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Look happy, you miserable
bastards!
Travels with Guido #385
You're on a
motorcycle – is it too much to ask that you look
happy? Some days, or even decades, we take ourselves
much too seriously
May 2026, by Guy
'Guido' Allen
Look at this 1959 ad for
a BSA Bantam 125 (above). Confident, healthy and happy
young woman smiling and enjoying the great outdoors.
It is a bit of theme for the period: motorcycling
creates happiness.
Next exhibit, your
honour, is this Royal Enfield ad from 1960 – everyone
is grinning. Motorcycles bring joy. I want to be
there. We all want to be there.
And then there are the current alternatives, which have
an aura of grunge lite. This recent Harley-Davidson image
(above) – taken from its website and intended as a lure to
ownership – depicts deserted streets and general serious
intent and is a little depressing. Is this your idea of a
good day out?
H-D is by no means alone in creating images of this
nature, and I struggle to understand how in any way it can
sell motorcycles.
There are of course alternatives. Such as the
quintessential adventure-touring model launch image, where
everyone is appropriately dressed and standing on the
footpegs. Why are you standing on the pegs? That's not
comfortable, or necessary.
It's nuts and makes everything look more serious and
difficult than it needs to be. Any rider with basic motor
skills could pilot their 50cc scooter down that road,
sitting comfortably in the saddle.
Something I've also noticed in western markets is the
trend away from open-face helmets in manufacturer images.
I can understand that on the basis there are greater
injury risks and nevertheless think it's a shame.
Much of riding is about risk assessment. I've had a
current open-face lid in my riding kit for decades and
those days and rides when it feels right. On the
right day with the right bike, it's liberating to use an
open-face and the world can see you smiling –
instead of being hidden behind a giant and vaguely
sinister full-face mask.
There is also over-reach when it comes to manufacturer
riding images. I love this effort with Ducati's
Hypermotard V2 simply because it's so silly. If you can do
it, why not?
However I have a favourite for engaging motorcycle maker
images, which is this for the Royal Enfield Continental
650 GT – first published about a decade ago.
It's the mix of riders and the sheer happiness that gets
my attention. Okay, I'm not delighted with the lack of
jeans, jackets and gloves on the lead bike. But I can live
with it.
The group is smiling and in love with what they're doing
and I want to be invited for a ride with them. Or meet
them for a coffee somewhere to share that joy of life.
Surely we're doing this for fun – let's try harder to
make it look that way...
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