Pier City Collaboration

9 June 2023

Accessories

Pier City Custom is a motorcycle preparation workshop located on the south coast of the UK and created by Rory and Stu, two motorcycle customization enthusiasts. They have a particular passion for BMW motorcycles, and have acquired specialist knowledge in modifying and transforming these iconic bikes. We collaborated with Pier City Custom to create a unique line of clothing, blending our respective universes. Here is a presentation of these 2 guys and their work.

What did push you to create PCC and how did you met you guys ?

Stu and I met through motorcycle racing back in 2013, he was a local rider winning races and I was looking to offer my services to support his racing by attracting new sponsors as a hobby outside of my job as a BMW Motorrad Service Manager. We clicked as friends instantly, and before long we were working together at a BMW Motorrad retailer just as the R nineT was released. We both fell in love with the bike, and saw the R nineT as a way of producing some cool custom bikes and making something unique. The management at the dealership was not interested in our plans, so we decided to start a company making bikes and fabricating parts for other R nineT owners. Within 6 months, we had both quit the dealership in order to concentrate on PCC.

When you do custom bikes, do you have a kind of PCC guideline to respect or it is totally a blank page for the customer? I mean are you trying to impose a PCC style (at least details) on each custom bikes?

I think that over the last couple of years we’re really honed our style with the R nineT machines, you can often spot a PCC bike in a line-up of other custom BMWs, but we’re always keen to try new things, too. A lot of our customers are attracted to us because of our PCC style, so it’s easy to put together a brief that works for us but is also completely unique to the owner. One thing that always allows us to keep every build to a PCC style is our insistence that each bike is built with our moto in mind – Bespoke Build, Factory Finish.

We saw at Bike Shed Show your bike « Marshall » R19 and the amazing details. I guess guys you like music then? what kind of music and is it something important for you in your daily work?

Music is hugely important to us in the workshop, it can often be the thing that helps us drive towards a goal and a deadline. We both had very different individual music tastes when we first started working together, but now there are plenty of mutual records that we listen to that get us singing and dancing. We try not to take ourselves too seriously and the fun we have in the workshop helps to keep us relaxed when we’re in a busy stage of a bike build.

I think you are the first ones to have made a BMW flat track bike (on a RNineT): what was the main defy? and what drives you first: efficiency or design ?

First and foremost, we have always been fans of motorcycle racing and we have always wanted to keep racing part of the DNA that flows through Pier City. Building two Hooligan flat track bikes from the R9T bikes we had sat in the workshop gave us a chance to do something new, something interesting and gave us a chance to go and race each other. We tend to ride more practice days now because we have two new riders in the team who are more able to push the bikes to their limits. Originally, the aim for the bikes was to keep them basic so we could justify racing as a cheap hobby, but the faster the bikes get, the more we’re looking to modify them to be faster and more purposeful.

What is you preferred outfit from Age of Glory for both of you guys?

Rory : “Personally, I like the Mission and the Worker jackets. I love that they can be used as a jacket all year round, not just for riding. I usually pair them up with one of our PCC x AOG collab shirts and the Flat Track baseball caps”.

Stu : “I’m a racer at heart so I love the look of the Rogue and Kingpin leather jackets, they have a subtle classic, cafe racer vibe but with all the modern safety features – they’re damn comfy, too!”

What the words Age of Glory mean to you?

I think that most people would say that it reminds them of the classic age of motorcycles, images such as Steve McQueen blasting through the streets on a Triumph Bonneville and the original rocker meets at the Ace Cafe in London, but we think that the age of glory for the motorcycles that we love is now. It’s an incredible time to be part of the scene where custom motorcycle shows around the world get tens of thousands of like-minded enthusiasts through the doors over a weekend. The scene is very healthy at the moment, long may it continue!