MALU VAN LEEUWEN visited Cape Town’s custom=20 motorcycle show _ and found that the `easy rider’=20 of the Sixties is the big spender of the Nineties
BIKES new and old _ some of which hadn’t seen the=20 light of day in decades _ were wheeled out, dusted=20 down and lovingly shined up for Cape Town’s first=20 custom motorcycle show, held at the River Club.
Nearly 3 000 people braved a gale-force south- easter to attend the show, which clearly broke new=20 ground. For, while converted enthusiasts are kept=20 happy with annual trade events and rallies, this=20 time the general public was afforded a glimpse into=20 the world of biking and its satellite sub-cultures=20 with a tattoo and body-piercing artist “performing=20 live”, a leatherwear fashion show, and performances=20 of Kiss the Sky, a Sixties/Seventies rock music=20 tribute.
The event was organised by, among others,=20 enthusiasts William and Margot Butcher _ whose=20 “sheer tenacity” included telephoning Jay Naidoo to=20 inquire whether the minister would be interested in=20 having biking in his portfolio (“Obviously we got=20 turned down”).
The show was some five years in the conceptualising=20 and planning. Many of the larger motorcycle dealers=20 approached were sceptical and declined to=20 participate (although, to be sure, they’ll be there=20 next year when the event goes national).
“Nothing of this magnitude has ever been done in=20 South Africa,” William Butcher maintained. “I’ve=20 been custom-building bikes for 15 years and I=20 wanted to put something back into it. So we’ve=20 tried to capture everything to do with the concept=20 of motorcycling _ the tattooing, piercing, leather=20 gear _ because it’s never been done altogether=20 before.”
But the main attraction at the show was undoubtedly=20 the bikes themselves, proudly bearing the brand=20 names of Harley Davidson, Yamaha, Honda, Triumph=20 and others less familiar. Whether military or=20 civilian, all shapes, sizes and colours were in=20 evidence, with model titles such as Road King, Disc=20 Glide and Heritage Soft Tail to match. When the=20 latter was started up with a deafening, throaty=20 roar, by a rider clad in trademark scuffed leathers=20 and faded bandana, the picture was complete.
Of the 40 or so customised motorcycles on show,=20 excluding those on auction and at private stalls, a=20 purple Vespa scooter built by Butcher had to be=20 among the strangest. “That one really taxed my=20 abilities,” he said. Butcher admitted that the=20 squat three-wheeler Australian “Flat Trackers” was=20 odd: “It’s a new thing for a rider and passenger.=20 It basically creates a speedwave on a bike. I take=20 my hat off to the Australians _ they’re mad.”
Admiring a set of gleaming _ and expensive-looking=20 _ bikes on loan from the Italian Motorcycle Club,=20 Butcher maintained that “value depends on the=20 owner. They’ve put their heart and soul into each=20 bike. A lot of these you’ll never see again _=20 they’re very rare. You can’t put a value on them.
“This tricycle here,” Butcher added, pointing to a=20 sophisticated network of steel intestines, “is in=20 the process of being built. The amount of=20 engineering that’s gone into it is amazing; it’s a=20 lot of work. We included it just to show how far=20 people are prepared to go to build a bike.”
According to Butcher, who specialises in 1100ccs _=20 “big, powerful machines” _ the art of customising=20 not only requires “total dedication”, it also means=20 guarding against professional jealousy. To this=20 end, painting techniques, for instance, are passed=20 on only through apprenticeship.=20
He was reluctant to elaborate on his custom=20 techniques, except to state that his pearl-tone=20 paints are “made up from scratch” and “you have to=20 pay your dues to produce quality”.
While secrecy seems due less to artistic elitism=20 than to economic survival, elitism certainly=20 exists, and much depends on who rides what and how:=20 “Those who ride with a backrest call it a backrest,=20 those who don’t call it a sissy bar.”
On the other hand, the notorious friction between=20 the American Harleys and the Japanese models=20 appears to be determined largely by the size of=20 their owners’ chequebooks, or so an unsuccessful=20 bidder complained during the afternoon’s auction:=20 “The Harley guys are the ones with the big dough.”=20 Bidding for the Harley in question, a 1992 Soft=20 Tail, rose to=20
R87 000. By comparison, an immaculate 1938 Ariel=20 VB600 fetched a mere R11 000, and a 1961 Triumph=20 Bonneville a bargain R14 000.
Butcher said that motorcycle prices, inflated by=20 the astronomical expense of imported parts, have=20 impacted on biking culture in a rather unexpected=20 way. The “easy rider” of the 1960s is now the easy=20 spender of the 1990s: “The heavies who used to=20 cause trouble can’t afford motorcycles any more _=20 the prices are prohibitive. In South Africa, at=20 least, it’s now largely business people who are=20 buying, riding and getting together.”
“The rallies aren’t the wild affairs they used to=20 be,” Margot Butcher confirmed. “Women would get=20 raped, there’d be violence, fighting and dronkheid.=20 Now the bikers have aged and become respectable,=20 their wives are present, and they talk about their=20 jobs … There are isolated incidences of=20 hooliganism. The new clubs and the laaities are the=20 ones carrying on like arseholes while the oldies=20 stand around braaiing and chilling out.”
As for the physical dangers of biking, she gestured=20 towards her shin _ “I’ve got a long pin in there.=20 It looks like a garden rake.”
Gone is the hell-for-leather image of the outlaw=20 biker-cum-grease monkey; experience, rather, is the=20 key factor: “Bikers are becoming more responsible=20 but it’s still dangerous. You’ve got to be aware of=20 your own limitations. That’s where years and years=20 of experience come in, to know when it’s safe and=20 when it’s not.”
If this show is anything to measure by, biking=20 culture is undergoing a generational facelift.=20 Perhaps it has something to do with the fashionable=20 resurgence of tattooing, piercing and leather gear,=20 or perhaps, as Butcher prefers, with the “new South=20 Africa.
“At the end of the day, riding is about freedom.=20 Nothing beats it, it’s a way of life. You feel out=20 there.”=20