Thor Drake Articles
Video: The One Show
Back in February, Grant and I flew up to Portland to party with Thor Drake, Drake McElroy, Roland Sands and a bunch of other friends. It was The One Show, a bike show for people that don't need to pay to see girls in tight shorts and don't have much use for plastic. Now, here's video and photos from the show. See if you can tell which one of the interviewees wanted to be Grant's boyfriend the most...
Apr 03, 2012
Scrambling into the New Year
New Year’s Day has been the beginning of the calendar year dating back to 1751, and before that, to the day when baby Jesus was circumcised. In western culture, it’s a day of hangovers, laying in bed and eating way too much, knowing full well the guilty will compensate with gym time and a new found healthy lifestyle. However, while most are still sleeping happily in their cozy beds, I'm freezi...
Jan 03, 2012
21 Helmets: Art opening at See See's new shop
See See first opened its doors to the public back in June and they're moving already. Why? Shop owner Thor Drake has big plans for See See. The new location is in a slightly less shady neighborhood and will include one of those premium hipster coffee shops. The PBR sponsored party on December 9th will showcase 21 Bell Custom 500 helmets that have been painted by 21 different artists. If previous S...
Nov 28, 2011
Virginia City Grand Prix is Nevada's best dirty secret
The tiny mining town of Virginia City, Nevada holds a special, hard race every year. $70.00 to enter, ring what you bring. No bike is turned away at the gate so long as your bike passes inspection. More than 1000 racers enter in hopes to get, at the very least, a finisher pin. Over 3000 spectators line the streets cheering and yelling for any racer just because. Basically, the whole weekend is pla...
Nov 21, 2011
Dailies
See See Motorcycles grand opening
It's no secret that we're fans of Thor Drake and See See. We featured the SR 500 he built and I shot his shop the last time I was in Portland. See See is also responsible for The One Motorcycle Show and a good deal of drunken burnouts, party photos and general hooliganism. If you're within a few hours of the dream of the 90's, you should make your best effort to attend See See's grand opening part...
Jun 01, 2011
Throwing The One Motorcycle Show
Thor Drake runs See See Cycles and organized Portland’s The One Motorcycle Show on Saturday. We asked him to tell us a little about what happened. By our count, there were 78 custom and classic bikes on display, 14 burnouts, 80 cases of PBR, 3,000 people and one visit from the cops. — Ed. Photos: Austin Porter and Thor Drake Holy shit I’m beat. Thursday: we gain access to the building w...
Feb 07, 2011
36 hours in Portland, on a bike
Growing up in Los Angeles, and never having lived anywhere else, I'm used to the way people in Los Angeles act. In Los Angeles people you've never met don't offer you their motorcycles, shop owners don't let you poke around their shops with a camera and, in general, people just aren't all that friendly. In Portland though, all that is reversed. After only three emails, and without even asking, Tho...
Feb 03, 2011
Custom: See See SR500
You know modern cafe racers. Thousands of hours spent on paint, authentic NOS components too valuable to see rain. Frames chopped-by-hand at home. Just like their chopper equivalents five years ago, they’re about as functional as rolling paperweights. But, Thor Drake tells us this SR500, which took only eight hours to build at his Portland shop, can (and has) land jumps like this all day. Photo...
Jan 18, 2011
The One Motorcycle Show returns to Portland
Vintage and custom bike shows sure are getting popular these days. While some events like the Brooklyn Invitational focus on a national talent list and Orange County's Born Free event continues to transition into an ersatz mega-production, Portland's refreshingly quirky 2nd annual "The One Motorcycle Show" by See See Motorcycles on February 5th will have over 50 mostly home-grown vintage and moder...
Jan 05, 2011