While no one doubts motorcycles and fashion have been playing in the same sandbox since the beginning, visit some of today’s custom motorcycle shows and you’ll quickly discover a bit of confusion over the difference between what is fashion and what is style, both from modern and vintage custom machines.
Walking the alleys of a motorcycle show recently, I’m pushing through what feels a bit homogenized. Sometimes it’s hard for the eye to make a connection to something new and fresh. After a few hours, I finally brake hard at a BMW custom.
Surprised by what I’m looking at, my slow brain fires off a foolish thought: This must be the new BMW modern classic that I haven’t heard about yet (that no one is talking about). I get closer and the fog lifts. Of course: Jesse Bassett of Ohio’s The GasBox.
If you don’t know of Jesse and his work, just waste some time on Google. A couple of years back, he took second place in the Custom/Modified class at The Quail Motorcycle Gathering (behind Shinya Kimura) with his impeccable ’40 Indian Scout. A visit to his site and you’ll see a bunch of bikes I’d easily hijack – Sportsers, Shovels, BSAs, and now this re-imagined Boxer.
From what I can see, he has no sense of fashion and I hope it stays that way. Jesse delivers machines that are hard to find an era for, yet feel familiar. But like all things timeless, it doesn’t stop at style. As Jesse explains, “The bike sounds like an F1 race car and goes and handles terrific; in fact, on my first test ride, I actually scared myself by how fast it was.”
Back at the show, I haven’t moved. I have questions now. Like, why hasn’t BMW designed something like this? Why are their auto and motorcycle designs so far apart? So I pretend I’m only aware of their automobiles. Blindfolded, I draw what I think a BMW motorcycle should look like. I don’t think I’m too far off from this GasBox R80.
I imagine someone stumbling across this in a barn in another 40 years, working their own brain to uncover what year the Germans made this timeless machine.
This article first appeared in issue 14 of Iron & Air Magazine, and is reproduced here under license.
Story by Brett Houle Images by The GasBox
