Speed, Salt, Dust, Sunburns and Questionable Decisions
Biarritz is a dangerous place.
Not because of the waves. Not because of the cliffs. And not because of the thousands of motorcycles swarming the streets like a chrome-plated migration of mechanical salmon returning home.
It's dangerous because once you've experienced Wheels & Waves, a small part of your brain stays behind in Biarritz, permanently parked outside a café with a motorcycle helmet on the table and absolutely nowhere important to be.
For five days in June, the sleepy surf town on France's southwest coast transformed into exactly what motorcycle culture is supposed to be. Not industry culture. Not trade-show culture. Not content-creator culture. Actual culture. The kind built on road grime, sunburns, strong espresso, late-night storytelling, and friendships formed somewhere between bench racing and beers.
Every morning seemed to begin the same way. Motorcycles flowed through the narrow streets while riders drifted between cafés, surf breaks, workshops, and race venues with nowhere particularly urgent to be except wherever the next good story was unfolding. As our friend Dimitri Coste put it, "There's smiles at every corner in Biarritz during Wheels & Waves."
He's right.
The atmosphere is impossible to fake. It feels as though the entire town has collectively agreed to spend a week celebrating freedom on two wheels.
At the center of our week sat the LiveWire Lounge, equal parts motorcycle gallery, storytelling hub, and curiosity magnet. Riders wandered through to see the S2 lineup, get a first look at the S4 Honcho, and ask the same questions we hear at every event. How far does it go? How fast is it? What's it like to ride?
The answers always come the same way.
Rider takes a LiveWire for a demo.
Rider comes back grinning.
We've learned something over the years: skepticism lasts right up until the throttle gets twisted.
Of course, Wheels & Waves isn't just about motorcycles on display. The event is built around a collection of races that feel like they were dreamed up by a group of surfers, racers, and troublemakers sitting around a campfire. This year, the LiveWire crew threw itself directly into the madness.
Imagine a traditional hillclimb. Now remove most of the rules, add motorcycles, questionable judgment, and a healthy dose of chaos. The result is a 400-meter uphill sprint where riders launch toward a twisting chicane with enough commitment to make spectators question their own life choices. Again, representing the LiveWire Race Team effort were Dimitri Coste and Aaron and Shaun Guardado of SMCO. Exactly the trio you want charging up a mountain with traction control disabled.
The weather on race day was classic Wheels & Waves. Windy. Wet. Unpredictable. The racing, however, was anything but uncertain. In the EV class, riders launched their electric machines uphill in a series of increasingly dramatic duels, threading the chicane at speeds approaching 100 mph. Leading the charge was the Alpinista Corsa, wearing a custom race livery and purpose-built for one thing: making bad decisions look good.[KN1]
Compared to last year's race bikes, the S2 Alpinista Corsa arrived with its serious upgrade package. Carbon fiber wheels, sticky race tires, full Öhlins suspension sharpening an already capable chassis, and clip-ons giving the bike a more aggressive stance and feel compared to the bars on a stock S2AP. According to Aaron Guardado, the bike handled like a dream. With all the electronic safety nets switched off and the throttle pinned, the front wheel was more of a suggestion than a requirement. "Pretty sure the bike would do a backflip if you weren't paying attention," he laughed.
That’s a good sign for sprint racing.
Heat after heat unfolded in front of a crowd eager to see what LiveWire bikes could do when fully unleashed. Dimitri later described blasting through the course without rolling off the throttle as "an absolute thrill," which feels like a dramatic understatement. By the end of the day, Aaron claimed victory in the EV class, followed by Shaun and Dimitri. The celebration that followed was exactly what you'd expect. Aaron marked the occasion with a burnout so enthusiastic that it blasted rubber all over the front of Shaun's motorcycle.
Back in the village, the race machines became gathering points with the first question from all visitors immediately being: "Why is there rubber all over the front of that bike?" The storytelling practically handled itself and might have become grander with every retelling. Questions led to conversations. Conversations led to demo rides. Demo rides led to smiles. The cycle repeated itself for five straight days.
While the S2 platform was busy making converts on the road and collecting trophies on the mountain, another LiveWire machine was quietly preparing for its public debut. Enter the S4 Honcho Trail at El Rollo TT.
For the uninitiated, El Rollo is a wonderfully chaotic blend of flat track and TT racing. This year's course featured elevation changes, left turns, right turns, loose dirt, and enough dust to season an entire village. The competition was serious. Factory-backed machinery lined up alongside dedicated race bikes including a Stark Varg, a Honda 450 DTX, and a Royal Enfield piloted by a British national champion. Then there was our friend Geoff Cain, lining up aboard a Honcho Trail and looking entirely unbothered by the odds stacked against him.
According to Dimitri, nobody expected what happened next. Dressed head-to-toe in white, Geoff began throwing the Honcho into corners with an enthusiasm that bordered on irresponsible. "He was coming in so fast and sideways in turn one that it was both impressive and beautiful," Dimitri recalled. Heat after heat, the little Honcho punched well above its weight class. Geoff battled machines with significantly more power, suspension, and racing pedigree while somehow keeping himself mostly out of trouble. There were close calls, near misses, and at least one moment that nearly ended in a conversation with a stack of hay bales. Somehow, he kept it together.
By day's end, the Honcho had secured a podium finish with third overall.
Not bad for a motorcycle making its competitive debut.
The crowd loved it. When the dirt-covered Honcho returned to the village, it immediately became one of the most talked-about motorcycles at the event.
One of the best moments of the week came when someone looked at Dimitri's Alpinista and asked, "You came here on your microwave?"
Motorcycle culture remains undefeated.
Fortunately, Dimitri's response was simple.
“HAVE A GO”
A few minutes later, another skeptic returned wearing the same expression we've seen hundreds of times before: complete and total delight.
That's the thing about LiveWire bikes. You don't have to win the argument. The motorcycle does it for you.
Beyond the racing and riding, the moments people remember most are often the simplest. Dimitri spoke fondly about cruising through the narrow streets of Biarritz on his Alpinista with his daughter on the back. With perfect weather and no hot engine radiating heat beneath them, he described it as one of the most serene riding experiences imaginable. Later in the week, he opened his home to the entire crew for a massive barbecue. Riders, builders, racers, photographers, and friends gathered together with no agenda beyond good food, laughter, and stories. Those moments captured the true spirit of Wheels & Waves. It's not just a motorcycle event. It's a surf gathering, a skate gathering, a photography gathering, a design gathering, and a celebration of creative people who build things, race things, break things, fix things, and then stay up too late talking about all of it.
Those moments captured the true spirit of Wheels & Waves. Every year brings a new location, a new menu, and a new collection of stories, but the formula somehow remains the same. Good people, good motorcycles, and enough red wine to keep conversations going long after the sun goes down. As Aaron put it, “-it doesn't seem to matter what country we're in or what event we're attending, if the LiveWire crew is together, it's probably going to be a good time.’
As the week rolled on, the LiveWire Lounge became a destination. With race bikes, customs, production motorcycles, food, drinks, and live portraits sketched by artist Bonjour Darling, our little corner of the village remained busy from morning until night. Surfers were getting pitted down at the beach. Skaters were dropping into halfpipes. Vintage BMX riders were putting on a show. Somewhere in the middle of it all, we threw a party. It felt less like a brand activation and more like exactly what Wheels & Waves is supposed to be…a gathering of people who love motorcycles and the culture that surrounds them.
The village packed down. The streets quieted. The trucks were loaded. Sunburns faded. Voices grew hoarse from too much laughing and too much storytelling.
The Alpinista Corsa left with trophies.
The Honcho left with dirt on its tires and a growing legend.
Everyone left with stories.
Wheels & Waves isn't something you attend.
It's something that happens to you.
And if you missed it this year, don't worry. You'll hear the stories. You'll see the photos. You'll tell yourself you'll make it next time.
You should.
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