Introduction:
Enrico de Haas is a professional motorcycle customizer from Germany who owns a workshop called Wannabe-Choppers in Giessen and works in handcrafting beautiful machines. His passionate love for art and fine craftsmanship is greatly highlighted by every little detail he adds on his machines. Filmmakers Thomas X. Stoll and Thorsten Indra recently made a short four-minute video profile for Enrico’s Wannabe-Choppers and tried to highlight his mindset.
The inspiration
To build his masterpieces, Enrico uses techniques which he has learned from men old enough to be his grandfather and which are mastered by only a few people around the world. His strength and his undying passion for building unique machines is still keeping alive the old school techniques and each and every motorbike that he builds gets the chance to witness the old school endeavor.
The goal
Most importantly, he focuses on the goal that each motorbike that crosses the threshold of Wannabe-Choppers must leave the place in the finest conditions and must be able to give the rider a feeling of sitting in a machine and not just on top of it. The rider must feel the machine and every technology that is involved in the making. Secondly, when he rides the motorbike, it should not just be a mechanical motion but it should be a natural motion too.
The overall makeover
Enrico says that when he works on building a motorcycle he does not only think about building a machine to ride around but he also cares a lot about the craft, aesthetics and perfection which forms the oneness of a man and his machine. For him, each new work he takes on is actually a new step out of the familiar old world and he also strives to keep on doing better on each new machine he builds. His experience and his feeling for the trade he is involved in also allow him to merge his passion along with his job.
