The custom bike scene has grown exponentially globally over the past 20 years and, if you listen to the naysayers, South Africa lags far behind. Well, if last weekend was any indication of the state of the custom bike scene here, then all I can say is that it is in rude good health, and what is being built is the match of anything coming out of the traditional centers of excellence in the U.S., Europe, and Japan.
Perhaps surprisingly, The Lightning Bolt competition is an initiative by BMW Motorrad, although do not make the mistake of thinking it is solely open to BMW-based customs. The line-up in Cape Town comprised all makes and both classic-based and new bike-based creations. Far from being a South Africa-only competition, it is open to entries from all over Africa and it was, in fact, the biggest custom bike-building competition in the whole of Africa, with a winner-takes-all prize of R250,000.
This year’s event took place in Shortmarket Street in the center of Cape Town, the home of The House of Machines, a bar/coffee shop/music venue with the coolest motorcycling culture vibe to it. The organizers of the event, under the expert guidance of Alan Shenton from tenbüro Brand Operations, put in a huge amount of work, not only with choosing the bikes, which was the visible tip of the iceberg, but also putting together an unbelievable line-up of music to keep the roughly 1000-strong crowd who had succeeded in getting tickets entertained.
There was not one dud band in the line-up, which ranged from local Cape Town bands to the biggest SA stars, such as Jack Parow and Fokofpolisiekar, ably supported by PHFat, Angie Oeh and The House of Machines favourites Jak Tomas, The Ghouls, Sam Turpin, Laliboi, Julian Place and Murray. The P.A. was one of the best I’ve ever heard and the whole event was so slickly run: even a bit of rain, later on, failed to bring things to a halt.
But, of course, the bikes themselves were the stars of the show. There were 12 finalists, whittled down from 30 entries, and they were all of extremely high quality, both in terms of design and engineering.
It was an eclectic mix, from a traditional and hugely elaborate Harley chopper to a Honda flat-tracker, from a Yamaha RD350 to an ultra-futuristic BMW with all-enveloping bodywork, from a Honda Super Cub to a Ducati.
There were four judges: Dr. Marcus Schramm, head of BMW Motorrad, Alan Stulberg, a master custom builder from the U.S., Wes Reyneke, Cape Town-based Senior Editor of leading custom bike website BikeExif and Paul van Der Spuy of House of Machines. Quite how they were able to choose a winner from such a diverse selection of custom machines, all of which displayed incredible talent on the part of their creators, each with their own vision, imagination, and skill levels, I do not know. All I do know is I’m glad I didn’t have to choose.
In the bright sunlight, the machines were parked in the length of Shortmarket Street while the crowds mingled, ate, drank, listened to music, caught up with old friends, and made new ones. But, of course, the whole point of the day was to crown one of the bikes a winner, and that winner – a worthy winner in a lot of peoples’ eyes – was Wayne Buys and his incredible BMW with fully-enclosing bodywork: a masterpiece of design and fabrication.
The Lightning Bolt was one of those events that, after it was all over, you really wished it was continuing for a few more days: perfect location, perfect weather, great music, a perfect crowd of people, and perfect motorcycles: what more could you want?
The next Lightning Bolt competition takes place in New York next year. South African fans will have to wait for a couple of years for our next one but, rest assured, the wait will be worth it.
