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Posted

Hellcat-3.jpgConvincing?

 

Ed Jacobs, Confederate Hellcat designer

"We don't cover anything. That structure is real, it's not wallpaper. You really see the truth of what's going on, not a candy coating."

 

Clicky here> link to Ed Chambers talking cool on Vimeo, sorry it's not embedded :huh2::D

 

 

 

"I have a universal design philosophy that I've believed in for years: to listen to what the product wants to be," Jacobs says. "Don't force your aesthetic on it. Allow the intent of the structure to be the aesthetic." That philosophy informs the Hellcat's design, which is built around a solid aluminum engine case with elements of the frame bolted directly onto it. "Usually the frame is a cradle for the engine," Jacobs explains. "Here you bolt the frame to the front and rear of the engine and the whole thing is a working structure."

 

The same philosophy might also be a metaphor for Jacobs' path as a designer himself. A longtime motorcycle enthusiast, he studied architecture and industrial design at Pratt, which led him to work at an architecture firm designing furniture and fixtures. He also spent 11 months traveling in India. "I had my first motorcycle there," he says. "I lived in a mud and stone house on the side of a mountain, and relied on my bike for everything." When an opportunity arose to join Confederate, he jumped at it. "My philosophy is that I can adapt to work anywhere," he says, "but I appreciated that the thing I felt so strongly about in the field of design, the longevity and quality of a product, was shared at Confederate and that really drew me to the company."

http://confederate.com/development/?p=74

 

 

 

IMG_3848-1024x682.jpg

Posted
:thumbsup: Thanks BFG. Makes sense to me. Good man. IMO Confederate stuff is too far up the celebrity arse but perhaps with some governance he could rescue Guzzi from the curse of the decorative consumable before all heritage is besmirched with the tarty brush. The current bunch should be banished to a shed on a mountain along with their baubles & trinkets. KB :sun:
Posted

:thumbsup: Thanks BFG. Makes sense to me. Good man. IMO Confederate stuff is too far up the celebrity arse but perhaps with some governance he could rescue Guzzi from the curse of the decorative consumable before all heritage is besmirched with the tarty brush. The current bunch should be banished to a shed on a mountain along with their baubles & trinkets. KB :sun:

Interesting comment Baldi, as I'm just about to post a video of GMG 2011 and say that it doesn't say anything about, or point to, Guzzi's future. I wouldn't go far as to say that it all looks like fiddling while Rome is burning...

Posted

It just looks to me like Piaggio don't know where to go with Guzzi. They'd like to cash in on the cruiser crowd (The Tassled Ones) or the cafe racer crew - but they're following, not leading. Starting to look back on them half-baked Terreblanche prototypes from 2009 with increasing fondness...least they showed some original thinking & integrity.

 

KB :sun:

Posted

It just looks to me like Piaggio don't know where to go with Guzzi. They'd like to cash in on the cruiser crowd (The Tassled Ones) or the cafe racer crew - but they're following, not leading. Starting to look back on them half-baked Terreblanche prototypes from 2009 with increasing fondness...least they showed some original thinking & integrity.

 

KB :sun:

Harley design stance

 

Nice video: sorry, Vimeo again > Same Stance, New Generation

 

You'll also find Benedict Campbell's new Wall Of Death movie on there.

Posted
...Harley design stance ...

Nice video:...

 

Well, I guess Harley design stance works for Harley. But Guzzi is not Harley. Guzzi has a different history & tradition. I don't think piaggio have got it at all. The V7racer is a parody. It shows no original thought or invention & seeks to trade on the history of Guzzi by mimicry. It is not even a development of the model that inspired it, but a tarted up copy based on a cheaper, smaller platform. It is a fake. That they should appear to be so proud of it as some kind of flagship shows where they're at right now.

 

KB :sun:

Posted

Bikes here that do good talking. Including 306, 310 and others

 

 

 

A Kind Of Passion

 

 

Screen Shot 2011-11-26 at 00.07.46.png

 

 

EDIT got it on Youtube. I'll repost in new topic

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

 

Edited by Admin Jaap
took the autoplay out of the 2nd vid, hope you don't mind
Posted

Nice looking bike. But it's the builder who is the artist not either of them nobheads in the video. Sculpture by Conrad Leach my arse: Timmy Mallet meets Rich Unca Buggles & they go across the tracks to visit Seasick Steve to commission a new guitar. :wacko: . I'm confused BFG, by my own tastes & prejudices! Hell, it looks a lovely bike - but not rideable in any meaningful way. Drop handlebars & block tyres? All that effort in something so useless! Easier question next time please.

 

KB :sun:

Posted

Tools vs insight

From Seth Godin's blog, today

 

How is your vocabulary? It's a vital tool, certainly. Do you know these words?

a, after, and, as, die, eternal, first, gets, gun, have, in, is, job, life, me, mouth, my, pushing, saying, step, that, the, to, Tyler, waiter, you.

How about these?

a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you.

The first list contains every word in the opening lines from Fight Club, the second is the entire word list from Green Eggs and Ham. Of course, neither you nor I wrote either of these, regardless of how well trained we are in what the words (the tools) mean.

Knowing about a tool is one thing. Having the guts to use it in a way that brings art to the world is another. Perhaps we need to spend less time learning new tools and more time using them.

 

  • 2 months later...

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