Have you ever wondered what a motorcycle that can hide in plain sight would look like? The designer Joey Ruiter He did this by creating an invisible motorbike that, when parked, transforms into what appears to be a nondescript, graffiti-covered electrical substation.
When the ugly is (maybe) beautiful
Let's face it: Rider he has never been afraid to create objects that provoke discussion. And with Nomoto (a play on words that evidently means “No motorcycles here, mate, just this harmless public infrastructure”) has really outdone itself.
Imagine seeing what you think is an electrical substation graffitied by graffiti artists, only to discover that it is actually a motorbike ready to speed away. Look at this stuff.
The invisible motorbike of a designer who loves to provoke
I don't mind if someone doesn't like my work. That's fine, I want it to be polarizing. I think polarization makes it fun.
Ruiter said during the podcast Work Hard Play Hard in 2021. And we must admit that with Nomoto he hit the target: it is difficult to find something more polarizing than a motorcycle that resembles an ENEL dumpster in street art version. It is an invisible motorcycle, before revealing itself: after the unveiling you immediately want it to go back to being invisible as soon as possible. I consider it more abominable even than the very famous Compact motorcycle.
How this “non-motorcycle” works
The concept of the invisible motorcycle is bizarre: the vehicle is equipped with two metal boxes that, when parked, lower until they touch the ground, eliminating the need for a kickstand. Once a retractable panel is unlocked, a pair of basic handlebars and a button appear that raises the bodywork, partially revealing the wheels.
Technically, the Nomoto is a basic electric scooter, with no mirrors or indicators. The headlights and brake lights are hidden as elegantly as a teenager trying to hide a pimple – they’re there, but we’d rather they weren’t.
Comfort? Not received. If you’re looking for Goldwing luxury, you might want to look elsewhere. The seat is a quarter-inch thick pillow that reveals itself when you open the rear cargo area. There are also two small storage spaces, but calling them “trunks” would be an insult to any trunk in existence. Drive it for a while and your butt will curse you forever.
Modern Art
Despite having made it all the way to the MOTO MMXX exhibition at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco in 2020 and a working prototype exists, Nomoto seems destined to remain an art project. Perhaps that’s for the best: if everyone started making motorcycles disguised as street furniture, thieves would start indiscriminately stealing anything that resembles a power box. In any case, Ruiter said:
I am constantly disappointed by the lack of creativity in the products around me.
Well, with Nomoto they have definitely solved this problem. No one will ever accuse this bike of being uncreative. Or ugly, to be honest.
Invisible Motion, the Final Paradox
It amuses me to think of the confused and frustrated thieves of the future who spend their days trying to figure out which electrical substations are real and which might be disguised motorcycles. We would probably end up seeing people trying to steal real telecommunications cabinets, only to discover that, for once, they had found a real electrical substation. And maybe some telephone technician who, trying to do maintenance, accidentally finds himself on an invisible motorcycle.
In the end, maybe that’s Ruiter’s true genius: he created a bike so ugly that not even thieves would want to steal it. And that, in its own twisted way, makes it perfect.
