A Man With A Passion : Pierre Terblanche Interview

Pierre Terblanche needs no introduction to motorcyclists the world over. Following stints with Ducati, Royal Enfield, Confederate and our very own BST, his designs have helped shape the face of motorcycling, not without their fair share of controversy along the way.

Growing up in Uitenhage, his love of motorcycles started at an early age.

“A mate’s father had a couple of race bikes in the garage and I was fascinated by them. My own father had no interest whatsoever about motorcycles, so it was really the neighbour who sparked my own interest. I was fascinated watching the neighbour and his sons - my friends - working on them.

“I bought my first bike, which was a 50cc Honda, which was soon traded up for a CB100 Honda - doubled the horsepower to 8bhp!

“Then I started buying Cycle World magazine and saw my first Ducatis; must have been the early 70’s. And then there was the Steve Wynne/ Mike Hailwood Ducati in the late 1970’s and I became a Ducati fan.”

What came first, an interest in design or engineering?

“I was always interested in the engineering; that was the fun part but, of course, then you have to clothe them in bodywork, so it was a combination of the two elements.

The first thing I ever did was to design and make a new seat unit with bum-stop for a friend up the road on his horrible second-hand Honda or something. We made a mould out of clay and then the final piece in fibreglass. Then I designed a fairing for a Suzuki Katana 650; not an official project but just something I wanted to do and a Suzuki dealer in Cape Town lent me a brand-new bike to use, which was either foolish or naive of him.