Cyril Despres takes maiden win with Yamaha at Rally dos Sertoes

In the wake of a few races that did not deliver the expected results, Frenchman Cyril Despres has finally earned his first victory on the Yamaha YZ450F Rally. After winning his fifth Dakar at the beginning of the year, Despres left KTM in a surprise move and signed a new contract with the Japanese manufacturer, but had to wait to get back on the South American territory to savour the joy of victory once again.

Despres has won yesterday the fourth stage of the Rally dos Sertoes - an event that takes place in Brazil - the Uruaçu-Porangatu of 132 km, with 24 seconds over historic rival and former team-mate Marc Coma, and has taken the second place in the overall standings behind the Spaniard. The Rally dos Sertoes covers a total of 4,115 kilometers and will continue with six more stages before ending in Goiania on the 3rd of August. An understandably beaming Cyril Despres said:

“Today we were rewarded for the months of hard work the team have put in with a first stage victory here in Brazil on the Rally dos Sertoes. It’s a great boost for all of us, not only for those of us present on the race but also for everybody at Yamaha who believed in the project and who have been so solidly behind us. Obviously it isn’t a Dakar stage victory, let alone an outright Dakar victory, but it is an important milestone on the road to that ultimate ambition and I must admit today’s result has a special flavour to it. Not that we have much time to saviour it! Tomorrow is the first leg of a particularly tough 900 kilometres marathon stage and we have a lot of work to do, both on man and machine, to make sure we are in good shape for the challenge.”

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

CAFE RACER FESTIVAL 2013

A french festival dedicated to vintage and customized motorcycles, taking place on the mythical Linas-Montlhery speedtrack. Loud pipes, boiling oil, hot tires and leatherjackets. Let's rock.
CAFE RACER FESTIVAL 2013 from CHF on Vimeo.

Range Rover Sport rocks the Pikes Peak

The recent 2013 Pikes Pike International Hill Climb surely was a successful one for the recently unveiled Range Rover Sport, introduced at the 2013 New York Auto Show, which established the new record for a production-standard Sport Utility Vehicle and broke the long standing record for any kind of production-standard vehicle on the famous 12.42-mile Colorado mountain’s hill road, and here is a new and very professional official video celebrating the achievement.

Powered by a 5.0-litre supercharged petrol V8 engine producing 510 horsepower and driven on the record run by American competition and stunt driver Paul Dallenbach, the Range Rover Sport completed the climb and all of its 156 corners with a time of 12 minutes and 35.61 seconds, at an average speed of 59.17 mph (95.23 km/h). The record-setting vehicle avtually altered from production specification only in the fitment of a roll cage and harness seatbelts, which are mandatory to meet racing safety requirements.

Beside the supercharged 5.0-litre V8 petrol engine, the Range Rover Sport is also available on the market with a 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine producing 292 horsepower, but in early 2014 a 3.0-litre V6 diesel unit developing 258 hp and a high performance 4.4-litre V8 diesel engine delivering 339 horsepower are also supposed to join the fold. All petrol and diesel engines in the new Range Rover Sport are paired with the advanced electronically controlled ZF 8HP708-speed automatic gearbox. Designed and engineered at Land Rover’s development centres in the UK, the model is produced in their manufacturing facility at Solihull, UK.

from EUROCARBLOG

the EFI

Running on fat Avons, our EFI showcase’s the simplicity of your archetypal bobber in its purest of forms. Simple and clean lines, the latest generation Royal Enfield motor sits snugly in the modified frame. The sports bike front end compliments the already ‘beefy’ look, giving the bike a suitably more aggressive stance not to mention stopping power. The tin ware strategically placed as not to clutter but to accentuate the styling based around a 40′s/50′s design to complete a custom motorcycle that looks equally at home trundling about country lanes as blasting though town.

from oldempire motorcycles

Trial : A tough and important double win for Bou in Great Britain / Un doublé pour Bou dans la douleur

Winner in the heat of the first day and under the rain on Sunday, Tony Bou (Montesa Michelin) claimed an important double win despite a painful body as the reigning champion crashed in the last lap on Sunday. The World Champion is now leading the series by ten points over Adam Raga (Gas Gas), with two more races to go.

Vainqueur samedi sur le sec puis dimanche sous la pluie, Tony Bou (Montesa Michelin) est allé chercher ce double succès avec courage, après s’être blessé lors du dernier tour de la seconde journée. Ce doublé lui permet de porter son avance sur Adam Raga (Gas Gas) à dix points, alors qu’il ne reste que deux journées au programme

Whatever was the weather this weekend in Great Britain, hot and dusty on Saturday or rainy and muddy on Sunday, Tony Bou was the strongest rider and got its first double win of the season.

On Saturday his teammate Takahisa Fujinami (Montesa Michelin) offered him a strong opportunity to increase his leadership, as the Japanese finished second and beats Raga who recovered on Sunday with a second position. Scoring the lowest score on each of the three laps on Sunday, Bou crashed heavily in the seventh section and land on sharp rock that punctured his right side; Bou got some immediate attention from his team, and cruised to another win.

Third and second Raga is now ten points behind Bou, before the final round scheduled in France early in September; the battle for the title but also for the third position, as there’s only eight points between Fujinami third and Jeroni Fajardo (Beta) fifth, will give a lot of interest to this eighth and last event of the season.

qu'il fasse chaud ou qu’il pleuve, Tony Bou était imbattable ce weekend en Grande Bretagne ou il a signé deux importants succès face à Adam Raga son principal rival au championnat.

Bien aidé le premier jour par son équipier Takahisa Fujinami (Montesa Michelin) qui s’intercalait entre lui et Raga, Bou a été encore plus impressionnant dimanche ou il signe la meilleure performance lors de chacun des trois tours, s’imposant avec vingt six points d’avance sur Raga malgré une blessure survenue dans la septième zone du dernier tour. Avec une plaie ouverte au niveau de l’estomac, Bou recevait quelques soins de la part de son suiveur et filait vers l’infirmerie sitôt achevée la course.

Avec cette double victoire Bou porte son avance sur Raga, troisième et second, à dix points avant la finale prévue début septembre en France. La lutte pour la dernière marche du podium sera tout aussi intense, puisque huit points séparent Fujinami troisième de Jeroni Fajardo (Beta) cinquième.

Classements :

Première journée : 1.Bou (ESP, Montesa Michelin) ; 2.Fujinami (JAP, Montesa Michelin) ; 3.Raga (ESP, Gas Gas) ; 4.Fajardo (ESP, Beta) ; 5.Cabestany (ESP, Sherco Michelin) ; etc….

Seconde journée : 1.Bou ; 2.Raga ; 3.Fajardo ; 4.Fujinami ; 5.Cabestany ; etc…

Championnat : 1.Bou, 203 ; 2.Raga, 193 ; 3.Fujinami, 149 ; 4.Cabestany, 142 ; 5.Fajardo, 141 ; etc….

Tom’s XS650

Tom Elliot sent us a couple of mobile phone snaps of his shed built xs650 via Facebook, and we liked it so much we asked for more. It may be a humble build in his view, but it’s what we’re all about. We like to put machines like this side by side with the pro builds from Spirit of the Seventies and Cafe Racer Dreams, with no less fanfare, and usually just as many positive comments at the bottom of each story.

Tom is from Connersville, Indiana and is married with two daughters. “I have worked as a mechanic and a parts man for the last 8 years. My dad put me on my first bike when I was 7, it was a Honda 70 dirt bike. I rode that thing everyday! And I have been hooked on riding ever since”.

It was Tom’s dad that bought this bike, stock, in 1992 with 6000 miles on the clock. Last year Tom found himself without a ride and wanted something stylish so he persuaded his dad to let him tinker with the Yamaha, and this is the end result. “I really love the look and simplicity of the old bikes.”

“I see lots of bobbers and choppers, but to me they are just cookie cutter. I wanted something that looked like it could have been produced that way. Along the way a good friend of mine was in an accident and lost his life. That’s what really got me going instead of just dreaming.”

Tom rides his cafe/brat hybrid every day, as his commuter and his toy! The best of both worlds! “Whenever I ride it brings back memories of being a kid on the back of my dad’s bikes, and reminds me life is short and ya only get one chance at each day, so make it worth it!”

We love our pro-built custom specials, stripped and re-assembled from the ground up with high performance upgrades and ubercool paint, but a bike like this is every inch as cool. Keep ‘em coming, as they inspire the next guy to do something for themselves.

from the bike shed

les plus belles images des 8 Heures de Suzuka

BratHondaCG (THE KAPUFF)

Moto sikal Honda CG tahun 1980
Modifikasi : chasis : army green tank: s90 carb : keihin 54mm wheels : 17″ 1.85 (R) 17″ 1.75 (F) tyre: 17″ 100/80 DURO swing arm : BSA seat : DIY throtle : yamaha SS 110 handlebar : unknown exaust : Custom electric/wiring : honda ex5 front fork : Honda CB100 - 

BratHondaCG (THE KAPUFF) teaser from Al Ameeri on Vimeo.

Mick Doohan not suprised that Casey Stoner misses riding bikes

Casey Stoner’s decision to come out of his retirement to test for HRC took many by suprise - even if earlier in this month the Australian seemed slightly unsatisfied regarding his new career on four wheels, and following the Coates Hire Ipswich 360 race, the Austrialian tweeted that the ‘Dunlop Series is a joke’ - which was immediately cancelled from the Twittersphere.

Ever since his retirement there has been speculation that he would do a couple of wild card entries, many believing that racing cars wouldn’t be able to give him the satisfaction that racing two wheels does, but there was once person who said he wasn’t suprised regarding Stoner’s decision to return - albeit just for testing - and that was five-time World Champion, and fellow countryman Mick Doohan.

I’m not surprised Stoner misses the buzz of riding bikes fast, it’s that passion that drew both of us to the sport,” wrote Doohan for News Limited. “Honda has no plans for Stoner to make any wildcard race appearances, although I’m sure the rumour mill will go into overdrive with the Australian GP in October.

“I know Stoner was very firm in his personal decision to stop racing MotoGP at the end of last year, although I must admit I was surprised given that he is still young and so fast. I respect his decision, but I’d love to see him back racing, even some wildcards – it would be great for the sport in Australia if that is what he decided. I have no doubt that if he wants to race bikes, he is still fast enough to do it at the top level. He is great bike talent.”

Source | speedcafe.com

via Twowheelsblog

Bridgestone: The dynamics of grip in MotoGP

After Brembo’s video on their braking systems used on MotoGP bikes, Bridgestone has released a video on how their tires work in the championship, with a mix of 3D animation and real racing footage.

You’ll find out in detail how their tires work on acceleration, braking and cornering and the number of compounds that the riders have available during a race weekend and for different circuit configurations.

Bridgestone has been the sole tire supplier for MotoGP since 2009.

Enjoy the video.

via Twowheelsblog

bord de l'eau