Roland Sands Design is a motorcycle, product and apparel company that has its roots in racing, custom bike building and design. RSD’s inspiration comes from a high performance background, and many of the staff are active racers—including off-road, dirt track and supermoto riders.
Sands himself is from Long Beach, California, and grew up in a family that was immersed in the motorcycle industry. Sands quickly developed his own love of speed, and spent ten years racing professionally, setting multiple track records around the world. In 1998 he became the American Motorcyclist Association’s 250GP champion, but after 32 broken bones, Sands decided to trade in his leathers for a hammer, pencil and computer—designing and building bikes, hard parts and accessories, and apparel.
In 2005, he founded the company Roland Sands Design, drawing on influences from the sport bike and chopper worlds. He has since played a pivotal role in popularizing high performance custom bikes to the masses.
We’re heavy on Bavaria this week, with a blacked-out BMW R18 from Harley specialist MB Cycles and a flat track-inspired R100 from Cafemoto. And we take a closer look at Roland Sands’ retro-themed KTM and the slightly strange new ‘Lawrence’ from Brough Superior. Which bike would you prefer to put in your own garage? KTM…
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Customization can be about aesthetics and performance, but it can also be about making a motorcycle fit its rider better. This wild Honda Monkey from Roland Sands Design rolls all three approaches into one, with a build list to rival bikes twice its size. The Californian workshop built the Monkey for skateboarder, stunt performer and…
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Would you pay $27,000 for a Ural sidecar rig? That’s the asking price for the new GEO limited edition, so we look at what you get for your money. You’ll need a lot more money to nab the 1940 Crocker coming up at auction soon, though—like several hundred thousand dollars. We also examine a slick…
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Before the BMW R18 officially broke cover, the Bavarian marque teased us with concepts and customs that showcased the whopping 1,802 cc power plant. The monstrous boxer is now almost ready to hit showrooms, so we’re getting a look at the first custom based on the final production R18. And not surprisingly, it’s a dragster.…
Read more »A pair of BMW R NineT customs channeling the past and the future, a glorious Rickman Metisse, and an all-time classic Honda…
Read more »It was the biggest moto stunt of the 21st century. In a marketing masterstroke for Indian Motorcycle, Travis Pastrana reprised three of…
Read more »Roland Sands massages the R nineT into a vintage-styled thing of beauty, plus the strangest official BMW Motorrad concept bike we’ve ever…
Read more »What happens when a notorious flat track nut decides to build a chopper? We take a look at Roland Sands’ latest build…
Read more »Building a bike purely for show has its advantages. There’s no need to worry about whether it runs, steers and stops, and…
Read more »The first time the world laid eyes on the BMW R nineT was three years ago—when it was teased as Roland Sands’…
Read more »A Maserati-powered monster from Lazareth, the one and only custom BMW G 650 Xchallenge we’ve ever seen, and a rip-snortin’ Indian Scout…
Read more »There’s one thing you can’t buy in the custom world: pedigree. And Roland Sands has one of the best pedigrees of all.…
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