
I share his wonderment, not so much at the professional racing teams who do such things in exchange for thick cash, but at the way we've all come to expect our gear to be covered with brand names and logos and symbols, and at how we've come to accept our roles as walking, talking, riding billboards for companies we may or may not even care much about. And, worst of all, to be forced to pay for the privilege.
Which isn't to say I might not love a brand or name or logo or whatever. I own a Vespa and a Moto Guzzi, two iconic marques, and I like their logos. I have this beat up and unusable old bag hanging in my garage because…I don't know, why not? And who knows, if Mrs. GBaby bought me this sweater for my birthday, a replica of the Guzzi racing team's getup from the 1920's, I might wear it under my jacket on a cool day.

But that's a far cry from looking around for a tail bag and finding one that seems just about right only to find it's been plastered up with not one but two ugly signs right on top of each other, boneheadedly-placed advertisements that on a tail bag will function as bumper stickers. And this is for an outfit I already have my doubts about from past experience with a motorcycle cover they sold me that disintegrated in a matter of months of outdoor use.
There's not even a Moto Guzzi logo on the whole bike as big as the "Nelson-Rigg" you see on the handle there, directly below the additional "Nelson-Rigg" on the bag itself. I can hear them at the stoplight now:
"That's an interesting motorcycle, what kind is it?"
"Obviously it's a Nelson-Rigg, dear."
And I'll have to see it too, every time I walk up to the only new bike I've ever owned. That's why I picked up my seam ripper and my roll of black tape and changed it into something decent and respectable.

I also own two helmets that went from this:

To this:

I like both helmets a lot and Shoei did a good job making them, I just don't want to ride around with their logo on my forehead like the Mark of the Beast. And they really do look nicer and more dignified now too.
My latest project, however, is my favorite. I wanted a light colored mesh jacket to wear around town on the scooter on hot days and I found what I was looking for in the REV'IT! Eclipse. I like REV'IT! well enough, I guess, but they always seem to cheap out on one part of whatever it is they're selling, which makes the whole thing seem overpriced. This time though I didn't want much, and wasn't expecting much, so I was happy enough with my purchase. Except for you you know what.
This is how it started out:

The first thing I did was to cover up the abominable REV'IT! logo, the one with the inexplicable "apostro'phe" and the exclamation point that makes it look like what it really means to do is yell "REV'IT! FUCK YEAH!" on your behalf every time you put the thing on. And since it sits right where you'd expect to see "Moe's Plumbing" or a name tag, I had a name tag made with the name of my band, Candypants.

Next I conquered the thick-plastic, riveted-on and self-important REV'IT! symbol on the shoulder, the one that looks like the offspring of a guitar pick and one of those yellow plastic things that fill the hole in a 45 rpm record. I pried it off and covered up the holes with a black rose patch I found on Etsy. I chose it not so much because it was a rose but because it was black and the right size, but now I actually like that it's a rose.

I then finished it all off by covering the big annoying cult symbol on the back with an eyeball patch, again from Etsy. I heard a story somewhere from a combat veteran who had an eyeball painted on the back of his helmet and I never forgot it. I like the effect and who knows, maybe it will help keep me safe.

The transformation of the jacket and how it now feels to put it on or to just see it sitting on a chair somewhere is hard to explain, but it's real. The jacket itself looks so much better and the way I feel wearing it, even if I'm just walking into a store to pick up a quick scooterload of groceries, is noticeably more humane. Try it and see.
*****************************************************************************