WOODSTOCK MOTO CO.

Bikers are cool. Fixing bikes can be really cool, too

What does a successful model, photographer and world traveller do when he returns home after an eight-year absence? Simple: he finds a dirty warehouse in a very dodgy part of town and turns it into a DIY motorcycle workshop. Devin Paisley is not your conventional model. Okay, he has the looks, but he also nurtures a passion for two- wheeled machines of all kinds – from the odd and elderly to 21st century engineering marvels – that goes way beyond the ordinary. That passion takes solid form at the Woodstock Moto Co (WMC) in Cape Town, a “community moto garage” and coffee shop he founded with the help of a few friends in 2014.

In this unambiguously hard-edged but strangely inviting spot, you’ll find a mix of shabby and beautiful machines in various states of repair, all manner of motorcycle tools, excellent coffee, and probably the most approachable bikers on the planet. Devin spends up to six days a week in this place, and although he concedes this behaviour is borderline obsessive, he reckons he’s doing okay.

For the record, he’s not making money. With refreshing candour, Devin admits he’s been running the WMC for the past few years with the emphasis on friendliness and accessibility rather than hard-nosed business principles, and will probably need to find some kind of middle ground if he wants his brainchild to flourish and grow.

Not that he needs a reality check. A few years ago, he and a friend launched a short-lived enterprise called Rebellian Custom Bikes, based in a suburban garage and equipped with little more than “big dreams and no money”. Although it ended in disappointment, the venture provided him with useful experience in bike building and, as he tells it, revealed a need for “something new” in Cape Town.

Recalls Devin: “About that time, I picked up the idea of a communal motorcycle workshop from similar projects in Australia – Kustom Kommune and Rising Sun Workshop – and started a Facebook group of about 60 people to help me create a ‘man cave’. By then I had met Simon Rice and Neil Danvers, both of whom understood

what I was looking for.” Devin also credits Cape Town tattoo artist Milo “Mr Lucky” Marcer, a former ad industry designer and illustrator, for “massive support” in getting the WMC up and running.

Before long, the Woodstock Man Cave – which, incidentally, was more than happy to admit the female of the species – had morphed into the Woodstock Moto Co, expanding its horizons with a gloriously eclectic mix of associates such as Greasers Garage (builders of retro-styled motorcycles and parts), Wolf Moto (custom bike builders and rentals), The Deathrettes (a garage groove band), The Valley (another band, described as “a different kind of creature”), and Stream Straws (manufacturers of eco-friendly glass straws).

As far as tools went, the inventory was modest to a fault. “I started with a single Gedore tool set, then gradually acquired more stuff such as torque wrenches, battery chargers, more spanners, a welder… that sort of thing.” Today, the facility has just about everything needed to create, revive or customise a motorcycle. Does he have a wish list? “Definitely. We would love a TIG welder, a decent compressor and a few bike lifts.”

Devin’s utterly reasonable goal is to get more people on motorcycles, persuade more people to work on their own machines, and to keep biking “fun and accessible”. To this end, he’s forged a close working partnership with Jay Davis, an aviation technician and bike enthusiast who runs the Davis Auto School. Together, they have developed a curriculum of short courses divided into modules ranging from basic tool and workshop safety to full engine rebuilds.

The WMC also runs classes on essential biking know-how from electrical systems to oil changes, from servicing and weekly maintenance to novice rider training, and will even teach you how to buy a bike on Gumtree (or similar) without getting burnt. Planned theoretical courses include performance mods, basic welding, corrosion prevention and electroplating.

As Devin explains it, the WMC delivers a mix of handholding and DIY. “We’ll show you the basics and share some useful tutorials from the Internet, but if you need dedicated help, we’ll arrange a

mechanic to assist or teach you at an hourly rate. If you turn up on a Saturday, a resident mechanic will point you in the right direction and offer free advice.”

Members are always willing to share their knowledge and experience, adds Devin. “That’s the whole idea behind our community garage, and it’s something we encourage. We won’t build your custom bike for you, but we’ll certainly help you along the way and hook you up with the right people.”

The WMC’S egalitarian ethos is key to its success, says Devin, citing the example of an UBEREATS delivery rider who pitched up aboard a very dodgy 125 cm3 bike, asking for help. “We were able to assist him, and he’s since become a regular visitor.”

Neil Danvers, a professional photographer and friend of Devin’s who’s been associated with the WMC since day one, has owned “lots of bikes with lots of problems”. He was obliged to learn about their inner workings simply because he had no money, he explains.

While acknowledging that some motorcycle repairs are best left to the professionals, we jointly lament the modern tendency to outsource absolutely everything to dealership mechanics. Say, for instance, your bike sputters and dies while you’re on a ride. For all too many riders, the only solution is to call a dealer and transport the stricken bike to a workshop on a trailer, whereas all it may require is to blow some dirt out of a jet. Says Neil: “We meet bikers who have no idea what a float chamber is, or how to replace a chain. We’d like to change that.”

Arguably the most important item on the WMC’S calendar is the annual Garage Built Show, a thoroughly sociable “alt-moto” event featuring custom bikes, bikers, art, photography, good music, food, fermented beverages and other essentials.

Last year, an 18- year-old biker was honoured for creating a Frankenstein’s monster of a bike. Scorning such wishy-washy concepts as logic, ergonomics and aerodynamics, and pirating components from other machines with cheerful abandon, he created a winner – and that, says Devin, is what it’s all about.

“Our goal is to build a bridge between the Old Guard, who tend to understand how motorcycles work, and the younger riders, who are eager to learn.” The WMC also welcomes non-bikers (dubbed “motocurious” by Atlanta, Usa-based Brother Moto), acting on the reasonable assumption that anyone who likes bikes must be okay.

Devin admits to owning 6½ bikes, made up of several complete machines plus a few fractions, including “half a café racer”. Something clicks in my head. Suddenly, I remember an old Harley petrol tank in my garage, a frame with no discernible provenance, and the battered remains of a Honda Dax. Could I do something interesting with that?

Long-buried memories come flooding back. I recall the time I s stuffed a 250 cm² Excelsior Talisman twin engine into the frame of a G Garelli moped and went racing on my local karting circuit, usually cr crashing on the second lap as valour overcame discretion. Oh, for the siren song of angry two-strokes, the acrid pong of racing fuel, the boundless joy of riding a bike you’ve built yourself. Devin smiles. He gets it.

I’ll be back soon, I announce. We really need to talk.