FAST CO DESIGN: 4 Reasons Why The Future of Capitalism is Home Grown, Small Scale, and Independent.

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4 Reasons Why The Future of Capitalism is Home Grown, Small Scale, and Independent.


"Making fewer things of higher quality and utility is important. Reusing and sharing really good stuff is valued. The entire notion of brand is upended in indie capitalism, superseded by the community surrounding the creation of a product or service. Authenticity is the “brand” in many cases."

FastCoDesign recently published an article on the coming boom of locally hand crafted goods, and the roll they'll play in our future economy. Click the image above to view the full article. It's short, sweet, and a good source of inspiration to get out there and create something.

DAILY INSPIRATION: 1974 Honda CB450 Brat

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1974 Honda CB450 Brat
By Chris aka "Mauromoto"

This is one of the most well designed brat style bikes I've seen to date.
The side profile image pops up here and there while I'm sifting around the interweb, but I've never been able to track down the builder.
The color, material, and finish selection are superb. Stance, proportion and silhouette are right on par as well.


Here's what I can tell you about the bike:
It was sold on June 24 on eBay, by Unique Performance in Medford, NY for $7,500.




The auction listing read:

"Up for auction is a 1974 CB 450. As you will gather from the pictures the bike has been completely rebuilt, refinished & highly modified.

The engine has been rebuilt, including new valves, complete cylinder head rebuild (stock torsion bars were saved) Pistons(honda) ,rings, all seals & gaskets, cam chain(honda) , clutch and all cables are new. Both carbs are completely rebuilt.

The wheels are 16x3 drop center rims laced to honda hubs using Buchanan stainless steel spokes. The tires are Goodyear replicas 16x5.00.

The gas tank is a modified steel tank from an early seventies dirt bike. The fender is steel & the seat is a custom pan wrapped in genuine leather.

The bike is finished professionally in Spies Hecker urethane paint . The finish is "show quality". The HM emblem and stripe are hand painted."







HOLY CRAP: Morgan X Super Dry JPN 3-Wheeler

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Morgan and Super Dry JPN have teamed up to release a special edition of the upcoming Morgan 3 wheeler.
Only 200 units will be put into production.


 


 Super Dry Edition specs:

Vintage headlamp grills
Orange wall tires
Matt Silver paintwork with Black ‘Sport’ pack
Matt orange exhaust tips and mirror surrounds.
Superdry branded unique livery pack
Superdry edition alloy badge
Additional aero styled riveting.
Leather bonnet strap.
Superdry detailed fuel cap
Tokyo Rally plaque
Branded gearstick
Quilted Superdry tarp leather seats.








 Each car will come with a limited edition Super Dry leather jacket, of which only 1 will be made for each of the 200 cars.

The Super Dry Edition will still be sporting the 120hp 1990cc V-Twin engine and 5 speed gearbox found in all other models. Top speed is 115mph and it'll get you to 60mph in 4.5 sec.

DAILY INSPIRATION: Seeley MKII Racing Norton

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Seeley MKII Racing Norton

This is one of the most beautiful vintage race bikes I have ever seen.


Kenny Cummings and Dan Rose set out to build a period correct interpretation of the Seeley MkII Racing Norton track bike, with the intention of putting it on the podium by the end of the year. The build was featured on season 2 of Cafe Racer TV, meaning I now must purchase this DVD series.






The 750cc Norton Combat engine was worked over, to put down 70hp. Given that the bike tips the scale at only 300lbs, it should move rather quickly. The frame was built by a man named Roger Titschmarsh, in the UK, whose work was personally approved by Collin Seeley himself. The braze welding of the frame components is outstandingly gorgeous, and the unit weighs in at a feathery 24lbs.





For the laundry list of customization and specs, visit the Seeley Norton build site.