imperiousrex:

1942 Hearley Davidson :: Photography Served

Like anything people care for, motorcycle owners usually form an attachment to their rides. They can and do represent a myriad of things to a myriad of people … and for me this particular bike & photo combination, despite having never seen it before today, means something to me.

We now live in a “junk” culture. More often than not, it’s usually cheaper (and less of a hassle) to buy new if something breaks. Here in the western world, we aren’t given a hell of a lot of reasons to keep a busted whatsit and have it repaired.

On top of being just plain wasteful, it also usually means that if that physical object is gone, it’s pretty rare for any of the history that went along with it to be preserved. As someone who writes, makes films, and has an appreciation for a narrative in any of form, that depresses the hell out of me.

Think about it, if this was your grandfather’s harley that was just undiscovered in barn somewhere, chances are you would be fascinated.

Since when did Grandpa Harry have a motorcycle? When did he get it? Where did he buy it? Was it new, or did he buy it used? Did he work on it himself? Did he take any trips? Where did he go? Did Grandma Gail know about this? Is this what caught her eye in the first place? Why did he stop riding? How did I not know this? You would want all of that information, all of the motorcycle’s history; you would want the complete story.

Maybe you would even get out the tools, get that thing running, shine it up nice, and add to that history.

Or, y’know, you could just throw it away; whatever.

In a world of throw-away things, occasionally, people can still come across things this cool, things that come with a history - a personal story - and they do something as small as snapping a picture to help preserve those.

I can’t speak for you, but I happen to think that’s pretty awesome.