Saturday 3 November 2012

Beauty contest

Following on from yesterday's Friday bike, here's a list of 10 bikes with, em,  'interesting' styling. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, (or even the 'beer holder'), so just for a bit of fun, which do you consider beautiful and which are pot ugly?


 No. 1 - Suzuki SW-1

 No.2 - Aprilia Moto 6.5

 No. 3 - Buell RR100 Battletwin

 No. 4 - Kawasaki Estrella

 No. 5 - Vincent Black Prince

 No. 6 - Honda Rune

 No. 7 - Honda VFR1200F

 No.8 - Triumph Speed Twin

No. 9 - MZ ES 250/1
No. 10 - Victory Vision Tour

OK, I'll get the ball rolling with my opinions:

No. 1 - Pretty cool. Like a modern version of an Ariel Leader.

No. 2 - Designed by Philippe Stark. Possibly the coolest motorcycle ever, the lines just 'flow' so well.

No. 3 - Bodywork is too big for the bike. Looks like a melted plastic model. Dreadful.

No. 4 - Truly sublime.

No. 5 - Intimidating! Was used by the Thought Police in a 50s television adaptation of 1984.

No. 6 -Do you think the designer is aware of the word 'taste'?

No. 7 - Looks like two bikes welded together. Front looks like a heavyweight tourer, and the back like a sportsbike. And there's not really any excuse for a silencer that looks like that!

No. 8 - Possibly the perfectly proportioned motorcycle.

No. 9 - The face only a mother could love!

No 10. - Proof the sometimes more isn't always better. My sister works near a Victory dealer and mentioned 'the shop that sold the Art Deco motorbikes'.


Over to you now........





5 comments:

  1. 1. No.
    2. No.
    3. Hell No!
    4. Yes, please.
    5. No.
    6. Why?
    7. No.
    8. Yes.
    9. I have actually owned one of these so, Yes.
    10. OMG! Pass the eye-bleach.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1) Shades of Ariel Leader or Velocette Viceroy
    2) Passable
    3) "Where's the bike?"
    4) Passable
    5) Nice but same as #3
    6) Butt ugly and "Why?"
    7) Still debating it
    8) Actually looks like a bike
    9) Ugly as a brick but has it's charm
    10) Art Deco does describe it well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rune / Victory competition for worlds most ungainly bike?

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1) Scootery, but wheels are big enough to save it...
    2) Odd Bodkin...
    3) Form following function and wind tunnel dictates...
    4) Nice, would like the 'Man's model-color scheme...
    5) I'll take it, after all there is a Vincent under those
    clothes.
    6) Way too cartooney and movie-prop like...
    7) Has Honda fired the guy designing those mufflers yet?
    8) Yes!
    9) Goofy flashlight bike...I'll take it.
    10) geeez...only in the US...

    ReplyDelete
  5. No. 7 - I wonder if this is a clever ploy by Honda. Build a good bike, but fit it with a hideous exhaust. Then sell an official, better looking, 'sports exhaust'. That way they get you to buy the bike then pay extra for a part they could have fitted originally. (A bit like the number of bikes who's centrestand is an 'extra'.)

    No. 4 - For those of you in the UK with deep pockets: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-Kawasaki-Estrella-250cc-/150833277964?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D3219673518729301554%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D150833277964%26
    It's even in a 'man's colour scheme'!!

    ReplyDelete