Smoked and Uncut - Lime Wood

06 Limewire
There are bikers, and there are Battistini bikers. The
Battistini workshop, in Dorset, builds just a small handful
of custom-made motorcycles each year, and they are truly
distinctive. The phrase “work of art” is often overused,
but in the case of at least one Battistini bike, it is literally correct.
The company was founded in 1990 by Rikki and Dean Battistini,
with the aim of bringing to Europe some of the specialist,
custom-built bikes and parts they had discovered on their trips
to the USA’s West Coast.
Their passion for Californian bespoke creations turned into a
thriving business in Europe, especially in the UK and Italy, and
brother Mark joined as Italian Sales Manager in 1994. A year later,
Dean was tragically killed in a motorbike accident, leading the
remaining two brothers to remodel the business.
Nowadays, Rikki is based in the US, doing the circuit of motorcycle
trade shows and doing business with dealers eager to secure some
of Battistini’s custom-built “bolt-on” accessories – handlegrips, for
example – while Mark looks after the UK business from his
Dorset workshop.
Mark’s main business is selling hard-to-find parts for Harley-
Davidsons and other high-end bikes – he is also starting to sell
some of his brother’s US accessories – and fulfilling orders for
custom-made motorbikes.
Hence the “work of art”. As Mark explains, “we were contacted
by [Turner Prize-winning artist] Grayson Perry, who wanted us
to build him a motorbike. He drew the design, and we built it: it
was a great project to work on. He rode it to Germany and back,
and now it’s insured as a work of art, for £250,000, I think.”
Perry’s bike is, as one look will confirm, unlike any other. An
extraordinary, custom-made bike, based on a Harley-Davidson
Knucklehead and named the “Kenilworth AM1”, it also features a
reliquary – a sort of saintly Wendy house – on the back, specifically
to carry his 50-year old teddy bear, Alan Measles. The stretched
petrol tank, painted in pink and blue, sports the words “Patience”
and “Humility” on either side: not qualities usually associated
with Harley riders. The bike was the star of the show at last year’s
Grayson Perry-curated show at the British Museum, “Tomb of
the Unknown Craftsman”, positioned at the top of the imposing
staircase in the museum’s atrium.
Mark has also built bikes for a variety of corporate clients, including
the Hogs Back Brewery, in Tongham, Surrey. Another Harley-
Davidson, this time a Panhead, the bike also featured a sidecar
seemingly fashioned from a beer barrel. Battistini also built a bike
to promote a show for the now defunct “Men & Motors” channel,
and the royal blue, super-accessorised “Battistini Opex” for an
exhibition comapny of the same name.
How much does it cost to have your own bike custom built by
Battistinis? “Upwards of £80,000,” says Mark, “and you can
spend a lot more than that, depending on what you want.”
And what bike does Mark ride himself? “Well, we used to
have a showroom with about 20 different bikes in it, so I
just used to pick out whichever one I fancied. Now, though,
I mostly ride around on my 125cc Vespa!”
www.battistinisusa.com