vendredi 19 juin 2015
ACCIAIO E MOTORI IS A HIDDEN GEM AMONG CLASSIC CAR EVENTS
by Photos by Federico Bajetti
Acciaio e Motori (“Steel and Motors”) is a sports car reunion held on the hills above Salò in the province of Brescia, famous for the concentration of foundries and industries active in the metal sector. To celebrate two great passions of Brescia—steel and cars—once every year since 2009 a group of enthusiasts gather for two days of pure road racing on public streets.
Starting from the Salò harbor, all the cars made their way to Odolo, located in the heart of Val Sabbia. The event consists a series of rally stages, hillclimbs, and a town track. The event is different from most, however: there was no competitive racing at all, and no prizes for specific classes of cars. Those who participate to Acciaio e Motori just want to drive and have fun without worrying about any race strategies or regulations: it's always good to see Lancia 037s racing next to Opel Asconas, Ford Escort Cosworths, various BMWs and, of course, Porsche 911s
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After the various rally stages, the cars converged on the town of Odolo, where the organization set up the road circuit. The track had something reminiscent of the Cerda and Collesano of the Targa Florio, where the cars went past local bars with people sitting there enjoying their afternoon rest.
There's more value to an event where you can relax, sipping a cold drink while three (!) Lancia 037s pass at full throttle just feet away from you! For writers and fans alike, it's much easier to take notes and pictures while sitting comfortably and enjoying wonderful food… There were a few disappointments, though: the event was well-advertised, but there weren't too many “big name” classics. Aside from the ones I mentioned above—and a startlingly cool NSU 1100 TTS—there weren't too many exotics.
Still, events like this are best enjoyed in the context of the atmosphere and the passion that brings people together. Acciaio e Motori is a typical Italian sports car reunion, where the excitement and the will to spend a nice week in good company encourages enthusiasts take out their cars for a few stints of proper racing.
via petrolicious
MV Augusta Scrambler – Viba Motor
Written by Martin Hodgson.
In case you haven’t noticed, there’s two big trends currently taking the custom bike scene by storm: the re-emergence of the scrambler and limited-run customs by well respected workshops. Ducati and Triumph both offer off-the-shelf scramblers that do the style great justice, but simply don’t offer a great deal of performance. Icon Sheene and NCR, along with many others, offer limited-run machines that are truly remarkable, but you’ll need to sell your mother-in-law to afford one. Now French company Viba Motor has entered the fray with an incredible one-off scrambler that has performance to burn and a mother-in-law friendly price to boot.
Yann Bakonyi is a designer by trade with his own successful company, but his love of motorcycles and in particular the Italian marque MV Augusta led him to create his new business venture,Viba Motor. The idea was to start with a modern MV, design the bike in-house and have the work carried out in conjunction with a small team of the very best French craftsman. The result is Viba’s ‘Lara 800’ – an MV Augusta-based scrambler that ticks all the boxes and that will be a limited run production bike of just 23 exclusive machines.
This is no base-model machine with dirt bike tyres but a new Brutale 800 – a bike that offers fantastic performance straight out of the box with the most agile of handling and all the best components and electronics the 21st century has to offer. With the design complete, a foam lab model was created to make sure all the ideas and inspiration would work together. And boy, do they ever.
This is no subtle scrambler, either. Lara hits you in the face with radical body work that starts with a hand-made, one-piece Aluminium fuel tank finished in a matte clear to leave the best of the metalwork on display. The seat is everything on a scrambler, and making it work just so required the fabrication of an all-new rear frame that supports an aluminium seat that is covered in expensive memory foam. It was then stitched and finished in a high-grade blue leather but, like many aspects of Lara’s build, customers will be able to stipulate the exact finish they desire.
Thankfully, the bodywork that was once MV plastic has been ditched and replaced with minimal carbon fibre items that include both the front and (cleverly mounted) rear fender. There is nothing wrong with MV paint, but for scrambler-like durability, the frame and the triple trees have been powder coated in black.
The Brutale is already a lightweight monster, with a factory 125hp and just 167kg to its name, but a good designer can always improve things. Along with the carbon parts, further weight savings were achieved by crafting the foot controls, risers and radiator guard from high-grade aluminium. The bulky MV headlight and surround is gone, and in its place you’ll find a scrambler-friendly cover made from Delrin plastic.
Adding a little more pep to the MV triple is a custom, 3-into-1 powdercoated exhaust that is finished off with a more appropriately positioned Zard muffler. The grill of the air-filter has been 3D printed in a copolyester based carbon fibre composite, while Viba also upgraded the electrics, fitted LED lights all-round and powered the whole thing with a light weight lithium-ion battery.
Not content with leaving handling to the already impressive MV stock offerings, the rear shock is now a purpose-built Elka item while the front forks sport an internal spring change to match the greater bumps a scrambler will invariably face. A Beringer front radial caliper further enhances the already impressive factory Brembo stopping power for those hard charging off-road sessions.
The wheels are stunning, radial-spoked Borrani items which give the look of a scrambler wire wheel but in an exclusive style. Then comes the all-important tyres; 120/17 and 180/17 trail bike items. They’re currently D616’s, but the plan is to replace them with new Avon TrailRiders when they become available for the ultimate in modern scrambler rubber.
The finished product is simply spectacular; it has all the items you would expect from a scrambler. A flat leather seat, minimal weight, a high-mount muffler and tyres to get the job done on and off road. But what makes Lara 800 so special is that it’s not just those items offered up as bolt ons. This is an exclusive, limited run production bike, designed and built by the best craftsman with the power to shred cobblestones and the handling to tackle the dirt, too. For 23 lucky customers, they will own a piece of Motorcycle history – one of the baddest and most ‘Brutale’ scramblers ever built. The only question left is will you be one of the lucky few?
via PIPEBURN
MAGIONE: KRUGGER REMIXES THE DUCATI SCRAMBLER
As the Wheels & Waves festival winds down, stunning new custom builds are still being unveiled in Biarritz. The latest is this Ducati Scrambler called ‘Magione,’ from Belgium’s Fred ‘Krugger‘ Bertrand.
When Ducati handed over the keys, they were happy for Krugger to interpret the design however he saw fit. So he opted to retain the Scrambler’s core vibe—but crank it up to eleven.
Further back is a handmade steel tail unit—mounted on a custom subframe. Both the subframe and the tailpiece have cutaways that house the stock Ducati Scrambler LED taillight—which has been inverted. Krugger then shaped a new seat and sent it off to Italian specialists Wild Hog to wrap in black leather.
Krugger has two AMD World Championship titles to his name, and he’s known for building cleaner-than-factory bikes. He backs up his craftsmanship with amazing attention to detail: this Scrambler is loaded with touches that all but a keen eye would miss.
When Ducati handed over the keys, they were happy for Krugger to interpret the design however he saw fit. So he opted to retain the Scrambler’s core vibe—but crank it up to eleven.
This meant keeping the original teardrop tank—enhancing rather than replacing it. So he unscrewed the tank’s side panels, cut off the mounting brackets, and smoothed everything off. He’s also tweaked the Scrambler’s stance by dropping the front fork a hair under two inches.
Further back is a handmade steel tail unit—mounted on a custom subframe. Both the subframe and the tailpiece have cutaways that house the stock Ducati Scrambler LED taillight—which has been inverted. Krugger then shaped a new seat and sent it off to Italian specialists Wild Hog to wrap in black leather.
Ducatisti will notice that the prominent swingarm has disappeared. In its place is an exquisite, tubular steel number. The exhaust system is custom too—crafted from various Ducati headers.
It’s been designed to flow through a gap in the swingarm, and terminates in a handcrafted silencer that we secretly wish is in the Ducati Scrambler accessory catalogue.
Krugger’s performed a number of other nip-and-tucks. The oil cooler’s been relocated, the speedo’s now on the left hand side, and the turn signals have been ditched in favor of a pair of bar ends. The handlebars and off-road foot pegs are Scrambler aftermarket items; the latter are rubber-mounted via custom-made brackets.
The airbox has been swapped for K&N filters, which involved moving the O2 sensor. Much of the wiring has been concealed—especially up front, where everything’s now running inside the handlebars. Look closely, and you’ll even spot stainless steel safety wire on various bits and pieces throughout the bike.
Rounding everything off is a jaw-dropping satin grey paint job, with hand-painted yellow stripes.
Amazingly, Krugger wrapped the whole project up in just two months. Some guys have just too much talent.
Krugger Motorcycles | Images by Thierry Dricot.
HERO 01: HOLOGRAPHIC HAMMER’S DUCATI SCRAMBLER
If the name Sylvain Berneron isn’t familiar to you, then Holographic Hammer should be. It’s the alias under which Sylvain’s designed some of the neatest custom motorcycle concepts we’ve seen.
As an experienced automotive designer, Sylvain ensures that his designs are always executable in the metal. But not everything he pens ends up getting built. So he’s partnered with his brother, Florent, to open a full service workshop.
The new Holographic Hammer shop’s located in a forest, less than twenty miles from Paris. This slick Ducati Scrambler is their first official build.
It was commissioned by Ducati themselves, in partnership with French magazine Moto Heroes. Sylvain’s résumé speaks for itself, so the brief was completely open.
“We had a few rides on the Scrambler when we were still discussing the project,” says Sylvain, “it handles really well and is very fun to ride.”
“But for us a scrambler is a bike you want to live with daily—you’ll scratch it, go through mud and dirt and even fall over.”
Rather than build a dirt bike that would be too precious to abuse, the decision was made to produce something clean, road-biased and performance orientated. A café racer in the traditional sense—but loaded with modern technology.
“When I was doing my research, I noticed that a lot of the original 1962 Scramblers ended up being café racers back then,” explains Sylvain. “The bike was so light that you could brake very late and turn quick.”
After a week of going back and forth on ideas and sketches, the project was under way. But the brothers had some significant performance upgrades in mind, so the word was put out for potential sponsors.
Rotobox hooked the guys up with a pair of 17” carbon racing wheels, wrapped in sport rubber from Pirelli. Beringer took care of the braking duties with their 4D system. Since the Scrambler has just hit the market, Sylvain and Florent had to machine various spacers for everything to fit.
Rizoma supplied an array of bolt-on bits, including (among other things) crash bobbins, brake fluid reservoirs and rear-set foot controls. The silencer is from Werkes USA, mounted to the stock (but slightly adapted) Ducati headers.
“Some say custom is all about ‘do it yourself’ or ‘built not bought’,” says Sylvain. “We focus on our strength which is designing and building one off parts and bikes—but when it comes to developing racing brakes and rims, we prefer to team up with people who have the knowledge and experience.”
Cognito Moto got in on the action too, supplying a rear frame loop with an integrated LED tail light and turn signals. The guys added it to the all-new subframe that they’d fabricated, topping it off with a custom, brown leather seat.
Underneath the seat is a hand-made battery box, and the wiring’s been modified slightly. The front fender’s a one-off item, and Holographic Hammer added cutaways to the engine covers to show off the cam belts. There’s also a new side stand, designed to clear the relocated foot pegs.
Up front, the Scrambler’s been upgraded with a set of 43mm, upside-down Showa forks. To make the setup fit, the triple clamps and steering head had to be modified. The headlight and speedo have been repositioned, thanks to custom brackets, and the cockpit’s finished off with a pair of clip-ons.
“We tried to make changes that look as stock as possible,” explains Sylvain. “The bike has to stay visually coherent, as if it was produced that way.”
With that in mind, the final color scheme was kept tasteful and simple. The fuel tank is still the stock Scrambler unit—stripped and treated to an anti-rust coating, with matte black side panels. The frame was also stripped down, and finished with a clear epoxy.
Holographic Hammer’s Scrambler (now dubbed ‘Hero 01′) is not only immaculately finished, but it’s over 40lbs lighter. Add to that upgraded brakes and suspension, and it should be even more fun to ride than before.
And if you’d like to see it in the flesh, it’ll be making its debut this weekend at the Wheels & Waves festival in Biarritz.
via BIKEexif
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