Motorcycles and timekeeping have been synonymous since the very earliest sepia-toned two-wheeled gladiators tested their mettle in a bid to be the fastest, travel the furthest or jump the longest. Human nature dictates the constant challenge of fellow man, or woman, and with a lack of dinosaurs about the place survival of the fittest instinct must surely have become manifested in the need to race.
If you follow motor racing of any kind you’ll be familiar with the all important tie between watch brands and the race track. TW Steel are Dutch horologists (using Swiss movements) set on expanding their motorcycling horizons.
“TW Steel has petrol running through their veins and have been totally mad dedicated followers of anything fast, with an engine since the company a decade ago. They started to get involved with the motoring world through F1 sponsorship, working with teams including the Renault F1 Team, the Lotus F1 team, and in 2013 the Force India F1 Team. Like all watch brands they have several ambassadors, however most of theirs tend to be real racing icons, including David Coulthard, Dario Franchetti and on two wheels, Mick Doohan. They also sponsor/ partner the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team and work closely with Valentino Rossi on a signature VR46 watch range. Aside from his they are heavily involved in the Dakar rally.”
“They enjoy this high level of sport activity but find it misses the basic, hands on craftsmanship they enjoy in watch making so having spent some time in the last couple of years hanging out at places like Wheels & Waves they chose to work with Roderick at Numbnut Motorcycles to really show the similarity between the two crafts. Making a single watch and bike in tandem looks like a great way to bring the two together.”
We first met Roderick at Wheels & Waves this summer, well we had to catch him first. The Numbnuts Botafogo Type-N XJR1300 bellowed past us on the way to Punks Peak and we gave chase,thanks to the excess decibels pouring from the open exhaust we got the chance to check the bike out in detail.
This collaboration will be a less racy affair as Bike Shed will be bringing exclusive coverage of the build of both the watch and motorcycle, with the addition of something rather exciting early in 2016. More on that soon…..
For now here’s a sneak peak at what we can expect, with more about the project over on the Son of Time website.
via The Bike Shed
