AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 35SEDDO
W
hat is it
about
young folk
building
cheap stripped-down
custom bikes out of any old
rubbish that so challenges
experienced riders to dismiss
them as not being real
motorcyclists?
The gripes seem to fl ow
from two fronts — the bikes
and those who ride them.
Customs are modifi ed mostly
for looks, o en at the expense
of performance, and have
funny tyres. They are no more
than fashion accessories for
hipsters who couldnಬt ride out
of sight on a dark night.
It would be laughable if the
detractors werenಬt serious.
I donಬt know whether itಬs
xenophobia or jealousy atus bearded blokes ge ing
all the cute chicks, because
the resurgent urban custom
bike scene is the best thing to
happen to motorcycling since
Mick Doohan and hereಬs why.
The local motorcycling
population is ageing,
dominated by 60-year-old
baby boomers with too few
kids coming through to
replenish the ranks. LAMS
legislation and the short-lived
scooter craze arrested the
slide for a while, but the long-
term prognosis isnಬt great.
Then out of the ethernet
emerges a cool new style of
motorcycling tailor-made
for ge ing around congested
cities all around the world.
People who hadnಬt previously
given much thought to
motorcycles suddenly got
interested and a whole new
sub-culture was born.
Today, thousands of Aussie
teenagers are ge ing their
fi rst taste of motorcycling
aboard some nameless
forgo en Jappa which they
have stripped and modded
to make their own stylestatement. The brand and
model hardly ma ers, it will
be unrecognisable by the time
it is reborn as a cafe racer,
bobber or tracker. The entry
price is low, they donಬt go fast
enough to trouble the cops
and the fun factor is high.
Fuelled by social media,
the community spirit
within the custom scene is
enviable, as evidenced by
events like the Distinguished
Gentlemanಬs Ride, which
has blossomed in two years
from a Sydney fun run to an
international phenomenon
a racting tens of thousands
of riders. L- and P-plates
are almost as common as
heat-wrapped headers and
open megaphones. Girls feel
welcome and safe. Everyone
is smiling and having a good
time. Hello!
My young bloke is loving
his custom postie bike,
which is his only means of
transport. It has two wheels,
an engine, he gets wet when
it rains and he has to put up
with exactly the same morons
on the road. He is learning
simple maintenance tasks
like adjusting and lubing the
chain, checking tyre pressures
and changing the oil. What
part of that doesnಬt make him
a real motorcyclist?
Di o my mate Damien, a
former car nut who switched
to bikes when the cost
and stress of owning high-
performance import cars
became too much. His fi rst
build was a rigid-framedbobbed Sportster, a er which
he turned his a ention to
fi rst-generation twin-cam
Honda fours because they
were plentiful and cheap,
eventually building a trio of
distinctive customs for not
much more than loose change.
His inner-city cave is fi lled
with frames, engines, grinders,
welders and a revolving
cast of mates riding similar
bikes, many of whom are also
relatively new to the sport.
For an old bloke whoಬs
been there and done that,
the enthusiasm of these guys
and gals is invigorating. It
reminds me of an earlier self
when I owned a succession
of bobbers back in the 80s,
except we didnಬt have a name
for them then. Iಬd just buy
some old dunger, ditch the
instruments, blinkers and
whatever else, then fi t some
wide ಬbars and the loudest
exhausts I could scrounge. If
I wasnಬt the coolest dude on
the planet, I was on my way!
So maybe not much
has changed, although I
remember older riders being
helpful and supportive when
I started out. We might have
had diff erent tastes in bikes
but it was always us against
everyone else so welcome to
the club, young fella! Letಬs
not diss one another because
we dress diff erently or seek
an alternate path. The core
things that bind motorcycle
riders are always more
important than the minor
stuff that irritates us. ARRWhat’s right
with the youth
of today
GEOFF SEDDONNEXT GEN
“It reminds me of an earlier self
when I owned a succession of
bobbers back in the 80s, except we
didnಬt have a name for them then”
r The young kids of today seem to have gotten it right!ARR112_035_Seddo.indd 35ARR112_035_Seddo.indd 35 2/3/2015 9:48:52 AM2/3/2015 9:48:52 AM