Visit to Milan of the most beautiful garage in Europe

Milan, Capital of the Biker Scene!

Milan, Thursday, July 24th, 8:04 PM, Maria parks at "Porta Genova" and we head to a restaurant inside a

"Cortile"; a passageway between two buildings where restaurants, boutiques, and design studios are

hidden... There are a few around here. Damn! 8:12 PM. La Fonderie Milanaise, the restaurant is closed,

as is TPR Factory, a famous Milanese garage whose door opens onto the terrace. Oh well, no Japanese

tapas, too bad about TPR. Consolation prize: a restaurant just opened, with the same tattooed bearded

guys as back home, the same trendy bearded guys as in Paris, I feel right at home. Maria the Milanese

who's with me doesn't have a beard, just a sexy summer outfit that perfectly sums up the Milanese spirit!....

8:42 PM, seated at the table, an elegant guy I was discussing motorcycles with says to me, "You French,

you're our Americans of Europe!" This phrase resonates with me, is it sarcasm? Further on, in the

conversation, as we were discussing our references in terms of customization styles and customizers, another

guy tells me, "It's not because Paris is the most beautiful city in the world that you French should impose

your vision of good taste on us!".... 10:17 PM! I finish my Spritz, Maria her Mojito, and we leave the

restaurant. There, in one of the passages of this half-trendy, half-popular labyrinth, a garage door catches

my attention. I see a rear end, a BMW R75 rear end! In a theatrical light, the creator of the place opens the

garage a crack, a garage that only a Parisian should have been able to imagine. I insist, an appointment is

scheduled for the next day.

Friday 10:27 AM, after putting on a t-shirt lighter than a cigarette paper and two ristrettos, I meet

Raffalleo Polchi in his techno-vintage lair, "The American of Europe might be standing in front of me."

The welcome is warm, hot or cold drinks, a copper percolator from the roaring twenties for hot water,

a vintage advertising fridge for beer, Italian cigarettes on the workbench, iPads in the garage pilasters,

30-inch Apple screens hidden under retractable work tables, music, internet, and oriental rugs on the

floor. Here, you eat on the floor and work in comfort, a Plaza Hotel version of a garage. Officine Riunite

Milanesi, a garage no one has ever heard of here or anywhere else, whose images have never been

published, a garage for those looking to eat Japanese tapas who end up at the wrong door, no advertising,

no website, just an email.

Everything here is perfection without the pretense, everything here is for the initiated without marketing,

everything here is a lesson in design and good taste. Here, aesthetes rub shoulders with mechanical

geniuses. At Officine Riunite Milanesi, they share: "You want a motorcycle, you'll have to work 20 hours

on it to acquire it, you have to prove your love for what you want to own." "It's a way for us to select our

clients, only the most motivated, the most passionate will have an 'ORM' branded motorcycle, the others,

those who buy a motorcycle like they buy the latest iPhone, we don't want them!"

There are 3 of them for now, Raffaello Polchi and Matteo Pedrocchi, the two partners who manage the

workshop and design, and Daniele Sauro, the mechanic surgeon. The motorcycles are like the place,

nothing is left to chance, everything is simple but coherent, everything is as solid as their logo stamped

in metal.

The photos on the wall are not for decoration. Connoisseurs will appreciate the unique motorcycles from

the collection of these Milanese who don't appear in magazines, or even on the web for now.

12:15 PM, Raffaello and Daniele are hungry, and so am I. Their canteen is an Italian poem, all the clichés

of Italy but real, it's not a movie set, neither on the walls nor on the plate, the Milanese cutlet is as big

as a 750 Four seat. No need for an expense report, Raffaello is treating!

Back at ORM, Raffaello and Matteo explain to me that their place is like a club, you can stop by for a

drink, tinker with your bike, have a pizza delivered, and listen to music all night, swap your motorcycle

with other friends from the garage for two hours or three days, it's non-conformist like the crocodile

Raffaello wears crossed out on his heart! I tell him about the conversation I had the night before with the

two guys at the restaurant, and he tells me it's an old capital rivalry! Which is the fashion capital? Which

is the design capital? Which is the motorcycle capital? ... But to settle it, Raffaello suggests we tour the

few garages he knows here in Milan. 2:22 PM, I get into a matte black 4x4 with an enchanting sound and

we're off to cross Milan, AC blasting and cigarettes in our mouths!

The places are all very original, with incredible motorcycles of all kinds, stock, customized at $50,000,

pedigreed bikes, bikes with historical pasts. These visits give off a unique style, a showroom style, like

being at home, garages halfway between a loft and a workshop, something that makes you say that

these motorcycle aristocrats love to get their hands dirty and reinvent, in their own way, a lifestyle where

the two-wheeler is elevated to the status of a "sacred" object.

7:15 PM, in the taxi, I think about what I saw today. I was received simply, without fuss, by modest

enthusiasts. Italy is a country where motorcycles are an integral part of Italian life. With 180,000

motorcycles sold in 2014 from an existing fleet of several million two-wheelers, Italy is one of the major

players in Europe. Moto-Guzzi, Moto Morini, Ducati, Aprilia, Bimota, Cagiva, MV Agusta, Benelli... are

important brands. In France, we are rediscovering the fun and freedom that motorcycles provide. We are

rediscovering this freedom that breaks the codes of customisation and makes personalization accessible,

democratizing the wrench and the soldering iron. This movement is largely driven by people with incredible

talent in marketing and communication, who have a keen sense of image, which is a bit of our talent as

French people! Milan is more academic and less Rock'n'roll than us; their motorcycles are certainly perfect

but lack that beer-fueled tinkering side!

Everyone can form their own opinion by going to Milan, by doing as I did, touring the garages where the

welcome will be as warm as with Raffaello. I cannot give you the address of Officine Riunite Milanesi,

the owners are not looking for publicity, so get lost in one of the "Cortile" in the south of Milan or send

them an email.

ciao@officineriunitemilanesi.it

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Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi[/caption]

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Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi / BMW R100[/caption] [caption id="attachment_132" align="alignnone" width="1600"]

Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi[/caption] [caption id="attachment_128" align="alignnone" width="1600"]

Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi[/caption] [caption id="attachment_127" align="alignnone" width="1600"]

Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi[/caption] [caption id="attachment_126" align="alignnone" width="1600"]

Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi / BMW in preparation[/caption] [caption id="attachment_125" align="alignnone" width="1600"]

Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi / Royal Enfields[/caption] [caption id="attachment_124" align="alignnone" width="1600"]

Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi / Royal Enfields[/caption] [caption id="attachment_123" align="alignnone" width="1600"]

Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi[/caption] [caption id="attachment_122" align="alignnone" width="1600"]

Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi / Austin Mini[/caption] [caption id="attachment_121" align="alignnone" width="1600"]

Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi / BMW tank[/caption]

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Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi / Triumph Bonneville[/caption]

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Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi / Triumph Bonneville[/caption]

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Photos: Laurent Scavone / Garage Officine Riunite Milanesi / Triumph Bonneville[/caption] [caption id="attachment_112" align="alignnone" width="1600"]