Daley Travels

The trend for naked bikes got it start with penny pinching riders trying to get a good deal on a used motorcycle. They'd pick up a deal off the classifieds because the bike had been in a small tangle with the pavement. The factory furnished fairing and side covers were missing, or badly scarred, so it was ridden that way. The broken pieces were cut cleanly off, and the the reverse side modified to match. And so the bike was down to the bare essentials, and it looked cool.

This was different from the "Rat Bike" look. This was purposeful, not from neglect. Not making repairs to barely keep it running, but often tuned to take advantage of the lighter machine. The Naked Bike, the street fighter look.   Manufacturers took notice, and they came up with their own version of off the production line "naked", but it is not the same.

Bikes are now being turned into naked bikes not just because they are busted up. My nephew bought a perfectly good looking older bike, and turned it into a naked bike. Guess he didn't appreciate the retro look. Two tone, straight line stripes just said, "Hey, look, my uncle gave me this bike cause he hasn't ridden it in 20 years." Nope, strip it down and paint it flat black and now your bike is bad-ass. No embarrassment called for.

I've never been one for that look. Well, let me back up.  I am not one to ride a bike with that look. It's just too, too naked. Windshields, fairings, etc have good purpose. I like the comfort. I bought a naked BMW 500/5 bike in high school (no, it wasn't vintage then) and the first thing  I did was put on a full Windjammer fairing. I loved the convenience of the saddle bags. Call me a wimp.

On the other hand, I do like a good looking bike. So, after putting over a hundred thousand miles on my Kawasaki, I want to dress it up a bit for the next 100K. How about a custom paint job.

My daughter's boyfriend is pretty handy with the air-brush and wants to practice his skills. So I tore off all my plastic, and sent it over to see what he can come up with. I ride this bike to church, so maybe alot of naked biker babes would not be best for this machine, but I could go with a Star Trek theme. Something subtle like Borg symbols, stars, painted on rivets, and techno pieces. Could work. Be real cool if I can replace the wheels with the spoke-less wheels that junior Jim Kirk had on his bike in the latest Trek movie, but that is not in the budget this time.

If you like that idea, what till you see what he has planned for the matching helmet....

"This is Exciting"