May 1996, Performance Bikes
- Shoei Classic Ad PB May 1996
In the first of a series looking back at Shoei adverts from over the years, we bring you this beauty from the May 1996 issue of Performance Bikes.
Chequered flag riding kit in lurid colours, the star rider is none other than Trevor Franklin; then PB road test editor and now MCN’s resident, erm, legend.
So why use an image (with some sort of arty smudged border) of a portly road tester for an advert placed in his own mag? The simple reason is that top class racers of the 90s were overpaid, charisma-lacking style-dodgers that didn’t look as good on a bike as the journos. Actually, that’s a load of rubbish; why didn’t we use a picture of Norick Abe? Why?!
‘Poster Boy’ Trevor Franklin continues to enjoy the Absorbing Performance of a Shoei in the pages of Motorcycle News, currently exploiting protection, comfort and venting of the new XR1100 painted, once again, in his own design.
Bring back the chequers, we say.
