Appeared in Cafe Racer Magazine's August/September 2021 issue.

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BY ANTHONY CONROY, Cafe Racer Magazine

 

On a future, yet-to-be-determined date, millions of miles away, two astronauts will be sitting atop two-wheeled adventure rovers, racing side by side from one outpost to another and raising hell across the surface of Mars.

 

If that one giant leap for hooliganism actually happens, you may have Paul d’Orleans to thank for it.

 

In motorcycle industry circles, Paul is known for his encyclopedic knowledge of vintage rides, cafe racers, eccentric fashion sense and the way he applies a creative eye to everything. 

 

He’s a Renaissance man, whose fingerprints cover the vintage and cafe racer scenes like cobwebs on a pre-war garage find, and his work — especially through his website, The Vintagent — has helped define how motorcyling, art, culture and film intersect. To be where he his now, however, the 58-year-old can trace a line back nearly 40 years, to a time not long after he left — escaped, he says — his hometown of Stockton, Calif.

 

And to a stack of magazines. 

 

It was 1984, and Paul was making anarchist and punk posters on a multilith printing press. His friend and business partner, Jim Gilman, did something that helped change Paul’s life.

 

“Jim had the old-bike virus, and every issue of Classic Bike and Classic Motorcyle magazines,” Paul says, “but he was super conflicted between his ideals of non-attachment to material objects and his obsession with motorcycles. One day, he gave me all his magazines, which was like giving me a bucket of crack cocaine, a pipe, and a match. I was hooked for life.”

 

It didn’t take Paul long to buy his first vintage motorcycle, a 1960 BMW R60. “Pretty soon, I started buying whatever I was interested in. And I was really interested in rocker culture — British rocker culture. It all fit.”

 

Later, his books would hit home in a big way. “Cafe Racers” and “Ton Up!” capture the essence of the segment. “… Obviously I think there’s something special about the people who are into fast motorcycles, and the bikes themselves,” he says. “I was a hard-core cafe racer rider for many years, starting with a 1966 Norton Atlas with Ace bars. That soon got upgraded to a ’66 Velocette Thruxton that became my daily ride and go-to bike for years.”

 

Paul, who now lives in San Francisco, says his most frequently ridden motorcycles are his ’65 Triumph Bonneville, a 1960 Velocette Clubman, and a ’64 Honda CL72 “that lives in Mexico.” They’re just a few among the many in his stable. “I used to own a whole lot more bikes, and would actually like to own fewer machines, but I probably have fingers I hardly use, too. Or toes. You get the idea.”

 

A NEW CAREER

 

The Vintagent (thevintagent.com) began a major chapter in Paul’s life and lit new avenues for him to explore. The Vintagent started as a blog in 2006, but has since grown to be a go-to behemoth for the vintage rider and racer scenes and motorcycle culture in general. Along with a heavy social media presence, the site includes stories, essays, photos, art, fashion tips, and movies. Of course, the site also links its audience to Paul’s impressive number of projects, including what’s sure to be — even by his standards — the most out-of-this-world: curation of an adventure bike exhibit called “ADV: Overland.”

 

ADV: Overland, scheduled to open on July 11, will be shown at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Included in the exhibit will be a vehicle designed to transport astronauts on Mars.

 

“This exhibit is going to blow everyone’s doors off,” Paul says, adding that the exhibit will include an “original-paint-dirty” 1920s (round-the-world) bike, a factory Paris-Dakar rally bike, and the Harley-Davidson Livewires ridden by pals Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in the documentary “Long Way Up.”

 

“But we’re also working with actual space agencies and custom builders to make a functional prototype of a Mars rover motorcycle! We’ll have some Moon/Mars four-wheel models and prototypes, too,” he says. “It will be the only place on planet Earth you will see an off-world two-wheeler. OMFG, is that awesome? Am I excited? If we build two, can we race them in zero-gravity? Cafe racers in space!”

 

The exhibit is a world away from how Paul’s career got started. After he studied art and environmental design at UC Santa Cruz, he worked for 25 years in decorative arts as a contractor, painting murals and doing specialist interior finishes. Then he launched The Vintagent. “It was my first old-bike blog, and got traction pretty quickly.”

 

Eventually, it caught the attention of Cycle World magazine, where he is now its Custom & Style editor, and his new career really began to click.

 

“I was already traveling the world to buy interesting machines: Britain, Europe, Australia, South America, finiding Brough Superior SS100s and a supercharged record-breaker 1925 Zenith 1600cc V-Twin — crazy good stuff. It was a fun period, working hard, raising a kid … .”

 

But in 2009, Paul says he was thrown a “magical hand grenade called divorce,” which forced changes and challenges.

 

“My domestic life exploded, the same year my daughter started (going to college), he says, “so I threw up my hands, found my employees other jobs and moved to Paris to concentrate on writing and making The Vintagent work as a business. I couldn’t paint houses in France. My income dropped 70%, but I committed myself regardless. And here I am.”

 

As The Vintagent gained more steam and his career began to flourish, Paul continued to raise the bar with the website.

 

“The Vintagent needs to be the most independent, intelligent, and insightful moto media outlet anywhere,” he says. “It’s a tough standard, and we’re still working towards it. We need to tell the stories nobody else is telling, or if talking about same stuff, keeping a totally different point of view.”

 

MOVING FORWARD, BECOMING AN EXPERT

 

As Paul’s knowledge of the subject matter increased and reached a kind of critical mass, his time and expertise became sought after.

 

“There’s not another person on the planet that has what Paul has. That’s a fact,” says Sasha Tcherevkoff, who has partnered with Paul on several projects and is producing the ADV: Overland exhibit. “He is a walking, talking machine when it comes to facts. And someone who can take history and really apply it to current day social issues, fiscal issues, and business issues and really see the whole picture. There is nobody else that even comes close.”

 

Recently, Paul added his insight to a section of “The Riders,” a book by Argentinian photographer Henry von Wartenberg released in mid-April. While Paul’s photos weren’t a part of the book, photography has become another outlet for his creativity. Using a vintage bellows camera, Paul shoots tintypes using a wet-plate process, a mid- to late- 19th century photographic process. Professional photographer Susan McLaughlin — and “my main squeeze,” Paul says — got him interested in the subject, and they’ve since documented Cannonball races, scenes in Mexico and the people and landscapes they encounter along their journeys. Their photos can be seen at their site MotoTintype.com.

 

Several years ago, Mecum Auctions realized that Paul’s ability to speak in depth about some of the world’s rarest and most obscure motorcycles made him an asset to their television broadcasts.

 

“… There's nobody out there with the knowledge and insight and the ability to express himself like Paul,” says Kraman, Mecum’s lead television commentator. “He has charisma and charm, and it’s those extra sparkles that really separates himself from other people who claim to know about motorcycles. He takes it to a completely different level. 

 

“No one hits all the bases as flawlessly as Paul.”

 

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s motorcycle auction in Las Vegas, which featured 1,750 bikes, was held April 29 to May1 and wasn’t televised. Paul missed the show but excited about the lineup.

 

“(At this year’s show) there are two Crockers, some Brough Superiors, a collection of every iteration of the Knucklehead, super cool 1980s sportbikes, super rarities, American antiques, the lot,” he says. I love going to Vegas just to see the bikes, and the people from all over the world.”

 

And they’re just as happy to see Paul. When the show goes off the air, Kraman says people line up to talk to Paul. “He’s well known and so well-connected. … From the comments we receive and the emails that I see and hande, the feedback we get about Paul is 100% positive, and that’s not always the case with everyone. That's pretty amazing.”

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Kraman says he and Hoke are limited when it comes to bikes — they’re the car guys, he says — so Paul’s heavy-lifting and analysis adds an extra air of authority.

 

“Whether it be cars or motorycles, the volume of vehicles we deal with on the show doesn't allow us to study in advance,” Kraman says. “Either you know it or you don’t. If you don't, and you try to fake it, it's immediately picked up by the audience, the people at the show and the other guys in the booth. It's incredible that's he's able to come in, and see the history about a manufacturer, an owner, a motorycle no one's even heard of, and he can tell you about when it was made, when the company was founded and why it's still important today. It gives our show an incredible amount of credibiltiy.”

 

That credibility — and personality — makes Paul a perfect fit to emcee the annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Monterey, Calif. With his friend Gordon McCall, president and CEO of McCall Events and organizer of the annual gathering, Paul can work the crowd and talk bikes. This year’s Gathering also was canceled because of Covid.

 

“At the Quail Gathering, he adds a colorful voice and a knowledgeable voice,” McCall says. “Paul helps bring in folks that aren’t show-oriented, or would prefer to keep to themselves, as far as not exhibiting their bikes. He convinces them that it’s OK to be part of a mainstream event. He knows interesting bikes, but he’s interested in the people.”

 

It’s how Paul goes about sharing his expertise that makes him different, McCall says. Pundits sometimes come across as pretentious, while Paul remains relatable. “Paul so often is a breath of fresh air,” McCall says. “Sometimes, experts in their field tend to be officious. Not Paul. He’s the perfect storyteller.”

 

Of course, having a vision is one thing. Being able to bring that vision to the community — where it can make a real difference — is another. A few years ago, Paul met Tcherevkoff during a motorcycle film festival in New York. Together, they made The Vintagent more robust and co-founded the Motorcycle Arts Foundation, a non-profit that Paul says has “crazy big dreams.”

 

“Being a non-profit helps us make deals with both corporations and institutions like museums,” he says. “We are not a threat to anyone — just doing cool shit.”

 

One of the MAF’s aims, Tcherevkoff said, will be telling stories — especially on film — that haven’t been told. The MAF also allows the two of them to give sonething to the community. “It was a way to formalize” that process, Tchervkoff said. After he met Paul, Tcherevkoff said it was important to create a non-commercial entity, one based “not on a fiscal return, but a social one. And we started to do all the things I had hoped we could do, and more. And there’s still more to do and a long way to go.”

 

Despite all the projects, much of Paul’s universe still centers on vintage bikes, and when it comes to vintage bikes, he is likely the smartest guy in the room. That’s worth appreciating, Kraman says, when it’s “just hour after hour of guys sitting around talking cars and motorcycles.”

 

“With so many people that are experts or think that they are, it's easy to make mistakes and say something that's not entirely factual,” Kraman says. “But with Paul, he knows the subject inside and out. We know that anything he says, we don't need to challenge it. Even if it sounds a little fishy, I’ll defer to him.”

 

After Paul joined the Mecum crew, Kraman said he immediately livened things up.

 

“His uniquness extends even to the way he presents himself and dresses and how he does his hair,” Kraman says. “It all makes a statement, an indvidiual statement. You say to yourself, ‘This guy is something special.’ He's not the average guy.”

 

That was something McCall, a vintage car guy, figured out right away when he first met Paul met at a Bonham’s auction at the Petersen Museum.

 

“If you took us both a face value, you’d think our paths would never cross,” McCall says. “I fall into that button-down category. But Paul, he’ll have on his glow-in-the-dark shoes and some interesting get-ups. Still, we clicked from day one.”

 

The friendship — Paul calls McCall his “guardian angel” — has endured, and Paul credits McCall with arranging his current relationship with the Petersen Museum, which didn’t have a motorycle expert on staff. Since then, Paul has curated the exhibits “Custom Revolution” and “Electric Revolution.” 

 

AN EYE ON THE FUTURE

 

Electric Revolution, another exhibit produced by Tcherevkoff and the MAF, featured electric-only motorycles. So how exactly does a vintage bike expert end up curating an exhibit for what many expect to spell the end of the internal-combustion engine? 

 

Before we answer that, Paul would first like to make something clear about his general love for vintage things: “I’m not a reenactor. I’m not trying to recreate old lifestyles,” he says. “I like how (vintage products) look to me today. I like how they ride to me today. I like how they perform for me today. I’m not trying to live in 1920. But I love the aesthetics of these things.”

 

In other words, his love for vintage rides is a preference but not a requisite. There are parallels to today’s development of electric vehicles and the boom that followed the invention of the internal-combustion engine.

 

“I shifted The Vintagent to include reporting on EVs in 2016 because it was obvious this was the hottest race for technical development of motorcycles since 1903,” he says. “And nobody was writing about it — at least not the mainstream motorcycle press. It seemed wide open and obvious to report on the scene.”

 

The Vintagent now includes a section called “The Current,” which is devoted to coverage of electric bikes and technology. Despite the growing popularity of EVs, however, Paul says he has concerns about the new frontier of electrics that has nothing to do with speed and range, but rather corruption and exploitation.

 

“I haven’t fully embraced EVs,” he says. “I don’t own one now, but I was on the verge of an Alta (Alta Motors, which has since closed), and am now considering a CAKE as an urban runaround,” he says. “E-bikes have their positive points, and their negative points.  I’m not talking about range — using range as an excuse to trash E-bikes is idiotic; for now they’re urban. I’m talking about the extraction of natural resources like lithium and other rare minerals. Not only will mining them screw up the environment in brand new ways, they’re a geopolitical game changer.

 

“China figured out 20 years ago that the world would need these minerals, and started buying up extraction rights in South America and Africa, where these rights were cheap, and it’s politically possible to ravage whole landscapes for profit, because of corruption. Extraction is ugly, and we ignore it unless there’s a new pipeline being laid in our backyard. But more importantly, there’s literally not enough lithium on the planet to switch over to all electric everything right now: we need new battery technology, fast, but it hasn’t arrived yet.”

 

Once it does, he says, it will be here to stay. To skeptical older riders, he says, “keep riding your bagger. Older riders will no longer be riding in 2035 when Ford stops making V8s and goes electric. Younger riders will adopt electric bikes, because they’re fun, they’re quiet, and they don’t carry the psychic baggage of ‘The Wild One.’ ”

 

In “Ton Up!,” Paul tells a story from 1867 in which an anonymous writer talked about the thrill of riding the first pedal-cycles downhill at 30mph. The author called it “akin to flying.”

 

“That’s the cafe racer spirit in a nutshell,” Paul says, “before a motor was attached to a bicycle, and all hell broke loose.”

 

If that’s the case, maybe electric vehicles — despite they’re lack of smoke, oil and decibels — aren’t too different after all.

 

“Hurtling through space under the delicate control of your right wrist is magic,” he says. “Do you need noise with that?  It adds flavor to the experience, for sure, but every time I hit the top of a big mountain pass I shut off my motor for an engines-off race. Always have. That’s fun, too. What if that was every ride?”

 

While he looks for the perfect ride and waits for his chance to zoom around Mars — well, hopes others get to do it — Paul says he’ll continue finding ways to surround himself with people “better at their jobs than I could ever be.”

 

“Working with like-minded folks to do cool projects is a total superpower situation,” he says. “Ideas you didn’t think of become important and add to a rich sense of purpose, and the things that pop into your head as you’re falling asleep actually become reality. It’s amazing.”