The Outlier’s Guild Custom Motorcycle Show is a celebration of custom bikes from Southern California. It came about three years ago as a response to similar shows in Austin and Portland that featured local customizers in those cities. LA didn’t have a show like that, and organizers felt LA was ready. Three years in, LA is still enjoying the show.
Known informally as the OG Moto Show, it returned to The Container Yard, an artistic enclave and show space in the industrial area east of downtown. This year there were 150 motorcycles and 4,000 people ogling them over three days.
“This year we have more vendors, more bikes and more featured builders,” said John Pangilinan, one of four founders and organizers of the event. “Our purpose is to show bikes that haven’t been seen before.”
While a lot of motorcycle shows feature Harley-Davidson customs, and the OG Show accepts those, too, the focus is more diverse, specifically: café racers, bobbers, classics, scramblers, old school choppers, trackers, modern choppers and full customs. Each bike is hand-selected by the organizers.
“It’s a creative outlet,” Pangilinan said. “Also, to plant a flag for LA.”
As in the first two shows, there’s more going on than just parking cool bikes in an avant garde setting. There are a number of artists on hand, as well, displaying their creations. The poster for the show was done by artist and motorcyclist Tom Pajdlhauser, aka Capt. Tom to everyone who knows him. Is he a full-time artist?
“#$%& no!” he said.
He lives in Ottawa and does graphic design, as well as animation art for Nickelodeon, just long enough to head out on another motorcycle journey. He’s been to India, Istanbul, Vietnam and seemingly everywhere in between.
“I ride and I paint and sketch,” he said. “Everything else is waiting for the snow to melt.”
At the OG Show, he had a splendid display of art he drew while riding an Africa Twin through Colorado and Utah last August. He does detailed line drawings, then splotches on just the right shade of watercolor to bring them to life. If I were a Medici, I’d buy them all. Check out captaintom.studio and support an artist.
There was even a “world debut.” Kawasaki had already shown its new W800 café bike, but the OG Show coincided with the bike’s arrival in showrooms — so Kawasaki staffers did an unveiling at the Friday night VIP preview. It added the perfect flair to the show.
“We attended last year’s show and after seeing the environment, the vibe, the builders, we thought it would be the perfect platform for the reveal,” said Kawasaki spokesman Ken Essex. Other motomakers should take note.
Indian and Royal Enfield were also on hand with motorcycle displays. Bell helmets, Alpinestars, The House of Machines and a firm called Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys were there, too.
Roland Sands Designs once again brought a very cool item of art, as it has every year. At the first show, RSD created a diorama of motorcycle racers negotiating a turn, with some riders faring better than others. Last year they had a clash of biker generations with scarily lifelike mannequins. This year featured what at first looked like a bunch of motorcycle parts hanging randomly from the ceiling. But when you walked around to the other side and looked at it all from a certain angle, the whole thing became a complete motorcycle. That Roland Sands is pretty smart.
Other participating builders included: Shinya Kimura of Chabott Engineering, Maxwell Hazan of Hazan Motorworks, Mitsuhiro Kiyonaga of Kiyo's Garage, Dustin Kott of Kott Motorcycles, Justin Webster, Michael LaFountain of Raccia Motorcycles, Cristian Sosa of Sosa Metalworks, Hugo Eccles of Untitled Motorcycles and Michael Woolaway “Woolie’s Workshop” of Deus ex Machina in nearby Venice, California.
New this year was the OG Moto Showcase presented by The Mighty Motor featuring interviews with builders and brands from the show. Add in food trucks, beer vendors and enough T-shirts to clothe a biker army, and you have the OG Moto Show. There were even free haircuts from Service and Supply barbershop. Looking forward to No. 4 next year. In the meantime, keep riding!
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