The Handbuilt Motorcycle Show Showcases Some of the World’s Coolest Customs

Apr 26, 2017

The Handbuilt Motorcycle Show at the Fair Market in Austin, Texas

The Fair Market in Austin's cool downtown was this year's home for the Handbuilt Show

“Keep Austin Weird” is a phrase that is ubiquitous around the character-filled Texas capital city. It is a slogan that makes the appeal to curb the rampant commercialism that can suck the soul out of a city.

If that’s the goal in Austin, the Handbuilt Motorcycle Show is doing its part to keep the creative soul of the Austin motorcycle scene alive. The annual event celebrates the art of the hand-crafted motorcycle in all of its unique variations. If you are looking for cookie-cutter, mass produced “customs” you’d best look elsewhere.

In the words of the folks at Revival Cycles, the creative force behind the Handbuilt Show, the event is a kind of revolution. It is, in no small measure, an analog revolution.

Jessi Combs and Theresa Contreras with their R nine T custom at the Handbuilt Motorcycle Show

Jessi Combs and Theresa Contreras with their BMW R nine T custom

“As our collective existence slips further into digital abstraction, we at the Handbuilt Motorcycle Show believe something has been lost and it is time to revive the culture of physical craftsmanship,” says Revival Cycles. “Although in today’s modern mass-produced world few young people are taught how to do physical work or are encouraged to embrace a trade, there remains a universal attraction to the beauty that can only be formed by human hands.”

The Handbuilt event showcases some of the world’s most intriguing customs crafted by the most creative builders in the business. The show is a three day event for good reason. One day is not enough time to study, imbibe, and appreciate the treasures that reside in Austin’s Fair Market. The Fair Market provides the perfect ambiance for the show.

The crowd at the Handbuilt Motorcycle Show in Austin, Texas

Organizers tried to moderate attendance by charging admission - no such luck

We caught up with a couple of the featured builders at the Hanbuilt Show, Jessi Combs and Theresa Contreras. Jessi and Theresa are longtime friends of K&N and are the creators of the sensational one-off BMW R nine T that graced the entryway to the Handbuilt Show.

“I get so much inspiration from the truly unique customs that you find at the Austin event,” said Theresa. “Everywhere you look there is something new to appreciate. I love seeing the vision of other builders.”

Colt Wrangler's 1971 Honda CL 175 at the Handbuilt Motorcycle Show in Austin, Texas

Colt Wrangler's 1971 Honda CL 175 is fitted with a KX 100 front fork and wears a K&N air filter

“It’s great to be here,” Jessi said. “It’s such a wonderful demographic – not just café racers, but every kind of custom you can imagine. All of them are so unique and original.”

The organizers decided to charge an admission fee this year in hopes that it would make the crowds more manageable. It didn't work. The event was so popular that the huge venue was at almost perpetual capacity with lines of eager custom motorcycle fans waiting in line for folks to exit and make more room.

Surely you are ready to see some of the hand-built customs that graced the space at the Handbuilt Motorcycle Show. Take note of the sheer number of builders who have trusted the performance and protection of their rolling pieces of art to K&N. Well here you go.