Four Stroke Fever

WORDS + PHOTOS: Kevin Hipp

Roland Sands and Bell helmets held a premiere showing of their new short film _Four Stroke Fever _in mid-July at the Roland Sands Design headquarters in Los Alimitos, California. RSD opened their doors to the shop, the store, and the back lot where the film premiere took place and most of the people hung out.

The store was open to meander through and purchase RSD clothing and motorcycle parts. If you ever find yourself in the Southern California area, it would be worth considering a short visit to his place just to check out his nicely decorated store.

The shop was setup to host the art show and a few of Roland’s custom builds. Skratch (a well-known pin-striper in the Southern California area) had a few art pieces on display, along with work from CR Stecyk, Karl Drehessen, Rodney Aguiar, Steve Fawley, Nick Potash, Matt Wignall, and Roland Sands himself.

An interesting piece that Roland displayed was a fake human skeleton sitting on one of his partially disassembled TZ250 race bikes. Next to it was a display showing nearly all of his broken bones listed out by year, location, what he was riding, and what bone he broke. A picture of him crashing hard on his TZ and a couple of old X-rays added to that, made for an interesting art piece.

Roland had many of his bikes on display, but the one that gained the most attention was his Aermacchi M65 Leggero café racer, with 21-inch wheels, rear disc brake, and a beautiful custom built pipe. The bike still looks like it is a work in progress, so it will be interesting to see how he finishes it off.

Majority of the party-goers spent their time in the back lot where many showed up on bikes ranging from Harley dressers to a Yamaha RD two-stroke. Pabst Blue Ribbon and Peligroso Tequila were the drinks of choice, giving more reason for the crowd to gather in the back.

After the sun had gone down, the projector was turned on and the short film by Matt Wignall was played against the wall of the adjacent building. The film starred Andy Bell, Roland Sands, Ryan Dudek, and Rodney Aguiar. The film didn’t have much dialogue, but the visuals (in a 60’s retro style) was entertaining and the funny twist at the end tied everything together well.

Shortly after, Roland put on a spectacular show of sparks while creating an art piece in front of the crowd. From behind a large rusty sheet of metal, he cut shapes out with a plasma cutter. The showering of sparks made for some great nighttime entertainment.

The raffle supporting the Waves for Water charity finished off the night with some great prizes up for grabs. A few Bell helmets in RSD designs and a really nice jacket were among the top prizes handed out. Regardless of winning a prize or not, everyone seemed to have a fun time hanging out at a great venue.

To view the short film, go to: