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Friday, October 30, 2009

RSD Vintage

Shaw Harley-Davidson has finished up another Vintage project!
Keep your eye out for their new portfolio and website launch which will be coming soon. Until then, feast your eyes on this killer bike.



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Thursday, October 29, 2009

The Quilt

Back in 2006 on our annual trip to Sturgis we stopped by the Foothills Assisted Living Center with some RSD custom bikes. The guys spent the day hanging out with the FALC residents, they talked bikes, shared stories and Roland did a burnout or 2... or 7. As a thank you for us stopping by this loving community presented us with a hand knitted quilt, plaque and picture.

Anyone who has been by the RSD shop more than a handful of times has met The Quilt. It has come to reach legendary status around our circle of friends, co workers and industry cohorts alike. In its 3 short years of existence, The Quilt has served all of us here at RSD in its own special way.

It’s been a throw blanket on the couch in Roland's office, wall decoration, a rug, padding for parts, bike covers, table cloth, photo shoot prop, a scarf and most importantly... a model warmer.





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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

A Spooktacular Suprise

Thank you to Joanna from Drag Specialties/Parts Magazine for getting everyone at RSD in the Halloween spirit! We all had spooky surprises on our desks this morning. Thanks Joanna and Happy Halloween!


Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Vintage Brushed Nickel Finish

Follow along as Dr. Jeff shows you how we turn chrome into nickel.


Monday, October 26, 2009

Nitro Circus

This behind the scene footage of our shoot for Nitro Circus is narrated by the one and only Pepper, aka Mayor of Skid Row aka Leader of the Homeless. While he shares his thoughts Roland Sands and Andy Bell jump the L.A. River!


Click Here to view larger/higher quality video






Click here to view more photos of the Nitro Circus shoot!


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MTV’s Nitro Circus is a television show featuring highly skilled, adrenaline-fueled mad men. Some would say this motley group has a death wish.. maybe. This week’s episode will feature Roland and the Nitro Crew thrashing the RSD stable of bikes in the LA River. Watch Roland and Andy Bell attempt to jump the LA river on Big V Twins! Take a peek at this week’s all-new episode, airing Thursday at 10PM ET/PT on MTV.

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Friday, October 23, 2009

Karl Drehsen

Our friend Karl Drehsen painted this amazing piece. It is for sale. If you are interested hit him up at www.karldrehsen.com

Click to Enlarge

Hot Bike cover

The PM Rocker built by the crew at RSD hit the cover of Hot bike this past month. We got a chance to ride it hard in Malibu canyon for the guys at HotBike and they captured some fine shots of us abusing her kindly. Check out the article, ignore the typos’.




Photos: Eric Ellis
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Monday, October 19, 2009

Cafe Race Track

Roland Sands and Drake McElroy got together at a private track in a undisclosed location in Southern California to have a little track time fun with there Custom Super Singles Motorcycles. This footage was put together as a homage to the days of Cafe Racer Glory. Roland Converted a Honda CR 500 and Drake Converted a Yamaha YZ 450.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

We're big in Japan

Yone, and the team at Bull Original Inc. is really pushing the RSD brand in Japan and we are stoked to work with them. They’re going to be building some sportsters for sale to the Japanese market using the RSD products and some tricks of their own. Check out this fine example of where a sporty can go.






Check their website for more info on Bull and if you live in japan hit them up for RSD products and maybe even a bike build.
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Truckin

A truck driver/photographer captured this great shot while parked in a rest area in Ohio. The man has talent, check out his work here!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Interview at ASR

So Cal Action Sports Network put together this kickass video for us from last months ASR show in San Diego. Roland talks about his creative process, inspiration and our new apparel line that will be launching soon!
Check it out!!!

Friday, October 9, 2009

“Murder at 120 Miles Per Hour !!”

My buddy Karl Drehsen did this painting for our mobile art show. We got drunk in his alley and talked to random neighbors while we painted. I think I did more drinking then painting. It’s a blow up of the original DragStrip Riot movie poster. We cut out the original faces so you can put your own face through it and become part of the death defying action.

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Thursday, October 8, 2009

RSD Trike?

I used to ride ATC’s when I was a kid. This was in the days before quads existed. ATC’s were a unique and dangerous 3 wheel creation that mangled many of kid, me included. I was in Glamis when I was 14 and launched off a sand dune on my Honda 250R. I landed front wheel first, flew in front of the bike and the bike landed on me breaking my pelvis. I have hated all 3 wheeled vehicles since that day. Today I designed my first Trike, I still have a strange taste in my mouth.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

AOI @ SEMA

RSD's traveling art show, The Architects of Inspiration, strikes again! We will be attending the SEMA Show November 3rd through the 6th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Stay tuned for news and updates of AOI’s presence at the show.




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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Red Bull SoapBox Race

10/1/09
"Race Day"

The RSD/FMF DeLorean did exactly what we expected at the L.A. RedBull Races this last weekend....it blew the doors off of every vehicle out there!

Check out the second part of the DeLorean build and find out what happens after the flux capacitor reaches its required 1.21 gigawatts of electrical power!!!

This spectacular event will be airing this Saturday after the L.A. Kings game at around 6:45pm on FSN (Fox Sports Network).




9/25/09
"The DeLorean!"

Come see the RSD/FMF DeLorean destroy the field at the Red Bull Soapbox Race this Saturday! Grand Avenue and 5th Street in Downtown will be reconfigured into wide-open raceways as the Red Bull Soapbox Race screeches into town. Check out there website for more information.

Stay tuned for the next videos on this event as we finish building this human-powered soapbox dream machine and compete against the clock in a downhill race. We shall take no prisoners!





9/22/09

"1.21 gigawatts? Great Scott!"

With the Friday deadline approaching fast our crew is doing a little extra curricular work. RSD and FMF have a joint entry in the Redbull soapbox derby in LA this weekend. Our basic frame is done thanks to the guys at FMF. Now it is time for us to install the steering, axles, body panel, flux capacitor, seats, and all the necessary gussets to make it fast and safe. Well safe is a word I use but with Roland driving nothing is safe. Come down to 5th and Grand this Saturday, their is a 50/50 chance that you will see a car either skidding on the roof or toasting Budweiser’s in victory circle. "If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious [stuff]." Dr. Emmett Brown

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Monday, October 5, 2009

Reminiscing

I like to go through my old bike sketches and see what I was dreaming up 5 years ago. This was one of the projects I always wished I would of done but just never got around to doing. It’s a TL 1000 RR based street tracker. I had a frame for it but the guys at Suzuki flat track took it back because they needed to re measure it or something… I never got it back and she never got built.

Hey Suzuki… give me that frame back !!!