I like all kinds of bikes, but they have to look good in overall form and silhouette and not just detail, I can appreciate the detail but not the whole - and cheap bits nailed together off Ebay don't look cool imo as anyone can buy them, the back light is a bit like a new 'Maltese cross light' of the 70's...
I agree about the live and let live bit. I’m not an “everyone gets a prize” person, and as much as some stuff is subjective there are also a lot of “specials” that are poorly conceived and executed, but still fawned over... that’s the bit that irks me. Still, as you say... live and let live.
Disagree. The bike shed scene has injected some much needed creativity, youth and diversity into the UK motorcycle scene. I’m not part of that culture but I do pop in there for the odd burger, a nosey at the bikes and a mooch around their (very expensive) shop and I think it’s a breath of fresh air compared to where bike culture was 10 years ago. Having said all that, I don’t like this particular special (I’ve seen it in the metal too) and agree with those who say it looks like the builder couldn’t make up his mind what theme he was going for.
Variety is the spice of life I guess, if some people are happy with it then I'm happy for them / you. Happy to be wrong.
This sort of thing has been going on since the first Triton....however the Triton was a result of an attempt to improve things. The bike shed is not about practicality, it has about as much relevance to the real world biker and biking as a V8 model T has to your average Porsche owner.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder etc etc, I think "Custom" should always have its place and to come straight out and announce "that bike is shit" I feel is missing the point by quite some margin. For me the priority here is not overall looks, although important, but more about what has been done and even more importantly from an engineering perspective, the way it has been done. There are people out their that will think that this particular 999 is the dogs dangley bits and that's fine, whatever floats yer boat, it does nothing for me however but I'm not going to rubbish it.
I like it. But, I would like it a lot more if I knew it wasn’t a perfectly good 999 that got hacked up to make it, and was some sort of shit heap that got rescued.
I don't think biking has ever been about "practicality". The whole "two wheels, minimal luggage capacity and being exposed to the elements" thing kind of put paid to that. Biking always has been much more about individuality than anything else (though paradoxically whilst also part of a brotherhood). What says more about individuality? "Oh look, another blue and white Gixxer with a Yoshimura end can" Or "What the hell is that thing?"
practical adjective 1. of or concerned with the actual doing or use of something rather than with theory and ideas." Practicality as in having a front mudguard or routing an exhaust so it doesnt burn your legs. It's perfectly possible to build a bike that's practical . An R1 is practical, an M1R probably isn't.
A lot of it likely depends on how you came to motorcycling too... if it was as your sole form of cheap transport at 16 then you likely have a different perspective than if you took your test for leisure / pleasure later in life and your bikes have always been something for fun.
Ah, you mean like the 996 and 748, which in addition to roasting my inner thighs also required me to support 90% of my bodyweight on my wrists? Or like how Ducati sited the seat release keyhole in the tail unit of my M796 in such a position that you can't access it without scorching your hand on the exhaust unless you are a world champion at "Operation" or have the precision fine motor skills usually only displayed by a stunt helicopter pilot?
