Candy Land in the Basque Country

By Bhuvan Chowdhary 

Skirting the western Pyrenees from Biarritz towards San Sebastian it becomes clear why this is such a great region for motorcycling and surfing. Driving into San Sebastian, the mountains give way to the sea, greeting you with a gorgeous blue sky and the beach at La Concha. It’s hard to leave this seductive scene, but just a bit down the road is a garage that sums up everything memorable in the world of motorcycles: Café Racer SSpirit (the double SS is for San Sebastian). Juan Carlos López, Hugo López and Juan Pablo Santinelli started Cafe Racer SSpirit in 2014 as a custom motorcycle shop. For the trio, building customs is about more than the metal: they believe that for a motorcycle to resonate for a customer, it’s important to learn about the history, heritage and culture behind the machine.

This CRSS philosophy must also resonate, because in a short period of time, the trio has made quite the name for themselves not only in San Sebastian, but across Europe too. Last year Cafe Racer SSpirit was one of 7 shops selected (and the official entry from Spain) to build a custom motorcycle for the Yamaha Yard Built program: their machine, the Café Racer SSpirit XS700-R, debuted at Wheels and Waves in 2017. Their Yamaha custom cafe racer has a minimal, old-school charm, resembling a Bol D’or racer (minus its fairing), but their XSR 700-R isn’t easily categorized.

While CRSS is primarily a custom motorcycles and apparel shop, they have a deep interest (and investment) in classic motorcycles. Sitting at the coffee table in the far corner of their workshop is a perfect location to ogle their line-up of vintage machine, mechanical marvels from the 1960s, ‘70, and ‘80s lined up in immaculate condition. This is candy land for the moto-initiated.

Behind the coffee table is a gorgeous Honda VFR 750, RC30 (Frame no. 87), and on the left is a Triumph corner: classic Bonnevilles sit beside a single-cylinder Tiger Cub T20, next to a 350cc T90, a 650cc T100 & a 750cc T140. In the center of the room sits a mix of European and Japanese bikes, highlighted by a gorgeous and very rare Japauto VX1000 endurance racer, and a red Dunstall Honda CR750, frame #0025. The Japauto VX1000 is one of only 73 examples made, and was a special machine in its day, costing three times as much as a standard Honda CB750. Finding three Japautos parked in the CRSS garage is bold: this Spanish atelier is a truly special place to visit.

With only a few hours to visit, I curtailed my inner child to focus on the job in hand – document the bikes. I walked the shop floor with Pablo Santinelli, who was calmly tinkering on a special Suzuki GSX with Moto Martin frame he’s building for a customer. My ear-to-ear grin pulled him into a conversation about the motorcycles parked all around, and Pablo fired up one of my bucket list machines – a Honda CBX. Its six-into-one custom megaphone exhaust filled the room with a few quick rips on the throttle, close to the best motorcycle sound I’ve ever heard, like a proper old-school Formula One car. What a screamer!

The shop floor at CRSS displays more than 100 motorcycles, with a backdrop of old fuel tanks. A long line of 500 and 750cc two-stroke Suzuki GTs recalled the utterly mad times when people flew on these machines, with little wheel braking and no engine braking! Beside the mental two-strokes was a line-up of some special Japanese bikes from the 80s, including a rare Honda CX500 Turbo, flanked on each side by a mint Honda CBX and a special edition Suzuki Katana that was only sold in the United Kingdom and Italy. San Sebastian is a perfect spot for basking in the European summer: Cafe Racer SSpirit with their custom and classic motorcycle collection makes the town that much more enjoyable.

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