After Market

BMW R80 by: Rodney AguiarI find the most interesting bikes out there are those that have been modified. There is the quality of oddity, of taking something foreign, or not plainly "similar," and adding it to increase the potency of the overall product, whether it be aesthetic, functional, or technological. It's like Dr. Frankenstein perpetuating his dreams of creating something post-human...by using pieces of humans not necessarily the same size or shape. In the end, the creature becomes something different, compelling as a whole, yet when looking at each individual part, it is quite odd. Although the Frankenstein monster may not be the greatest of analogies, it synthesizes the point of modifying a body to increase it's usefulness to the user, in that case, the doctor. In the cases of the incredible pieces of machinery here, the mechanics and riders.

1951 BMW with a host of others by: Mark van der KwaakHarley Sportster by: Fred DubanArchitecturally, I would add that because of it's very nature, architectural after market modifications are few and far between. Sure one could surmise that a "remodel" would constitute an after market modification, and it would be. But, I'm interested in how one could modify an industrial or mechanized object into functional space. Cutting, welding, adding, removing: Those processes that one uses to modify and customize a motorcycle. How does one transfer mediums and scale?

Enter LOT-EK. For years, those crazy Neopolitan kids have been surveying and modifying industrial refuse, adding to and removing disparate elements to creat unique functional objects.
I think the transfer is quite interesting.Semi TrailerGas TankerCement Mixer
The above modified bikes were all found through the most incredible motorcycle website:
BikeEXIF
And if you want more cool examples of after market bikes, check these guys out:
Wrenchmonkees

old school

I have no idea why I love old cars, those beautiful hunks of steel (before the carbon this that and the other of today.) I think the lines are so easily read in elevation. Imagine a designer taking out the pencil and DRAWING these guys, then moving to clay and transferring the lines into the third dimension. It feels like anything done from top down is purely functional, while everything from the side is aesthetic, (and wind-driven in some cases, I assume.) I'm nostalgic for this time when it seemed everyone was having such fun with it. Regardless, my mind always wanders towards imagining vehicles as buildings, wondering about scaling the ideas up. I guess some of Ms. Hadid's work translates likewise, a fluidity that transcends static "architecture" into movement territory.Notting Hill, LondonPortland, ORNew York CitySan Juan, Puerto RicoZaha Hadid

Living Bridges

People have always sought connection. I can just imagine the first rope bridges of some Native American tribes, dangerously erected in order to cross a crevace. Rivers, canyons, and other depressions invariably lead us to invent primitive bridges, which gave us the precedent for the more modern, advanced bridges we have today. What is interesting to me is not the advanced technologies and the ever-so-long spans being dreamed up, but how simple span bridges have been utilized to do something else past and present. The technology transfer is interesting.

Bridge House by Max Pritchard Architect via Arch Daily