WSBK : Sykes goes one better than last year as he takes the 2013 title / Sykes, de vice-Champion 2012 à Champion du Monde Superbike 2013

Five years have passed since Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) joined the SBK paddock for his rookie campaign. The 28 year old from Huddersfield, England, has built speed upon speed, ultimately clinching his first-ever eni FIM Superbike World Championship title last Sunday, at 12:36 and 42 seconds, when he crossed the line in third place in Race 1 at Jerez. In that very moment all the pressure disappeared and Sykes could finally let his emotions out.

"I've done my best out there all year", said Tom after the race. "I'm over the moon, so emotional and I shed a few tears on the slow-down lap, too. I made lots of sacrifices to get here and I finally made it, and what a feeling it is. Hats off to the guys in front of me, they did what they had to do but luckily this is our moment. After getting so close to the title last year, I'm not going to thank everyone, they know who they are and I'll catch up with them personally. I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Tom Sykes joins the WSBK elite as the 15th different Champion, and the fourth from Great Britain after Carl Fogarty (1994-1995-1998-1999), Neil Hodgson (2003) and James Toseland (2004-2007). Here are some numbers from his impressive season: 8 Tissot-Superpoles, 9 race wins, 18 podiums and 13 fastest laps in the races. Sykes scored an average of 16.5 points per race, including only 2 DNFs, leading for 255 laps overall (Championship runner-up Eugene Laverty led for 119). Furthermore, Sykes set the new best lap on six tracks in 2013.

Tom Sykes will be defending the eni FIM superbike World Championship title next year once again aboard the Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10R, with Frenchman Loris Baz as team mate.

Cinq ans se sont écoulés depuis l'arrivée de Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) dans le paddock WSBK. Le pilote anglais, âgé de 28 ans et originaire d'Huddersfield, s'est montré de plus en plus performant jusqu'à remporter son premier Championnat du Monde eni FIM Superbike dimanche dernier à Jerez, à 12h36, en franchissant la ligne d'arrivée de la première course en troisième position.

« Je fait de mon mieux toute l'année, » a déclaré Sykes après la course. « Je suis très heureux, c'était un grand moment d'émotion et j'ai eu quelques larmes avant de rejoindre la pit-lane. J'ai fait beaucoup de sacrifices pour en arriver là et j'ai finalement réussi. Chapeau aux gars qui étaient devant moi, ils ont fait ce qu'ils avaient à faire mais nous avons heureusement pu concrétiser. Après être passé si près du titre l'an dernier, je ne vais pas remercier tout le monde en public, je le ferai personnellement. J'ai attendu ce moment depuis très longtemps. »

Tom Sykes rejoint l'élite du WSBK en tant que 15ème Champion du Monde de l'histoire et quatrième Britannique titré après Carl Fogarty (1994-1995-1998-1999), Neil Hodgson (2003) et James Toseland (2004-2007). Son palmarès de 2013 : 8 Tissot-Superpoles, 9 victoires, 18 podiums et 13 meilleurs tours. Sykes a marqué en moyenne 16.5 points par course, a abandonné deux fois et a mené durant un total de 255 tours (contre 119 pour le vice-Champion Eugene Laverty). Il a aussi établi un nouveau record du tour sur six circuits cette année.

Tom Sykes sera de nouveau au guidon de la ZX-10R du Kawasaki Racing Team pour défendre son titre de Champion du Monde eni FIM Superbike l'an prochain, aux côtés de son coéquipier français Loris Baz.

   

Moto GP : Lorenzo celebrates 50th career victory / Lorenzo fête sa 50ème victoire en Grand Prix

The Australian win was one of Lorenzo’s most dramatic so far, dealing perfectly with the added challenge of compulsory bike changes and light rain. This marked his 29^th win in the premier class and third at Phillip Island following those of the 250 class in 2006 and 2007, as well as his half-century across all categories.

"It is incredible to have achieved 50 Grand Prix victories at 26 years of age," commented the reigning World Champion. "It only seems like yesterday when I won in Brazil in 2003, but it has been ten years. I am very proud of this and I hope to win a few more in the future!"

The two-time MotoGP™ title winner certainly has reason to be proud, as only six others riders in the history of the World Championship (which dates back to 1949) have achieved more wins than his 50: Giacomo Agostini, Valentino Rossi, Angel Nieto, Mike Hailwood, Mick Doohan and Phil Read. However, only Rossi and Hailwood had more victories than Lorenzo by the time they were 26.

Two-time title winner Casey Stoner, who retired at the end of 2012, achieved 45 victories across his World Championship career and of the other current riders only Dani Pedrosa nears Lorenzo’s win tally, with 48 victories to his name

Cette cinquantième victoire était d’autant plus marquante que Jorge Lorenzo l’a remportée dans des conditions exceptionnelles, avec une course qui comprenait un changement de machine obligatoire, et qu’elle lui permettait de se relancer face à Marc Márquez dans la lutte pour le titre 2013. Il s’agissait aussi de son 29ème succès dans la catégorie reine et de sa troisième victoire à Phillip Island, après les deux qu’il avait obtenues en 250cc en 2006 et 2007.

« C’est incroyable d’atteindre les cinquante victoires à 26 ans, » a commenté le Champion du Monde en titre. « Ma victoire au Brésil en 2003 ne me semble pas si lointaine que ça mais ça fait déjà dix ans. Je suis fier de tout ça et j’espère continuer à gagner ! »

Le double Champion du Monde MotoGP™ ne manque pas de motifs pour être fier de sa carrière puisque seuls six autres pilotes ont passé le cap des 50 victoires en Grand Prix : Giacomo Agostini, Valentino Rossi, Angel Nieto, Mike Hailwood, Mick Doohan et Phil Read. Parmi eux, seuls Rossi et Hailwood avaient remporté plus de victoires que Lorenzo lorsqu’ils avaient le même âge que le Majorquin.

Casey Stoner, lui aussi double Champion du Monde MotoGP™ et parti du paddock à la fin de la saison 2012, a décroché 45 victoires au cours de sa carrière en Championnat du Monde. Dani Pedrosa est le seul autre pilote à être proche du total de Lorenzo, avec actuellement 48 victoires à son nom.

DMB SPEEDSTER BY WOLF CREATIVE CUSTOMS

The father and son team over at Wolf Creative Customs have a habit of turning out some genuinely interesting motorised bicycles, we’ve featured their work before and it always seems to pick up a fair bit of interest from across the gasoline-scented parts of the internet.

This is their latest creation, the frame is an older model that was made when they first started building bikes, it has the lines of a hybrid BMX-Board Tracker (which isn’t a bad thing). It’s been fitted with a 212cc single cylinder, air-cooled motor which breathes through a 22mm Mikuni carburettor.

The frame has been powder-coated in Candy Apple Red, pit bike forks have been added, the front hub is from a CR125, rear drum hub is a Puch model and that rear brake is hydraulic actuated. The tires are 24 x 2.5 Maxxis Hook Worms and that engine has been customised with a Hi-Lift Isky cam, a billet con-rod, a flat top piston, chromo push rods and roller rockers, a billet lightened flywheel, a custom exhaust and a swap meet find catch can.

The bike is now owned by a friendly guy with the moniker “DMB”, he’s a good friend of John and Jeff and has helped them out with tools and a lathe. Apparently he’s very happy with the finished bike, and it’s not hard to see why.

If you’d like to see more from Wolf Creative Customs you can hit “Like” on their Facebook Page here– this’ll allow you to stay up to date with their new builds and see their previous work.

via SILODROME

RACING LEGENDS: JACKIE STEWART

After the runaway success of the last episode of Racing Legends featuring Sir Stirling Moss and presented by Sir Patrick Stewart we though it would be a good idea to bring you the next episode in the series -”Racing Legends: Jackie Stewart”.

This episode is presented by British celebrity chef and hardcore petrolhead, James Martin. Jackie Stewart is always an entertaining and personable chap with his flap cap and sideburns, besides his unique look he also won 3 world drivers championships and made Formula 1 a far, far safer sport.

Grab a coffee and hit play. It’ll make everything better.

from Silodrome

Rallye des Pionniers : la vidéo

Triumph Bonneville T100 Scrambler

The Triumph Bonneville T100 was launched by the Hinckley based company in 2000, since then it’s become one of the most popular two-wheeled targets for customisation and an entire ecosystem has sprung up around it providing a huge array of performance parts and customisation options.

One of the most popular conversions has been the scrambler-look, Triumph ended up introducing an official scrambler based on the Bonneville in 2006 which has gone on to be hugely popular, but it’s always interesting to see what other bike builders can achieve using the same fundamental building blocks.

The Bonneville T100 based scrambler you see here was built by Michael Mundy and the talented team at Steel Bent Customs, it’s an excellent example of what a talented builder can achieve in a relatively short space of time, if they’re given carte blanche by their client.

Click here to ‘Like’ Silodrome on Facebook and never miss another story.



The build process started with the donor bike being stripped down to its bare essentials, the wheels were sent off to The Devon Rim Company in England to be re-laced with wider, lighter wheels. They then looped the frame and added support for the new exhaust and much smaller rear fender, once this was done the new 2 into 1 Arrow Exhaust has bolted on.

The stock shock absorbers were removed and a new adjustable pair from Öhlins were added, a new seat pan was fabricated and a new leather seat was added. Attention now shifted to the engine, all the chrome was removed and satin black powder coated to give the bike a slightly less polished appearance. The stock interment cluster was then tossed and a new, much smaller Motogadget gauge was bolted on to keep things clean and tidy.

The client settled on a matte silver paint job with a Coast Guard orange stripe, if you’d have described it to me over the phone I would have thought it looked ghastly but it actually works very well in this context. You might have noticed that the gas tank cap has a removable Francis Barker compass bolted onto it, a design touch that works exceptionally well on a bike with serious off-road intentions.

If you’d like to see more from Steel Bent Customs you can click here to visit their website, they have a huge array of builds now and all of them are worth seeing.

















All images by Erick Runyon.
via SILODROME

JD Classics: Prancing horses at the home of the big cats

Normally you'd expect to come across a herd of big cats (or should that be a litter, or pride?) at the HQ of renowned Jaguar expert JD Classics, rather than a herd of horses. But today is a little different...

Finding four Ferrari 275 GTBs and a 250 GT California Spider in one place at one time is fairly unusual, at least outside the confines of a business specialising in sports cars from Maranello. But while JD Classics, based in Essex in the UK, is better known for its extensive Jaguar services (inspection, restoration and race preparation) and its large selection of British sports cars - just look at this video:

Video: JD Classics

All four Ferrari 275 GTBs were sold, in double-quick time, shortly after the video was made:interest in this icon of the Sixties seems greater than ever. Never fear, however, as there are other enticing automobiles from JD Classics to be found on Classic Driver .

MotoCorsa Presents: Ducati 1199 TerraCorsa

We built a bike and people said it was silly. Awesome. And silly. They also said it would't work. Want to know us a bit better? Find us at motocorsa.com

Patrick Dempsey poursuit avec Porsche en 2014 et 2015

Avant de rejoindre la maison Porsche en American Le Mans Series via le Dempsey Del Piero Racing, Patrick Dempsey a fait les beaux jours du Grand-Am avec Mazda. Deuxième du Petit Le Mans samedi dernier, l’acteur-pilote a annoncé son intention de poursuivre son engagement avec Porsche durant les deux prochaines saisons. « Nous sommes impatients de débuter la prochaine saison afin d’avoir encore plus de succès avec notre partenaire Porsche » indique « McDreamy ».

« Chaque saison apporte un certain nombre de défis intéressants. Cette année, le partenariat avec Porsche a été le point culminant et la principale raison du succès que nous connaissons. Ce fut un honneur pour moi que de disputer le Petit Le Mans pour la première fois avec Porsche et de représenter cette marque sur le podium. C’est la suite idéale de notre apparition conjointe en juin dernier au Mans. Mettre un terme à notre saison avec notre meilleur résultat avec Porsche est une grande conclusion. »

« Nous nous attendons à une deuxième saison passionnante avec Patrick Dempsey et le Dempsey Racing afin de poursuivre notre fructueux partenariat » explique Jens Walther, président de Porsche North America.« Patrick est un passionné de courses automobiles qui incarne le professionnalisme et l’amabilité qui font de la famille Porsche ce qu’elle est. »

On reverra donc le Dempsey Racing ces deux prochaines saisons même si on ne sait pas encore dans quelle classe se fera cette présence. Il y a fort à parier que l’acteur soit à nouveau de la partie en juin prochain aux 24 Heures du Mans. En juin dernier, il roulait sur une Porsche 911 GT3-RSR couvée par le Proton Competition.

via Endurance-Info.com

BAJA SOCIAL CLUB TEASER

Baja Social Club is the authentic human story of a band of pioneering and passionate risk-takers that four decades ago created the original extreme sport while unveiling a very special land for the rest of the world to enjoy.  They are the last of their breed, but still young at heart.

Today's General Tire NORRA Mexican 1000 vintage off-road rally serves a backdrop for the inspirational tale of how these men come together, perhaps for the last time, to rediscover themselves on a 1,200-mile journey to their collective soul. This primitive, hostile and beautiful strip of dreams that was once their most daunting adversary has now become their spiritual home. The pioneers are joined by a group of youthful new adventurers seeking to follow their footprints including racers Jim Riley, Rick Johnson and Boyd Jaynes.



Almost three years in the making and supported by General Tire, Oakley and the National Off Road Racing Association (NORRA), Baja Social Club stars motorcycle legend Malcolm Smith, off-road legend Walker Evans, dune buggy inventor Bruce Meyers and inaugural NORRA Mexican 1000 winner Vic Wilson. The 60-minute documentary film is being directed by James Masters and was created by Executive Producer Marty Fiolka.

Thomas Parrish started building custom vehicles about 15 years ago, working with cars and trucks, which is where he learned most of his fabrication skills and techniques. Without support from the crop of internet how-to sites that exist these days, Thomas learned a lot from his mistakes.

Four years ago Thomas felt like he was burnt-out on four wheeled machines and turned his attention to two. He started out with a couple of mildly customised sportsbikes before moving on to building a custom chopper. After 400 hours spent over two years Thomas had a beautiful bike that he was very proud of, but he missed the handling and performance of his sportsbikes, so he decided the new cafe racer scene would give him the freedom to build something that didn’t fit into any specific category and would allow him to build bikes with the performance to match their looks.

This is Thomas’s most recent build, a 2007 Ninja 650R. “I bought this bike with the intention of selling it. It was cheap, and I needed something to ride alongside my girlfriend as she learned to ride – all of my other projects were too far from being done. So I got to work on the bikes major issues, seriously controlled myself, and this is what I came up with.”

“It would have been nice to add a wider back tire, make my own exhaust etc. etc., but I just wanted something respectable. I didn’t want to spend my whole summer fabricating, I just wanted to ride, and not on a wanna-be sportbike looking high handlebar dork machine! So this is what I came up with, hope you like it.”

It’s not easy to capture any of the old school cafe racer aesthetics on some modern bikes, with their complex frame shapes and major components in strange new places, and this 2007 Kawasaki must have presented some big issues, but the overall essence is clearly present: A shortened rear-end with a single seat, designed with a nod to some classic shapes, simplified instruments and minimal lighting, with clip-on bars hunkering down around the tank, ticking all the right boxes.

Purists in the cafe racer and the sportsbike scenes may or may not approve, but we applaud bold machines like this, that in many ways reflect the approach of builders like Radical Ducati and Shed X, taking modern machines and stripping them back to basics with half and eye on the future and half and eye on the past. What we can be sure of, is that this bike would be fantastic to ride.

Thanks to Thomas for sharing with all of us here on The Bike Shed. See more from Kustom Research on their Website or Thomas’s Blog, or you can email him HERE.

from the Bike Shed

SOUND OF SINGLE BY KINGSTON CUSTOM

The biggest cafe racer event in Europe is the Glemseck 101. It’s held in the ancient town of Leonberg in southern Germany, some ten miles west of Stuttgart. Every year, hundreds of motorcycles descend for a petrolhead celebration of speed and style.

The highlight of Glemseck is the informal but hotly contested sprint series, which attracts some pretty unusual racers. And this year, one of the most oddball builds was this Porsche-engined Yamaha SR, built by Kingston Custom. The top half of the motor comes from a 911 Turbo.

Why the Porsche connection? “It was an idea—a challenge—and it worked out,” says Kingston’s Dirk Oehlerking, an accomplished mechanic. “It’s wild and extraordinary and with a unique presence.” Dirk is a former German national enduro champion, and if you think you’ve seen his name around these parts before, you’re right. We featured his radical BMW R75/6 bobber six months ago.

‘Sound of Single’ is a showcase for Dirk’s inventive engineering skills, rather than slick finishing. The Porsche 930 metalware is mated to a 1979 Yamaha SR500 bottom end; engine capacity has risen by about a quarter to 609cc.

There’s a standard Porsche piston inside, with fuelling coming from a 40mm Mikuni carb, up from the stock 34mm. Breathing is aided by a K&N air filter and Norton exhaust. The wheels are now 19″ front and rear, carrying Metzeler rubber.

The standard SR500 fork has been cut down to lower the machine, and a shorter rear shock fitted. The rear drum has been swapped out for a disc, and most of the visible metalwork is custom, right down to the pegs. The bike tips the scales at 126 kg (280 lbs), some 32 kg lighter than a showroom SR500.

So it’s not the sort of custom you’d use to ride to a café on a Sunday. And it’d probably give a TÜV inspector a heart attack. But I reckon it’d be one helluva thrill ride down the drag strip.

Head over to the Kingston Custom website to see more of Dirk’s very creative builds—including some that you could easily ride on the street.

from BIKEEXIF

Ryca CS-1 – Suzuki S40 Cafe Conversion

BY PAUL CROWE

Ryca CS-1 Suzuki S40 Cafe Conversion

Would you be interested in a nice, brand new, lightweight, single cylinder cafe racer? You're probably thinking, why bother asking, no one is making them, but maybe you're just not looking in the right place. Former NASA engineer Casey Stevenson of Ryca Motors had the same idea, he wanted a lightweight single to cruise around L.A. but finding few options he figured he could design his own, something with a Japanese single cylinder engine and a sort of modern cafe style. Then he saw the Suzuki Boulevard S40, the little belt drive cruiser, but he didn't see cruiser, he saw something else hidden right there, in plain sight.

Ryca CS-1 Suzuki S40 Cafe Conversion

The S40, previously called the Savage, has been around for over 20 years but you can still buy them new. His idea was to transform the Suzuki with his own custom made parts and accessories, creating a kit in the process enabling anyone with basic tools to build their own urban thumper. The CS-1 features a 650cc single with 5 speeds, good looks and up to 60 mpg.

Here's how Casey describes it:

For the prototype, I started with the tank. The bottom was chopped off, re-welded, and the entire tank was lowered with custom mounts. I made a tank plate to cover the cavity where the stock speedometer was located, which now houses the keyswitch and indicator lights.

I then lowered the front forks and brought up the rear with longer shocks to level the tank and establish the horizontal line that follows through to the seat and side covers. This brought the rake and trail down a good amount, and I realized there was no need to build a custom frame like I had originally planned. The stock frame is narrow and kinda disappears into the background, making everything seem very sleek and light.

Ryca CS-1 Suzuki S40 Cafe Conversion

For the seat, I chopped off the ends of the stock tubes and made a metal seat assembly that attaches to the existing mounting points. The entire piece is isolated from the frame with neoprene rubber to reduce vibration and can be adjusted depending on the weight of the rider. The cafe seat was made from fiberglass.

I really like the belt drive of the stock S40, so I had the rear hub re-laced to a larger 18" rim. A custom battery box was created which doubles as a mounting point for the electronics, and fiberglass side covers were designed to match the contours of the seat and tank. The exhaust was modded to fit the reverse cone muffler, and I created a foot-actuated lever from the stock shifter to replace the heavy stock decompression solenoid. Custom speedo/tach brackets, belt guard, sidestand mount, and license plate bracket were fabricated.

For the rearsets, I designed a one-piece bracket assembly: left and right cantilevers cross-braced horizontally with tubing, all TIG welded together. The bracket attaches to existing motor mounts. New grips, clip-ons, and air-filter complete the package. The Ryca CS-1 cafe racer is born!

I work with some talented guys at my shop, and everything (excluding re-lacing of the rear hub) is done in-house. We can build you a CS-1 from a new or used Suzuki S40, or you can build one from our kit which includes:

-Low profile tank and indicator panel
-Tank mounts
-Fiberglass seat and seat mount assembly
-Rearset bracket
-Battery box
-Fiberglass side covers
-Mini tach and speedo mounting brackets
-Belt guard
-Sidestand relocation mount
-Decompression lever rod and linkage

Here's what we offer:

New Motorcycle
Everything is factory fresh. All custom components are new. The engine and chassis are from a brand new bike with zero miles.
$9500

Low-Mileage Motorcycle
All custom components are new. The engine and chassis are from a low-mileage used bike in excellent condition.
$8000

Conversion
You bring us your S40. We make it awesome.
$5500

Kit
The kit is for the do-it-yourself home builder and includes the custom parts made by Ryca. All components can be attached at existing mounting points. No welding required.

Parts are primed and ready for paint: $3200 Parts are painted and clearcoated: $3600

Ryca CS-1 Suzuki S40 Cafe Conversion

---------------------------

Casey says this is the first in a planned series of bikes. If they can do a small run, instead of only one or two, the prices could come down. The idea is to invest profits back into the company and sell more bikes for less.

I like the direction they're going here, start with an existing bike and transform it into a bike not available elsewhere. Sweet looks, nice price, I like it. If the CS-1 looks good to you, give Casey a call at Ryca Motors.

Link: Ryca Motors

from http://thekneeslider.com

grand lit !