By Robert Emslie
Billy Crystal used to do this bit on Saturday Night Live called Fernando’s Hideaway in which he would intone in an over the top Latin accent that it is better to look mah-velous than to feel mah-velous. Fernando may not have been the best celebrity interviewer, but he did know a thing or two about the importance of presentation.
Many a motorcycle maker over the decades has likewise understood that a badge with some bling could be the only thing separating them from immortality and historical irrelevance. That’s why they put almost as much effort into their logo’s creation as they did in the machines that carried them.
Like baseball, motorcycle manufacture is tradition born in the 19th Century and carried through into our current age. And over the course of all those decades there have been hundreds if not thousands of discrete makes and models, many with intriguing badges. Out of all of those, which one do you think looks the most mah-velous?
Image source: ThatManStu
Kamil Kaluski 
Jeff Glucker
I've always been partial to this one…
<img src="http://www.mototype.com/pics/4720/full/ducati_meccanica_logo.jpg">
As a non-biker I think this one sums up most bikers:
<img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/imgspark.com/images/l/ad6495f3205dae790cbfac2b185c4463.png"width=400>
I can just imagine how cool it is to say "I ride a NUT."
I'm not sure I'd say that.
Kind of describes the seat on my Kawasaki…
Also, BSA, because what's not to like about having a Martini-Henry rifle on your logo.
<img src="http://m3.i.pbase.com/o6/99/476599/1/102044273.R2LqOXl9.IMG_E_5523a_resize.jpg"width=500>
BSA stayed cool right up to the end. Their "Power & Glory" logo from the last few years of production never appeared on a bike but was used in all their US ads and promotional materials. IMHO, it captures the zeitgeist of the era perfectly. It's half Peter Fonda, half Pete Townshend. In high school I had a cloth patch with this logo on it, and I thought it was da bomb. Never sewed it on anything, though, and I have no idea what ever happened to it.
<img src="http://tanshanomi.com/temp/bsa_logo_official.png" width="500">
Along the same lines, I've thought a new BMW MINI needs a roof with a Union Jack, but with the blue and white replaced with gold and black. It might work in America, but I'm sure it would piss off both English and Germans.
The logo of the P135.
<img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4077/4916779741_e02a0fdca5_b.jpg" width="670/">
Ducati likes to change its logos fairly often. This is my favorite. At the moment.
<img src="http://gasolineandadrenaline.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/ducati-meccanica.jpg">
Not only did Rex have a really cool logo, I love the way they mirrored it for each side of the tank.
<img src="http://tanshanomi.com/temp/rex_logo_R-L.jpg">
I've always loved the simplicity of Norton's logo.
<img src="http://www.mototype.com/pics/4698/full/norton_logo_1.jpg" width=400>
Suzuki's, too, for the same reason.
<img src="http://cdn-1.famouslogos.us/images/suzuki-logo.jpg" width="400/">
Since my Norton logo disappeared above:
<img src="http://goo.gl/rDaIi" width=400>
The Benelli logo cracks me up because the lion isn't really fierce, it's more like, "hey you guys see that over there? What the hell is that thing?" Of course it's likely pointing at a Benelli bike.
<img src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSOhpMbEUD2J1yPLFc5J-Xw05ovwaHp6ZQlNoK9iY5QymFYaLVCfg" />
<img src="http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring/news_reports/images/mben2.jpg" />
As opposed to the Montgomery Wards badge seen on many Benelli bikes sold in the US.
<img src="http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Montgomery-Wards-Cobra-Mojave-125-to-360-Badge-/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$T2eC16VHJGwE9n)yTe(cBQD!!bF9YQ~~60_35.JPG"width=500>
Or "Rowr, I'm a dangerous kitty. Get back or I'll give you a mean scratch that could get infected. Rowr."
A cat's retractable claw pockets are marvelous environments for bacteria, a cat scratch is quite likely to get infected.
And then you get cat scratch fever.
[youtube Zh0iDVsmLqw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh0iDVsmLqw youtube]
<img src="http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/542343_143996109092176_82971037_n.jpg">
Can't beat the classics.
Except that's not the classic logo. That's the Hinkley Triumph logo.
<img src="http://www.daisytaylordecals.com/ekmps/shops/vlbowers/images/2-x-old-style-triumph-logo-motorbike-tank-stickers-decals-180mm-x-55mm-1077-p.jpg"width=500>
Why didn't GasGas make the list? I see that Bultaco did but no GasGas…kind of makes me sad. If their logo lacks anything it's made up for by their bikes awesomeness. I'm guessing this image was put together some time ago, perhaps pre-dating some of the modern manufacturers.
I see no KTM either, I find that there simplistic logo was very well done.
I think the idea is you dig them up and post them.
<img src="http://www.dkbikespares.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/400px-Logo-gasgas-distrisud-com.jpg">
Also one of my favorite Cream songs.
<img src="http://www.mototype.com/pics/4697/small/nsu_logo_1913.gif">
Ignoring the bikes themselves, an just looking at the logos I hav to go with Honda's winged logo. Just looks badass. I think we can all agree though that we would rather see anything but HD at this point.
<img src= "http://www.logosdatabase.com/logoimages/85091531.jpg">
Because Quadrifoglio
<img src="http://d1bvwu150pv3d4.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ossa-moto-logo.JPG">
<img src="http://www.historia.swidnik.net/sites/default/files/imagecache/640x480f/images/350662485.jpg"> You just have to understand, logos were pretty unusual in Poland and if there were any they were very plain. This flying bird was way cool for the time.
I think the Yamaha phoenix logo actually predates their motorcycle efforts, but I still want to put one on my FZ1.
<img src="http://www.musicasa.tv/images/phoenix_logo.jpg">
I've liked the Thor Motorcycles logo, but mainly because they were built in my hometown of Aurora, IL. It's the same company that makes Thor power tools in fact.
<img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/imgspark.com/images/l/4252441fb944474748ea14faa5072699.png" width="600">
Bimota's is simple but stylish, though some might call it dated.
<img src="http://www.motocykl-praha.cz/veletrh_motocykl_cz/images/resize/meteorsport/bimota-logo_600x402.jpg" width="500" />
If you want to have one of those classic, beloved, timeless logos such as Coca-Cola, Ford, et. al., you have to maintain them long enough to survive their inevitable dated period.
Kinda reminds me of
<img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQuslZ8RU_C-vGblrB2l0lCkhaBMcPkG5nOH2JkSIvbiuPi4KX-" width="300">
Hammarhead is very clean to me. Don't know if it counts though…
<img src="http://hammarhead.com/img/header_logo.png" width="500/">
It's white text… shit.
Here:
<img src="http://theamericanclassic.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/dsc4003-13.jpg" width=500>
<img src="http://tanshanomi.com/temp/tansha-logo-history.png">
1954 and 1988 FTW
<img src="http://www.mototype.com/pics/4665/small/ural_logo_1.gif">
(That's Ural, for those of you not used to Cyrillic scripts.)
Made Like a Gun: Powered by Explosions
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edit: yes of course someone already mentioned Benelli. Why would I think they hadn't?
I've always liked Honda's, Moto Guzzi's and Indian Motorcycle's
Nice Logos
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