viva potential

I found a Montesa King Scorpion south of the city on Friday. It was dirt cheap, ....oh and dirty! You may notice that it's missing some critical parts. If you know me well, you know that this is usually how I come about owning any motorcycle. There have been some exceptions, but they are few.

I think there is something wrong with my head. I always see potential in everything I look at. I don't know why this is? I've always been that way. My father is that way too; so it should come as no surprise. He would always bring home "stuff" that was being thrown away at the factory and it usually found it's way into a new tool that we were building at the time or it would be the impetus for some new thing that he had dreamed up and decided we should build.

I know a lot of people who always look at ways to turn a profit on the things they restore, build, or create and I have never really been able to relate to that mentality. When I think about the potential and what that represents, I start to think abut the joys that I will get from refurbishing or creating, researching the history of the object and learning about how it was made, thinking about the hands that created the object in the first place, and then finally thinking about the experience of using that object. The experience is key here. This reminds me of Ian's cereal bowl that he used every morning when we were in grad school (I wonder if he still uses it?). I believe this was a bowl that he had made. I know he took great pleasure in the use of that object day in and day out. Eric and I have talked about this in regards to the cars we are building. The dream of using it, is what keeps you moving forward.

Another rewarding aspect of creating is that you begin to have a deeper understanding of the objects that we use everyday. When my father taught me how to change the oil on my first car he talked about this understanding and how once you had done this you would start to relate to the car and the upkeep that it requires. As a result I would take better care of the things I owned because I understood the fragility of that object if not cared for. These ideas were magnified the first time I rebuilt an engine and really began to understand what it takes to make a car move. My father always talked about how the experience would help me to not only understand the processes, but it would serve as a way to problem solve anytime my car broke down in the future.

I believe our society has lost its connection to the origins of the things we use. This is why we perpetually consume and throw away. Our lives have become too busy to stop and think about what it takes to truly care for something. In addition, our manufacturing centers/businesses have stopped caring about producing goods that are lasting or have quality. Design has suffered as well. It is no longer important to spend time to get the "design right" (ie. selecting good materials, tweaking the details, being unique and original, working out the flaws, etc.). Sacrifices have to be made to the design in order to manufacture things in a cost effective way. Taking time in the design process costs money so why spend time here? With this mind set there is no reason to make anything that will last any length of time. Consumers respond with a fickle attitude towards the objects they own and have little desire to take care of what they have.

Regardless..... the Montesa I found will get an engine and gas tank from a previous rebuild project. They're just more left over parts that I refused to throw away. Everything else seems to be there and will be able to be refurbished. Once completed I will hopefully have the joy of riding a motorcycle that I rebuilt and understanding of what to fix should it ever break down.

Viva potential!