Ogier snow testing - 2014 WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo

"LA LOMA 750″ “TODOTERRENO” BIKE.

Ton Up’s Zephyrus

The Kawasaki Zephyr of the early 90′s was a bike 20 years ahead of its time. Well, technically it was a bike 20 years behind the times, as it was built to evoke the spirit of the Kawasaki superbikes of the 70′s. But it was pretty much the first stab by one of the big four manufacturers at going ‘retro’. Of course, back then no one was interested in looking back, it was all about upside down forks, lurid paint schemes and the relentless pursuit of speed over everything else. Consequently the Zephyr was never a huge seller. Saying that, if it looked half as cool as this one then it might have been a different story.

The idea for the Zephyrus was formed on the 2013 Distinguished Gentlemans Ride at Oporto in late September. A customer came to Ton Up Garage‘s shop and asked them to build a proper café racer, and comfort wasn’t an issue – a bike builder’s dream brief.

The bike is a 1993 Zephyr 750 (they came in 750 & 550 engine guises). The engine remains pretty standard, with just new air filters and some re-jetting work to make sure she runs properly with the new exhaust set up. There’s nothing lacking about a Japanese four cylinder 750 from any era, so why mess with it?

All the work on this build has gone into the aesthetics. The original rear section of the bike has been discarded and built again from scratch. The rear cowl was designed with a shape that compliments the rest of the bike beautifully, and a new leather single seat was built to match (the original Zephyr seat was butt comfy, but butt ugly). The rear section of the sub-frame was teased upwards slightly to tuck a small tail light in, and new side panels were made to cover the electrics and the battery. A teeny, tiny mudguard makes a half-hearted attempt to stop the spray, but looks great, so who cares.

It goes without saying that the big change over the original Zephyr is to the riding position. The production bike was very much a sit up and beg affair, so in order to get that head down, bum up look, Ton Up removed the footpegs and fitted some clean looking rear sets and LSL clip-ons. LSL also provided the Clubman headlight and supports. At the same time, the front suspension was shortened and firmed up for a sportier ride. The wheels were replaced with a neat black spoke set up, and new wet race tyres were fitted to improve the handling. They also happen to look pretty damn good too.

The guys went for this simple, understated, stealth-like paint scheme that suits the bike so well, and its actually nice to see a black bike for a change. Apparently she’s called Zephyrus as its the name of the Greek god of the west wind, and ‘you won’t see it coming when it passes you!’

Pictures were taken by photographer Joel Bessa, and you can see a short film by thesearefilms.com on Vimeo.
Take note Zawasaki, you did a decent job with your last retro, the W650, so why not raid the parts bin and re-launch the Zephyr? But if you do, just make sure you involve the Ton Up boys in the design stage this time.
Posted by Ian@TheBikeShed

RED BULL CHOOSES LAND ROVER

Land Rover will support the Red Bull Desert Wings team on the 2014 Dakar rally, providing five back-up vehicles for 3000-mile event.

A Defender will be one of the five vehicles supporting the Red Bull Desert Wings team on the 2014 Dakar rally

Red Bull Desert Wings incorporates various teams from each of the three rally classes: bikes, cars and trucks. Among the team’s drivers are double WRC champion Carlos Sainz, 2009 Dakar winner Giniel de Villiers, and 2013 Dakar truck class winner Eduard Nikolaev.

Among the support vehicles, a Range Rover Sport Supercharged will follow the actual Dakar route, ferrying a team of photographers. The other four vehicles, including a Defender 130 Hi-Cap, Discovery and the all-new Range Rover will follow the support route.

The Land Rover-supported Race2Recovery team of injured soldiers will also get to use the Red Bull Bivouac, as they return to Dakar in 2014 and aim to get all three of its vehicles to the finish.

The Dakar rally will cover just under miles of some of the toughest terrain in the world, starting on January 5 in Rosario, Argentina and finishing in Valparaiso, Chile on January 18. See www.dakar.com

Mark Cameron, Jaguar Land Rover Global Brand Experience Director said: ‘The Red Bull Desert Wings team sought a vehicle partner with all-terrain expertise to reliably support the various entrants in the toughest race in the world. I am delighted that they have come to us. The all-new Range Rover Sport will provide a combination of superior off-road capability, and sure-footedness which will put the photographers in good stead to capture the best moments of the race.’

We’re hoping this is the start of an association that could one day see a factory-backed assault on the Dakar. A Red Bull liveried Range Rover Sport-based buggy would look the business, wouldn’t it?