SuperMoto : Thomas Chareyre (TM-Michelin), nouveau leader / Thomas Chareyre (TM-Michelin) takes command

En remportant les deux courses de l’avant-dernière épreuve du championnat du monde Supermoto FIM en Estonie, Thomas Chareyre (TM Racing Factory – Michelin) reprend les commandes du classement général et compte 14 points d’avance sur son principal rival, Mauno Hermunen (SHR - TM – Michelin).

Auteur de la pole position, Mauno Hermunen n’a pas réussi à concrétiser son avance et a dû s’incliner à deux reprises face à Thomas Chareyre.

Prenant le meilleur départ de la première course, Mauno Hermunen a mené les deux premiers tours avant de céder aux attaques de Thomas Chareyre. Le Français a alors enchaîné une série de tours rapides pour se forger une avance de plus de cinq secondes sous le drapeau à damier.

Qualifié en troisième position, Ivan Lazzarini (L30 Racing – Honda) n’a pas quitté cette place jusqu’à la ligne d’arrivée. Derrière, Adrien Chareyre (Aprilia Fast Wheels – Michelin), en lutte avec l’Italien pour la dernière manche du podium au classement général, a dû concéder sa quatrième place au Tchèque Pavel Kejmar (833 Racing Team – Husqvarna) à quatre tours du drapeau à damier. Le Français termine cinquième.

Mauno Hermunen a signé le meilleur départ de la seconde manche mais c’est Thomas Chareyre qui a bouclé le premier tour en tête. Le Finlandais a mené le tour suivant avant que Thomas Chareyre ne reprennent définitivement les commandes. Poussant un peu trop fort dans un virage, Hermunen est parti, une première fois, à la faute au 10^ème  tour. Il a pu repartir en cinquième position avant de commettre une nouvelle erreur cinq tours plus tard qui l’a contraint à l’abandon.

Ivan Lazzarini en a profité pour se hisser à la deuxième place et marquer des points supplémentaires dans la course au podium. Thomas Travnicek est troisième devant  Pavel Kejmar et Adrien Chareyre.

Grâce à ce doublé, Thomas Chareyre compte désormais 14 points d’avance sur Mauno Hermunen. Ivan Lazzarini a consolidé sa troisième place avec 20 points d’avance sur Adrien Chareyre. Le titre se jouera dans trois semaines en Italie.

Résultats :

Course 1 : 1. CHAREYRE Thomas (FRA-TM) 20:06.337; 2. HERMUNEN Mauno (FIN-TM) 20:11.765; 3. LAZZARINI Ivan (ITA-Honda) 20:23.887; 4. KEJMAR Pavel (CZE-Husqvarna) 20:25.907; 5. CHAREYRE Adrien (FRA-Aprilia) 20:28.033; 6. RAVAGLIA Christian (ITA-Honda) 20:29.560; ….

Course 2 : 1. CHAREYRE Thomas (FRA-TM) 20:15.298; 2. LAZZARINI Ivan (ITA-Honda) 20:18.601; 3. TRAVNICEK Tomas (CZE-Yamaha) 20:20.358; 4. KEJMAR Pavel (CZE-Husqvarna) 20:25.690; 5. CHAREYRE Adrien (FRA-Aprilia) 20:29.378;…

Classement général : 1. CHAREYRE T. 271 points ; 2. HERMUNEN 257 pts ; 3. LAZZARINI 235 pts ; 4. CHAREYRE A. 215 pts ; 5. KEJMAR 178 pts ; ….

Prochaine épreuve : Italie, Jesolo, 21 septembre

Thomas Chareyre (TM Racing Factory-Michelin) won both races at the penultimate meeting of the 2014 FIM SuperMoto World Championship in Estonia. He has consequently gone 14 points clear of chief rival Mauno Hermunen (SHR-TM-Michelin).

Hermunen failed to capitalise on starting from pole position and was beaten in both Estonian clashes by Chareyre.

The Finn led the first race for the first two laps but eventually had to let Chareyre pass. The Frenchman then posted a run of quick laps to cross the finish line with a lead of more than five seconds.

Ivan Lazzarini (L30 Racing-Honda) started from third on the grid and held that position to the flag, despite the best efforts of Adrien Chareyre (Aprilia Fast Wheels-Michelin) to finish on the podium’s third step. In the end, the latter was deprived of fourth by the Czech Republic’s Pavel Kejmar (833 Racing Team-Husqvarna) who relegated the Frenchman to fifth with four laps remaining.

Hermunen produced the best start in the second race, too, but Thomas Chareyre completed Lap 1 in front. The Finn recovered the lead next time round but Chareyre recovered the lead when Hermunen made a mistake through a turn on Lap 10. He re-joined in fifth spot before making another mistake and retiring five laps later.

Lazzarini took advantage to climb to second and earn additional points in his bid for a top-three championship finish. Thomas Travnicek was third, ahead of Kejmar and Adrien Chareyre.

Thomas Chareyre’s double whammy weekend has taken him 14 points clear of Hermunen in the championship. Lazzarini has strengthened his grasp of third place, 20 points clear of Adrien Chareyre. The title will be settled in Italy in three weeks’ time.

Final positions:

Race 1:1, CHAREYRE Thomas (FRA-TM), 20m6.337s. 2, HERMUNEN Mauno (FIN-TM), 20m11.765s. 3, LAZZARINI Ivan (ITA-Honda), 20m23.887s. 4, KEJMAR Pavel (CZE-Husqvarna), 20m25.907s. 5, CHAREYRE Adrien (FRA-Aprilia), 20m28.033s. 6, RAVAGLIA Christian (ITA-Honda), 20m29.560s. Etc.

Race 2:1, CHAREYRE Thomas (FRA-TM), 20m15.298s. 2, LAZZARINI Ivan (ITA-Honda), 20m18.601s. 3, TRAVNICEK Tomas (CZE-Yamaha), 20m20.358s. 4. KEJMAR Pavel (CZE-Husqvarna), 20m25.690s. 5, CHAREYRE Adrien (FRA-Aprilia), 20m29.378s. Etc.

Championship standings:1, CHAREYRE T. (271 points). 2, HERMUNEN (257). 3, LAZZARINI (235). 4, CHAREYRE A. (215). 5, KEJMAR (178). Etc.

Next round: Jesolo, Italy (September 21).

21 GRAMMES GUZZI RACER

In 1901 Dr Duncan McDougal, by way of measuring bodies at the moment of death, proposed that the human soul weighed just 21 grams. I disagree with Dr McDougal’s theory. I’m sure mine weighs far more as it would go some way to explaining why I look like a burst sausage in my leathers. Thankfully, for Philippe Carzo, the science and poetry of the theory inspired him to get in the workshop.

With Guzzi Le Mans of all marks becoming rarer and more expensive the relatively unloved G5 provided the perfect base. Big bore engine, Tonti frame and sporting triple discs, it’s difficult to ask for a more splendid starting point for a custom machine. However, Paolo Martin’s original design is very ‘of it’s time’ and Philippe wanted a more classic Café look.

A man of many talents, Philippe is a physiotherapist by day, but for 20 years now, has honed his fabrication skills. Be it panel beating, bronze welding, or moulding carbon fibre, Philippe has sought out and learnt from masters in each field, eager to learn their craft. This means he has been able to work on every aspect of the bike himself, bar the upholstery. The hand beaten, long and low tank is testament to his handiwork.

The thumping 1000cc engine had been rebuilt by the previous owner, providing more than adequate propulsion. While the gasses pumped out through the hand-made exhausts ‘sing like a Stradivarius’ according to Philippe! A shortend and looped rear frame hides under the alloy seat cowl contrasting with the reddish-brown leatherwork, and captured by the lens of Arnaud Viac.

A Harley Davidson 48 headlight and Tarozzi rearsets are the few parts not crafted by Philippe, and add a dash of modern. Hooked up to handmade linkages, the rearset foot controls stretch you out along the bike. A new loom was made, providing a reliable source of sparks and ensuring no Italian electrickery would call time on riding. Laser cut badges adorn the tank reminding Philippe of the soulful inspiration.

Purposely left imperfect, the frame has been left uncoated and bears the wear and tear of the bike’s life. It ties nicely to the raw metalwork, the bike is far away from a show queen and makes me to want to hop on and head for the Route Napolean. It’s been Philippe’s daily rider for 2 years now and he always enjoys being asked how old the bike is. The Guzzi’s timeless looks are now far away from the late 70’s refugee it once was.

Keep an eye out for Philippe’s next bike, an XT600 with a handbuilt aluminium frame. Can’t wait to see that!

https://www.facebook.com/21grammesmotor?fref=ts

 via The Bike Shed

DER KOSMISCHE REITER

Being a Climbing Arborist, (a man that gets paid to climb trees and chop bits off; awesome) Heiner Trapp, from Austria knows a fair bit about maintaing a two stroke engine and keeping one tuned. Having a gnarly Husqvarna chainsaw bog down on you mid cut, outstretched and hanging over a power line is nobody’s idea of fun.

Heiner is no stranger to custom bikes, having been introduced to a CX500 by a neighbour when he was just 12 years old before starting his riding life with a Kreidler RMC, in full chrome trim. Google it, I had to; If I could have had a tank like that at 16 there would have been a world shortage of Autosol. A couple of years later and nearly grown up Heiner upgraded to a Yamaha RD, the stuff of dreams and now legend. Without the money to modify back then, this legend needed revisiting.

Whilst felling trees on some old guys farm Heiner noticed an old “puke green” RD/ RZ350 YPVS, lurking in the corner of a stable. He simply had to have it, so struck a deal, carted the jalopy home and set about a design; it was to be the fast, lightweight custom he’d dreamt about as a skint teenager.

With some assistance from Austrian customiser, Bernhard Naumann, Heiner set up Tree Work Csutom to build “der Kosmische Reiter” or in less foreign, The Cosmic Rider

Bernhard was commissioned with fabricating the aluminium tank and tail section, which look mighty with the tan leather strap and Monza cap. Another bike that looks fast, stood still in the studio. The pictures here with the darker tan seat are from a previous shoot, Cosmic Rider now wears the lighter and more handsome suede version.

The engine was completely stripped and all cases and exterior faces vapour blasted and powder coated. Wössner pistons were fitted to a race spec crank, using Emil Schwarz bearings; these people have umlauts and Zs in their names so must be very fast indeed. Normal sounding Jim Lomas made the exhaust, but a quick Google suggests he is far from normal. An racer and exhaust manufacturer with a knowledge of two stroke and how to coax ponies from Yamaha twins and singles. The ECU is by Celltronic which plays its part in the 70hp dyne result.

The custom fairing provides somewhere to hide from speed robbing fresh air, if the front wheel will actually stay in contact with the road that is. Anyone who’s tried to pass a TüV in Germany or any other foreign version of th UK’s MOT will attest that EU laws are stringent and bonkers but somehow this thing is fully road legal in Austria. Heiner must have a contract doing the trees at the Department of Transport or something.

There’s something a little bit Paul Smart Ducati about the overall look of this bike with the fairing on. Dutch, fancy a go on this one and make yourself feel young again?

Youth revisited and smiles all round, Heiner is settling into a more sedate build for number two, a BMW R50 1955. Let’s see how that one turns out.

via The Bike Shed

Gumball 3000 Road Movie 2014 presented by Betsafe

The Official Gumball 3000 Road Movie takes viewers to the heart of the action across two continents in the exciting 2014 edition of the rally starting from Miami and ending at Ibiza.

1964 SHELBY 289 COMPETITION COBRA

The car you see here is a 1964 Shelby 289 Competition Cobra with the chassis #: CSX 2430 – it’s a Cobra with a remarkable history, even by Cobra standards, and it’s thought to be the last Competition Cobra ever personally driven by Carroll Shelby (in 1984).

On the 18th of June 1964 the vice president of Ford’s Special Vehicle Division stamped approved onto the work order for a fire-engine red “Competition Cobra for Tom Payne” – the price was $9,250 (an enormous sum in 1964 dollars) and there was a handwritten note on the order that just said color it RED.

The Cobra was being built for Tom Payne, a gentleman racer that had seen some success in a variety of both open and closed wheel formulas. Tom had partnered with Dan Gerber to found Gerber-Payne Ford in Fremont, Michigan – although there’s no indication either man was a particularly enthusiastic car salesman. Gerber and Payne were red-blooded racing drivers and the overwhelming majority of their time and effort was expended on race tracks around the United States.

As a factory-specification competition car the 289 Competition Cobra came directly from the Shelby factory with a bonnet scoop, a chrome roll bar, 6½-inch Halibrand front wheels (8½-inch at the rear), flared wings, Koni shocks, front and rear sway bars, competition brakes all around, quick-jack points, side pipes, dual long-range fuel tanks, a Monza snap-open fuel cap, a racing seat, a Sun tachometer, a fuel-pressure gauge, a differential cooler, an engine oil cooler, an electric Stewart-Warner fuel pump, and an aluminium Harrison header tank.

At its heart of the roadster was a full race-specification 289 V8 that had 4 Weber carburettors and a 12:1 compression ratio, it could deliver 400 brake horsepower in race tune – which was more than enough to spank almost any Ferrari ever made and still give many new Ferraris a run for their money.

If you’d like to park this particular Cobra in your garage you’ll need to attend the London Auction on the 8th of September 2014, its estimated value is £1,100,000 to £1,400,000 but that seems like a rather conservative guess given the current white-hot nature of the classic car market.

Click here to read more or register to bid.

                        

Photo Credits: Robin Adams ©2014 Courtesy of RM Auctions

via SILODROME

‘74 Honda CL360 – Modern Metals

As the saying goes, life wasn’t meant to be easy. It’s the same reason that diamonds and gold are buried deep underground and not just rolling around in the gutter outside your house. All the best things in life take hard work to achieve. Take, for instance, the bike you just picked up off of a complete stranger for a song. If you brought it home and it customised itself, that’d be no fun now would it? No, it’s the challenges that make it all worth while. And trust us when we say that the challenge Doug Devine from Modern Metals faced after he peered inside the engine of this innocuous little Honda would be enough to test anyone.

“Nothing feels better than being able to help out a friend, says Louisville, Kentucky local Doug. “I just so happened to have an abundance of extra space at my shop when Bryan, a buddy of mine, needed some space for his cars. After watching me work on a few builds, he decided to hunt down a bike for himself. He returned from a short road trip with a ‘74 Honda CL360. I thought his find was pretty nice until we couldn’t remove the spark plugs…”

An engine teardown revealed a horror show that had been hiding inside the engine for years; a dropped valve had been left to fester until… well, you’ll see. “Unfazed by the disaster, we discussed what Bryan envisioned for his bike over coffee. Within a few days, I received an invitation for PDX’s The One Motorcycle Show. Knowing that I would only have 40 days to complete this build in time for the event, I asked Bryan if we could get started.”

After stripping down the bike and detabbing the frame, Doug modified the rear seat stays so they were pointing skywards for the seat he imagined in his head. And for the tires he imagined, he ordered a pair of Firestone ANS boots. “I just so happened to have a Honda CB450 tank that fit perfectly with the look of the tires.” David ‘Matchstick’ Brooks expertly applied some gold leafing and stripes along with the black aluminium trim pieces which Doug added for more width.

After fabricating at least four different seat pans and cowls trying to determine the direction he wanted to move in, Doug settled on what you see here and left the upholstering to Ginger at New Church Moto. She really came through for Doug when she produced some old oxblood-dyed horse hide for the seat.

“I searched long and hard for the frame color which is ‘Lincoln Ginger Ale’ metallic over a black base coat. I had to source a new engine because the original was clearly beyond repair. I wanted to keep the high pipes but wanted to cut off some old megaphones with an angle to induce a more speedy look. Ben “Bender” Boyle of Benderwerks saved the day when he offered to do the headlight work after dropping by. Thanks also to Kim Boyle of BCM for the tail light, See See Motorcycles for the micro handlebar switches, and Farmers Racer for the orange pack bag.”

Unfortunately, this story doesn’t finish with a first place at the One Show. But gladly it wasn’t through a lack of trying. “We finished the bike just in time and I attempted the cross-country trip to the show, but I was snowed in once I reached Iowa.”

Doug returned home and then called in a few favours from his extended family. “My brother-in-law owns Headliner’s Music Hall, a historic building that houses one of the best music venues in the city. He graciously allowed us to shoot the bike in front of the turn-of-the century artwork.”

Adding new meaning to the term ‘valve grind’

[Photography by Seth Schikler]

via PIPEBURN

INGLORIOUS MC GN250

Essex based Sam Evans’ career was going along rather nicely, as a Junior Race Engineer he was honing his skills playing with glorious 1980′s group B rally cars on a daily basis. But then his head was turned. He happened upon the short film “Cafe Cowboy” by Benedict Campbell, this showcases the Californian Bike builder Dustin Kott of Kott Motorcycles in a sun bleached, black and white montage of welding, riding, moody music and passionate prose. Sam was hooked, multiple viewings could not sate his desire, he craved the lifestyle, the work ethic, the finished product. He set up his shop, Inglorious Motorcycles, and sought to build himself the bikes and the life that the film had inspired. You can watch “Cafe Cowboy” and many other beautiful and inspiring films in the Bike Shed Video Library, but be warned, prolonged stays in the library may completely change your life.

This is the second build that Sam has turned out, the first was a patina heavy, firestone shod 78′ CB400 Superdream which he named the Cali Cafe after his West Coast inspiration. For his second Inglorious Motorcycles build, Sam wanted to make a scrambler, “function over form was the feeling behind this 90′s thumper, Being able to ride comfortably down the streets, but without the boundary of that rocky lane or field between yourself and the beach.”

He procured a 1993 Suzuki GN250 single for the project, “The bike was owned by an old boy down the road, who was the typical keep everything clean and never ride it kind of guy.” With the bike in his workshop, rescued from its clean, unridden stasis, Sam wasted no time in turning it into a dirty little rider, within an hour all the junk had been stripped off and the rear section of the frame had been chopped.

Sam knew exactly how he wanted the bike to look, “The design plan was like most, simple. Loop that rear end, shorten those fenders, get some chunky tires, and bin everything but the essentials.” To guarantee the machine in his minds eye kept going in real life, Sam set about the engine, the head was lifted to check the condition of the piston and rings, and then treated to a complete rebuild. To make the little 250cc engine “look a bit more badass”it received a coat of wrinkle black to contrast with the home polished engine cases and forks.

“After all the fabrication was done it was time to think colour schemes. I’ve always gone on the basis that the best way to make something look classic, is to use old classic colours. So the frame was powder coated in a light grey, and the tank sprayed in a vintage Porsche red. The ‘Inglorious Motorcycles’ logo was then hand lettered on to the top of the tank.” The colour scheme is a complete winner, along with the plush brown seat it adds class to the cheeky, cartoonish proportions of the bike.

All seals and bearings were then replaced and it was time for final assembly. The spoked wheels were painted black and black Renthal bars were fitted along with fork gaiters and the bobbed, mudguards front and rear. Small chrome brat style lighting was added, tying in the chrome shocks, muffler and speedometer, the twin downpipes were mummified in wrap.

“Down the lanes and around town the bike is a little ripper! Its light weight and has enough poke to really have some fun on. Overall I’m very happy with how it turned out, and will be building another in a different colour scheme to keep for myself!”.

Sam has turned his film inspired daydream into reality, building bikes and having a damn good time doing it. He may not have the Californian sun beating down on his efforts but the bikes and his ethos are the real deal. Check out hisInglorious Motorcycles website for more information and we will be sure to share his next build (potentially an XS650 or W650 tracker) right here on the Bike Shed.

21-WINDOW DELUXE VOLKSWAGEN TYPE 2

The Volkswagen Type 2 is better known by the nicknames it received in the various countries where it was sold, the Americans usually call it the the Bus or Hippie Van, the Brits call it the Camper and every Australian I talked to knows the Type 2 only as the Kombi Van. Following on from their success with the Type 1 (commonly known as the Beetle), the designers at Volkswagen wanted to capitalise on the tried and tested platform of the Type 1 whilst offering significantly increased passenger or cargo carrying capacity.

A simple box design was used to maximise internal space – often leading to the Type 2 being loaded beyond the weight limit that its engineers originally envisaged. The 21-Window Deluxe model was marketed at its introduction as being the perfect vehicle for touring the Alps – although if it were filled to capacity it’s questionable whether it’d make some of the more challenging grades.

As time went by, the 21-Window Deluxe became the most sought after variant and we’ll sorted examples like this red/white two-tone model are valued in the $100,000+ USD range – with many selling for quite a bit more still.

Originally delivered to Rome in 1965, this Type 2 still wears its original Italian license plates from the era. It was recently restored to original condition and repainted in its original red on white with matching interior – if you’ve been looking for a family-sized way to tour the Italian countryside, this could be just what you need.

Click here to read more via RM Auctions.

via SILODROME