Once upon a time, there was a country dominated by an Iron Hand. All of its vast resources were hoarded by the State and dedicated to maintaining its military might. Ronald Reagan called it an “Evil Empire” that we had to guard ourselves against. Individual freedom of expression was frowned upon and conformity was just the way of life. Thankfully, those days are long gone.
When you think of cool custom motorcycles, Russia isn’t necessarily the first place that comes to mind. In fact, with the exception of the Ural motorbike riders, most people would never dream that there is a thriving motorcycle culture in of all places, Moscow.I had the opportunity to take a trip there to be one of the judges of the Moscow Custom and Tuning Show put on by Dmitry Khirtov, the founder of http://www.ruriders.com/ , an internet magazine. The show was held over the three day Easter weekend and pulled in a reported 80,000 people from the cities 14-million population at the Crocus Expo Center.
I didn't expected too much by American show standards. Keep in mind that biker culture is a fairly new concept in that part of the world. It’s been only 10 short years that people there were exposed Western ways and one of the first things that they latched onto were Cool Custom Bikes. All the parts and service we take for granted here in the West are still not readily available there. High import duties and ridiculous shipping charges prevent shops from putting out the cookie cutter customs that seem to fill every parking lot there in the States. In my opinion, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Russian builders have chosen to do what was done here back in the day before the advent of the CNC machine, they make their custom parts with welders and hand grinders. The raw talent of these builders was inspiring. The quality of the workmanship was exemplary and the vision in design and execution, awe inspiring.
Arriving at the expo center, there was huge mob of bikes crowding the parking lot. Most were Japanese and German sport bikes as traffic in Moscow is the worst I have ever seen. Inside, it could have been a scene from the V-Twin Expo. Vendors lined the rows selling their wares, European and Asian Bike manufactures were out in force showing the latest rides and accessories but lacking was any serious American company presence.
The hot, scantily attired ladies who walked the floors passing out flyers were out shined by the women who attended the show. It seemed to my tired old eyes that at least 75% of the women in Moscow stepped off the pages of a Victoria’s Secret catalogue.
Rock-a-Billy bands blasted their music from the main stage while the Motorpark stage was rocking with the Russian equivalent of the Pussy Cat Dolls dancers that stopped every crowd and jammed up the isles during their raucous performances. Small backstreet shops dominated the culture and they were all well represented with booths. I spent 3-days talking with these guys, some of who surprisingly spoke English better than I do and others with the help of my host Dmitry Khirtov.
Dmitry, at the age of 30, is one of the driving forces in the Russian Custom Bike world. As the founder of Russia’s first cyber biker magazine, Ruriders.ru, he produced the AMD Russian affiliate show that has become part of the World Championship of Custom Bike Building for the past three years.
This year's winner was Sergei Malstev and his team from Fine Custom Mechanics in Moscow. The bike was a one off beauty aptly named MOSCOW. The bike was built over five months in a small shop deep in the industrial heart of the city. The custom frame with its 35-degree neck held an Ultima 124-cu.inch Evo motor and was driven by a Baker dual-drive transmission. With the exception of the motor tranny and tires, every other part on the bike, from the rails on the gas tank to the custom wheels and electric seat suspension were made by Sergei and his talented crew.
As the reigning Russian National Champs, Sergei and his crew will fly to Sturgis and enter the Moscow bike in the finals at the World Championship at Sturgis Bike Week this August.
We did a ride around the area and visited some of the back street shops where magic was being made and met the guys who hand forge their own custom parts like the blacksmiths of old. Also, look for the winning bike's full feature on Bikernet, shot at the Kremlins Red Square, which took a bit of wrangling to get done. Also, tales of our adventures on the road in Russia are forthcoming.
I was blown away by the open and friendly hospitality of everyone I met on my trip. I guess a brotherhood of bikers has a way of transcending things like politics and propaganda from both sides. I felt right at home and between the Vodka shots and caviar we all felt the comradely that exists between people who share the desire fore freedom of the open road.
Dasvidaniya, for now,
–TBear
