A Sound History
TSilencer (WES) has been produced since 1976. Dick Walker was the man behind the WES from the very beginning. In 2012 he transferred all of his production and all his sales to the WES importer in Spain, moving the factory’s equipment to the Mediterranean country during the end of 2011. The company is now headed by Jose Franqueira and wife Celia Bonet. Dick Walker remains as the Honorary President and technical and quality adviser for WES.
Jose Franqueira has been riding in motorcycle trials for more than forty years, and has worked as a development engineer his entire career in the automotive sector. He has worked for the Ferrari importer in Spain as Technical Director, and for the DAF Trucks Spanish subsidiary as Sales Engineering Head of Department. He has been General Secretary of the Motorcycle Industry in Spain, a Member of the Board of the Madrilenian Motorcycling Federation and a Member of Commission at the FIM. The new WES works facilities are now established in El Escorial Madrid. This historical town has become the third home of the brand, after Birmingham in the Midlands in England and then Brecon in Wales.
Almost all trials twin-shocks and many Evo-mono-shocks and Pre-65 motorcycles have their silencers bespoke from WES, whose model range nowadays reaches thirty-five different silencers, and new models are foreseen in the coming months. One-off silencers can be made as well if it does not interrupt production. The structure of a WES silencer consists of a TIG welded aluminium alloy oval profile produced especially for WES by a multinational aluminium company, that is developed to resist the tough blows that the motorcycle withstands in trials.
The silencer inside is made up of aluminium alloy tubes and baffles that give an excellent throttle response. Long-lasting basalt fibre is produced especially according to WES specifications and is used to achieve a quiet sounding exhaust note. WES silencers weigh less than half of the original ones and give the machine a true ‘works’ look. WES