The older I breathe, the more I try to convince myself that I have this game of life all figured out. I’ve come to the realization that this thought is nothing more than arrogance and bullshit. You grow, you change, and you live and learn but in the end, I believe there is something that will never change…. Maybe it’s called our SOUL?
Maybe it comes from your heart, or even your balls, or somewhere deep inside that gelatinous thing you call a brain...
Inside everyone there is a primal, rebellious voice that we should follow… unless of course that voice is a child molester or rapist, then you should just put a gun to your head and do us all a favor.
But that good drive… the one that creates music, art, motorcycles, automobiles, aircrafts, ships, trains, friends, love, breweries, and family… You should listen to that primal voice more often and follow it.
My primal voice has always screamed inside of me. I have always loved noisy, sharp, and dangerous things… which is odd because I’m normally a pretty silent person. The first motorcycle I wanted was a Briggs & Stratton lawn mower engine Mini Moto. I was probably about 6 or 7 and the image of it kept me up at night. I wanted it so bad. I wanted to scream on it, to make noise and watch the world go by at a faster pace. I ended up buying that thing for ₱250 pesos. It had a non-existent front brake, stuck throttle, and two speeds : on-and-off. Would constantly break down……but it was such a rush. A decade later, I discovered streetbikes or what we call these days – CROTCH-ROCKETS, once again attracted to the speed and sound. I heard one squealing power out of its inline-four powerplant, and all I could think was “ I’ve got to find out how fast that goes”….
That was it. The beginning of the end and the end to not knowing what I wanted to do with this life. I now know that I could harness that voice into those things that grabbed grabbed my attention… It’s endless and it’s what you make out of it. The critics will never have it or have been too scared to follow it, so they become bitter followers of others. (It’s ok dude, become the best ballerina…. Do us all a favor and be happy).
I love motorcycles! I love bobbers and café racers, they are funky and dangerous but they are alive. Yes, the lines gets blurred from sketches to the actual build, but in the end it will work itself out.
You can do you and I can do me and we can follow that voice.
Someone wrote "IT'S ALL ABOUT FUN"
…. And they’re right but it’s also about fear and pain. That fear of pouring yourself into your passion and not always knowing whether you’ll come out on top.
Sacrifice and balance.
The pain of a flat front tire on the freeway, a broken chain in the middle of nowhere, a trip to the hospital, or losing a friend. You have to keep going because the “moving forward” in the things that we love is all that we have.
I love these old motorcycles and where they lead me.
Jet Bragasin
Spring of 2012
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