ACE CAFE RADIO

    mardi 4 février 2014

    Yamaha Announce 2014 Global Racing Program

    Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), 4th February 2014

    Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. held the “2014 Yamaha Motor Sports Press Conference” today at the Sama-Sama Hotel in Sepang, Malaysia. In it, Yamaha Motor announced the newly established basic policies and positioning of its motor sport activities, the race series for the 2014 season and the Yamaha riders and teams that will be competing in them.

    As well as outlining this season’s direction for MotoGP, the pinnacle of motorcycle road racing, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi from the YAMAHA FACTORY RACING team and Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaró from the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team were in attendance and conveyed their ambitions for this season and their impressions of the 2014 “YZR-M1” machine.

    Also, as part of the initiative to bring more constructors to the grid and more excitement to MotoGP, Yamaha Motor introduced its YZR-M1 engine leasing agreement. Leasing will begin this season in what is a first for Yamaha Motor, and lessee Team NGM Mobile Forward Racing also made a guest appearance at the event.


    Takaaki Kimura - Representative Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer
    “Motorsports are in Yamaha's DNA, and challenging ourselves through them has been an integral part of our corporate culture for over 50 years. Motorsport participation is also a direct embodiment of our brand slogan ‘Revs your Heart.’ The three basic policies of our racing activities are: branding, feedback of technology and promotional activities, and we will put them into action on a global level. To that end, we will aim for success in the premier class of MotoGP to bring Kando* to fans around the world, and work together with our group companies in each region in promotional activities, strengthening race environment and infrastructure, and nurturing the next generation of riders by providing them with more opportunities and putting in place a tiered structure they can work up through to reach greater heights. We hope that everyone will look forward to the results of Yamaha Motor’s ongoing challenge to ‘Rev your Heart’ through motorsports.”

    Marquez quickest as testing begins in Malaysia / Márquez prend les devants à l'ouverture du Test de Sepang


    Marc-Marquez-Repsol-Honda-Team-MotoGP-Valencia-Test-Day-2-563829
    Amid dry conditions, the long-awaited pause in track action was over as the Factory Option and Open specification machines looked to share the Sepang International Circuit for the first MotoGP™ test session of 2014.
    Starting from this season, all bikes are equipped with the spec ECU hardware, with Factory Options able to run their own software with 20 litres of fuel whereas Opens are obliged to run the spec Dorna software but anything up to 24 litres of fuel across a race distance. All MotoGP™ teams are present in Malaysia with the exception of IodaRacing, which plans to be in action for the first time at the second Sepang test towards the end of the month.
    Repsol Honda Team’s Marquez and Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi traded top times across the opening four hours, but as the habitual lunch break arrived it was the former who led the way with a best lap time of 2’00.767, complete with a larger air intake on this year’s Honda RC213V in a bid to increase top speeds and enhance throttle response on the exits of corners. Rossi - continuing work with new Crew Chief Silvano Galbusera - was demoted to third, as team-mate Jorge Lorenzo went second and just over three tenths of a second down on Marquez. LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista completed the top five. Leading Open rider Aleix Espargaro was sixth on the NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR-Yamaha, six and a half tenths down and running with full Yamaha factory suspension for the first time.
    Following an initial team photo for Yamaha Factory Racing, with Rossi presenting a helmet design portraying eyes in the back of his head, the pit lane was a hive of activity as technicians and mechanics experienced with various fuel load and setup combinations. At Forward Racing, Colin Edwards suffered what the American described as ‘tiny’ technical problems and is hoping to post more significant lap times after the lunch break, having been the only one of the 26 riders to have been on-track without posting a lap time. In 25th spot, Paul Bird Motorsport’s Michael Laverty managed only a handful of shakedown runs and like Edwards will be planning for more laps in the afternoon period.
    Perhaps the biggest talking point this week is whether Ducati Team – with Gigi Dall’Igna now at the helm as the new General Manager of Ducati Corse – will elect to switch its bikes to Open specification, with a decision expected after this test. They ended the morning in 11th and 12th places for Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow, although the Englishman parked up his bike shortly before half past 12. Although a Sepang marshal attempted to assist in bump-starting the machine, Crutchlow was forced to find alternative means of transport in returning to the pit lane. Gresini’s Bautista had the track to himself on the minutes running up to two o’clock, with others electing to take time out for eating.
    Testing now continues for a further four hours, with the same time schedule of 10am-6pm local time (GMT +8) remaining for Wednesday and Thursday.
    Valentino-Rossi-Yamaha-Factory-Racing-MotoGP-Valencia-Test-Day-1-563753


    Le premier Test Officiel de l'année s'est ouvert dans des conditions favorables au Circuit International de Sepang, où prototypes Factory et Open se retrouvent en piste pour la première fois depuis le Test de Valence qui avait lancé la pré-saison 2014 en novembre dernier.
    Le premier des deux Tests Officiels qui ont lieu à Sepang ce mois-ci vient de commencer et permet d'observer pour la première fois toutes les motos de la grille équipées de la centrale électronique ECU officielle du MotoGP™. Pour rappel, les prototypes Factory utiliseront cette année cet ECU avec leurs propres logiciels et un maximum de 20 litres de carburant par course alors que les machines inscrites en catégorie Open utiliseront le logiciel ECU fourni par Dorna et pourront embarquer jusqu'à 24 litres de carburant. Tous les teams de la grille MotoGP™ 2014 sont présents cette semaine à Sepang, à l'exception de IodaRacing, qui devrait néanmoins rejoindre la Malaisie à la fin du mois pour le second Test Officiel.
    Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) et Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing) ont été les deux premiers pilotes à se disputer la première position sur la feuille de temps mardi matin et c'est le premier, le Champion du Monde en titre, qui avait l'avantage à la mi-journée, avec un chrono de 2'00.767 réalisé sur une Honda RC213V dont l'entrée d'air a été élargie afin d'augmenter ses vitesses de pointe et d'améliorer son comportement à l'accélération en sortie de virage. Rossi était passé à la troisième place aux alentours de 14h, doublé par son coéquipier Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing), deuxième à tout juste plus de trois dixièmes de seconde de Márquez. Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) et Álvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) complétaient le Top 5 devant Aleix Espargaró (NGM Mobile Forward Racing), premier pilote Open et qui utilisait pour la première fois les suspensions Yamaha sur son FTR-Yamaha.
    Après une première séance photo avec l'ensemble du team Yamaha Factory Racing, dont Rossi a profité pour dévoiler un nouveau casque bien à son image, la voie des stands s'est très vite animée pour l'ouverture des essais. Chez NGM Mobile Forward Racing, Colin Edwards a été victime de petits problèmes techniques et n'a quasiment pas pu rouler. L'Américain a été le seul des vingt-six pilotes présents à ne pas enregistrer de chrono ce matin tandis que Michael Laverty (PBM) s'est classé 25ème, près d'une seconde derrière Mike di Meglio (Avintia Blusens), et que Randy de Puniet, qui poursuit sa mission de pilote d'essais chez Suzuki cette année, était 19ème.
    L'une des actualités à suivre cette semaine sera celle du team Ducati, avec Gigi Dall'Igna au poste de Directeur général de Ducati Corse, qui pourrait décider d'abandonner le statut Factory pour courir en Open cette année à l'issue de ce Test Officiel. Andrea Dovizioso et Cal Crutchlow étaient, à la mi-journée, onzième et douzième du classement, derrière Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing).
    La piste est ouverte de 10h à 18h, heure locale (GMT +8) pour les trois journées d'essais.
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    ICONIC HONDA MOTORCYCLES – THE EBAY COLLECTION


    Rc166-Honda-Hailwood-GP-Portland-Speed_Sports
    It’s difficult to overstate the importance of the Honda Motor Company on the evolution of motorcycles throughout the 20th Century, from the Cub, to the Monkey, to the Gold Wing, to the CB750 – Honda have created paradigm shifting motorcycles in almost every possible genre, or in the case of the CB750, actually created a new genre.
    Of all the motorcycles in this particular Collection, the one that grabs attention immediately is the original 1969 CB750 prototype that’s currently in the midst of a bidding war with the current bid at over $120,000 USD. This motorcycle is one of just 4 built before the production line officially began ticking over, Honda engineers hand-machined the parts and often found themselves having to design elements of the drive-train on the fly.
    This prototype was shipped to the USA with its 3 siblings and used to display the upcoming production bike’s features, Honda was bearish on the demand they anticipated for the model but allowing the dealers to have some hands on time with the all-new CB750 led to a groundswell of interest behind the bike. Of course, the rest is history. The Honda CB750 would go on to dominate the large capacity sports bike class for a over decade, it was so revolutionary they created a new term just to describe it – they called it the “super bike”.
    prototype honda cb750 740x743 Iconic Honda Motorcycles   The eBay Collection
    iconic racing hondas 740x551 Iconic Honda Motorcycles   The eBay Collection
    via SILODROME

    TURBO YAMAHA SALT FLAT RACER BY SUPER RAT


    Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat 1
    Madness takes many forms. For some it’s a slow descent into oblivion, characterised by increasingly erratic behaviour, illogical obsessions and a fondness for incoherent mumblings about the Illuminati. For others it’s a project to handbuild a turbo-charged salt flat racer from the remnants of a 450cc dirt bike.
    If I ever lose my wits I can only hope that I’m afflicted with that latter form of madness.
    The project began in February 2013 when a friend of Carl Bjorklund approached him with a 2004 Yamaha WR450F enduro that he wanted converted into a street-legal supermoto. The project sounded simple enough, Washington state law allows off road bikes to be legalised so long as they’re fitted with lights and a horn, so with this in mind Carl and the team at Super Rat Motorcycles set to work.
    As it happens, Carl’s shop neighbour is a man named Tim Clossey, Tim was loosely described as a chemical engineer who’s smarter than 10 men – when not engineering chemicals, Tim would daydream about going to the Bonneville salt flats and breaking world records.
    As the Super Rat Yamaha WR450F build began, Tim would come over and offer help, before long the team had forgotten their original directive and decided to build a Bonneville streamliner – then take her out to the salt and see how fast she’d go. At some point early in the project, the team decided that turning a dirt bike into a streamliner wasn’t quite challenging enough, so over some beer it was unanimously decided to bolt an old turbo charger onto the carburettor.
    Anyone who’s ever tried to bolt a turbo onto an engine that wasn’t designed for it will quickly attest that it’s an undertaking only slightly less ambitious that creating a cold fusion reactor using nothing but a polystyrene coffee cup, jello and a slinky.
    Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat
    A bush league dyno was built in the corner of the garage to test the new forced induction engine and tune the carburettor, while this was being done Car set about creating the eye-catching fairing. He used cardpaper, scissors, masking tape and paste to create a core design that he liked, the aim was to give the bike an attacking, lunging look when viewed from the side, whilst also offering a significant reduction in aerodynamic drag.
    An entirely new exhaust had to be built to feed the turbo, so Carl created a new stainless steel unit that passed through the turbine under the seat, then exited on the righthand side. The front suspension was rebuilt using a pair of Marzocchi Forks from a pit bike combined with parts from the original Yamaha forks, I’ve never heard of this being done before but it performed at Bonneville without a hitch.
    Super Rat couldn’t find any sponsors for their new salt flat racer so their friend Paul Haukaas made one up and painted it on either side of the bike along with the engine size and class name (MPS BG 500cc). Funnily enough, once they arrived in Bonneville they met the team from XS Energy Drinks who gave them a few cases of their product and some gear, apparently the drinks were a godsend during the long nights spent trying to get the carburettor to play nice with the turbo.
    The terrible weather conditions at Bonneville in 2013 played havoc with the entire field of entrants, Super Rat were only allowed 6 timed runs as a result, which was barely enough for shakedown testing. The best run they managed was just over 100mph but keeping the fuel pressure above the turbo boost pressure needed more time to resolve than they had available.
    Super Rat are now back in their workshop building a fuel injection system and hooking up an intercooler to their handbuilt streamliner, they’ll be back at Bonneville in 2014 with the bit between their teeth and the 500cc world record in their sights.
    Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat 3 Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat
     Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat
    Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat 2 Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat
     Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat
    Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat 6 Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat
    Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat 8 Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat
    Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat 5 Turbo Yamaha Salt Flat Racer by Super Rat
    via SILODROME

    1915 INDIAN BOARD TRACK BIKE BY CRAIG KITZMANN


    1915 Indian Board Track Bike 02 1915 Indian Board Track Bike By Craig Kitzmann
    This 1915 Indian Board Tracker might look a little bit like nothing you’ve ever seen before, that’s largely due to the fact that it’s a 3D model and not a real bike. Yet. It is, however, the exact sort of thing that makes me wish for a significant acceleration in the development and adoption of 3D printers.
    The bike started out as a project assigned to Craig Kitzmann by his professor at San Jose State University, they were given the topic of early board track racing and asked to create a 3D model representing the era. Craig quickly fell in love with the men and machines and after some work in Maya, Photoshop and Mudbox he created the remarkable bike you see here.
    Rather brilliantly, he also crafted a back story for the bike, to explain its unique foot-steering mechanism and hand throttle – I’ve added it below in full.
    Discovered via the always wonderful - MegaDeluxe
    1915 Indian Board Track Bike 01 1915 Indian Board Track Bike By Craig Kitzmann
    So this model was our first project in my last class at San Jose State. We were asked to do research on 1910-1920′s board track racing and re-create one of the bikes from that era. What came out of it was a new found love for board track racing bikes and their riders. The insane stories and crazy pictures that we came across were so amazing. It hooked us all in. The first concepts I created was a straight up 1915 Indian board track racing bike with a V-twin motor. I was happy with modeling it out right but the instructors wanted to see us push it more. The idea was that anyone could model from some pictures but not everyone can inject a story and artistry into it.
     
    So I went back to the drawing board and started some quick iterations to explore interesting silhouettes. I came to a silhouette close to what the final version is now. I also found that I was subliminally drawing inspiration from work that Daniel Simon had created. I then needed to figure out how the rider would steer the bike. I developed a pulley system that can run from the front to the riders feet. I then asked well why would he need to drive with his feet? I then thought of the story of a guy who was a rum runner at the time. He would ride his Indian in and out of the streets while avoiding the police. At one point he took a nasty spill and destroyed his bike and lost his left arm. Instead of being defeated he salvaged the parts from the wreck and created a new frame and driving mechanism. He now wears a brace around his chest that can hook into the left side and uses his right arm to grip and throttle.
     
    The model was created in a program called Maya, it was textured in Mudbox and Photoshop and rendered in Mental Ray. I tried to stay true to the original design and engineering but I’m sure any board track racing enthusiast could spot some potential problems.
    Craig Kitzmann
    1915 Indian Board Track Bike 03 1915 Indian Board Track Bike By Craig Kitzmann
    1915 Indian Board Track Bike 04 1915 Indian Board Track Bike By Craig Kitzmannvia SILODROME


    BRISKO GARAGE XV 750 TST


    Brisko Garage XV750 1
    Stefano Briscolini is 35 and was born in Urbino in Italy, growing up in Rome before he moved to Milan where he works in Computing by day and as a Personal Trainer in the evenings, but despite the busy schedule his passion for engines means he makes plenty of time to spend in his garage. He even sleeps there on occasion, and he calls it his second home, so when it came to giving his workshop a name, it was to be Brisko Garage, Officina d’arte Meccanica (“Workshop of mechanical art” )
    Brisko Garage XV750 2
    The garage came into being in Feb 2012 and was soon crowded with bikes from the 70s and 80s,; a 1982 XJ 900, a 1983 CB 750… And this custom 1983 XV 750 Virago. Stefano tells us more… “Virago, says Wikipedia, is the word often used to describe a woman whose aspect and especially the way of thinking and acting, has significant traits of a man. I’ve done nothing else but matching the nature of my bike to my name, with a massive injection of testosterone. Hence the name of the bike: TST.”
    Brisko Garage XV750 3
    “One year work in my garage and almost everything handmade personally, with the only exception of cutting the forks, welding the most delicate parts and painting the bodywork.”
    The modified frame and wheels have been powdercoated while the tank was sandblasted and painted in clearcoat for protection. The forks have been shortened by 10cm and use heavier oil. A Suzuki Bandit mono-shock takes care of soaking up the bumps at the rear, but it is cleverly coupled with a lateral Kawasaki shock, mounted without it’s spring, to handle the return. We have no idea how well this might work, but it sounds very clever and looks different.
    Brisko Garage XV750 4
    The clips-ons are custom items. A Yamaha R6 donated the brake master cylinder and clutch lever while Ducati offered up the steering damper. A Lithium Ion battery is hidden under the tank and the electrics have been moved under the seat. The stand-out subframe has been handmade, as was the leather seat, with the rear light housed in the aluminum custom tail. More aluminium has been hand-bashed into a numberplate holder with integrated bullet-style indicators.
    Brisko Garage XV750 5
    Conical air filters suck in the air while burnt gases exit through a custom made exhaust with custom open mufflers. Credit for the welding goes to Olisald, made by Master Olivari (Melegnano). The painting is by GMG (Caselle, Lurani – Lodi).
    Brisko Garage XV750 6
    It’s certainly no clone of any other XV we’ve seen out there. Most pay more than a nod of tribute to Docs’ Chops or Classified etc, but this is a one-off, with it’s Meccano style rear end and steam-punk rear shock setup, complemented perfectly by the raw metal tank and drop bars with brown grips. Thanks for Stefano his story and the photos. …See more on his facebook HERE.

    Hollywood glamorama: The stars of 1954


    We might be getting excited about 'The Wolf of Wall Street' and '12 Years a Slave', but will they stand the test of time in the same way as film classics from half a century ago, classics such as Rear Window, Sabrina and The Barefoot Contessa...?
    Somehow we doubt it, because 1954 was a vintage year for films - and the stars who made them hits.

    Grace Kelly

    Seldom has a woman been more appropriately named than this American beauty who married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956. Her career had taken off two years earlier when she played James Stewart's well-to-do love interest in the brilliantly tense Hitchcock thriller Rear Window, as well as starring in Dial M for Murder and three other significant movies. A multiple Golden Globe winner, she died at the young age of 53 after her Rover P6 plunged over the side of a French cliff.

    Humphrey Bogart

    By 1954, Bogart was already firmly established as a legend of the silver screen, having starred in such landmark movies as Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo, The Big Sleep and The African Queen, for which he scooped an Oscar.  Despite being just 54 years of age, his health was in decline after years of heavy smoking and drinking - but he showed some of the old magic in '54's The Barefoot Contessa as a movie director who makes a star of a flamenco dancer, played by Ava Gardner.

    Audrey Hepburn

    Still regarded as a role model by young women the world over, the enchantingly innocent, Belgian-born Hepburn was unfailingly gorgeous - not least when being squired around the Eternal City on the back of Cary Grant's Vespa in 1953's film Roman Holiday. The following year she starred with Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina, playing the role of chauffeur's daughter Sabrina Fairchild who falls for womanising playboy David Larrabee (William Holden) - but ends up sailing into the sunset with his older brother Linus, played by Bogart.  This meant giving up the chance to ride in David's rare and delicious Nash-Healey spider.

    Paul Newman

    It was the 1969 movie Winning that got Paul Newman hooked on motorsport, eventually leading him to form his own race team. By then, of course, he was a fully-fledged member of the Hollywood elite - but his film career first got off the ground in 1954's The Silver Chalice in which he played the role of an ancient Greek artisan called Basil who was tasked with making a chalice to house the Holy Grail. Newman later described it as the worst film of the decade. It finally went to DVD in 2009, so you can judge for yourself.

    Doris Day


    Simultaneously homely and smoulderingly sexy - especially when sporting Capri pants -  Doris Day was all set for a career as a dancer until she damaged her legs in a car accident at the age of 15. During her convalescence she took up singing and soon turned professional, churning out hits such as Sentimental Journey which made her a Forces sweetheart. In 1954, however, she played her first film roles opposite Phil Silvers in Lucky Me and with Frank Sinatra in Young at Heart.  Happy-go-lucky Day demonstrated that she was game for a laugh by travelling through a car wash in a convertible (with the roof down) for the 1963 remake of Move Over Darling.
    Photos: Getty/Rex Images

    Clean Shaven




    After the big weekend, tackle Monday with a clean look.
    This edition of Garb is sponsored by our friends at Bonobos.

    2013 SCORE Baja 1000; on board with Robby Bell


    coiffure