jeudi 3 septembre 2015
"Rosewood" by ETIK
Voici la dernière réalisation sortie de notre atelier. "Rosewood" ou "Bois de Rose" c’est bel et bien le nom de ce Scrambler résolument nature et élégant jusqu’aux plus profond de ses fibres. Cette Yamaha SR 500 de 1978 se voit endosser un réservoir aux allures de Palissandre pour assumer la place symbolique de numéro 30.
Pour les plus curieux, cette dernière sera exposée le week-end du 5-6 septembre à l’occasion du Motors & Soul 2015.
GUERILLA FOUR: AN XJR 1300 FROM ROUGH CRAFTS
Yamaha’s XJR 1300 is proof that, once in a while, major manufacturers pay attention. And get it right. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the iconic street bruiser was re-released this year with a refreshed look and a layout that encourages customization—thanks to the prolific Yard Built program.
Driving the movement is Yamaha’s European product manager, Shun Miyazawa. Shun and his team have now turned their attention to Taiwan, and one of our favorite builders:Rough Crafts‘ Winston Yeh.
Known for his edgy Harley builds, Winston’s trademark aesthetic is tough, dark and menacing. A vibe that the muscular XJR wears well.
“We’ve been privileged to work with the best custom builders in the world,” says Shun, “and builders who are doing something original, pushing boundaries with a distinct style. The ‘Guerilla Four’ is no exception, with the Rough Crafts signature—a sleek, stripped back creation that really stands out.”
It’s one of those rare cases when the PR blurb matches the reality. Winston’s process is collaborative: he kicks off each build by sketching it out digitally, before turning to a trusted network of artisans in Taipei to execute it. And he has an arsenal of Rough Crafts parts at his disposal—bolt-on bits developed and refined over time.
His approach to the XJR 1300 was simple: ramp up the brutality with his signature ‘Guerilla’ look. As with all Yard Built customs, the trick was to leave the frame as unscathed as possible. It’s a look that can be emulated by ‘everyday’ XJR owners.
Winston started by beefing up the front end with a set of Yamaha VMAX forks. Held in place by custom-made triple trees, they’ve been dropped by 100mm and the front brake caliper mount’s been modified to take 11.5-inch discs.
Equally brawny are the wheels: 16×5.0 Roland Sands Design Boss rims, wrapped in chunky Coker Beck tires. Out back, the stock Öhlins rear shocks were stripped, refinished in black and re-assembled.
A new ISR braking system has been installed, and the XJR’s airbox has been replaced by a set of velocity stacks. The exhaust headers are stock, but the silencer is a Rough Crafts creation.
The steel bodywork—from the scalloped tank to the sharp tail section—was fabricated by OneHandMade Customs. And the paint, a typically monochrome Rough Crafts scheme, was executed by Taipei’s top paint shop, Air Runner Custom Paint.
A sprinkling of Rough Crafts parts were added to finish it off. These include foot pegs, handlebars and risers, grips, a headlight grill and a custom fuel cap. And all the instrumentation’s been binned for a super-clean cockpit (and extra attitude).
‘Guerilla Four’ is one of the best Yard Built—and Rough Crafts—bikes that we’ve seen yet. And, in typical Yard Built fashion, a selection of parts from the build will be available for owners to customize their own XJRs.
We reckon the XJR 1300’s popularity just went up a notch.
Auto Reverse - the dark side of the automobile
The Porsche 911 is an icon of car design – but would you recognise it from underneath? Artists Kay Michalak and Sven Völker have taken a peek at the underbellies of famous cars and discovered a dark world – a world that hasn't been tackled by designers to this day...
Dive into the underworld
The design of an automobile is crucial to its success. All great car icons of motoring history are easy to recognise - manufacturers spend millions on employing large design teams, who strive to give the car a unique visual character. Contrary to most everyday products, the car hasn’t been completely subjected to the design diktat, because roughly a quarter of its surface has been completely ignored by designers. “For most of us the underbody of a car is an unknown place,” say the artists Kay Michalak and Sven Völker, who have paid tribute to the underbody with their series of photographs ‘Auto Reverse’.
Out of sight, out of mind?
Kay Michalak and Sven Völker are now exploring these unknown and dark landscapes, usually only seen by mechanics, with their images. The contrast between the polished car bodies of the portrayed icons and their underside is most surprising, and the variety of the underbody designs seems to be larger than you might expect. It is also interesting that a car as beautiful as the Porsche 911 hasn’t got an equally pretty underbody. Out of sight, out of mind indeed.
The art book ‘Auto Reverse’ by Kay Michalak and Sven Völker has been published as a limited edition (200 copies) and is available at svenvoelker.com.
SHAKA GARAGE SILVER GILLS
There are certain things in life that can be just that little bit difficult to love, regardless of technical abilities. No matter how well something is engineered if it’s missing that je ne sais qoui a frosty reception may well await. If luck is held, this could just manifest itself in a feeling of disgust in a social media comment. But even worse is when something receives no opinion at all.
Design and engineering should always provoke a reaction. Particularly with custom bikes. Whether it gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling in your nether regions, or provokes an E-coli-like 1-2 sucker punch of vomiting and diarrhoea, the end game of building something is revelling in it’s reception. Except perhaps, for that last example.
BMW definitely avoided being ignored when the K-Series first appeared. Rather than play copy-cat to the Japanese factories, the Bavarians, at first glance, appeared to have left the orientation of the powerplant up to an origami fortune teller. The car-like 4-cylinder lump was wedged longitudinally in the frame on it’s side. An excellent engineering solution for the shaft driven tourer, but leaving a certain blocky aesthetic that was never really overcome.
Eventually though, despite it having a devout, vocal following, and not withstanding the standard bike’s epic capabilities at long-haul wafting, BMW caved and called it a day on the design. That original K-bike now seems like a brave experiment. It’s bricks and motor equivalent might be brutalist architecture. But no matter the technical advantages, there’s a reason Brunel University was used for A Clockwork Orange, and there’s a reason the majority of IL4 engines spin their cranks across the chassis.
Not that this worries the guys from Shaka Garage; the boys from Bari revel in an unorthodox challenge. So costly R-Series donors were pushed aside at the opportunity to transform a K-bike. Found in fair condition, the 1985 K100, cast snowflake wheels and all, was soon being transitioned from render to rubber.
Rather than try and minimise the visual heft of the machine, which the engine then does it’s best to undo, Shaka decided to enhance the main lines of the bike. Focusing on and exaggerating the tonnage and mammoth proportions as they put it, bringing the muscular design to the forefront.
The bike is purposely unbalanced, the disproportionately small LED front light brings mass back to the middle of the bike, tight like a closed fist. The overall feel is classic muscle-bike, upright superbike bars give a commanding position once aboard the heavy hitter.
The rear portion of the frame was completely reworked however, no longer needing the additional scaffolding for touring duties. Sporting a dual Brat-style seat, a cowl was fabricated for the days when the rider can’t muster an interested companion. A mixture of laser cut templates and old fashioned mallet mashing was used for all the aluminium pieces, a simplistic front fender carrying the style right to the front of the bike.
A real highlight is that handmade exhaust. In case of any doubt in the engine’s layout, the dragster inspired row of tips shows intent and will keep your left foot affably warm in winter months. Pleasingly though, this is not some performance sapping 12 inch header, exiting into the atmosphere.
A custom muffler, tucked under bike maintains back pressure and reduces the racket to more amenable levels. As a result, Shaka assure us the sound is not vulgar or annoying, merely full blooded and a bit rude. Deafening bikes are overrated anyway (or is that a bit of K-series conservatism rubbing off?
The name ‘Silver Gills’ came about as the result of the new side mounted appendages. Not only do they add to the lines of the bike, continuing the waist line and filling in the uplift at the front of the tank, they also hide the unsightly radiator whist letting the warm air dissipate. A simple addition that dramatically alters the bike’s looks.
Forgoing a flash paint job to emanate the bare concrete walls of aforementioned brutalist buildings, the bike lets it’s base materials show. The raw aluminium finish to tank and tail are accentuated by simple graphics paying reference to BMW’s motorsport division.
Whilst the aggressively treaded rubber may not suit everyones taste or riding style, they sure add character to the build. Just remember to take it easy and perhaps not use all of the litre bike’s accelerative prowess at once. Contrasting the raw bodywork, a combination of black powdercoat and brushed highlights give the mechanical components a factory feel. The duality of this perfectly reflected in the transformation from staid tourer to two-wheeled uppercut.
via The Bike Shed
Triumph Bonneville – Maria Motorcycles
Written by Martin Hodgson.
Portugal’s Maria Motorcycles has a glowing reputation for building quality custom motorcycles that leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of perfection. So it was no surprise when they got a call from a Triumph Bonneville aficionado who had a 2001 model he wanted built to scrambler spec. So confident was the owner, he gave Maria no design brief but having previously built a Spitfire-themed Bonnie the boys had the bright idea to again follow the World War II angle. Only this time with something from the other side of the Channel, a German-themed military spec vehicle that goes by the name of Luther.
The Triumph Bonneville is just a good-looking bike, very few enthusiasts would ever complain about its look and as history has shown its classic style lends itself perfectly to further aesthetic enhancement. Straight from the factory Triumph give you a beautiful tank and Maria saw no reason for a change, what they have done is laid down a two-tone utilitarian green paint job that instantly gives a war machine feel. The colour is perfectly broken up by white striping and Maria Motorcycles logos, while the green with white theme is carried over to the Harley Vintage headlight and cleverly adapted to the green side covers with white mesh vents.
If military green has a perfect bedfellow it’s the rich dark leather that covers the custom seat with heavy white stitching that is now the perch for the lucky Bonnie pilot. To tidy up the rear the frame has been shortened and the exposed pipe ends plugged with a bobbed aluminium rear fender keeping the whole show mud free. There is no front fender but an aluminium skid plate protects the engine from front end contact, although I’m not sure I could bring myself to take this beauty off-road. To finish the look the carb tops are painted in the darker shade of green that adorns much of the bike but the valve covers have been coated with an in your face yellow just to break it all up.
I could never get bored of the Triumph Twin, I’m sure by now you’ve heard me bang on about it but as Maria have proven time and again it really is the perfect Scrambler engine. You barely have to get it revving before 90% of the engine’s torque is available until it’s time to shift, it might be old school tech, but a torque curve that flat is engineering brilliance.
To increase the aural joys of the thumping twin Maria fitted up a beautifully crafted 2-into-1 Zard stainless system that restores much of the music of the older triumph motors. For a few extra ponies the carburettors were rebuilt and retuned and throttle response is now instantaneous at any rpm. One of the things that makes Maria Motorcycles such standout builders is their attention to detail, close enough is not good enough for them and so the engine was completely cleaned, fitted with all new bolts and clamps before being repainted above and beyond factory specs.
Tyre choice can be the make or break on a custom bike and even more so on a scrambler, sure you can throw some big tread on for aesthetic purposes but if the tyres are useless on anything but mud the bike becomes a bit of a statue. The Maria crew made no such mistake, the Metzeler Karoo 3’s give the look as well as brilliant off and on road performance. They’re fitted to relaced wheels with the rims coated in green and Luther comes to a screaming halt thanks to the addition of a wave style front rotor. If you are going to be playing off-road then the fitment of new aluminium Renthal sprockets and chain makes perfect sense least you be re-oiling daily and the front item is treated to a custom cover.
Wrestling the beast is left to a set of handlebars by LSL topped with grips from the ever popular Posh. To keep Luther road legal and free to roam Portugal’s back roads or motorways indicators have been fitted front and rear with clear lenses to minimise their visual impact. Tidying things up even further is the custom aluminium speedo bracket that holds just a single speedo and the ignition has been relocated with thanks to a kit–also from LSL. The finishing touch was a final nod to the World War II era with the chrome removed from the gas cap to reveal copper like raw metal tones as if it was an oversized button from an officer’s uniform.
With the customer being a true Bonnie man, the inclusion of USD forks would never have suited his taste but adjustable progressive shocks help that meaty rear rubber grab whatever surface they’re asked to take on. With a Triumph collection parked up at home you could forgive the owner for letting Luther sit in the corner gaining all the attention thanks to his German precision looks. But Maria Motorcycles aren’t putting Lisbon’s custom bike scene on the map by building static displays so you better believe this Brit in a German uniform gets just the sort of flogging he deserves.
via PIPEBURN
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