Cafe Racer mag vidéo

RACING LEGENDS: COLIN MCRAE

The life and times of Colin McRae is a tale that could fill multiple full length feature films, this documentary does a great job of covering all the bases, it’s presented by Sir Chris Hoy, a man with multiple cycling world championships under his belt and a long held love of motor racing.

This BBC film is about 60 minutes long and it’s worth watching just to see Colin’s car collection and to see Colin’s Dad take Chris out for a high speed run around the Scottish countryside.

via SILODROME

RVA OVERLAND BY ATOM BOMB CUSTOM MOTORCYCLES

The RVA Overland is one of those motorcycles that looks so utterly perfect that I just want to shut the hell up and post the images. That said, it would be doing the bike a disservice to not share a little about its construction and the work that went into creating it.

As you may have guessed from the title, this bike was built by Clay Rathburn over at Atom Bomb Motorcycles, the garage is based in the historic town of Richmond, Virginia and Clay specialises in building custom vintage British motorcycles from discarded, damaged, abused and forgotten Triumph and BSA relics.

The RVA Overland is a personal project from Clay, it’s quite different from his usual work and it’s nice to see attention being paid to the off-road/enduro motorcycle genre. That beautiful black engine is from a 1974 Triumph Bonneville, it’s a parallel twin with about 49hp on tap and that power is fed to the rear hub via a 4 speed transmission.

1974 was an interesting time at the Triumph factory, the workers became enraged on hearing of the impending shutdown of the Triumph Motorcycle factory in Meriden, so they shut it down themselves with a major strike in October 1973, just as production was being changed over from the 1973 models to making the new 1974s. Production wasn’t fully resumed until 1975 which means that very few 1974 Bonnevilles were ever made, making it one of the rarer Triumphs produced in the 1970s.

From a purely technical perspective, the RVA Overland is a tour de force. Starting from the front of the bike, Clay had DC Plastics custom-mold the fenders, KYB forks were added and that frame was handmade from scratch. That air-cooled Triumph engine is powdercoated, the exhaust was made by Burns Stainless and if you take the time to really look at it in the pictures, you’ll note just how meticulous it is.

If, like me, you fell in love with this bike after taking a look through these stunning photographs I have some good news for you. The RVA Overland is currently for sale. If you’d like to shoot Clay an email and make him an offer on what is quite possibly the most beautiful vintage Triumph enduro bike ever made, hit the link here.

Additional information supplied by BikeEXIF.

10ème édition du Rallye Jeanne d’Arc Historique / Trophée Historique des Régions de France

Le rallye Jeanne d’Arc Historique a vu le jour en 2003 à l’instigation de deux anciens de l’époque, Yvon 
GASCOIN et Jean-Luc GIRARD. Il a vécu une première interruption en 2005 avec des soucis 
administratifs mais a repris dès l’année suivante. Depuis cette date il a continué sa route, toujours avec 
le même esprit et il clôture le Trophée Historique des Régions de France depuis 2007.
Ce sera sa 10
ème
édition et dernière édition sous l’égide des anciens ; il sera en sommeil à partir de 
l’année prochaine mais peut-être renaîtra-t-il dans le futur porté par de futurs anciens.dixit Jean Luc GIRARD
cette 10éme édition aura en tout cas été dès plus arrosée !

 photos Pierre Xavier

Kingston Kustom BMW R75/6 Bobber

When it comes to bike features we try to persuade builders to tell us the human story behind the build. Tech specs are interesting, but what makes us want to spend more time looking at photos of a stunning build is as much about who built it, and why, as it is about how beautifully the build has been executed and what challenges were met along the way.

In this case we failed to get Dirk Oehlerking from Kingston Custom in Germany, but having held out for more copy for a while, we came to the conclusion that perhaps Dirk’s story really is best told by the detail he’s poured into this BMW R75/6 bobber build.

Not only is the quality of workmanship obvious for anyone to see, what we love about this build are the proportions, from the tank to the stance, and the simplified suspension, but there’s more to it that that. Although the bike shouts retro when it comes to the finishes and upholstery, this isn’t a classic or restoration build, when you look closely this is a thoroughly up to date bike with dual disc brakes and a punchy engine that’ll happily do the business on any modern city streets.

See more from Dirk and Kingston Customs on his Website, and discover the essence of this man through his work. As he says, “I’m a builder, not an author” – and we’re just fine with that. (For now)

via The Bike Shed

RARE BIRDS: VINCENTS THROUGH TIME AND TEXAS

We ride the first Series B Vincent Rapide and an exquisite HRD Rudge Python Sport.

 By Peter Egan
Photographer :  Jeff Allen

Dangerous business, flying down to Austin to ride a Vincent. Last time I made this trip was 14 years ago, and I ended up buying the 1952 Vincent Black Shadow featured in a story I cleverly entitled “To Ride a Vincent.” Came home, sold everything I owned that anyone would want to buy and purchased the bike from collector/restorer Herb Harris. The Shadow is gone now—I parted with it about 10 years ago when I realized I could sell it and pay off our house—but I’m still friends with Herb.

And when he invited us back to Austin this time, I figured I’d be in a little less peril, as the two rare Vincents featured here are way out of my price range. Actually, all Vincents are way out of my price range now, unless we sell our house and move into an abandoned cardboard box. Next to the railroad tracks. Time, collectability and inflation have marched on. While I, apparently, have not.

Herb Harris is an Austin lawyer who retired a couple of years ago to open a new business (Harris Vincent Gallery, Inc.), one that would allow him to concentrate on his favorite things in life, which are tracking down Vincents and/or restoring them.

He and his wife Karen have a nice home in the Texas Hill Country on the west side of Austin, with a guest house attached. Upstairs is a comfortable apartment, with a refrigerator full of Guinness, and the downstairs looks exactly like a traditional English pub, with a dark wood bar and a shining row of great British bikes lined up on the varnished (and surprisingly oil-free) floor. Vincents, vintage Triumphs, BSA Gold Star, AJS 7R, etc.

When you pour a cup of coffee and walk downstairs into the pub in the morning, you automatically find yourself repeating that famous line from “Field of Dreams:” “Is this Heaven?”

“No,” you tell yourself, “this is Texas. And what we have here is a very fine collection of motorcycles.”

Though many of the world’s great Vincents—including the Rollie Free “bathing suit bike” of Bonneville record fame—have passed through his hands, Herb says he’s not really a collector. He enjoys having the bikes for a few years and working on them, but feels no need to hang on to them in the long run. As is the case with so many of us, it’s the hunt that matters. He’s really more history detective than collector.

And, without Herb, it might have taken Sherlock Holmes himself to track down the big Series B Vincent engine that’s nestled in the heart of the first bike we’re looking at today. It’s the very first Series B engine, introduced just after WWII. Long since separated from its original chassis and passed around for various factory experimental projects, it was discovered by Herb in an English eBay ad, and he’s now returned it to a proper chassis—one it might have had when it was introduced to the English press in 1946—with an overlay of appropriate patina.

To explain where this all fits in the Big Scheme, perhaps we should do a quick little review of Vincent History.

Philip Vincent came from a wealthy English family and went to good schools. While at Harrow and Cambridge, he was an avid motorcyclist with a trouble-prone BSA, so he did what serious scholars (such as you and I) have always done with their study hall time, which is sketch motorcycle frames. He wanted to start his own motorcycle company, but his wise old father convinced him to buy a defunct but prestigious brand—H.R.D. This company was named for Howard R. Davies, a famous motorcycle racer who’d started building his own high-quality bikes (out of frustration with other brands), but had gone broke by 1927.

Yes, here we have a prime example of the “Frustration with Other Brands” school of motorcycle design, which appears to have propelled British ingenuity through much of the 20th century.

Anyway, Phil Vincent started building his own Vincent-HRD Singles with purchased engines (J.A.P., Villiers, Rudge, etc.) and his own stoutly triangulated frame designs. Frustration with some of these engines (J.A.P., mostly) drove him and his famous partner in crime, Australian engineer Phil Irving, to design their own big Singles, the Meteor and the hotter Comet.

These engines had a number of clever features, including high cams and rocker-arm fingers operating on collars at the center of the valve stems, which shortened the pushrods to lighten the valvetrain and reduce overall engine height. Valves were carried in two guides, with a gap between them for the rocker arm. In 1936, the Two Phils quite logically joined a pair of these cylinders at the hip and introduced the Series A Rapide, a fire-breathing 1000cc V-Twin, to an astonished motorcycle world.

This fearsome object would easily top 100 mph, and it was soon dubbed “The Snarling Beast” by one of its test riders. Unfortunately, the press also dubbed it “The Plumber’s Nightmare” because of all the arachnid-like external oil lines; critics further noted the clutch slipped because it was overwhelmed with all that torque and power.

At this point, after 78 were sold, WWII drew a merciful curtain upon the Rapide’s shortcomings and Vincent went into war production, building things that exploded on purpose: artillery shells and land mines. During those dark years, Vincent and Irving plotted an improved post-war Rapide.

And here’s where Herb’s engine comes in. It’s the very first works prototype engine, 1X, long believed to have been scrapped. And it almost was.

That first B-Series Rapide was much ridden and photographed by the press, who approved of its cleaned-up engine, whose external oil lines had been replaced by raised “veins” cast into the case covers. In place of the weak old proprietary clutch was a clever two-stage unit with lightly sprung discs operating a set of brake-shoe-like grabbers in a drum. The traditional diamond frame had also been eliminated by using … no frame. The Brampton fork was simply attached to a sturdy oil tank bolted to the top of the cylinder heads, and the unique A-frame swingarm pivoted off the engine cases, with spring boxes almost hidden beneath the seat. What you had, essentially, was that schoolboy’s dream: a big hairy engine with two wheels attached.

But once the adoring press finished with it, that prototype bike didn’t get much in-house respect. The lads at the factory used it for bashing about town, and then the British military decided they needed a fast assault boat to attack enemy coastlines and had Vincent build 1X into a hot Lightning race-spec engine for testing. Nothing came of this, but the poor engine got its transmission band-sawed off and a new set of contemporary case numbers (468) tacked on to the existing number 1 (which led to some confusion later). Then, the beast was left to languish under a workbench.

After that, the engine was sold off, installed in a later frame and used in various hillclimbers and racebikes—with a Norton gearbox bolted on. And this is how Herb found it in England, a bitsa Lightning-spec racebike with straight pipes and later Girdraulic fork. He thought it deserved to go back into an early Series B chassis, replicating as closely as possible the bike shown in those 1946 magazine photos. And that’s what we have here. Not the first complete Series B Vincent, which has long since been parted out into the cosmos, but a proper setting for its original engine, now fully rebuilt, of course.

So, on a warm Texas summer morning, we trailered the Rapide farther out into the Hill Country and I took a ride on it, all duded up in 1946 riding gear (although this is two years before I was born, so I have only the photos). Herb, his son, Brian, and mechanic Mike Beck bump-started the bike, as I was suffering from a case of purple BSA Single kickstart knee at the moment, and I headed off down the road.

One ride on a Vincent reminds you why people put up with the expense and vintage eccentricities of these bikes—and why I sold everything to buy one of my own. They feel compact and light, with a low center of gravity, and the engine has a relaxed, almost liquid-smooth V-Twin gait and shuffle that make you want to motor down the road and off into infinity. It has great, easy torque, plenty of power and light, agile steering from the Brampton fork, while the rear suspension really works, soaking up bumps in a way that must have seemed unbelievably civilized in this hardtail era.

And the view over that black tank with gold leaf lettering, while watching the fork work, is one of motorcycling’s great pleasures. It feels and looks as if there’s remarkably little bike beneath you, considering how much visual mass and heart-stopping charm that engine exudes from a side view—and how willingly it accelerates. It’s exactly the right size for a motorcycle, with an ideal (and adjustable) riding position.

Out of respect for the value of this bike—and my own cowardice and recently healed ribs—I didn’t push it too hard in corners, but the general characteristics are intuitively natural turn-in and good stability in fast turns. Brakes? Better than almost anything from the era—and for about 20 years thereafter—but if you’re headed into a blind downhill sweeper at 65 mph, you should probably know where the road goes in advance. Surprises are not entirely welcome.

When we finally put the Rapide away toward evening and were about to head out for some great Texas barbeque (not that I don’t like motorcycles), Herb offered us a bonus ride on another of his finished project bikes, a 1932 HRD Python Sport, a 500cc Single with a four-valve Rudge engine—in hot “Ulster Tune” competition spec. If the Rapide was intended to have historic patina, this one was restored so perfectly you almost hate to stand too close. Like the Les Paul Custom in “Spinal Tap,” perhaps you shouldn’t even look at it.

ROLLING HISTORY: The 1932 HRD Python Sport features a four-valve 500cc Rudge Single, swept-back pipes and an Amal carb on its side. Egan likens the brakes to a butter-injection system.

This bike came at a pivotal point in Vincent history, as Phil Vincent had finally been convinced to abandon his unconventional early frame design, which was heavily triangulated and had an awkward frame tube slashing across the side of the engine. In its place came a more “normal” diamond frame, but still with his excellent rear suspension. At this time, he was also having trouble with J.A.P. (John A. Prestwich) engines and was trying out the more sophisticated Rudge Python unit. This period lasted only briefly, until Rudge quit supplying engines, and Vincent and Irving designed their own.

And the Python is a pretty exquisite engine. It has four valves located radially in a bronze (sometimes iron) head, dual exhaust ports that empty into a pair of gracefully swept-back Highgate “silencers” and an Amal carb with the slide body turned sideways for more tank clearance. (Well, why not? Should work.)

Herb’s started first kick, idled smoothly and had plenty of midrange grunt. Compared with the Rapide, however, the old Single is a little more of a vintage contraption to ride. But only in that the Burman gearbox is a slower-shifting unit and the Blumfield brakes are less effective. Did I call them brakes? More like a butter-injection system. The harder you squeeze, the faster the bike goes, just like my old Triumph 500. Luckily, it handles quite nicely, which helps when you’re sailing through corners a little faster than intended. Overall, a charming, perfectly serviceable bike with great visual balance and mechanical presence.

I didn’t ride this one hard at all, as it’s already sold to a wealthy collector (redundant, perhaps) and on its way out the door. But bikes like this aren’t lovingly restored so we poor deprived moderns have something to ride hard. We have new bikes for that.

We like the old ones not because we need transportation, but because we love history—and the beauty that comes from imagination and fine craftsmanship. Which, luckily for us, were sometimes borne of past frustration with other brands.

from http://www.cycleworld.com

Rat Rod Custom 1950 Mercury Rescue!

It's always a good idea to buy a car off the Internet sight-unseen, right? That's what a friend-of-a-friend of Roadkill did with the kustom Merc—and maybe he made an even worse decision when he allowed Freiburger and Finnegan to wrench on the thing and deliver it to him. This deal was set up by a Roadkill fan, Jim Norman of Norman Vinyards in Paso Robles, California

Borile B450 Scrambler

Written by Ian Lee.

I've always been a fan of scrambler bikes. This has been in part thanks to a couple of 1960's period motorbike mags I have in my collection. Hard-jawed scrambler riders riding their bikes at impossible angles, safe in the knowledge their 'state of the art' cork helmets will give them protection should they need it. One modern day bike builder is channeling the spirit of those original trials type bikes, but putting some new age reliability into his offerings. Based in the town of Vò Euganeo, Borile is a boutique bike workshop, producing small volume models in their range – so there is no chance of pulling up next to one at a set of lights. Today's feature bike is the B450 scrambler, Borile's first bike to utilise the new 450cc engine, containing componentry supplied by Ducati. And it's a brilliant tribute to the scramblers of old. 

Starting with a frame fashioned from high strength steel tubing, Borile have created a scrambler style profile. Nestled in the frame sits a 452cc thumper, the top end using the same parts as fitted to the Ducati Desmodue model, mated to a Borile bottom end. The 2 valve head contains a belt driven SOHC, the bore is 98mm x 60mm, and the compression is 12:1 on this thumpin' special. Lubrication is wet sump, the oil fed through a trochoidal pump. 

This classic looking bike is helped in reliability by being fuel injected, running a 40.5mm throttle body, with a digital electronic ignition system fitted. Power is relayed through the multiplate clutch, to the removable 6 speed transmission, giving a top speed of 158kmh. 

For handling, the bike is fitted with hydraulic 41mm forks at the front, giving 140mm of travel. At the rear sit hydraulic adjustable units, allowing for different options in relation to rebound and preload. The bike rolls on a 100/90x19" tyre at the front, and 130/80x18" rubber at the rear. Braking ability is thanks to the twin piston hydraulic disc setup front and rear, running 260mm and 210mm rotors respectively. 

Aesthetically, the bike wouldn't look out of place at a 60s bike meet. A high set exhaust, pointing skyward with a chrome silencer, allows for better than average clearance. With a wheelbase of 1370mm, the bike gives the ability to manouevre while still giving stability at higher speeds. Helping with the weight distribution on this machine is the fact that the fuel tank is under the seat. 

Inspired by the roads surrounding the town of Vò Euganeo, Borile has spent a quarter of a century building bikes that are functional and reliable, as well as attractive to the eye. For that 60s look, with reliability built in you would be hard pressed going past this boutique bike builder. Borile's website sums it up best when they describe their bikes as having 'qualities that are worthy of a product that is truly hand made in Italy'. 

via PIPEBURN

‘NEW TRITON’ BY BRITALMOTO

Think of a Triton, and you probably imagine a sleek, silver-and-black special from the 1960s. A product of its time, infused with the heady aura of the Manx racing scene.

There are some people who believe that the concept of a Triton is still valid in the 21st century. And after seeing this machine from Swiss specialists Britalmoto, I’m inclined to agree. As befits the name, we have a powerful Triumph engine in a sweet-handling Norton frame. But this Triton is no rose-tinted, vintage fantasy. It’s a marriage of the best components provided by the modern-day manufacturers.

Britalmoto’s Ivo Tschumi explains his reasoning. “The situation today is very similar to the 60s. Triumph is building air-cooled twins with a superior reputation. The engines are very reliable and have a large tuning potential. On the other hand, Norton is building the new ‘Commando 961.’ It’s an excellent bike, especially the rolling chassis.

“But one of my customers was unhappy with the engine and transmission of his 961. He knew the potential of the current Triumph twins, so he asked us to transform his Norton into a ‘New Triton’.”

What sounds easy developed into a 450-hour project.

Ivo and his father Fritz extensively modified the Norton frame to fit the Triumph Thruxton engine. The engine mounting points and swing arm supports had to be re-engineered and fabricated in-house. The new swing arm pivot point location is almost identical to the original, so the excellent road performance of the Norton chassis is maintained.

To add to the complication, Britalmoto’s customer wanted more performance from the stock Triumph engine for his dream bike. So Britalmoto boosted capacity to 1087 cc using a big bore kit, Carillo rods, modified throttle bodies and bigger valves. The motor now puts out 96 rear wheel horsepower and 104 Nm of torque.

To keep the gases flowing freely, Fritz and Ivo installed larger-diameter primary pipes made from stainless steel and mufflers from the Italian company QD Exhausts, suppliers to racebike manufacturers such as Zaeta and Pierobon. An EBC Racing clutch with uprated springs handles the extra power.

The stock Öhlins suspension of the Norton 961 is retained, and the wheels are still 17” at both ends. We’re looking at a Norton wheel and Brembo brake system up front, and a Triumph Thruxton wheel and Nissin calipers at the back.

The hand controls are a mix of Norton and Triumph parts, but the headlight and mounting bracket are custom fitments. The foot controls are from Free Spirits. The tank comes from the Norton 961, but the seat unit is new. “The original felt too big,” explains Ivo.

“It was not our intention to build a ‘typical’ custom bike,” he continues. “We wanted to keep the character and the original appearance of the Norton Commando 961. It’s only at a second glance that you see it is not a repainted Norton, but a true ‘New Triton’.”

It’s a fascinating concept and one that works well visually. The appearance is more muscular than the original Triton, but then again, so is the performance.

Is this the bike that Norton should have built in the first place, rather than the 80 hp 961 being sold today?

Images courtesy of and © Sabine Welte 2013. Head over to the Britalmoto website for more information on Fritz and Ivo Tschumi’s builds.

via BIKEEXIF

FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP ; Fuji : Toyota Racing sort vainqueur d’une course qui n’a pas eu lieu

Tout était réuni pour une grande fête sur le Fuji Speedway pour l’antépénultième round du Championnat du Monde d’Endurance. La pluie a eu raison de la course où aucun tour n’a été bouclé sous drapeau vert. Il n’aura fallu pas moins de trois procédures de départ pour finalement mettre un terme définitif à ces 6 Heures de Fuji. On attendait un duel équilibré et à armes égales entre Audi et Toyota mais la bagarre n’aura pas eu lieu. C’est finalement la Toyota TS030 HYBRID de Nicolas Lapierre, Kazuki Nakajima et Alex Wurz qui est déclarée vainqueur d’une manche disputée uniquement sous régime de neutralisation. Il a été décidé que tous les pilotes marqueront la moitié des points dans les différentes catégories, ce qui fait que cette manche tronquée a tout de même son importance, Audi décrochant son deuxième titre de suite à deux manche de la fin. Victoire OAK Racing en LMP2 grâce à la Morgan LMP2 de Bertrand Baguette, Martin Plowman et Ricardo Gonzalez. Fred Mako, Darren Turner et Stefan Mücke raflent la mise en GTE-Pro sur l’Aston Martin Vantage GTE. Aston Martin Racing fait la passe de deux au Japon avec une victoire en GTE-Am pour Bruno Senna, Kristian Poulsen et Christoffer Nygaard. Dans le camp du Rebellion Racing, on peut se satisfaire d’un deuxième podium en quelques heures. Après avoir remporté le Petit Le Mans, le team suisse s’est classé troisième à Fuji avec Mathias Beche et Andrea Belicchi qui ont terminé derrière l’Audi R18 e-tron quattro de Loïc Duval, Tom Kristensen et Allan McNish. Les deux arrêts successifs de la #1 lors du deuxième départ a fait chuter les champions du monde en titre en queue de peloton, tout comme la seconde Toyota qui était partie en retard lors du premier tour de formation.

On a pourtant cru à un possible vrai départ lorsque la pluie s’est estompée mais sitôt les bâches enlevées sur les autos, les conditions sont vite redevenues compliquées. Il aura fallu toute la dextérité d’un Yannick Dalmas pour pouvoir garder sur la piste l’Audi RS5 qui fait office de satefy-car. On ne peut pas critiquer les décisions de la direction de course qui a su faire preuve de sagesse. Les grincheux diront qu’on n’annule pas une course parce qu’il pleut mais il vaut mieux anticiper les problèmes et ne pas faire n’importe quoi. Les pilotes ont vite compris qu’il était impossible de rouler dans ces conditions. Il est toujours plus facile de critiquer dans son canapé.

Il a été décidé d’attribuer la moitié des points (plus de deux tours couverts) alors qu’il n’a été bouclé que 16 tours, tous derrière la voiture de sécurité. Distribuer la moitié des points pour 16 tours couverts a de quoi paraître étrange. La procédure des différents podiums a bien eu lieu, certainement pour récompenser le nombreux public présent encore sur place. Là aussi, on peut féliciter les fans japonais qui ont été patients. Une belle leçon pour nous européens !

Ces 6 Heures de Fuji ne font pas les affaires de Tréluyer/Lotterer/Fässler au championnat. Selon les calculs du FIA WEC, Duval/McNish/Kristensen comptent 147 points contre 106,25 à leurs homologues de l’Audi #1. Chez Toyota Racing, Buemi/Sarrazin/Davidson  totalisent 81,25 points. Audi est sacré au classement Constructeurs. En LMP2, OAK Racing reprend l’avantage avec Baguette/Plowman/Gonzalez, le trio de la #35 comptant 114,5 points contre 109 au Pecom Racing, 98,5 à OAK Racing (#24) et 81 à G-Drive Racing. AF Corse prend un peu d’air en GTE-Pro avec 3 points de plus que Porsche AG Team Manthey et 6,5 sur Aston Martin Racing (#97). AMR (108 points) est également aux commandes du GTE-Am devant IMSA Performance Matmut (96) et 8Star Motorsports (93).

 Le classement des 6 Heures de Fuji est ici

 Le prochain meeting se tiendra à Shanghai le 9 novembre…

via Endurance Info