I’m still coming to terms with just how blisteringly sexual my new Shark looks. After waiting all morning for the special delivery, and the obligatory unboxing while nursing a chubby, we spent a night together cuddled up in bed. This way-too-peng paintjob is all down to RichArt Concepts’ unbelievable tekkers, and is the third incarnation of the current design with subtle tweaks during every evolution…resulting in this.
RichArt has been painting my lids for near enough a decade. He’s less famous for spraying the helmets of GP racers and, more recently, the BSB ’Showdown’ one-off Arais for Joshua Brookes. And judging by recent twitter reactions, his attention to detail and arty fartiness is well renowned/appreciated by 44T followers.
I thought the last spec’ was stunning. This is, for me, the best looking helmet design in the world, though I would say that. Following years of intricate one-offs, I decided to grow up and concentrate on one design to carry over the years – very much like my best mate, Michael Neeves, just with a much better design. Andy Priaulx’s epic ‘rainbow’ BMW M3 Le Mans car in 2010 prompted the latest design brief being forwarded to Rich. ‘Base it on this Beemer, please’ was the only direction. His artistic flair and years of experience led to what we have today.
At £600, the stuttering point for many is the price. But they old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ couldn’t be any truer, and there are some utter cowboys out there charging similar money for a fraction of the quality. RichArt Concepts comes fully 44T certified, with BvG actually thinking of dusting down the wallet and parting with cash for his own Jizzy paint scheme – and before the trolls start, no, it wasn’t a freebie!
