As announced previoulsy, I would like to spend some words explaining the meaning behind the name of my rig. This is going to be a loooong read, but again, my blog, my choice.

Part I – “Zed”

The Z in BBZ stands for Zanetti, a reference to Bubba Zanetti from Mad Max (the first).

Here you can see him “knowing what he is doing” before getting killed – glorious:

The whole design concept of my bike is an homage to Bubba Zanetti and ‘Mad Max’ by extension.

Here is a picture of my bike as it came from the factory:

When I bought it I knew I wanted to roll a stone and have the tank painted black, and then add the windscreen from the Café version to finish the look. At the time it seemed cheaper to do it that way rather than buying the Café  version (which is Kawasaki green) and have it entirely repainted. Boy was I wrong, but that’s (again) for another time.

While I’m not so much a fan of the overly violent atmosphere and the lack of resources over there, from a purely aesthetic point of view the Mad Max universe is my ideal, even before the Matrix Universe.

If there was one movie I could watch on repeat forever it’d be ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’.

Side note: Mad Max has its own visual/design qualification, namely "Diesel Punk". It's often miscategorised.

As you may have seen one some picture, I even “invested” the extra Euro to buy the shiny silver Bell Bullitt helmet to complete the Zanetti look. #HipsterMuch #NoWonderImBroke

So much for the Z, now the BB, but first, let’s talk about my favourite video game.

Part II – Mario Kart, my ideal game

First off, a small intro for those who don’t know Mario Kart (like that’s somehow probable). Mario Kart is a “kart” racing game based on the Nintendo universe. The first version dates back to the 90ies; I remember playing it on Super NES in my cousin’s basement. That Rainbow Road.

Unlike many other racing games, it’s not so much about being the fastest or the most precise, it’s about hindering your adversaries with items given to you by the computer (banana peels, shells, etc.). It’s mostly about having fun.

For me Mario Kart is the essence of what a video game should be: it’s fun, you can enjoy it with your friends and you can have fun just by playing 10 minutes. It’s casual gaming, and that’s why I like it.

But it’s also my ideal game because it’s a representation of what I expect society to be.

Mario Kart is a very unpredictable game. Skills alone won’t guarantee your victory, there’s a huge chaos and luck factor to it. Items are given randomly to players, however, the farther up the ranking you are, the weaker the items. The farther back in the ranking, the more powerful the items to help you advance.

Mario Kart, thanks to its randomised-but-not-so-much item system, ensures that even if you have no skill nor experience playing, you can still stay in the game, advance and have fun. I’ve personally played many games that I didn’t enjoy because they were new to me and I felt I just couldn’t keep up with others.

However, it’s unlikely that the items alone will make you win, skills are still required. If you are very skilled/talented and manage to stay ahead of your competitors, you’ll still get items, but they won’t help you advance, at best they’ll help you slow down your adversaries.

And if somehow you were lucky and skilled enough to stay ahead and deepen a gap to the competition, the game will come at you in the form of a Blue Shell, the item everyone dreads. The Blue Shell (unlike the green and the red) only targets the first player in the race, thus allowing the other to catch up and make sure that your head-start doesn’t grow exponentially.

So, metaphorically speaking, Mario Kart is my ideal society: a system where skills and luck will help you advance, but if you’re too weak or too unlucky, it will help you stay in the game by giving you boosters.

Mario Kart is a socialist game. Plus it’s fun and unpredictable, just like life should be.

“But what does it have to do with your motorbike?” you may ask. I’m getting there.

Part III – Catching up with BBZ

Remember when I said that items where more powerful as you fall back in the ranking?

While the “Blue Shell” works on hindering the first player, it doesn’t help you specifically if you’re behind. However, there is one item that will do just that: Bullet Bill.

Bullet Bill is rocket that you will get if you fall really behind; it will help you catch up with the others and get back into the game. See him in action here:

My side car is named (and designed!) after Bullet Bill because I am hoping that it will help me catch up on the lost time.

Since I was maybe 4, I’ve always been attracted to motorcycles. I used to draw them, I used to build them in Lego, I was fervent viewers of “Renegade” even though it’s honestly is sh*t TV show, etc.

However, because we live in a gendered society that actively markets specific products and lifestyles to a particular gender, I never felt that as a girl* I was entitled/encouraged to ride a motorcycle. Plus it’s super dangerous, so it’s only for boys.

It’s only when I finally signed up to get a car drivers licence 4 years ago that it clicked. The owner of the driving school had a BMW R9T on display and I fell in love with the machine instantly. As they were getting my paperwork done, I looked over to the bike and let out a “Man, I wish I could ride a bike like that”. My then soon to be instructor just replied: “well, what keeps you from doing it?”

Those words really made me think, and I realised that absolutely nothing was standing in my way except for myself. Of course I immediately signed up to pass my motorcycle driving licence.

Side note: we take it for granted, but there are countries where women still aren't allowed to drive a car, let alone ride a bike.

I “quickly” got my licence in order and thanks to insurance money from my stolen car, I was also able to immediately buy my own motorbike.

But something was still in the way of me travelling the world on two wheels: I have a dog and I simply can’t leave him behind.

I spent a considerable amount of time assessing different options to take him with me (you can read more here: Different ways to take a dog on a motorcycle) and the most viable option seemed to be the sidecar.

Now, after almost 2 years of back and forth with the builder and a lot of money put aside, I have finally removed all the hurdles that were in my way (well… there’s a very last one, which is getting Loki in the sidecar, but again, a different story).

Thanks to my very own Bullet Bill I now hope to be able to catch up on all those years I spent not doing what I’ve always wanted to do: ride my bike from bounty to bounty (that’s a ‘Renegade’ reference).

The End.

*I’ve grown since, and I don’t consider myself a “girl” or a “woman” anymore, but back then it’s just how things were. You were either a girl or a boy. I’ve decided for myself that I’m neither and than I can do the f*ck I want.