09-24-2020, 07:10 PM
Bear with me for a reflection on how we see bikes, perhaps coming across as pretentious or beating a dead horse, but I’m the OP so I feel that I’m just a little entitled.
In the first post I said that this bike (CB1100RS) is simply brilliant straight from the crate. No mods needed. I still say that but of course, that only applies to me. This in turn links to how I see bikes – as completed pieces of art or canvases for my expression.
To me bikes are complete from the factory (and yes, I see them as art). That means that mods are sometimes necessary but only when something annoys me too much. Such as really bad fuelling, rock hard suspension, poor ergonomics or agricultural shifting. However, that’s not about perfection, that’s about functionality. Perfection lies beyond that.
Perfection is about the total experience, the sum of thousands of small aspects, such as the beauty I see in the tank lines, the harmony I feel when riding, the pride I see in the swing arm alloy welds, the nostalgic nod I hear in the slightly off-beat engine sound and the friendly relation I have with my local dealer. When that sum exceeds what I’ve felt with my previous bikes (47) then that’s perfection for me, here and now. Which is the case with my RS.
On the other hand, if you see a bike as a canvas for your own expression through mods then what comes out of the crate matters less. Perfection probably links to other dimensions, such as how easy the bike is to change, what parts are available, if there’s a build community etc. Maybe your focus in on the very process of change, or in the end result such as lower lap times, exhibition recognitions or just getting parts that never was meant to work together function as a system.
If this distinction is valid, which perspective dominates here? Is the CB1100 seen as art or a canvas?
In the first post I said that this bike (CB1100RS) is simply brilliant straight from the crate. No mods needed. I still say that but of course, that only applies to me. This in turn links to how I see bikes – as completed pieces of art or canvases for my expression.
To me bikes are complete from the factory (and yes, I see them as art). That means that mods are sometimes necessary but only when something annoys me too much. Such as really bad fuelling, rock hard suspension, poor ergonomics or agricultural shifting. However, that’s not about perfection, that’s about functionality. Perfection lies beyond that.
Perfection is about the total experience, the sum of thousands of small aspects, such as the beauty I see in the tank lines, the harmony I feel when riding, the pride I see in the swing arm alloy welds, the nostalgic nod I hear in the slightly off-beat engine sound and the friendly relation I have with my local dealer. When that sum exceeds what I’ve felt with my previous bikes (47) then that’s perfection for me, here and now. Which is the case with my RS.
On the other hand, if you see a bike as a canvas for your own expression through mods then what comes out of the crate matters less. Perfection probably links to other dimensions, such as how easy the bike is to change, what parts are available, if there’s a build community etc. Maybe your focus in on the very process of change, or in the end result such as lower lap times, exhibition recognitions or just getting parts that never was meant to work together function as a system.
If this distinction is valid, which perspective dominates here? Is the CB1100 seen as art or a canvas?