The Recidivist is a machine inspired by the art of permanent body adornment. Motorbikes are commonly adorned with tattoo motifs using an airbrush, however the uniqueness of The Recidivist lies in the fact that the bike’s entire construction is covered in tattooed skin branded directly onto the bike’s tires, tanks, seat, rear fender, lamp and many other smaller elements.
Light colored cow hide leather – similar to the color of human skin – is engineered onto the bike. Artists from Polish tattoo studios applied traditional works of tattoo art onto the bike using. All of that makes The Recidivist world’s first tattooed motorcycle.
References to the traditions are expressed not only in bike’s theme, but also in its construction. The motorcycle’s construction include elements that draw from the look of tattoo machines. All of these parts are fully operational elements of bike’s construction, and the mechanisms of these elements operate in the same way as they do in the original tattoo machines:
- bike’s front suspension has the look of a traditional coil tattoo machine,
- the exhaust pipe looks exactly like a modern tattoo machine, including the tattooing needles which when you start the bike, move exactly as they do when the tattoo machine applies ink under skin.
Further more, the machine’s design is based on a number of technical solutions drawing from the turbulent lifestyles of post-war bikers:
- the lever starting the bike has a shape of a bomb detonator lever,
- the rear light indicators look like brass knuckle-dusters,
- front wheel caliper brakes have the appearance of handcuffs,
- front clutch and brake handles are formed in the shape of „butterfly” knives,
- the break pump lever is shaped in the form of a section sign.
The Recidivist is based on the Harley-Davidson Heritage model. From the original machine only the engine – a Twin Cam 96” – and part of frame are left. All other construction elements and mechanisms are original solutions created by constructors of Game Over Cycles. Bike’s unveiling took place in September 2014 at the London International Tattoo Convention 2014 – the most prestigious body adornment convention in the world.
The Recidivist’s sidecar was created in 2017 and had its world premiere at the Sturgis 2017 rally. The sidecar is fully tattooed, both outside and inside and also on the tires.
Construction of the motorcycle and sidecar took 3000 hours. Tattooing of the bike and sidecar took over 2500 hours.
Awards won by The Recidivist
- Special Award at Harley-Davidson’s 115th Anniversary (2018, Prague, Czech Republic)
- 1st place – PRO Class at H-D Museum Custom Bike Show (2017, Milwaukee, USA)
- 1st place – Most Unusual at Rat’s Hole Custom Bike Show (2017, Sturgis, USA)
- People’s Choice Award at Harley-Davidson Custom Bike Show (2015, Faaker-See, Austria)
- 1st place – Custom at Harley-Davidson Custom Bike Show (2015, Faaker-See, Austria)
- Special Award by Custom Chrome Europe at Polish Custom Bikes Championship (2015, Poznań, Poland)
- 3rd place – Freestyle at Polish Custom Bikes Championship (2015, Poznań, Poland)
- Best Paint at Polish Custom Bikes Championship (2015, Poznań, Poland)
- Bike of The Year at Chopper Magazine Award (2015, Wrocław, Poland)
- Best Painting at Wrocław Motorcycle Show (2015, Wrocław, Poland)
- Best Paint/Airbrush at Custombike-Show (2014, Bad Salzuflen, Germany)
Source: Game Over Cycles
