The incredible SPOON BIKE

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I got a friend and his name is Spoon. Aka Spoono.

Photo ©2010 Michele Ravera

I first got the name Spoon while sitting in a hotsprings in Death Valley. I was sitting between a divorce lawyer from Susanville and Chia, a guy who claims to have driven Charlie Manson’s bus up to the Panamint valley ranch where Charlie was arrested for burning a front loader belonging to the BLM. They were talking about nicknames and someone realized I didn’t have one. The camp hosts John and Mary Spence said, well let’s call him(me) Spoon! Chia perked up and said,”We had a cook named Spoon, but he’s dead so I guess he can use the handle now”. It just kinda stuck.

Recently I went over to Spoono’s place for some BBQ and Wii, and got a chance to see his latest creation: THE SPOON BIKE. It’s an ongoing project, a huge sparkly armored bike with amazing attention to detail. Plus it lights up blue at night.

These photos are not mine: they were taken by the lovely Michele “Ginger Petunia” Ravera.

photo ©2010 Michele Ravera

Here’s the story of the bike, in Spoon’s words:

Originally I wanted something I could ride around downtown Reno and the Truckee riverwalk. It was going to be a big e-wire spoon. I started in October of ’09 attaching about 800 spoons to a Phat beach cruiser I had. I was going to auction it off to raise money for Dixie‘s recuperation fund but realized I had become too attached to it. I substituted a fresh beignet breakfast on the playa to auction off instead.

It took 6 months to attach the 800 spoons with Goop automotive adhesive. Purchasing all materials with money from my unemployment checks. A year later I added a front fender and 250 more spoons.

There are 120 blue and white LED lights powered by a small photovoltaic cell to charge the 3 AA batteries. It weighs around 80 pounds. And doesn’t rattle.

I think it is done with the exception of a chrome barstool for a seat that I have always envisioned would finish it off. It was first unveiled at the Reno Bike Project’s art show in April ’09 and continues to get a lot of notice. I didn’t think it would turn out the way it did.

It was inspired by David Best‘s work and an art piece by Mark Grieve. I went through the artistic process learning of the emotions an artist goes through when creating. I’ve never considered myself an artist and still have trouble accepting that title.

Future spoon projects? An oriental suit of armor inspired by Bruce Wayne’s armor room in the first Batman movie.

Nice job there, Spoon. Here are some more photos of his totally cool bike: