IT'S AN INDUSTRY THING
IGNITION
WANDERING EYE
CAN LESSONS FROM FASHION REVITALIZE MOTORCYCLING?
PAUL D’ORLÉANS
Motorcycle sales have been on a downward slope for a decade. Has the world changed, or has the industry changed—or, even, have bikes themselves reached a stage of maturity? The internal-combustion motorcycle seems to have reached a point of diminishing returns technologically, as even a smallcapacity machine is capable of double any speed limit, with good suspension and brakes. Electric motorcycles are different; they face big hurdles compared to an IC bike, with issues around riding range and battery size. They can be made wicked fast but not for long.
So gas bikes are technically pretty near perfect; is that why they became boring? Specifically, is that why OEM factories are scrambling (cafe racing, even) to poach ideas from independent customizing shops? There was a time when talented designers like Edward Turner (Triumph) or George Brough (Brough Superior) or Briggs Weaver (Indian) managed to combine technical progress with body shapes and color schemes almost universally considered beautiful, which stand the test of time. They led the industry, and the buying public, by the nose. Harley-Davidson has been recycling the aesthetic perfection of a 1936 Knucklehead for 80 years now. New Triumphs, Brough Superiors, and Indians are styled to look like their grandparents, which has less to do with nostalgia than a strong aesthetic identity.
The rise of new-wave customizers since 2010 is the most exciting development in motorcycling in decades. Small shops making quirky machines have managed to make bikes chic again with a younger crowd, a necessary state of affairs at which the OEM factories have failed, and they know it. They’re keeping a close eye on trends now and throwing cash at events like Born-Free and Wheels & Waves. Factories are also sponsoring custom builders by handing out free bikes (and a little cash) to shops, hoping for ideas they can use and a cool factor they can’t generate internally. Factory designers are frank about poaching ideas from customizers and admit to outsourcing important R&D from outside shops. Independent designers are navigating factory offers of “collaboration.” While some feel burned by the experience afterward, others have sorted out a beneficial mutual exploitation.
What’s clear is no Edward Turner or George Brough exists in the industry today, a visionary trend-creator whose products the world clamors for. That exists in the tech world, but there’s a void in our industry—which is okay. Design decentralization works for other industries. For example, in the fashion industry (dwarfing motorcycling by billions), there’s plenty of idea poaching of tastemakers, but outliers with significant talent and fresh ideas are routinely hired as heads of design for a big brand or their names are purchased to bring them under a larger corporate umbrella while keeping their unique identity. It’s a proven model, when rebels like Alexander McQueen or Yves Saint Laurent are brought into a big tent to carry their designs forward.
There’s no reason BMW couldn’t purchase Roland Sands Design as a sub-brand for manufacturing or Yamaha hire Shinya Kimura as chief designer. The motorcycle industry is deeply conservative (as is the bike-buying public), but it’s now possible for a basic platform to inhabit multiple chassis configuration (think BMW R nineT or Ducati Scrambler). Limited runs of specially branded bikes could be made profitably, leveraging the technical clout of the mother ship. It’s only fear keeping the motorcycle industry stuck in an old model; perhaps it’s time to look at other industries for inspiration.
BY THE NUMBERS
149 CUSTOM BUILDERS FEATURED IN CESTALTEN'S THE RIDE (2013) AND THE RIDE: 2ND GEAR (2015)
1,923 HARLEY-DAVIDSON XLCRs (CAFE RACER) BUILT 1977-78 -CONSIDERED A FAILURE
800 DUCATI 900SSs BUILT 1975-76 -CONSIDERED A SUCCESS
