Ogier in front after four rounds / Ogier mène au tiers

With practically a third of the 2014 WRC completed, Sébastien Ogier has pulled clear at the top of the Drivers’ standings. In the Manufacturers’ battle, Volkswagen Motorsport has amassed almost twice as many points as Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi.

As in 2013, Ogier was slightly off the mark with his tyre choices to begin with in Portugal. Yet once an efficient set-up had been found, and with his car running on soft-compound Michelin S2s, there was no beating the Frenchman. He eased ahead for good after the weekend’s longest and toughest stage (Santana da Serra, SS9) and then extended his lead thanks to some perfect tyre management on Saturday afternoon. Smart tyre management also helped him to take maximum points on Sunday’s Power Stage.

Latvala’s error on Friday has allowed Ogier to pull out a handsome gap in the Drivers’ championship. The VW pair was split by a single point before the weekend, but the hapless Finn now faces a deficit of 29 points. Indeed, he appears to have trouble with the springtime period. In 2013, he was handicapped by his Polo R WRC’s front differential in Portugal, and the year before that he was forced to skip Argentina after a skiing accident. This year, he threw away his chances in Portugal – and also perhaps for the 2014 title – with a crash while lying second after SS4, fourth-tenths behind his team-mate.

After his two ‘offs’ in Mexico, Andreas Mikkelsen was under strict orders in Portugal where a slow start saw him end Day 1 in eighth place, behind Henning Solberg. He bounced back to pass his fellow Norwegian the next day before losing ground again with a power steering problem on SS11. Three fastest times helped him to pass back ahead of his compatriot on the last day.

Mads Ostberg (Citroën) met his objective by finishing on the podium. Unlike last year, though, the Norwegian never challenged for the lead, although he successfully shrugged off pressure from Hyundai’s Dani Sordo and claimed a stage on Sunday. Meanwhile, Kris Meeke crashed for the seventh time in five starts in the other Citroën DS3 WRC, a score beaten by Ford’s Robert Kubica who has now made 10 mistakes in five rallies!

It’s been a long time since we last saw Mikko Hirvonen looking so combative. The last time he had led a WRC event was Rally Finland in August 2013, but he completed the first leg in Portugal as the overnight leader. Ford’s Finn was soon passed by Ogier the next day, however, partly because of higher tyre wear. His team-mate Elfyn Evans was the first WRC driver to make a mistake (on SS4), but he restarted to continue his apprenticeship on Saturday and ultimately collected the fourth-best time on ‘Santana da Serra 2’.

Meanwhile, Ott Tanak gave another glimpse of his speed and even challenged for the lead early on. He was third overall (+11s) when a big crash on SS10 – at the same spot that caught out Latvala in 2009 – saw him throw it all away.

Hyundai Motorsport was unjustly rewarded for its good run in Portugal where Sordo secured the i20 WRC’s first world class fastest time on SS2 to appear briefly in front, 13 years after Kenneth Eriksson led for Hyundai in New Zealand in 2001. Unfortunately, the three Korean cars were all affected by differential/transmission problems. In the end, Thierry Neuville (one fastest time) and Juho Hanninen were seventh and eighth.

Finally, top runs from Henning Solberg and Martin Prokop allowed the Ford privateers to mix it with the factory drivers and finish fifth and sixth overall. 

Voilà près d’un tiers de la saison WRC 2014 déjà écoulé et Sébastien Ogier a fait le break au championnat Pilotes. Côté Constructeurs, Volkswagen Motorsport compte près du double de points que Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi.

Comme en 2013, Sébastien Ogier s’est un peu fourvoyé dans sa stratégie de pneumatiques en début d’épreuve. Mais une fois les bons set-up trouvés et les bonnes gommes montées (soft), le Français fut irrésistible. Il a pris l’avantage dans Santana da Serra (ES9), la plus longue et la plus difficile spéciale du rallye, avant de creuser l’écart grâce à une gestion de pneus parfaite samedi après-midi. C’est aussi une bonne gestion de ses pneus Michelin S2 qui lui a permis de remporter les trois points de la Power Stage dimanche matin.

Seb a profité du faux pas de son équipier Latvala pour faire le break au championnat Pilotes. Un point séparait les deux pilotes VW avant ce rallye. Ogier en compte désormais 29 d’avance, soit une victoire bonifiée. Décidément, le printemps est une bien mauvaise période pour le Finlandais. L’an passé, il était pénalisé par le différentiel avant de sa Polo R WRC. Il y a deux ans, une chute de ski après le Portugal lui a fait rater le Rallye d’Argentine… Cette année, cette sortie de route au Portugal, alors qu’il était 2^e à 4/10^e de son équipier après l’ES4, pourrait être rédhibitoire pour la conquête du titre.

Après sa double cabriole mexicaine, Andreas Mikkelsen avait des consignes strictes au départ du Portugal. Le Norvégien est parti sur un rythme lent, trop peut-être, pour conclure la 1^ère étape en 8^e position seulement, derrière Henning Solberg. Mieux le lendemain, il a repris son compatriote avant une panne de direction assistée (ES11). Andreas est repassé devant Henning dimanche après deux 3^e meilleurs temps.

Mads Ostberg (Citroën) a terminé sur le podium ; c’était son objectif au départ. Contrairement à l’an passé, le Norvégien n’a jamais pu se mêler à la lutte pour la victoire, mais il s’est maintenu entre la 6^e et la 3^e place. Il s’est détaché de Dani Sordo samedi avant de remporter une spéciale dimanche. Son équipier Kris Meeke a connu un 7^e retrait sur sortie de route/touchette en 5 rallyes disputés sur la Citroën DS3 WRC. Dans le genre, il est battu par Robert Kubica (Ford) avec 10 erreurs en 5 rallyes !

On n’avait pas vu Mikko Hirvonen en aussi bonne forme depuis belle lurette ! Le Finlandais n’avait plus mené un rallye WRC depuis août 2013, chez lui, en Finlande. Il a bouclé la 1^èrejournée en tête après un meilleur temps (ES7). Le pilote Ford n’a pu résister à Ogier bien longtemps le lendemain, en partie à cause d’une usure de pneus trop importante par rapport à son adversaire. Son équipier Elfyn Evans fut le 1^er pilote WRC à se faire piéger (ES4). Il a heureusement pu repartir en Rally2 pour poursuivre son apprentissage. A noter un 4^e temps dans Santana da Serra 2.

Malgré sa violente sortie de route samedi matin, là où Latvala avait été piégé en 2009, l’Estonien Ott Tanak a une nouvelle fois été remarquable au volant de la Ford Fiesta RS WRC, s’immisçant dans le match pour la victoire. Il était 3^e à 11s du leader avant sa sortie de route (ES10).

Hyundai Motorsport n’a pas récolté les fruits d’une belle course. Dani Sordo a offert le 1^ermeilleur temps mondial à l’i20 WRC (ES2) et pris la tête de l’épreuve. Hyundai avait déjà mené un rallye WRC : en Nouvelle-Zélande 2001 avec Kenneth Eriksson. Hélas, des soucis de différentiel/transmission sont venus perturber la fin de course des trois voitures. Thierry Neuville (1 meilleur temps) et Juho Hanninen ont terminé 7^e et 8^e. Très belles prestations des pilotes « privés » Ford Henning Solberg et Martin Prokop qui ont donné le change aux pilotes officiels et terminé 5^e et 6^e. 

Military Vehichle on Snow Trials, 1970's

Saro Centaur multi-role tracked military vehicle (based on Land Rover chassis) on snow trials in Norway. Shows AMF (Allied Mobile Force) and MVEE (Military Vehicle Experimental E...) crests.

motos fourmis !

Message sur le mur by Auto Planet.

ELLASPEDE R65

Having just complained that we don’t get enough builds from Down Under, this lean and tasteful R65 airhead popped into our inbox from Bruce, a bike built in collaboration with Ellaspede in Brisbane. …We’ll let Bruce tell you the story in his own words.

I always viewed BMW bikes as bikes for old guys, but something happened that I had no control over, I got old. Well, this isn’t strictly true. I got older, that’s true, but I kept seeing some cafe’d BMWs that I thought looked off beat and cool at the same time. Particularly a La Corona build off a couple years back.

I also wanted a German stablemate for the BMW E21 coupe that I’ve owned for many years. I settled on a R65 mono, partly because I think that cafe racers should be of a modest capacity, and partly because the smaller R series bikes were a little cheaper. A 1987 R65 was found local for the right price and it was in fairly good condition

I tore it down and dropped off the rolling chassis into Ellaspede with a a bunch of parts, a brief and an idea of what I wanted the finished bike to look like. They fabricated the rear subframe and battery box to suit the Nitroheads seat, took off all the unnecessary brackets and dropped the front end by 45mm by modding the top tree. They also sorted the mudguards and fabricated the headers that have 12” Dime City Cycles stainless mufflers keeping the noise to a socially friendly level.

Ellaspede are a Brisbane based shop founded by Steve and Leo who are both industrial designers, Located in the hip West end of Brisbane, they bring unique talents and unique eyes to bike builds. I actually went to school with Steve and it was only fitting to work with them on this build. I’ve owned many bikes, but this was to be my first custom build.

Back together, everything looks right! Tear it back down and off to paint. A few mates in the auto collision industry offered to paint it for me at their shop. Over a weekend and a couple of days the Hotrod black was applied, along with the custom colour for the wheels.

Back home for reassembly, then back to the shop for wiring and firing. Gearbox was rebuilt locally by a BMW fanatic, and he also found some bits and pieces for it to finish it off.

From buying the bike, to finishing the build took just 8 months and I am super stoked on how it turned out. I’ve put over 500km on it since it’s rebuild and I’m impressed by the low down grunt of the opposed twin and it’s unique character. It’s low, loud, and slices through the city traffic with ease. Is that Nitroheads seat comfortable? Not really. But motorcycling isn’t about comfort is it? I love the minimalistic look of the mono’s rear end. The fabrication work by Ellaspede is beautiful, as is the paint laid down by my good friends.

Bruce looks pretty pleased with the Bavarian line-up in his garage, and rightly so. Thanks very much for sharing with all of us here at the Bike Shed Bruce. See more from Ellaspede on their website.

Legend of Lombardy: The Moto Guzzi story

It is difficult to think of a motorcycle maker with a more storied and romantic history than that of Moto Guzzi which, 93 years after its founding in Lombardy, is today the oldest bike manufacturer in Europe to have remained in continuous production...

The marque was conceived by World War One pilots Carlo Guzzi and Giovanni Ravelli and their mechanic, Giorgio Parodi. But Ravelli never saw the realisation of his dream as he was killed in a plane crash just a few days after the war's end. Guzzi and Parodi decided to carry on, commemorating their lost friend in the now-famous Moto Guzzi eagle logo (borrowed  from the Italian Air Corps) and using a 2,000 lira loan from Parodi's shipping magnate father to get the company going.

Earning the wings

Guzzi undertook the engineering of the bikes, quickly developing the horizontal, single-cylinder engine that would remain a Moto Guzzi signature right up until the 1960s. The men promoted the new marque out on the race tracks, where it gradually came to lead the Grand Prix scene in the middleweight classes, notching up 3,329 wins, eight world championship titles and 11 Isle of Man TT victories before retiring from competition in 1957.

Along the way, Moto Guzzi established a reputation for engineering excellence, inventing the centre stand and swinging arm suspension, creating the first double-overhead-camshaft V8 bike engine and being the first motorcycle manufacturer to use a wind tunnel to help optimise aerodynamics. By the mid-1960s, however, both founders had died and Moto Guzzi was facing a financial crisis that resulted in ownership by state-run receivers, who resurrected a V-twin engine designed some years earlier by Giulio Carcano, creator of the aforementioned V8 Grand Prix unit.

Lombardy lifestyle

Initially displacing 700cc and used in the V7 model, the engine and its shaft drive transmission became the quintessential Guzzi powertrain at the heart of iconic - and now highly collectable - '70s and 80s classics such as the 750-S3 and 850 Le Mans café racers and the California tourer.

Moto Guzzi is still located in Mandello del Lario where it all began and, under Piaggio ownership for the past decade, now offers a full range of sport, cruiser, tourer and adventure sport machines - all, of course, with 21st Century versions of that legendary V-twin engine.

The marque has even upped its game as a 'lifestyle brand' by employing bike-mad actor Ewan McGregor as its ambassador. For most die-hard Guzzi fans, however, even McGregor doesn't come close in the 'cool' stakes compared with the sight of an original, round-headlamp Le Mans, resting on its side stand in a sunlit piazza...

Several classic Moto Guzzis can be found for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

YAMAHA SR250 BY AUTO FABRICA

The Yamaha SR250 is the hardworking little brother of the inimitable SR400/SR500, many of the components are shared between the SR models making repairs simple and the straight-forward mechanical set up of the SR series means they’re excellent bikes to learn wrenching.

Originally released in 1982 the Yamaha SR250 was designed to fit in below it’s larger siblings as an exceedingly economical daily commuter bike. The engine is just about as simple as it’s possible to get – a single cylinder with one valve in, one valve out and none of that fancypants camshaft malarky.

Taking a stock SR250 commuter and turning it into a bike that people might actually get excited about isn’t as easy as you might imagine, the best builds we’ve seen have all focussed on reducing weight to boost performance and removing as much plastic as possible. The SR250 you’re looking at here is the work of Auto Fabrica, a custom garage run by brothers Bujar and Gaz Muharremi, they’re both designers with a background in fabrication so the detail and quality of their work is always impressive.

When Bujar and Gaz first got their hands on the SR it was looking like it’d seen better days, the previous owner had attempted an ill-advised chopper conversion and without a rescue it was heading for an unceremonious end at a local scrap yard.

When the bike arrived at the Auto Fabrica garage the first job was to strip it back to its bare essentials and see exactly what was salvageable . The frame, engine and fuel tank were straight but much of the rest of the bike had to be tossed in the trash, once the frame was exposed it was decided that the rear-loop would be cropped to shorten the tail a little.

The electric start, battery and wiring was removed and the centre of the frame was cleared out – the bike is now kick start only, but as a 250 that isn’t a particularly difficult thing to live with. A new set of handlebars, a new headlight, a custom seat, new blinkers and a new speedo were all added and rather tastefully – the same cut of leather was used for the seat, grips and kick starter.

As summer is fast approaching in the Northern Hemisphere Bujar and Gaz decided to fit knobbly scrambler tires – this allows the mighty little SR250 to do a little trail riding, depending on the courage and skill of the new owner of course.

If you’d like to see more from Auto Fabrica you can click here to visit their website, if you’d like to follow them on social media you can click here for Instagram and here for Facebook.

via SILODROME

JUSTIN’S RD350

Take a look around this page, this website, in fact any custom motorcycle website for that matter, and you’ll see that two strokes crop up less frequently than Ducati MotoGP victories.  But Idaho based Justin might be about to change all that by showing us the light with this absolutely drop dead gorgeous RD350.

So what made Justin buck the trend and go down the two stroke route?  Quite simply it was the smell and the power. If you’ve ever ridden an RD, you’ll know what he means. Once you’ve experienced hitting that power band and hurtling off towards the horizon in an intoxicating blue haze, you never forget it. Keen to relive the experience himself, Justin put an ad in the local classifieds, and in 2 weeks he had himself a donor bike. Right from the off Justin had a vision of how he wanted the finished bike to look – the perfect blend of modern world and 1975. This is how he went about it.

Justin’s brother happened to have a front end from a 2006 RM85 lying around.  Cutting 5 inches off the springs and adding 13 ¾” Hagon shocks to the rear, achieved the exact cafe racer stance he was looking for. The stock RD steering stem was fitted into the RM85 triple and tapered roller bearings were added to improve the steering. A front disc brake replaced the standard drum, and the Excel 1.85×18′s were laced with custom stainless steel spokes, and wrapped with delicious looking Pirelli MT90′s.  Despite limited fabrication experience and equipment, Justin was able to design and make the seat, tail section (with integrated taillight), side panels and fork guards by himself.  All the unnecessary tabs were cut off, and the frame and other parts were sent off for black powder coating.  The frame area under the seat was kept open by doing away with the oil tank and switching the bike to pre-mix. A modern reg/rec was wired in, and with a couple of small mods to the frame he was able to hide a small 4cell Ballistic battery under the fuel tank.

The engine had very low miles on it and checked out almost perfect. So all Justin did was clean it up ready for a coat of paint and install a new set of rings. He added the pod filters and DG pipes to help her breath and help improve the soundtrack. The rear sets were custom made by Nick Pastore at VintageSmoke.com, and Justin added a custom rear brake stay arm and rear motor mounts specifically to match.  The decision was made to stay with the original orange and black Yamaha paint scheme in order to keep the vintage look. Right decision.  It looks insanely good.

The build took Justin a year from start to finish, working in his spare time and saving money for all the parts as he went.  He is rightly chuffed with how it turned out and as an FYI, points out that ‘this thing is freaking FAST!’  Even in standard form, a 1975 RD350 flies.  And despite the low clip ons, he says he still has a hard time keeping the front wheel on the ground- what a shame.  This bike has really got us excited here in the Shed.  We’re all riding 4 strokes, but this bike has shown us what we’re missing out on.  The super light, super intoxicating sound, smell and acceleration, of a two stroke.  This could be the start of something.

See Justin’s previous build here on the Bike Shed.

Hey, That’s A Tall Looking Porsche

The aircooled Volkswagen Beetle just might be the perfect car to get started with the automotive hobby. They can be found on the cheap, aftermarket parts are plentiful, and perhaps most importantly, it’s hard to think of car that’s easier to work on. Depending on your taste, you can build a factory-style resto, a slammed cruiser or a wicked-quick drag machine. While you don’t see too many old VWs built for circuit racing, they actually have plenty of potential in that department as well. Case in point, this neat little Bug we came across at Gatebil.

The car was built by Norway’s Baard A. Christiansen, who originally picked up the ’73 1303 S back in 1997. At the time the car lacked a motor, but in the years since he’s built the Volkswagen up into a formidable little track weapon. A baby Porsche 911 if you will.

Sitting out back is a 1,914cc flat-four with twin Dellorto carbs and other high performance goodies which help the car generate 118hp at the rear wheels. This might not sound like a lot of power at first, but when you factor in the Beetle’s light weight it becomes a potent combination. There’s also an LSD, adjustable suspension and disc brakes with 15-inch Porsche Teledial wheels.

Inside there’s a full roll cage, a set of OMP Volkswagen Motorsport seats along with VDO gauges and custom carbon fiber door panels using Porsche 964 door pulls.

Outside, you’ll find the bumpers, running boards, front spoiler and headlight rings all made out of carbon fiber too. There are also Mk4 Golf side markers and a Mk1 Golf fuel filler, and the whole body is coated in Porsche’s Midnight Blue Pearl.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about embarking on an aircooled VW build, and seeing how Baard’s project turned out only makes me want one even more now. As this circuit-tuned Beetle shows, the possibilities are endless.

Mike Garrett

OLD EMPIRE MOTORCYCLES MERLIN

Some of us a boring old farts. Fact. As the custom scene evolves some of the stalwarts and long standing bikers out there are getting boring and moany. They seem to have forgotten what it was like to be young, to be a rebel, to break the rules, do stupid things, to experiment and to be creative. Luckily not all of us are grumpy old farts who want to define (and police) some unspoken set of rules that box people in to pointless custom categories. At the forefront of the ‘Up Yours’ Generation are the rather polite, but free-thinking, Old Empire Motorcycles who build bikes the way they want to. If you don’t get it, tough shit and move on (our words, not theirs).

Their latest build is the very British “Merlin”. It’s clear that some kind of magic was involved as this bike looks like no other, yet it’s also timeless and seems somehow familiar. The base of the build is a now fairly unrecognizable W650 which has been redfined as a ‘gentleman’s cafebrat’ and was built for a customer in Amsterdam.

“After to-ing and fro-ing with emails and Skype we had a good idea on where we wanted to go within the build. It’s nice dealing with people who genuinely love our styling and trust us implicitly when designing and deciding where to go, although much was sent over using our build idea sheet it was left to us to ultimately come up with a design to take the W650 somewhere we felt it hadn’t been before.”

The first thing to sort was the stance, which was lowered at the front by using a set of Ducati USD forks. The blunt end was raised an 1’’ or so using a set of custom Hagon shocks to get a more acute angle of attack. Although the stock rims were both already 18’’ the guys installed a wider front  to accommodate the same size Coker tyres front and back for a proper brat look.

“There was a great deal of design and workshop time invested in getting that minimal rear cowling just right so the lines flow perfectly and the little led rear light sunk in just right.”

The reason we’re impressed is because builds like this are all about the details. The original tank retains its front mounts but Alec & Rafe raised the back to get the top line running from the yoke down the tank into the seat and off the rear cowling. The custom seat pan acts as the electrics box cover and handmade gussets also help keep everything flowing and in proportion. The tank has indents which have been fitted with leather scallops while the bottom of the tank has a welded in skirt hiding the ugly box section top tube.

“We managed to keep all the controls stock but with the addition of some hand dyed leather wrap and some scotching. Front lighting comes in the form of a big bates headlight and peak, and the customer asked for mini led indicators which we mounted as discreetly as possible. We also decided to work with our friends at Smiths again to make up an OEM Grey faced kph speedo which looks mighty fine integrated into the custom top yoke.”

The engine was in a real state cosmetically, so it was sent off to be blasted by MP Sodablasting, but the aluminium was so badly tarnished the crankcases had to be painted in high temp satin silver. The barrels we painted satin black before the fins were polished back to the metal. The casings were fine scotched, and the carbs were rebuilt and fitted with custom air filters. It must have been a pain to sort but the end result is very pleasing to the eye.

The exhausts were hand made from tubular bends TIG welded together before being heat wrapped, for practical rather than cosmetic reasons. A stainless guard may still be required to protect the rider’s leg. “Mini baffles take the edge of what is a fantastic sounding engine.”

Old Empire are also very picky about all their finishes. The frame and swingarm were powdercoated satin black, while all the plating was chromed before being scotched for a satin/brush final finish, and then there was the paint. “The paintwork deserves special attention and it has to be seen to be properly appreciated. Greg from Black Shuck Kustoms went about lead loading the tank where it needed it, then removing the powder coat from the relevant panel work on the frame to leave a bare metal brushed finish, and then after that it’s a bit of a mystery how he achieved the fantastic dark green smokey bare metal high gloss finish with gold pin striping, but whatever, it suits the bike down to the ground and has to be seen to be believed.”

We really like this build, and can’t wait to see it in the flesh at the BSMC III Exhibition in London this May 24th & 25th. Alec & Rafe are also very pleased with their handiwork. “This may be one of the finest builds we deem to be an OEM bike in terms of aesthetics and functionality. Bike by bike we like to think we are improving continually.”

Thanks go to Black Shuck Kustoms, MP Blasting, Audrey Upholstery, Mark Bunning and Demeanour customs. You can see more builds from Old Empire Motorcycles in the flesh  at the BSMC Event, or check them online on theirBike Shed OEM pages, or on their Website plus you can see how they work up their concepts Here.

For those of you who prefer lists to narrative, here’s the spec again.

MERLIN SPEC.

2001 KAWASAKI W650

HEAVILY MODIFED FRAME

DUCATI USD FRONT END

DUCATI BRAKE CALIPER/DISC

DUCATI TRIPLE TREES/ MODIFIED TOP YOKE

COKER 18’’ TYRES FRONT AND BACK

CUSTOM OEM LEATHER BATTERY SATCHEL

ORIGINAL CONTROL UNITS

HEAVILY MODIFIED TANK W/LEATHER PANELS

CUSTOM SEAT WITH/TRIPLE DIAMOND STITCHING

NEW LENGTHENED SHOCKS

CUSTOM TAILLIGHT

WARNING LED LIGHTS

SMITHS/OEM GREY FACED SPEEDO

DUCATI CLIP ONS

CUSTOM ELECTRICS BOX

CUSTOM WIRING LOOM

SCOTHED ALLUMINIUM RIMS/HUBS

FULLY REBUILT WHEELS WITH S/S SPOKES

PAINTED AND SCOTHED AND FULLY SERIVCED ENGINE

CUSTOM FILTERS

CUSTOM TWIN EXHAUST W/ MINI BAFFLES

BATES HEADLIGHT W/PEAK

LED INDICATORS FRONT AND BACK

BROOKS CUSTOM DYED GRIP WRAP