Bicycle related tattoos

[ttcycle]

Any more Yakuza members out there?

Yes, dragons on the back were old school tattoos for the Yakuza (Ian is there anything you haven't mentioned....?) but I think the purist approach was to have them done with bamboo.

I've got a few simple none bike related ones- simple black none decorative ones mostly apart from a couple of colour small jobbies. They're all symbols/couple of small bits of script - a very complex explanation- I usually don't bother explaining anymore as they're personal to me and it takes too much explanation for rather blank looks at the end of it!

The one that hurt the most is on my foot very close to the ankle bone.

 

[Banjo]

i have a dragon on my upper arm.Meant something to me 30 odd years ago but not so much now,often wondered if I could get it added to so it would be a dragon on a bike.

PS nice tattoo gb155 I know it has a lot of meaning to you and will still be relevant to you in 30 years time unlike some of the fashionable tatoos that will soon look as dated as a kipper tie but not taken off as easilly

Yellow bits on mine have kept the colour quite well, much better than red bits.

 

[smokeysmoo]

I think the purist approach was to have them done with bamboo.

I would love to get a handtapped tattoo. Does anyone have one/know anywhere in the UK that does them?

 

[jayonabike]

Googled this.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Googled this.

Mmmmm! Bradford's only over the hill from me, (speaking simplistically), perhaps it's time to find a new design. I have no problem adding an 18th tatt to my ample frame, but cost will be the deciding factor for me as I suspect a hand tapped tatt is going to be prohibitively expensive.

 

[andygates]

When I hit 25 years of riding, I wanted to add a bike tat, but couldn't decide what, so I ended up with one of the equations that describe bike motio - the power needed to just keep riding.


Raw Science by andygates, on Flickr

 

[amnesia]

When I hit 25 years of riding, I wanted to add a bike tat, but couldn't decide what, so I ended up with one of the equations that describe bike motio - the power needed to just keep riding.


Raw Science by andygates, on Flickr

I really like that !

 

[Hicky]

I've got two tattoos the polynesian one(yet to be finished, by machine it takes quite a while I'd hate to try traditional methods!!) and a small one on my chest....years of wife,my and my eldest sons year of birth and our initial.....got to update with sone number two(two years late, it hurt on my chest!!).

The hand is my wifes, she has had it recoloured fro the wrist area to hand.

Wifie has ;
Left inner wrist similar to my chest but with both kids and our initials similar script,
Left hip(red devil(Man U fan and teenage mistake she admits)
Right hand/wrist(in the pic) girly swirls, petals are yellow and pink.
Base of spine, a srtange sun with a face (probably 4/5 inch dia) as she's a sunny personality.
Four pentagons from just her neck/collar line down her spine(star aize1 1/2 inch total tattoo length probably 8 inch).
One of her ankles has the Katie Price bow and tassle copy.....looks shite and she admits it and will probably coverup with comething else.
When she's dressed with long sleeves the only one you notice is the ankle tatoo unless she has tights or trousers on.

Wants another but is undecided yet as to what or just pay for coverups to improve what tatoos she has.....and badgers the hell out of me to get son number twos initial and year done on my chest.....I think she just likes seeing me in pain!

 

[gb155]

i have a dragon on my upper arm.Meant something to me 30 odd years ago but not so much now,often wondered if I could get it added to so it would be a dragon on a bike.

PS nice tattoo gb155 I know it has a lot of meaning to you and will still be relevant to you in 30 years time unlike some of the fashionable tatoos that will soon look as dated as a kipper tie but not taken off as easilly

Yellow bits on mine have kept the colour quite well, much better than red bits.

Thanks, even if I stopped cycling today (not gonna happen, but) it would ALWAYS mean something, its always gonna remind me of where I came from and its a bit of an insurance policy too, Im unlikely to get to 40 stone again with that on my arm

 

[italiafirenze]

A tattoo isn't really personal at all though. Quite the opposite.


It's a big banner that says "LOOK AT WHAT I BELIEVE" or "LOOK AT WHO I AM". It's quite a natural human thing, but to pretend it's got nothing to do with how other people perceive it is self deluding. Otherwise you'd write it on a piece of paper and hide it away for yourself.


Most people with tattoos get them where other people can see them, and if asked will be more than happy to explain and inform about the meaning or otherwise. In every case (possibly excepting Guy Pearce's character in Memento, but I didn't see anything like that in this thread, presumably someone like that woudn't remember their password, unless they had a tattoo of it, in which case it would be best not to post it anyway) a tattoo is actually intended to display something about you to other people. This is the case now as it has been historically since the invention of the tattoo; be it religious, military or tribal.
So it's hard not to get offended if someone calls yours shoot; it's like them telling you that you are shoot, and no-one wants to hear that. But if you're going to hang yourself out like that, you are going to be judged.


I'm not knocking it, each to their own, but there are a lot of people who seem to miss the true reason people get them; sub consciously or other wise it's for other people to see.


Self affirmation it may be, personal it is not.

 

[Ravenbait]

Most people with tattoos get them where other people can see them, and if asked will be more than happy to explain and inform about the meaning or otherwise....

Self affirmation it may be, personal it is not.

You won't see any of mine in the day to day. They are hidden. Two of them you are very unlikely to see ever, unless you happen to see me naked. Only one of them would I be prepared to explain. They are all personal, which is why I have not and will not post photographs of them anywhere. They are not for public consumption.

So. While I take your point about some people's reasons for getting some tattoos done, making a blanket statement about tattoos and the reasons for getting them is aiming for a bullseye of wrong.

Putting something on a piece of paper and hiding it away is in no way shape or form equivalent to permanent self-modification.

Sam

 

[italiafirenze]

You won't see any of mine in the day to day. They are hidden. Two of them you are very unlikely to see ever, unless you happen to see me naked...

I won't, I promise.

I've no doubt you believe fully in your own reasons. But humans are social beings and as such crave acceptance and attention from others. Almost every thing we do counts as an expression to the world about who we are (having a tattoo, telling people you've got a secret tattoo and they can't see it, posting a long diatribe about tattoos as being for personal consumption, adding a quote or message to your forum signature, adding an avatar). We all want to be judged based on our image or values or intelligence; embrace it you'll be happier for it.

 

[dodgy]

I'm with italiafirenze, that's pretty much how I feel about it.

 

[Ravenbait]

I won't, I promise.

I've no doubt you believe fully in your own reasons. But humans are social beings and as such crave acceptance and attention from others. Almost every thing we do counts as an expression to the world about who we are (having a tattoo, telling people you've got a secret tattoo and they can't see it, posting a long diatribe about tattoos as being for personal consumption, adding a quote or message to your forum signature, adding an avatar).

Or posting to a cycling forum a bunch of overly-generalised philosophical assertions about self-expression and how tattoos are in the public domain so it's all right to be insulting about them?

No need to promise you won't see me naked. That's not your decision to make.

Sam

 

[italiafirenze]

Or posting to a cycling forum a bunch of overly-generalised philosophical assertions about self-expression and how tattoos are in the public domain so it's all right to be insulting about them?

No need to promise you won't see me naked. That's not your decision to make.

Sam

1. Exactly

2. It is my decision, as exposing your naked body to me against my will is illegal in the United Kingdom. Whether you regard it as your "freedom of expression" or not.

Enough of this now, we've both got work to do.