(Click the picture to watch the video!)

Ok so it’s not a 5 star hotel in Barbados BUT an airport hotel can be just the right start to a holiday.

There’s nothing worse than starting a family holiday all stressed out, tired and late. And in our experience, whenever we’ve had to do super early flights our holidays always began like that. It’s the getting up at a stupid hour, it’s still dark out, the kids are groggy and moody, you can’t find the long term car parking, then you JUST miss the shuttle bus plus it’s all the lugging around of luggage, car seats etc. NOT fun.

This time we decided to stay the night before at the Gatwick Hilton. It was SO worth it. You get to park at the hotel where your car stays til you return from holiday; you have a relaxing night in a hotel; the kids eat for FREE; and all you have to do is walk through a tunnel to get to the airport. The kids loved it. It’s like the holiday begins early.

The Gatwick Hilton do all types of park and stay deals, as do a few other airport hotels. But the key is staying in one where you don’t need the dreaded airport shuttle. Yes it’s a little more than just paying for long term parking but not much. And definitely well worth the extra cost!

Watch the video HERE!

Airport Hotel!

Okay this may be a bit of an odd one on a ‘Family Holiday’ blog/vlog site as kids (under 16) are not permitted at the resort (Though the age drops down to 12 and over during summer, Easter & Christmas)- but this place was SO amazing that we had to mention it. Plus I think it’s always great to take a break from the kids once in a while and have some couple time. It gives you a chance to rediscover yourselves and also makes you better parents as you always get back home fully recharged and crazily missing your kids!

We went to The Body Holiday for “work”. We were shooting a competition for Daybreak on ITV. And though the shooting schedule was pretty full on, it’s always going to be incredible and relaxing if your office is a 5 star resort and beach in St. Lucia! It’s such a gorgeous place to be.

Trey can only sit on a lounger reading a book for so long so this place is just perfect because EVERYTHING is included in the price. Usually when you’re at a beach resort and think ‘Hmmmm… I fancy trying a bit of sailing (or some tennis, or windsurfing, or diving or ANYTHING)’  – you end up NOT doing it as it’s usually some outrageous fee for 15 minutes of fun. At The Body Holiday you can do whatever takes your fancy … and there’s such an incredible amount to do!

On the flip side, if you’re more into chilling and being pampered, there’s that too. There’s a massive and luscious spa area where they do every treatment under the sun (sometimes literally!). To top it off, each guest gets a treatment a day for their whole stay!

The times we’ve been to ‘all inclusive’ resorts it usually meant sub par restaurants, buffets and bars as well as not really being all inclusive. Not having  wine or beer sir? Extra supplement. Cocktail at the bar sir? Extra supplement. Cappuccino instead of black coffee sir? Extra supplement. Dining at the ‘posh’ restaurant sir? Extra supplement!!  Not at The Body Holiday. All inclusive covers everything. No matter what you want or when you want it. All the food and drink is top notch plus they also have incredibly healthy (still yummy!) food options, drinks and smoothies!

We’ll definitely be heading back there one day for full on NON working holiday!

Click here for some outtakes of our shoot for Day break at The Body Holiday.

Trey & Katy in St.Lucia!

Click on the image above to watch our Yurt Glamping Holiday Vlog.

I’m definitely not Bear Grylls. I couldn’t live in the wild eating ant’s nests and making shelters out of a rotting camel carcass. Where would I plug in my iPhone? How would I cook Spaghetti O’s and sausages for my kids? Thankfully we found the Suffolk Yurt holidays.

Camping in the Yurts is very much glamping. There’s everything you need and then some: a comfy bed with a duvet, a wood burning stove, a floor! Plus toilets, showers a communal kitchen area with your own cupboards, cutlery, pots & pans (sockets to plug in your i-thingies!) – and even a washer/dryer!

There are 4 yurts on site. Us and a handful of friends booked them for a couple of nights and loved it. We were all families of 4 and the yurts were perfect. It was great waking up, starting up the wood burner for a cozy morning and all the kids running outside to play.

We paid £95 a night and we think it’s well worth the money. We’ll definitely be making a return trip at some point!

Have a look at our video to get a look and feel of the Yurt camp site.

You can book and find out more from them at:

http://www.suffolkyurtholidays.co.uk/

Family Glamping in Suffolk Yurts

I got into bikes initially because of practicality: motorcycles are cheaper than cars.

But soon after I bought my first bike – a Triumph Thunderbird – I was in. Everything about it appealed to me. That free feeling you get when you get on and start it up; filtering through a closing gap in traffic, pushing the lean more and more  – it’s a crazy adventure of ‘what if’ every time you pull away. And even the supposedly dull bit of cleaning & working on your bike becomes a zen like past time.

The first bike that I rode and learned to ride on was a Honda CBR 900 back in Manila in 1993.

Yes, agreed – quite possibly the worst bike to learn on. But I was 17, tremendously foolish and fearless with no concept of power – and actually – it was the only bike that I had access to as it belonged to a buddy of mine (Thanks Rainier!). Luckily, Rainier was smart enough to only let me ride it through private roads with barely any cars.

It’s a beautiful bike – and an important bike for Honda as it was one of the lightest super sport production bikes ever made at the time. It’s a bike that I may buy one day as I think 20 years later it’s still stunning. I love the aesthetics of it – the twin round headlights and the perforated fairing.

Moto Guzzi Griso – 2004 900

This bike was more of a work of art than a bike. So much so that I kept it inside our house in the living room! We were living in an old post office that we converted into a house so it had big open spaces and high ceilings.

It’s the kind of bike you can just keep looking at and keep appreciating it’s beautiful design features – like the aircraft style petrol cap and the oversized sweeping exhaust.

Part cruiser, part cafe racer, part naked – it was a super smooth ride with its shaft drive but I only had it for less than a year. I found myself not wanting to take it out in the London rain  and ice as it was just too pretty to get mucked up by road salt and dirt! I didn’t want a garage (or living room) queen so I got rid of it.

Ducati Monster 900

I’ve always been more of a fan of nakeds rather than supersports – and to me the Monster (pre-2010!) and the Triumph Speed Triple are the be all and end all of nakeds. The Monster sound is so distinctive – the combination of the loud v-twin, open Termi’s and the clatter of an open clutch is fuel for the soul.

The long reach to the bars bringing you close to the bike and the rear sets give you the feeling of being part of the bike and riding in it rather than on it. Being as ‘one with the bike’ makes it more comfortable to push the bike harder – ironic as it’s definitely not one of the most comfortable bikes out there!

I’ve ridden a few incarnations of the Monster – my favourite being the 2007 s4r.

In these pictures I’m on an older M900. These were taken for a short film I worked on. There was a small chase scene where I was being run down by a few ‘G-men’ on a CBR and VFR’s. We shot it on an large old industrial estate so there were no cars or people to worry about. It was pretty exciting speeding through the alleys and warehouses – although friggin’ scary as well without a helmet. After one take one of the G-men behind me was a little shaken as a thick electrical cable hanging down from a warehouse roof smacked straight him right in the helmet. Damn lucky as my bare head must have missed it by inches!

Triumph Speed Triple 2007 1050

This was my bike in LA. Undoubtedly it’s a monster, but it’s inline 3 made it super smooth. Many times I’d cruise down the highway – look down and find myself bombing down at 100mph. You just didn’t feel it. And it just wanted to go.

This is my favourite model of The Speed Triple along with the first original single headlight from the early 90’s.

I feel Triumph somehow diluted its brutishness and indeed its Britishness in the 2011 relaunch of the bike – especially by doing away with the trademark twin bug eyed headlights. This current version just seems so sterile now. It seems like a bike that wouldn’t look out of place in the Honda or Kwak line up.

Suzuki RM 250

In LA my buddy Tim got me into motocross desert racing. He loaned me his Suzuki RM250.  This felt like motorcycling at its purest. We hit a few motocross tracks which was both crazy exciting and pant wettingly frightening at the same time. Nothing makes you move faster after a bad landing than the sound of half a dozen two stroke buzzing maniacs about to come flying off a berm to land on where your head was a few seconds ago.

We also took our bikes into dessert and mountains – and this felt like you were at one with the motorcycling gods! Depending on the time of year we’d be scrambling around sand & rocks in 24 C degree then start climbing up hills and find ourselves blasting over snow and ice capped trails.

Harley Davidson Nightster

Back in England I knew a guy who was selling a Harley Sportster (Nightster) on the cheap. Well, cheap for a Harley but still too good to pass up. My idea was to turn it into MY bike and work on it through the English winters.

I got it as a stock Nightster and slowly turned it from this:

Into this:

This was the first time I really tried a hand and customizing a bike and I’m pleased at how it turned out.

The electrics were tricky but the hardest part (mentally) was the first dousing of paint thinner onto a pristine Harley paint job! I had a sick feeling in my stomach as I watched the paint drip down the Harley sign coupled with the a feeling of  ‘hell, there’s no going back now’!

The other hard to swallow bit was taking an angle grinder and cutting up bits of perfectly fine bike!

Granted much of the changes were bolt ons but I’m chuffed at how it turned out. It’s definitely given me the custom bug and my next project is to pick up an old Honda CB750 and turn it into some kind of cafe racer or street tracker.

My Favourite Ex-Bikes

Click on the image above to watch the first of our Family Holiday V-logs on our YouTube Channel.

Just before Christmas we all went on a short 3-day trip to Lapland.

We thought it would be just fun for the kids but turned out to be an unforgettable and magical winter wonderland!

Christmas in Lapland

If you had the displeasure of sitting through the first Expendables movie then PLEASE wipe that experience from your mind. Because Expendables 2 is what it’s predecessor SHOULD have been. A super-sized, 80’s action style throw back flick that is big, brutal and  well to be frank, bad. Paper thin, colour by number’s characters acting out a dot-to-dot script.  BUT, sometimes you can have a good time at a bad movie.

One of the first times Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Scharzenegger & Bruce Willils got into a room together they came out with Planet Hollywood – the Hollywood themed global restaurants that took the world by storm in the early 90’s. I remember being in Hong Kong and covering the opening of Planet Hollywood. It was MASSIVE. There was a huge street party with Stallone, Bruce Willis, Cindy Crawford, Jackie Chan and Jean Claude Van Damme. The most surreal part of the evening was late at night when Jean Claude Van Damme went missing. The PR team couldn’t find him anywhere  I kept hearing the panicked words: “WE’VE LOST VAN DAMME!” . Brilliant. Somewhere, strolling through the neon lit bars of Kowloon at 3 in the morning was a drunk, Belgian kick boxer with an itchy round house leg. I’m pretty sure his team weren’t worried about him, more damage control for the local residents.

I digress. Expendables 2 is a Planet Hollywood meal. You know what you’re getting. It’s big, it’s tasty (IF you like loaded potato skins, buffalo wings, a BBQ bacon cheese burger and a super malt shake). And too much of it will kill you. It’s a guilt meal. But you like it. And come on, it’s only once in a while.

‘The Expendables’ are a band of professional mercenaries and this time around they’re on a straight up revenge mission when one of their ops goes bad. That’s it. But you’re not watching this movie for the plot. You’re watching this movie for the guys in it who are mostly your grand dads age. It’s Wild Hogs with a truck load of dynamite.

Now if you don’t know your A-Ha from your ABC or your Bangles from your Bananarama then let me tell you something. Having Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Dolph Lundgren & Jean Claude Van Damme (as well as more recent beater upperers Jason Statham & Jet Li) all in one movie is a big deal. It would have been a massive deal 20 years ago, but hey it’s still kind of a big deal now.

One could then argue that this movie is 20 years too late. One would be wrong. What makes this movie work is the fact that everyone is on their last legs and they make no secret about it. More important than the thousands of gun shots that The Expendables fire at the enemy are the pot shots that they fire at themselves. Nothing is sacred: previous films, personal lives, age, weight … anything goes. Without this specific cast, at this specific age and with the verbal pokes in the eyes, this would be an action movie firing blanks.

And by the way, this isn’t the action that we’re now used to seeing. It’s not the super stylized ‘300’, there’s no Matrix like ‘bullet time’ or Bourne cinema verité action. This is 80’s action i.e. let’s just film stuff blowing up and if you want to be extra fancy, stick a slow-mo on the explosion. Job done. It’s video game violence with the body count of the movie as high as the IQ is low. And it’s fun.

Stallone himself described his movie as a “Barbecue of Grand Scale ass bashing”. Now, to be safe I probably won’t go to his house for lunch. But I will go watch his Expendables movies. Of which there will no doubt be a third one. Come on Steven Seagal, you know you want to!

Expendables 2 – Bl-Eview

Besides, you’ll watch this movie regardless of what this review or any other review says. Such is the power of Nolan’s creation. His franchise has truly become the greatest of all movie marketing adjectives: Unmissable.

Yes, I’m a Batman fan. Though even before this reboot, the caped crusader has been a presence in my life.  I remember having a bendy rubber Joker figure when I was 4 even though I didn’t know who Batman was. I just liked chewing on his head. I burned through the comics as a teenager. And even as a young adult Batman kept affecting me. During the late 90’s when the first big Batman movies came out I was doing the interview rounds on film junkets. And it was the first and last time that A) I was ever “star struck” – interviewing George Clooney. Yes, there is something about him and B) Not so politely removed from an interview room by Alicia Silverstone & her people. Long story.

But of course, Nolan’s Batman is not even in the same ball park as any previous Bat films. In fact it’s not even the same game as any other superhero movie. And that’s why we like them. You may ask “Why so SERIOUS?!” of all the films (Especially this one!) But it’s a breath of fresh air. This ain’t the fun and games type superhero movie of late. It’s not the faux teens in puppy love chasing a giant lizard across the city or the out quipping super friends of The Avengers. This is heavy. This is The Hulk slamming Thor’s Hammer on an anvil made of Adamantium type of heavy. If The Avengers is High School Musical, The Dark Knight Rises is Don Giovanni.

The Dark Knight Rises picks up 8 years after the Dark Knight ended – Batman took the fall for Harvey Dent’s murders & death and is being hated & hunted by Gotham. Since then Bruce has hung up his cape and lives as a recluse. Gotham is as peaceful as its ever been. UNTIL! Yup. Things go south fast. Enter super villain BANE. A hopped up he-man of horror with a gas mask on his face and terrorism on the brain played by Tom Hardy. Meanwhile,  Anne Hathaway’s ‘Selena Kyle/’ uses softer methods to draw out the Batman. Well, enough’s enough. RISE DARK KNIGHT!!  And boy, does he rise well. So much so, he rises more than once. This is over simplifying the plot for sure but it would take ages to write out a Nolan plot. Umm… Inception?!

Again, I have to point out this is a serious movie. There are real world themes of terrorism and comments on the socio-economic equality of the world. BUT, all that is put to one side when you watch Batman flying through Gotham. “Go Batman!”  Like all of Nolan’s films, TDKR is a visual feast. He looks like spent every penny of Warner Bros Bane sized budget and it’s beautiful – everything rom the super-wide aerial vistas to the down and dirty ground level shots. The action pieces are the frenetically paced heart thumpers you’ve come to expect from Nolan. But clocking in at almost 3 hours it can’t all be action can it? Well, no it’s not. Truth be told, this movie is high on drama and low on super hero. The emotional stakes are higher than Gotham’s skyscrapers. And with such a capable dramatic cast of Oscar touched actors it would be a shame not to use them. The Bruce Wayne/Alfred scenes in particular are immensely touching. I actually could have done with more of them. Where in previous films, the villains were the most interesting thing on the screen, this time it’s  Bruce Wayne. This is his movie.

So what’s lacking? Well, let’s talk villains. Undoubtedly there’s a huge hole left by Heath Ledger’s dangerously charming psychopathic Joker. Bane doesn’t come close. But what he does bring is the real sense that the Batman has suddenly got someone he can go toe to toe with. And it’s truly a frightening feeling when that penny drops. I just wished Bane would stop ‘villain monologuing so much. Surely that’s bad guy rookie stuff?

TDKR is a colossal movie. What Nolan achieves on screen not just in terms of spectacle, but also in terms of emotion and story is incredible. Some seeds planted in the first two movies come to flower in the third and it seems Nolan has tied up all the strings. Well, most of them. Nolan left enough of a window open to keep most viewers and fanboys very happy.

The Dark Knight Rises – Bl-Eview

My wife and I (I assume like many couples) alternatively pass the ‘movie choice token’ on every movie night we have. Due to my choices, my token seems to come with a pitch for reasons to see it. For Cabin In The Woods, I think I pitched harder than Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard did to get it green lit.  Scary movies are always a tough sell for my wife. A big part of it is we live in a house in the country with no close neighbors. So essentially, we live IN a Cabin In The Woods. But my pitch went like this:

“But babe, this isn’t your run of the mill scary movie! Well, it is and it isn’t. It’s the cliche’d scary movie plot but completely turned on it’s head. It totally subverts the whole horror movie truisms.”.  During my token pitches, I think my wife just hears what Charlie Brown and the rest of The Peanuts hear when their teachers talk.

Anyway, after seeing the film, my pitch was spot on. Cabin serves you the horror movie staple’s –   but they taste totally different. It looks like a cheeseburger, smells like a cheeseburger but it tastes like chicken cordon bleu. The movie poster alludes to this: the cabin twisting and turning like Rubicks cube subtly telling you: This movie will mess with your mind.

It’s plain to see that the writers Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, oh and The Avengers) & Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) are real fans of the horror genre. Not just with the broad strokes of the film but the little tips of the hat that are peppered throughout the two movies. Yes, I said two movies. In a way Cabin is two movies mashed together. You’ll have some head scratching in the early parts of the movie but just go along with the ride. It’s a good one. And it’s a funny one as well as a scary one. Just like Scream was but smarter and well, better.

 The cast play their archetypes (with a twist) spot on which includes the hunk – Chris Hemsworth (pre-Thor. Cabin was made in 2009 but shelved when MGM went bankrupt), the good girl – Kristen Connolly and the stoner – Fran Kranz – who is brilliant. Just think of Brad Pitt’s stoner on the couch cameo in True Romance but for a whole movie!

If you’re using a movie choice token to convince your other half to see this then good luck to you. But just keep in mind you may have to pay a high price – Zac Efron’s The Lucky One is still in theaters.

Cabin In The Woods – Film Bl-Eview

BUT 21 Jump Street works.

I loved watching the TV show  21 Jump Street as a kid but most people I know have never watched or even heard of it before. (It wasn’t as globally super syndicated as The A Team or Dukes). It doesn’t matter that you didn’t watch or see the TV series (though satisfyingly ALL the original cast pop up in some form or another  along the way).

The fact that not many remember the TV series is a good thing. There’s no expectations. Besides, the only thing carried from the TV show into the movie is the loose plot: “youthful” looking cops go undercover in high school. Or as ICE Cube as the over the top, stereotypical but brilliant, angry captain puts it: “Teenage the fuck up!”

We meet Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) in their painful high school days. Schmidt is the geeky “not-so-slim-shady’ who chokes on asking his dream girl to prom meanwhile his sworn enemy, super jock, meat head bully Jenko can’t pull the grades to get to prom.

Cut to 7 years later and the two pair up and become best friends to get themselves through police academy. They finally graduate – into under par cops. So they’re sent to the undercover Jump Street high school program. Back in high school – EVERYTHING has changed. Suddenly the geeks who care about the environment and read comic books are the cool kids and bully jocks have no place on the new social landscape. But at least they get a second chance.

Rarely is a comedy funny all the way through. But this manages it. Though not an Apatow Film, co-writer Jonah Hill turns this into an Apatow cocktail: a tasty mix of dick jokes AND sharp comedy as well as social commentary with heart. It’s Hill, Tatum and their bromance that makes the movie. Hill is on usual point with his awkward sincerity routine which never seems to get old. And Tatum is surprisingly great. I’ve realized I don’t like ‘GI Joe’, alpha dog, kick ass Tatum or super sappy, puppy dog ‘The Vow’ Tatum. I like my Tatum funny and dumb. No doubt in addition the definite Jump Street sequel that will come around, Tatum will now travel down the comedy road with gusto.

The genius of the movie is that it mocks itself. So when you’re not laughing at it, you’re laughing with it. That makes for a lot of laughs. Watch this if you like: Superbad, Hot Fuzz, Lethal Weapon, and Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.

21 Jump Street – Film Bl-Eview

Girls on a bike? Forget it.

So in the interest of science I’ve put together a list of what I feel are the best girl on a bike combinations.

KILL BILL ‘The Bride’ on a Kawasaki ZZR250 (Ninja)

Okay EVERYTHING was working for this girl on a bike scene. Uma Thurman togged up in that yellow Bruce Lee inspired jumpsuit with the matching helmet, on the matching yellow Kawasaki ZZR250 with her katana attached to the back of the bike, riding through neon lit Tokyo night, with Al Hirt’s crazy trumpeting in the background then switching to the killer guitar riff from the main them tune when ‘The Bride’ is ready for business. Awesome. Every box ticked. Though nit picking, they could have chosen a more suitable bike. The bike is all looks and not even sound as its whisper quiet inline 2 cylinder engine was overdubbed with a throaty 4 cylinder.  It’s more of a beginners bike and it would be way down the list of bikes I’d pick heading into a do or die battle which will more than likely, end in need of a fast getaway! Nevertheless, Tarantino pulled a blinder with this one.

THE MATRIX ‘Trinity’ on a Triumph Speed Triple

The ass kicking, leather wearing, motorcycle riding Trinity gets ALOT of bike time in the Matrix movies. As she should. She seems like she belongs on a bike.

In the first Matrix she uses a Triumph Speed Triple to go save her boy Neo from the agents. Great choice for the job and perfect in keeping with the style of the movie.

The Triple seems to pop up a lot in movies. (It had a big starring role in MI:2) The bike is an easy choice.

The distinct bug eye headlights are it’s trademark and are easy to spot. So a Speed Triple in a movie tells any biker watching the movie “hey, this guy/girl knows his bikes!”. Plus hell, it’s a damn cool lookin’ bike, a great ride for stunties and will get you from A to B pretty sharpish.

It’s my LA whip:

MATRIX RELOADED  ‘Trinity’on a Ducati 996

This chase scene was incredible. Trinity is bugging out with the Key Master and Agents running her down. They jump on a Ducati 996 and rocket through the traffic. Whoever is riding that thing blasts it like a bat out of hell. Great girl on a bike action here.

Though the previous 916 is a better bike, most Ducatis are practically sex on two wheels. Throw in high heels and latex and it’s a winner.

CATWOMAN  ‘Catwoman’ on a Ducati Monster S4

I like Halley Barry and the old shape Monster is easily one of my favourite modern bikes. So on paper this girl on a bike combination should be killer.

Unfortunately the movie Catwoman is such utter shite that it even taints this awesome combo with it’s putrid smell. Catwoman was nominated for 7 Golden Raspberry’s and “won” 4 including one for Worst Actress. At least Halle had the sense of humour to accept the award in person. Still, such a shame that this girl on a bike combo suffered.

THUNDERBALL ‘Fiona Volpe’ on a BSA Lightning (A65L)

Bond films usually get their cars spot on. (Well, let’s gloss over the Ford Mondeo from Casino Royale) Thunderball got the bike right too.

The girl on the bike is Fiona Volpe played Luciana Paluzzi, a deadly Spectre Assassin. The bike is a full faired BSA Lightning. The fairing was only attached to house two rocket missiles which Volpe fired on Count Lippe during a chase scene with Bond.

No question, the BSA Lightning is a beautiful bike. The British motorcycle industry may have been running on fumes by the mid 60‘s but that decade also saw the big three:  Triumph, Norton & BSA arguably put out some of their most iconic bikes – respectively the Bonneville, the Commando  and the A65 Lightning. That BSA is definitely on my ‘maybe one day’ purchase list.

Meanwhile, the girl on the bike – Luciana Paluzzi is stunning in Thunderball. Possibly one of the best Bond girls ever as she seems to embody the Italian 60’s siren that oozes strength, sex, confidence & beauty all in one over the shoulder glance.

The combination of these two 60’s icons is absolutely stunning.

THE GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE ‘Rebecca’ on a Harley Electra Glide

The parts of this movie – the music, the psychedelia, the girl, the bikes, the shots, the scenery, its spirit are all better than its sum. It’s a psychedelic European biker road movie that came out a year before the quintessential  ‘Easy Rider’.

Luckily, Marianne Faithful looks so good in her full leather biker suit you almost forgive her for her acting. Her wild n’ free 60’s spirit definitely sits right in this film.

I like the idea of this movie a lot more than the movie itself. Even the tagline is great “She’s Always Naked Under Leather” Have a look at the trailer and you’ll see what I mean:

The Girl On A Motorcycle Trailer

There are a couple of motorcycles in this. She learns to ride on a beautiful Norton Atlas 750 but the main star is a 1967 Harley Electra Glide.

I’m not a big fan of modern Harley’s, even though I’m currently working on a Sportster! :

I feel Sportsters are the exception to the modern Harley leather tassel, crazy chrome, sofa on wheels vibe.

But war time Harley’s and pre 70’s Harley like the Electra Glide in the movie are gorgeous.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

‘Lisbeth Salander’ on a Glory Motor Works customized Honda CL350

Oh man, I LOVE this bike. When I was watching the movie I kept squinting to try and get a better look at it and kept hoping for longer shots with the bike.  It’s perfect.

David Fincher got it absolutely right with this. It would have been crazy to put Lisbeth Salander on a slick recent Ducati or Triumph as she’s broke in the movie (to start with). This bike matches up to Lisbeth’s character to a T. It’s stripped down, utilitarian with flashes of understated style & personality. It’s a bike that she could afford and a bike that she could chop and change easily and cheaply as money came in.

The bike was shot and used to great effect in the movie. Lisbeth in all black, oversized boots blasting through icy Sweden on knobblies. At some point I’ll probably build a bike like this but using a 650.

Can’t wait for the next two movies to come out to see what Salander’s done with her bike!

Chicks on Bikes in Flicks