The path to creativity starts with copying. It’s how we learn to do things, how we get a feel for the tools and the process of creation. The documentary-in-progress, Everything is a Remix makes a good case for this in its third installment “The Elements of Creativity.”
The Chinese have been doing this for years. The Japanese did the same thing in the 1940s and 50s before producing their own breakout products in the 1960s and 70s. The 1969 Honda CB750 comes to mind.
OK, it took them a little longer but now the Chinese are starting to show off breakout products of their own, here in the form of an out-of-production Chang Jiang 750 reworked by a shop in Beijing. The shop, called Bandit9 Customs, has renamed its creation “Magnus.”
Interestingly, the Chang Jiang 750, first produced in China in the 1950s, was based on its contemporary, the Soviet IMZ M-72, which itself was a copy of the 1930s-era BMW R71. Everything goes around.
This CJ750 and its 30s-era roots are reborn to stunning effect. The result is a beautiful, knobby-tired bobber that looks clean, slick, and nothing like a cheap knock-off. Although at RMB 50,000 (about $7,900), it still seams like a steal. Read the rest of this entry »