The Ride: Vintagent X Gestalten

Words: Gestalten  Photos: David Ferrua, David Finato, Kristina Fender, David Hans Cooke, Brandon La Joie

We did the Ride thing. It was during the summer of 2012 that we decided to put pen to paper and document the thriving alt-custom motorcycle scene. With Chris Hunter from BikeEXIF at the editorial helm and contributors ranging from Gary Inman, David Edwards, and Kristina Fender to Maxwell Paternoster and Paul d’Orléans, we created our book The Ride: New Custom Motorcycles and Their Builders, which hit shelves in the autumn of 2013. The book’s 320 pages celebrated unique machines, the people behind them, and the lifestyle they inspired. Riding a motorcycle was at an all-time high and, more importantly, the soul of the pastime had been renewed—it was fun again. It’s no longer about soulless, technology-driven progress that leads to transformer-like fairings, dominating electrical assistant systems, and other complicated additions. Two wheels and an engine – that’s what it’s about: The simplicity of the motorcycle speaks to a younger generation, and there is no end in sight.

Custom shops that were producing Café Racers, scramblers, bobbers, choppers, street trackers around the world finally came together in one volume, and it only took two years for the book’s successor to be released. The Ride 2nd Gear shone a light on more builders and creators, highlighting one-of-a-kind bikes worldwide, and bonding together like-minded humans from all across the globe. The sequel presented a pool of neverending interpretations for THE perfect motorcycle—and we’re still hungry for more.

Editor Maximilian Funk will continue the conversation on the evolution of custom bikes in our partnership with The Vintagent. Two wheels move the soul. Ride safe!

Haven’t checked out the books yet? Here is your chance.

Since 1995, German publishing house Gestalten Verlag has produced and championed forward-thinking books from the forefront of visual culture, spanning a range of topics including photography, design, travel, and the custom builders working on wheeled projects: two, four, and more.