Like many of you, we have fallen back on foreign films and TV series to work our way through the pandemic. We have had an emphasis on French cinematography which has been a great refresher for a guy who was dumped from school-boy French into the real deal in Indochine in the sixties. It is not surprising that the language has moved on from that period some fifty years ago, but I like it better now as it is not so formal and seems hip. Now, apart from evolution of the French language, what have we learned from countless hours of French video? Assassinations are almost exclusively carried out on black motorbikes. There is always one driver and one shooter behind the driver who carries out the execution. The other aspect is that the police have the impossible task to apprehend motorbikes in city traffic.
Assassination by motorbike has worked its way into pop culture as well as reality with both settings prevalent. As the French language has evolved, so has pop culture. Can you imagine a Tom and Jerry cartoon in the past promoting the transportation mode for a hard-core street killing? Although the bike below has a fuchsia color, rest assured a true assassin bike is black as is the dress code of the folks on the bike with black helmets to hide their identity. Fuchsia, like hot pink, is a mixture of red and purple that energizes. We will address the color pink and bikes in a bit.
Assassin bikes have moved from pop culture to the bike showrooms with an Assassin Dirt Bike brand that is designed and marketed to youngsters with a wide range of products so they can start young before they can legally drive one on the road. One of the 125cc bikes, as shown below, has been decriminalized a bit as it is not black. No self-respecting assassin would ride such a bike as it would clash with their black clothing and helmet.
Yamaha is planning to crank up their bike manufacturing and marketing activities in India as people there would prefer to have their own personal transportation mode. Obviously, the pandemic heightened the awareness of affordable private transportation rather than crowded buses due to issues of personal hygiene and social distancing. Accordingly, there is a view that personally controlled two-wheeler mobility is the future for India. Moreover, motorbikes are the salvation in the prevalent traffic jams of India. Their ability to weave in and out of traffic and utilize sidewalks in the event of traffic jams make them perfect for a quick commute home for a Bombay gin and tonic as well as the execution of the odd assassination.
So now we come to the issue of pink motorcycles. I doubt many of you have seen a pink Harley Davidson motorcycle, but I owned one for which I continue to face unmerciful scrutiny when I relate that chapter from the past. We lived in Panama City, Florida and I thought I needed some form of personal transportation which I promoted to my father under the false pretense of earning money from a paper route. Prior to then, I had scalloped and caught crabs to sell to the fish markets for spending money to purchase essentials such as cigarettes. Therefore, at the mature age of thirteen my family succumbed to continued pressure and we went to have a look at Harley Davidson bikes.
Well, there were a host of 125cc bikes in an array of colors, but someone had ordered a pink Harley thinking it would be special. They were mistaken and the dealer was trying to at least get his money out of it. You guessed it, my father could not pass up a good deal and I did not care. Now, you should know that I customized the bike with white pin striping and imagined that it would appeal to the seventh-grade girls. I was spot on but failed to think through that many of the older biker boys would make fun of the color. Therein began a chapter of character building—fights and bike race challenges. Bravado on a bike is not always such a good thing and led to a rather bad accident with me pinned under a racing bike going down the street and my companion laying on the pavement. You will have to conjure up a bit of imagination and envision the Harley Davidson 125cc bike below painted pink and detailed with white pinstriping. Moreover, after the accident, I added crash bars and a windshield as I was always eating a lot of insects. Therefore, despite the criticism over the color, I still think it was a “cool ride.”
Shortly after that period, we moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee in the winter which was not an ideal time to ride a bike in the mountains from there to El Paso, Texas. At that juncture, I decided it was time for a proper car and the driving age was relaxed. Therefore, the Harley gave way to a well-maintained 1949 Plymouth that I had customized in Juarez, Mexico. That period led to a new educational period in Juarez that was the first time a gun was ever put to my head. Who would have thought that my choices of transportation to school would have resulted in far more serious learning experiences, particularly self-defense and self-preservation?
