Wheels & Waves snaps 2014

W&W 2014 was as predicted, nuts. Vincent's posse that started life a few years ago as a mere blog, encompassing a few mates in Toulouse who ride Brit bikes, has exploded into a small planet with its own gravitational pull. Now senior bike brands have taken notice and want in on the scene. Thankfully their presence is not too overbearing. Everybody loves a free drink and some nibbles. The amazing laissez-faire attitude of the local authorities towards the organised chaos and the summer breeze wins again. Good times with friends.

Ed Turner BMW mating a 69S engine with R1150 drive. Good to see small workshops building bold bikes. (below) their looney caff'd Super Dream.

Seb's Lucky Cat BM' drag bike is even better in the flesh. My show fave.

G to the double E

John Strong Adolfo's Eldridge, Sideburn's Cornish stockist, and the man behind CMBL, came and beat the natives at their own game - eating Jamon Serrano and surfing! winning the Thirsty Fins competition.
photo below Vincent Lemanceau

sorry I never got to speak to you Jens.

It was not all beer swilling, flip-flops and novelty helmets. Here Roland Sands and Wrench Monkees' Per Nielsen just prior to the serious business of leaving a irreverent double rolling burnout on the Marina Hondarribia.

I was surprised not more dirty sweaty bikers made use of the ocean, it really was BLISS. BP

Wrenchmonkees x Sandqvist

We were sent this press release...

It was a through a genuine interest in motorcycles that Swedish fashion brand Sandqvist Bags and Items first encountered Danish custom build Wrenchmonkees in summer 2013. When Sandqvist founder Anton Sandqvist met Wrenchmonkees founder Nicholas Bech, a design collaboration was a natural extension of their discussion about the lack of functional and attractive motorcycle bags. 

The bags are made of thick, black canvas with leather detailing.  The backpack holds a 15-inch computer and has a built-in aluminum frame that can be securely attached to a motorcycle as a pannier. You can just as easily sling it on your back. 

'I am a dedicated motorcycle builder, so collaborating with Wrenchmonkees is like a childhood dream. I love their brutal and pared down bikes, says Anton Sandqvist, who founded Sandqvist in 2004. 

'We had previously considered developing a motorcycle bag for our new Yamaha project, but lacked the expertise. The pieces just fell into place when Sandqvist visited us. Their simple and smart style was the perfect fit. The deciding factor for us was their knowledge of how to make sustainable and durable bags,' Nicoloas Bech says. 

The bags will also be on display at motorcycle fairs around the world on Wrenchmonkee’s version of the Yamaha model SR400.

Wrench Monkees Party

On the same day as the Sideburn #14 launch party, the Wrench Monkees have a party in Copenhagen. (They probably wont be doing any C90 green laning or eating any Mud Crab burgers but I'm sure it'll be fun). Then more of the next day. BP

Art & Moto, Lisbon Report

Art and Moto was the first event of its type held in Portugal. It was organised by Cesar of Cafe Racer 351 (the godfather of the fledgling cafe racer scene in Portugal) and Sideburn collaborators the Spanish artists Antonio Merinero and Raulowsky - with the help of the small but enthusiastic Portuguese scene.

The event took place at the LX Factory, a old printing works that's been turned into shops, bars, offices, studios, cafes and a large book shop. The compound is huge and cobbled, giving it a self-contained village high street feel.

That's Cesar's Thruxton, above. The 351 refers to the dialling code needed to call Portugal from abroad.

Four artists' work was on show: Merinero and Raulowsky from Spain, Nuno Capelo and Tiago Santiago from Portugal.
What I thought was a great touch were the collaborations between Merinero and Raulowsky. Merinero did the base of the piece above, then sent the work to Raulowsky who painted on the highlights and lettering. The also created the show poster together, below left.

More Merinero. These are his stencils, the bottom ones are on reclaimed rusty fridge doors.

Antonio Merinero (hat and beer) with Fede from bike modifiers CRO, Madrid, in a cool bar in the LX compound called Impossibly Funky.

New Raulowsky works. We still have a few of the Into The Wild shirt Raulowsky designed for us.

Local photographer, Tiago Santiago made a display of his shots of a Sachs 125 that were backlit with old motorcycle lights. Check out the bike's neat fuel gauge.

Porto-based architect Nuno Capelo showed his art for the first time. Lovely fella and nice work.

Super Company's Salt Shaker appeared again. Last time I saw this bike it was in Milan. Super Company are racing a hotted-up Cub at Dirt Quake II.

Also within the compound were a couple of interesting shops and good restaurants (the latter being something sadly lacking at every UK bike event). This shop sold old audio equipment. 

Love this tree stump DJ platform.

This shipping container turned into a magazine shop had my imagination doing backflips.

Bars and cafe's lined a road between the two main buildings. Bikes parked up and people could stand with a drink and watch the bikes come and go.

The huge Golden Gate-esque bridge, the 25th of April Bridge, shadowed the LX Factory.

Plenty of people came over from Spain, including CRO from Madrid. This is their Yamaha SR250, with tank paint by Merinero.

This is CRO's Sanglas. Spain and Portugal were run by dictator-led governments up until popular revolutions in the 1970s (Franco in Spain till 1975, Salazar and Novo in Portugal till the Carnation Revolution of 1974). Among other things, these regimes severely restricted imports to protect their own industries. The Spanish Sanglas is one of the results, a badge-engineered Yamaha XS400 made in Spain.

This is a Portuguese Casal. The company made bikes and mopeds in Aveiro from 1961 till 2000.

Compared to France, Germany, UK or Italy, the Portuguese custom bike scene is in its infancy, so everyone was rightly proud of the quality of the event, effort and bikes. 

This survivor turned up. Mk2 (?) Escort Estate. More rare than duck egg-sized diamonds nowadays.

 Fine Guzzi and a Bonnie with a fancy Ohlins front end.

 Honda 600, I think. One of the few street trackers in town.

 Hugo from Rev magazine had just finished this Trident. ZXR750 front end, Excel rims, Billet brakes...

The Slicks.

This very cool CB750 had a lot of great touches. It's called the Gravedigger. Bikes in a bookshop? Dreamland.

It will be on show a The Bike Shed Event in London this month.

Neat Swedish-style chopper parked out of the limelight, but still attracted a lot of attention. Reminds me of Back Street Heroes in the mid-90s.

 Everyone welcome, as long as you 'get it'.

On the morning before the show we went exploring Lisbon and bumped into Vasco and his genuine Wrenchmonkee W650. Monkee 35 for the trainspotters.

I borrowed a Bonneville (thanks Triumph Portugal) and met up with photographer Manel Portugal (real name) for a ride up the coast to the beach he surfs at, near the Estoril racetrack.

A great weekend and a big success. Thanks to Cesar, Antonio, Nuno, Hugo, Vitor, Manel, Triumph Portugal and Anabela. Hope to see you all again. G