eXTReme Thinking

Tra le persone che ho il piacere di aver conosciuto in questi anni e che è diventata un'amico c'è Pepo Rosel , parlando con lui ci spesso ci troviamo d'accordo su alcuni punti.
E' per questo che vi consiglio di leggere questo articolo sul suo pensiero, sulle moto e sulla mancanza di idee.  

-In the 80’s the French motorcycle media coined the phrase “ La Moto De Monsieur Tout Le Monde “ (Everyman’s Motorcycle, or UJM Universal Japanese Motorcycle) to describe the output from the big four manufacturers because they appeared to be totally identical.  If you’d covered the factories’ logos you wouldn’t have been able to tell one from another and what is more, at times you could even have transplanted from one to another without much effort, everything was uniform, the same, ‘global’, impersonal and lacking in imagination and variety.. except that is, for the resistance offered by the European manufacturers.

However, much the same thing seems to be happening in the world of bike builders

Except for a few rare exceptions, all bikes getting built at present seem to be the same, they follow the same pattern, round headlight, wide ‘bars, loaf shaped tank, flat seat ( a baguette). All of them fitted with the same useless, obsolete tyres, keeping to the original suspension and brake set ups that were pathetic years ago when they were launched to the market – and the colours?  My God !!– there is no colour! Everything is olive, grey (several shades to choose from), black, satin finishes, dark – perhaps a reflection of the world we are living , grey miserable, uniform and ‘global’ !!!

Of course, none of this matters if the photography of what’s on offer is, ‘cool’ – what makes something ‘cool’ seems to be including all the accepted clues, but that are actually clichés, the Chesterfield sofa, the beards, Belstaffs, plaid shirts, the useless and dangerous jet helmet and lastly an image that is scribbled over as if it was drawn by hand in which you cannot make out the detail of the bike, but its all very ‘artistic’ and aesthetic, as demanded by the ‘influencers’, or they won’t publish the pictures!!

The bikes aren’t given names, they get numbered instead, the mechanics of the bikes aren’t part of the deal, they’re not revised or improved, so they still have all the shortcomings they had in their day

However, the customer that buys them is happy enough, they’re now ‘different’, they’re riding the wave, they’re cool, they’ve joined the new tribe where a personalized bike that goes with your new wardrobe is IT, not only …..have they become a McQueen or a Brando, but they’re also a ‘wild thing’!

But in the final analysis, they have become…………….. just another differently identical Monsieur Tout Le Monde and they ride La Moto De Monsieur Tout Le Monde !!!

As in the 80’s, there are still a few of us who still believe in difference and that difference consists of building and personalizing motorcycles by improving them, overcoming their shortcomings and updating them to the 21st century because we believe in performance,  in improving specifications, in individuality and in real character !!!

Be eXTReme!!!

PS: Next time I’ll write about the press, trends they follow, the influencers, advertorial and the imminent bursting of this bubble ;)..  and now I’m off to make lunch  !!