BOSOZOKU.BIKE.BONKERS

 

The story goes like this: A few weeks ago somebody posted this picture of a Yamaha SR on a facebook group page.
My first reaction was "WTF! What have they dome to you?"
After looking at it for a little while, I concluded that the owner must have been in a funny mood and that he must have taken some spare parts from his garage, put them on the bike, taken the pic and then back to normal.
Nobody could actually be so crazy to ride a bike like that, right?!


WRONG


I discovered that there is a whole genre dedicated to modifying bikes and cars in the most bizarre ways.
They call themselves BOSOZOKU and live in the Land of Contradictions: Japan.

I couldn't believe it at first, but I did some research on the net and found some interesting stuff. Bosozoku, literally meaning "violent running tribe" started out in the 50's as a bike gang with heavily modified bikes (mostly for power), as a rebellion against the mainstream culture. New Yakuza members were recruited from the Bosozoku gangs. Participation in the gangs peaked at 42,510 members in 1982.
Nowadays the groups are much smaller, but most certainly crazier with their modifications.






Here is what Wikipedia says about the bikes:

 

Bōsōzoku are known to modify their motorcycles in peculiar and often showy ways. A typical customized bōsōzoku bike usually consists of an average Japanese road bike that appears to combine elements of an American chopper style bike and a British café racer, for example: over-sized fairings like those found on café racers, raised handle bars like those on a chopper. Loud paint jobs on the fenders or the gas tanks with motifs such as flames or kamikaze style "rising sun" designs are also quite common. The bikes will often be adorned with stickers and/or flags depicting the gang's symbol or logo. There are also marked regional differences in motorcycle modifications. For example, Ibaraki bōsōzoku are known to modify their motorcycles in an extensively colorful, flashy way. They will often have three or four oversized fairings in a tower like way in a motorcycle painted in bright yellow or pink with Christmas light–like adornments. Their motorcycles were often cobbled together from stolen motorcycle parts and thus suffered from numerous break downs and maintenance problems.

 

Bōsōzoku also have a distinct style of car modification, eponymously called "bōsōzoku style".^[4] These cars are often modified with large exhaust pipes, bright paint, and large aero kits, the latter modelled on Group 5 “Special Production Cars” of the 1970s.^[5] Also popular are oil coolers or less commonly large turbo or supercharger intercoolers with highly polished tubing, usually mounted in a prominent position in the front bumper.

 

Finally, what kind of person would do such a thing to a bike or car....?

 

OOhhh, now that explains everything ;-)