Local 'Bones Bike' creation on display at Bike Night

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May 9, 2008

Dixon took nearly 40 years to finish ‘Last Ride’

By TRICIA NEAL, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Fri May 09, 2008, 06:53 PM EDT

Visitors to this evening’s Bike Nite in Science Hill will have the opportunity to view a special motorcycle designed by local resident Jerry Wayne Dixon — one that took 40 years to become a reality.

The “Last Ride” motorcycle, also known as the “Bones Bike,” will be on display from 4 to 8 p.m. today in downtown Science Hill.

You won’t be able to miss it — just look for the grinning skeleton with headlights for eyes.

Dixon is a retired teacher whose uninspired biology students in the late 1960s inadvertently helped inspire the design.

“In the school term of 1967, I was a fledgling teacher at Nancy High School,” Dixon recalled.

“Having a major degree in art, I was allowed to teach the subject to some students during my personal work hour. My primary assignment, however, was the teaching of biology on my minor degree.”

Dixon says some students in his biology class were “quite burned out on the entire school situation, and showed little interest in anything beyond their leather jackets, which they insisted on wearing through both winter and summer. The sum total of the little group’s interests included hot rods and motorcycles.”

Dixon tried to no avail to get the students interested in his course, and he soon realized he would have to somehow build on their love of fast machines to reach them. Since the students seemed to enjoy drawing sketches of motorcycles, Dixon believed that art could be the key to developing a relationship with them.

As the students studied in his room, Dixon would take a seat near the uninvolved “sketchers” and begin drawing what he called an “anthropomorphic blending of human skeleton and motorcycle.”

Suddenly, the study of human anatomy became appealing to the students who’d strictly had motorcycles on their minds.

“The initial sketches sparked a strong interest in one — and on to another — member of the group,” Dixon said.

“The door was opened! This ... established my primary method of teaching for all those years. Through ensuing years, I employed my ability with art and the image to reach many reluctant students as well as to encourage deeper study from my advanced students.”

Over the years, Dixon gave hundreds of his sketches to his biology and art students — many of which were images of a blended skeleton and motorcycle.

In the early 1980s, Dixon began sketching the concept, which had by then become known as “Last Ride,” in a more serious manner.

“This sketching began in art class on a single sheet of typing paper,” he said.

“The skull area took up much of the first sheet, so I began to tape additional sheets, one to another, until the first large sketch of ‘Last Ride’ was completed. Over these multiple sheets, I taped a large 24”x36” single sheet of paper and traced the work. Later, this was transferred onto a more permanent material.”

Even after such an elaborate undertaking, however, Dixon’s concept was put aside for years. The large tracing remained rolled up under his bed for about 20 years until his daughter, Carrie Dixon Weise, obtained it, framed it, and mounted it on a wall in her home.

“In 2005, my friend, Rok (Miremami), and I were visiting (my daughter’s) home,” Dixon said.

“It was then we came upon the framed ‘Last Ride.’ After a long hesitation in front of the work, little was said, even though my friend was visibly taken by what he had seen. It wasn’t, however, until early the following morning that he expressed himself. At 4 a.m. my phone rang. It was Rok saying he had paced the floor and hadn’t slept all night.”

Miremami told Dixon that every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was the image of the motorcycle.

The two men immediately began discussing ways to turn the drawing into a real machine.

A visit to Orange County, N.Y., proved both short and fruitless,” Dixon recalled.

“After no more than five minutes and OCC’s refusal to sign a non-disclosure agreement, we excused ourselves and bade them goodbye. From there, we visited a model company in New Jersey with hopes the company could handle the fabrication of the skeleton while a neighboring motorcycle builder could possibly do the build. After a couple of return visits, things failed to gel.”

Finally, Dixon and Miremami learned of a builder in Michigan who might agree to consider working with them on the concept.

“’Dozer’ of Dozer Cycle was contacted, and we met with him the following morning,” Dixon said.

“Even though he was loading his work for a show, he courteously delayed his departure to meet with us. With non-disclosure forms signed, Dozer was shown sketches and preliminary plans for ‘Last Ride.’ Our fates were sealed. Agreements were signed and details were ironed out, and handshakes signaled the onset of the build.”

It took Dozer nearly two years to build the elaborate bike.

“It is difficult to put into words the coming together of hearts and minds through the creative process involved in such a labor of love,” Dixon said.

Forty years after Dixon sketched his first version of a “Bones Bike,” the real deal was introduced to the public at the 2007 Detroit AutoRama. Since then, it’s been displayed at numerous motorcycle and automobile exhibits — even in art museums — across the United States.

And today, the dream-come-true will make its debut in the very county in which it was conceived.

Dixon says his invention represents both the bright side and the dark side of motorcycling.

“The work carries with it a dual personality,” he said.

“For the devout motorcyclist, it represents a refusal to relinquish a love for the motorcycle and for the ride, a bonding love from the human for his machine. On the polar end of this position, ‘Last Ride’ represents the morbid potential of impending death for anyone who should venture to ride one of the infernal machines.”

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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Local 'Bones Bike' creation on display at Bike Night

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