YAMAHA SR250 ‘AG HOC’

By Wesley Reyneke | Rather Be Riding

We’ve used the term ‘low-key’ to describe Ad Hoc’s David Gonzalez before. His latest release—an audacious Yamaha SR250—is anything but.

This cheeky-looking scrambler was built to appeal to the urban and extreme sports sensibilities of its young owner. “The first thing that came to mind was to make a motorcycle ‘thug,’” David says of their initial meeting.

So, from the Ad Hoc workshop in the peaceful hills just outside Barcelona, he set to work—starting by adapting the fuel tank from a Derbi Coppa, a motorcycle that was very popular in Spain in the 70s and 80s. Accompanying the tank’s bright green paint is an oversized adaptation of Ad Hoc’s logo, with ‘Ad’ replaced by the client’s initials—’AG.’ Made up of a collage of some of his favorite skate, snowboard and apparel brands, it was laser printed onto vinyl before being applied to the tank and coated with a clear lacquer.

The next step was to de-tab the frame and weld in a new rear hoop. Once that was done, all the wiring was re-routed to run inside the frame, with a new Lithium-ion battery positioned under the swingarm.

A custom-made leatherette seat was installed and the area underneath it completely cleaned up, with the exception of a discreet tray to house the remaining electronics. The entire frame was then sandblasted and powder coated. Renthal’s ‘Low’ handlebars were fitted, with hand-made mini switches replacing the stock switchgear and all the wiring relocated to inside the bars.

Ad Hoc left the 1989-model engine untouched, merely giving the carb some attention and installing a K&N filter and engine breather, along with a blacked-out reverse cone muffler. Both the front and rear stock fenders were trimmed—the front receiving a handcrafted brace, “to give it a more classic look.” The stock drum brakes were also retained, but the rear shocks were swapped out for longer units for a slightly higher stance.

Dunlop’s Geomax tyres are the perfect choice to suit the SR’s scrambler motif, as is the headlight—taken from an excavator. Hand-grenade valve caps add an additional playful touch.

At a time when monochrome and understated seem to be à la mode, Ad Hoc have succeeded in building a motorcycle that’s a little irreverent, a lot of fun, and not the least bit gaudy. I’m probably nowhere as hip as its owner—but I’d ride it. Would you?

Images by Monica Doallo. Check out the Ad Hoc website and Facebook page to see more of David Gonzalez’ work.

Yamaha XS400 – Volure Cycles

Written by Martin Hodgson

The phrase second time lucky tends to suggest that the first time around didn’t go as planned. For Sander Ziugov of Volure Cycles and his Yamaha XS400 all was looking perfect when he converted his stock red Yamaha into a stunning grey on black café racer. So good in fact it was featured right here on Pipeburn, until a misadventure saw the bike tumbling down the road.

With the original forks now consigned to the scrap bin the decision was made to convert the bike to a USD setup. Aprilia RS125 forks were adapted to fit the bike using heavily modified triple clamps to work with the standard Yamaha frame. Turning duties were handed over to a set of custom clip-ons, while GSX-R switch blocks continue with the modern look of the front end. Ensuring continuity in the theme, bar end turn signals were fitted and replacing the now damaged gauges is an all-in-one instrument unit by KOSO mounted to a custom-made bracket.

No modern front end is complete without a quality brake master cylinder and when only the best will do Sander chose Brembo.  A radial design was fitted to send hydraulic pressure to the original caliper now relocated to the left side of the front wheel using a custom-made bracket crafted from 15mm aluminium. Rounding out the stunning front end Sander fitted a single dominator headlight and moved the ignition switch to the rear engine mount.

With the Aprilia forks changing the stance of the bike Sander turned his attention to the rear end. To achieve the aggressive stance he was after new shock mounts were welded 60mm down the sub frame and YSS shocks with progressive rate springs fitted. Rather than cut off the now empty standard shock mounts they were repurposed and now house the rear turn signals.

The striking difference from the first incarnation of this bike is the paint, gone is the classic grey with speed stripe and in its place distinctive red Yamaha “Speed Blocks” laid over a solid white. While many of the black detailing work remains the frame has been painted silver to further enhance the colour matched Yamaha respray. Staying true to the race theme undamaged GSX-R rearsets from the first build have been kept in place and a wire held fuel filler clip added.

With 6 months additional labour now complete since the bike’s misadventure Sander’s decision to give the bike a facelift rather than simply rebuild it has been rewarded with an immaculate result and racer finish that Mr Speed Blocks himself, Kenny Roberts, would surely be proud!

[Pictures by Kevin Amon]

Supersonic private jet to arrive in 2018

Spike Aerospace – a Boston-based outfit with a core engineering workforce of former employees from the likes of Airbus, Bombardier and Gulfstream – has revealed plans to produce the world's first supersonic private jet within the next five years…

Not since the sad demise of Concorde at the turn of the century has a civilian been able to fly supersonically – but if Spike Aerospace’s mission goes according to plan, wealthy individuals and businesses will be able to summon their very own sound-barrier-breaking jet.

The 18-passenger S-512 is destined to boast a cruising speed of Mach 1.6 (1,218mph) and a sprint velocity of Mach 1.8 (1,370mph), meaning the journey from New York to London could be completed in less than four hours. At these speeds, passenger windows must be reduced to tiny peepholes for air pressure reasons (see Concorde) – so Spike has opted to do away with them altogether, relying instead on outside images streamed live to curved panoramic screens.

If the ambitious project reaches fruition, it is estimated that each S-512 will cost around $80m.

Photos: Spike Aerospace

Ruta 40 norte hacia San Antonio de los Cobres