Pick of the Litter: 3

"This was my first bike," Johnny tells me. "It's my favorite out of all of these..."


Motorcycle hall of famer, Bud Ekins prepping for the Catalina Grand Prix.

Pick of the Litter: 2

Older than the hills and still looking good...


One of a few starts at the famous Catalina Grand Prix...

Pick of the Litter: 1

Happy New Year everyone! It truly is one of my goals/resolutions to stay on top of posting this year. Being busy is a likely excuse, one that begs a larger issue that if something is important to you you'll make time for it. I was lucky to have spent a very quiet New Year's Eve on a ranch with some close friends in a quaint cabin overlooking an orchard in Santa Barbara. What you will see in coming weeks are various images, both old and new, dedicated to the collection of a very passionate collector—who also happened to live on this ranch—and his litter of Triumph Tiger Cubs. He maintained that a lot of these were ridden in the local California desert and some even crossed the finish line at the legendary Catalina Grand Prix, a rare race held during the 50s and 60s on the small island off the coast of Los Angeles. The BSAs, AJSs and Triumphs were ubiquitous before Japanese bikes were introduced. To give context to these unique breed of heavy, powerful and swift motorcycles I will combine my small collection of Cubs collected over the last couple of days with various vintage shots of infamous races, racers and the culture surrounding a long lineage of Southern California desert racing.