Wheels&Stones is fast becoming one of the to-do events on the custom bike scene.
Situated on the Guedersbergerstr L132 just outside St Wendel in the Saar area of Germany, this is also famed as the Sculpture Route, running from Spain to Moscow, and dotted with sculptural pieces from international artists in the name of peace.
The peace is transformed into a pleasant mayhem for a weekend, with a crowd in excess of 10,000 arriving from all over Europe for one thing: motorcycles.
The campsites are full, the tents offer wares from the small dealers to the factories. The Stage is an ongoing place for live music and showcases of riders and bikes and foodstalls offer a variety of fine food and drink. I’m there, invited by Wheels&Stones team leader Thom David, to soak up the sights and sounds and to take part in the Club of Stones Show Run on the closed road.
On stage with Thom on the Saturday he just gave me the microphone, so I told the crowds a little about the bike and where I come from. It seems my German is still up to scratch.
Mum asked what I had said that got the crowd laughing so much. ‘We’ve got no room for straight roads on our small island so all we can do is accelerate, brake, corner, accelerate, brake, corner, accelerate, brake, corner!’
There were three runs. The ‘Private Club’ bikes, mostly locals, were high-powered bikes which made lots of noise and some painted black lines along the track. The crowds lined the whole of the eighth-of-a-mile course, cheering each rider as they accelerated up, before turning to ride back down.
The ‘Dealers Club’ runs featured the big factory-supported bikes and included some of the ‘Sultans of Sprint’ series that I had encountered in Monza.
The ‘Club of Stones’ was for the invited bikes, each a special creation in its own right. I had to smoke the rear tyre, making some noise and shot off up the straight. Not at full power, as part of my fun was to give the spectators something to look at. Tronti was running like a dream, sounding crisp and quintessentially Triumph. All in all we had a great time, the feeling of being one of 16 who had been asked very pleasant, and an entree into a select club, bound by the same passion.
