HanHan's Nescafe ad -- what's he riding?

Motokai emailed overnight with an Ad Age story pointing out how Nescafe is tapping China's leading gentle social dissenter, the car-racing megablogger Han Han, to flog premixed sweet coffee to young people who think they cherish the idea of independent thinking. It's a great topic, and a big risk for Nescafe -- especially if grandma's hammer ever comes down on Han Han.

I'd seen that Han Han ad somewhere, and made the required association (Nescafe). But then I started obsessing not about who the model was (thinking, "There's no one like that in China") but about the motorcycle -- "What on earth is that bike????"

Then all the other "normal" thoughts: Where is his helmet, and why isn't his hair toussled? A mug of hot coffee out in the middle of nowhere; where did he get the hot water? Gloves? Other safety gear? "These advertising guys know nothing about authenticity, and think just putting a motorcycle in a picture makes the model a motorcyclist...."

Last thing I thought was, "Who's the poseur?" Now I realize I'm not very dialed into China media culture, presumably because I avoid most Chinese media....Anyway, here's the ad in youku:

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzIyOTU1ODI4.html (Sorry, still can't manage to insert a youku player.)

And here's a framegrab of the front of the engine.

Attachment 6217

So what is this bike?

The positive: He seems to be riding a CB250 or something much like it, maybe a modified 1975 model. A logical cool bike witch is not silly or overstated like some R1 or Fat-Boy. Also that rock music and motorcycling are suggesting ideas of freedom to younger generations of Chinese people. This is good for motorcycle lovers like us.

The Negative: I'm deeply cynical about Hanhan. OK, so I know that to make any kind of money motor racing in the UK you need to pay huge amounts of money to get up to senior formulas that have TV coverage and advertising. The Chinese race scene is tiny compared to the UK race scene, yet I'm supposed to believe that this guy is a former 'professional' racing driver. If by 'professional' we mean 'daddy paid me to go racing with mediocre success'. Like the ad, rocking but not too hard, pushing the boundaries gently, how far he can push 'grandma' before she has a grumpy day seems to be decided by a group of advisers.

The motorcycle is a Honda Nighthawk 250, they only show it from flattering angles.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MJH

The motorcycle is a Honda Nighthawk 250, they only show it from flattering angles.

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Nighthawks have a drum front brake, don't have gators and don't have a chrome front mudguard.

Actually it's a CB400SS.

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Attachment 6224

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ZMC888

The Negative: I'm deeply cynical about Hanhan. OK, so I know that to make any kind of money motor racing in the UK you need to pay huge amounts of money to get up to senior formulas that have TV coverage and advertising. The Chinese race scene is tiny compared to the UK race scene, yet I'm supposed to believe that this guy is a former 'professional' racing driver. If by 'professional' we mean 'daddy paid me to go racing with mediocre success'. Like the ad, rocking but not too hard, pushing the boundaries gently, how far he can push 'grandma' before she has a grumpy day seems to be decided by a group of advisers.

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I'd rock this hard....

Attachment 6225

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MotoKai

I'd rock this hard....

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Careful with open flames around that, it might melt!

I think I saw one of those Honda's at Papa Smurf's (our local Zibo Chinese bike mechanic) last year in the summer.
The guy riding it definitely wasn't Hanhan but kinda looked like an older version of him.

At the time I didn't know what it was exactly but I liked it so I took photos.
Seemed to be well cared for by the owner.
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I like this one....
http://www.sp-1.net/index.files/CB/C...anameusiro.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by soberpete

I think I saw one of those Honda's at Papa Smurf's

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Holy crap, if that's a real plate, I'll try to find the guys number in case he wants to sell it! That's ideal for the local roads.

MJH that supertrapp is really nice.

Yeah, MJH.
That's a snazzy looking custom exhaust and taillight. I like your one better.