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4. The Ride 2nd Gear: New Custom Motorcyclesand Their Builders. Gentlemen Edition

Про книгу

Men and motorcycles: a story that has vacillated

somewhere between cult and cliché

for years. Custom bikes, in particular, have

a history that is deeply rooted in the spirit of

freedom and change of the 1960s, as well as

man’s primal urge to build something with

his own hands ―or, in this case, tools. The

Ride 2nd Gear is a showcase of the power and

beauty of these bikes.

The book presents a stunning selection

of recent custom motorcycles, as well as the

small, local workshops around the globe in

which they are built. Hotbeds of creativity

and craftsmanship, these workshops are

mostly run by single individuals and attract

a small yet devoted community of fans

and fellow builders. Rather than coveting

the newest luxury models to come off the

assembly line, this community is more concerned

with transformations. They want to

turn grandpa’s old heap, a bargain found

on eBay, or a soulless model from another

era into something of their very own. They

want to augment old motors and existing

mechanics with modern technology or

make their personal visions of aesthetics

and handling a reality. This process takes

time, dedication, technical expertise, and

skilled handcraft.

From limited series to one-offs made

for personal pleasure or to order, The Ride

2nd Gear features the brilliant results of

this process. Its pages are filled with bikes

that offer extraordinary design and driving

experiences. In fact, established brands

are now acting on trends set by the custom

scene whose bikes are often more radical

and sophisticated because more attention

can be paid to detail and each new idea can

be fine-tuned to perfection.

The models shown in The Ride 2nd Gear

stem from or are based on classic bobbers

and choppers, Italian-style racing machines,

plastic Japanese motorcycles, and rare

BMWs or Triumphs, some of which may

very well be 30-50 or even 80 years old. They

are vintage in the best sense of the word.

They not only preserve, but also improve

and expand upon the quality of traditional

craftsmanship. Decked out with state-ofthe-

art disk brakes, LED lights, gears, and

drive components, these custom machines

are more agile, faster, and therefore more

fun than anything produced in the past.