Art and Design

As a blogger, I hate to jump on the bandwagon of something.  As of late everywhere I turn I've been hearing about or seeing the photographs of Hassan Hajjaj, particularly because of a serious of photo's he has taken showing the - to quote the Guardian - "The motorbike girl gangs of Morocco"

Hassan Hajjaj photography

I don't know what's more interesting to me. The photo's themselves or the interest they have generated.  Perhaps because we here in the west don't really think of woman belonging to "motorbike gangs" or even riding at all.  If they do, the popular image is that of being on the back, a passive passenger.   In a country where bikes are towed to events like Sturgis or Daytona Bike week, the idea that woman are using them every day in their day to day lives seems foreign, alien to us.

Perhaps what makes the photos so good, so interesting is that these woman are not only riding but are in the "middle east" (actually Morocco is  a Northern Africa country that shares a long and varied history with Europe).  We Americans tend to paint the world with a single brush and seeing something that doesn't fit that world view can, at times, be shocking.

To the best of my knowledge all the woman in the series are veiled and modestly dressed.  Yet their is a shocking amount of color, Nike and Gucci branded djellabah (which covers the face) are everywhere, and sensible shoes rule the day.  In nearly all the photo's the woman are relaxed.  Again, I would not call any of the photo's "sexy" but the woman are confident...and that makes them sexy.

Hassan Hjjaj photography

Good art should challenge our perceptions.  Make us question are beliefs and understanding of the world.  In the case, Hassan Hajjaj has done that in spades.  My only wish is that we could see the woman actually working on the bikes, getting their hands dirty and actually riding about town in their colorful polka dotted outfits.  Seeing them carrying their crates filled with goods and children would have made these images all that more powerful to me.  That I suppose is a minor issue.  Supposedly they are not models but actual working woman of Marrakech...I have been to countries where scooters and motorcycles outnumber cars and seeing bikes being ridden as part truck/part family car/part bus is not that uncommon.  But I suppose that is part of the charm of these photo's.   Most of us already have are preconceived notions, and I for one are happy to see those notions tilted a bit.

The second thing that really struck me this week was from the files of the the Scooterfile website.  They raved about Hero's new RNT design, which is not only lovely but shows the diversity of scooters...and what happens when a company actually knows it's market.   Hero is an Indian company and the RNT is a bike developed almost exclusively for the developing world.   The RNT was designed with help from the Eric Buell Racing, who also has exclusive dealership rights in the US.  I cannot see much of a market in the developed world for this thing...but the design is brilliant. 

Long story short its designed to be a workhorse.  You can see it can already carry two or more people easily.  Packages and crates can be lashed down easily in the front and back.  It has a 150cc diesel engine which provides 14 horsepower , a removable front LED headlight that then can be used as a flashlight. This is where the brilliance kicks in.  There is a socket to plug electric items into...so it's a generator too.  The front wheel is also powered by a 1.3 HP motor, so it is a two wheel drive.  Always helpful in those parts of the world where the pavement ends.  Diesel also tends to be less expensive in the long run while providing better fuel economy (one of the reasons you see fleets of trucks running diesel).  

The RNT is often compared to the Jeep of the 1940's.  A "Do anything, go anywhere" vehicle and from what I read, it is.  What it's designed for is the back roads of India, Nigeria, Afghanistan.  It's designed to bring your family into town to shop, for slogging through unpaved roads and taking a farmer's goods to market.  It's designed for work.   

Yet it's also beautiful.   

Brother's Keeper.- the incident in New York

By now we should have seen the video of the attack on an SUV driver in New York by a gang of motorcyclists.  As of my writing this one of them has been charged, another had the charges dropped against him and the investigation is ongoing.  One of them claimed that the SUV driver was acting like a manic.  In the end we have three hurt motorcyclists - one of them critically - and a badly beaten SUV driver.

The truth of the matter is that we may never know exactly what happened.  News reports state there is a 9-11 call to dispatchers to report motorcyclists driving erratically.  One of them in the video does clearly cut in front of the SUV and appear to slow down dangerously.  What happened before that I don't know.  Why would he act that way?

The driver supposedly did stop after accidentally hitting one of them but then feared for his life afterward, being surround as he was by pissed off bikers.  Many of whom supposedly slashed the tires and attacked the SUV.  Frankly I don't blame him for being afraid.  Nor do I blame many of the bikers for chasing after the diver after he clearly run over a bike badly injuring another biker (who is still in the hospital at the time of this article).  Truthfully if I felt threatened and my wife and 2-year old child where in the car...I might have done the same thing.

Sadly by the time all this comes to a conclusion the public will have moved on and all that will be left is the video of "crazy bikers."

Images matter.  I have to be honest I was unsure if I was going to comment on this.  I am unsure if I should.  I am not part of the greater motorcycling community.  I'm just a guy that enjoys riding over 10K to 15K a year.  I don't particularly like group rides but if given the chance I'll go.  I'm still new to riding (roughly 3 years now) and I don't think I'll ever stop learning something about it.

Hell, I'm scared just looking at the picture

For the most part bikers don't look like we are out of the Sons Of Anarchy casting dept.  We don't all belong to Hells Angels or rape and pillage our way across America either.  Yet why do we have that image when the term "biker" is used.

We have done it ourselves.  I understand why leather and denim became part of our "uniform".  I get that loud pipes can save a life.  I understand how the "outlaw" image is attractive.  I get that.  I even understand how Hollywood and the media will play something up.  It's given us an image that is hard to shake...that of the "badass."  But we do lots of stupid things too.  Things that make the general public question "bikers" and reinforce that image of a sex and drug crazed manic.

Not that I am without sin.  I've done stupid stuff too.  I've pushed the bike at higher speeds than I probably should and have done some lane splitting when stuck in traffic on the way to work due to construction.  But when I see morons (yes, that's the term) doing twice or three times the speed limit in traffic I have to shake my head.  One of the people I work with even carries a gun on him when he rides!

When I see lane splitting done when there is no reason for it and wheelies in traffic.   You have to wonder why?  What is the purpose?  What is the reason?  What does Mr and Mrs Jones in the mini-van think?  What do you think they will say when little Johnny wants a motorcycle?

I get it...I really do.

Motorcyclists do a ton of good deeds.  From toy runs at Christmas to poker runs for sick kids to the Patriot Guard.  Good deeds are always so much subtler than evil ones.  The video of the bikers attacking the SUV is forever out there.  Forever tainting the majority of bikers that ride safely and well.  That will reach out to help someone when they can.  The 1001 good deeds bikers do simply don't matter because of a six minute video.

fuzzy rider

So what can we can do to to change that image?  Simple.  Don't be a dick.  Ride safe.  Ride within the law, traveling at or near the speed limit.  Learn to be more accepting of others and what they ride.  There is no reason the sports bike can't ride with a scooter and a Harley.  Give a hand to that stranded motorist and smile well doing so.  In other words we need more of the fuzzy guy and less the raging psycho.  There was no need for any of that to happen in New York if the gang of motorcyclists (which supposedly have had issues with the police before) had been riding in a tight formation and as safe as possible.  If the driver of the SUV would have been paying more attention (I do truly believe something happened before the video that started that caused the incident to begin with).

At the end of the day most bikers are good people.  Most people are good people, and I would hope that this incident in New York was an abomination.  We are all tainted with it now.