Cyclops BSA A7 Plate Armor Bobber

The Japanese custom motorcycle scene is without a doubt the most intriguing in the world. You only have to see images from some of the big shows like Mooneyes Yokohama and the Joints Custom Bike Show to know our friends from the East have it going on. Unfortunately distance, language barriers and a lack of online content make it difficult to gain access to details about these amazing bikes and so we're sometimes left with little more than a few tasty photographs. In this particular instance the bike is an A7 BSA Bobber named 'Plate Armor' by Japanese workshop Cyclops Motorcycle.

The '55 BSA A7 OHV Star Twin features custom frame modification with brazed brass welds and nickel plated engine details. Looking over the bike you'll also spot some really neat custom made features such as the foot peg kickstand with a spring loaded locking mechanism, brass fixtures and copper lines, cloth wiring, and of course the super skinny girder front end and custom headlight. 

The Kamikaze Chop Shop on the oil bag unfortunately didn't return any more details on Google, so for now we will have to settle with what we can see here in the photos. Cyclops motorcycle will be yet another workshop to and to the long list of "must visit" workshops when I get over to Japan.

Cyclops Motorcycle

Cafe Racer & Classic Bike Show in Poland !

Nitro Nicky

Demons Don't Sleep - Troy Elmore

Huntington Beach, California, another day in paradise, another night to let the demons speak.
The horizon is just one black mass, and the breeze that hits us in the face is like a draught coming through the gates of hell that the devil himself has just opened. Leaning against the front of the local liquor store, Troy Elmore is but a shadow. The neon lights toy with his silhouette. At only 23, he is one of the anti-heroes, born and bred in the USA as most of them are, bringing a heavy dose of spunk and demons to a surf industry, which continues to make money by selling dreams.
French photographer & Desillusion Magazine editor in chief, Sebastien Zanella spent an all night session walking around the city to hear the confessions of one of the most stylish longboarders of our time.

Demons Don't Sleep - Troy Elmore from Desillusion Magazine on Vimeo.

WRC Italie : Dix ans de WRC en Sardaigne

Comme le Rallye du Mexique, le Rally Italia-Sardegna a intégré le calendrier WRC en 2004, succédant à 29 éditions mondiales consécutives du Rallye Sanremo depuis 1973. En dix éditions, on compte pas moins de sept vainqueurs différents.

En 2004, la Fédération italienne de sport automobile (CSAI) et l’Automobile Club Italia (ACI) ont définitivement tourné la page du Rallye Sanremo en WRC et choisi l’île de Sardaigne pour organiser la manche italienne du Mondial.

En 2004, le calendrier WRC se composait donc de trois rallyes organisés sur des îles méditerranéennes (Chypre, Corse, Sardaigne) et de sept épreuves tracées autour ou en Méditerranée (Monte-Carlo, Chypre, Acropole, Turquie, Sardaigne, Corse, Catalunya).

Inspiré par le Rally Costa Smeralda, le parcours du nouveau Rally Italia-Sardegna proposait des spéciales sur terre très techniques au nord de l’île, dans la région d’Olbia, sur des sols à la fois sablonneux en surface et durs en profondeur.

Organisée en octobre 2004, la 1^ère édition du Supermag Rally Italia-Sardegna fut remportée par Petter Solberg qui avait largement dominé les pilotes Citroën Sébastien Loeb et Carlos Sainz au volant de sa Subaru Impreza WRC. Ce fut d’ailleurs la dernière « vraie » victoire du Norvégien en WRC.

Quelques mois plus tard (mai 2005), Sébastien Loeb prit sa revanche sur Solberg au volant de sa Citroën Xsara WRC chaussée de nouveaux pneumatiques terre Michelin « BTO ». En 2007, après la sortie de route de Loeb le dernier jour, Marcus Grönholm et Mikko Hirvonen ont offert un doublé à la Finlande et à Ford. Les Finlandais ont de nouveau brillé à 2009 (Latvala), en 2010 (Hänninen, IRC) et en 2012 (Hirvonen), avant la victoire de Sébastien Ogier l’an passé.

En 2011, Volkswagen avait choisi la Sardaigne pour annoncer son arrivée en WRC. Cette année-là, c’est aussi au Rally Italia-Sardegna que la nouvelle Mini John Cooper Works WRC avait débuté en Mondial (Sordo, 6^e). L’an passé, c’est pendant le Rally Italia-Sardegna que Hyundai Motorsport avait officiellement inauguré ses nouveaux locaux à Alzenau.

Pour la 1^ère fois depuis dix ans, le Rally Italia-Sardegna change de base, quittant Olbia et la très huppée station balnéaire de Porto Cervo pour Alghero, la « petite Barcelone », au nord-ouest de l’île. Le départ s’effectuera pour la 1^ère fois en WRC à Cagliari, capitale sarde, à l’extrémité sud.

TJ MOTOS 883

Raw. Vintage. Mechanical.  These are the three words Tushar Jaitly uses to describe his 883 Harley.  We’d like to add two more – unique and awesome.

After completing three years of automotive design in Turin, Italy, 23 year old Tushar returned  home to New Delhi last year and started up his own custom bike shop, TJ-MOTO.  This is the first bike he built, and as it was his own he had complete freedom to do exactly what he wanted. Tushar believes that the  motorcycle in itself is an art form, and as such he doesn’t believe that parts should be hidden, or that a bike needs a pimped up paint job to look nice. In fact, the word ‘nice’ should never be said within earshot of this bike, as it looks like it would turn and lamp you.

Everything on this 883 is hand built. The chassis has been cut to give it a bone crushing rigid rear, the front uses stock iron suspension. Clearly one of the main things that really earns this bike the ‘unique’ tag, is the way the top frame tube runs above the tank, giving the illusion that the tank itself is floating. On first viewing we weren’t convinced, but then all new ideas take a little getting used to.  Now we love it.

The tank (and the oil tank) were hand fabricated and painted in British Racing Green with cream and gold pin striping. Not an obvious choice for a Harley bobber designed and built in India, but Tushar doesn’t believe in obvious. The free flowing exhaust system was also made in house and set up with a K&N air filter.

16″ wheels are graced with the obligatory Firestone 500-16 tires. The other striking feature, the seat, has a linkage mechanism instead of the usual spring set up, and each link has been CNC cut and made to measure. You can really see the blood, sweat and tears in those linkages. The leather used on the seat and the belts is pure suede.

TJ’s 883 just looks like trouble, pure mechanical menace with shed loads of attitude. If it had been at Tobacco Dock last weekend, then it would definitely have been in the Bad Boys Lounge.  If you’re about to commission a bike from Tushar, please give him as much freedom as he gave himself.  The world needs more bad ass bikes like this. And when you do, send some pics our way.

 via the Bike Shed

CAFE RACER CUSTOMS CRC SPORTSTER C&J

London’s Cafe Racer Customs continue to impress with the CRC Sportster C&J unveiled at the BSMC III event last week. Harleys are very much like Marmite, but few failed to be impressed by this stunning reworking on the flat tracker theme. Simon and Will are quickly acquiring a reputation for premium craftsmanship combining bold design with robust engineering.

The Sportster is built on an oil-in frame chro-moly chassis built by the American firm C&J, designed for use in the Supertracker class of the FlatTrack race series. The rear swinging arm has been modified with a removable section to enable belt changing. It employs a narrow belt drive.

The engine is a Buell S1W1203cc engine fueled by a Mikuni HSR 42mm slide carb and aspirated via a Forcewinder intake. It uses Screaming Eagle cams and ignition and carbon pushrod tubes. It has Vance and Hines headers and link pipe with a Remus system.

It has an aluminium RaceTech tank, and a CRC custom ally seat base that doubles up as an oil catch tank, and a CRC custom ally seat hump. The front master cylinder is from a Honda Fireblade, and it uses CRG levers mounted on carbon fibre tubes secured with aluminium clip-on clamps from HPS. It has an Accossato throttle and Fireblade switchgear.

Will and Simon used titanium wheel and swinging arm spindles and magnesium Dymag TT3s wheels. The forks are Buell X1 Showas powder coated black with titanium-nitride stanchions, with Buell S1 yokes. An alloy hanger secures the single Buell X1 caliper, that’s twined with a 340mm disc. The ally front mudguard is custom CRC fabricated.

On the left side is a Storz gear lever and footrest hanger, and on the right a one-off custom fabricated rear brake lever and hanger. The rear brake is a Buell X1 rear disc with a Brembo Monster S4 caliper on a custom hanger. The rear shock is a side mounted Penske.

The electrics are governed via a custom loom using Deutch connectors. The instruments are Vapor and the headlight a cafe racer style H4. The indicators are Oxford.

CRC have been typically uncompromising in their choice of components, and the sum of the parts equals an exquisitely designed machine whose devastating good looks are matched by its blistering performance. A build that is enough to silence the most ardent of Harley doubters, and to give many exhilarating hours of tracker-inspired joy to it’s future lucky owner.

Thanks to Simon and Will for sharing this lovely Harley (I never thought I’d hear myself say that!).

via THE BIKE SHED

Our favourite motorcycles from the Banbury Run Sale by Bonhams

On 7 June 2014, the British motorcycle community will flock to Oxford for the Banbury Run Sale, held by Bonhams in association with the famous rally, which will take place the following day. Of the many pioneer, veteran and vintage bikes on offer, we’ve chosen 10 that gave us itchy fingers...

As usual, every lot from the Banbury Run Sale can be found in the Classic Driver Market.

Our favourites

Auctions | Motorbikes

1935 Brough Superior

EUR 22 094 - 31 914

Auctions | Motorbikes

Norton MANX

EUR 18 412 - 22 094

Auctions | Motorbikes

Triton Café Racer

EUR 8 592 - 11 047

Auctions | Motorbikes

1928 Norton

EUR 22 094 - 24 549

Auctions | Motorbikes

1951 Vincent Rapide

EUR 18 412 - 22 094

Auctions | Motorbikes

1973 Triumph Motorcycles Other

EUR 14 116 - 17 798

Auctions | Motorbikes

1982 Moto Guzzi Le Mans

EUR 1 473 - 1 841

Auctions | Motorbikes

1955 BSA Gold Star

EUR 4 910 - 6 137

Auctions | Motorbikes

1929 Royal Enfield Other

EUR 3 682 - 4 910

Auctions | Motorbikes

EUR 3 069 - 4 296

Le giro sarde du WRC / The WRC’s Sardinian ‘Giro’

Depuis dix ans, la manche italienne du Championnat du monde des Rallyes FIA se déroule sur les pistes sablonneuses de Sardaigne. Volkswagen Motorsport se présente au départ de cette sixième manche en tête du championnat Constructeurs et aux trois premières places du championnat Pilotes.

C’est en Sardaigne, justement, qu’en 2011 le constructeur allemand avait officiellement annoncé son arrivée en WRC. Que de chemin parcouru – au sens propre et figuré – pour Volkswagen depuis ces trois années avec 15 victoires dont neuf d’affilée (série en cours), quatre doublés et trois titres mondiaux la même année (Constructeurs, Pilotes et Copilotes).

Volkswagen Motorsport et ses pilotes arrivent donc en totale confiance sur la 2^e plus grande île méditerranéenne que les concurrents vont traverser du nord au sud et d’ouest en est. L’an passé, la VW Polo R WRC/Michelin avait dominé la concurrence sur les pistes sardes avec 12 meilleurs temps sur 16 spéciales, et s’était imposée avec Sébastien Ogier, leader de bout en bout.

On s’attend donc à un nouveau duel entre Sébastien Ogier et Jari-Matti Latvala. Comme en Argentine, le Français va ouvrir et balayer la piste le 1^er jour (159,98 km), ce qui sera certainement plus pénalisant qu’en Amérique du Sud car les pistes sardes sont recouvertes d’une couche sablonneuse parfois épaisse.

Les Norvégiens Andreas Mikkelsen et Mads Ostberg sont 3^e ex aequo au championnat, mais c’est le pilote Volkswagen qui roulera en 3^e position sur la route (au bénéfice d’une 2^e place en Suède). Mads Ostberg a participé à toutes les éditions du Rally Italia-Sardegna depuis 2007 et connaît donc bien le terrain. Son équipier Kris Meeke avait remporté le Rally Costa Smeralda en 2010, épreuve sur terre du Championnat d’Italie également tracée en Sardaigne.

Les pilotes officiels Ford M-Sport Mikko Hirvonen et Elfyn Evans ont effectué une séance d’essais préparatoire à cette 6^e manche. Le Finlandais s’était imposé en 2012 sur une Citroën DS3 WRC, alors que le Gallois a effectué ses débuts mondiaux au volant d’une World Rally Car ici-même l’an passé (6^e). Robert Kubica revient sur un rallye qu’il connaît puisqu’il avait remporté la catégorie WRC-2 en 2013.

Hyundai Motorsport engage trois i20 WRC pour Thierry Neuville (2^e en 2013), Juho Hanninen et le Néo-Zélandais Hayden Paddon qui va disputer son second rallye mondial sur une WRC. Ces trois pilotes sont également engagés au Rallye de Pologne fin juin et ont d’ailleurs effectué une séance d’essais sur place tout récemment.

La Sardaigne accueille la manche italienne du WRC depuis 2004, mais c’est la 1^ère fois que la ville d’Alghero est choisie comme ville-hôte du Rally Italia-Sardegna. Malgré tout, le parcours est globalement inchangé (et sera donc plus étendu depuis Alghero) avec seulement deux nouvelles spéciales et quelques modifications dans les autres. Avec 59,13 km, la spéciale de Monte Lermo est la plus longue de ce début de championnat 2014. Elle sera à parcourir deux fois samedi, à la suite de Monte Olia (19,27 km).

Le départ du Rally Italia-Sardegna sera donné à Cagliari, la capitale sarde, jeudi soir, avec une Superspéciale sur asphalte. L’arrivée sera jugée dimanche en début d’après-midi après la Power Stage (12,49 km).

Since 2004, Italy’s round of the FIA World Rally Championship has taken place in Sardinia. This year, Volkswagen Motorsport arrives on the Mediterranean’s second-biggest island on top of the Manufacturers’ standings and in the top three places in the Drivers’ points table…

it was in Sardinia that Volkswagen officially announced its WRC programme in 2011. Since then, the German make has collected 15 victories (including an ongoing sequence of nine in a row), four one-two finishes and three Manufacturers’, Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ world crowns.

Its crews are in a confident mood ahead of this year’s visit to the island which they will cross from north to south and from west to east. In 2013, the VW Polo R WRC/Michelin dominated the dirt event with 12 stage wins from 16 and led from start to finish thanks to Sébastien Ogier.

Another interesting battle between the Frenchman and his team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala is highly likely this week. As in Argentina, Ogier will be first on the road for Day 1’s 159.98km of competitive action, and that could be more of a handicap than it was in South America because of the sometimes deep layer of sand that coats most of the Sardinian stages.

Norwegians Andreas Mikkelsen and Mads Ostberg are equal-third in the championship, but it’s the former who will be third on the road because of his second place in Sweden. Ostberg has been to Sardinia every year since 2007 and has good knowledge of the terrain, while his Citroën team-mate Kris Meeke won the 2010 Rally Costa Smeralda, an Italian championship event also based on the island.

Ford M-Sport drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Elfyn Evans have both tested ahead of the WRC’s sixth round. The Finn won here in 2012 in a Citroën DS3 WRC and the Welshman made his first world class appearance in a World Rally Car here 12 months ago (sixth), while Robert Kubica won the rally’s WRC-2 class in 2013.

Hyundai Motorsport will have i20 WRCs for Thierry Neuville (second last year), Juho Hanninen and New Zealander Hayden Paddon, for whom it will be his second world rally in a WRC car. The same trio has been entered for late-June’s Rally Poland and recently took part in a test there.

Sardinia has hosted Italy’s WRC showpiece since 2004, but this is the first time that Alghero will host the rally. Despite this move, the route has changed very little and only two stages will be new, in addition to a few other modifications. Monte Lermo (59.13km) will be the longest test of the early part of the 2014 championship and will be contested twice on Saturday, just after Monte Olia (19.27km).

The rally will begin with a super-special in the island’s capital Cagliari on Thursday evening. Sunday afternoon’s finish will follow the 12.49km Power Stage.

WINGS - a film about the retro motorcycle

Soul motor co 09 Panzer

Soul motor co 09 Panzer from Rodrigo Tuero on Vimeo.

Honor a quien Honor merece, gracias Leon, Luna, Cochi, el German y Emanuelle, pollo y toda la banda Soul.
El video: the errantes, otro dia increible haciendo lo que nos gusta y da la gana. Potro, Bernando, Esteban, el cara de Soul Angelito. etc.etc. Proximamente Video 10 
song: George Baker Little green bag
soulmotorco.com instagram soulmotorco FB: SOUL Motor co.

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