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Jim Haskell is a man of many faces, clownsuits, straitjackets, silly walks - oh, and Bike Fridays of course.
JIM HASKELL MULTIMEDIA SOAPBOX
MOVIE CLIP: Jim Haskell Locker Room Stunts - (<1Mb Quicktime movie) shot in the BF changerooms
GALLERY: Jim Haskell's many costumes
"HOPEFULLY, my straitjacket will be back tomorrow. It wasn’t a proper medical one - it ripped at the buckles when I did my escape.”
Jim Haskell is a man of many faces, masks, clownsuits, quick-change costumes, and Bike Fridays of course. He has several interesting quasi-Friday inventions collected from his 6-year life’s work at the factory, trick bikes and art-pieces; apparently at least one of them can be used for getting to and from work.
He’s a lynchpin in ‘The Line’, the production process staffed by living, breathing human robots that handbuild Bike Fridays on the little-known planet of Eugene, Oregon.
He does almost everything except weld, which involves wearing a giant mask, something he saves for his other life: as an accomplished clown, stuntman and multi-instrument musician.
I found Jim in the break room ripping open a cardboard box from UPS, like a kid with a present covered in 'iPod' giftwrap. Inside, a straitjacket. A real one - for a discerning patient of escape-artistry.
The medical straitjacket, not the 'costume' one. Controlled shoulder dislocation is the name of the game ... owwoowowo...
“I get paid at least $100 for a typical escape, which can involve what is called a controlled dislocation.” Owwwowow .. before I get queasy we move onto Act II.
“One of my favorite characters is Coyote of Coyote Rising Puppetry - a giant 10-12 foot puppet mounted on a backpack frame, that’s around 40 lbs above my head.”
As the native American legend goes, the spirit Coyote, is a trickster who manages to foil Death Bringing Woman - who puts fear into the groins of men.
“The legend goes that unwary men suffer an unpleasant fate when trying to marry the Death Bringing Woman, who has teeth in her ... and explains why native American men wear necklaces of teeth." Yes Jim, this is a family magazine, let the curious go Google it!
Jim was doing dare-devil stunts even in his previous job, as a Harley mechanic, which involved not only fixing bikes, but being paid to drag-race them.
“People would want to get what is called a timeslip - a certification that your bike - never mind you - went ‘this fast’. We’re talking 0-100+ mph in 10-12 seconds, timed at 100,000th of a second. The skill is balancing between going as fast as unhumanly possible without hurting the motor.”
Yes, one certainly wouldn’t want to pot roast the pistons and find oneself on the end of a steel-capped Harley toecap, would one?
One of Jim's more impressive creations was also seen lurking around the BF factory in costume - epaulettes and stripes to be exact. His name? Brad, Jim's teenage son. Like father like ...
The bell went ding. Jim did a blurry quick-change into his Production costume, raised his wrench and did handsprings all the way towards the swinging door.
Lynette Chiang, Galfromdownunder.com
For more information, follow this link http://www.bikefriday.com/bf/production.