| Author | Message | ||
     Typeone |
Motorcycles. Airs on Wednesday, January 18 at 10:00am & 4:00pm ET www.HistoryChannel.com/modernmarvels/ Set the sedan's safety brake and hop on your "hog" for a 2-hour high-speed history of the motorcycle--from the 1868 "steam velocipede" to the early 20th century, when they were a low-cost alternative to automobiles; from Harley-Davidsons preferred by Hell's Angels and police to motocross riders who take bikes into the air and onto the dirt. We also look to the motorcycle's future, featuring Jay Leno's jet-propelled Y2K sportbike and Erik Buell's bike-without-a-gas-tank creation. | ||
| Court |
I am having dinner with some fairly "notable" designers and one of the featured folks in that program this evening. I will, once again, leverage the occasion to point out that Mr. Buell put the gas tank WHERE IT BELONGED, thus rectifying a long standing design flaw. It'll be fun as they try to argue with me and I do my feigned "broomstick with 5# weights" table demonstration. To quote Paul Harvey . . . "common sense should be".  | ||
| Midknyte |
Mr. Buell put the gas tank WHERE IT BELONGED, thus rectifying a long standing design flaw. Yeah, ok, but, it's only been recently [in the history of bikes] possible/practicle to do so [with the advent of box frames]. Brilliant application though. | ||
| Bomber |
the idea's been there for a long far it's even been done a time or six (see Pierce Arrow scoots, for instance) little truely new under the sun, but the re-deployment of a great (albeit pre-existing) idea in an affordable manner is aces | ||
| Court |
You asked for it . . . my favorite (taken from Steve Job's "incident" with PARC) quote:
By the way . . . Erik's held this patent for years.....any of the others who THOUGHT it would work go so far as to put any $$$ into their idea? | ||
| Bomber |
I knew if I threw it low and slow . . . ;-} | ||
| Midknyte |
the idea's been there for a long far Oh, I know that. We've been over it before. All I mean to convey is that our box frames makes the application practical and effective for mass production. | ||
| Court |
>>>>All I mean to convey is that our box frames makes the application practical and effective for mass production. And you forgot the best two things:
Points, both, I'll be making tonight. If enough alky flows, whadya give me to get a picture of Frank Gehry on a Buell? | ||
| Road_thing |
Clothed or nekkid? | ||
| Typeone |
If enough alky flows, whadya give me to get a picture of Frank Gehry on a Buell? you'll already have won the prize if you snap it!  hahaa, "fairly "notable" designers", good one, Court. sounds like a FUN evening. | ||
| No_rice |
now all i have to do is figure out what time it's gona be on in iowa, lol. | ||
| Blake |
Who's Frank Gehry, and why does he spell his name that way, and why doesn't he ride a Buell, or is he just camera shy? | ||
| Blake |
Oh shit! I just googled "Frank Gehry." Please don't tell my architect wife. | ||
| Blake |
As opposed to my non-architect wife.  | ||
| Buellbozo |
If you get a chance,tell Mr.Gehry thank you from me for his wonderful design for our Ohr-O'Keefe museum in Biloxi.Katrina dumped a casino barge on the construction site, but it WILL be built. Would he autograph a Buell poster??-Yea,right...  | ||
| Jima4media |
Frank Gehry will probably be remember more than Frank Lloyd Wright in the future. | ||
| Court |
>>>why does he spell his name that way It wasn't Frank but his family that changed his name from Frank Goldberg to Frank Gehry in 1947. I can heartily recommend the documentary SKETCHES.    | ||
| Court |
By the way . . . some may ask "what has this to do with motorcycling?” One word, "EVERYTHING". I met Frank Gehry through an odd association with Erik Buell. I don't know if the two of them have ever met; I hope they do. As Buell and Britten were bonded in their appreciation of simplicity, so too are Buell and Gehry is their focused ability to, first, "make the thing" and second, "functionality". Take a look at this "simple bank". To hear Buell speak of the placement of designing a frame or placing a muffler differs little from hearing Gehry speak of doing that gorgeous roof. The similarities become astonishing when they both talk about the fact that their design not only works better, but it does "the thing" right and is "buildable." Case in point, while we are on that roof. One of the reasons for the glass in the roof and the glass floors was to meet the local building codes for how much light must enter. Choice of materials was as much a solution to a problem as pure "look at me" design. Recall here that you are dealing with a man who was having a problem shaving one morning, in his brick house and invoked a simple solution.....he took a hammer and started beating until there was a large enough hole in the wall to bring in sufficient California sunshine and then resumed shaving. Look again at that roof. . . and this time I want you to think Buell frame/muffler/brake (make your own choice) and "how do I make the thing better at doing what it is supposed to do and make it "smart". In Gehry's case he invoked the talent of a German friend and structural designer. Every rectilinear piece of glass in that roof is identical. It's cheap, it's light, it was easy to make everything fit perfect and, doubtless most important to the bank, and it was cheap. This is where, to me, Buell and Gehry "think" alike. In contrast, I. M. Pei did the famous pyramid of glass at the Louvre. Few pieces are the same, all are heavy, they fit poorly, construction was a disaster and immensely expensive. What they ended up with was great art, but a poor building. Need more? When Gehry did the Bilbao Museum he, watch for more Buell similarities, asked "what does the shape do?" Again with the help of a skilled structural analysis, the inherent strength, resulting from the curved shape of the walls, was exploited. Smaller beams and lighter/thinner/cheaper Titanium was used for the sheeting. Strength and enhanced functionality through the exploitation of "design"; think swing arm. In contrast, a less traditional structural fella in LA erred on the side of caution and Gehry, who won't say so but quietly hints to the fact, basically says they overbuilt rather that put the time and effort into "thinking". If you want to heighten your appreciation of Buell Motorcycles, I'd heartily encourage you to see SKETCHES when it is released. The film is produced by moto buddy Ultan Guilfoyle who has spent the last 5 years of his life immersed in capturing "genius" on film. The work is signature "Ultan" in it's ability to widen your world. Court Ride safe, lean much, smile more | ||
| Bomber |
Jim wrote -- "Frank Gehry will probably be remember more than Frank Lloyd Wright in the future." while Gehry has certainly earned the notarity, and has one thing going for him that Wright NEVER did (like building buildings that work, as in keep the rain of yer head), the cult of personality that's been built up round FLWright is pretty powerful -- too bad, really -- he design work was very interesting, and drew from a wide range of influances -- it's a shame he didn't care what a building was supposed to do Gehry seems to understand that a building is a machine that has certain functionalities required -- good for him! | ||
| Davegess |
Neat stuff, here in Milwaukee we are blessed to have somehow goten Calvatara to design our new art museum and it is amazing. Quite the sight for sodgy old Milwaukee. The things that can be done these days is amasing and it nice to see some one who doesn't just make them look cool but also work cool. | ||
| Bomber |
That Art Museum is WONDERFUL! turns even the most static of displays into an engaging experience -- Milwaukee should be very pleased and proud of that building | ||
| Blake |
Bomber, BLASPHEMY!  Blame the leaky roof on the contractors please. I dig FLW for his innovative reinforced concrete columns in the Johnson Wax building. Way cool. | ||
| Bomber |
Blake -- Johnson Wax building (a gem that is still in use), his museums, and the Tokyo Hotel (sadly, no longer standing) are exceptions that prove the rule, brother ;-} given the technology and materials available, FLW simply did not build houses that work. Talk to anyone that owns one -- 'sides, you KNOW I specialize in blasphemy! | ||
| Blake |
Blasphemer (that's better'n "Bomber" eh? ), Oh, "houses"... I never liked his houses much. Not homy enough for me. | ||
| Pdxs3t |
Hanging with the wife today helping her recover from her surgery a couples of days ago. For some I just so happend to have my camera in hand and ready to go when Erik's spot came on so I snaped some shots. I have seen the show many times but it is always a pleasure to watch again.       | ||
| Newfie_buell |
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh the tubers, They are absolutely goregous!!!!! | ||
| Bomber |
YAY! Tubular Buells! | ||
| Glitch |
Tubular Buells! I was wondering ... | ||
| Bomber |
chuckle project lurking in the back of my noggin for way too long -- time to get off my keister and do sumpin about it | ||
| Bcordb3 |
I see the History Channel saved the best for last! A great tribute to the man and the machine. |
