For this month's installment of Back Road Ramblings Jason Giacchino comments on the widening gulf between the custom scene and the rest of the motorcycle world.
In case you aren't a person who cares to follow the adventures and exploits of the motorcycle industry press, let me get you up to speed. Brian Catterson defected to
Motorcyclist magazine after a 12-year run at
Cycle World. Assuming you aren't some obsessed paparazzi specializing in the whereabouts of motojournalists, this probably isn't that big of a deal.
What is more attention worthy, however, is the reason he gives in his new "Megaphone" column for the departure. Without digging into specific quotes, Catterson claims that he no longer desires to be a party to magazines that devote space to the custom chopper scene. And worse yet is the fact that he's not alone in the view that chopper-specific magazines rarely devote space to metric cruisers or sportbikes, so why should the opposite be allowed. Like most motorcycling debates, support on either side of the issue is dictated fairly heavily on the style of bike sitting in the rider's garage.
I often find myself surrounded by a wide variety of bikes from various origins and styles on local jaunts and light cross country tours. Many of my riding buddies and family members favor the more relaxed stance and patented rumble of the American V-Twins over the affectionately labeled "rice burners" that I happen to find exhilarating, specifically the 600cc supersport class.
However, it appears of late that the chopper scene is becoming separated even from those who already desire V-Twin performance or American-made craftsmanship. This is logical to some extent, considering the fact that many of the custom builder and chop shops are literally producing one-offs with little to no factory-backed support, warranty, or model history to work from. As a result, in many cases, they earn their reputation for being finicky or too unique to deserve any sort of magazine testing.
However, with companies like American IronHorse and Polaris-owned Victory, the line between factory and custom is an ever shrinking one. Even Yamaha has taken notice by allowing a whole plethora of customization options to be made at the factory level of their Star series cruisers to enhance the uniqueness of each model ordered.
The counter to this, of course, is that such models aren't technically custom builds, hence don't fall into the category that is causing such a stir in the first place.
The Custom scene is a whole different creature, but is America's chopper craze due for a backlash?
Perhaps the debate is simply the result of over-exposure to the custom scene. Let's face it, watching "American Chopper" for too many hours can distort anyone's sense of reality and family values. Not forgetting to mention the success of the show has spawned legions of imitators, some perhaps even more entertaining than the original, others blatant rip-offs with little to no merit.
There was a time within the last year where it was nearly impossible to escape the chopper influence anywhere on the cable TV spectrum. Obviously, such overexposure could lead to outrage once the subject matter floods into former safe-havens such as magazines that focused primarily on metric bike and sport riding.
Others argue that such programs help shed light on the misunderstood culture of motorcycling, and any exposure as such is positive exposure. Indeed, an increase in interest usually does result in an increase in models purchased, meaning more R&D dollars for the manufacturers to apply to their entire line.
The point of all this debating boils down to a simple concept: The chopper craze is, without question, fading into but another distant separation of the overall motorcycle spectrum. That being said, variety is the spice of life and passing trends will come and go. What's more disturbing, however, is apparently so will the place of employment of motorcycle journalists who've decided enough is enough.
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