VOLUME 57 ISSUE 13 MARCH 31, 2020 P97
Britten V1000 —the choice of a true
two-wheeled connoisseur. "The
V1000 is exquisite on so many lev-
els," Henning said. "Beautiful in form,
function and story. That's likely the
bike that is the most moving to me.
And what is beauty if not something
that moves you to emotion?"
His television sidekick Zack Courts
went a different way, citing the 1999
Honda RS250 grand prix two-stroke
out as a favorite. "Smooth, elegant,
purposeful and zero body fat. I think
there's a lot to be said for a 1940s
Indian Chief, but I'm a road race guy, I
can't help it," Zack said.
Ultimate Motorcycling.com's Nic
De Sena didn't mention one particular
bike but a man who designed a series
of them in Massimo Tamburini, the cre-
ator of the Ducati 916/996/998 range.
"To me, that entire generation is
"the" iconic modern superbike and
ushered in the design aesthetic that
we still see today," Nic said. "Massimo
Tamburini single handedly, and forever,
changed the design of sport bikes."
Thankfully, one colleague went
away from the sport/racing theme to
a choice that took me by surprise.
Ryan Adams from motorcycle.com
chose the 2020 Triumph 1200 XE.
"I love the mashup of technology
and performance wrapped in nostal-
gic styling," Adams said. "The bike
performs better off-road than some
adventure bikes on the market, and
it has classic style that will never go
out of fashion. It is, quite literally,
what scramblers were back in the
day: streetbikes that could perform
off-road."
Racer extraordinaire Chris Fillmore
threw a curve ball and picked out a
Harley-Davidson Panhead (although
this is a type of motor, rather than a
whole bike) as his most beautiful. "It
symbolizes American iconic lifestyle,
bravado, and the Easy Rider flick,"
he said, coolly.
Morgan Gales from Cycle World
went even further in the other direc-
tion, nominating the jaw-dropping
Maxwell Hazan-built Musket. I must
admit, I absolutely love anything Ha-
zan produces, but this is hot by even
his standards.
"It's a classic, minimal aesthetic,"
Gales said. "Reduced to the minimum
but it's still a rideable, functioning
piece of machinery. It's simple but
so complex. Motorcycles tend to be
crude and brutish—it's just their nature
as machines. This one is sculptural."
I feel my personal tastes for
motorcycle beauty are quite broad,
but when it comes down to it, I'm a
racing guy and I love the purposeful-
ness of a racing design, no matter
what the vehicle's chosen domain.
I'll list three bikes here (it's my col-
umn. I do what I want).
I am in awe of the 1994 Cagiva
C594 (pictured). This must be the
most beautiful grand prix racing
machine I've ever laid eyes on. The
deep, luscious red paint, the vo-
luptuous curves and the fact it's a
thoroughbred 500cc two-stroke only
add to the allure.
On the other end of the scale, like
Jesse, I love almost any rally bike
from the original Paris-Dakar, but I am
especially fond of the 1986 Marlboro
BMW GS, ridden by the irrepress-
ible Gaston Rahier. I love it more for
what it represents than any aesthetic
beauty. This was a time in rallying
where surviving was a tremendous
accomplishment, let alone winning,
and the red and white GS is, to me,
the first bike I laid eyes on and imme-
diately made me want to go exploring
the world on a motorcycle.
Finally, I will have a self-indulgent
moment and say my Pikes Peak-
winning Aprilia Tuono 1100 Factory.
I have included this bike because
of the feeling I got when I saw the
finished paint job at Imperial Sport-
bikes after 23 hours of driving from
Costa Mesa to Denver. It was done
by Jason Madama at Syndicate Rac-
ing and transformed an ugly bitch
of a bike, with a horrific matte-black
wrap done by a dickhead stoner who
couldn't hold his end of a business
deal, to a motorcycle I was genuinely
proud to race, with my dad's number
34, no less. And every time I look
the Aprilia now, I get that same giddy
feeling of "wow, that's my bike." Just
as Ari says, "what is beauty if not
something that moves you to emo-
tion?" It's a part of the family now,
even though I don't own it. Yet.
Talking of the family, I'll leave the
last word over to my dad, Jim. It's
no understatement to say dad is the
doyen of classic motorcycling in Aus-
tralia, having been in the motorcycle
industry for nearly 60 years and the
editor of Old Bike Australasia.
"The Matchless G50, without
question," Jim said. "It's utterly gor-
geous and easy to maintain. I'm also
very fond of the 1973 TX750 Yamaha.
I feel sorry for this bike as it was
shit-canned when released, it had all
sorts of problems, but when properly
sorted—which mine is—it's a fabulous
bike to ride."
Okay. Now it's your turn. What's
your most beautiful motorcycle of all
time? CN
