dimanche 1 mars 2015
Red Bull Frozen Rush : Des trucks pro-4 qui s’affrontent en duel sur une piste de ski ?
Plutôt habitués aux pistes en terre, quelques-uns des meilleurs pilotes de trucks pro-4 de la planète avaient rendez-vous ce week-end dans une station de ski du Maine, Sunday River, pour disputer l’édition 2015 du Red Bull Frozen Rush et mettre leurs talents à l’épreuve de la glace.
Ils étaient 9 à pouvoir prétendre à la victoire finale mais seuls deux ont franchi tous les obstacles qui les séparaient de la grande finale : le tenant du titre Ricky Johnson et le jeune ambitieux Bryce Menzies. Scott Douglas ou encore Rob MacCachren ont également eu l’occasion de faire le show mais l’ultime round de la compétition a véritablement été le clou du spectacle.
Et si Ricky Johnson a fait tout ce qu’il a pu pour conserver sa couronne de roi des neiges, il a finalement dû s’incliner face au jeune pilote originaire de l’Arizona.
Le Red Bull Frozen Rush ne ressemble pas à une course trucks classique. En fait, ça ne ressemble à aucune autre course : on parle là de duels de bolides de 900 chevaux sur…une piste de ski. Fabriqués pour être performant sur terre, les trucks pro-4 ont été placés dans des conditions terribles et les pneus ont dû être remplacés par des BF Goodrich cloutés à toute épreuve.
En 2015, ce sont quelques-uns des meilleurs pilotes d’Amérique du Nord qui se sont affrontés sur les pistes de la station de Sunday River, dans le Maine. Tous spécialistes de la course sur terre, ils ont eux-mêmes dû adapter leur pilotage pour s’en sortir la tête haute sur la neige.
Qu’ils s’appellent Ricky Johnson, Bryce Menzies, Rob MacCachran ou encore Carl Renezeder, ils ont tenté le tout pour le tout pour tenter de l’emporter.
Lancez la vidéo ci-dessous pour revivre l’évènement de l’intérieur !
NORTH TO NOOSA – TRAILER
Deus Ex Machina proudly announces the release of its new Surf/Moto Adventure film entitled North To Noosa. The film, directed by award winning film-maker and photographer Dustin Humphrey documents the journey of three young surfers as they make their way north from Sydney to Noosa.
Laden with surfboards and camping equipment, the surfers battle the elements as they ride custom motorcycles through floods and rain squalls, finding uncrowded waves along the way.
Written and narrated by Harrison Roach, the film showcases the East Coast of Australia’s most iconic surf destinations. Watch as Harrison, Matt Cuddihy, and Husni Ridwan experience the highs and lows of a great Australian road trip.
YAMAHA DT250 BY ONE DOWN FOUR UP
Every year, hundreds of custom motorcycle lovers descend on Portland, Oregon, for the One Motorcycle Show. This year Wayne Corbett and Gabrielle Jones of One Down Four Up made the trip, and left with a trophy.
They trekked north from their headquarters in Redding, California, to show off Gabrielle’s new ride: this stunning 1975 Yamaha DT250.
“We originally bought the bike for Gabrielle to turn into her daily driver,” explains Wayne. “But we sat on it for about a year, waiting to find the right inspiration.”
“Then we ran into an old flat track racer around town. He let us dig through his barn full of old race bikes and parts, where he pulled out his old riding helmet from under a dusty OSSA frame. It was an old Bell Star painted in a yellow, orange and red color scheme; from there the design was born.”
Between the two of them, Wayne and Gabrielle handle all design, repairs, fabrication, upholstery and photography in-house. With fresh inspiration, they decided to turn the Yamaha DT250 into a flat tracker—taking additional cues from the AHRMA vintage flat track class guidelines.
Since the DT250 would run primarily on-road, a balance had to be struck between performance, reliability and practical considerations. One Down Four Up gave the engine a refresh—squeezing more power out of it by re-jetting the stock carb, and fitting a K&N filter and a tuned, nickel-plated Circle F expansion chamber. According to Wayne, “it’ll pull the front up in almost any gear.”
The stock oil injection pump was retained and a new oil tank installed below the fuel tank. (Look above, and you’ll see the extra oil cap poking out behind the steering stem.) This new set-up lets Wayne and Gabrielle fuel up anywhere without having to mix gas or carry extra containers.
The electrical system has been upgraded via a 12-volt alternator, with an integrated electronic ignition. This allows the team to run LED lights at both ends. Hiding under the seat is an Antigravity 4-cell battery.
To upgrade the suspension, One Down Four Up bolted on a Yamaha XS650 front end—splicing the XS triple trees with the DT’s steering stem, and upgrading it with tapered bearings. Later model 35mm XS forks were chosen to accommodate chunky dirt track tires.
Out back, an aftermarket Yamaha SR500 swingarm was modified to fit the DT250, simultaneously bringing down the bike’s weight and extending its wheelbase. Fellow Californians Works Performance supplied a set of custom-built shocks, which included offset eye mounts to accommodate the difference in width between the frame and swingarm.
When it came to tackling the DT250’s bodywork, One Down Four Up set out to shed as many pounds as they could. They fitted an aluminum TT-style fuel tank and fabricated an aluminum tailpiece, modifying the subframe to support it. Brown leather was used for the seat and carried through to the grips.
Other aluminum parts include the number plate, skid plate, rear sprocket and fuel and oil tank caps. Another Californian company—Buchanan’s Spoke and Rim Inc—built up a typical flat track wheel set for the bike: 19-inch Sun rims laced with stainless steel spokes and shod with Maxxis DTR-1s.
As a nod to the old Bell that inspired it, the Yamaha DT250 was finished in a delightfully vintage white, orange and yellow scheme.
We love it and so did visitors to the One Show: Gabrielle’s flat tracker walked away with the People’s Choice award at the event.
A few more tweaks, and it might start appearing at the local racetrack.
One Down Four Up website | Facebook | Instagram
via BIKEexif
INDY MILE: GASOLINA’S CUSTOM SR400 TRACKER
In Melbourne, Australia—on the Yarra River’s shorefront—you’ll find an outfit called Gasolina. It’s an unusual but very appealing business: a restaurant-cum-motorcycle design studio that doubles up as an event venue.
A few months ago, Gasolina played host to Yamaha Australia when they relaunched the SR400. The Yamaha guys must have had a good time, because shortly afterwards they delivered a fresh SR400 to Gasolina’s chief designer, Carl Cerra.
Carl has twenty years in automotive design under his belt, so he was the perfect candidate to pen some custom designs for the SR.
A few sketches later, Carl had settled on a direction. Drawing influence from Kenny Roberts’ illustrious career with Yamaha, he decided to build a modern-day street tracker—dubbing it the “Indy Mile”.
“The intent was to make it look like a factory bike from Yamaha,” he explains. “Instead of taking a new bike and simply trying to make it look old, we wanted it to look like a production tracker—with a little retro flavor.”
To increase the challenge, all the mods had to be bolt-on. The frame and drivetrain had to be left untouched, for warranty and reliability’s sake. That way, the Indy Mile could be offered in kit form—simple and affordable enough for the average garage builder to put together.
Starting with clay molds, Clay redesigned the Yamaha’s bodywork around the stock tank. He then made the new ducktail rear section, side covers and headlight shroud using fiberglass. (The final production version of the kit will use ABS plastic.)
On top of the tail section is a custom-made seat, and at the back are an integrated tail light and turn signals. The front mudguard has been borrowed from a dirt bike. The front suspension’s been left stock, but aftermarket gas units have replaced the rear shocks.
Gasolina rounded out the parts list with Biltwell Tracker bars, Pirelli Scorpion tires, and off-the-shelf grips and gauges. Danmoto built the gorgeous exhaust system to Carl’s spec.
When it came to paint, putting a modern spin on King Kenny’s iconic yellow, black and white livery was a no-brainer. Carl mocked up the design and Andy at Metzeffects executed it.
Indy Mile’s mash-up of past and present is especially apt when you consider that the SR400 now has fuel injection—but is still kick-start only.
If you dig it as much as we do, you’ll be happy to hear that the kit is expected to go into production later this year.
Gasolina website | Facebook | Instagram | Photos courtesy of Ben Galli Photography
via BIKEexif
‘95 Moto Guzzi 1100 Sport – Moto Studio
Written by Martin Hodgson.
When Moto Guzzi released the 1995 1100 Sport the global press first fell in love with the idea of a true Guzzi sports bike and then just as quickly turned to frowns when it was announced the dry weight would be an obese 230kg. That sort of weight and “sport” just don’t fit, but some 20 years after its release experts of crafting Italian classics, Moto Studio of Miami Florida asked themselves a simple question. “How do you make a Moto Guzzi into a sport bike?” The answer is to shed as much weight as possible, increase horse power as much as one can while still running pump gas and dial in some serious suspension bits.
If you remember Moto Studio’s stunning Ducati 900SS, another gorgeous Italian Moto Studio put on a weight loss program, you’ll realise that Bruce and his team place a very large emphasis on making their bikes as light as is humanly possible. Just how serious is Bruce on this subject? Working with Comprent Composites in Atlanta the carbon fibre gas tank alone was two years in the making. The design took more hours than Bruce cares to remember but the result is a stunning piece of automotive artistry that drastically reduces the bike’s weight while adding an unmistakably speedy aesthetic. Never one to do things by halves the seat and tail section is also carbon fibre and meticulously designed and engineered.
But you can’t simply build completely one-off pieces and expect them to bolt up, so the frame was modified to accept the tank in perfect symmetry, while the aluminium subframe was designed and built in-house at Moto Studio and just like the rest of the body work is simply stunning! With a relatively bare bike sitting in place Moto Studio used another one of their clever weight saving techniques, ripping out some 14 pounds of wiring harness, relays and gauges before crafting a light weight essentials only replacement and fitting a Motogadget dash. The single café style headlight and carbon front guard further reduce weight and give an even more sleek profile.
One aspect of the Guzzi the press loved at the time of its release and is synonymous with the brand is the longitudinally mounted V-Twin. In a bike with this much weight reduction you could be forgiven for fitting a nice pair of pipes and being done with it. But that’s just not how Moto Studio operates, so a full rethink of the engine was undertaken. The 1100 air-cooled power plant features twin plug heads and high-compression pistons from Mike Rich in Pennsylvania, as well as a Megacycle cam, titanium push rods, Falicon massaged crank all breathing through a set of Keihin FCR 41 carbs. The engine was built by Chris Birkle of Racing Sport Services. To make the now svelte Guzzi a little livelier a shorter ring and pinion was fitted by Charley Cole of Zydeco Racing.
One of the great advantages of a greatly reduced overall weight is the ability to tune the suspension to provide both comfort and a precise feel befitting of a true sports bike. Of course you could rebuild the factory units and make minor tweaks, but did you really think Bruce would just take the easy road? No, instead Suspension duties are handled by a set of Ohlins R and T forks up front and a Sachs Formula Matrix twin tube damper, with high and low-speed compression and rebound at the rear. “All of this may seem completely unnecessary, however when you ride this bike, the final product is truly beyond the sum of its parts.” says Bruce.
Once again Bruce and his team have taken a classic Italian from the 1990’s and brought it into the 21stcentury leaving no part of the bike untouched. Had Moto Guzzi really wanted to build the perfect sports bike this is the formula they would have followed, but then we wouldn’t have Moto Studio’s “High Roller” to gaze at in appreciation. And just how much weight was saved in the end with all the work put in? An astronomic 63kg. It’s a figure that would impress even the best of MotoGP teams, and once again we stand in awe of just how well Moto Studio can build a bike when they put their minds to it.
via PIPEBURN
Rolls-Royce returns to its roots – and builds an SUV
Rolls-Royce has announced plans to build a luxury SUV. For traditionalists this might come as an insult – but the brand’s bosses refer us to history...
In an open letter, Rolls-Royce’s Chairman Peter Schwarzenbauer and CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes have commented on the future of the brand – and confirmed speculation of an SUV with the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ on the radiator. The off-road automobile apparently comes at the request of customers, and engineers, alongside a design team led by Giles Taylor, are already hard at work on the new model, we’re told. As surprising as the idea of an all-terrain Rolls-Royce might sound, it’s not the first time the marque has dipped its toe in these waters: "This car will embody all the values and capabilities that drove our two Founding Fathers to secure Rolls-Royce’s reputation, early last century, by taking top honours in rigorous overland adventures such as the Scottish Reliability Trials, the London to Edinburgh event and the Alpine Trials," it says in the letter. "Rolls-Royces conveyed pioneers and adventurers like Lawrence of Arabia across the vastness of unexplored deserts and over mountain ranges. In other parts of the world including Australia, India and the Americas, Rolls-Royces carried their owners over challenging terrain with absolute reliability and comfort." As to when the all-terrain Rolls-Royce will come onto the market, however, Schwarzenbauer and Mueller-Oetvoes didn’t comment.
Photos: Rolls-Royce
Classic Rolls-Royces can be found for sale in the Classic Driver Market.
The magic of the Monte Carlo Rally
The most spectacular scenes to ever unfold Rallye Monte Carlo – an event with origins dating back more than 100 years.
The Rallye Monte Carlo was established in 1911, and it remains one of the most beautiful locations in the world that cars have ever been allowed to scream sideways through at break-neck speed.
Film maker Helmut Deimel uses this special video to look back at the most spectacular moments the Rallye Monte Carlo has known. Here at Motorsport Retro we’ve seen more than our fair share of race and rally compilation videos, and we can say with confidence that this is one of the best – if only for the fact that the unique challenge of the Monte Carlo Rally shines through so accurately. It’s a great clip, enjoy.
While you’re here, take a look at what’s on offer through our newly released premium content delivery service, Motorsport Retro Premium;
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