Golden sisters by Ottodrom

Ottodrom is a new custom brand in Rome. Paolo "Corto Maltese", the man behind this brand, is passionate of vintage bikes. Like many of the the Toman riders of the early eighties, he started riding on a CB350 four and, since then, he never stopped. He eventually owned several BMW K100 and became a fan of the German brand. His workshop opened six months ago and a shop in Rome is expected in the near future. These two golden sisters, two of the earlyCB 750 and CB500 Four are some of his first builds. Good luck! 

 

via Inazuma Café Racer

Wolves of Wall Street: Who is the biggest investment villain?

In Martin Scorsese's 'The Wolf of Wall Street', the bankers of the late 1980s once again storm the silver screen. Investment fraud has become a bit of a cinematic tradition - and here we bring you an overview of the top Wall Street villains, fictional and not so fictional...

Gordon Gekko in 'Wall Street'

Even if the most exciting Wall Street thriller was not to be seen in the cinema, but on CNN in 2008, the species personified by ice-cold ultra-capitalists in braces became internationally famous in 1987 mainly thanks to Oliver Stone's 'Wall Street'. As financial shark Gordon Gekko, Michael Douglas played to the hearts of all emerging young bankers who henceforth appeared at work in their Brooks Brothers shirts, dreaming (well, some of them) of amassing great wealth through insider information. In this case, Gekko was no fantasy figure, but heavily inspired by the fallen stock market millionaires Ivan Boesky and Carl Icahn. The dubious fame of Gordon Gekko and his 'greed is good' philosophy even affected the asset management centres of the new millennium - although Oliver Stone no doubt originally meant his film to be a radical critique of the capitalist mentality. 

Patrick Bateman in 'American Psycho'

With his 1991 novel 'American Psycho', Bret Easton Ellis shocked America. It's the fictional diary of 27-year-old Wall Street investment banker Patrick Bateman and his life spent between expensive restaurants and nightclubs, indulging in endless small talk, interspersed by acts of extreme, sexual violence and cannibalism - a metaphor for the turbo-capitalism and moral decline of the 1980s.  Although the book was initially considered unfilmable because of the shockingly violent scenes, including rape and necrophilia, 'American Psycho' did finally come to the big screen in 2000 with Christian Bale in the lead role. It was generally well-received, and seen as more of an ironic retro look at the foibles of the 1980s than a sex-and-violence thriller.

Jordan Belfort in 'The Wolf of Wall Street'

Martin Scorsese's 'The Wolf of Wall Street' is another film based on a true story – as the cheating millionaire Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, was a genuine character who roamed the stock market floors of the late 1980s; and spent time in prison for fraud. As with Gordon Gekko, the unscrupulous Belfort enjoys a hedonistic lifestyle, complete with fast money, fast cars, fast women and fast drugs. And as with Oliver Stone’s original ‘Wall Street’, the disturbing question arises as to whether the audience perhaps sees the ‘bad guys’ as heroes: role models for achieving finanical success through greed and selfishness. 

Honda SLR650

"These are the pictures of my old Honda SLR650 scramblerized. I replaced the gas tank with an old Garelli one and the seat with a Moto Morini Corsarino. I changed the exhausts and little else. I called it Zero X One". Thanks for sharing, Antonello.

Photos by Antonello Minia - Inazumized

via Inazuma Cafe

Five in a row for Ogier / Cinq à la suite pour Ogier

Sébastien Ogier kicked off his 2014 campaign as he ended 2013, and Saturday’s victory in Monte Carlo makes him clear favourite for this year’s title. The Frenchman has gone unbeaten since his victory in Australia last September.

Sébastien Ogier a entamé 2014 comme il avait conclu 2013 et cette première victoire au Monte-Carlo version WRC le place d’ores et déjà en favori à sa propre succession. Le Français n’a plus été battu depuis le Rallye d’Australie 2013, soit 126 jours d’invincibilité.

Sébastien Ogier has taken his current winning sequence to five WRC rounds (Australia, France, Spain, Great Britain and Monte Carlo) and now has a chance of equalling Sébastien Loeb’s record* next month in Sweden.

Yet the beginning of the 2014 Monte could have been catastrophic for the defending champion who, like his two VW team-mates, made a poor tyre call for the first loop of stages. His aggressive choice (five ‘super softs’) was far from ideal for the snow that had started to fall after the ice-note crews had been through, and the Frenchman’s run could easily have ended when his Polo swiped a wall through the first corner…

He survived the ordeal, however, and went on to show true class, including a fastest time on SS6 (Col du Perty 2) that sent a clear message to his only real threat, Bryan Bouffier.

Ogier ultimately clawed back his early deficit of 1m19.4s to claim victory by practically the same margin (1m18.9s). A fastest time on SS8 briefly boosted Bouffier’s hopes but they then disappeared with a spin on the following test…

So, who was the revelation of the 2014 Rallye Monte-Carlo? Bouffier? ‘Revelation’ probably isn’t the appropriate term in his case, especially for someone who has previously won the Monte Carlo and the Tour de Corse. We would suggest that Bryan was simply in brilliant form once again.

Kris Meeke can hardly be considered a revelation, either, although the Ulsterman did score his first WRC podium which boosted the moral of the men at Citroën. He and some of the British media were moved to tears at the finish.

Elfyn Evans? Perhaps. The Welshman missed out on his first fastest time by half-a-second on SS3 and a cautious run made sure he didn’t make any mistakes.

Robert Kubica? For sure! His early showing was certainly a revelation when he dominated the rally’s first two stages despite having made the same tyre-choice error as many of his rivals. He then settled into a slightly more sedate pace which enabled him to challenge for the podium until an ‘off’ on SS9.

Jaroslav Melicharek? Without doubt. The unknown Slovakian succeeded in blocking three fellow competitors on the second attempt at the Col du Turini which had to be cancelled!

Sébastien Chardonnet? Why not? Especially given that the reigning WRC-3 champion posted two third-fastest times in his diminutive Citroën DS3 R3!

* Loeb took six WRC wins in a row twice: in 2008/2009 and in 2005 (record).

Australie, France, Espagne, Grande-Bretagne et Monte-Carlo : Sébastien Ogier vient d’enchaîner cinq victoires consécutives en WRC et pourrait égaler le record de Sébastien Loeb* au prochain Rallye de Suède.

Le retour du Monte-Carlo dans les Hautes-Alpes aurait pu faire chuter le champion haut-alpin, auteur - comme ses deux équipiers chez VW !? -, d’un mauvais choix de pneus pour les premières spéciales. Un choix très agressif (cinq super-soft) qui s’est avéré inadapté puisque la neige est tombée après le passage des ouvreurs. Son rallye aurait même pu s’arrêter dans le tout premier virage…

Mais le champion du monde a survécu à cette première boucle avant de passer à l’attaque. Son meilleur temps dans le col du Perty (ES6) n’a laissé guère d’illusions à son seul véritable adversaire du week-end, Bryan Bouffier. Ogier a remonté 1min19s4 de passif pour gagner avec la même avance (1min18s9). Requinqué par un meilleur temps dans l’ES8, Bouffier y a pourtant cru, mais ses derniers espoirs se sont évanouis dans l’ES9. Son tête-à-queue n’explique pas tout car Ogier lui aurait sans doute repris une vingtaine de secondes à la régulière.

En y regardant de plus près, on a bien du mal à trouver la révélation de ce Rallye Monte-Carlo 2014. Bryan Bouffier ? C’est plutôt une confirmation, quand on a déjà accroché Monte-Carlo et Tour de Corse à son palmarès… Bryan a été une fois de plus brillant ce week-end.

Kris Meeke ? Là aussi, une confirmation. L’Irlandais du Nord a signé son premier podium WRC et boosté le moral des troupes Citroën pour 2014. Emus, le pilote britannique et ses compatriotes journalistes en avaient les larmes aux yeux à l’arrivée. Elfyn Evans ? Peut-être. Le Gallois a manqué son 1^er temps scratch mondial pour 5/10^e (ES3), mais il a appris sagement sans faire de fautes.

Robert Kubica ? Sans doute. Le Polonais a remporté les deux premières spéciales du rallye alors que lui non pplus n’avait pas le bon choix de pneus. Chapeau. Il est ensuite rentré dans le rang, mais se battait pour le podium avant une « petite » sortie de route (ES9). Jaroslav Melicharek ? Sans aucun doute. Ce Slovaque quasi inconnu a réussi à bloquer trois concurrents et faire neutraliser le second passage d’un « Turini » enneigé ! Sébastien Chardonnet ? Pourquoi pas… Le champion du monde WRC-3 a signé deux 4^e meilleurs temps au volant de sa Citroën DS3 R3 « maxi ».

* Loeb a enchaîné deux fois 6 victoires d’affilée : en 2008/2009 et sur la seule saison 2005 (record absolu)