I’ve always loved the concept of race on Sunday and sell on Monday, as I firmly believe that racing improves the breed, even when that breed is confined to the public tarmac. That being said, I don’t often find road cars painted in the hues of their racing brethren to be all that and a bag of chips. I think it has something to do with that race-day paint writing checks that your typical street edition can’t cash.
The same can’t be said for motorcycles however, as no matter how much faster a track edition may be, the road-going one is still going to be pretty balls to the wall. That’s why I don’t mind racing livery on street bikes, and in fact there are a few that I downright like. There have been a number of great motorcycle paint schemes that didn’t involve racing too, and some of my favorites are the metallic fades that BMW offered back in the ’70s and ’80s.
Motorcycles don’t generally engender themselves to extensive graphic treatments, so limited are the canvases they provide. That’s not to say that there haven’t been a few great ones, especially during the era of the full bodywork bikes. Considering those that have come, which do you think is the best? What, in your opinion, is the coolest factory motorcycle livery?
Image: asphaltandrubber