The Black Falcon: art or a "real" motorcycle?

When the story of Falcon Motorcycles’ restoration of The Black, based on a Vincent Black Shadow, emerged, there wasn’t a motorcycle blog that didn’t publish it.
We took our cue from Bike Exif, being gurus in the vintage, custom sector – but they weren’t the only ones waxing lyrical about what a beautiful bike it is.

Chris Hunter made an important point when writing about The Black, saying it is the typical example from Falcon Motorcycles that “blurs the boundaries between motorcycling, industrial design and sculpture”.

Since then, debates have been sparked over whether this motorcycle will ever be ridden, and whether it is more about art than a functional riding experience.
Some comments on Bike Exif say:I don’t know what to think about Falcons.
The standard of craft on show is so mind-warping it makes carping about the bike’s functional aspects (let’s start with the position of that monoshock) seem churlish.
Still, no one’s actually going to ride it are they? Or are they?I think “form” was a clear priority here.

Function…? Well, at least this one has some form of suspension.
That said, why must everything be functional? If so, we would all be riding Honda Deuvilles.
Isn’t it enough that it’s absolutely, gobsmackingly gorgeous?Ridden? Not with the present rear suspension set-up … Other than that awesome build quality, work of art.
More after the jump.
Paul Crowe on the Kneeslider also took up the idea, titling his post “is this a real motorcycle?” In fact, Paul went straight to the heart of the matter, commenting when first posting about whether The Black was to be considered art or motorcycle.
He says:The praise from all quarters has been lavish and practically automatic and I can’t find fault with any of it.
The bike seems perfect from end to end, sculptured and polished hand adjustment knobs everywhere, one off pieces in every nook and cranny, it’s about as far as the six man build team working over a full year could take it.
It’s art, it’s jewelry, it’s a tangible demonstration of the builders’ skills, it’s even functional with a top speed alleged to be in the 150 mph range, what more could anyone want? Crowe says that when building a bike that is based on something as legendary as a Vincent Black Shadow, its status as a ‘proper’ bike needs to be credible.
He says it hard to form an opinion on it as an actual bike.
Maybe the difficulty lies in wondering whether the Black Falcon is really a motorcycle at all.
The owner may have every intention of riding it whenever possible, though my hunch is it will sit on display.
There’s nothing wrong with that, I hang art on my walls, too, but this should be something more.
Restored and put on display after a year or two on the road would add to the credibility of what this bike represents….
Let’s hope some future photos show this bike on the road with the owner all smiles, bugs on the engine and dirt on the wheels.
If he cleans it up and parks it afterwards, I think we’ll all understand.
So there you have it.
Do we want our custom-built vintage bikes to look good, or do we want them to work as motorcycles as well?