Saturday 18 May 2013

Bike Shed, London


I went to the Bike Shed event in Shoreditch in London today. It was an outing for my red custom bike, Tradewinds. I met a few friends there, so what better way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon.

Part bike display, part art show, it was a small but busy event that showed off custom bikes. Most of the bikes were old and had been modified on a budget. No high-end expensive bikes here, which was refreshing.

A few pictures from the event, all taken on a camera phone….



Many café racers….



A nice BMW café racer….



A Triumph with extended forks and a hard seat….


A lovely bobber….



Nice air intake….








An unusual JAP engine in a Harley-Davidson frame….



Um, some sort of a bastard bike….







Old and dirty….



My favourite bike at the event. I am looking for an engine like this right now, for a new custom bike project I have in mind….



Goggles and gloves….










I met this guy, Martin, sketching away and was impressed by his art….



Motorcycle park….



My friend Paul, as ever, taking pictures….



I think they may need to find somewhere bigger for next year.....

8 comments:

Arkansas Patti said...

Love bike shows. They really bring out the creative sorts.
Ah--was that hard seat serious??

Canajun said...

Looks like the kind of bike show I wish there were more of - less commercialisation and more folks just showing off what they've got. The BMW-engined Honda, or Honda-tanked BMW was interesting. And I even thought I spied a Dunlop TT100 tyre in there as well - didn't think they made those any more.

David Drouin said...

I love the bastardized bikes. I am truly impressed by someone who can take a variety of components and turn it into a whole new bike. I would like to have that skill.

Is it just a show or are some of those bikes for sale? I wouldn't mind putting an offer in on one or two (if I had money).

Gary France said...

Patti – Yes, that hard seat was serious. It is not an unusual thing to see those rock-hard seats on custom bikes. It makes me wonder just how much they are ridden.

Canajun – I agree, there is so much more interesting stuff to look at rather than the regular stuff you see at most motorcycle shows.

David – I think that is why this motorcycle event was so interesting. It was as much about creativity as it was motorcycles. Sadly, the bikes were not for sale, as it was a show. If they had been, I would have liked to have bought the Triumph with the red tank.

Trobairitz said...

A bunch of really neat bikes on display there. I can see why it is getting bigger every year.

A lot of times the parking lot has a great show too from all the fans riding to the show.

RichardM said...

Some really interesting bikes there. I like the engines in the old bikes where they proudly show off mechanical components and mechanisms. It looked like quite a crowd was there.

Gary France said...

Trobairitz – There were a lot of people standing around the parking lot in order to chat and look at the visitors bikes parked there. That was pretty cool.

Richard – It was a small venue, so while it was busy, it looked even busier.

Rex J. Covington said...

Very cool bike shows!