THE NORTON PROJECT

The Norton Project is a short documentary about two sons who stole their father’s 1969 Norton Commando to get it professionally restored, and then give it back to him as a Christmas Day surprise. The film first came to light about 4 years ago but recently I discovered that a lot of people still haven’t seen it, so I’m posting it he on Silodrome today to allow those of you who may have missed it the first time around to watch it.

At just shy of 16 minutes long the film is a quick watch, although I should warn you, you may want to keep a tissue nearby for the ending if you’re the sentimental sort.

The Race - 2015 WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo

Julien Perret practice TrialBike in Cahors City. Urbantrialshow .

Welcome in my city!
Un petit tour de moto trial dans ma ville: Cahors - vidéo réalisée avec l'accord de la Mairie.

WRC : Victoire princière d’Ogier à Monaco / Princely pickings for Ogier in Monte Carlo

Sébastien Ogier et Julien Ingrassia ont entamé la défense de leurs titres mondiaux par une superbe victoire au Rallye Monte-Carlo, première manche du Championnat du monde des Rallyes FIA 2015. Le duo français s’est imposé après une rude bataille face au revenant Sébastien Loeb. Jari-Matti Latvala (2e) et Andreas Mikkelsen (3e) offrent un triplé à l’équipe Volkswagen/Michelin.

Tout le monde attendait avec impatience ce duel Ogier vs Loeb, le premier affrontement entre les deux champions depuis la « retraite » de Loeb en octobre 2013.

Pendant les deux premiers jours, cette bataille à distance a enthousiasmé les spectateurs, Loeb et Ogier se rendant coups pour coups sur les sept premières spéciales du rallye. Ogier possédait alors une avance de 8 secondes sur son grand rival.

Et puis le duel s’est arrêté dans l’ES8, la spéciale qui arrivait dans le village où a grandi Ogier, après la touchette de Sébastien Loeb. Le double champion du monde en titre pouvait alors compter sur une avance conséquente (1min45s) pour contrôler la fin de course et remporter sa 3^e victoire à Monaco après 2011 et 2014.

« Gagner le Monte-Carlo est toujours important pour un pilote. Cette année, c’était très piégeux, ce fut un gros challenge. Je suis d’autant plus heureux », a déclaré Ogier.

La course prudente de Mikkelsen fut récompensée par la 3^e place finale qui offre un triplé à l’équipe Volkswagen/Michelin, le premier triplé à Monte-Carlo depuis celui de Citroën/Michelin en 2003 avec Loeb, McRae et Sainz.

Après sa mésaventure de l’ES8, Loeb est remonté à la 8^e place finale (+8min34s7) après avoir remporté 5 spéciales (meilleur performer) sur 15. Sa persévérance a aussi permis à l’équipe Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi de marquer des points Constructeurs, avec Kris Meeke (10^e) et vainqueur de la Power Stage.

Le premier pilote Citroën est Mads Ostberg (4^e, +2min43s6), qui n’avait pas été nominé pour marquer des points Constructeurs.

Dani Sordo (6^e) et Thierry Neuville (5^e) ont assuré le dernier duel du rallye. Les deux pilotes Hyundai étaient séparés de 2/10^e de seconde au départ de la dernière spéciale. Neuville a pris le meilleur sur son équipier. Le Belge termine pour la première fois le Rallye Monte-Carlo.

Elfyn Evans (7^e, Ford) et Ott Tanak (19^e, Ford) avaient pris un bon départ, avant de rétrograder peu à peu au général (sortie pour Tanak ES10, touchette pour Evans ES11).

Stéphane Lefebvre a lancé sa saison 2015 par une victoire WRC-2 sur sa DS3 R5/Michelin après une course sans faute. Craig Breen (Peugeot) et Armin Kremer (Skoda) terminent sur le podium, après les sorties consécutives de Koci et de Camilli en toute fin de course. Quentin Gilbert n’a pas été inquiété en Junior et s’impose largement au volant de sa DS3 R3.

En R-GT, François Delecour s’est imposé devant Romain Dumas, alors que Max Vatanen (Ford Fiesta R2) a remporté la catégorie RC4, 30 ans après la victoire de son père, Ari, sur les routes du Monte-Carlo avec la mythique Peugeot 205 T16 !

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia kicked off the defence of their world title with a handsome victory on the Rallye Monte-Carlo, round one of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship. The Frenchman emerged in front at the peak of his battle with Citroën returnee Sébastien Loeb, then kept an ice-cool head after the latter’s crash to top an all-Volkswagen/Michelin podium. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala (+58.0s) and Andreas Mikkelsen (+2m12.3s) cruised to second and third respectively.

Unsurprisingly, most of the headlines before the 2015 championship‘s opener focused on the upcoming showdown between Ogier and Loeb, their first head-to-head clash since the nine-time world champion ‘retired’ in October 2013.

For the first two days, their battle effectively kept spectators entertained as they took turns to beat each other on the rally’s first seven stages, by which time Ogier had pulled out eight seconds clear in his native mountains, north of Gap.

Unfortunately, the suspense ended when Loeb crashed on the following test, leaving his rival with an enviable lead of 1m45s at the end of Thursday’s action. From that point on, Ogier could afford to relax and comfortably control his closest threat, team-mate Latvala.

Ogier allowed the Finn to close to within less than a minute, but there was no apparent hostility between the VW pair and the Frenchman went on to win in the Principality for the third time after 2011 and 2014.

“Victory in Monte Carlo means a lot to every driver. This year was very tricky – a huge challenge, but that just makes the satisfaction even greater,” he declared.

Mikkelsen’s safe drive was rewarded with third spot which emphatically locked out the podium for Volkswagen, a result redolent of Citroën’s one-two-three with Loeb, McRae and Sainz back in 2003.

Loeb recovered from his Day 2 misfortune to salvage eighth place (+8m34.7s) after claiming the week’s highest number of stage victories (5 from 15). His perseverance also made him Citroën’s top Manufacturers’ points scorer since Power Stage-winner Meeke was a lowly 10^th overall after his ‘off’ on Thursday evening.

However, the French make’s best-placed finisher was the non-nominated Mads Ostberg who was also the first non-VW driver home (4^th, +2m43.6s).

Dani Sordo (6^th) and Thierry Neuville (5^th) provided much of the final day’s suspense and Hyundai’s duo was split by just two-tenths of a second before the last stage, in the Spaniard’s favour. They swapped positions on the final test, however, as the Belgian finished the Monte for the very first time.

Like Ford team-mate Ott Tanak (19^th), Elfyn Evans showed well early on but then slipped gradually down the order following a variety of woes to come seventh, the same position he claimed on his Monte debut in 2014.

Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën DS3 R5) kicked off his WRC-2 campaign with a faultless run and a dominant victory over Craig Breen (Peugeot) and Armin Kremer (Skoda), as Koci and Camille both suffered last-day crashes.

Citroën celebrated similarly assertive success in the Junior standings thanks to Quentin Gilbert (DS3 R3T).

François Delecour ended up winning the Porsche contest from ex-Le Mans winner Romain Dumas, while Max Vatanen (Ford Fiesta R2) won the RC4 class, 30 years after his dad Ari won the 1985 Rallye Monte-Carlo outright in the Peugeot 205 T16!

BOLTS FROM THE BLUE: YAMAHA GARAGE CHALLENGE

In Yamaha Italy's Garage Challenge, six builders were given an XV950 to transform.

After decades of enjoying the middleweight V-twin market to itself, the Harley Sportster is facing serious challenges.

The two biggest contenders? The postmodern Indian Scout and the retro bobber-styled Star Bolt, which is known to Europeans as the Yamaha XV950. In the USA, Yamaha’s already run a custom build-off centered the Bolt—and now it’s the turn of the Italian distributor.

The ‘Garage Challenge’ pits six Italian Yamaha dealers against each other, rather than pro builders. But the results are just as good. You can vote on the Garage Challenge website to help choose the winner, and it’ll be announced at the Motor Bike Expo in Verona on 22 January. These are our three favorite builds.

Mid Night Club by New Venezia Moto Yes, they have roads as well as canals in Venice. Two inspirations are listed for this bike: 1970s café racers, and the Japanese street racers of the 1980s. The goal was “sporty lines and a dark soul.”

It’s a much more aggressive style than the stock bike, but fortunately the handling of the XV950 is amongst the best of any V-twin. The highlight is the new tail unit, which replaces the bobber look with a racier vibe and hides a new subframe. Glossy black paint and subtle pinstripes keep things classy: the only touches of color are the yellow of the headlight lens and the shocks.

Bombhard BH1 by Moto Shop (below) The Parma-based showroom is the oldest Yamaha dealer in Europe, and they’ve chosen a vintage look for this XV950. The styling is straight out of the 1930s and influenced by the Art Deco movement.

The engine shroud and headlamp nacelles are an inspired touch, and hide a custom triple clamp arrangement. With nothing more than a 5mm allen key, you can adjust the geometry from cruiser to café racer depending on your mood.

Designers Giovanni Buratti and Daniele Pasetti have reportedly patented the system, but we’re more intrigued by the motocross-style seat. It’s the last thing you’d expect to see on bike harking back to the 1930s, but it strangely works.

TB114 by Twinsbike (below) The small Milanese dealer has only been operating for ten years, but this tracker-styled XV950 is one of the highlights of the Garage Challenge.

The company has MotoGP experience, so it’s not surprising that this is the most sporting of the XV950 customs. We’re especially digging the air intake and the sinuous exhaust system, which was built by SC Project.

At first glance it’d be hard to pick this as an XV950: the new lines are beautifully judged, and the uplift at the back from the matching seat unit and flared muffler just screams ‘dirt track’.

We’d be happy to put any of these XV950s in the Bike EXIF garage. Which one would you choose?

If you have a working knowledge of Italian and want to cast your vote, head over to theGarage Challenge website.

via BIKEexif

TOBIAS GUCKEL’S KAWASAKI CAFE RACER

Tobias Guckel is one of Germany’s top custom builders, and a name you’ve probably never heard of. Based in the tiny Bavarian town of Rappenhof, he’s been building bikes for 25 years, and seems to be able to turn his hand to anything — from immaculate classic restorations to over-the-top Harley show bikes.

This is Tobias’ latest creation, a vintage Kawasaki café racer with a twisted, hooligan edge. It’s called ‘Kamikaze,’ and what it lacks in subtlety it makes up for in style.

The frame is from a Kawasaki H1, one of the quickest production machines of the 1970s. Except Tobias has shoehorned in an even more potent motor: the 748cc two-stroke mill from the Kawasaki H2, a bike that Motorcycle Classics described as “the motorcycling equivalent of the Sex Pistols.”

For even more power, Tobias has fitted a fresh set of Mikuni VM34 carbs and hooked the engine up to a custom exhaust from Jolly Moto. It’s a work of art, but I’m betting that the neighbors will be feeling anything but jolly when they hear this bike fire up.

There’s a definite retro character to this machine, amplified by the retina-searing paint, but many of the components are modern fitments or custom one-offs. Handling was never the forte of Kawasaki’s 1970s triples, so Tobias has beefed it up with modern suspension.

The forks, swingarm, brakes and wheels are from a Suzuki GSX-R1100, the triple trees are custom-fabricated, and the stock H1 frame has been modified for extra strength and a cleaner look. Michelin Pilot 2 rubber helps keep the show on the road.

The striking tank is stock, but the seat-and-tail unit is new, with a neat taillight frenched into the upkick at the back.

It’s probably the most subtle detail on the whole bike, but we love it anyway.

Images by Christian Haasz. To see more of Tobias’ work, head over the to the TGS Motorcycles website.