.I got my first bike the summer I was 19. Working as a bartender, I saved all winter and the following spring, for $750 I bought a 1972 Honda CB 750 which had just been rebuilt.
It took about 20 metres for me to fall in love and I never looked back. Three months later I had saved up enough to quit my job and head out on the road. I left Vancouver and returned three months and 15,000 km later, having made my way through Montreal, New York CIty, Washington DC, Memphis, Dallas, and Los Angeles, with almost every stop I could make in between. Originally headed for New Orleans as well, I had to detour around the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricane Andrew's path of destruction that particular summer. Needless to say this was a life-changing, coming-of-age adventure that I can never forget, and think fondly of every day.
Since that expedition, seven bikes and twenty years later, my love affair with the road has only grown and matured like and other good love story, and I continue to try to live on the road with at least one annual two week trip, if not two or three.
Living in Vancouver, Canada has afforded me the luxury of having some of the continent's greatest rides available to me out my back door, and my crew and I take advantage of this year-round riding weather as much as possible.
These photos are mainly from the past three summers, on trips to Los Angeles via the coastal Highway 101, as well as through the Rocky Mountains and back again, with stops in Portland to visit the family at Langlitz Leathers becoming an annual affair.
As a commercial photographer, I am also blessed with the opportunity to mix work and pleasure as much as I can afford, and try to bring motorcycling to my professional work whenever I can push the client into it. This spring I photographed the campaign for
Dace, a Canadian fashion label based in Vancouver, and allowed to tell the story of a girl falling on love with her ultra-cool boyfriend and his completely restored 1972 Norton Commando. As the stunt-rider in this project, I had to tolerate riding around for a day with a gorgeous model hanging on for her life. She had never ridden before and by the end of the day she had fallen in love (with the Norton).
Megadestroyer, Canada's premiere 'Go Fuck Yourself' designer of T-Shirts and assorted FTW accessories hired me to shoot their WInter 2009 campaign and getting down and dirty with this crew was another hard day at the office, in between beers, BBQ and burn-outs, I snapped off a couple of rolls of B&W with my trusty Leica and luckily a
few shots were in focus.
This summer we have plans to go up the west coast of Vancouver Island a few times, and one trip to Portland as usual. I've had the Speed Triple now for four seasons and am this close to hopping on a 1971 Bonneville a buddy scored in Washington State last week. He has too many rides and knows I get bored watching him always wrenching his old Tiger while all I can do is plug into a computer and download the latest tuning software.
See y'all on the road!
Andre Pinces Website.
Sadly Dennis Hopper passed away on may 29th. The world of choppers probably would not be what it has been in the past 30+ years if it werent for this man along with the great Ben Hardy. Together they came up with the bikes that changed America. May they both rest in peace.
