Watch Chippa Ride a 1954 Harley Panhead and Rip a Stand-Up Boog

Welcome to Episode Two of Wilson’s Foam and Rubber (refresh yourself with Ep One here), where this time our protagonist pairs his beloved 1954 Harley Davidson Panhead with Drag’s “Speed McDraggit” stand-up boog.

The cool thing with this series is that it was all Chippa’s idea. Along with filmmaker Beren Hall – a man responsible for some of the most striking surf cinematography of the last two-plus-decades (from hallmark clips in Strange Rumblings to Dark Hollow and beyond) – the pair were given then task of coming up with an idea to showcase all of the cool stuff you can do with a GoPro HERO9, other than take off with it in your mouth and pull into tubes. Which is cool too, if a little overdone. And Chip chose to pair crafts and whips alike, in an attempt to highlight the joy that variety can bring to everyday activities like commuting and surfing average waves.

Chippa’s a bona fide petrolhead with the garage to prove it, and he’s really branched out in the surfing equipment during recent years also, so riffing on the different forms of motion (be it on the way to the surf or in the surf itself) works really nicely. As does the HERO9’s features in capturing these everyday stories. The fact that the boys are low-key frothing on the concept (and nerding out on the tech) has really given this quaint series some depth. Note all the extra shots that Beren’s captured whilst Chippa’s on the bike, which normally would require a whole crew, car mounts, permits and all kinds of hassle. In particular, hanging out the door with his HERO9 on a pole to capture the remarkable shot of Chip burning past the cyclists at 1:55.

Whilst we’re primarily here to discuss the GoPro HERO9 Black – a cutting edge piece of 2021 technology that shoots 5k film, 20MP photos etc – it’s impossible not to mention how well Chippa surfs on a stand-up boog. Contrastingly, one of the most rudimentary pieces of surfing equipment known to man. This offering of Chip trimming the wrong way along his local point is just a fraction of what the man can do with 48 inches of foam beneath his feet, which is made nonetheless impressive by the fact that he’s recently recovered from a full knee reconstruction. Anyone who’s ridden finless anything knows how punishing it is on your joints, especially crouching on a bodyboard. And yet there goes Chip, spinning his way through rehab.

Luckily for all of us, Chippa’s still got plenty of whips (motorised and otherwise) in his various garages, so there’s more to come. Next up we travel to Chippa’s adopted home, Tasmania, where he pairs two crafts that offer smoother, if a little slower, rides than the Harley/Speed McDraggit combo. It also features Beren Hall’s first time at trying follow-cam behind Chip (Dan Scott shot the north coast footage), something that’s reportedly far harder than it looks. Tune in next week to see how the HERO9’s revolutionary stabilisation system works in the hands of a good surfer/master lensman.

Whether it’s for an Oscar or just for the memories, grab a remarkable little camera without limits.