Art & Inspiration The First Time Von Dutch Screwed Me

Von Dutch name should be changed to Von Prick!

 

Hahah this is a really old thread.

 

Repost
In 1961 I turned 18. Had a good job and a nice car. I wanted a motorcycle. I went to see Bud Eakins Triumph motorcycle dealership (Sherman Oaks, CA). Bud showed me what he had in used motorcycles. None to my liking. Bud knew I wanted to buy and had cash in hand. He asked me to come with him to his shop in the back. He introduced me to Von Dutch. I had no clue who Von Dutch was. My first impression he was just an unkempt young man. Bud explained to me that Dutch would build a Triumph chopper to my liking. I told him no chopper but a custom Triumph would do. He took my deposit. Over the next two weeks I would visit Dutch after normal work hours. He would still work late into the night retiring to his home which was a shipping container behind Bud's shop. He took 3 or 4 boxes of parts and a 500 cc engine and built a beautiful custom Triumph. The small tank and rigid frame he painted a pearl white with metallic purple scallops on the tank. Came on a Saturday to pick up the bike and was not happy. Dutch had decided to engrave on my primary cover, using a very small wood chisel, a flower pattern like you would see on a firearm. Bud changed the cover for me to a polished one. After that Dutch would not talk to or acknowledge me. Wished I would have kept the primary ($$$). There are a lot of stories out there floating around about Von Dutch. After getting to know him a little I believe they are mostly true. Ron

ROTTEN RON, JUL 18, 2021EDITDELETE!REPORT!

 

Alright, this is my first and last final offer.
$110 for the watch.
You stand to make a cool $10 profit.

 

Ryan. I only spoke to your Dad a few times but was instantly a fan.

-Abone.

 

Kinda sad when meeting one you hold in high regard shits on your party...we're an eccentric bunch, proceed with eyes and ears open and hope for the best...

That all said when I see what they done best..."The Art" I tend to focus on that...again it's always interesting the diversity and travels of so many of you Hoodlums...

 

Lots of stripers emulated to mimic Von Dutch, (his ways as well as his art) a few that I can attest to... LOL

 

I've tried to be a role model to my kids and apprentices I've trained, but have definitely been a roll model more than a few times. Two cars, and trying to get off the floor after too much tequiller..... LOL

 

I don’t try to be a roll model to anyone, my kids, our apprentices anyone. I do try to teach everyone to be the best they can be at whatever they do, we should be ourselves. I have massive respect and looked up greatly to my dad but I’m not him nor did I strive to be. I strive to be the best me I can be….I usually fail at that…

I have respect for the talent that some people possess but I don’t always respect the person.

 

The traditional idea of a role model is one who exhibits characteristics that the average person would hold in high regard. Honesty, hard work, compassion, understanding, etc. So if you try to be the best person you can be I would think you are a role model whether or not you realize it.

 

I guess as Ryan alluded this man had some serious problems as an honest businessman and he was who he was and I suspect Role Model wasn't part of his curriculum...each and every one of us puts forth what we are...and that is quite varied depending on SO many things and will leave an impression good or bad and all in between...

Again I don't know much about Dutch but as an Artist I enjoy much of what he did...many eccentrics have little time for people and possess many non admirable traits...ours to discover...

I guess as one goes through life meeting, greeting, wheeling and dealing it is genuinely a roller coaster ride...ones results may vary greatly for better, for worse...

One other thing about Dutch was Ryan dealt with him in the 80s perhaps well after his Heyday...things may have been different when he was a younger man...dunno...but Hotrod/Custom was never a truly Pristine Ivory Soap group of Hoodlums all along...with crime and violence never far away at the best of times...

 

One more observation regarding the watch is perhaps those wings which resemble the Indy Logo were a catalyst for Dutch's Flying Eye Logo...just a thought...and being inspired by Art is absolutely possible as original as Artists strive to be...



​

 

We have dozens of people like Ken Howard living in the New York City subway system. They are alcoholics, mentally unstable, unwashed and have very interesting conversations with themselves all day. Now if one of then can learn pin striping...... From what I have read in several books, Ken Howard was a very troubled soul.

 

Hadn't seen this before, Ryan.
Personally, from where I sit, I think it might resonate more than anything of yours I've read. And you've written some good stuff.
It helped me to very much better understand what kind of a man your father is. And what he is to you.
I am at once truly sad for your separation, and quite envious and happy for you for your rarely equaled relationship and experience you have with your father.
All the best to you.

Edit:
I want to be clear.
I know you lost your father.
Yet I still say, "he is".
I lost my wife.
Yet I still say, "she is".
They are.

 

Great story about Ryan's dad... now he sounds like a role model. But what gets me is that time and time again posters are calling for the heads (and other body parts) of those who have ripped them off. And yet here we are reading about Von Prick and all his wonderful and creative achievements? I think I prefer thieves to liars and cheats because thieves don't try to come off as being genuine like liars and cheats do.

 

Von Dutch reminds me of Martin Short on SNL as Rusty. 35 living at home and jumping on the bed and having pillow fights. His parents would just say....."Oh that Rusty" lol

 

He was an Artist...one that was hugely influential amongst many other less well knowns that were equally talented...

Not the first celebrity that had a whole host of baggage to drag them down into cesspool alley...he left a mark and I don't know the extent of his wrongdoings...

He was in the right place at the right time regarding the Hotrod/Custom movement and it fed his needs...but yes he had a shadiness and some met with it...

It does not change the artistic success that to date many still try to discredit...

As Ryan alluded he was just being a BSing salesman NOT a role model...

 

Whaaat? Wait a minute....weren't you the kid that wanted that watch so bad that you never even heard the price. You were supposed to say "how about $25" or "jeeze Mr., have you got anything for a kid wit a sawbuck in their pocket" at a minimum?" What kid has $100 bill in their pocket in 1972, anyway? Yikes, now Ol' Strippy is robbin' kidz. The flying eye needed wings...easiest route is the...easiest route!

Boom...enjoy the pic! Oh, I love that very handsome watch! The thing is...a thing is many things, pic the thing that makes that thing the thing that makes you happy!

View attachment 5279260

 

That's a ballsy first post aimed right at the boss. Welcome to the HAMB, I guess.

 

Thanks, dug this one up, truth in advertising....

 

Your story about Al Unser Jr makes a LOT of sense after reading his new book!!! Talk about issues-very good read

 

Sometimes I just, well, you know...

 

Well... let's stir up this old thread/blog post again.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you too could own what is reported to be an "iconic part of history" in the form of Kenneth Howard's grungy bus, complete with bullet holes, a stained mattress, (which most assuredly contains Kenneth's DNA. So, if you can procure a healthy ovum you could clone yourself your very own Von Dutch ) his stuff, his garbage, and all the ambiance and odors that go with it. That is, if you have a strong stomach, a plane ticket to Arizona, and a cool $6.8 mil.

Since he's seen it in person, maybe @Ryan can confirm that this is, in fact, Von Dutch's machine shop/love machine.

Link:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2972678122981557/

Pics:

 

...Isn't that the coolest time capsule...I suspect it's staged to look that way but truly that's the way it could have been...here today...gone tomorrow...someone will sort out where you left off or lock the door till the will is sorted...thanks for sharing @ccain...

...wouldn't that be something if the Knife @Ryan's Dad was referencing for him was on that bench...

I like the grips on the overalls...



...a screengrab of the ad as once its gone this will be too along with the pics...Good that you copied them...

 

Belongs in a museum along with a hunched over, side eyeing, animatronic Von Dutch telling people to fuck off.

 

Not your average museum but perhaps honest about this mans actual in your face nature...the Culture wasn't without it's rough edges and this fella was definately not a role model but an eccentric Artist with a dark side not unlike many before and after him...he certainly left an interesting visual legacy...I suspect I would be happier just enjoying his visual works than having met him personally...many People are very talented but completely without social ethics by choice...nothing worse than meeting an iconic or highly skilled individual and coming away with a sour feeling about being treated a substandard person with many times no justification...

 

Actual pictures from the time show how much filth and squalor he lived in that bus with. Been cleaned up a ton

 

Well, I just happened upon this thread, so I am late to the game. I only had one interaction with Dutch many years ago. A good friend of mine wanted a real Dutch striping job on his car in th early 80s. Through several connections, we finally got to met him. It was one of the most interesting, bizarre , scary, and funny weekends I have ever spent. WAY to long and involved to chronicle here. Fast forward a few years and I hear the Pat Ganahl is doing a book on Dutch. Pat and I bumped into each other and I mentioned that I had Dutch story for him. He said that the book was already at the publisher by that time and was pretty well set. He asked about my story and I told him. He shook his head and said that after researching the book, EVERY story about Dutch, no matter how bizarre is most likely true! I can say that I really did meet him, but can't really say that it was good OR bad, but certainly interesting ! RYAN, your dad sounds like he was pure gold!

 

6.8 million for that bus ?

A million here and a million there, pretty soon, we are talking about a lot of money !

Considering all of the controversy about Kennth Howard's life, such a sum of money, can be better spent on, a cool bus, that DOESN'T have the stigma attached to it that, the VonDutch bus has !

I would rather have this bus, any day, over the VonDutch bus, just sayin.
This one isn't for sale, but its more fun.