Yesterday I was looking again at some pictures of the Brammo Enertia electric bike. It felt like I’d seen this motorcycle before, a long time ago. And then it came to me: it looks uncannily like the Philippe Starck-designed Aprilia Moto 6.5 of 1995. The Aprilia was doomed to failure from the start, with dynamics that failed to match its radical looks. The Rotax engine offered sub-F650 perfomance, and the build quality was flimsy. (Production was equally erratic, with the model being deleted in 1997 and then exhumed in 1999 for three more years.) On Brammo’s Enertia microsite there’s a section called Design Influences—but funnily enough, there’s no mention of the Moto 6.5. As Philippe might say, quelle surprise.
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II | 1/160s | f/13.0 | ISO 100 | Focal length 115mm
8 Comments
Wow, that’s an utterly gorgeous little bike. The lines all flow like a three-line sketch on a designer’s sketchpad, with nothing breaking them.
The Enertia is nice, but it doesn’t flow like that at all. Nor does it have the near-perfection of proportion.
I prefer Starck’s cafe racer.
I’m sorry, I can’t stand that bike. Looks hideous.
The cafe racer looks a lot nicer, but again the headlight looks gash.
(http://www.dezeen.com/2008/01/29/voxan-cafe-racer-super-naked-by-philippe-starck/)
Perhaps Starck should stick to designing plastic lamps and furniture…
Whatever happened to that Voxan bike? Was it ever built? I do like it, but yes, the headlight sure isn’t right.
One of the best bike designs of the 1990s. I especially like the exhaust that contours to the body. Way too many bikes just have a bean can pointing rearward.
I really like the look of this bike… even if it does look like it has a beer belly
Sometimes I think we are asking for too much performance. Seriously, all bikes do not need to have insane amounts of power. I really liked the Moto 6.5 when it came out, and almost bought one. It was a great ride, even if it was not overly powerful. It looked great, and in my opinion was a perfect city bike. I was very sad to see it being dropped.
Why I didn’t buy one? Well, at the time, my wife was totally against motorcycles. Luckily I have managed to get her to change her opinion since then…
I was owner before, the 6.5 is a lovely bike.