mardi 3 décembre 2013
HONDA CB CAFE RACER BY EXESOR
Is brown the new black? This highly-caffeinated café racer built for a coffee company sure looks good. It’s a creative mix of CB250, CB360 and CB400 parts, and it took Christian Schwarzenlander of ExesoR Motorcycles over two years to construct.
Christian is a quality control engineer from Austria, and his attention to detail shows in every aspect of the build. The prestigious German magazine Custombike was impressed too, and earlier this year, awarded Christian the first prize in its annual competition—the first time that a café style bike has taken the top honor, and the first Honda too.
After cutting his teeth on streetfighters, Christian found himself veering towards the café style and picked up a 1976 Honda CB250 basketcase for €250 ($340) on eBay. “It was in a very bad condition,” he reports. “I started sketching out a design study, using as few stock components as possible.” There was another rule: No chrome. “Every metal part is either nickel-plated, black chrome galvanized or made from bare stainless steel.”
The work is meticulous. Christian strengthened the CB250 frame and slotted in a CB360 motor, bored out to 390 cc. The motor itself is blueprinted and juiced up, with a hot cam and a tweaked intake manifold. The kickstart is removed in favor of electric start, and power now runs through a race clutch. A Dyna ignition system controls the spark, and a custom-made LiFePo123 accumulator acts as a battery for starting.
The suspension is pretty trick as well. Christian’s upgraded the stock CB250 forks with Wirth springs, and coated the inner tubes with DLC—diamond-like carbon—a treatment more usually found on racing forks. The swingarm is a CB400 item extended 7 cm, with a custom-fabricated chain tensioner, and the drum brakes have been modified with extra ventilation to keep them cool during brisk riding.
The construction is impressive, but for me, it’s the warm, vintage aesthetic that takes this one to another level. Head over to the ExesoR website for more images of Christian’s work, and follow his news via Facebook.
Images by David Matl.
via BIKEEXIF
Destry Abbott riding his old KX500 Championship Bike
Destry Abbott: “Here’s a KX500 video we’ve been working on for the last month! I’m pretty excited with the way it turned out and have more projects in the works for next year! This was the first time I’ve ridden my KX500 in 8-years and I was honestly surprised how much fun I had on it! It brought back some great memories! Thanks again for everyone’s support this year!” -
KRUGGER OVERMILE
Fred Krugger is a talented man. We’ve featured his work before with the incredible Krugger Goodwood (seriously, click that link if you haven’t seen it, it’s excellent), Fred’s designs are so iconic you can usually tell a Krugger motorcycle at 30 paces, long before you can read the name on the fuel tank. This is a talent not many bike builders can claim.
Fred wanted to create a motorcycle that would evoke memories of the classic Harley-Davidson XR750, a racing motorcycle so well loved that there are entire communities dedicated to keeping them running even today. The Krugger Overmile runs a 103 ci (1700cc) S&S V-Twin driving the rear tire through a 6-speed Baker PowerBox with overdrive, though no specific power numbers are listed, you can bet they’ll be high enough to get you into serious trouble.
For me, the most eye catching element of this build were those fantastic disc brakes. They’re so small it looks at first glance as though the bike is without brakes at all, the small Beringer callipers don’t provide asphalt tearing stopping power however the original Harley XR750 had no front brakes at all, with rear brakes listed as “optional”.
The Overmile took 3rd place in the 2009 AMD World Championships, although of all the bikes in the competition that year, this is the one I’d most like to take for a spin around that Austin F1 track.
If you feel so inclined, you can buy the Krugger Overmile here.
Prince William visits Motorcycle Live
PRINCE William visited the Motorcycle Live show at Birmingham's NEC on Saturday.
The Duke of Cambridge looked around several manufacturers’ stands including Triumph, KTM and Ducati, where he sat on the limited-edition 1199 Superleggera.
Prince William - along with his brother Harry - is a motorcycle enthusiast and has been spotted riding bikes such as his Ducati 1198 SP and Triumph Daytona 600.
Dean Linehan, Exhibitions Director of MCI Exhibitions said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to welcome His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge to Motorcycle Live. We know he likes motorcycles and that he rides when he can, but he showed a great knowledge of and appreciation for the UK’s motorcycle industry”.
At the end of the show, The Duke was presented with a wooden balance bike for his son Prince George of Cambridge. The bike was Royal themed with a Royal Coat of Arms emblem printed on the side of the bike and had crown-shaped tyre valve caps.
Linehan added: “It’s been a fantastic week for all the show’s exhibitors and visitors and we’ll be sorry to close Motorcycle Live tomorrow. But today’s royal visit will certainly give the whole industry a massive boost as we head into a really exciting 2014.”
All Images
Read more: http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-news--general-news/prince-william-visits-motorcycle-live/24104.html#ixzz2mLZCYnzm
Ferrari Hydroplane Antares II: Only flying is more beautiful
Italian boat-builder Guido Abbate created some highly successful racing hydroplanes in the 1950s, which are now sought-after collectibles. At its 2014 Retromobile auction, Artcurial will be offering one of these 'flying' boats...
This nautical flyer is expected to sell for between 400,000 and 500,000 euros
Equipped with a modified Squalo 2800cc four-cylinder engine, as used in Ferrari Formula 1 cars of the 1950s, the Antares II was delivered new on 14 April 1954 to its first Swiss owner and gentleman racer, Augusto Shapira, for the following year's boat race season.
Ferrari racing engine
Even if the Antares II is a little in the shadow of the famous 12-cylinder Arno XI hydroplane, the light wooden boat can boast of a unique feature: it is believed to be the only surviving Abbate construction with the famous Squalo engine. The specialists at the French auction house Artcurial have assigned it an estimate of between 400,000 and 500,000 euros - an ambitious price, perhaps, but don't forget that a hefty 868,000 euros were paid for the Arno XI. In addition, Antares II is not simply a piece of motor racing history, but also a part of Ferrari's history.
Photos: Artcurial Motorcars
Whether you're looking for old or new, many other boats can be found in the Classic Driver Market.
Addio, Gallardo! A bull says goodbye
Shed a tear, for there will be no further special models with endless combinations of letters and numbers: after 10 years of production, and 14,022 cars, Sant'Agata has waved goodbye to the last Lamborghini Gallardo. We will miss the little bull...
It was the most successful Lamborghini of all time - and is already establishing itself as a classic. The compact, angular, 10-cylinder sports car designed by Luc Donckerwolke was a sensation at the 2003 Geneva Show. This was followed by countless special and racing versions, much to the delight of the Classic Driver team. Next spring is likely to bring us the successor to the 'little bull'. We are curious to see if it will be a match for the sharp-edged purism of the Gallardo.
A design icon with the potential to become a classic? Numerous Lamborghini Gallardos are available in the Classic Driver Market.
Prepare for takeoff – onboard the Howmet TX turbine car
Enjoy the unique sounds as you ride onboard in the fabulous Howmet TX.The Howmet TX (Turbine eXperimental) was an American sports prototype racing car designed in 1968 to test the competitive use of a gas turbine engine in sports car racing. Planned by racing driver Ray Heppenstall, the TX combined a chassis built by McKee Engineering, turbine engines leased from Continental Aviation & Engineering, and financial backing and materials from the Howmet Corporation.
Although not the first attempt at using a turbine powerplant in auto racing, the Howmet TX was the first and is still the only turbine to win a race, earning two Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) race victories and two qualifying sprint victories during its only year of competition. The TX later set six Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) land speed records for turbines after being retired from racing.
Thanks for the tip: Stefan Mullikin
FABIEN OEFNER’S DISINTEGRATING CARS
Fabien Oefner’s Disintegrating Cars is an art exhibition that opened at the M.A.D (mechanical art devices) Gallery in Geneva in late November. Rather incredibly, each photograph is compiled from hundreds of individual shots, painstakingly pieced together over a period of 2 months. There is no 3D-modelled-CGI wizardry here, each component was positioned carefully, photographed and added to the final image.
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“I have always been fascinated by the clean, crisp looks of 3D renderings. So I tried to use that certain type of aesthetic and combine it with the strength of real photography. These images are also about capturing time: either in stopping it as in the Hatch series or inventing it as in the Disintegrating series.” – Fabien Oefner -
The Ferrari 330 P4 above and the Jaguar E-type and Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupébelow are just some of the works in the exhibit, if you’d like to see more (including a car hatching out of an egg) you can click here.
‘76 Honda CB750 - Sur les Chapeaux de Roues
As anyone who has tried to learn English from scratch will tell you, the language makes about as much sense as a totally blootered Mel Gibson at 2am on a Sunday morning. It's Raining cats and dogs. Keeping an eye out. Kicking the bucket. Wearing your heart on your sleeve. But you'll be glad to know that the Anglaises aren't the only ones with a market share in complete nonsense. The French phrase ‘démarrer sur les chapeaux de roues’ translates literally as ‘to drive on your hubcaps’ and is used in a similar fashion to the English phrase ‘hit the ground running’ or ‘get off to a flying start’. It's also happens to be the name of the Brittany-based bike shop that is responsible for today's feature bike, this very beautiful and very hubcap-less Honda CB750.
“I’m a 31 year old Parisian guy,” says Dorian Miras, the bike's owner. “I've been riding bikes for about 4 years and felt the need to get something a little more exotic. I would have loved to build my own bike, but it’s pretty much impossible given that I live in a 35 square meter flat in the center of town. So I searched all over the internet to find a workshop that could make me a cool ride and meet my limited budget.”
“I came across a shop called Sur les Chapeaux de Roues (or SLCDR) on a random blog. They had built a cool little CB125 and I was very impressed with the paint job and the quality of the finish. I contacted them by email and it turns out the ‘company’ is just two guys in a barn lost somewhere in Brittany. Manuel is a former Honda mechanic and takes care of all the greasy work, his buddy Yann is an artist and designer who does the paint jobs. Yann’s sister also lends a hand and stitches the seats. The first two bikes that came out of their shed are the builder's own bikes. My CB750 is only their 3rd build and I am therefore their very first paying customer.”
“I bought a 1976 Honda CB750 K6 on the internet and picked it up with a van. The engine was dead and she had 80,000 km on the clock. But the overall condition of the frame was rather good. I did most of the design by myself in Photoshop, sourced all the parts including the headlight which was from a tractor in Ohio and the guys at SLCDR did all the tough work.”
“The mods to the bike include a full engine rebuild and basically everything else, too. New brakes, wiring, the rear loop, a custom seat and some custom paint. And yes, the dent on the tank was kept on purpose. They also reversed the handlebar, added some Metzeler block C tires, and topped it off with some Vans cult BMX grips.”
via PIPEBURN
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