RSD Articles
Roland Sands designs a scooter
The TMAX is hugely innovative in the scooter world for its use of an aluminum spar frame that mounts the motor amidships, not on the swingarm. But, until now, all that's been hidden under fairly anonymous plastic. Enter Roland Sands... The end result is s...
12 November 2012
Custom: AerMacchi M65 Leggero by RSD
“Yes, she’s a little rough around the edges, but that’s the beauty of it,” describes Roland Sands Design. They found this little bike buried in a scrap yard and decided to fix it up for Born Free. They’ll never admit to it, but the bike is a clever sendup of every bullshit cafe racer ever made. “We ran across this Aermacchi as we were sifting through piles of crashed bikes looking fo...
13 July 2012
Gear: Roland Sands Design Diesel gloves
I’d been hankering after a pair of these since Roland Sands’ new clothing range debuted last October. Drawing design inspiration from performance motorcycle gear, the Diesels (and other pieces in the range) manage an unprecedented trick: making motorcycle function genuinely stylish. Then, when we visited RSD on Tuesday to shoot an upcoming episode of RideApart, I managed to snag a pair. Score...
24 May 2012
Photos: RSD Desmo Tracker
What happens if you take a 197bhp MotoGP replica and turn it into a flat tracker? Well, this happens. It’s Roland Sands’s Desmo Tracker, as the name suggest, a Ducati Desmosedici turned dirty. Last week, we pulled it out of Roland’s Alamitos shop for a little photo session. Photos: Grant Ray According to Roland (who hasn’t ridden it), “it’s a fully functional Dirtrack racer with p...
27 October 2011
Party: Roland Sands Design grand opening
Last Friday, Roland Sands Design marked the grand opening of its new location in Los Alamitos and the launch of its own clothing line with a little party. A black cowboy sung Bob Marley while we stuffed ourselves with free tacos and tequila, admiring the full range of Roland’s custom bikes. Hidden behind the bar was the in-progress Desmo Tracker, a reminder that we were in the home of a madman. ...
26 May 2011