DESERT WOLVES
Kriega has been involved in a handful of collaborations over the years. The one we might think of most often is the part we played in El Solitario’s Desert Wolves project, and that’s because of the Saharan Roadsters is in our design office.
El Solitario, from Galicia, Northern Spain, made a name for themselves building radical custom bikes before pivoting to become a bike-centric, high-end apparel company. Their Desert Wolves project, undertaken in 2016-17, straddled the two. We caught up with El Solitario’s founder, David Borras to remind ourselves of plan.
‘It was a multi-sided collaboration between genuine brands to design and produce the necessary vehicles, garments and artifacts for an epic outdoor motorcycle adventure,’ says David, ‘At El Sol we have an authority problem, can’t deny it, and the intensification of controls and idiot laws concerning the use and modification of [road] motorcycles have made us desire that we were turned on by football or table tennis. Unfortunately, we breathe and love motorcycles so turning towards off-road felt good. Freedom and self-reliance instead of traffic lights and parking laws? Deal!’
You will have noticed that El Solitario set off into Morocco’s Sahara on modified Harley-Davidson 1200 Roadsters (part of the Sportster range). ‘Anybody could do it on a KTM, so it is not that interesting as it's way less adventurous,’ says David, ‘Plus, at El Solitario we don’t find a better instigator to make things happen than to be told that something couldn't be done.’
The trio of Milwaukee twins underwent identical treatments. The most sensible was the custom-made Öhlins suspension. El Solitario enlisted the expertise of Juan Martinez, head of suspension specialists MHS-Andreani, and Nicky Hayden’s former MotoGP crew chief. He employed ‘a crazy mix’ of components, to make Frankenstein’s Monster TTX units that would deal with the punishment these heavyweights rained down on their suspension, while also raising them from belly-scraping cruisers, to long-legged ADVs. Or, in David’s words, ‘The work of Öhlins Racing was astonishing and empowered us to survive nine days pinned in the desert on these fat bitches.’
An altogether less obvious choice was to fit 19in wheels and dirt track racing rubber, rather than dual-sport or enduro wheels and tyres.
‘It was done to be able to register the bikes in the [flat track] Hooligan racing class, after the desert, and because bikes look so sexy on 19s,’ says David. They weren’t sure how the Dunlop DT3s would perform in the desert on such heavy machines. Dunlop didn’t know either, because no one had ever tried it. And the tyres aren’t even road legal. In the end, El Solitario convinced Dunlop to support the project after showing them what another Kriega collaborator, Roland Sands Designs, was doing with heavy hooligan Indians fitted with the same tyres.
‘They accepted reluctantly but urged us to take a lot of spares. We took 16 tyres on the roof of the van! It was awesome. The Moroccan customs officials thought we were going to start a commercial tyre operation.’
In the end, after almost 4000kms of mixed terrain, the wolves only changed one tyre and that was towards the end of the trip. ‘It was after I landed on a rock at more than 100kph and broke the lip of the rear wheel. We had to repair the rim, so we fit a new tyre at the same time,’ David remembers
It didn’t take long for the El Solitario crew to reach the conclusion the inappropriate tyres were, in fact, the ideal choice for the trip. ‘We all realised how lucky we had been with what seemed a risky choice at first. If we had opted for more appropriate tyres, we would have tripled the grip and consequently tripled the crashing rates, too!’
Kriega’s involvement came from El Solitario’s commitment to the theory of Gesamtkunstwerk, which translates to a Total Work Of Art. According to David it comes from the architectural world and describes when an architect is responsible for the design and/or overseeing of a building's totality: exterior, interior, accessories, furnishings, and landscape.
‘I always loved and identified with the way Kriega designed their products and also their aesthetic approach to everything they release,’ says David. ‘That dark, lightweight and tough vibe seduced me from day one. I am a fan!’
Kriega created three sets of exclusive panniers using wonder material Dyneema, another partner in the Desert Wolves project. Dyneema is a polyethylene-based material, described by the manufacturers as ‘the world’s strongest fibre’.
‘Jointly we developed a special collection of bags, that were 15 times stronger than steel and 30% lighter than nylon, to endure the harshest conditions that we were going to encounter and still satisfy the most demanding aesthetes,’ says David. ‘We understand that science and progress are the real drivers of humanity, but there are already too many bright brains enrolled in these activities. We are more interested in the exaltation of radness.’
Asked what El Solitario learned from the whole experience David laughs. ‘We hijacked the covers of the most prestigious motorcycle editorials in the world and made us realise that anything was possible. Ten years before, or even nowadays this feat would be impossible, but in 2017, young and creative riders, with our often-vandalised machines, flicked our middle finger at the motorcycle establishment, and guess what? We won! Major motorcycle manufacturers paid attention and followed our lead.’
See our El Solitario Desert Wolves Roadster on display at the Bike Shed Show, Tobacco Dock, London, 24-26 May 2024
See more El Solitario at: elsolitariomc.com
Photos: Gonzalo Arroyo/El Solitario MC