T135 Development Story(Exterior Design)

One of the biggest deciding factors in whether or not a machine is really one that you want for your own is the exterior design. Mr. Kiyotaka Uemura of GK Dynamics who was in charge of exterior design says, “Basically, I went after the design that looked coolest to me.” He goes on to say, “I would say in more specific terms that it is a sporty design with an aggressive look. I tried some innovative things while also staying within the bounds of what a moped is. I wanted to express the excitement and tension of pushing it to the very edge of that definition.

Project Leader Kuromoto says with a laugh, Kiyo-san [Uemura] can be a stubborn man, once he decides a design is good it is hard to change his mind. Then he adds: "But that is probably what makes a professional designer. Kiyo-san had digested a lot of information about the preferences in the countries the T135 was being designed for, and after that he followed his own designer instincts. In the end, a good design is a universal thing that transcends national borders."

"It's not like I won't change anything no matter what. And the purpose is not to push my original design through, no matter what," says Uemura with a smile. "There are times when we have to change the design for functional reasons. But working on this project was especially easy because when I'd sit down to talk things out with the engineers we found we were all working in basically the same direction."

We often hear of function and design spoken of as conflicting factors in motorcycle design, but Uemura insists that is not necessarily the case. “In places where function takes precedence, it can still be an appealing element if it is well designed,” says Uemura. “I believe that if you are really attentive to the overall design and all the details, the design as a whole and the things I want to say through it will not be compromised if function is allowed to take priority over design in a few places.”