Meeting Shinya
Men’s File has featured the master of self-expression in aluminum before. Our own Matt Hind went to his lair at Chabott Engineering, in the hills 50 miles East of LA, and produced an emotive photo-essay back in 2011 (issue 06). Since then things have moved on for Mr Kimura and for Men’s File, and in late October 2015 we both found ourselves in the realm of one of motorcycling’s corporate giants: Yamaha. Men’s File got a full day with the master before the start of the Yamaha press week on the beautiful Italian island of Sardinia. The new Chabott Engineering project is based on the Yamaha XSR700 and is part of a new style-based initiative from the company called Faster Sons. This is somehow linked with the brand’s Yard-Built projects. From this publication’s viewpoint this is all very exciting stuff. The corporate giant is supplying cash to highly creative builders and all are benefitting. If only life were always like this. Shinya’s new bike is called The Faster Son and he seems genuinely proud of his work and enjoys riding the machine too. Yes, we should have done a full interview with him, but we also made a film and didn’t have time to sit and talk in a formal situation. Shinya sent us the statement below and, from two days of conversations, this is his sincere view on the bike and the associated events that have come with it. Shinya Kimura is sincere. He is a friendly and open man. He’s not a businessman or a show-off, but he is a performer as he knows that his bikes mean little without him and his humble approach to bike building.
Speaking on Italy Shinya Kimura says:
“Riding my own creation The Faster Son and Yamaha’s new XSR700 in Sardinia was like a dream come true. For me, it was one step closer to Italy, where I have been longing for since I was a little kid. I have a great respect for Italian historic architectural structures, art and ultimate vehicle designs. Since I started Chabott Engineering I’ve been consistently maintaining my rhythm of completing each custom motorcycle, one by one, for each particular client.”
Describing the Faster Son projects the builder explains:
“The Faster Sons commission from Yamaha Europe to build a concept motorbike, which we have called The Faster Son has been an exciting one. It was a challenge for me because instead of making a bike exclusively for an individual client, I had to set a hypothetical question: what if I was a Yamaha designer and would build a bike for myself? The reasons why I took this offer were quite simple. One, I’ve been a great fan of Yamaha motorbike since I was a teenager and it was beyond my imagination to work with them. Second, I liked and totally agreed with the idea of Faster Sons, which respects the heritage of the company but then makes it new and better – and passes it on to a new generation. Since my relocation to US from Japan in 2006, I’ve been particularly aware of understanding the concept or philosophy of the original design of any motorcycle I might work on. I then set myself the task of redesigning and dedicating the machine to each client – while adding my own originality to it – which mass production could never achieve. I guess I want to place myself as something like a coachbuilder in the automobile world. Through this opportunity to work with Yamaha Europe I had a chance to meet with the company’s designers and engineers and see the process of design and manufacture, right through to the final marketing and sales. For me that was very different from what I do but I found some similarities in spirit and it was an invaluable experience overall. Needless to say, in order to make a great motorbike I need to know what a great motorbike is. That’s why I spend as much time as possible riding all different kinds of motorbikes including those I make for my clients until I feel good and enjoy riding them. Create, ride, wrench, ride and repeat. This is my life and I guess I will keep on going like this”.
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Issue 13 (Jan 2016)
