Our pick of April Fools' Day 2018
The creative PR folks from the big bike firms have been hard at work...
April Fool's day – loathe it or hate it, you can't ignore it (despite our best efforts). And the bike industry has been hard at it, with fevered PR brows trying to think up something outlandish and funny, yet which chimes deeply with their brand's key values. Or something.
Anyway – here's the pick of today's April bollocks. Enjoy.
BMW's parts to go
Yes, the cheeky wagsters at Munich came up with this cunning plan – a topbox-mounted 3D printer which will make you spare parts on the go. So if you need another ignition switch while stranded in the Amazon, old printy McPrintface in the topbox will whistle one up. But what if you need a new 3D printer module?!?! Aaargghhh!!!
HJC's Lego Head
TBH we're not 100% certain that this is an actual joke. But since the big clip-on knob on top would probably snap your neck if it caught on something in a spill, we're hoping so. Open-face yellow lids, with Lego faces on the back, and swappable accessory hair/hats/other stuff. Not bad.
Wiseco's 2-stroke conversion kit
Sick of your 450 4-stroke dirtbike shitting its £500 titanium valves out the exhaust pipe? Wiseco has the answer, with this 2-stroke conversion kit. A simple, easy fit, we imagine. Probably 3D print one with your BMW topbox factory as well.
Kawasaki's H2O
Since they already make supercharged jetskis, this is a bit of a lame one really, though it’s saved by the tremendously pony Photoshop. H2 – blown superbike, O – oxygen – add them together and you get water. And a bike. Or something. Top marks KHI.
Triumph's Great Escape jump
They just opened a new Adventure School, and Steve McQueen famously jumped a fence on one of their bikes (when not doing coke and drink-driving). So – a faux Steve McQueen fence jump at the Adventure school gets top marks for relevance and timing. Well done Triumph.
Yamaha's Rabbit-spec R3
Er, a pink paint job and a rabbit sticker. Hmmm. It’s not that long ago that Yamaha was selling pink and turqoise sportsbikes for real, so not so far from the truth…
Have we missed any? Well fax the office and we'll see them on Tuesday. Thanks!
