Ian Barry
| Ian Barry | |
|---|---|
 Ian Barry |
|
| Born | Ian Patrick Barry Santa Cruz, California, USA |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation | Industrial designer |
| Known for | Custom Motorcycles/Music |
| Spouse | Amaryllis Knight |
Ian Barry (born March 25, 1973) is an award-winning industrial designer, and co-owner of Falcon Motorcycles, with Amaryllis Knight.[1] He plays guitar in the progressive metal band Black Math Horseman.[2]
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[edit] Career
Barry was born in Santa Cruz, California. He left a Silicon Valley career at an early age to pursue his obsession with building motorcycles when he moved to Los Angeles in 2000.[3] Working from a tent in a friend's back yard, while living in a second tent next door, Barry developed a strong following, his clientele included Them Crooked Vultures and Queens of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, and actors Giovanni Ribisi and Jason Lee. Barry’s motorcycles were described as being fast, stripped-down customs, that remain true to the classic styling of their era, while being filled with innovation, fine attention to detail, and original ideas.[1]
In 2008, after a decade of experience fabricating custom motorcycles based on vintage British marques,[4] Ian Barry founded Falcon Motorcycles with fiancée Amaryllis Knight in an "unassuming" workshop on Sunset Boulevard. Specializing in high-end, one-off special interest motorcycles, Barry was featured on CNBC, who highlighted his motorcycles as "rolling works of art". The company rose to prominence after the success of Barry's design for the "Bullet Falcon", awarded Best Custom at 2008 Legend of the Motorcycle International Concours d’Elegance.[5] Quickly receiving broad international acclaim, his work with Falcon Motorcycles has since been featured in newspapers and magazines worldwide and has been credited with helping kick-start the British boardtrack-racer movement.[6]
In 2009, Ian moved his company to Downtown Los Angeles where he employed four fabricators and machinists to aid in the fabrication of the "Concept Ten", a collection of one-off custom motorcycles, that he engineers and fabricates around the derelict engines of rare iconic British motorcycles from the pre- and post-war eras.[7]
After some 2,000 man hours, Barry unveiled the second Falcon Motorcycle, the "Kestrel Falcon" in May 2009. "Barry drove an intense engineering exercise to achieve the desired aesthetic" with the Kestrel, according to Popular Mechanics who claim that to understand the true achievement of his motorcycles, one needs to dig deeper than the 80 hour paint and pinstripe job.[6] Having started the Kestrel with a 1970 Triumph Bonneville unit engine with a blown up gearbox, and a BSA transmission, Barry became the first to have turned a later Triumph engine into a pre-unit.[3] The Kestrel was the winner of the Best Custom award at the Quail Motorcycle Gathering, in Carmel, California, where it was noted for its "its purity and depth in both aesthetic and functional execution" and for the "mind-bending volume of time spent on the details, and its hand carved, graceful and organic shapes."[3]
In July 2010, Barry was featured as an inspiring small business owner by American Express, in their National “Start Booming” TV campaign,[8] celebrating real business owners that have "uncovered new ways to grow their businesses and move forward, even as this economic environment continues to challenge many of them."[8]
[edit] Awards
- Custom Culture Award, Legend of the Motorcycle International Concours, California 2008[9]
- Best Custom Motorcycle, The Quail Motorcycle Concours, California 2010[10]
- World's Coolest Bikes, CYCLE WORLD's top 5, 2010[11]
[edit] Music
Barry is a founding member of L.A. Quartet Black Math Horseman,[2] a progressive metal band that was signed to Tee Pee Records in early 2009.[2]
The band's debut album "Wyllt" was released on April 21, 2009 by Tee Pee Records,[2] and recorded and produced by Scott Reeder of Kyuss and Unida.
[edit] Personal life
Barry lives in Los Angeles, California with his fiancee and Falcon Motorcycles co-founder Amaryllis Knight.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "This custom has some history" The Los Angeles Times: 2008
- ^ a b c d "A crack in the firmament" TeePee Records: Black Math Horseman
- ^ a b c "Falcon Motorcycles, the Kestrel and madness in the details." CYCLE WORLD
- ^ The Concept Ten project breathes new life into the iconic motorcycle" Dazed & Confused magazine (digital edition0.
- ^ "Collecting Motorcycles" CNBC: High Net Worth
- ^ a b "The Raw Mechanics Behind the Hand-Fabricated Falcon Kestrel Motorcycle" Popular Mechanics
- ^ "Diamond in the Brough" The Robb Report.
- ^ a b Falcon Motorcycles In American Express Commercial" Cyril Huze World's Number One Source For Custom Motorcycle News
- ^ "Bullet Falcon" Vapors Magazine.
- ^ "Quail Motorcycle Gathering Doubles Down in 2010" CYCLE WORLD.
- ^ "Taking Flight - World’s Coolest Bikes" CYCLE WORLD.
