Motos and Friends is brought to you by the awesome Yamaha YZF-R7. The comfortable supersport R7 is now available in white for 2022. Check out the gorgeous YZF-R7 at your local Yamaha dealer, or of course at YamahaMotorsports.com. 

In this week’s first segment, Senior Editor Nic de Sena gives us his impressions of the new Suzuki GSX-S1000 GT. Suzuki’s new sport-touring machine is clearly a lot more sport than touring, so I’m curious to hear whether Nic thinks the GT without the saddlebags is an improvement over the plus version with bags.

In the second segment we welcome the astonishing artist, Jack Armstrong. His story is as crazy as it gets,  and his zany stories would defy belief if they weren’t true.

Jack made friends with Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat in the new York art and music scene back in the day, and his work has sold for tens of millions of dollars. Yet Jack is also a hard-core motorcycle guy, and part of his journey inspired him to paint the Harley V-Rod—the so-named “Cosmic Starship” worth over 50 million dollars. A motorcycle as an art canvas; interesting idea.

While Armstrong’s art may take you out of your comfort zone, the energy of his work is apparent; they say the more you look at it, the more you become aware of the power behind the strokes and in the laying down of the paint.

The Cosmic Starship will have a different meaning to everyone. If it speaks to you, has made you think, or spurred you to talk about it, then the artist has tapped into your subconscious successfully. Interpret that as you will.

So whether you’re into art or not; whether you’re into the Harley V-Rod or not, Jack’s astonishing energy comes across in his chat. I found him to be a fascinating and very likable man. So sit back, and have some fun with this one.

https://www.themotorcyclebroker.co.uk/the-motorcycle-as-art/

https://www.thelifeofluxury.com/the-mona-lisa-of-motorcycles-50-million-art-trade-deal/ 

https://www.wikiart.org/en/jack-armstrong