Motorcycle art ideas?

gentlemanjim

gentlemanjim

More Wrenchin than Ridin
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I've been thinking about taking some bike parts and making a lamp out of it. Has anyone done anthing creative with some bike components to adorn their office or shop? Looking for inspiration.
 
My uncle has made several lamps and clocks out of old motorycle parts. I'll see if I can get some pictures from him. I remember one clock used a bunch of gears and one lamp used the fork springs.
 
If you can find an old muffler that still has pretty good chrome, it could make a rather slender looking lamp base. Probably would want to fasten some sort of wide plate to the bottom for stability's sake, though.

Hehe, just had a crazy though. Instead of mounting a deer head with antlers to the wall, mount an old motorcycle helmet with a set of handlebars going through it where the antlers would be. That'd start a conversation.
 
I made some mobiles out of various parts, like clutch plates, bushings, even fenders. I've also made chimes using a sprocket or clutch plate and old swingarm bolt tubes, scrap frame tube, etc. A piece of wall art made from connecting rods in a sunburst pattern (Also made a wall clock in with connecting rods). A wind-operated sculpture like 3 pinwheels, using three motorcycle rims and a variety of fenders to catch the wind. A wall clock made from a spoke rim and old tire, using the rear sprocket as the clock face and spokes for hands. (For a friend's garage.)
 
I saw these ages ago, and thought I'd like to try something along the lines:
HERE

Hardest thing I'd imagine would be retaining a reasonable sense of scale. Make sure you post some pics of whatever you come up with. :cheers:
 
Lamponi sure loves Vespas!!
I like the unity lamp. I always thought a front beake disk would double as a clock pretty easy.
Ive had been wanting to make a birdhouse out of a fiber-glass HD type tank.
Ide send it to teebs for your xs, but its cracked.
 
I've used old headlights for lamps, mounted on the wall or ceiling. My old house I took apart a ceiling fan and mounted the headlight to the bottom where the lights would hang. I do custom seats, so one of my first things was a bar stool with a handstitched solo on top of a rear shock. I've always wanted to use a crazy bent exhaust for a lamp post. I'm still trying to figure out how to make a tail light lens because I want to use a piston for a tailight on my bike.
 
Here's some of the stuff I have done in the past. Most of my stuff is out of bicycle parts, but there are some motorcycle parts mixed in.

www.mnartists.org/beau_layman

Here's a clock I did using a bicycle rotor, motorcycle rotor and some gears.

45fbd58fb54cf1497b53afdecb8f35dd_scale_519_389.jpg


Tip for keeping things cheap. Old clocks and lamps can be purchased at Thrift Stores for far less than buying kits. You just have to rip the lamps and clocks apart.

I survived for 2 years buy welding stuff and selling it online, at art shows and to friends. It was great!
 
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I DIG the tables, brother. Your trophies are awesome too. I imagine any cyclist would have to be pumped to get one of those. Interesting ideas.

reCYCLIST is very cool. A lot of my own work involves full scale human forms, and I've animated a couple of them, so this was particularly interesting to me. It also made Elizabeth King pop into my head, although there isn't really much in common between your work and hers, beyond the human form and animation.
If you're not familiar with her work, she is an intensely detail-oriented sculptor. She's also just plain intense. Every time I've spoken with her I've left feeling a little worn out. lol
Thanks for sharing. Cool stuff.
 
Beau, that stuff is amazing. Kinda bummed I never grasped creative stuff. My brain just doesn't work that way. It's amazing what some people can do. Keep up the great work.
 
rugbytiger said:
Beau, that stuff is amazing. Kinda bummed I never grasped creative stuff. My brain just doesn't work that way. It's amazing what some people can do. Keep up the great work.
Click to expand...


Thanks. I took 2 years off of life and actually built that sculpture in my front yard. I was never really into art though. I just liked making things. I'm more of a craftsman that artist. I hate going to art shows. The people are weird. But they have money! I sold one of my tables for $850 last year and just about shit my pants. I put a tag of $150 on it and the lady running the show said now way. I said price it how you see fit. I came back a week later and she sold it for that much!

My ideas either come when I drink a lot of coffee at night or when I have smokables. Say what you will, but it works for me!

I hope my stuff inspires other to make their own! It's just junk! Copy my designs! I can't keep up with people trying to order!
 
Teebs said:
Very cool. The mechanics are really smooth.
Click to expand...

It was made from a pile of bicycle rims, an old bike and a washing machine motor I found in the basement of our rental house. All the joints are bicycle hubs, the rod running up to the arm is a lamp rod and there's an allen wrench that acts as a cam to make the arm wave.
 

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