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Report Glemseck 101
Report Glemseck 101
Festival for the senses
Bigger, more bizarre and more important than ever: at the beginning of September 2016, the eleventh edition of the Glemseck 101 cult meeting near Leonberg rose. This is a piece of lived anarchy and real motorcycle culture, a meeting of international customizers and a celebration of the motorcycle itself. Essential are the poets of the sprint, real artists on the throttle and clutch.
Thomas Schmieder
09/15/2016
It is the afternoon of the first Saturday in September. A police helicopter circled over thousands of motorcyclists in the clear blue sky. It must be a strong sight from up there, this T-shaped motorcycle meeting on the former Solitude racetrack. The officers in the helicopter enjoy a great overview of miles of queues of parked cars and motorcycles. But also about full tent sites, the stage and the sprint racetrack over the eighth mile at the former start-finish tower, where GP races were still held in the 1960s.
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The Glemseck 101 motorcycle festival in Leonberg is bursting at the seams. So much so that just now one of the virtues of this meeting tips over for a short time: Actually, everyone is allowed to ride their motorcycle through the middle of the crowd. Helmet compulsory? Not here, not at walking pace. Casual, preferably with an open jet helmet, cool leather jacket and classic jeans. But on this overcrowded afternoon, stewards block the driveway for motorbikes. It’s just too crowded. Too many people get inspiration, admire chic motorcycle fashion and daring two-wheelers.
According to Wikipedia, Glemseck 101 is considered to be the “largest cross-brand and cross-brand motorcycle open-air event in Germany”. The eleventh edition leaves no doubt about that in this wonderful late summer of 2016. Seeing and being seen are the order of the day, bizarre to crazy guys on two legs and two wheels are the rule, completely original series machines are the exception.
Whatever you like is allowed. It doesn’t have to go down well with everyone. The main thing is that your own bike isn’t boring. Entry? Free. Experience factor? Terrific. Here you will find the entire spectrum of conversions and self-construction: from the first conversion of nameless lone warriors to world-famous tuning companies. Petrol heads from half of Europe, even from the USA, show what they have put on the wheels in their garages, workshops and workshops, and where the customizer trends are headed.
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Metamorphosis on wheels: bold, long and narrow Jawa twin from Urban Motor in Berlin. If you are beautiful you don’t have to be so fast.
Backyard screwdrivers make driving business cards that show the crème de la crème of the international tuner guild what they can do, like Yamaha’s “Yard Built-Bikes” with very nice interpretations of the MT-07, XJR 1300 and Vmax. Handcraft with passion meets creativity in perfection. A never-ending sequence of ideas cast, chalked and milled in metal. It’s the perfect show of verve and fantasy.
Peter Dannenberg, head of Urban Motor from Berlin, has created a feather-light interpretation of a Jawa twin, see photo. Peter’s credo: “We won’t be the fastest in the sprint – but if you drive slowly, you’ll be seen longer.” And heard, because the Czech two-stroke sounds quite sonorous from the artful, short bends. Jochen Schmitz-Linkweiler, head of the well-known tuning company LSL, is happy about the variety and tolerance: “Everyone treats the other to success and great ideas for great conversions.” No, there is no envy here. Just marvel at so many creative and crazy ideas on every corner, at the trembling, rumbling and pounding.
Even the big manufacturers have embraced this flair, this vibrating and pulsating atmosphere: At the BMW stand, there are above all conversions of all kinds, two-valve and four-valve boxers, but also the study of an elegant excavator based on the K 1600. A BMW R 51/3 from 1952 covered with rust paint is parked in front of it. It was built by 34-year-old Dominik Winklhofer from Bavaria, who applied hydrochloric acid to the paint and chrome of this flat twin. Genius, Enthusiasm or Madness? Definitely good conversation piece!
Not only exhibitors, also visitors bring all kinds of rolling treasures with them, from A for Adler to Z for Zundapp. Engine variety in its purest form with all possible cylinder configurations: singles, in-line and V-engines, installed lengthways and crossways, preferably and mostly air-cooled and sometimes also water-cooled. One, two, three, four, six and eight cylinders (Boss Hoss!). Never seen a rolling replica of the legendary Honda 250cc six-cylinder RC 166 from Mike Hailwood and Jim Redman? No problem, park somewhere in front of one of the many exhibitor tents, but it seems to be private. Ordinary motorcyclists, stylish hipsters and tattooed rockers side by side celebrate the motorcycle cult here for three days.
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Hot nights: motorcyclists from half of Europe give rubber here.
The alpha and omega of Glemseck 101, however, are the many sprint races on Saturday and Sunday over the eighth mile. In the most diverse classes there is a fight, man against man, woman against man or woman against woman. There are many sprint artists here: The Englishman Carl Fogarty is considered the most successful Superbike rider of all time with four world championship titles, and starts here for Triumph on a new Thruxton R, only with supercharging. One of the fastest women in the world is Maria Costello, Member of the British Empire. The Briton drives TT regularly. Successful.
It is there, on the Isle of Man, that Conor Cummins is at home. Here and now he sprints on a replica of Freddie Spencer’s superbike. It doesn’t matter who starts, it’s a wild chase, with cafe racers, 50s (“Fireflies”), machines with rigid frames (“StarrWars”) or the International Sprint, which is now recognized worldwide – the principle is always the same. First, the Start Girl makes eye contact with both protagonists. If it then jumps in the air and lowers the checkered flag, it counts.
Then you have to be fully focused. Is the speed correct? Coupling at the grinding point? Anyone who reacts a fraction of a second too late has usually already lost, but an early start leads to the race being repeated. The rear wheel shouldn’t spin, the front wheel shouldn’t rise too much. Even upshifting without the clutch needs to be practiced. From the outside everything looks easier than it is. A real challenge for dozens of drivers on sometimes daring, often really powerful machines. In 2016, many hot ladies also look good when it comes to driving.
Josef struggles to get the allegedly more than 200 hp of his Moto Guzzi with nitrous oxide injection onto the road; the clutch smokes. This long monster was built by V2 enthusiast Stefan Bronold of Radical Guzzi for the “Sultans of Sprint”. Anyone who does not find a seat in the grandstand long before the start of the event has no chance of a seat. Video transmission to screens is little consolation. This event is becoming more and more international, many nations celebrate and drive together. As in the sprint class, in which five French and German drivers compete together as a team “against the rest of the world”.
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Hot flat iron: Harley torch with two V2 motors connected in series.
Ultimately, this is an overkill of sensory impressions: not even those who are there from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening can see everything, hear everything. The Leonberger Nights are long, in the evenings there is rockabilly (hairdressers and barbers are on site for the right style!), Live music from the DJ and rock music until the early hours of the morning. On Sunday shortly before the end the sky opens its locks, the MO-Classic Racer-Sprint is canceled at short notice. The eleventh Glemseck 101 goes down a little abruptly in the pouring rain. A shame for everyone who still has to go home on two wheels or dismantle their stands.
But we’ll all see each other again – on the first weekend in September 2017 in Leonberg. And on Saturday, October 8th, 2016 at INTERMOT in Cologne: Then the second runs of the sprint races in the “Essenza” class will start: 16 pure, reduced-to-the-essentials, eleven of which were commissioned by motorcycle manufacturers – as minimalist as possible with two cylinders up to 1200 cubic. On the Glemseck, Triumph driver Carl Fogarty won against the Italian Francesca Gasperi on the green Kawasaki “Underdog”, a 90 hp Vulcan S conversion. In Cologne, both results will be added up and offset against the design evaluation via internet voting and an expert jury. The spirit of Glemseck 101 lives on intensely.
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