Two wheels better: Customising classic, rare and vintage models at France's biggest motorbike showsh

Euronews

17-02-2025

The French city of Lyon is now firmly established as home to 'Salon du 2 Roues', Europe's second largest motorbike trade fair.
It's an enormous opportunity for fans of all the world's two-wheelers to gather to inspect, try or buy old, rare, unique engines and new products from more than 800 exhibitors from across Europe and beyond.
In addition, the show offers an immersive experience with various themed displays, highlighting unique motorcycles, rare models, and stories of riders that span generations.
Kustom Kulture
Lyon Kustom Factory is a big draw for many visitors - showing off scores of choppers, bobbers, café racers and other classic models, all reimagined and rebuilt as labours of love for collectors.
Stéphane Grand is a European champion of bike building and makes his living by refashioning and reworking vintage machines.
"When it comes to buying, there are different types of people. It's not just one type of person, but it depends on the bike and the hours I put into it which will make it more expensive than others," he explained to Euronews Culture. "There are bikes that I put 3,000 hours of work into. And then it's considered art, like a painting. It's a bike that starts, that runs, but it's really meant for a show or an exhibition or for advertising or things like that. So it's a slightly different clientele, but one with means."
Some attend the show simply to spread and share information about living legends. France's Works Trials Bikes Owners Group aims to preserve and protect the history of former glories.
For the group's second appearance at 'le salon' they decided to dedicate their show to Sammy Miller, the British multiple trial and road race champion.
Jean Caillou from Works Trials Bikes Owners Group says their goal is to give the public and historians an exclusive window into exceptional people and their models, and this represented a unique chance to gather many of Miller's bikes under one roof.
"They are all very special. We have, Honda prototypes with frames made and conceived by Sammy Miller. We have a Bultaco with all the parts, that were available in his catalogue," Caillou says. "I'm wearing a Sammy Miller, suit designed for trials, which were very successful as well. And the Ariel is well known in the world of motorcycling because it won so many events, including the Scottish Six Days, including British titles."
BSA is back
The iconic British brand BSA, now in French hands, is looking to recement its place back on the market, after a more than 50-year hiatus.
Its models remain a firm favourite among older nostalgia seekers eager to relive their youth but the firm says it's also increasingly attracting a younger audience.
Emmanuel Charveron, head of BSA Europe told Euronews Culture that BSA is younger people are looking to bigger motorcycles to boost their mobility and have a completely new type of experience: "You don't need the same mobility but people still need to have some fun actually on a two wheeler. And we have some young people coming to authentique motorcycles because it's not boring, it's different."
Sisters doing it for themselves
Ask anyone who's put on the leathers or goretex for a ride - the speed, the sights, the sounds all swiftly becoming intoxicating.
That was very much the case for Wildust Sister creator Charlotte Séjourné. She began her motorbike clothing and lifestyle brand after passing her test and then failing to find anything on the market to her liking.
Séjourné, who is based in Bordeaux, says the main motivation is to give women more clothing options when they take to the open road, compared to traditional outfits which are usually tailored for men only.
"The idea is that through the brand, beyond selling products, it's to actually inspire, to give more and more role models and to show girls who ride, who take up motorcycling, who engage in different adventures, who dare in fact," says Séjourné. "I think there's a real message there about being brave, trying it out and wanting to do it. When you see girls who look like you, who are able to wear clothes that aren't too ugly or too over the top, it makes you want to do it."