Escaping from the everyday grind can be done through many different avenues, and for motorcycle folk like us, riding or working on bikes are just some of the ways we relieve ourselves from the stresses of life.
Serving 20-plus years in the Fire Brigade, Bryce Mitchell-D’raine has experienced more emotionally and mentally challenging situations than most, and building Cafe Racers is just one of the outlets for the Western Australian to distance himself from the day-to-day hustle.
“With my work, we see a lot of guys with mental health issues from what we experience, in terms of post-traumatic stress,” said Bryce. “To me, it’s therapy. With my career in the Fire Brigade, it takes me away from the stuff that I deal with at work.
“It gives me an opportunity to come out, sit their and work, and think about something that I love doing. It’s the same when I’m in the water surfing – it’s great, it’s calm, there are waves and you’re having fun with your mates.
“Building the bikes, it’s the banter that goes on – mates come out, you might be doing something on their bike or you take the bikes out for a run when you’re finished.
“It’s just getting together and getting away from the mundane and harsh life of working in a career. It’s a really stressful thing these days – we don’t have the opportunity to switch off.
“Our parents would come home and switch off from it all, but you know, they weren’t constantly being bombarded with stuff on TV and social media. I think having something where you can take yourself away and sink yourself into is really important.”
Riding motorcycles since he left home in his youth, Bryce has always had an interest in building custom bikes, prompting him to take on his very first build four years ago.
Bitten by the bug and attracting interest from the local Cafe Racer scene, it ultimately led him to start Divine Proportions alongside his brother in law Pete.
It’s a side business the duo have been operating out of a plumbing workshop, building custom bikes to their flavour that are later put on the market. Most notably, with the help of numerous enthusiasts, Divine Proportions completed a charity build for the 2017 Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, raising over $6,000.
“It’s funny, Divine Proportions started off between my brother in law Pete and myself. We were sitting around drinking – as most stories start out. Pete and my other brother in law Nick wanted a bike too, so I was like we should start up a little group and call it something.
“It started off as DP, which didn’t stand for Divine Proportions at the time [laughs], but yeah, the Racer TV dude always goes on about the divine proportions, we thought that stands for DP as well, so we went from there.
“The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride supports men’s mental health, and also cancer – they’re two things that for me, they’re really close to home. I’ve had mates in the Fire Brigade that have had cancer, and like I said, we see a lot of stuff in our job, and it does affect guys – it’s quite accumulative.”
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