ACE CAFE RADIO

    jeudi 17 avril 2014

    TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD – BABY MINE DRAGBIKE




    Triumph Thunderbird 650 Baby Mine Dragbike  Triumph Thunderbird   Baby Mine Dragbike


    Every now and then a motorcycle like this, the Triumph Thunderbird 650cc Baby Mine Dragbike, pops up for sale at an auction. This invariably leads to people like you and me questioning which organs we really need and how much we could feasibly get for the superfluous ones on the international black market.
    Baby Mine is a highly tuned drag racing motorcycle built and ridden by teenage drag racing sensation Bobby Sirkegian. Sirkegian started racing at the age of 13 in the early 1950s, he became a household name when the popular television programme “You Asked For It” featured him in 1954, racing his Triumph against all comers on a number of Southern Californian quarter-mile dragstrips.
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    The stock Triumph Thunderbird 650cc had been highly modified by Bobby, he had tweaked the 650 twin by adding a balanced crankshaft, high-compression pistons, a ported and polished cylinder head, S&W racing valve springs, specially ground camshafts and lifters by Iskendarian, lightened cam gears and a custom dual-carburettor manifold with remote floatbowls. In this state of tune, Baby Mine could give many modern motorcycles a run for their money down the quarter-mile.
    Baby Mine has remained in Bobby Sirkegian’s personal possession for all of these years, he’s placed it up for sale at the upcoming Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction with Bonhams on the 10th of January 2013. Before making the bike available for sale, Bobby sat down one last time with his tool kit and gave the bike a final tune, meaning it should be all set to run like the clappers for whichever lucky person nabs it.
    Check out the auction listing here.
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    via SILODROME

    BMW R100/7 BY BOYLE CUSTOM MOTO


    R100 BMW by Kim Boyle
    Kim Boyle has lived a life on two wheels. He started out in BMX, working for GT Bicycles, Airwalk, Vans and DC Shoes—and then got hooked on motorcycles. Over the past six years he’s made a name for himself with a series of super-clean builds, ranging from an SR500 wheelie machine to vintage Harleys and a Norton café racer.
    Kim’s latest creation is this sweet 1978 BMW R100/7, which was one of the stars of the recent Handbuilt Motorcycle Show in Texas. Despite being a “zero to no budget project,” it’s a stunning result.
    R100 BMW by Kim Boyle
    It sounds like Kim is a pretty straight-up kinda guy, and he admits that a classic BMW would not be his first choice of donor vehicle. “I’m not a big fan of the size or shape of the airhead motor,” he says. “But a ton of people love these bikes, including a good friend of mine.” So Kim got to work, and got the result. “It turned out to be exactly what my friend envisioned, and that’s the best thing I could ask for.”
    R100 BMW by Kim Boyle
    Kim started by shaving, polishing and lowering the forks by 4½ inches. Then he rebuilt both wheels, adding black powder coat to the stock rims. He swapped out the original tank for a sleeker R90 item with a flip-clip gas cap, painted by Shawn Long at Imperial House.
    “The shocks sat too vertical for my taste, so I moved the top mounts forward a bit and went with half-inch taller Progressive Suspension shocks to get the stance I wanted.” To keep within the budget, Kim welded up a 2-into-1 exhaust using no less than 32 pieces of pipe, with a chunk of heat shield from a Sportster to protect the short muffler. Chrome is expensive, so Kim resorted to black ceramic coating.
    R100 BMW by Kim Boyle
    The shape of the modified rear sub frame came from a Ducati Monster seat that Kim had the shop. So he shortened and reshaped the seat loop, and made up an aluminum seat pan to fit it all together. The seat was refinished by Haifley Brothers and it’s a perfect match.
    Look closely and you’ll also see a vestigial rear fender. “I put way too many hours into carving a taillight out of stainless steel, and felt it needed to be seen. So I ended up welding a chunk of an old fender onto the sub frame, so I could center-mount the light.”
    R100 BMW by Kim Boyle
    During the final assembly, Kim wasn’t 100% happy with the R100. So he changed all the exposed fasteners to stainless, domed each nut and bolt, and turned down the washers to more discreet sizes. “I tried to find the right mix of polished, tumbled and brushed finishes for all the exposed aluminum. It ties in with the black powder coat on the frame and the vintage white tank.”
    Like all BCM builds, this BMW is understated and classy. The BMX world’s loss is most definitely our gain.
    Images by Jose Gallina. Follow Kim Boyle’s adventures in custom building via the BCMwebsite and Facebook page.
    R100 BMW by Kim Boyle
    via BIKEEXIF

    The Kooples - TODAY, TONIGHT

    TODAY, TONIGHT sets itself at the iconic Ace Cafe during the 1950's, a British institution heralded as a place that came to define Rock N Roll and motorcycle culture.*

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    The Kooples short film directed by FRED&NICK tells the emotive story of a young boy racer, Mikey, intertwined in a life-changing game of 'THE COIN DROP' ... During its zenith the Ace Cafe became a mecca for biker-tribes - an extended congregation that brought riders together to race in legendary competitions. The riders were all about testing limits in every facet of their lives from the bikes through to relationships - their chief motivation on a daily basis was all about breaking frontiers, realigning boundaries and not giving a damn wherever possible along the way. Total freedom and carefree outlook. 

    Grammy-nominated directors Nicolas Jack Davies and Frederick Scott who together create beautiful, raw and intimate human portraits across their work in film, documentary, commercial and music video. "The opportunity to create a short narrative film with The Kooples was of great appeal to us, not least as the project had the added association with the Ace Cafe. It's rare to find a world so rich in stories and characters, and one that has played such a pivotal role in British culture. More than motorbikes and Rock n Roll, the Ace Café was one of a handful of muster points across the country for the post-war teenage revolution. On our many visits in recent months, we've noted that the same spirit is alive and well today and the perfect match for The Kooples attitude and SS14 collection- a film that gently connects two eras through memory and experience became the spark point of our script" - FRED&NICK

    Today, Tonight is the first release from The Kooples' new creative division, TK Foundry, set up to create original music, film, technology and art with a global network of cutting-edge creators, tastemakers and artisans.

    Watch full film and story 

    http://www.thekooples.com/todaytonight



    JOHAMMER ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE


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    The Johammer electric motorcycle is a new design that first came to light in February this year, the initial visual impact that the bike had on me was at once both positive and negative – the design is certainly futuristic, but it’s also awkward in a way that it doesn’t need to be.
    Enclosed-body motorcycle are nothing new, Randy Grubb has been building some extraordinary examples and the1930 Henderson Custom is one of the most visually arresting motorcycles we’ve ever featured. These designs are both testament to the fact that enclosed body bikes can be beautiful, in fact they’re almost always beautiful, so why Johammer decided to run with a design that’s been humorously described as a “surprised snail” is baffling to me.
    Stepping beyond the looks, the Johammer is an impressive machine. It has a range in excess of 200km (125 miles) – which is actually more than many gasoline powered motorcycles. It also utilises hub-centre steering, regenerative braking and a lithium-ion battery system capable of over 200,000 km (125,000 miles) without descending below 85% of the battery’s capacity.
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    As you may have guessed, the Johammer isn’t going to be cheap. Pricing starts at a wince-inducing €23,000 (US$31,800) for the 8.3 kWh version and €25,000 (US$34,630) for the longer-legged 12.7 kWh version.
    I’ve long been fascinated with electric vehicles – motorcycles in particular, and the designs that we’ve seen by companies like Brammo and Zero have shown that the burgeoning market category has enormous promise. The technology and engineering that’s been pumped into the Johammer is impressive, I’d just love it if they’d outsourced the exterior design to someone like Jony Ive or Frank Stephenson so that its outward appearance was as impressive as it’s internal construction.
    Visit Johammer here.
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    Images via Johammer.
    Additional information provided by GizMag.
    via SILODROME

    1940 MERCURY CUSTOM COUPE


    Mercury Custom Coupe 9 740x554 1940 Mercury Custom Coupe
    This 1940 Mercury Custom Coupe is far more than just another SoCal chop-top, it’s thought to be the first such car that Los Angeles ever saw and one of the first to be made in California – all the way back in 1939 when it was still a brand new, under-warranty automobile.
    Bought off the showroom floor by Charles Marr in ’39 this Mercury Coupe remained unmolested for only two weeks before it was rolled into the garage at Valley Custom Shop in Burbank and work began. Marr was joined by Gerry Huth (of Huth Exhaust Systems fame) and the two men set about cropping the roof by 3 inches and adding a removable Carson padded top.
    Much of the work that was done on the car occurred under the hood, the flathead V8 has been bored and stroked to 276 cubic inches, it’s running a hot Isky 3/4 cam, a Weiand dual-carburettor setup and has a modified Lincoln-Zephyr V-12 dual-coil ignition.
    The engine exhales through twin exhausts and the transmission has been fitted with Lincoln-Zephyr gears, which ran to a Zephyr two-speed rear axle. It was also fitted with Zephyr hydraulic brakes – to ensure it could be brought to a halt in reasonable time.
    In 2008/2009 the 1940 Mercury Custom Coupe was fully and sympathetically restored, it was fully disassembled and reconditioned, all period correct parts were fitted and new upholstery from Guy’s Interior Restorations of Portland was added.
    With just 40 miles on the odometer since restoration the Custom Coupe is being offered by RM Auctions at the Arizona Sale on the 16th of January 2014, the estimated value is between $125,000 and $175,000 and you can click here to visit the official lot listing.


    5 Different Ways To Have Fun In A Porsche


    5 Different Ways<br/> To Have Fun In A Porsche
    For a car that’s followed the same formula for over 50 years, people sure have found a lot of different ways to build a 911. Last week we saw hundreds of them at the California Festival of Speed, and thought it the perfect opportunity for a five-up spotlight feature – Porsche-style.

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    We’ll start with the hardcore – an Interscope 935. Seen here in time-capsule condition, the 935 was Porsche’s factory Group 5 racing effort – and it worked, winning at Le Mans, Daytona and the Nürburgring to name a few. In short, the 935 was the car that dominated in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

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