Tracker 48 for MotoUSA

Nothing beats a Street Tracker for attitude and fun. A dirt road in front of you?...cool, twisty pavement?...that's all good too. We built this 2010 Sportster 48 for MotoUSA President Don Becklin and used it as an experimental platform for our new Machine Ops Finish, Vintage Sportster gas tank, flat track tail, Mid Control and a new exhaust concept. She started life as a Sportster 48. The first mod was a new billet top triple that accepts any riser combo, eliminating the cast in riser. We then used our Pro Step Bar with a nice flat track style pull back and Vintage 4 bolt risers.

We threw a vintage twist at this machine with a prototype Sportster version of our classic Vintage Gas Tank which looks at home on a Flat Tracker. 14.5” progressive 970 series reservoir shocks, 19” Slam wheels and sticky flat track rubber achieve the classic Dirt Track stance we were going for. Since this bike will spend the majority of its life on the pavement, Jamie from Micah Racing hooked us up with a set of the new DOT approved, street legal, Mitas flat track tires. The Sporty Tracker was a test bed for our newest finish Machine Ops and this is one of the iterations of the original idea with a bit of tint to it.

The bike features a host of prototypes including the wild 2-into-1-into-2 Slant Carbon Works finish exhaust, mid controls, custom silicone oil lines by Samco, aluminum tail section, gas tank kit, billet triple clamp for standard risers and front frame guard. At the heart of it all still lies the basis of the Stock 48, but the owner wouldn’t be able to tell. In the end, he got what he asked for because we built what we wanted, which is what he wanted.. or something like that. Everybody wins. Check out the full write up from Byron Wilson at MotoUSA here!

One of the joys and major responsibilities of being a bike builder comes when someone trusts you to tear their pride and joy down to the frame and recreate the machine as something completely different. This task is made ever more interesting when the customer says, do what you want. This is magic to our ears. Inevitably there’s the question of a budget which reins the creative process in, but with somewhat free reign it allows us to experiment with styles. One of our favorite styles is the Streetracker. Both comfortable and fun to ride, the Streetracker comes in many forms. Keep track of this build as we plan to throw a classic vintage twist at this machine.

Posted In: RSD

1936 DELAHAYE 135 S

This 1936 Delahaye 135 S is one of only sixteen ever made and one of only seven to survive to the modern day, the “S” suffix denoted the sporting credentials of the 135 and stood for either “Special” or “Surbaissé” depending on who you talk to, what mood they’re in and the current phase of the moon.

Fitted with a 160bhp 3557cc inline six-cylinder engine the 135 S was exceptionally fast for its day, the engine was mated to a four-speed Cotal racing gearbox and it used independent front suspension with transverse leaf springs and Raxef friction dampers, a live rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs, Raxef friction dampers and Duo-servo four-wheel, cable-operated light-alloy drum brakes.

This Delahaye was designed from the outset as a Bugatti killer, the low slung and aerodynamic bodywork was exceptionally advanced for the era and offered a major aero-advantage over many of Delahaye’s primary rivals.

Successes were being enjoyed by 135 S models all over Europe in 1936 and ’37, the chassis you see here won its class at the 1936 24 Hours of Spa in the hands of its owner-driver Rene Le Begue. At the Grand Prix du Comminge in August of the same year, Le Begue brought the Delahaye home in fourth place and a little later in 1936 he took pole position and the fastest lap at the Tourist Trophy in Belfast, sadly the retired from first place due to an electrical issue later in the race.

Over the next few years the 135 S would change hands a number of times, the ownership history is fully recorded however and much of it saw the car in private collections. In 2005 the owner decided to return the car to its 1937 configuration and a painstaking restoration/rebuilt was undertaken by Carrosserie Francois Cointreau and Bernard Brule.

Chassis number 47187 is now due to be offered at the Paris Auction on the 5th of February 2014 by RM Auctions, it has an estimated value of between €1,000,000 and €1,500,000 and you can click here to visit the official listing.

Photo Credits: Courtesy of RM Auctions

via SILODROME