What It Means to Run
To know myself and the place I belong
When I think things over while walking, I sometimes suddenly see a path forward that wasn’t apparent when I was sitting at my desk. I wholeheartedly agree with the idea that taking a walk deepens one’s thinking. But for me, there’s another time when my mind becomes even clearer.It’s the time I spend riding my Harley-Davidson alone. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a long trip. I get ready, pull the Harley out of the garage, and take a few hours to ride on the highway during a break from work before heading back. It’s by no means a simple affair, but even so, I’ve sought out that time time and time again.
Before I set out, what’s on my mind varies from day to day. Sometimes I’m facing an urgent problem; other times, I have worries or something exciting to look forward to. There are also days when I start the engine simply because I want to ride, without a single thing weighing on my mind. Once I open the throttle, those thoughts fade away like the receding tide. Riding a motorcycle—exposed to the wind and maneuvering a heavy machine at high speeds—leaves no room for even a moment’s lapse in concentration.My focus naturally turns to the road ahead, and along with a certain amount of tension, my senses quietly sharpen.
And when I finish my ride, I sometimes find that the same things I saw before setting out appear from a different angle. Things that were tangled have been untangled; things that seemed heavy have become light; and things that were blurry have taken on clear contours. It’s a curious thing—even though I didn’t set out looking for answers.
People often think the appeal of riding a motorcycle lies in speed and thrills. That’s not entirely wrong. But what I’ve gained from this vehicle goes beyond that. The faster I go, the calmer my mind becomes. In the midst of intense tension, my thoughts actually grow clearer.It may sound paradoxical, but I believe that this sharpening of the senses and the mind is precisely the true meaning of riding a motorcycle.
The Beginning of a Detour
I never had any interest in motorcycles to begin with. When I was young, I was completely absorbed in music; I formed a rock band with my friends and paid almost no attention to anything else.The only reason I started going to driving school was that I wanted to hang out with a bandmate who had fallen in love with Harley-Davidsons.
However, as I got used to the feel of handling the bike, something inside me quietly began to shift. When I got my first Harley-Davidson at the age of twenty-seven, I had, of course, no way of knowing that it would shape the rest of my life.
In the Wind
I put on my helmet, slip on my gloves, and bundle up in a leather jacket and boots. This is essential gear for any season—protection against a fall. The moment I straddle the heavy bike, start the engine, and open the throttle, a time unlike any in my daily life begins.
The wind surges unceasingly from head-on, and the whooshing sound inside the helmet never stops. Cars ahead, vehicles changing lanes, road joints, and ruts—I must face all of this alone, make decisions on my own, and keep the bike under control. I cannot entrust my decisions to anyone else, and even the slightest lapse in concentration can directly endanger my life.
Amid a quiet tension, everything superfluous is stripped away, one thing at a time. All that remains is myself, the bike, the road, and the occasional question that suddenly pops into my mind. If a walk is a time to untangle one’s thoughts, then riding a Harley-Davidson is a time to sharpen them.
A Place Beyond Titles
The more a person has lived their life taking responsibility for their own decisions, the more they understand that the weight of those decisions cannot be shared with anyone else. Whether leading a company, preserving a family business, or working under their own name, people may seek advice and gather information, but in the end, they have no choice but to make the final move themselves. There are countless situations where they must make a decision without being shown the “right” answer.
The same is true when riding a Harley-Davidson. Whether it’s speed, direction, or the very moment you change lanes—you must make all these decisions yourself, and you have no choice but to accept the consequences personally. However, there are no secretaries or subordinates, and titles or wealth hold no meaning. Neither the wind nor the road surface cares who the rider is. In that sense, perhaps nothing treats people more equally than a motorcycle.
There are certain things you learn by riding. You learn that courage and recklessness are two different things, just as freedom and irresponsibility are. You learn to recognize your own limits, assess the situation, and slow down when necessary. And on that basis, you move forward of your own volition. I have absolutely no intention of romanticizing danger. I believe that the ability to assess danger and exercise self-discipline is the most essential quality required of a rider.
It is precisely those who bear the weight of decisions day in and day out who deserve time to set aside their titles and simply stand in the breeze as human beings. This is not time spent fleeing from solitude, but time spent quietly coming to terms with it.
Shadow
There are some sights I’ll never forget. Especially when riding on the highway, depending on the angle of the sun, my shadow—straddling a Harley-Davidson—sometimes falls on the road ahead. I keep riding on and on, my eyes fixed on that shadow. Eventually, when the road takes a sharp turn, the shadow suddenly vanishes from view. Yet I’m still here, and the Harley keeps rolling. Whether heading toward my destination or back home, I have no choice but to keep moving forward.
There are times when I can see myself clearly and have no doubt about the direction I should take. On the other hand, there are times when I lose sight of myself and don’t know what to hold onto. Even so, time doesn’t stop, and we have no choice but to keep moving forward. Watching the shadows appear and disappear on the road, I have been led to reflect on who I am time and time again.
Outbound and Return Trips
I used to ride two old Harley-Davidsons—one from 1967 and one from the 1970s. Both were Harleys equipped with engines I was absolutely in love with, but they were also machines that could turn on you at any moment. Whenever I went on a long ride, in addition to the tension of riding itself, I was constantly plagued by anxiety over whether I would actually make it home safely.
And the farther I went, the more I wanted to go home. I wanted to get back to my wife—who was waiting at home, worried about me—as soon as possible and tell her that I’d made it back safely again today. It’s a bit of a contradiction: I’d gone out of my way to ride so far, yet I was in such a hurry to get back. But as soon as I got home and caught my breath, within a few days I’d find myself wanting to head out into the wind again. Even I have to admit, I’m a hopeless case.
Over the years, I’ve come to understand, at least to some extent, the meaning of that back-and-forth journey.It is only when we are alone that we realize we do not live alone. Freedom is not merely the absence of constraints. It is going far away of our own volition and returning to a place that is dear to us of our own volition. Only when the journey there and the journey back are complete does freedom truly take on its full weight. For those who work, the place to return to is their family and the people they work with. The farther one travels, the more deeply one appreciates the significance of that place upon returning.
Time to Reflect on Oneself
Stepping away from our daily roles and having time that we can spend entirely on our own—that holds a value that cannot be replaced by anything else. In the course of daily life, people gradually come to measure themselves by their job titles, achievements, and what they have built up.
But once we step out into the open, those yardsticks are of no use.All that remains are the unadorned, very simple questions: Who am I, and where am I headed? These questions may be simple, but they are also the most fundamental ones in life.
Yet, as the burdens and responsibilities we carry increase, we become consumed by the tasks and decisions right in front of us, and before we know it, we go about our days having set those questions aside. When riding a Harley-Davidson, I find myself naturally confronting those fundamental questions once again.
What Is a Custom?
Customization is the process of completely disassembling a Harley-Davidson, rebuilding the frame, bodywork, and numerous parts, and transforming it into a one-of-a-kind machine.
In 1998, I started BAD LAND in Yokohama, and I’ve been involved in Harley-Davidson customization ever since.
What we’ve been pursuing isn’t the pursuit of extreme speed or performance, nor is it flashy decoration meant to attract attention. It’s about how close we can bring a single Harley-Davidson to the beauty we believe in. It’s about how far we can take our vision—unbound by conventional forms—and bring it to life. With these questions in mind, we’ve built, torn down, and rebuilt time and again.
We’ve gone through countless processes and taken countless steps that, if we’d prioritized efficiency, we would have avoided.The reason BAD LAND’s custom Harleys are by no means inexpensive is that the time and craftsmanship we’ve invested are embodied in every single bike.
Looking back now, I realize that what we’ve nurtured and built through our Harley-Davidson custom bikes is not so much the bikes themselves as the time someone spends riding them. Those who choose a BAD LAND ride into the wind, gaze at the road ahead, feel the engine’s pulse in their bodies as they ride far away, and eventually return to where they belong. If a bike we’ve crafted is part of a moment in someone’s life, there is no greater reward for us as builders.
A Car Passed Down Through Generations
It takes a long time for a custom Harley to take shape. You develop the concept, craft each part one by one, and assemble it piece by piece. The bike that emerges from this process hits the road with its first rider, marking that person’s journey along the way. But life never stays the same. Career changes, family circumstances, and a body that changes with age—all these factors mean that, due to various twists of fate, the day will eventually come when you have to part with the bike you’ve grown so attached to.
Does that mean the time embedded in a single car comes to an end at that moment? I don’t think so. The care and effort poured into it by its creators, as well as the journeys its owners have taken, are undoubtedly etched into the car’s body. As long as there is a new owner who embraces that legacy and embarks on new journeys, the story of that car will continue.
It takes a considerable amount of time to build a new motorcycle from scratch. However, there is one that has already taken shape and is quietly waiting for its next rider. Encountering that motorcycle is, in itself, a sure way to begin.
To the Next Rider
The BL Collector’s Edition is an initiative designed to pass on the Harley-Davidsons that BAD LAND has customized to their next owners. Each bike features a unique design, represents the time invested in its creation, embodies a philosophy that defines that design, and carries a history that is unique to that particular bike. We have no intention of dismissing any of this with the single term “used bike.”
There’s something I’d like to make clear from the outset. Custom Harleys don’t have a fixed market value like ordinary used cars do. Their value isn’t determined by factors like model year or mileage; it exists only when there are people who appreciate their design and genuinely want to ride them. Therefore, we don’t discuss this in terms of investment.
What we can promise is something else entirely. Before delivery, we personally inspect and service the bike, then conduct a final test ride on the highway. For customers living far away, we’ll deliver it to your指定 location using our dedicated transport vehicle. We also want to consider the day when you eventually decide to part with it.Reselling a custom Harley is no easy task, and there are very few shops that actively take on such work. Nevertheless, as the builders—and as the people who know that particular bike better than anyone else—we take on the role of finding its next connoisseur. We don’t just sell it and call it a day. We believe that is the responsibility of those who brought that bike into the world.
In closing,
The Harley-Davidson models crafted by BAD LAND aren’t for everyone. How people perceive beauty and how they interact with motorcycles varies from person to person. First-time riders will need to undergo appropriate training.
Even so, if something in this article has resonated with you, I invite you to pay a visit to BAD LAND in Yokohama. There’s an atmosphere there that photos simply can’t capture, along with the sound and vibration you feel the moment the engine fires up. And if, on top of that, you happen to find a bike that you truly want to ride, the work we’ve built up over the years will be passed on to you as you embark on a new chapter in your life.
Harley-Davidson has shown me so many things: my own weaknesses and anxieties, the weight of making decisions on my own, the joy of moving forward on my own terms, and the gratitude I feel for having a place to call home.
I think riding a motorcycle is about going far away—and discovering who you are and where you belong.
BAD LAND
Representative Director Keiichi Kuwai
Store Visits and Inquiries: 045-717-7026
2-39-45 Shishigaya, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0073
Business Hours: 10:00–19:00
Closed: Every Wednesday / First and Third Tuesdays of the Month
