Dear God... What have they done...

[Guy_b_g]

in fact..here's a pic of that old Guzzi!

http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/g...rent=rough.jpg

[audijunky]

You know what they say 50gary "opinions are like a-holes, everyones got one and most of them stink" . I thought a forum was a place for someone to express him or her self. Personally I think that bike is retarded. I am sure some of you feel the same way about mine, and I could care less cause it is mine. Looks , rides and is built the way I want.
So sorry if I offended anyone by remarking negatively about someone elses bike? really?
Also if someone else asks you what they think about there bike, I believe they should expect to recieve some negative comments along with the positive. Are they not asking for your opinion?

[trbig]

Sometimes they just want a little confirmation that the bull horns they are using for handlebars indeed looks cool!


Tod

[ccogswel]

You know they say beauty is in the eye of the holder.
It's just where's the beauty.

If it had a better looking tank.

[prometheus578]

"Unemployment" runs out next week.

Ccogswel.... the tank is the whole purpose for the bike.
All bikes have a tank... but this tank has a bike.
The custom seat... the leather strapping are all incidental. The innovation of using a "tank" for a tank is what the "artist" was going for.
It's a parody of itself. Sort of like TRBIG's "Elephant painting a self-portrait" (from memory)

If I ever get around to building my project "Rat Bike", I would be highly offended if someone just said it was ugly... without first studying each specific and clearly intentionally placed detail... without examining inside himself the true, personal meaning of ugliness.
The bike would have mis-matched mirrors. As an artist herself, WildKat would quickly recognize the obvious symbolism of "The Duality of Man"... The clear shiney one for how we wish to be seen; the cracked, cloudy one portraying the darker depths of our blackened souls.
The hand grips would be fashioned from gloves. Not for us to "hold our own hands"... but representative of our inner struggles... grappling with ourselves over the conflict between truth and beauty, good and evil...
Western religion's concept of "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" would be offset by a paraphrasing of the Buddha's "Happiness leads to unhappiness.", in that the bike would have clear-coat on top of dirt and grime.) Why wash a bike when it will just get dirty again?)
The juxtaposition of angular metal components(male) to the tubular, rounded (female) sensualness of the frame is a strong testiment to Freud's concept of...

"...coffee? Why yes, I'll have a few more cups, thank you."

(Oh Lawdy... I needs a job)

[skids]

If you really want to see some "works of art" , go to the rat bike zone.

http://www.ratbike.org/

This site is a scream!

[Hammerhead1st]

Suddenly, I'm feeling timid about posting pics of my awesome rattle can paint job...LOL...

I dont like the bike, I dont like what they did to it regardless of what it looked like before they began. That shop is from West Virginia, nuff said. The most common phrase heard before death in W.Va is "Hey ya'll, watch this sh@#!!"

At least they didnt mount a shovel on the front for digging coal. That seat makes me cringe and hold my man-parts in pain. I cant see using the thing for anything other than a conversation piece. While I actually think the tank is neat, the rest of the bike is a crying shame. I agree with the idea of polishing and painting it all, at least it would be a show piece for modded equipment.

[Guy_b_g]

Hey Prom,

I was reading your post, and picturing you sitting next to your assymetrical rat bike at Gig Harbor, Sunrise Beach, head in hands staring out at Mt. Rainier over Tacoma Bay, red with the reflected sunset, contemplating the duality of the human psyche...the meaning of life, the engineering history of the Narrows Bridge, and the price of a 32oz bag of 8'Oclock coffee....my eyes got all misty....

[TomB]

I think the back suspension is pretty good

[ccogswel]

Prom
I understand what you are saying. I guess I'm not that kind of artist. But can't help but feel it should have a different type of tank. Maybe 2 cylinders of what is on there. Oh heck I guess if I had that bike and I got out of it what he got then I'd be doing good. I guess leave it to the artists. And now I will be quiet.

[prometheus578]

Prom, I understand what you are saying.

Glad that you do, as it confused the hell out of me writing it.
I like that tank just for the audacity of it. I hate the size, bulk and how it just sits up too high, in my eye.
Four tanks of a slimmer style... two on top and two underneath them, wrapped sort of lower around the frame would have been more pleasing.
It's still ugly... that was the point.
A point made very well.

[fredintoon]

These "rat-bikes" are mostly fakes, expressions of someone's concept of modern art rather than broken bikes patched with whatever can be got for free just to keep them running.
I saw a genuine ratted Buell one time, parked outside a swapmeet in Moosejaw.
Plywood seat, two 2-litre pop bottles for a gas tank and all the plastic parts missing.
Was the rider creating a mobile sculpture or was he coping with the appalling cost of replacing shattered Buell tupperware?

[CarolynS]

Dear God....

What a horrible story, Dragon! Here I was not sleeping the other night, dreaming of starting work on Crackers, and now tonight I'll be kept up with nightmares!! The Bruins clinching the playoffs will hopefully ease my terror.

[lvrsnr]

two thoughts came to mind when I saw that..first was that someone needs their breathing privledges taken away and that second I wish I could afford to run a XS1100 rescue service.

[egsols]

I would like to think that the symbolism I have attempted to exhibit with my '79 SF hasn't been lost. I mean, I tried to acheive a piece whereby the eye would be treated to a display shouting out man's undying struggle with vanity. All of the features have been carefullly crafted to exhibit our past obsessions with perfection. The styling is meant to catch the eye and hold it as the machine passes. The individual mechanics are designed to kidnap time and hold still the agonizing perils of aging. The perfect marriage of style and function.







I left mine stock.