One day, about eight months ago, designer Paul Yang found himself visiting a friend at his almamater, the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena California, ( FYI: The Art Center is responsible for having produce half of all the auto designers in the world). The fresh smell of fiberglass and modeling clay caused Paul to begin reminiscing about the good 'ol days when he noticed the school bulletin board and decided to stop and see what's been happening. After a few seconds of scanning through roommates wanted and such, he came across an ad that read, "Wanted: designer to help design a concept motorcycle, call Larry Nagel, Dream Craft Studios, (909) 673-1588".
Although Paul was not really a motorcycle guy, decided why not give it a shot and called Larry who invited Paul to his Dream Craft Studios in Ontario California, to talk and to look at Paul's designs. Larry remembers, "I talked to other designers, but one look at his portfolio blew me away, I told Paul, I want you to design my next project bike." Paul was speechless, excited but worried. "I've never designed a motorcycle before, what if the design doesn't work?" Paul quietly said. But Larry just smiled and said, "That's actually one of the reasons I want you, you don't have any barriers to work around, just design something that is totally out there". So, they set out to build the bike of the future.
One of the first things Larry realized was that after twenty plus years of fabricating and building he was really used to just working alone and didn't really know how this was going to work out with such a young designer. But knew he wanted to design a motorcycle that would take your typical design ideas out-of-the-box and felt that Paul definitely had the chops for the job.
During the first several weeks of this new partnership Larry and Paul both remember having some very lively discussions about various design aspects and what colors to use, but when the discussions were over they would usually end up doing things Paul's way. "When I finally gave in and told Paul to do whatever he wanted and that I'd figure it out later,.....things started to run much smoother", Larry confessed . And run smoother they did... which is why it only took this first time design team seven months to complete the Saga. It should have taken 18-24 months to complete a project like this, according to several experts we talked to.
When you first look at the Saga it takes a few moments to truly understand that you are looking at an actual working motorcycle, this is because it looks more like a large piece of jewelry or art. As Francesco Quinn, host of RATV's new series International Motorcycling, said in a recent interview with Larry and Paul about their Saga, "...I see a gas cap here that I could talk about for an hour", sums up the intense attention to detail that was given to this build. You can look at any section of this bike and say the same thing. It is just simply incredible.
What makes it so remarkable is that not only did they come up with a great art statement, but have possibly changed the way we will look at motorcycles in the future.
The front end of the Saga is to die for; Larry has not only re-invented the standard triple tree (front forks-steering) but has re-designed the front braking system as well.
It has a clear gas tank that you can actually see how much gas you have left, and probably the slickest exhaust system ever! Everyone who sees the seat thinks it's uncomfortable or will hit the fat rear tire, but the truth is that the seat feels pretty comfortable and rests on nitrogen shocks adjusting to the rider's weight. When you do sit on it, it feels surprisingly solid and the steering very responsive and smooth. It has a standard Harley crate motor and was conceived to be a design statement and able to be driven from point A to B in real style, certainly not for the mountain roads.
As mentioned, Larry has been building something, mostly cars, for over twenty years...whether it was the amazing "Voltar" a full sized transformer car that grew before your eyes into a 80' tall, fire breathing monster with fifteen foot flames shooting out of its enormous nostrils, (whew!), or his 300 MPH rocket car, or his numerous drag cars, funny cars, all kinds of cars, but never a really bitchin, out-of-the-box, motorcycle design. And this time Larry was thinking... way, way, out-of-the-box.
Larry is definitely old school, very hands on and obvious no stranger to design challenges. When asked about modern tooling, Larry smiled and said, "Heck, I still bend tube the old way with sand". Not being familiar with that technique I asked Larry to show me what he meant. He grabbed a long piece of 3/4" metal tubing used for handle bars and such, packed the tube with sand, welded a seal on each end then heated and bent the tubing with his gas torch on a metal jig he had made with pieces of the same 3/4"thick x eight inch steel tubing. He then held it up, "there, that's the second half of the bend for the handle bars". He formed the bars to perfection, no mistakes in what seemed only minutes...very cool.
The amazing thing is that not only did this first time design team come up with what we at RATV feel to be one of the most stunning examples of Rolling Art we have ever seen, but did it from paper to the Concours on Rodeo Drive for its debut, in seven short, intense months. What some may call madness; we at RATV affectionately call passion, and believe us when we say that Paul Yang and Larry Nagel have got the passion... and then some.
Larry and Paul took a chance and came up winners, showing us all that the Old and New Schools can work together to create something very special... indeed.
