Rat Rods and Bikes …. You either love em or hate em

I was in the US a couple of years ago and had a fantastic time riding motor bikes through the Southern States of North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia with a group called Planet Chopper. They were a mixed group of riders from all parts of the world and we were riding all types of custom motor bikes.

A few of the guys were riding what are known as Rat Bikes, which according to Wikipedia are ‘motorcycles that are styled to look like they have fallen apart over time and have been kept on the road and maintained for little or no cost by employing cheap rough fixes’, and as one of the riders told me ‘you either love em or hate em ….’, and I think I love em.

Since that ride, I’ve also become of fan of the Discovery television series “Vegas Rat Rods” which follows the work of Las Vegas Rat Rod builder Steve Darnell as he creates some truly weird but amazing cars.


Click on this link to see some of his creations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ5048hc8O0

I think what I really love about the Rat Movement is that it puts no constraints on a person’s creativity and that imperfections are totally acceptable and only ad to the
end result.


I can tell you from experience, that Rat Bikes are not built for comfort and I’ve got a feeling the same applies to Rat Rods, but they do look good. I should also mention that although they look cheap apparently they’re not and a good one could set you back far more than you think.

This link looks at some very cool Rat Rods and Hot Rods, which I hope you enjoy them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIkgU7Y1aNY

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