I decided to walk up to Newmarket, as it didn't look to far, and also by walking a city you get more of a feel for it. On the way I wanted to drop into a coffee (and coffee related paraphernalia) store that had been recommended to me. It was on the route, and would mean I could get my full on caffeine fix the following morning.
Unfortunately the caffeine gods weren't smiling on me that day, as I found the store tucked away in trendy Parnell, only to see that it closes at 3:30 each day.
You would have thought with all that coffee around them they'd never close as they'd never be able to sleep. There'll be other days to get up there, it's not like I'm short on time.
I made it up to Doug's bar, although as I'll explain, bar isn't quite the right word for it.
The York St. Mechanics, is a wondrous place. Tucked away on a little side street in Newmarket, Auckland in a busy retail and commercial area, it's an oasis of cool and craftsmanship.
The place is a bar and restaurant, but it's also a custom bike build shop, workshop, showroom and at weekends a sometime place of inspiration for kids.
The outside facia is discreet but gives a rather large clue as to what's inside, in the shape of a classic racing Triton in the window. Where it lives in between being fettled and being raced by the owner Doug.
After leaving drool marks on the front window, I went in and was instantly in love with the place. Warm dark woods dominated the construction, through a tables and stools opposite a counter surrounded by motorcycles in various states of construction, past the large open wood fire with it's big comfy leather chairs, to the restaurant area, where candle lit tables were intertwined with custom Triumphs, single cylinder one off cafe racers, flatrackers and a big tough looking BMW on a plinth, and a big JAP engine sat in a glass case, waiting to become the heart of their next project.
The BMW, I would find out later, had an extra special meaning for Doug.
The staff were really welcoming, and it struck me that there wasn't any air of pretentiousness to the place. After having been in some other boutique bars and bike stores, I was happily surprised and relaxed by this. Kei, pronounced K, but you can call him K, bought my beer over and stopped to have a chat about where I was from, how did I like NZ, what did I think of the bar and the bikes, and introduced me to one of their customers who'd lived in the UK for quite a while.
We sat and talked old bikes, new bikes, where the good bike meets are, the pity that I'd missed a great classic bike show by one week, and the great roads to ride, and our favourites from back home.
Again, the people I've met so far over here, are so generous of heart and spirit. It's amazes me every day.
Richard, was joined by his business partner, also Richard, just two dicks as they put it, and we shared a beer or two over more tales and laughs, I came very close to buying an old BMW as well, but I'll come back to that another time.
Doug arrived and gave me a hearty handshake, and made sure I had a beer while he sorted a few things. Then joined the Richards and myself for a drink, and to answer the questions I had on Shed 5 & the York St. Mechanics.
Where to begin? The stories, and passion Doug has for his business, for life and for adventure was inspirational.
He started Shed 5 along with the guys from Deus, but soon went it alone, reopening as Shed 5 last year. From there he wanted to build custom bikes, fabricate parts and accessories and wrap it all up in a location that was unique, cool and welcoming. With the success of Shed 5, Doug then opened up York St. Mechanics to fully realise his vision.
The workshop is central to the building, and you can sit and eat while watching craftsmen go about their business, or just gaze at one of the bikes in the bar while sipping on a drink.
If you do gaze at the aforementioned BMW, then it's worth knowing its story.
A couple of years ago, with Dougs son turning twelve, he asked him what he would like to do for his birthday. Dougs son asked to build a bike with him.
The bike they chose was an old BMW, a $300 fix me up, that truly did need some tlc.
Over time, and over weekends Doug and his son rebuilt the bike to their own spec. This in itself is a wonderful story of father and son bonding, but for Doug and his son it was only the beginning.
When the bike was ready, they shipped it, and themselves to Africa. To tour and explore together on the bike they built. I sat with Doug as he pulled up some pictures from the trip, and I can't do justice to what he showed me, but if you look on their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/York-Street-Mechanics/159105500855993
When they returned from the adventure, Doug's sons headmaster at school thought the whole adventure was so good for Father and Son's to bond, that they set up a competition for the kids to come up with designs for a bike, in groups of five, even if it couldn't be built, and to do this with their fathers.
The design & 'team' that was chosen, would then come to the workshop and complete the designs and help with the build.
This has been such a success that now at weekends, they have the kids in, with not just their fathers, but sometimes their mothers or uncles to create and design together. The craftsmen in the workshop show them what and how to do things, and let them get their hands dirty.
With all of this, I really feel that Doug, and his crew will inspire and fire the imaginations of these kids, and maybe in the process bring a few families closer together.
There's more tales I could tell from that night, such as Doug and his wife Liz's plan to ride classics they're preparing across Russia, and as many Stans as they can, or how they've ridden across seas of dunes on near road bikes, but for now, all I can say is I was inspired by the warmth and passion of Doug, Liz, the two Richards, Kei and all the people I met there that night.
BM and her friend Brian joined us later on, and after Doug had left (on an old BSA of course), we whiled away some time on the big sofas by the open fire.
The most perfect end, to the most unusually perfect day..... So far!
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