Sunday, June 29, 2008

The Making of a Limey Bastard






Roughly once a year something really arcane and "special" (in the retarded sense) happens in the world of custom motorcycles. Yes, I'm speaking about the elusive and esoteric "Making of the Bastard" ritual.  Like most rites of passage, this ritual is laden in eons of tradition. Each year members of the Limey Bastards Kult of British Choppers from around the country gather at a central location to guide initiates on their journey from feminine child-citizen, into their new life as a full-on Limey Bastard and Adept of the Church of the Divine Parallel Twin. This ritual usually takes place in a semi-public locale - where there is enough food for fodder (and unsuspecting denziens) -- but also where there is still enough privacy for the mayhem and jackassery associated with this ritual to go undisturbed with minimal enforcement of societal law. Initiates and Bastards alike partake in mind altering and intoxicating substances for proper mindset... and fireworks are used to help incite the religious furor necessary  for this transitory rite of passage. At some point initiates are changed into garments that reflect their "feminine/citizen" status. They parade through the crowd while simultaneously enduring feats of strength, stamina, and stupidity.  All this erupts into a high-point of idiocy, and when the wave breaks, surviving initiates are given their brown and green shirts to symbolize a successful transition. They shed their F/C status, and emerge full blown Bastards.  It is truly a site to behold. 

In 2008, this ritual took place in the parking lot of the Village Inn at the SMSO in North Carolina.  Above you will see rare photographs of this ritual in action.  

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