As some of you know Big Twin has been restored to its original glory by Bones Legacy Choppers of Las Vegas. It was a huge undertaking and they are to be congratulated for saving this icon of the chopper world. At this moment it is the only AEE Choppers build known to exist and they did it right.
The principals at Bones Legacy are Paul Ponkow and the famous artist Seen (Richie Mirando) considered the godfather of graffiti. They spent uncounted amounts of time and money to bring Big Twin back to life. The paint is so good that Dave and I agreed it was better than Molly's original!
A few weeks back the original designer and builder of Big Twin Dave Brackett and I traveled to Bones Legacy and met up with Paul and Richie and their crew. We immediately got in with them and started working on Big Twin to ready it for the expected TV shoot. Ever try to get two Ironheads running at the same time? Big Twin didn't go willingly but eventually she came to life and then some! In between a couple days of thrashing to finish up we visited with Ryan Evans and his crew at Kounts Customs, touring the facility and museum with him. Ryan did the paint on Big Twin. I'm not sure of the details but somehow the producers of Counting Cars got hooked in to the Big Twin story and wanted to follow up on it.
Following are a few picture from the trip and upcoming big reveal on Counting Cars. One last note, Bones Legacy has collected an untold amount of old choppers, a truly mind boggling amount and should be thanked for doing so. They are working hard and trying to get it right to save these classics before they are gone. I can't thank them enough for what they have done. Over the next few days I'll add some pictures...for now one of Big Twin (plus me and Seen) and one of me and Dave with Danny "The Count" Koker.
I was watching the episode today and i immediatly recognized Richie as SEEN, the famous graffiti artist. I was shocked when i watched the whole episode and they never even mentioned richies history or skill as a graffiti artist. I remember seeing him on the PBS documentary "Style Wars". With the show focusing so much on art and skill i find it ridiculous that they wouldnt introduce richie as SEEN and fill us in on his new career of building motorcycles. Great episode and the build looks great.
ReplyDeleteHe kinda does mention his history but not to the specifics of his graffiti. Count mentions that Richie is a "known artist with serious street cred". Richie seen is from the Bronx and is from the neighborhood I grew up in. He still owns a tattoo shop in the ol neighborhood. Just saw this episode today myself and I was like " oh sht there's Seen ! "
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