I don’t know Daniel Maag personally, but I do know a couple of things about him and when I say a “couple of things” I’m only off by one. First off, he’s an artist located in Zurich, Switzerland, second, he wants to save the tigers, and third, he loves motorcycles. If you were only known for three things, those three would not be a bad thing. Not only does he love motorcycles, he runs his own one-man shop called Crazy Drive. Ah, just like any true artist, Daniel probably can’t stand to have anybody interfere with his art so he goes it alone. Being both an artist and a full-time motorcycle builder must compound the feeling of doing it his way and that’s okay.

   By now you probably have a good idea this bike is dedicated to raising awareness and hopefully save tigers in the wild. One look at the paintjob says it pretty clear except for one thing. That’s not a paintjob with air brushed tiger graphics. It’s not a paintjob at all, but one giant mosaic made out of precious stones and coral splinters. As you can guess, that involves individually adhering each and every miniscule gem stone of the right color and size into its proper place. And, it takes a bit of talent and a whole lotta time to make the images as clear as Daniel has done here.

   I’ll assume we’ve all seen some sort of Greek or Roman mosaic made out of bits of tile, but they’re usually on the, shall we say, abstract aspect of portrait art more than clear reality. I’d love to know how many individual pieces had to be glued down for no reason other than to marvel at what has to be an astronomical number. I mean, just look at the tank and the two fenders and imagine how many days it took one tiny precious stone at a time. Daniel ─ you’re either a very patient person or you’re possessed or maybe it’s a combo of both, but it’s an interesting finish you don’t run into very often. Or ever, until now. Man, and I thought paint was expensive?

   Obviously there’s been a lot of metal work done on this bike and I don’t mean the tank and fenders. I’m referring to what really can be termed “old school” in the form of “3D metal technology that was present mainly during the Middle Ages” according to Daniel. I’m sure you can see the metalwork on the legs of the girder fork, mirror backs, tiger head on the fork, and primary pulleys. Daniel has said, “During the winter months between 2003 and 2007, I spent several months in various monasteries in Asia learning the technique of metal embossing. This taught me the immense spectrum on this technique.” Man, when you gotta go off and live in a monastery to learn a metal-shaping technique all I can say is good for you Daniel. I wouldn’t last more than a day in a monastery.

   The rest of this show bike is chopperly built around a rigid frame with a pretty rad rake and covered in a lovely candy apple red for its eye-grabbing appeal. Winning a show award is not only good for Daniel’s shop, but it’s good for tigers too. It’s definitely on the flashy side of things like the wheels that have more spokes than any three sets of wheels might have. I tried counting the rear wheel’s spokes as I’ve never seen so many on one wheel, but gave up at 700. Seriously, squeeze about three more spokes into that jungle of spokes wheel and it would be a solid wheel like the original Harley-Davidson Fat Boy rear wheel. Maybe four spokes.

  Maybe you’re not into gems, but I bet you’re at least into gems like the gem of a ‘50s Panhead powering this whole kit and caboodle. With red cases, black cylinders and a slurry of chrome covering what’s left, it’s just like the one your granddad had only completely different. Making sure it ain’t granddads Pan are a couple of Mikuni carbs capped with short red velocity stacks sticking out each side of the bike. Matching red engine accents bring on the glitz to the glamour while tying themselves into the frame color. I’m not exactly sure what Daniel was going for with the fenders, but they don’t seem as unusual on this bike as they would on another. Possibly looking for more mosaic room?

  As far as the rider goes, the solid-mounted seat is covered in something that I’m gonna guess is animal-free. I’ll assume it’s some kind of man-made material that they tried to match up with the candy apple red finish and decided to add tiger stripes to break it up a little. The reach to the swept-back tiller bars looks doable while the forward and I mean forward controls looks a bit of a stretch. Hey, that’s what all us short guys say, but this does look a little stretchy to me.

  Riding this bike is probably not a priority as it was built for a reason and that’s to try and save the tigers in the wild. The way Daniel went about it was most unusual and that’s the saving grace for a bike that only shows three miles on the odometer. It could inch up incrementally to six or seven over the years, but all those miles it gathers rolling in and out of shows are for a good cause. In the meantime, this bike has covered many, many miles being shown all over Europe. Like I said, it’s good for the tigers and it’s good for Daniel’s shop Crazy Drive and hopefully everything turns into a happy ending for all concerned.

 For more info on Crazy Drive, visit crazy-drive.com or check ‘em out on Facebook.