A Symbol of the Human Condition
Words by Forrest Minchinton | Photography by Harry Mark
We heard a sound, or maybe it was a murmur. The truth, we will never know. The pinnacles of the desert, a place where dreams go to die. Grand visions and hopes, materialized, but rarely sustained. The aftermath of such left to die a slow dissolve back into the earth. The wind, the heat, the cold, taking their toll year after year. What is left, future generations will guess the reasons as to who, why, where and what. The desert has this mysterious allure, the freedom, the solitude, the tranquility, and opportunity. The only things that remain are those unwavering pinnacles.
As the pioneers of the past set course on horseback with dreams and grand visions of freedom, liberty and opportunity, we too saddle up our motorcycles with dreams and visions. Our conviction comes from our machine. As the world evolves, and technology advances, the difficulties of our lives are supposed to lessen. But maybe that’s not how it’s should be.
For what we need is not an easy life; what we need is difficulty. For this is what drives us forward. This is where our human instinctual senses thrive. Let us build the machine better, faster and lighter, to go higher, farther and faster. So we choose this machine, we choose this challenge. We want to feel alive, and we to want live every day and die on the last.
For that I have chosen this machine. The motorcycle that sits beneath me is the product of 57 years of countless legends, blood, sweat and tears. The combined effort and sacrifice and untold experiences have culminated in this machine. The earliest grand vision and hope was the legend of Bud Ekins, who set out to ride his Honda from the top to the bottom of the Baja Peninsula. What he sparked ultimately transpired into many legends after him. Obsessions with conquering that 1,000-mile stretch of the planet. Many of them became heroes, legends and icons. Most of them aboard predecessors to this very machine. Some gave the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives. Others were victorious. Ultimately, each one of those men lives on in this motorcycle. Their legacy carried on in the form of continued innovation, improvement and success. They all set out with a dream of conquering the desert and building a motorcycle to do it with. Most of the time that dream died during failure. What was born in its place was a vision. Reinforced with experience and humility. A vision that the race, the machine and the desert are much more. They are a symbol of the human condition.
