Tracing parallels in time.

Tracing parallels in time:

In 1951 - the year I was born - motorcycling in Europe and in the USA was consolidated, and in Brazil was going steady. At that time there were motorcycles being ridden in all corners of the world, production of such vehicles was increasing consonant the optimism of the post-war era.

Here I am with Aslan and his dad's BSA Bantam. The most perfectly restored motorcycle I came across lately.

British machines like the BSA 125 cc - Bantam - reached a huge success and nowadays are very sought after items by collectors everywhere in the world. During the National Motorcyclists Encounter, in Brasília - DF, by the end of July 2002, we were lucky to meet Aslan and his father's bike. The BSA 125 cc - Bantam - is from Luziania - GO. According to Aslan his father spent ten years trying to find this model of bike, bought it and spent two more years to restore it to a pristine state. The Bantam was found in the interior of Goias. In my opinion this bike is "Hors-Concour". It was made in 1951, coincidently the year I was born.

Me and a quite rare motorcycle: BSA 125 cc - Bantam, 1951 make.

In Japan, by the same period in time, Mr Soichiro Honda with his vision, tenacity and will power was initiating a new era in the motorcycle industry history. He didn't spared himself from doing a big effort in order to manufacture a robust and cheap two wheel vehicle, that could be accessible to the impoverished japanese population of the post-war years. From his dream came the Dream. To make his brand known he worked very hard indeed; in like manner he sent the japanese racing driver Mikio Ohmura (a 21 years old young man when he came to compete in Brazil) to participate with the R125 in an international competition at the Interlagos International Autodrome in 1954. This was Honda's first participation in an international competition.

This is the 1951 model of the motorcycle unveiled by Honda in 1949. This model became the top selling motorcycle in history: with more than 30 million units sold worldwide.

The "American dream" : On the 16/02/03 I arrived in Atlanta - USA. I was looking for new horizons regarding my career. This was a good opportunity to see how the American motorcyclists use their bikes daily. What a deception I had! Due to the winter time, it took me one week to see the first motorcycle; and this wasn't a private bike, but a Harley Davidson belonging to the Atlanta Police. It took me another couple of days to see few bikes on the road. This situation is the opposite of what we see in Brazil or even in Europe or Australia.

At that occasion I missed a lot Goiania - GO, where we have the biggest proportion of motorcycles x inhabitants or motorcycles x cars in Brazil. I missed my Honda CBX 250 Twister!

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To be continued...