BUILT NOT BOUGHT

 GARAGE BUILT SCENE
          LOWSIDE MAGAZINE



Everything is so accessible these days, with the internet and mass media combined there is no hunt involved. If you want to know everything there is to know about Richard Hell, you can just Wikipedia it and you’re an expert. This is pretty much true for just about anything, you can read it then know it in a few clicks of your mouse. But there are a few things that still remain inaccessible. For example; of course you can go on YouTube and watch a guy set the points on his iron head. But can you truly understand how to set your points if you haven’t done it on the side of 95 in the dark with a pocket knife and a business card? No, not at all, the understanding is completely different. This is where we set ourselves apart from the masses. We can’t just pick a bike or a car from the showroom floor and be content with it. We are tinkerers, artists, craftsman and maniacs. Having something everyone else has never suited us and it never will. Why would anyone sit in an 11x17 shed in 10 degree weather just to make a rusty old bike run? Because pushing a button on a new geezer glide doesn’t give any feeling of achievement. For anyone who has ever kick started a bike you will understand this feeling. There is so much to be said about bringing a machine to life by the downward kicking motion of one’s leg. LowSide magazine has one goal in mind; relating this feeling to others who can empathize with our sore knees, hurting backs from laying on cold floors and busted knuckles. We chose a separate path and low side magazine is simply here to document that path with photographs and articles taken and written by people like you and me.

Tim, the Editor

Pick up Issue #1 here.





Ok, so not to come off sounding pretentious or anything but have you ever built a bike? Like really built a bike; laced the wheels, rebuilt the forks, welded on the hard tail. These type of mods are pretty serious when you think about it. How many times have you been riding down the road and you’ve thought to yourself, “Did I tighten the pinch bolts on my fork tubes?” Or, “Did I get good penetration on the welds I did on my frame?” You have to really be sure about these things, cause this shit can kill you! You are literally taking your life into your own hands. But this paranoia is something not many people can share with us. Sure you can bolt on some accessories and make your bike “bobber style” or whatever you want to call it, which is fine, but it’s just not the same. Look at the bikes we often choose to ride; rigid, jockey shift, no front brake, etc, etc. It’s like we are tempting fate on purpose just to do what we love. We spend all of our money and all of our free time on an obsession that could possibly kill us. I suppose that’s part of the allure of it all, doing something dangerous or something against the grain. I know I dig it when someone says, “How do you ride with those little bars?” or “Isn’t that uncomfortable?” you know exactly what I’m talking about, that feeling of being in on something that not everyone is in on. Anyway, my point is, I’m not a bike builder.I’m very far from a good bike builder and honestly don’t ever care if I am. But this fear that I feel from building my own bikes reassures me every day that I’m doing it for me and without the need to impress or please anyone else. I make my own shit, so should you!

FTP

Tim Wise, the Editor

Pick up Issue #2 here.

Issue number three, holy shit! I can’t believe we even got one off the ground. I mean three issues isn’t that bad for a bunch of nobody’s throwing together some pictures and words. So Rich, the head honcho over here at Lowside, approached me and asked me to write about what we here at Lowside magazine are all about. Here’s a small example of what I’m all about. Currently I’m sitting at a computer at work, I woke up at 3:30am so I could get to work by 5:00am and use a computer to write this thing. I’m not on the road in some cool town taking pictures on my expensive camera or anything awesome like that. I have ten hours of work ahead of me followed by a two hour commute home. And no I couldn’t ride to work today because I had to carpool to save money. Rich is currently trapped in a Bermuda triangle of shit. He has a new house that he is working on, a baby and a job that he works full time. And he still manages to find time to work on this magazine. What I’m getting at is Lowside is a labor of love for us, we’re not getting rich and we still have real jobs. We approach Lowside just like we approach our bikes, our drive is fueled by our love for it all. After working a full day’s work we come home and wrench on our bikes or work on this magazine, just like many of you do. It’s a pretty grueling thing to do but we do it because we love it.

FTP

Tim

Pick up Issue #3 here.

Dude! How awesome is riding? Like really, riding anything is the shit. I will ride anything, anytime I don’t care what it is. Anything with two wheels is fun to me; sport bikes, dirt bikes, mopeds whatever. If anyone asks me if I’d like to ride their bike I’m like “fuck yeah!”. I imagine most people who are into riding are the same way. It doesn’t really matter what it is as long as you’re riding. Don’t get me wrong my heart is in Harley’s and such but its just fun to experience new bikes. Sometimes you have no other option. For instance, I had to sell my triumph a long time ago and ended up with a cheap cb550. Yes I’ll admit it, I rode a Honda but at least I was riding. Plus I sold it for a hundo less than I bought it for, and all I did was beat the shit out of it for a year. I guess the point I’m trying to make by telling you this is; if you love to ride, just fucking do it! Who cares what it is? We can’t all ride barn fresh knuckles, but we can make due with what we have. Unfortunately that sometimes is a jap bike.

FTP

Tim Wise, the Editor

Pick up Issue #4 here.

Hi, my name is Tim, I ride motorcycles.Does that make me a biker? Who cares if it does? Seems like nowadays a lot of people are overly concerned with the“lifestyle” as it be. Well once again what the fuck is the “lifestyle”? I mean, I ride pretty much daily, I work on bikes at least4 days a week and I spend just about all my money on motorcycles. So am I a biker?Who gives a fuck, the point is I liketo get out and ride. Whether it’s to work,the grocery store or an organized “run”It’s just what I do. I could care less about looking like a biker, or hanging out where bikers hang. It’s never been about that for me, I just want to have fun and live life.I guess the point of my rant this issue is,fuck the details man we are all here for the same reason. I don’t need to copy a page out of a 70’s easy rider or model my attire after a club member to feel secure about what I do. I build my bikes and I ride my bikes, and that’s where it ends. It’s not a lifestyle I picked, I just kind of fell in to loving motorcycles. Ya feel me?

FTP

TW

Pick up Issue # 5 here.


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