At the 2014 gathering of the One Show, on the second floor of a Portland warehouse packed to the rafters with the nation’s finest custom motorcycles, one bike clearly stood out: a bike known as “The Imposter.” A BMW R NineT project built by controversial Galician collective, El Solitario Motorcycle Club. Attendees were giving it a wide berth; everything about it was different. It was raw, visceral and mechanical; it defied convention and classification. For some onlookers, it defied logic. Some said it looked like a rusting shopping cart. Others called it “the world’s most hated motorcycle.” It defied convention and broke every rule.
In the three years since the Imposter was unleashed at the One Show, David Borras and his crew at El Solitario MC have continued to keep the custom industry on its toes. Their builds are the farthest thing from cookie-cutter. They aren’t looking to cash in on trends and they don’t care if they set any: El Solitario is the true ethos of custom, embodied.
Their latest project is their most ambitious yet. It involved transforming a trio of 600-pound Harley-Davidsons into highly capable desert sleds meant to best 2,500 miles of the Sahara Desert. We chatted with Borras to get his thoughts on the industry and to see what boundaries El Solitario might be pushing next.
Q: What are your thoughts on the custom motorcycle world right now?
A: It bores me to death. But I might know too much and I’m getting grumpy with age — I just wanna ride.
Q: Are there other builders you look to for inspiration or admire?
A: I love what comes out of Michael Woolie’s workshop at Deus Venice. Jeff Wright kicks me in the nuts every now and then, when he finishes a bike. Maxwell Hazan is also very impressive and intriguing.
Q: What inspires your creations?
A: Attitude and life itself.
