Von Dutch Monday III (original) (raw)

Von Dutch Monday III

Here's one of my favorite photos of Von Dutch, supposedly taken in ' 46, when he was 17, and just after high school. This is the bike that Dutch mainly rode and raced from the mid-'40's until about 1950. It would make a cool bike today! Notice the eyeball on the front forks, down towards the axle.

Like all motorcycle owners do, this bike was changed around by Dutch a bazillion times in the short time he had it. You'll see the final version a little further down the post, but first......

I thought you'd like this photo. It's of a guy who you hear about, but hardy anybody has seen. This is George Beerup, standing in front of his Harley dealership, with his young son. It looks like the admiration between the two is mutual, huh? Harley dealerships look a little different now, wouldn't you say?

George Beerup is the man that Von Dutch went to work for at 16, striping motorcycles. The story goes that some striping had to be repaired on one of the repainted shop bikes, and Dutch was in the shop, and said he could do it. He took it home, striped it, and when he returned with a perfect job, nobody would believe a kid (Dutch) had done it. So, Von Dutch told them to go get him another tank, and he duplicated the striping in front of the whole crew, with a regular painter's bristle brush, not a striping dagger.

This is what Dutch's Scout eventually wound up as in the very late '40's - the Tricrindian, a combination of Triumph, Indian, and a Crocker OHV conversion. Of course, the obligatory flying eyeball was painted on the tank. These pictures come from Von Dutch's scrapbook, and it looks like the bike isn't 100% finished off yet. Notice Beerup's motorcycle dealership in the background of photo #2 ?

Pretty cool shot of the Crocker OHV conversion, and the Amal carb. L/H side pipes ain't anything new.