[Closed] Mechanical Objects with Character/Soul?

Aye, had similar with motorbikes. Ridiculous really.

Read "I Know you got Soul" by Jeremy Clarkson

Even if you don't like his ramblings, you can't fail to like the book if you've an ounce of engineering blood in your system. As you might have guessed, it's all about some of mankinds greatest invnetions, over the years, many of them not petrol powered either! I was hooked, couldn't put it down, read it in an afternoon...

Don't most stw'rs love/have female names for their bikes???

Thing is I know its a rubbish car and always has been

Eh???!??!?!?!??!?! You are usually raving about it! Not that I'm selling my P1800 or anything 😳

Same with wooden boats. I always feel a bit sad when I see them hauled up and rotting in estuaries. Bad luck to burn them, so the sailors leave them to rot.
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I know exacly what you mean. My Ducati Monster was like that and I miss it. Not the best, or the fastest, or the coolest, but it had [i]something[/i] that made me love it.... 🙂

I found our petrol mower in a ditch and rusting when out with the dog. Took it home and loved it to life again, hardly looks new but I feel the greatest sensation when I fire it up and it chokes into roaring life.

Eh???!??!?!?!??!?! You are usually raving about it!

I love it, its great, doesn't mean that a granny in a 1.0 nissan micra couldn't beat it round a track though!

For me, things that aren't alive get soul/character based on your experiences with them which is why I always find it odd that people talk about brands/bikes that have soul/character when they're just something that you can get your wallet out and buy.

For me, a bottom range big brand bike that you've used for years and have experienced all sorts of things/places on has far more soul or character than something like a new Jones which is soulless until used.

my 106 gti is like that, it's too small, too awkward to work on, too keen to fall apart.

but it's been off the road waiting for bits for 3 weeks now and I've been driving diesel golfs (mk4 and mk5) and I got into the wee peugeot last night and started it and moved it down the drive way and I was gutted that I wouldn't be driving it today.

rol on next week

Rd 350 lc. I loved that bike but I also hated it. When it went it flew but it blew up on a regular basis. Bloody thing put the rod through the side of the barrel.

Bad luck to burn them, so the sailors leave them to rot.

Never heard that one before!

Did any one see the top gear with the british sports? When they turned up at tvr and all the moulds were just rotting outside, i felt heartbroken.

That car from Christine!

For me, a bottom range big brand bike that you've used for years and have experienced all sorts of things/places on has far more soul or character than something like a new Jones which is soulless until used.

I had a CG125 for ages, it was new, shiny, and get me to all those places a 17yr old needs to go, still never had soul though?

Did any one see the top gear with the british sports? When they turned up at tvr and all the [b]cars[/b] [s]moulds[/s] were [s]just rotting outside, i felt heart[/s]broken.

fixed it for you :p

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igmc

Did any one see the top gear with the british sports? When they turned up at tvr and all the moulds were just rotting outside, i felt heartbroken.

Yes, it's very sad to see. I hate to see things break, sink, broken. Madness, I know, but somehow most things generally have some sort of emotional response linked to them, moreso things that are long-serving or linked to experiences. My fun car is not really financially viable, rotting in the driveway, wasting me money and too expensive to insure but I can't bring myself to sell her on, even though that would mean I had more space to build another!

thisisnotaspoon - Member

I had a CG125 for ages, it was new, shiny, and get me to all those places a 17yr old needs to go, still never had soul though?

Doesn't sound like you were experiencing things while on it though - it was just a tool to get you from a to b. That's different.

It's YOU that has the soul.. not the car...

PeterPoddy - Member
I know exacly what you mean. My Ducati Monster was like that and I miss it. Not the best, or the fastest, or the coolest, but it had something that made me love it....

molgrips - Member

It's YOU that has the soul.. not the car...

that's the point of clarkson's book - he looks at the history of things like the hoover dam - the Ak47 - to explain why we have emotional reaction to inanimate objects.

Copy & pasted from the watch one....

I like my watch it's mechanical, I think it's amazing that its all cogs and gears and no battery. I could buy a cheaper more accurate Casio but I don't want one.

I like my boat it's wooden and needs varnishing/paining/repairing every year I could buy a GRP boat it would be better I suppose but I don't want one.

I liked (it died) my Mercian bike it was steel and handmade and wobbled like jelly at 40mph. I could buy an alloy Giant it would be better I suppose however I don't want to. I want another Mercian

I like my old Land Rover, the radiator needs topping up before each drive, it's slow but I like it. I could buy a Nissan but I don't want to.

naaa, reckon its more primal than that,

What have the;

midget
motorbikes
monster
mowers

got in common?

Noisy,
Smelly
Look good (or at least interesting enough to mention)
Tactile
They begin with M

EDIT: I was replying to the 'marketing' relpy, I reckon tiger probaly hit the nail on the head too.

I am not a bike fan but the Monster is lovely IMO.

Anything REALLY useful that does a job brilliantly has a bit of soul IMO - my petrol strimmer and mower, my bike multitool, my Halfords Professional toolkit (!) a few cars that I've had for ages without issues (not always fast - just useful), a couple of bikes and even the odd kitchen device/implement. Just love well designed and well made stuff that works well and keeps on doing so for years and years.

Almost forgot the boat engine - gets left on a pontoon mooring for months on end - all it "asks" for is a service every two years and a bit of two stroke oil yet it starts first time every time and runs soooo smoothly. Nothing special - just a Mercury 2 stroke 60 but it sounds nice and makes the boat go pretty well (the boat weighs naff all). Amazing bit of engineering IMO that gets far harsher treatment than many car engines.

Kawasaki ZX9RC1, raw brutal power - later bikes owned with more cc/power just didn't have the same effect. It took me through some fantastic times plus got me through 3 years of commuting into central London without missing a beat.

And Nokia 6310i :-), still getting over it.

My old XR400 just fun and could see off some much better bits of kit. There was always the fear of stalling it because when it was hot you couldn't get it started for love nor money.

Why wont motorbikes start hot?

Always puzzled me that one.

Objects with value not measured in cash. Through use, its secrets are revealed and the object gives up it's full meaning. The character is that of it's makers.

I was sad when my last car was crushed. It had, until the end, been totally reliable. How could you not love that?

that's the point of clarkson's book

ARGH NOOOO!

My bikes are common bikes from well known manufacturers. I love them - because they ride bloody brilliantly. I don't care if they get scratched or dented, but I do care if they stop working perfectly. They put a massive smile on my face when I ride them because of what they DO, not what they ARE.

I've always liked revolvers from a sheer functionality/design aesthetics perspective.

The family I lived with in Banff for a while had a load of classic single action colts from the frontier days along with modern Smith & Wessons.

I felt a certain affinity for an old machine at my old job, six chuck vertical lathe all fed by cams on a hydraulic ram, not a digital encoder or microchip in sight, you had to learn its noises to know when something needed adjusting, not like cnc's today that break down when you cough next to them. Does that make me a second generation luddite?

I had a CG125 for ages, it was new, shiny, and get me to all those places a 17yr old needs to go, still never had soul though?

Now, see, I had a CG125 too. It cost me £160 and a bit extra to MoT. It was slooooow, noisy, vibrated like a jackhammer, was very uncomfortable, it handled like poo and had tyres like wood, with about as much grip. And as for brakes? You're havin' a laff, right?
But it DID have soul!
I used to call it 'The Rocket' and once I gave Mrs PP a lift home on the back of it, she spent the entire time in fits of laughter because it was sooooooooo crap. I once lost the back end on a wet roundabout (wooden tyres!) and thought right up until I was flat on my back that I could save the slide! I just lay there laughing as a bloke in a transit stared at me, got up, and kicked it into life and rode off.

Clubber's right. It's the experience.

But sometimes, it's the machine that makes the experience, like my Monster. The noise it made from the airbox? Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh yes! I used to just sit looking at it. It's the only bike I've ever given a name to as well....

oooh -twice today I get to post this
The noise it made was sublime 🙂

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Rebuild the engine. Learn more about its workings. Skin your knuckles, curse the designers who made things so hard to get to and adjust. Fire it up for the first time and smile the biggest smile.

I sold this to my brother in a moment of madness. He sold it a couple of months later for twice what he paid me.

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This has character and soul by the steam shovel load!

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Every time I look at it, every time I fire it up and every time I ride it I love it more and more.
I've ridden motorcycles since the age of 10 and nothing comes close to the experience of riding this.
The smell, the sound, the feel. Everything, it's brilliant!

mcmoonter, I have one of those engines sitting in the corner of my garage. Interested?...

Everything, it's brilliant!

Apart from the brakes that is 🙂

grim168 - Member

Rd 350 lc. I loved that bike but I also hated it. When it went it flew but it blew up on a regular basis. Bloody thing put the rod through the side of the barrel.

Same here. Great bike, but it ended up snapping it's crank on the local bypass at 70mph with my wife (then gf) on the back. Years of riding 2 strokes gave me lightning fast clutch hand reactions! Mind you, after I rebuilt the engine it started first kick.

Whilst I agree it's your experiences with something that give it soul, when it comes to motorbikes very few (modern certainly) Japanese bikes have soul, whereas Italian ones do for sure. Not too sure about modern Triumphs....

So let me get this straight - something has soul if it's crap, right?

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this for me. I spend more time taking it apart, putting it together, trying to get it running etc.

Zedsdead - Member
mcmoonter, I have one of those engines sitting in the corner of my garage. Interested?...

Zedsdead - That engine was a bit special. 1400cc, stage three 'head.
If you've got something 60's and Cooperish my mate Simon might be interested.
http://www.theminiworks.co.uk/

Lobbydosser - Do you keep that in your kitchen?

you won't believe this but

Austin Maxi, long time ago, £300 with a years MOT, could get a DT175mx in back to go to Wales, commuted for a year from Maidenhead to Twickenham, odd trip to Wales, never serviced it, just topped oil. Anway after a completely trouble free year I sold it for £30 scrap, bloke with a lorry/crane turned up - chains through windows, lifted and off he went. Strangely enough about a month later, mountain biking in the shrubbery, went past a council estate and a bloke shouted 'bargain, bargain', there was my maxi, lights off, dinged to buggery etc, acro props across floor and holding roof up and this bloke was waving a demolition derby trophy - he'd won it and £50 ...................

[quote Lobbydosser - Do you keep that in your kitchen?

No the guy I bought it from kept it in his spare room. (Along with his other one)

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"Apart from the brakes that is"

Hah! That my dear boy, is a pair of Norton roadholders with twin leading shoe. Re-lined and works very well indeed.

As well as most of the bike the engine is also highly modified and tuned and with me riding will give you a good run for your money.