Art Deco Masterpiece: A Majestic resurfaces in L.A.

Motorcycle styling has always been conservative rather than revolutionary. Even the most famous machines from history fit into a very obvious lineage of aesthetic development. There’s nothing rebellious about early board trackers, BMWs, Brough Superiors, Vincents or Crockers. The engineering might have been exemplary, but the styling was evolutionary. If you look hard though, there are a handful of early outliers to match later oddballs like BMW’s K1, the Honda DN-01, and the Philippe Starck-designed Aprilia Moto 6.5. And the best of the vintage oddities has got to be the Majestic of the early 1930s. There are very few of...