All these years that i've know Johnny Surprise, err...Johnny Cocaine, err...Johnny Dogstyle, err...I never knew his real last name was Lizarraga. I found that out when I got the new Oct. 2011 issue of Back Street Heros. Johnny's bike is featured in their spread on this year's Grand National Roadster Show. And, right there in the photo, is his real name.
Johnny has a bunch of nice bikes, but this black Shovel is just sooo right. People could take a lot of styling cues from this bike. Too bad BSH ran the gutter of the magazine through the photo.
Johnny has a bunch of nice bikes, but this black Shovel is just sooo right. People could take a lot of styling cues from this bike. Too bad BSH ran the gutter of the magazine through the photo.
I could tell you all kinds of stories about Johnny, like the time he ran all the way down the legnth of this Downtown L.A. diner on the backs of the booths - that were 5 feet apart....with the booths full of people, for example. Everybody I know has at least one great Johnny Surprise story to tell. Ask Part-timer Steve about his first encounter with Johnny sometime, haha! But, Johnny is a guy I can call in L.A. if I ever need anything, and he'll be there ASAP.
A better shot of Johnny's bike from the Dice blog. Aside from the Kimtab "snowflake" wheels, my favorite parts on this bike are the XLS headlight nacelle, and the dual rear old cast center-port PM calipers. I hope I got this right....the framework was done by Superco Trevelen.
Here he is, Johnny in all his glory (?), posing for the Dice guys at this year's GNRS. Johnny's bike won its class. Johnny is a fucking riot, I haven't seen him for a while now. He never fails to crack me up.
And, to finish everything off, here's a photo of Johnny, Eddie, and Scott Craig during Scott's Mooncricket photoshoot for Dice magazine. Scott's another guy for another time. I've never asked about this photo.......
Ha, that bottom photo is one of a few hundred i took when i shot the Moon Cricket for Dice. I was one of the very few lucky enough to shoot it before it was abruptly parted out.
ReplyDeleteThe guy in the speedo is named Eddie. He was a bouncer at some place Johnny went to...had a clown tattoo on his arm and he said he would shoot the 'roids into his red nose...
I thought he might die during the photoshoot just from standing there flexing for a minute at a time. Started sweating perfusely...hope he's ok today!
Yeah, that's why I left your watermark on the photo. I figured you had a story that went along with the photo. See, what did I tell everyone...everybody has a good story about Johnny!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite features from Dice, Scott's Mooncricket. Eddie and the bike were just too bizarre a combo.
Nice bike, thanks for posting the "unguttered" photo.
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