ACE CAFE RADIO

    lundi 3 mars 2014

    Lorenzo quickest on busy first day at Phillip Island / Lorenzo survole la première journée à Phillip Island


    Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Sepang Test

    Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo was Monday’s fastest rider at Phillip Island as the three-day tyre safety test got underway.

    The former MotoGP™ World Champion’s best time of 1’29.213 put him top of the pile though lap times and bike development are not the focus this week. The riders and teams are working on tyre durability and have a specific schedule to follow over the 72 hours at the Australian venue.
    Monday’s workload included set-up on control tyres and short runs on a selection of six different new tyres, some with new compounds, and others with new construction. Bridgestone aim to narrow down the selection of tyres on Tuesday and Wednesday, with longer runs then being undertaken on the best performing options.
    Lorenzo was struggling with the generic 2014 tyre specification at Sepang last week and though the Phillip Island times are distinct due to the nature of this test he will nonetheless be pleased to be leading the way.
    In second place on the timesheet was Cal Crutchlow, notching up 67 laps for Ducati in the wake of their decision on Friday to go ‘Open’ for 2014. Crutchlow was 0.363s off Lorenzo, but was tellingly four tenths faster than his fifth placed colleague Andrea Dovizioso - who missed the first hours of the test due to an overnight illness.
    Valentino Rossi ended the day third, around half a second down on Lorenzo, with Dani Pedrosa in fourth at a 0.75s gap to the top time.
    With injured World Champion Marc Marquez missing this test, those five aforementioned riders clocked up a total of 369 between them – providing plenty of data for Bridgestone.
    Meanwhile for the Moto2 riders there is a slightly different approach being taken at the Island, with nine new Dunlop tyre options to test and 10 laps required on each one over the course of Monday and Tuesday. The final day will then be about race distance on the narrowed down selection of rubber.
    Despite also feeling under the weather title candidate Tito Rabat topped the Moto2 timesheet, just over 2.3s behind the MotoGP times and putting in 100 laps in total. Rabat’s compatriot Nico Terol (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2) was second and almost a second down on the Marc VDS Racing man.
    With Terol’s teammate Jordi Torres a further seven tenths down in fourth place on the Moto2 timesheet, Rabat’s colleague Mika Kallio was third.
    Finnish rider Kallio suffered a Siberia highside and went for scans on his wrist, but was given the all clear to continue testing tomorrow.
    Jorge Lorenzo - Phillip Island Test © Copyright RedGhostOnline & Vikki Robinson [MOTOLINEMagazine.com]

    Le pilote du team Yamaha Factory Racing a été le plus rapide lundi en Australie lors de la première des trois journées d’essais avec Bridgestone.


    Le double Champion du Monde MotoGP™ a réalisé le meilleur temps en 1’29.213 pour commencer la semaine au sommet du classement. Les chronos ne sont néanmoins pas la priorité de ces essais, dont l’objectif est de tester de nouveaux pneus préparés par Bridgestone pour le tracé australien suite aux problèmes rencontrés lors du Grand Prix de l’an dernier.
    Les pilotes ont ainsi un programme spécifique à suivre et la première journée comprenait plusieurs runs courts avec six pneus différents, certains utilisant de nouvelles gommes et d’autres une nouvelle construction. Bridgestone espère ainsi affiner sa sélection puis faire tester le ou les pneus choisis sur des runs plus longs mardi et mercredi.
    En difficulté la semaine dernière à Sepang avec les pneus que Bridgestone proposera pour les autres circuits en 2014, Lorenzo n’a cette fois-ci pas eu trop de problèmes pour trouver son rythme et a fini la journée avec 0.363s d’avance sur Cal Crutchlow.
    Ce dernier a bouclé un total de 67 tours avec Ducati, qui a annoncé vendredi dernier l’abandon du statut Factory pour ses machines, qui tourneront désormais sous la nouvelle règlementation Open. Le Britannique a été quatre dixièmes de seconde plus rapide que son coéquipier Andrea Dovizioso, cinquième et absent des premières heures d’essais après avoir été malade la nuit dernière.
    A une demi-seconde de Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing) complète le Top 3 de la journée tandis que Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) est quatrième, à 0.75s du leader.
    En l’absence de Marc Márquez, le Champion du Monde MotoGP™ 2013, qui récupère de sa fracture du péroné, les cinq représentants de la catégorie reine ont bouclé un total de 369 tours et ainsi collecté de précieuses données pour Bridgestone.
    Du côté de la catégorie Moto2™, Dunlop a choisi une approche différente en fournissant aux quatre pilotes présents pas moins de neuf nouveaux pneus à essayer, avec un minimum de dix tours à réaliser avec chaque pneu entre lundi et mardi. La dernière journée sera quant à elle consacrée aux simulations de course, une fois que la marque britannique aura déterminé les meilleures options pour la piste de Phillip Island.
    Esteve Rabat (Marc VDS Racing) a été le plus rapide et a fini à 2.3s des chronos MotoGP™ après avoir fait une centaine de tours. Nico Terol (Mapfre Aspar) s’est classé deuxième, à près d’une seconde de son compatriote et avec sept dixièmes de seconde d’avance sur son coéquipier Jordi Torres (Mapfre Aspar).
    Troisième, Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing) a subi un highside dans la courbe de Siberia et a dû passer des radios pour son poignet afin de confirmer qu’il n’avait rien de cassé et pourrait poursuivre les essais demain.
    Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing, Sepang Test

    STORMING START TO DEFENDER CHALLENGE BY BOWLER



    BY: Mike Goodbun from LRO

    Five Defender Challenge by Bowler crews took on 55 miles of rain-lashed Mid-Wales rally stages yesterday, with Edd Cobley/Allan Jackson leading the way.




    At the start of the Mid-Wales 55-Mile Stages in Newtown, Powys, all the Bowler team wanted was to see all five Land Rovers back safely to the finish. Some of the competitors in the first round of this LRO-supported championship had only collected their Bowler-prepared Defender 90s in the days before the event, with drivers that had never set foot on a rally stage, and co-drivers who’d never used a rally tripmeter before. As learning curves go, it would be a steep and slippery one for them.
    Lining-up in torrential rain were experienced rally men Edd Cobley and Allan Jackson in car number 301, Richard Hayward/Matt Lister in no.302 (the actual 90 that features on our April 2014 issue cover), ex-Camel Trophy contestant Damien Taft with cousin Simon making his navigator debut in no.303, Stephen Richards/Kevin Handley in no.304 and Andrew Wicklow/Simon Armstrong in no.305.
    After the first two stages at Pikes Peak and Myherin, everyone was buzzing with excitement as they came in to the Sweet Lamb service area, where keen spectators included Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond. Damien Taft told us: ‘It’s awesome, a total adrenaline rush. I think I held my breath throughout all of the first stage!’





    Cobley and Jackson’s experience showed, being more than four minutes faster than the others over the first two stages, although they had some ‘navigation issues’ approaching a couple of hairpins in sixth gear. Edd was working the brakes hardest too: ‘It’s smiles all the way from me,’ he said. ‘It’s fun catching some of the Mk2 Ford Escorts I tell you!’
    Two stages at Sweet Lamb and Hafren followed, but Richard Hayward/Matt Lister had an off near the end of the Hafren South stage and parked their 90 in a ditch against a tree. Although the crew was unharmed, the Defender suffered a dented front wing, smashed alpine light and transmission damage. It looked like they’d have to start the final stage without a fully-functioning clutch, but the time lost getting out of the ditch meant they were over their time allocation and weren’t allowed to continue the rally.
    At the finish, Cobley and Jackson were almost 12 minutes clear of the Tafts in second-place, with Andrew Wicklow/Simon Armstrong less than a minute further back in third. Edd Cobley was delighted with the result: ‘There were a few interesting moments on some of the hairpins but we had a really good day. I think we surprised a fair few people by nipping at people’s heels on the stage. In these wet conditions the Defender was in its element.’





    Defender Challenge by Bowler – round 1
    Mid-Wales 55-Mile Stages
    1 Edd Cobley/Allan Jackson – 66min 16.5sec
    2 Damien Taft/Simon Taft – 78min 13.5sec
    3 Andrew Wicklow/Simon Armstrong – 79min 5.9sec
    4 Stephen Richards/Kevin Handley – 96min 58.9sec
    5 Richard Hayward/Matt Lister – DNF
    Full results here
    Next up is the Somerset Stages in Minehead on April 12, where more Defenders are due to join the action. See bowlermotorsport.com for more details.
    Land Rover Owner International is proud to be the official media partner of the 2014 Defender Challenge by Bowler.

    KINGSTON CUSTOMS CXL500


    Kingston Customs CXL 500 1
    CX500 customs are popping up all over the place at the moment, but the vast majority of them tend to be head down, bum up, cafe racers.  In fact, Dirk and his crew at Kingston Customs in Germany have already blown us away withone such CX earlier in the year.  So, when a customer approached Kingston with the brief that he needed an ultra reliable, everyday bike that he could ride off road, the CXL 500 idea was born.
    Kingston Customs CXL 500 2
    Now, we have no idea if the story behind the origins of this project is true or not, but what the heck we like it, so we’ll tell it.  The owner of this bike has horses.  In the summer, he used to ride down to the stables on a cafe racer and the horses used to become restless in the paddock.  One day a horse whisperer told him that it was the aggressive riding position on the bike that made the horses edgy and fearful.  And so the brief for an upright, off-road, less horse aggravating bike was born.  Apparently.
    Kingston Customs CXL 500 3
    As Honda had built a CX 500 and an XL 500, it was obvious to Dirk that he needed to build a Honda CXL 500 Scrambler.  So a ’79 model bike was stripped completely and the frame was glass bead blasted and modified, before being painted.  Kingston themselves then handmade the seat, the battery box, the front and rear aluminium mudguards, the radiator grill and the 2 into 1 exhaust manifold.
    Kingston Customs CXL 500 4
    They also treated the engine to some thermo-sensitive coating, fitted some K&N’s, and married up a Speed Products exhaust pipe to the aforementioned manifolds.  The result is a perfectly decent, and totally useable 50hp.
    Kingston Customs CXL 500 5
    The luxurious looking paintwork was clearly influenced by old Honda Enduro bikes from the seventies.  In fact, the level of finish on this build is so damn good that the bike itself looks like it could have been in the official Honda line up in 1979.  But we’ve come to expect that from Kingston.  Great, original ideas, executed flawlessly.
    Kingston Customs CXL 500 6
    We wouldn’t be surprised if this particular build divides opinion.  But then we also wouldn’t be surprised if Dirk and his gang deliberately build bikes that challenge conventional thinking and court a little controversy.  And anyway, the horses obviously like it, so who cares.  Thanks to Dennis Zetlitz for the great photos, and thanks to Dirk for once again sharing his jaw dropping (and horse calming) work with us in The Shed. 

    top : Coca-Cola Social Media Guard !!


    Road Movies: Haunting classic car imagery by Nicolas Dhervillers


    Young French artist and photographer Nicolas Dhervillers was commissioned to produce imagery for the recent Festival Automobile International in Paris. As you can see in our gallery, he uses eerie, deserted backdrops to bring the beauty of his chosen subjects to the fore...
    Dhervillers' project, entitled 'Road Movies', sees the carefully selected classics deployed in settings dripping with atmosphere. The works hint at an underlying story much like a movie still would – with the cars invariably functioning as getaway vehicles, objects of beauty, or even cannon-fodder for gun-toting cowboys.
    Further information about Nicolas Dhervillers' work can be found at nicolasdhervillers.com.
    You can find thousands of beautiful classic cars for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

    YAMAHA SR500 ‘MEZZOMILLE’


    SR500 cafe racer
    If you live on mainland Europe and have a penchant for Yamaha café racers, then you probably know Kedo. The German company is one of the largest SR500 specialists outside Japan, supplying everything from bodywork to engine parts.
    Kedo’s Daniel Doritz has a history of hooking up with custom builders, most notably with Jens vom Brauck of JvB-Moto for the sublime D-Track. ‘Mezzomille’ (meaning ‘half-thousand’) is his latest dalliance, this time with Axel Budde—a fellow Hamburg native, and best known for his Kaffeesmaschine Moto Guzzis.
    SR500 cafe racer
    Budde and Doritz share an obsession with quality and a liking for understatement. And this lean, minimalist SR500 café racer has obvious DNA from both partners. “The SR500 has been well established for more than 35 years, so almost every imaginable conversion already exists,” Budde notes. “But there are few properly ‘coherent’ SR cafe racers.”
    SR500 cafe racer
    Budde started by designing a completely new aluminum tank/seat-combination, and slimmed down the frame. Nearly every major part has been lightened or replaced with a handcrafted original—or left out completely. The outcome is an elegant, almost delicate conversion in the style of the late 1970s.
    SR500 cafe racer
    With scarcely 130kg to haul around and almost 40hp on tap, the ‘Mezzo’ majors on agility and riding enjoyment: It has a power-to-weight ratio similar to a spritely middleweight dual-sport like the Suzuki DR-Z400.
    Budde and Kedo will not be recreating this machine, given its uncompromising style and the 350 hours it took to develop and build. But the good news is that many of the parts that were designed for Mezzomille will be found in the new Kedo catalog, which comes out in mid-March 2014.
    SR500 fans, rejoice.
    SR500 cafe racer

    Harmony overhead: The Concorde story



    One of my best schoolfriends had a definite talent for inspiring jealousy in his fellow pupils. Usually, our eyes turned green thanks to such things as his impressive Omega Seamaster wristwatch, his hand-built racing bike or his petrol-powered, radio-controlled speedboat...
    But the famously hot summer of 1976 saw us hit with a double whammy of enviable happenings: first, his gorgeous-looking nanny took to collecting him from school in  a Jaguar XJ-S (one of the first), and then he calmly announced that he would be flying to Washington DC for a holiday - on Concorde!
    Only when he returned with evidence in the form of a hand-written certificate and the contents of his Concorde goody bag did we actually believe him because, back then, the world's first supersonic passenger plane was the absolute, unrivalled epitome of glamour.

    European harmony 


    The surprising product of an Anglo-French venture (concord(e) means 'agreement' or 'harmony' in both languages), it first flew in 1969 and entered service in '76 - soon after which 'Concorde spotting' became a widespread pastime as people looked skywards in search of the plane's distinctive, delta-wing silhouette and that famous 'drooping' nose designed to give pilots a better view during taxi, take-off and landing.

    The ultimate way to travel

    By 1977 the price of a single Concorde had soared to a cost of £23 million (£121 million today), so it's hardly surprising that just 14 went into service divided equally between British Airways and Air France - but right up until its demise in 2003 (by which time a return ticket to New York cost more than £8,000), it was still considered the ultimate way to travel.

    120 passengers squeezed into an aluminium tube

    For their money, a maximum of 120 passengers squeezed themselves into a 202-foot aluminium tube with seating that makes that of today's budget airlines seem generous. They also risked exposure to greater than usual doses of radiation due to the plane operating at unusually high altitude, and the view was somewhat limited, since the windows were made extra small to slow the loss of cabin pressure in the event of an emergency.

    JFK to Heathrow in two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds

    On the plus side, Concorde's passengers were served with fine champagne and gourmet foods by the most glamorous hostesses - and, of course, those who jumped on a flight from London to New York could legitimately claim that they would arrive two hours before they took off. In 1996, thanks to a 175mph tailwind, the big white bird flew back from JFK to Heathrow in a record two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds.

    Still the most beautiful aircraft of all time

    But by the turn of the century, the writing was on the wall for Concorde. The year 2000 saw the plane suffer its only crash, in which 100 passengers, nine crew and four ground staff were killed shortly after take-off from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and, in 2003, low passenger numbers and outdated avionics were cited as reasons for its retirement. Now not a single, functioning Concorde remains - despite it still being regarded by many as the most beautiful aircraft of all time.

    CB1100F. Quello che non ci si aspettava è che costui fosse Jeff Wright di The Church of Choppers.




    It was a matter of time, soon or later someone would have modified the modern CB1100F. What you wouldn't expect is that the builder is Jeff Wrightof The Church of Choppers. Effectively, Jeff is a former road racer and enduro rider, so no wonder if his CB1100 features a lot of sophisticated Japanese aftermarket components, including a rare custom Yoshimura exhaust, as well as lots of hand-made details. Shot at the recent Mama Triedin Wisconsin. 



    via Inazuma Café Racer

    THE BONITA – YAMAHA SCORPIO 225 ’06 (#6)


    • Body Custom by STUDIO MOTOR Custom Werkz
    • Painting & Airbrush by KOMET Studio
    • Shock Depan Teleskopik 41 mm
    • Velg Depan TK Japan 18X2.50 Inch + Shinko Tour Master 110/90-18
    • Velg Belakang TK Japan 18X3.00 Inch + Shinko Tour Master 120/90-18
    • Monoshock YSS Z-Series
    • Stang Fatbar
    • Lampu Depan & Belakang Aftermarket
    • Exhaust System by Flash Muffler Custom