Cape Town – With its second edition the annual Cape Bike Expo, this Sunday at Timour Hall in Plumstead, is beginning to take on a shape of its own.
Whereas other shows are all about the showing off the latest – and most expensive – models from mainstream bikemakers, or about classic motorcycles that were made before most of today’s bikers were born, the Bike Expo is about real bikes and the real people who ride them, modify them and in some cases, build them from scratch.
Huge turnout at first Cape Bike Expo
Which is why the parking area on the biggest paddock at Timour Hall is such an important part of the show. There you will see some of the rarest, most beautiful and most individual motorcycles in the country, machines that have been polished and primped within an inch of their lives and simply parked there while their owners wander round the stalls, grab a cold one and a bite to eat, and listen to some superb biker rock from the live band.
Yes, there will be displays of mainstream bikes, notably from Thruxton Motorcycles (Suzuki and Royal Enfield) and Biketique (BMW) but the majority of the stalls are all about people who do things to bikes, to make them prettier or faster or just more individual.
It’s a celebration of the biker spirit, by and for people who love motorcycles and care for them, people who ride machines that are as nonconformist as they are.
HAND-BUILT
From permanent decorative coatings to bolt-on bike bling and special muti to take rust off your ride without hurting the delicate bits, to complete machines hand-built by some of Cape Town’s most creative workshops – bobbers, cafe racers, low riders and stretched superbikes that look like Pro Stock dragsters with lights and (sometimes) mirrors, this is where the alternative biker lifestyle gets its day in the sun.
If you see a standard bike at the Cape Bike Expo (other than the new ones on the big-name displays) it’s because the owner hasn’t had time yet to create his own special look, or he (or she) is there to pick up ideas for the next rebuild or respray, or just to buy a set of Fireflys - valve caps with built-in coloured LED’s that draw vibrant circles in the air as you ride at night. Originally invented to make cyclists more visible, they look even cooler on a motorcycle.
And that’s why the Cape Bike Expo is called a rolling bike show; the gates will be open from 10am to 3pm and it’ll cost you just R35 to get in - but the real stars of the show will be coming and going all day, so several return visits to the big paddock should be on your itinerary while you’re at Timour Hall.
Whether you ride a scooter or an adventure tourer, the Expo celebrates riders who go their own way and the bikes they do it on, machines that reflect their individualism and how they think for themselves.