Watch the first footage from the Rallye Monte-Carlo with the shakedown's action.
jeudi 22 janvier 2015
Sean's Nighthawk Cafe Racer
Sean Kelly breaks into the custom motorcycle industry with his first ever complete bike build.
Following his progress from start to finish as he constructs his dream Cafe Racer has been a great experience, he has an abundance of passion for motorcycles that shines through in this short doc.
Riding shots at cheddar gorge.
Sean's Nighthawk Cafe Racer (2015) from Ritchie Hunt on Vimeo.
Following his progress from start to finish as he constructs his dream Cafe Racer has been a great experience, he has an abundance of passion for motorcycles that shines through in this short doc.
Riding shots at cheddar gorge.
Sean's Nighthawk Cafe Racer (2015) from Ritchie Hunt on Vimeo.
WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo ; Il y a 30 ans…/ Thirty years ago in the French Alps…
Le Rallye Monte-Carlo 1985 a été remporté par le Finlandais Ari Vatanen sur une Peugeot 205 T16/Michelin après une lourde pénalité et une remontée héroïque. Cette année, son fils Max est engagé sur une Ford Fiesta R2. Il n’était pas né en 1985…
Le Rallye Monte-Carlo 1985 restera dans les annales du rallye pour plusieurs raisons : l’immense ferveur populaire qu’il a suscité (45 000 spectateurs dans Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, première spéciale en direct sur TF1…), la première et unique victoire mondiale de Peugeot en Principauté, et la remontée fantastique du grand blond finlandais Ari Vatanen.
Apparue en cours d’année 1984, la Peugeot 205 T16 entame sa première saison mondiale complète par le Rallye Monte-Carlo et vient défier le champion Audi et Lancia. Le combat s’annonce magnifique. Peugeot Talbot Sport a engagé trois 205 T16 usine pour Ari Vatanen, Timo Salonen et Bruno Saby. Audi Sport aligne deux Quattro Sport pour Stig Blomqvist et Walter Röhrl et Lancia Martini présente deux 037 Rally pour Henri Toivonen et Miki Biasion. 117 voitures sont au départ de cette 53e édition qui emmène les concurrents en Ardèche, Isère, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute Provence et Alpes Maritimes. Les conditions météo sont changeantes, avec de la pluie, de la neige, de la glace.
Ari Vatanen et Walter Röhrl sont lancés dans un duel intense pour la première place quand Terry Harryman, copilote de Vatanen, pointe 4 minutes en avance au parc de regroupement de Gap. La Peugeot n°2 écope de 8 minutes de pénalité. Déchaîné, le Finlandais refait une partie de son retard, mais compte encore 1min58s de passif sur l’Allemand au départ de la dernière étape (11 spéciales, 258 km).
Le rallye bascule une nouvelle fois dans la montée du Col Saint Raphaël, enneigée. La Peugeot de Vatanen est chaussée de pneus cloutés, pas l’Audi de Röhrl qui peine à sortir des épingles et qui perd plus de 2 minutes dans l’ascension. Ari Vatanen reprend la tête de la course et s’impose avec 5min17s d’avance sur le quadruple vainqueur de l’épreuve.
Il s’agit de la seule et unique victoire de Peugeot au Rallye Monte-Carlo (comptant pour le WRC) puisque ni la Peugeot 206 WRC, ni la Peugeot 307 WRC ne sont parvenues à s’imposer en Principauté.
Trente ans après, Max Vatanen va à son tour découvrir le Rallye Monte-Carlo, avec des ambitions plus modestes puisqu’il pilote une Ford Fiesta R2 de l’équipe française Automeca. Il n’était pas né quand son père Ari a triomphé en Principauté, mais il a vu son frère aîné, Kim, terminer sur la 3e marche du podium N4 en 1996. « Je sais que le Monte-Carlo est un rallye compliqué et l’asphalte n’est pas ma surface de prédilection. Mon objectif est d’être à l’arrivée. », avouait humblement Max Vatanen.
The 1985 Monte Carlo was won by Ari Vatanen (Peugeot 205 T16/Michelin) who produced an exceptional fight back after taking a hefty time penalty. This year, the Finn’s son Max – who wasn’t born until 1990 – is contesting the event in a Ford Fiesta R2.
The 1985 Monte was memorable for several reasons, not the least of which was the number of spectators (45,000 on ‘Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid’ which was broadcast live on mainstream French TV!), as well as for Peugeot’s first and only victory in the Principality and an amazing comeback by Ari Vatanen.
The Peugeot 205 T16 made its debut in 1984 but the Monte Carlo was the opening outing of its first full WRC programme, against the mighty Audi and Lancia armadas.
Peugeot Talbot Sport entered three 205 T16s for Vatanen, Timo Salonen and Bruno Saby, while Audi Sport had Quattro Sports for Stig Blomqvist and Walter Röhrl, and Lancia Martini ran 037 Rallys for Henri Toivonen and Miki Biasion.
The 117 starters faced a challenging route through France’s Ardèche, Isère, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute Provence and Alpes Maritimes regions in mixed weather conditions which ranged from rain to snow and ice.
Ari Vatanen and Walter Röhrl were in the midst of a fierce fight for the lead when the Finn’s co-driver, Terry Harryman, checked in four minutes early at a regroup in Gap, earning an eight-minute penalty for the N°2 Peugeot. Incredibly, spurred on by the setback, Vatanen clawed back much of that deficit but was still 1m58s short of his German rival ahead of the last leg (11 stages totalling 258km).
The snowy section up to ‘Col Saint Raphael’ proved decisive when Vatanen eased through the test on studded tyres. In contrast, Röhrl dropped two minutes up the climb after having trouble negotiating two icy hairpins. The Audi driver’s poor tyre choice allowed Vatanen to recover the lead before going on to beat the event’s four-time winner by more than five minutes!
It was Peugeot’s first and only Rallye Monte-Carlo victory of the world championship era, since neither the 206 WRC nor the 307 WRC managed to take the top prize in the Principality.
Three decades later, Max Vatanen is about to make his Monte debut, albeit in a less powerful car since he has entered a Ford Fiesta R2 run by the French team Automeca. He wasn’t born when his dad notched up his famous victory, but he was around when brother Kim came third in class (N4) in 1996. “The Monte Carlo is a complex rally and asphalt isn’t my favourite surface. My aim is to reach the finish,” says the youngster humbly.
History of the GS - Part Four
Introduced to the world on September 1st, 1980, the R80 G/S was a groundbreaking machine.
It featured a powerful and refined two-cylinder boxer engine with a generous 800cc displacement and enough space to carry two people with luggage. The single sided swing arm was a first on any production enduro. It was the largest, fastest and lightest bike in the enduro class.
BMW's press release called it the most convincing two-in-one motorcycle to date, noting that it was built as the ultimate leisure time instrument for every situation.
Motorrad called it the best street motorcycle BMW ever built.
The archetypal adventure motorcycle, the BMW R 80 G/S was eminently suited for long distance travel under a variety of conditions.
While the press was generally convinced about the bike's off-road capabilities, others were eager to see how it would perform in a real race. They got their chance in when BMW entered the infamous Paris to Dakar Rally.
After the Paris-Dakar, there was no doubt that the GS was as capable off the road as it was on the road.
With its 800cc engine, driveshaft and single swinging arm, the R 80 G/S quickly became the ideal motorcycle for global vagabonding and it opened up a new, previously untapped market -- adventure touring.
In 1982, Helge Pedersen left his home in Norway and rode into the history books. His two-wheeled companion was an R 80 G/S named "Olga".
What started out as a dream to see Africa, turned into a ten year odyssey around the world through more than 80 countries.
Along the way, Helge Pedersen became the first motorcyclist to ride the length of the Pan American highway through the infamous Darien Gap.
When his journey ended in 1992, the R 80 G/S that had taken him around the world found a home at the BMW Museum in Munich, and Helge Pedersen rode away on a new BMW R 1100 GS.
Click here to see all of the installments in our 'History of the GS' video series: http://www.touratech-usa.com/Adventur...
It featured a powerful and refined two-cylinder boxer engine with a generous 800cc displacement and enough space to carry two people with luggage. The single sided swing arm was a first on any production enduro. It was the largest, fastest and lightest bike in the enduro class.
BMW's press release called it the most convincing two-in-one motorcycle to date, noting that it was built as the ultimate leisure time instrument for every situation.
Motorrad called it the best street motorcycle BMW ever built.
The archetypal adventure motorcycle, the BMW R 80 G/S was eminently suited for long distance travel under a variety of conditions.
While the press was generally convinced about the bike's off-road capabilities, others were eager to see how it would perform in a real race. They got their chance in when BMW entered the infamous Paris to Dakar Rally.
After the Paris-Dakar, there was no doubt that the GS was as capable off the road as it was on the road.
With its 800cc engine, driveshaft and single swinging arm, the R 80 G/S quickly became the ideal motorcycle for global vagabonding and it opened up a new, previously untapped market -- adventure touring.
In 1982, Helge Pedersen left his home in Norway and rode into the history books. His two-wheeled companion was an R 80 G/S named "Olga".
What started out as a dream to see Africa, turned into a ten year odyssey around the world through more than 80 countries.
Along the way, Helge Pedersen became the first motorcyclist to ride the length of the Pan American highway through the infamous Darien Gap.
When his journey ended in 1992, the R 80 G/S that had taken him around the world found a home at the BMW Museum in Munich, and Helge Pedersen rode away on a new BMW R 1100 GS.
Click here to see all of the installments in our 'History of the GS' video series: http://www.touratech-usa.com/Adventur...
THE BISON: REVIVAL’S CUSTOM BMW R NINET
Right now, I’m betting there’s an air of quiet satisfaction in the design department of BMW Motorrad. The R nineT, a long shot on the part of Ola Stenegard and Edgar Heinrich, has been an extraordinary success.
Thirteen months ago, the first R nineT rolled off BMW’s Berlin production line. Since then, we’ve lusted after ‘official’ custom projects from leading workshops in Europe and Japan.
Now we’re seeing everyday R nineT riders taking their bikes to the next level. And that’s exactly the result Stenegard and co. wanted.
This machine, from Texas-based Revival Cycles and nicknamed The Bison, is one of the best yet. “The bike came to us with just over 800 miles on the clock,” says Revival’s Alan Stulberg.
“The owner wanted to remove a bit of the factory clutter, and add some features that suited his lifestyle. He’s a computer programmer and often works remotely, so the ability to carry his laptop (and a book or two) was at the top of his priority list.”
It’s the custom-made pannier bag draws the eye first. Made from bison leather, it hides an internal stainless frame—but it’s light and simple to remove. The grips and seat are covered in the same bison hide for consistency.
The other changes are less visible, but far more radical. “The idea was to make subtle changes, while respecting the beautiful factory bike,” says Stulberg.
So: just check that new exhaust system. BMW gives you different options when you configure your R nineT from the factory, but this custom-built system is something else.
The pipework snakes up and over the engine, exposing the beautiful finned oil pan on the bottom of the cases.
“I can see why nobody else has attempted this,” says Stulberg, “because running that hot exhaust under the tank and through the center of the bike required a LOT of planning.”
Revival had to relocate a lot of the electrics and electronics, and have used shrouding to prevent problems with heat. They’ve also ditched the front plastic engine cover, beating a new one out of aluminum.
The exhaust pipes are equal-length stainless steel, and under the tank they’ve been wrapped with five different metal and fiberglass panels. Since the pannier is on the right, the exhaust crosses over to the left, and it’s terminated with a custom silencer that can be tuned for backpressure and noise with baffled discs—Supertrapp-style.
Revival have also created a new stainless steel intake system, which holds a cotton performance air filter. It’s shared between both cylinders to aid balance and tuning, and is solidly mounted to the top of the gearbox.
“The damn thing sounds much more aggressive,” Stulberg reports. “It’s had an impact on throttle response and the seat-of-the-pants dyno.”
‘The Bison’ now rides on Kineo wheels—custom-made for this machine in Italy—and the factory sport tires have been swapped out for more aggressive-looking Pirelli MT60RS rubber.
To add a hint of classic BMW R90 S style, Revival have pinstriped the fuel tank—and added a Daytona half-fairing and aftermarket fenders from Wunderlich.
The factory plastic undertail is gone, replaced by a custom alloy unit that holds a new LED taillight and signals, cleanly tucked under the stock alloy rear seat cowl. There’s a newlicense plate mount that bolts to the back of the swingarm and has its own built-in LED lighting.
It’s easy to list the mods, but not so easy to categorize the style. With the high exhaust and aggressive new rubber, one might say it’s a scrambler. But the fairing and alloy seat cowl seem to scream café racer.
So what is it, Alan?
“We don’t think it’s necessary to label it. We’re not purists and never will be. Like all other Revival bikes, it’s a machine we’d personally own and ride.”
via BIKEexif
JAGUAR .........
By Steve Carter
Now this isn’t New News by any means, but the fact that Jaguar has decided to build the remaining 6 of the Lightweight E-types that it has left since 1963 makes me feel a bit warm and fuzzy all over.
Straight 6 engine with webbers or optional fuel injection putting this E type at 300 Horsepower, and 280lb ft
Jaguar
via http://oilandblood.com
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