of being part of a sub-culture. The
beards, the tattoos and the leather are
just another statement but in this time
- they call themselves hipsters.
Now comes the bikes - just about
anything that can be ridden has seen
the angle grinder. At times I had to
look carefully to identify what the
original bike once was. Even dirt bikes
were not off the menu to these back
street mechanics. Stripping just about
everything that can be legally removed
and replacing with parts that would
have a minimalistic German engineer
craving for more. Gaping holes
in the chassis that were once there,
was...something.
The event kicks off with a 105km
rumble through the inner west of
Sydney. Not sure if all the bikes would
have made the whole 105 clicks looking
at the size of some of the petrol tanks
but that’s part of the fun I suppose.
They are not meant to be practical
motorcycles. The venue supports
parking for loads of bikes and
thankfully Marrickville is still relatively
free of parking vultures so the whole
area was festooned with weird and
wonderful interpretations based on
the premise of a motorcycle. I must
say that some of the bikes looked like
death traps anything above 80km per
hour but so what.
As the afternoon rolled on into the
evening, Amy and I sat down and had
the best pizza I’ve ever eaten out of
a cargo container. Big thanks to Josh
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meal tickets and BTW, Amy loves her
new T-shirt. The crowd was friendly
and come 4pm the rockabilly dancers
started cracking a whip to the sound
of bands from another generation. Ireally love sub-cultures and the way it
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this was no exception. I haven’t seen
a DA* in many years but there were a
few out on display this afternoon.
A number of manufacturers turned
out their retro styled machinery –
Moto Guzzi unveiled the new V9
Roamer and Bobber, Yamaha
showcased their recently released XSR
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off the new 350, a couple of the 500s
and the Conti GT. Everyone was able
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they wished, but all-in-all Throttle Roll
2016 was about having a party in the
street, celebrating life and custom
motorcycles. I can’t wait for next
year’s event!* DA is a style of haircut fashioned by the
rockers and greasers of the 1950s.