vendredi 7 mars 2014
The One Motorcycle Show, No. Five: Part 2
Well the dust has settled–or maybe more appropriately, "the snow has melted"–since The One Motorcycle Show 2014. Our 5th year in operation: a milestone we never anticipated when we first dreamt this up back in 2010.
This was our biggest and best show to date. We worked harder and longer to get more bikes, more people, and more fun packed into a weekend celebrating 2-wheeled culture. Despite the worst snow storm Portland has seen in 5 years, we pulled it off without a hitch. It was a little worrisome that people would be scared away by the weather, but that was not the case. We had more than 9,000 attendees over two days and more than 120 bikes in the show!
It was smiles for miles. Check the1moto.com and seeseemotorcycles.com for more
EVENTS : AFTERSHOCK
Aftershock - Sydney from Sydney Cafe Racers on Vimeo.
A week straight of rain did nothing to dampen the spirits and passion for stupidity of the almighty Sydney Cafe Racercrew. Aftershock is a backyard Australian based event that takes inspiration from Dirt Quake and the Australian Flat Track scene.
I could go down the path of saying “it’s an event where the bike and dirt become one within the human soul as we eat free range organic poached egg and tofu wraps while listening to the Eco friendly sounds of cultural drums from some country I’ve never heard of.”
But I wont. In some ways it is about getting back to mother nature, but let’s be realistic. It is about turning grass into mud and ruining the land. Yeah it will regrow let’s not get all emo, but this event is about the STUPID fun you can have when you bring together adults that appreciate the enjoyment of immaturity and danger.
Aftershock is about taking and modifying bikes that where not built for the use we put them to. It’s about the trackers with incorrect tyres, the CB125’s with knobblies, the CX500’s with street suspension and the Postie bikes with modified frames to accept twin cylinder engines. There are categories for the proper bikes but that’s a bit boring and will probably be banned next year.
Thanks to Mark Hawwa at Sydney Cafe Racers for putting this feature article together for the Bike Shed. This is what biking is all about.
Photos by Pete Cagnacci. Video by My Media Sydney
Rallye du Mexique
La spectaculaire cérémonie de départ de Guanajuato a indéniablement contribué au succès Rallye du Mexique. Après la présentation des équipages devant l’Alhondiga de Granaditas, les concurrents ont disputé la Superspéciale tracée dans les galeries souterraines de l’ancienne cité minière.
Classée au patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco,Guanajuato est un passage quasi obligé pour les touristes fuyant les plages bondées d’Acapulco et de Cancun ou fatigués par l’ascension des temples mayas. La ville a prospéré grâce à l’extraction des minerais d’or et d’argent dont il ne reste plus aujourd’hui qu’un immense dédale d’artères souterraines entrelacées au-dessus desquelles s’accrochent des bicoques bariolées.
Guanajuato est une ville colorée, réputée pour ses églises, ses monuments et ses places ombragées qui invitent au farniente ou du moins à la siesta. Ce soir, la foule a envahi les rues de Guanajuato pour assister au lancement du Rallye du Mexique devant l’Alhondiga de Granaditas – la halle au blé – d’où partie la Guerre d’Indépendance du Mexique il y a deux cents ans.
Après le podium de départ, les voitures de course ont remonté la Calle Allende pour passer devant le Teatro Juarez considéré comme le plus beau du pays, avant de remonter la ruelle menant à Plaza Mayor. Six minutes après avoir franchi le podium sous les feux d’artifices et au son des mariachis, Jari-Matti Latvala et Miikka Anttila étaient casqués, sanglés, prêts à s’élancer dans la Superspéciale à 20h09 précisément.
A peine plus d’un kilomètre à parcourir dans les galeries souterraines de la ville, sur des pavés glissants, usés par les chariots chargés de minerais. Un kilomètre et dix mètres que les meilleurs ont parcouru à moins de 70 km/h de moyenne. Evidemment, les chronos n’ont rien de significatif et les concurrents n’ont bouclé que 0,25% du rallye. N’empêche…
Sébastien Ogier (VW/Michelin) a signé le meilleur chrono (52s9) devant trois « rookies » mexicains : L’Estonien Ott Tanak, 2e sur sa Ford Fiesta R5 (+0s3), Andreas Mikkelsen (+0s4) et Kris Meeke (Citroën, +0s6). Vainqueur de cette spéciale l’an passé, Thierry Neuville a réalisé le 6e meilleur temps sur sa Hyundai i20 WRC. Son équipier Chris Atkinson a dû redémarrer sa voiture 60 m après le départ et a perdu 24s7.
La 1ère journée du Mexique compte 10 spéciales (148,62 km), dont deux passages dans El Chocolate (44,03 km) et trois Superspéciales pour conclure l’étape.
RAVEN MOTOCYCLES
Raven MotoCycles is a boutique custom motorcycle garage run by Jeff Gundlach, the overall design employed by Raven clearly harks back to the glory days of the Brough Superior and early Sunbeam models with perhaps a littleboardtracker styling thrown in for good measure.
Each bike is hand built by Jeff to customer specifications, this model has a Moto Guzzi 750cc power plant out of the venerable 1971 Ambassador and has the wheels, brakes, swing arm, steering stem and forks from a 1968 Honda 350.
The transmission is a Norton 4 speed and the frame, tank and 2 into 1 exhaust are all one off designs, handbuilt by Jeff for this bike. In future he plans to offer 3 models under the Raven MotoCycles moniker, there’ll be 750cc, 850 and 1000cc models, all with vintage Moto Guzzi power trains.
This bike is the first for Raven and was summarily snapped up within days of appearing on eBay, Jeff has big plans for the future of the marque though and we’ll be paying close attention to the creations that roll out of his garage.
Via The Kneeslider and Raven MotoCycles.
Radio-controlled cars? Des voitures radiocommandées ?
During last month’s Rally Sweden, our colleague Julian remarked that the WRC cars have at least eight antennae on their roof. We tried to find out more…
With all these aerials, the cars resemble radio-controlled models in a toyshop. But what purpose do these eight (at least) antennae serve. Xavier from Ino2 Systems explains...
We begin the guided tour with the patch attached to the front-left: “This antenna is for live video. It is connected to a unit beneath the driver’s seat which records footage from the on-board cameras. These images are transmitted to a helicopter which forwards them to a radio relay airplane, which sends them to Rally TV headquarters. It’s quite complex because the helicopter needs to be at a precise distance from the rally car.”
The white patch on the other side is the GPS tracker antenna provided by SIT. It enables the car’s location to be monitored for safety reasons and functions in association with the bigger aerial that has a power output of approximately 1 Watt. The signal is sent to a radio relay airplane which flies over the rally route at an altitude of around six or seven thousand feet. It takes the signal 250 milliseconds to reach the plane. The rearmost antenna on the car functions in GSM and GPS modes to provide a back-up tracking facility should radio signal be lost.
A GSM aerial for the crew’s cell phones is located at the roof’s centre. Most of the factory cars also have an Iridium satellite phone aerial, and some even have an antenna for data logging purposes (vehicle location, speed, etc.).
Last but not least, the antenna at the rear is for the teams’ own communications. The signal passes via the radio relay airplane and each team uses a specific frequency. “The positioning of the antennae is very important because the roof, like the rest of the car body, is a ‘ground mass’ (electrically conductive surface). To prevent interference and optimise performance, you need to comply with the ‘inverse square law’. There used to be lots of interference because the aerials were too strong, but technology has moved on and today’s transmission quality is far better using less power.”
Au dernier Rallye de Suède, notre confrère Julian nous a fait remarquer que pas moins de huit antennes étaient fixées sur le toit des WRC. Alors on a voulu en savoir un peu plus.
Ainsi équipées, on dirait des modèles radiocommandés vendus dans les magasins de jouets. Le toit des WRC engagées en Championnat du monde des Rallyes FIA est bardé d’au moins huit antennes. A quoi servent-elles ? Xavier (Ino2 Systems) nous a tout expliqué.
Commençons par le patch noir fixé à l’avant gauche. « Cette antenne sert aux retransmissions vidéo en live. Elle est reliée à un boîtier situé sous le siège du pilote qui enregistre les images des caméras embarquées. Elles sont envoyées vers un hélicoptère qui les transmet ensuite à un avion-relais lequel les envoie à la régie. C’est assez complexe car il faut que l’hélico se trouve à une distance bien définie de la voiture. »
Le patch blanc situé de l’autre côté est une antenne GPS fournie par la société SIT. Elle sert au tracking des voitures et donc à la sécurité. Toutes les voitures en sont équipées. Ce patch fonctionne avec la plus grande antenne qui est une antenne-radio émettrice d’une puissance d’environ 1 Watt. Elle envoie le signal à un avion-relais qui survole la zone du rallye à une altitude de 6000 à 7000 pieds. Il faut 250 millisecondes pour que le signal parvienne à cet avion-relais ! L’antenne qui se trouve plus en arrière du toit fonctionne en mode GSM et GPS. C’est une doublure du système tracking décrit précédemment en cas de perte du signal radio.
L’antenne fixée au milieu du toit est une antenne GSM pour le téléphone du pilote et du copilote. La plupart des voitures d’usine sont aussi équipées d’une antenne Iridium (téléphone satellite). Certaines voitures disposent également d’une antenne réservée aux acquisitions de données. Ce n’est pas de la télémétrie comme en circuit, mais elle permet de transmettre des données comme la situation précise du véhicule, sa vitesse…
Enfin, l’antenne située à l’arrière sert aux transmissions radio internes à chaque équipe. Les signaux d’émission/réception passent par l’avion-relais et chaque team dispose d’une fréquence qui lui est propre. « Le positionnement des antennes est très important car le toit, et l’ensemble de la carrosserie, servent de plan de masse. Pour un fonctionnement optimum et éviter les interférences, on doit respecter la règle dite du « carré de l’antenne », c’est-à-dire un carré dessiné autour de l’antenne si on la mettait à l’horizontal. Jadis, il y avait souvent des interférences car les antennes étaient trop puissantes. La technologie a évolué et les transmissions sont aujourd’hui bien meilleures à faible puissance.»
RED HOT CHILI CUSTOMS F650
Who knew that a BMW F650 could be stripped-back and rebuilt into something quite so retro? We were certainly caught off guard when this bike came in. Another Dommie, we presumed – from the thumbnail images anyway – then we clicked. So, our ‘year of the Tracker’ continues with a new donor platform, put together by Red Hot Chili Customs in Poland.
Red Hot Chili Customs are based in Szczecin, on the Polish-German border, just 140km from Berlin. “We’re building and trading oldschool bikes. It’s our love and work in one. It’s really cool that we can do what we love.” Amen to that.
It’s not too surprising that we thought the bike was a Dominator (at small scale) as the build was inspired by the Kiddo Motors Dommi – a bike that had plenty of coverage and well-earned acclaim. Like the Honda, BMW’s bike is a 650cc single in a double cradle spine frame with monoshock at the rear. The main difference is watercooling, which usually means more rpm and more punch. The models were also around at similar times – this donor is from 1994; an F650ST.
The customer for the build was Maciej Zatonski who rode the bike all through Asia and we’re told he was lucky to get it home in one piece. He wanted to rebuild the bike after 76,000 hard kilometers, but nicer, and “a little more handy“.
“We start work as always, reassembling all the unnecessary stuff and leaving only the rolling chassis. The next step was to find the right fuel tank which should work with a scrambler-look and fit onto the angular frame.” The Honda FT500 had the perfect shaped tank, which just needed a new petcock and new mounting points welded to the frame.
The front light is the Trial Tech Eclipse and the silencer is Leo Vince made for an XR650 while the front header pipes are stock which were polished to reveal the bare metal. The rest is all custom build by the RCHC crew. As with all proper pro builds the bike was assembled and test-ridden before being stripped, sand-blasted, then powder-coated or painted.
We always ask if the builders are happy with their handiwork. “Oh yes! The bike is lightweight, powerful, mothafucka!! We’ve love it, and Maciej also!” I think that’s pretty unequivocal. We like it too. We’d like to see more F650s get this treatment, and it’s good to see a knew donor appearing in the scrambler/tracker stable.Now we’ve lot of work with other classics, so stay tuned! To the next build!
See more from Redu and the crew at Red Hot Chili Customs on Facebook, their Website, and here on The Bike Shed.
FOTO-GUTEK
Rocket Supreme motorcycles: We have lift-off, with a twist
Picture your dream custom motorcycle – anything, be it a scrambler, a café racer or a thoroughbred sports bike. Got it? Well then let Rocket Supreme make it a reality…
At Rocket Supreme there are no rules. The folks at the Barcelona-based shop are happy to work with whatever you’re willing to bring to the table. And even if you’ve got nothing in mind, its own creations, the Big Joe I and Little Joe II – so named after some of the first and most innovative space vehicles to blast off from Cape Canaveral – provide the perfect starting block to build on.
Bespoke motorcycles, handmade from carbonfibre
Each motorcycle is bespoke, handmade from carbonfibre by a crack team of experienced and award-winning design and creation specialists, between them boasting over 20 years of experience. You can be as involved in the build process as you please. Fancy checking in on your creation and giving it a test-drive? Absolutely. Prefer to keep in touch via telephone or email? Not a problem.
A passion for quality craftsmanship
Rocket Supreme is offering some of its bikes in the Classic Driver Market. The team is composed of real riders, with real passion for quality craftsmanship.
Photos: Rocket Supreme
Rocket Supreme bikes can be found for sale in the Classic Driver Market.
HOW TO BUILD A CAFE RACER
I’m a car designer by trade: I spend my time working out how to make machinery look as good as it can. Designers are creative people by nature, so we crave the opportunity to be as free as possible in our work. We also have many parameters, tests and boundaries to refer to, to make sure we deliver the best possible ‘product.’
These guidelines are just that—guidelines. Designing a café racer is as much about art as science, and each bike is different in its own way. It reflects the environment, the era and the owner of the bike. Yet there are things we can do to ensure that the result will look solid and professional.
I’ve been influenced by motorbike design for several years, and have built my own café racer. I based it on the same observations that I’ve sketched out here. Hopefully they’ll inspire some fellow builders to invest time into the aesthetics of their project.
To illustrate my points, I’m using the Bike EXIF calendar cover star: Mateusz Stankiewicz’s Honda CX500, built in conjunction with the garage Eastern Spirit.
THE FOUNDATION The foundation contributes most to the structure, direction and general ‘easiness on the eye’ that makes a bike a café racer. First, the simple stuff. Café racers are defined by the flat line that runs front to back, giving an uncompromising look and lending strength and speed to the design. It’s a good idea, though not vital, that this line remains uninterrupted. (The perfect example of this rule being broken well is the Wrenchmonkees’ Laverda 750.)
This line is the first one your brain will ‘see’ and will guide your eyes along the length of the bike. If there are kinks and breaks then it eliminates continuity and, like bumps in the road, makes the experience uncomfortable. This powerful base sits above two fairly evenly sized wheels.
THE ‘CUT-OFF POINTS’ These lines are the wheel centerlines. Anything going beyond these lines will serve to make the bike seem ‘odd.’ Too much over the rear wheel will make the bike seem rear-heavy and poorly planned. It’s quite common for bikes to do this, however, and it’s not a big deal if crossed over by a small amount—as in our example.
If you do go too far over, then minimize the depth of the seat or cowl. There’s nothing worse than a big cowl hanging over the back end of the bike. The front is less of a problem but front fenders cut on this line look best.
HEIGHT LIMIT Just as important as the cut-off points. The height limit gives a planned look to the design. Defined as the highest point on the fuel tank, anything protruding much above this point will take away from a café racer’s sleek and streamlined looks. It will also serve to make your bike look more like a tracker and less like a café bike. Keep it low and keep it clean. Combined with the cut-off points, this imaginary box should contain all the major elements of your design.
THE ‘BONE LINE’ Hugely important in car design, it is very important here as well. The bone line serves to describe where the widest point of your bodywork is. This is where your reflections on your seat, tank and lamp will fall. Think of the ‘bone’ as the 3D brother to the more 2D foundation line. They work together as a team. Here the center of the lamp is right on the bone line: A great decision that ties the whole upper together.
If you get anything right it should be this. It immediately makes the bike look like it really belongs together and is not just a jumble of parts. Next time you see a bike (or indeed a car) you like, take some time to see if it has this central ‘bone’ and where it sits. This Honda is a perfect example and, though it’s not the first thing you might realize you see, it’s why this is not just a good bike, but a great one.
THE VISUAL WEIGHT This is where the main ‘mass’ of the bike is, and it can be split into two parts. Firstly, the main mass is the engine—including the cylinder/crank/gearbox, or anything towards the front of the subframe. This is your tank parameter. A tank longer than this will look overly big and heavy, and a smaller tank will look like the bike has outgrown it—almost bobber-like.
Secondly, and just as importantly, is the axis of the visual weight, seen here in the middle. This is usually defined by the middle of the engine, or more accurately, the middle of the cylinder/piston. This will define the ideal shape of the tank. The peak of the tank should fall right on or very close to the axis. It is amazing how much more robust and ‘sporting’ a bike looks when this is incorporated into the design.
It applies equally for bikes such as Hondas, Kawasakis and Yamahas that have inclined engine blocks. The axis still falls through the middle of the cylinder at that angle. The result is that these Japanese bikes look better with tanks that peak towards the very front of the bike and taper off towards the rider.
THE SWOOP Ideally you want the seat and the tank to look like they belong together. We can do this by making sure the curve of the tank flows into the curve of the cowl. This will make it look almost like the tank and the seat were once a single piece of metal, and someone scooped out a place for a rider to sit. It makes it look intentional and tight.
PRIMARY ANGLES Often overlooked, the differing angles on a frame with those of the forks, shocks and other parts can make a spaghetti of lines which could ruin all your hard work. Be considerate of them when adding new parts. Here this bike has a brand new subframe to clean up the wobbly CX500 original. The builder has very cleverly matched the angle of the front fork, making it look cohesive. Angles are something we take great care of when designing cars too.
SECONDARY ANGLES Even in small areas, the builders have tried to make parallels of two or more angles on different parts. This is some subliminal stuff right here. You might not notice it—but you can bet that your brain does on a certain level.
FORK DISTANCE Keep the front wheel as ‘tucked in’ as possible. It gives a bike a ‘pouncing’ and aggressive stance. I know a fork swap might seem like a good idea, but don’t make it look like a chopper, OK?
I have seen bikes that match this guide to the letter that look great. And I have seen bikes that disregard them totally, and still look amazing. Following these guidelines will give you a base on which to work and help understand why a bike looks like it does.
Once aware of these ground rules, it’s up to you how you choose to stick to them—or break them.
from 
Hauts sommets / High altitudes
Depuis dix ans, le Rallye du Mexique permet au Championnat du monde des Rallyes FIA de prendre un peu de hauteur ! En effet, les spéciales mexicaines sont situées entre 1800 et 2800 mètres d’altitude.
Leon de los Aldamas, 6e plus grande ville du pays avec près d’1,5 million d’habitants, se trouve à 1815 mètres d’altitude. Les montagnes alentour, dans lesquelles sont tracées les spéciales du Rally Guanajuato Mexico, culminent à près de 3000 mètres. L’intégralité du parcours se situe entre 1800 et 2800 mètres, des altitudes inquiétantes pour les ingénieurs-moteur et déroutantes pour bon nombre de pilotes.
Né dans les Hautes-Alpes et moniteur de ski, Sébastien Ogier est un vrai montagnard, mais son équipier Jari-Matti Latvala est sans doute moins habitué aux hautes altitudes. Le plus haut sommet de Finlande, l’Haltitunturi, qui se situe en Laponie à la frontière norvégienne, culmine à 1324 mètres ! Et côté Norvège, le pic se trouve dans le massif Galdhopiggen à 2469 mètres. C’est aussi le plus haut sommet d’Europe du Nord.
Kris Meeke et Elfyn Evans vont découvrir le Rallye du Mexique et les hautes montagnes de l’état de Guanajuato. Le plus haut sommet du Royaume-Uni se trouve en Ecosse, le Ben Nevis, perché à 1344 mètres d’altitude. Au Pays de Galles, chez Evans, le point culminant est le Mount Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa en celte - à 1085 mètres, qui se trouve dans le parc national Snowdonia, tout près des spéciales du Wales Rally GB 2013. Le plus haut sommet d’Irlande du Nord culmine à 850 mètres (Slieve Donard) et celui d’Irlande s’élève à 1041 mètres (Carrauntuohill).
Thierry Neuville a grandi près du massif des Hautes Fagnes qui accueille le point culminant de Belgique et de la région wallonne, le Signal de Botrange, à 694 mètres d’altitude ! En Australie, chez Chris Atkinson, le Mount Kosciuszko culmine à 2228 mètres d’altitude dans la cordillère australienne, en Nouvelle Galles du Sud. Un sommet nommé en l’honneur du Polonais Tadeusz Kosciuszko, peut-être un ancêtre du pilote Michal… En Pologne justement, le point culminant est le Rysy (2503 mètres), dans les Carpates, à la frontière slovaque. Côté tchèque, le plus haut sommet se situe lui-aussi à la frontière avec la Pologne, c’est le Sniejka, à 1602 mètres.
Parmi les pilotes WRC engagés sur ce rallye, c’est bien le Mexicain Benito Guerra qui semble le plus aguerri aux hautes altitudes. Les montagnes entourant Leon ne sont que des collines à l’échelle du Mexique ! Le pays est traversé par deux principales chaînes montagneuses, la Sierra madre occidentale et la Sierra madre orientale où trois sommets dépassent 5000 mètres d’altitude, le Pico de Orizaba (5610 mètres), le 2e plus haut sommet d’Amérique du Nord, ou le Popocatépetl (5426) et l’Iztaccihuatl (5452 m) près de Mexico City.
Rally Mexico has been taking the World Rally Championship to new heights for a decade, with stages that climb to as high as 2,800 metres!
Leon de Los Aldamas, Mexico’s sixth biggest city with a population of almost 1.5 million, sits at an altitude of 1,815 metres. The surrounding mountains, which host this week’s stages, peak at practically 3,000 metres, while the entire route runs between 1,800 and 2,800 metres. That’s a big concern, of course, for the teams’ engine experts and frequently a little disconcerting for the crews…
Former ski instructor Sébastien Ogier was born near Gap and grew up in the Alps, so the altitude shouldn’t be a problem for him. In contrast, his team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala hails from Finland where the highest spot – the Halti Fell in Lapland, near the Norwegian border –rises to just 1,324m! The highest point in Norway (2,469m) is Galdhopiggen, the tallest mountain in northern Europe.
Rally Mexico rookies Kris Meeke and Elfyn Evans from the United Kingdom can claim Scotland’s Ben Nevis as their most prominent feature (1,344m), but Evans will find nowhere higher in his native Wales than Mount Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa, 1,085m) in the Snowdonia National Park. Meanwhile, the highest areas of land in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are Slieve Donard (850m) and Carrauntoohil (1,041m) respectively.
Thierry Neuville grew up in Belgium’s Hautes Fagnes region which boasts the country’s biggest hill, the Signal de Botrange (694m), while Australian Chris Atkinson can point to Mount Kosciuszko (2,228m) in New South Wales. That was named after Tadeusz Kosciuszko, possibly an ancestor of rally driver Michal from Poland where the highest mountain is the Rysy (2,503m) in the High Tatras range near the Slovakian border. The highest peak in the Czech Republic is the Sněžka (1,602 metres), on the border with… Poland.
Of the WRC drivers contesting this year’s Rally Mexico, Benito Guerra is probably the least likely to suffer from altitude sickness, although the mountains near Leon are mere hills compared with the country’s other peaks! Indeed, Mexico’s geography features the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental where three mountains exceed 5,000 metres: the Pico de Orizaba (5,610m, North America’s second biggest mountain), the Popocatépetl (5,426m) and Iztaccihuatl (5,452m) near Mexico City.
CORONAS MODIFICADAS GILERA RAT
The grease smeared workshop phone rings, our hero answers, a mysterious Spanish exchange occurs betwixt him and a tattooed, moustachioed mystery man and the mission begins. A cross town sprint past gnarly hip flask hobos to an accomplices den for cash, then on again he dashes, arriving at a lock-up to acquire some alternative transportation to his weary legs. Then it gets interesting… He rattle roars away on the true star of the film, a gorgeous custom 58′ Gilera 150 SS.
To the streets they take, seeing off the local traffic light wannabes and carving the pot holed streets to a soundtrack of The Black Keys, Oasis and four stroke single. Bike left lent against the wall “The Purchase” begins. Our tattooed chihuahua wielding dealer inspects the readies and hands over the mysterious item of our heroes desire and finally the rush can wane. Home he cruises to Pink Floyd’s burning bridges. He saunters into his shed and gently pins the item, a rare Gilera horn, to a work in progress restoration. Mission accomplished. Roll credits.
Meet the men of Coronas Modificadas, a new custom workshop based out of Buenos Aires. It began the way most crews do, a serious hobby, a collection of like minded friends, and a passion for the unique. A Gilera 150 SS certainly qualifies as unique here on The Bike Shed. The groups creative streak resulted in the short film ‘The Purchase’ that showcases this build and Gabriel’s obsessive passion for every detail of these rare little machines.
Gabriel started the crew in 2006 after restoring a variety of bikes for friends who were inspired by his personal ride, an immaculate standard Gilera 150. One friend coveted the little Italian 150 so much that he recruited Gabriel to create a matching machine for him. The problem was the models scarcity, Gabriel had to travel over 700km to purchase the machine in these pictures. Upon being presented with the scruffy single his mate decided it would never scrub up into the original condition he craved so he left it with Gabriel. With the pristine standard variant already in his garage, Gabriel decided to go custom with the unwanted donor.
With the bike on the workbench in his Beatle’s poster clad garage Gabriel cut the frame, changed the dampers and swapped the standard forks out for a parallelogram unit that transforms the front end of the bike. Combined with the high mounted headlight on monogrammed struts the face of the bike is now unique and aggressive. The front fender was jettisoned and the surviving rear was sanded and bobbed, stopping well short of its protruding mounts, a nod to what was.
The tank, headlight and bars were sanded down to bare metal and the frame and wheels finished in gloss black. The monochrome theme is fired by white pipe wrap on the unmuffled header and flashes of bronze in the custom fabricated kick start, shift lever, fork nut, brake and clutch levers.
The tank and body artwork was applied by the brilliantly named artist Digga Crimson, who co designed the Gilera badge/skull and cross wrench combo with Gabriel’s master graphic designer brother. Gabriel now rides his rat Gilera more than its standard brethren, the inevitable custom weight loss sees it eek out an extra 10km/h over the standard model and reach the giddy highs of 110km/h. Not fast, admits Gabriel, but combined with the ever present potential of gearbox explosion and the racket from the straight through pipe creates an inexplicable adrenalin rush.
Many an Argentinian bystander has inquired after acquiring the bike, testament to the countries burgeoning romance with the custom bike scene, but Gabriel is unmoved preferring to keep his Gilera’s as a remarkable odd couple.
See more from Coronas Modificadas including their video ‘The Purchase” on their Facebook page.
Inscription à :
Articles (Atom)