I&R: you don't sound like you're from around here? Where are you from and how did you end up in Ventura?

Hayden: Originally, England but I’ve been in CA for just as long – the accent’s a bit mongrelized by now. I rode up to here to meet a girl one day and never went back.

I&R: Let's get this out of the way first. Why motorcycles? More specifically, why old motorcycles?

Hayden: Bikes were the cheapest thing to pull out of the scrapyard when I was a kid. Old bikes give me something to do – I guess it was the tinkering that started the profession.  

I&R: You recently moved to Santa Paula (little town inland of Ventura), what do you think of it? 

Hayden: You hear guys talk about how when these bikes were new you could ride out your front door and take trails through the orange groves up to the mountains or down to the ocean – that’s still Santa Paula today.  

I&R: You don't sound like you're from around here? Where are you from and how did you end up in Ventura?

Hayden: Originally, England but I’ve been in CA for just as long – the accent’s a bit mongrelized by now. I rode up to here to meet a girl one day and never went back.

I&R: Let's get this out of the way first. Why motorcycles? More specifically, why old motorcycles?

Hayden: Bikes were the cheapest thing to pull out of the scrapyard when I was a kid. Old bikes give me something to do – I guess it was the tinkering that started the profession.  

I&R: You recently moved to Santa Paula (little town inland of Ventura), what do you think of it? 

Hayden: You hear guys talk about how when these bikes were new you could ride out your front door and take trails through the orange groves up to the mountains or down to the ocean – that’s still Santa Paula today.  

I&R: Do you consider yourself a bike builder or bike restorer?

Hayden: A mechanic. I don’t really do restorations – too many lines to stay within. And I can build a bike from scratch but I think to have the title of a bike builder you need to create something that never existed – not take something that’s already in rotation and alter it slightly. John Britten was a bike builder. As a mechanic I make things work (and work a bit better) with parts that are already there.

I&R: We think it's a great service you're providing by bringing these old bikes to life. How many "bike lives" do you think you've saved to date?

Hayden: I don’t know about saved but I like to think I resuscitated a couple hundred.  

I&R: If you could bring back a racing legend from the past who would it be and what would you ask him or her?

Hayden: I’d like to see if Barry Sheene could come out to play. He was of the era where racers were just starting to become world famous but could still be complete rascals – like drilling holes in their helmets so they could smoke while waiting on the starting grid.  

I&R: What has been your favorite restoration/rebuild to date?

Hayden: I did a ’47 norton manx – it was the 22nd one ever built, found at an estate sale in Santa Barbara and ended up in my garage. To fund a lost weekend that lasted two years I sold it to a friend who recently entrusted me to get it back on the track. It hadn’t ran since the 50s and we managed to get it to fire within 20 minutes – due to AHRMA safety regulations it took a little more to be race ready but since then its raced all around the country.  

I&R: Do you consider yourself a bike builder or bike restorer?

Hayden: A mechanic. I don’t really do restorations – too many lines to stay within. And I can build a bike from scratch but I think to have the title of a bike builder you need to create something that never existed – not take something that’s already in rotation and alter it slightly. John Britten was a bike builder. As a mechanic I make things work (and work a bit better) with parts that are already there.

I&R: We think it's a great service you're providing by bringing these old bikes to life. How many "bike lives" do you think you've saved to date?

Hayden: I don’t know about saved but I like to think I resuscitated a couple hundred.  

I&R: If you could bring back a racing legend from the past who would it be and what would you ask him or her?

Hayden: I’d like to see if Barry Sheene could come out to play. He was of the era where racers were just starting to become world famous but could still be complete rascals – like drilling holes in their helmets so they could smoke while waiting on the starting grid.  

I&R: What has been your favorite restoration/rebuild to date?

Hayden: I did a ’47 norton manx – it was the 22nd one ever built, found at an estate sale in Santa Barbara and ended up in my garage. To fund a lost weekend that lasted two years I sold it to a friend who recently entrusted me to get it back on the track. It hadn’t ran since the 50s and we managed to get it to fire within 20 minutes – due to AHRMA safety regulations it took a little more to be race ready but since then its raced all around the country.  

I&R: You're known for some pretty radical desert sleds, what is it about the Sled that appeals to you most?

Hayden: It's so uniquely Californian. I love the notion that these guys took bikes off the sales floor, stripped them down and raced them across some of the roughest terrain around, but come Monday they were riding the same bike to work. Everything on the bike has a purpose, as business like as a sawn-off shotgun and sounds even better.

I&R: If ya weren't wrenching on bikes you'd be?

Hayden: Gardening.  

I&R: We’re not judging, we wish we were as cool, but you’re often seen w/ a neck scarf. To whom do you credit your sense of style?

Hayden: I’m English, I’m pale, and I have a big nose – I need something to hide my sins.  

I&R: What was your first motorcycle? How much air did you get on it?

Hayden: My first street legal motorcycle was a 1969 lambretta – it was too pretty to jump. But the first bike I got air on was a honda 90 cub – I charged flat out at a canal embankment, I have no idea how far I jumped but when I landed, both shocks shot out about a quarter mile in the air.  

I&R: You're known for some pretty radical desert sleds, what is it about the Sled that appeals to you most?

Hayden: It's so uniquely Californian. I love the notion that these guys took bikes off the sales floor, stripped them down and raced them across some of the roughest terrain around, but come Monday they were riding the same bike to work. Everything on the bike has a purpose, as business like as a sawn-off shotgun and sounds even better.

I&R: If ya weren't wrenching on bikes you'd be?

Hayden: Gardening.  

I&R: We’re not judging, we wish we were as cool, but you’re often seen w/ a neck scarf. To whom do you credit your sense of style?

Hayden: I’m English, I’m pale, and I have a big nose – I need something to hide my sins.  

I&R: What was your first motorcycle? How much air did you get on it?

Hayden: My first street legal motorcycle was a 1969 lambretta – it was too pretty to jump. But the first bike I got air on was a honda 90 cub – I charged flat out at a canal embankment, I have no idea how far I jumped but when I landed, both shocks shot out about a quarter mile in the air.  

I&R: What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

Hayden: Righty tighty, lefty loosey.

I&R: If you took the day off tomorrow, you’d be…?

Hayden: Even further behind. But having chased Joy through some good single track in the forest.  

I&R: What's your favorite kind of build?

Hayden: One where someone says, ‘just build how you would for yourself.’ 

I&R: Bacon cheeseburger or fish and chips?

Hayden: Fish and chips but the closest I’ve found that’s any good is in the West Village, NYC.  

I&R: What do you think about when you're working on a bike?

Hayden: There are two kinds of bikes: the ones that go together easy and you’re singing and tapping your toes, and the ones where you run out of expletives and wished you still smoked.  

I&R: Anything in this interview made you uncomfortable? What does?

Hayden: The guys who hand out chewing gum and tissue paper in bathrooms – they make me nervous.  

I&R: What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

Hayden: Righty tighty, lefty loosey.

I&R: If you took the day off tomorrow, you’d be…?

Hayden: Even further behind. But having chased Joy through some good single track in the forest.  

I&R: What's your favorite kind of build?

Hayden: One where someone says, ‘just build how you would for yourself.’ 

I&R: Bacon cheeseburger or fish and chips?

Hayden: Fish and chips but the closest I’ve found that’s any good is in the West Village, NYC.  

I&R: What do you think about when you're working on a bike?

Hayden: There are two kinds of bikes: the ones that go together easy and you’re singing and tapping your toes, and the ones where you run out of expletives and wished you still smoked.  

I&R: Anything in this interview made you uncomfortable? What does?

Hayden: The guys who hand out chewing gum and tissue paper in bathrooms – they make me nervous.  

big thank you to Hayden Roberts
photogaphy by John Ryan Hebert
video produced by Alan Mendenhall