Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler was recently sighted at the New England International Auto Show.  During a press release he announced the Redwing Motorcycle company name (which he started) is no longer flying high.  The new name for the company is now Dirico Motorcycles which is named after Tyler’s brother-in-law (Marc Dirico) and the companies lead engineer.  It’s been widely rumored that Tyler received a “Dream On” letter from the Honda Motor Company legal staff. 

Steven Tyler

Biographer Laura Jackson reported about Tyler’s drug-fuelled ’80s and roller coaster life of excess - at one point spending over a million dollars on drugs - however, through numerous visits to rehab he has miraculously survived to continue performing and share his branding passions which range from Guitar Hero Aerosmith to custom motorcycles.  Don’t get me wrong, I think Tyler is one of the better singers of rock music and Aerosmith is in heavy rotation on my iPod.

But this celebrity branding thing is so 1980’s. The Dirico Motorcycles announcement is in my view a non-event!  Most of the stock motorcycle “enhancements” look to be superficial and a color palette with small details don’t equate to a $10K+ premium over an already inflated MSRP even from a rock and roll legend.  In this economy does anyone give a rip about the lifestyles of the rich and famous and their over inflated “works of art” viewpoints?

Read between the lines… this motorcycle company isn’t going to be about people who ink metaphors for their life into their own flesh.  If you live on the East coast, have seen a Redwing and have an alternate view I’d like to hear from you.

Photo courtesy of Redwing and Autoinsane.com web sites.

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