I’m a big fan of Retro-Futuristic design.  Maybe that’s why some of the better Steam Punk designs appeal to me.  I don’t mean the stuff that’s just hot-gluing old watch gears onto some leather or carrying a toy ray-gun around in an old-western holster.  I want art that can actually be part of our daily lives.  To paraphrase a better writer than I, Life Should Be Art.  However, it shouldn’t just look cool or pretty, our tools, houses, and transportation can be practical, well-engineered, and well-made.  Things that are crafted by hand from good materials tend to be better thought out, have individual character, and have the quality of an heirloom.

Some mass-produced things are still pretty cool and it’s not always practical or affordable for us, in the modern rat-race, to make or have made, everything in our lives.  In this direction, I have noticed quite a few Makers repurposing or redesigning their possessions.  In other words, “hacking” the designs of others.

While looking for images of old scooters last night, I came across these amazing guys in Japan who took a pretty average-looking Honda scooter that looked like this:

and tore it down to the essentials before rebuilding it into this classy ride:

It is such a cool, yet realistic design, my first impression was that this was a 1930s or 40s scooter rebuilt.

Here’s another shot:

And it’s final color!

Click on the image above to have a look at their tear-down and build.  There’s a lot of pages but it’s a well-documented process.