The human factor in motorcycle design

Jun 17 2009 By Alastair Gilmour, The Journal

Transport and design combine in a business that works under the principle 'two wheels good'. Alastair Gilmour meets two motorcycle designers.

WHO hasn’t had an Easy Rider moment while Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda roar off on their Harley Davidson Hydraglides?

Do the hearts of the great escapees among us still vibrate as Steve McQueen leaps barbed wire fences on his TT Special 650 Triumph? And who could forget Marianne Faithfull redefining bike-wear as full body leathers in The Girl on a Motorcycle? Motorbikes have that effect; they’re glamorous, they’re fast and they’re daring.

So, are the people who design motorbikes fast and daring? Do they leap and roar? Certainly the ones who occupy a unit on a Northumberland industrial estate don’t give that impression. Even though Mark Wells and Ian Wride design the most stylish sculptures-on-wheels they give the impression of being perfectly respectable. The pair of Northumbria University graduates established Xenophya Design to specialise in design and development for the motorcycle industry, taking concepts through every stage to finally waving them off into full production.

"It’s certainly a different type of business," says Mark. "Globally, there are only a handful of companies doing what we do. There’s one in Amsterdam, one in Austria and another in the Midlands, but not many more."

"We started out in 2001 after graduating in BA Hons in Transportation Design. The course is set up for young designers who want to work in the car and motorbike design industry or they could go into interior design for trains, planes and boat design."

Mark and Ian quickly found out that there isn’t that much work around for motorbike designers, not until you make a name for yourself. To pitch for work you have to have a solid portfolio of successful commissions, but you can’t build a portfolio until you’ve produced the work. So they concentrated initially on designing accessories and taking on small bodywork projects.

"It was the classic Catch 22 situation," says Mark. "Automotive design is incredibly competitive to get into, there are only 1,800 car designers in the world, probably about the same amount as there are of professional footballers in the English leagues, and motorcycle design is even more exclusive. It’s a very specialist area, so when you think of all the millions of kids dreaming about playing in a World Cup, it’s about the same.

"You have to have an esoteric knowledge of the subject and a target market. Most cars will say something about the owner; very few cars are just for leisure use, except for the Caterham. Even a Bentley Continental is transport for somebody, but bikes speak on a far more emotive level. "When I was a small boy I was always designing cars and motorbikes, it’s all I ever wanted to do. I think it’s in my blood. My grandfather was a Royal Signals dispatch rider and my father rode road bikes all his life, so for me to do two things that I’m passionate about was a no-brainer."