Hanne

There is an old saying that dog owners often grow to look like their pets. A quick search on google reveals hundreds of ‘look-alike’ images to this effect. So my question is this: Do motorcycle riders come to resemble their machines?

Of course people generally choose to ride bikes that match their purpose, and this purpose is linked to their individual tastes and needs. Hence taking a raggedy slip of a student on a GN250 and plonking them on Harley Fatboy is unlikely to inspire them to bulk up their forearms. If the german-helmet wearing, chrome-lovin’ essence is not inside the rider, external influences are unlikely to make much of a difference (in this instance said student’s ripped jeans and ‘So, Where’s Your Sister Tonight?’ T-shirt is likely to give the game away, anyway).

But can it work the other way around? People buying particular bikes for a particular look want to portray an image. Does a ducati-lover on a late model monster start to look more Italian, comb his hair back with bryllcream, start throwing ‘ciao, Bella!’s like confetti? Will buying a WW2 era BMW cause you to age faster? (Although the wrinkles associated with this one may have something to do with the number of rebuilds the owner will have to give the machine and the stress involved in tracking down the right parts…).

I have a feeling this question may have had something to do with the reason why I got my first bike so cheap. It takes a special sort of person to be able to pull of a purple and silver ZZR. Very few people in the market at the time were prepared to take the chance that they would suddenly start hankering after purple nail polish and silver eyeliner in order to match their machine. But on the plus side, perhaps those with independent memories should start riding red bikes to help speed up their cognitive functions.

Ok, perhaps the nail polish was taking things a bit too far (I am sure there are others out there who have done this…. Anybody?) However I don’t think you can live with anything for a long period of time without being affected by it in some way. Our second rattle-bucket GN inspired ingenuity and adventure (particularly after coming out of lectures one day to find it parked half way up a tree of its very own accord). The seat height of the DR has made my legs grow longer. And the angry eyebrows pasted on a friend’s VFR400 led him to storm in later that day wearing the same expression.

In the end it all comes down to image. Of course people will choose the bike they think matches their personality and interests. But buyer be wary, sometimes you may find that the bike unconsciously begins to change you…