Agent Provocateur

MotoGP : présentation de Yamaha Racing à Madrid (Espagne) / Yamaha Racing presentation in Madrid

L’équipe Yamaha Racing a présenté ses nouvelles couleurs et son programme sportif mercredi à Madrid pour la saison 2015 du Championnat du monde MotoGP en compagnie de Valentino Rossi et Jorge Lorenzo.

Le team Movistar Yamaha MotoGP a dévoilé son projet pour la saison 2015 mercredi à Madrid où a été révélée la nouvelle livrée de la Yamaha YZR-M1 que piloteront Valentino Rossi et Jorge Lorenzo cette année.

Les deux pilotes étaient accompagnés de Luis Miguel Gilpérez, le président de Telefónica España, de Kouichi Tsuji, le directeur général du département Motorsport de Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd, ainsi que de Lin Jarvis, directeur général de Yamaha Motor Racing Srl, et Massimo Meregalli, directeur du team Movistar Yamaha MotoGP.

L’équipe va désormais s’envoler pour la Malaisie pour participer aux premiers essais officiels de la saison du 4 au 6 février sur le circuit de Sepang avant d’aborder la première course le 29 mars au Qatar.

Nonuple champion du monde, Valentino Rossi est revenu à son meilleur niveau en 2014 en renouant à deux reprises avec la victoire. The « Doctor » a terminé à la deuxième place au classement général juste devant son coéquipier,  Jorge Lorenzo, qui a connu un début de saison plus difficile. Mais le Majorquin s’est ensuite ressaisi pour s’imposer deux fois.

Si les deux pilotes affirment que Marc Marquez (Honda HRC), double champion du monde en titre, reste l’homme à battre cette saison, Rossi et Lorenzo, se présentent également comme de redoutables candidats au sacre mondial.

Yamaha Racing revealed its new team colours and MotoGP World Championship programme at a presentation attended by Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP has introduced its 2015 programme and taken the wraps off the new livery that will feature on Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo’s Yamaha YZR-M1s this season.

The two riders were joined by Telefónica España president Luis Miguel Gilpérez, the managing director of Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd.’s motorsport department Kouichi Tsuji, the managing director of Yamaha Motor Racing Srl Lin Jarvis, and Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Director Massimo Meregalli.

The team will shortly fly to Malaysia for the first official test of 2015 at Sepang (February 4-6) ahead of the year’s opening race in Qatar (March 29).

Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi bounced back in 2014 to win two races. The Doctor came second in the final standings, just ahead of team-mate Jorge Lorenzo who recovered from a tougher start to the season to secure two victories.

Both riders agree that two-time champ Marc Marquez (Honda HRC) will be the man to beat in 2015 but they both see themselves as genuine potential title winners.

Land Rover Defender - The ultimate Camper conversion

Land Rover Defender - The ultimate Camper conversion built by Alu-Cab. If you enjoy Andrew's videos, click here:http://www.patreon.com/Andrew_StPierr...

Survivor Customs - Part One - Exhaust

Part one of three documenting the creation of a full custom vintage flattracker based on a Triumph TRW 500 Twin.

Filmed over 3 hours at the Survivor Customs HQ in Middlesborough, UK.

Survivor Customs - Part One - Exhaust from Drifter Visual on Vimeo.

1972 Harley-Davidson XLH Sportster by Elkabikes

Written by Marlon Slack.

Most custom bikes are meticulously thought out for months before a spanner is turned or an oxy torch is lit. Parts will be carefully considered and increasingly often many late nights will be spent in front of Photoshop tweaking the colours and lines of a build before any action is taken. Moscow-based Elkabikes bucked this trend by producing this 1972 Harley-Davidson XLH in under a month using parts they begged, borrowed, scrounged or purchased from Ikea. That’s right – Ikea. It’s not a bobber or a café racer – it’s a Harley-Davidson Flat Packer.

The story behind this tatterdemalion oddity is a testament to the small Russian workshop’s love of improvisation, raw metal and quite possibly, vodka. Elkabikes heard about an upcoming motorcycle show and much like anyone with a fast-approaching deadline – a student, journalist or motorcycle blogger (ahem) they placed the project to one side and went about working on their other more pressing projects – chiefly the stripped-back bicycles the team also build. Things with the Harley only really kicked into gear a month before the show started – when they began sourcing parts and putting the bike together with no budget, no clear plans and plenty of gusto.

Aleksey Gurbanov from Elkabikes said that the fuel tank was the first item to make its way onto the bike. The distinctive narrow tank was sourced from a local flea market and the raw, stripped-back finish dictated the direction of the rest of the build. From there the seat was fabricated and upholstered in a striking purple, giving the bike its basic lines. And then… well, that’s where things get interesting.

The resourcefulness Aleksey Gurbanov and his team employed on this old XLH is impressive. The exhaust was welded together from scraps donated by another motorcycle workshop and the handlebars were made from Kawasaki and Harley Davidson parts. The air filter cover? Two dog bowls held together by an old bicycle nut. The oil tank is a modified toilet brush holder. The rear light was purchased from Ikea and the white globe was swapped out for a red one. Really.

The engine itself required a bit of work, thankfully devoid of toiletries or camshafts fashioned from a skårsgardflöglet bedhead. On inspection the stock Bendix Zenith carbs were totally ruined and had to be thrown out, to be replaced by a new S&S Super E. At the same time all the gaskets were changed and the starter motor was removed. (Remarkably, Harley have had ‘electric legs’ on their Sportster series since the late 1960’s – and who said they weren’t innovators? That’s right, everyone. But once upon a time the Sportster was a comparatively light, spritely model with a few innovative features).

The last three days of the build resembled something out of an American reality TV show, with the team working well into the night to prepare the bike for its debut. After a cantankerous startup, with the old Ironhead belching oil all over the workshop floor, the bike finally started and was ridden to the show the morning it opened. And judging by the size of that fuel tank, I’m guessing it the show wasn’t too far away.

Elkabike have crafted together a truly unique take on the venerable Sportster that will certainly create heated discussion among Pipeburn readers. With it’s 70’s-esque purple seat and the raw metal… well, everything – I think it looks terrific. But if you baulk at the sight of an early 70’s XLH with a toilet brush holder oil tank and a student’s desk lamp for a stop light, take heed – the frame has been left standard and one day, if the owner chooses, it can be returned to its former glory. But in the meantime I’m glad the guys from Elkabike turned their hand to this old piece of American iron – dog bowls and all.

via PIPEBURN

Dust & Motorcycle stories

On the tracks of the famous Gauchos and Dakar's dust road with the beautiful Royal Enfield Classic 500. A great motorcycle adventure by Mono 500...

Dust & Motorcycle stories, Chapter I from Mono 500 - Riding Experiences - on Vimeo.


Dust & Motorcycle stories, Chapter II from Mono 500 - Riding Experiences - on Vimeo.

FERRARI 250 GT COUPÉ BY ELLENA

In the late 1950s a small batch of Ferrari 250 GT Coupés found their way into the workshop of Carrozzeria Ellena – a small coachbuilder previously named Boano after its founder, Mario Boano.

Mario was recruited by Fiat, so he handed the reins of the coachbuiling to his son-in-law Ezio Ellena, who partnered with Luciano Pollo and called the new enterprise “Carrozzeria Ellena”. The Ferrari 250 GTs produced by Ellena are instantly recognisable thanks to the slightly higher roofline and the lack of vent windows in the doors, the styling of the Ellena is considered by many Ferrari purists to be one of the cleanest of the 250s with the best ergonomics.

Although it was intended as a GT car, the Ellena has serious performance chops. It was capable of doing the 0-62 mph dash in 5.9 seconds – a staggeringly quick time in the era, in fact it would have been favourably comparable with many race cars at the time. This speed was thanks to its 240bhp 2953cc SOHC allow V12 with triple Weber carburettors and a 4-speed all synchromesh transmission.

The handling characteristics of all the 250 GTs were excellent and the Ellena was no exception, it sits on independent front suspension with unequal length wishbones, coil springs, and tubular shock absorbers, and has a live rear axle with leaf springs, Houdaille shock absorbers with twin trailing arms. Unusually for the 1950s the Ellena is also fitted with 4-wheel disc brakes – giving it better stopping performance than almost anything else on the road when it was released.

Despite its rarity the Ferrari 250 GT by Ellena is still one of the most affordable cars from the 250 series, though it’s important to point out that I’m using the word affordable rather loosely here – it’s still going to cost its new owner somewhere in the $420,000 to $505,000 USD range.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid on it at the Paris Auction on the 4th of February, you can click here to visit RM Auctions.

Photo Credits: Tom Wood ©2015 Courtesy of RM Auctions

GARB: FREE TIME

Buck Mason Chambray Work Shirt ($88). Buck Mason Standard Fit Jean ($135).Buck Mason Navy Henley ($48). Buck Mason 30 Year Belt ($72). Apartamento Magazine ($39). Oak Street Bootmakers Trench Boot ($426). Rolex Stainless Steel Oyster Perpetual Watch ($6,800). Shinola Linen Journal ($18). Ray-Ban Aviator Sunglasses ($175). Apolis Transit Issue Keychain ($38).

This edition of Garb is presented by our friends at Buck Mason.

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