturgis bandana
The beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota

The second festival in the 2020 series, the Black Hills Motorcycle Film Festival, will be held online from 14-16 August and Rev Sisters Co-Founder Michelle Lamphere says it’s free!

“At a time when motorcyclists may need an escape and a channel to reconnect with their moto community, Rev Sisters is offering tickets to this online event at no charge,” she says.

Attendees can watch videos at their own pace from the comfort of their own homes.

The curated collection of more than nine hours of films includes a variety of riding styles from around the world — flat track racing, round-the-world adventure travel, bike building, moto culture and more.

Each film is inspired and creative and will leave viewers yearning to get back out on the road. Winners for each category – ultra short, short and feature – will be announced during the festival.

A third event, the South Jersey Moto Film Festival, is scheduled to air online later this year. Each of these festivals is intended to be a live annual event in future years.

Tickets for the Black Hills Motorcycle Film Festival are available by clicking here.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Last Motorcycle on Earth film too real

In these days of pandemic where many can’t even ride their motorcycles, The Last Motorcycle on Earth depicts a world where motorbikes are banned. The film is almost too real!

Director Eric Ristau tried to get crowd-funding for the movie and failed, but went ahead and produced it anyway.

It is now available for download her from Vimeo on Demand for $A3 or North American and UK viewers can stream it from Amazon Prime.

Apart from the cold reality of the film’s theme, it’s a great show to pass the time during the current pandemic lockdown.

The Last Motorcycle on Earth!Scene from The Last Motorcycle on Earth!

The film depicts a not-too-distant future where motorcycles are banned because they are the last dangerous vehicles in a world of electric automated cars, trucks and buses.

It’s the fictional story of a vintage motorcycle collector and bike builder, Conrad Mendel (played by co-producer Neil “Morto” Olson), as he grapples with a new world of technology that threatens to destroy his passion and way of life. 

Last Motorcycle on Earth goes aheadScene from The Last Motorcycle on Earth!

Down to earth film

The sad fact is that the film may not be too far from reality.

The safety nannies consistently and unfairly target motorcycles and riders. They want motorcycles off the road.

The Last Motorcycle on Earth!Scene from The Last Motorcycle on Earth!

In fact, it’s already happening.

Cities such as Paris, Singapore and Milan ban older motorcycles from their CBDs for pollution reasons and they have been banned in some Mid-East and Asian cites because they are the preferred vehicles of assassins and thieves.

Around the world police and politicians are also seeking tougher laws on “bikies” and loud exhausts.

And in 2017, a group of American motorcycle industry luminaries, aptly called “Give a Shift”, released a report on the future of motorcycling saying bikes are in danger of being killed off by autonomous vehicles.

With the rise of allegedly safe, electric-powered automated vehicles, motorcycles will stand out as the last “dangerous” and polluting vehicle.

Let’s hope the film raises public awareness of the possible dangers to our freedom.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Peter ‘Easy Rider’ Fonda dies aged 79

Peter Fonda, the actor who played Wyatt riding a Captain America Harley chopper in the 1969 movie Easy Rider, has died at the age of 79.

The hippy film recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first screening.

It was shot on a shoestring budget in a haze of pot smoke and with a plot that was made up along the way by Fonda and fellow actor/director Dennis Hopper who died in 2013, aged 77.

Fonda’s screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award, the film was added to the USA’s National Film Registry in 1998 and it is listed as one of the top 100 American movies by the American Film Institute.

The veteran actor died yesterday of respiratory failure due to lung cancer at his Los Angeles home surrounded by his family.

Iconic moment

He starred in many films including the cringe-worthy low-grade bikie movie, The Wild Angels in 1966.

It includes his line: “We want to be fee to ride our machines without being hassled by the man … and we want to get loaded.”

Fonda also made a cameo appearance in the 2007 Wild Hogs that lampoons Easy Rider.

The opening scene of Easy Rider features Peter in an iconic gesture of throwing away his watch.

The choppers then fire up and roar into the desert to the accompaniment of Born to be Wild. Truly a classsic cinematic moment that has stirred the hearts of riders this past half century!

It has also started a fad with riders and other travellers to discard their watches and disregard the constraints of time.

A watch is a symbol of “the man”, society and capitalism that constrain us.

Motorcycles are freedom machines that allow us to escape the rigours of timekeeping.

In a hilarious parody of the famous Easy Rider scene, John Travolta and his buddies throw away their mobile phones before a cross-country ride in Wild Hogs.

“You don’t need a GPS to discover America; you need a bike and you need the road, ok? Freedom,” says Travolta.

Fonda also rides into town to end the long fight scene.

His closing line is also a classic: “Oh, and guys… lose the watches.”

  • What is your favourite scene from Easy Rider? Leave your comments below.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Handcrafted film about custom motorcycles

If you’ve got 50 minutes to spare, watch this beautifully produced feature film, titled Handcrafted, about Australia’s custom motorcycle community.

It has been made by Gold Coast film production company Electric Bubble and available free on YouTube.

The Handcrafted video was posted a couple of weeks ago and has had more than 30,000 views.

In the opening scene, a rider “surfs” the motorcycle, standing with one foot on the seat and one on the tank of a custom Harley Sportster around the cane fields of Norwell on the Gold Cost hinterland.Handcrafted film about custom motorcycles

Ok, we know that’s illegal and we hope the production company obtained relevant permissions and road closures.

I also suspect the ATGATT (all the gear, all the time) supporters will also be horrified by the lack of good safety gear in some of the shots!Handcrafted film about custom motorcycles

However, it does show the beautiful camera work from the film, the high production values and the almost poetic nature of motorcycling.

Handcrafted hipstersHandcrafted film about custom motorcycles

Yes, the video is very hipster with lots of beards, pony tails, piercings, tattoos and backwards caps, so it may not appeal to everyone.

However, it is a good feature of the new Aussie custom bike scene that has revived many old bikes, given rise to events such as Throttle Roll and the Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride and nurtured thriving businesses such as Deus ex Machina and Ellaspede.

Some may say hipsters have destroyed many old bikes. It all depends on your perspective.

Click here for our take on the hipster effect on motorcycling.

The Handcrafted film includes many interviews with custom bike builders.Handcrafted film about custom motorcycles

They include Tom Gilroy of Purpose Built Moto, Justin Holmes of Pop Bang Classics, Brado Miller at Milwerx, Matt Bromley at DVMC, Jeremy Tagand at Deus, Ian Don at Black Cat Customs, Scott Gittoes at SDG Moto, as well as Steve Barry and Leo Yip at Brisbane’s Ellaspede.

As Tom says about “wrenching” a bike from the scrap heap back to life: “There is no better joy than creating something with your own hands.”

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com