My name is Dario. I was born in Sicily a long time ago, and I have been riding ever since. In 1997, I moved to the USA to become rich. While I clearly failed at that, I’ve had the opportunity to own and ride more bikes than I have hair on my head (maybe a few more). This is one of the many stories, observations and experiences I have had riding and living the motorbike lifestyle with the Yankees.
East vs West. The state of sport motorbikes customization in the US is a strange affair, and has divided the country more then any healthcare reform will ever do.
 The east coast’s customized sportbike of choice seems to be often a Suzuki Hayabusa or the Kawasaki ZX1400, followed by litre bikes like the R1 and GSXR but to find stock ones is like fishing for gold. The modifications seem to favour boat loads of chrome, extended swing arms with glamorous wheels/tyre sizes (common sizes are 240, 300, 330, or for the timid a 360… your choice), outrageously expensive paint jobs, integrated blinkers, more spikes than porcupines, and - because horsepower is never enough on a stock 1300cc engine - the compelling turbos. Of course the list of possible modifications available to the public could blow your mind and incinerate your wallet, American style. You can find modifications that includes gold plated parts , polycarbonate see-through wheels (Ed: Am I the only one who thinks that could be really cool?) , and illuminated designs/paint. Your imagination is the limit, along with the number of jobs you need to pay for those goodies.
There are amateurs and excesses but you there are also masters and art pieces. Among the most notable fabricators of custom sportbikes are Nick Anglada and Gregg’s Customs. Their bikes are unbelievable even after abandoning the idea of a sportbike in more ways than one; they still remain remarkable pieces of work. An example is the special Nick Anglada built for L-R-G (clothing company) based on the Suzuki Hayabusa - judge for yourself on the right.
If you want to know how you can spend way more than you earn, there are examples at the motorcycle rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for you. The rally is known also as Black Bike Week, and it is usually organized in May. Why Black Bike Week? Deceivingly, it has little to do with the bike being black.
 Until this year, this used to be a huge event with approximately 300,000 loyal motorbike riders meeting in this obscure little town on the Atlantic coast to party, party, party, watch some motorcycle racing (1/4 mile straight line is called racing too), attend concerts, and join street festivals. The BBW rally is to sportbike riders what the Sturgis is to Harley-Davidson riders. All in all, it’s one of 4 largest motorcycle rallies in the United States. And that means big business.
That was until ”not a dime in 2009” -- meaning this year, the event was boycotted by the participants. Why? Despite the fact that the city did like the money generated by the event, they did not like the chaos caused by the roaring invasion, the loudness of their exhausts (I suspect not stock), and frequent riding with what the town citizens call obscene garments (in Italy we call it perfect bikini). I will never stop marvelling at the Americans' ability to accept automatic weapons, ultra violent movies, and meaningless wars, but still be horrified by a women’s partially exposed flesh. Most Italians would smile, while some Americans would call the police. Go figure.
The west cost sportbike customization scene seems to be quite a bit different: Stainless steels brake lines, aftermarket rotors, nano size blinkers and mirrors(miniaturized), full(ly) illegal exhaust systems, expensive aftermarket footpegs, forged aluminum levers of various lengths and shapes, and carbon fiber bits and pieces (including windshields). Great stuff… albeit as cheap as a Wally 118 superyacht. And yes, Ohlins suspension here grow on trees.
My fellow California riders are dead serious about this stuff: judging from their bikes, and their full leathers with knee pucks, you would think you are on the Laguna Seca racetrack with multiple Haydens and Edwards, instead of your casual Sunday ride.
I know what you are thinking. For us Europeans strapped for cash, needing another paycheck to buy a toothbrush, and I-better-win-the-lottery-to-pay-my-insurance salary, spending that kind of money on the daily commuter is impossible first, insane later.
Please thank our employer-imposed poverty, the overrated respect for the law and governments that taxes us blind, for keeping our irrational part of our personality in check. But here: FREEDOM!!! And credit card bills that is.
The really funny thing is that both styles of customizations are, for the most part, illegal. In California for instance there are very strict emission standards, meaning you should not modify your intake/exhaust (no “power commander” either) from what was provided by the Manufacturer. But if you have the money to buy one, well… eehm .. go ahead, install it. The law says “we trust you and we will not check”: this must be the only instance in which a government regulatory body trusts the citizen of obeying the law as intended.
 Same for blinkers, mirrors, oversize wheels, etc : you cannot replace them with what you think is cool, because law does not do cool. If - and only if - you do, you may get a ticket for… 10 bucks. What’s that… like 1 euro now? Only a daredevil would challenge such frightening threat.
But there is more. You can build your own bike, register it to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and obtain a real license plate and ride on the street. How great is that!
Just how far can freedom (to spend) take you? Often I found that in the mind of many new riders the perfect beginner bike is something like an R6, GSXR600 or a Ninja 600. Even if you don’t know what a Yamaha is you could start with an R1, or GSXR1000 or ZX10. This because the US government does not believe in limiting your spending power, and they care about protecting you from yourself but only if it does not interfere with the earnings of corporate America or oil interests in foreign countries.
But I have to be honest, they try: you are advised to take a motorcycle safety class. You don’t have to… only if you really, really want. The cost of the 2 days class is about $120, to some an excessive amount for something that can only give a better chance to see your 17th birthday. Why wait to be 21, and gaining some experience before hopping on 160+ rwhp motorbike, when you can be 18 and ride free of all worries, forever.
The booming aftermarket accessory business also caused the blossoming of a new class of riders: The squids. Squids are defined as "a marine cephalopod having eight short arms and two usually longer tentacles, a long tapered body, a caudal fin on each side, and usually a slender internal chitinous support…[..]” But that is not what I had in mind.
I am unsure of what the origin of the word is, but some use it as an acronym for Stupidly Quick, Underdressed, Imminently Dead.
From there what I sense of the word “squid” as applied to sportbikes riders is a class of riders of their own divided in two categories:
- Idiots riding supersport bikes in shorts, tank tops, and possibly even sandals.. AND when the State low permits replacing helmets with sunglasses.
- Fools that want to prove that they (don’t) know how to ride fast, wearing flashy gear with skulls and chains, and possibly Mohawks on their helmet. On the race track they are referred simply as idiots, regardless of their level of ability and in light of the reckless speed.
Sometime I wonder: am I a squid or a proper motorcycle rider? Am I following the east coast customization trends or my fellow Californian style? Identity crisis at 41 is a problem, I know. Granted that at times I am an idiot, the identity crisis comes for a number of reasons: my 2003 Yamaha R1 has spikes(east cost style), high performance aftermarket exhaust(west) chromed (east), SS brake lines (west) but matching the colour of the bike(east), a license plate positioned in a way that the only to read it is via a fly–by from a military drone with 400mm high power lens; and good luck finding my blinkers. On top of that, sometimes I go get my Sunday breakfast at a coffee shop (1.4 miles from my house) with an illegal half “helmet” ($35), sunglasses ($12), and sneakers ($120).
On the other hand, my Kawasaki Z1000 is completely stock (beside the virtually undetectable upgraded suspension) and I ride it with the protective gear available to man. So I guess I am a squid on certain days, a considerate and disciplined motorbike rider on others, and probably many more like are like me.
Honestly I like the way things are and I hope that the trust of the government in us will never cease. With some bureaucratic inefficiency (luck), the proposed California Senate Bill 435 that extends smog checks to motorcycle manufactured after the year 2000, will not pass. To be approved, the Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would also have to sign the bill. Given what he rode in the movie Terminator I am sure he will not dare.
DA |
