One Punch Mickey - a pikey bare knuckle boxing champ with a penchant for “dags” and caravans was brought to vivid life by Brad Pitt in the 2000 Guy Ritchie film Snatch. He is a character that has inspired a thousand dodgy impressions and many a burst of eager yet unfruitful abdominal workouts. And now he has inspired a motorcycle, this stunning “Vintage gypsy dragster” by Zadig MC. Fabian Giordano, the man behind Zadig, deploys a unique method of design for his creations, he picks a literary or film character and then builds the bike he envisages them riding.
“D’ya like dags?” Yes Mickey, but I prefer your ride.
Zadig MC first burst through the Bike Shed doors a little over a month ago when their stunning Salander Model, inspired by the titular character from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, provoked many a lustful gaze. If you missed it, you missed out. Catch up here and discover all about the wonderful charitable intentions of Zadig MC. Should you require any further motivation to click through you would also uncover some culinary advice on what best accompanies strawberries and many glorious pictures of a very lovely lady adorning said machine.
Back to One Punch Mickey and Fabian.
“This project was emotionally intense because Snatch is not only a film for me. It’s the name of my dog and a long story. The father of Snatch, a best friend of mine, had a car crash with his wife and they left us forever. They left a dog and an 8 month baby behind them. Stolen lives… The reason why sometimes, some dates, when everybody is happy, I feel very dark. When facing death you discuss nightmares and faith, I explore this relation on this bike.”
With a bland 2007 Harley XL883 Sportster as his starting point Fabian let loose his rampant creativity. The frame was chopped and modified to house the motors oil, liberating the area beneath the seat. Fabian had this space reserved for the super special, sinuous, intestinal exhaust, capped by a pair of brass tips. Fears of an overheating derriere are assuaged by the use of thermal insulation tape beneath the heavy bandaging on the pipes.
To attain the hunched stance of the unpredictable fighter the forks were dropped through the yokes and the internals were correspondingly upgraded with firm progressive springs. Koni shocks and Roland Sands clip ons married with modified Suzuki GSXR rear sets on custom mounts complete the fearsome riding position. Bare knuckle fighters do not crave comfort.
When the gorgeous Camille Rochet isn’t aboard the exquisitely detailed tank makes do as the bikes crowning glory. It was found in a scrapyard without any identifying marks, Fabian has no idea from what model it came from, guesses on a postcard please (sod it, use the comments section). It was heavily-modified to hold the injection harness and the fuel pump. Fabian restored and painted the tank in bloody red before destroying and burning it in the pursuit of patination.
“The colour remembers a burned heart and the engravings the gypsy world, the devotion, the Medieval Ages in Europe and the soul of the bike.”
Many parts received this brutal treatment in the pursuit of their finished form, check out this epic quote from Fabian.
“My idea was to continue to explore & introduce the destruction processes into the artistic vocabulary of custom building in order to collapse means, subject matter and affect into a unified expression for the purpose of giving identity to motorcycles.”
The hand crafted, vintage leather solo seat was commissioned from Ends Cuoio in Italy. Fabian also tinted and aged the Brooks leather grip tape to match. The levers are custom fabricated with tiny switches sealed into them, completely clearing the bars of clutter and yet maintaining street legality.
The retro yellow headlight illuminates the road and adds a burst of colour to the monochrome palette. I can’t decide whether it represents a ray of hopeful sunlight in a dark world or the sinister flash of a gypsy traveller’s tobacco stained teeth and whiskey yellowed eyes.
Here is another example of Fabian’s hardcore approach, epitomising the gritty heart of this machine.
“The techniques used include demolition and wreckage through the use of burning, tearing, punching, and the implementation of destruction by natural elements such as fire, corrosion, water, and gravity.”
When a teaser shot of One Punch landed on the Bike Shed Facebook page yesterday the like button took an absolute hammering, within 24 hours nearly 10,000 people had expressed their online adoration and we were not a bit surprised. It is a beast of a bike, a fitting tribute to One Punch Mickey O’Neil. We cannot wait to see which character Zadig MC embodies in their next creation.
A special thank you from Zadig MC to photographer Sebastien Laurent and model Camille Rochette, a special thank you from the Bike Shed to Fabian for sharing One Punch with us.
First published by thebikeshed.cc/
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