My Garage Jack Gratton ...........a great garage !!!

KAWASAKI Z 750 BY HB CUSTOM

By Wesley Reyneke | Rather Be Riding

One of the things I love most about the new wave custom scene is the healthy mix of professional and garage builders. While some use their craft to put food on the table, others hold down day jobs—slogging away at projects in their spare time.

Holger Breuer is one such builder. Since 2009, he’s been creating beautiful customs after-hours under the ‘HB Custom‘ moniker, while earning a living as an electrician in a dairy. This 1983-model Kawasaki Z 750 B is the eighth build to roll out of his garage in Husum, Germany, and it exhibits a level of craftsmanship that you’d expect from a full-time outfit.

Holger was initially building bikes for himself and friends, but in 2012 a Z 750 that he customised won first place in a competition run by Kawasaki Germany. The competition celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Z-series and the bike was displayed at INTERMOT, thrusting Holger into the spotlight. Since then he’s begun taking on commissioned work—such as this ‘Z.’

It was sent to us by Fred Siemer, a motorcycle journalist who befriended Holger while writing an article on him for the German magazine Motorrad Classic. According to Fred, the Z 750 wasn’t very popular in Germany, making it hard to find a good condition donor. This particular one hadn’t run in ten years when Holger got his hands on it, so an engine overhaul was in order, which included new clutch linings, pistons and an electronic ignition.

Holger also installed Mikuni TM34 carbs, fabricated new exhaust headers and fitted mufflers from Classicbike Raisch, which were originally designed for Triumph’s modern twins. He then shortened the subframe to house a hand-crafted alloy tail unit.

Suspension upgrades include Wilbers springs in the stock front forks and Ikon shocks at the rear. The front brake is from a Kawasaki Z 650, with a Honda CBR600RR master cylinder. Holger’s opted for a sporty riding position—with Tarozzi rear sets and Tomaselli clip-ons.

Since Holger’s an experienced electrician, the wiring has been neatened up significantly and a new Lithium-ion battery hidden inside the tail. The cockpit has also been cleaned up, with Motogadget‘s Motorscope Tiny speedo and m-Switch controls replacing the clunky stock units. The final finish is classic and elegant—gloss black with white striping and brown accents.

“In the beginning, Holger said he was influenced by Wrenchmonkees,” says Fred. “In my opinion, you can still see it a little—but with this noble and even cool bike and its high end finish, he’s defined his very own style.”

Visit Holger’s website at www.hb-custom.de to see more of his work. Photos by Timo Meinking.

from BIKEEXIF

‘70 Moto Guzzi V7 Special – Two Cats Garage

You know what they say. “It’s the simple things in life that are often the best.” And nothing represents that more perfectly than today’s bike. It’s a beautifully simple, perfectly restrained Moto Guzzi from the land of the long white cloud, New Zealand. With not much more than a new seat and a perfect eye for clean lines, Michael Dobson from Raumati’s Two Cats Garage has helped this rather maximal Italian beast shed more than a few pounds and become the svelte, beautiful bike she somehow always should have been.

“It’s a 1970 Moto Guzzi V7 Special, which was also called and Ambassador in US,” notes Mike. It’s actually our second Pipeburn appearance – we were luck enough to be featured previously for our 1986 BMW R80RTwe called ‘Bopper’. For this one Gary, the bike’s owner, came to us with the concept and we did the rest.”

“Essentially, it’s a very simple update on a very bulky bike. Sure, it’s not radically and could easily be achieved at home… but that’s what we like about it. Half the work was already done by Moto Guzzi; it just goes to show that if you start with a good product you just have to reveal it. We were also amazed at just how much lighterthe bike looks. Like chalk and cheese.”

“The main parts of the build include new alloy guards, the removal of the side covers, a new gel battery which we installed lying down and some subtle pod air filters. The crash bars were removed, a set of lower handlebars were added and an LED tail light was attached. Oh, and a clean, single seat. Obviously.

Then there’s the 70′s Ural peaked headlight rim which gives that classic, forward attitude to the bike’s looks. The custom mufflers were made by Damon at Cycleworks. The battery’s leather belt picks up on the leather seat and the gold tank pinstripe as well. Overall, the look is the proven formula of black and chrome. There’s a good reason why it’s classic – and that’s because it looks so damn good.”

“And we should probably mention that the bike will be featured at Polished Rockers ride-in bike show atTuatara Brewery on this coming Sunday, March 9th. Be sure and say ‘hi’ if you drop by.”

[Photos by Ireen Demut]

via PIPEBURN

Heureux Rally2

Sur les 26 partants de ce Rallye du Mexique 2014, 17 ont passé la première journée sans encombre et neuf ont recours au Rally2 pour poursuivre l’aventure. Ici, sans ce système de repêchage, tous les points Pilotes ne seraient peut-être pas attribués en fin de rallye.

Compte tenu du taux d’abandon et du faible nombre de partants, il n’y aurait peut-être pas dix concurrents à l’arrivée pour marquer tous les points distribués au championnat. Hier, on a enregistré 35% d’abandon. Neuf concurrents n’ont pas bouclé la 1^ère étape, dont quatre ont abandonné dans l’ES3 (Mikkelsen, Tanak, Gilbert, Fuchs), deux dans l’ES8 (Hirvonen et Meeke) et un dans la dernière Superspéciale (ES11), le malheureux Robert Kubica, parti en tonneau.

Pendant que les 30 000 fans hurlaient pour encourager leur équipe face à celle de Veracruz, les mécaniciens travaillaient dur derrière l’Estadio Nou Camp de Leon pour remettre les voitures en état pour la 2^e étape du Rallye du Mexique. Les délais impartis pour être accepté en Rally2 étaient très larges, jusqu’à 4h30 ce matin.

Chez Citroën, les mécaniciens ont travaillé jusqu’à 22h30 sur la voiture de Kris Meeke, victime d’une petite touchette dans l’ES8 : « On a à peine senti le choc à l’arrière gauche, le pneu et la jante étaient intacts, mais on a perdu la roue au fil des kilomètres », racontait Kris ce matin. Le demi-train arrière gauche et le pont arrière ont été remplacés sur la DS3 WRC N°3, l’intervention a duré un peu plus de deux heures.

Chez M-Sport, il y a deux autos en Rally2 : la Ford de Mikko Hirvonen, victime d’une panne l’alternateur – comme au Monte-Carlo – dans l’ES8, et celle de Robert Kubica, parti en tonneau dans la toute dernière spéciale du jour. « Robert l’a ramené lui-même au parc », nous a dit son chef-voiture. « On a changé le pare-brise, les suspensions arrière et il y avait aussi pas mal de carrosserie à réparer. On a fini à 22h45 je crois. » Les neuf voitures ayant abandonné hier sont toutes reparties ce matin en Rally2, y compris les trois Ford Fiesta R5 de Tanak, Gilbert et Fuchs.

Le règlement dit que les pilotes en Rally2 s’élancent derrière les prioritaires 1 & 2 le lendemain. Or, Robert Kubica est 6^e sur la route aujourd’hui, devant Latvala et Ostberg. Même s’il a ramené lui-même sa Ford au parc d’assistance hier soir, le Polonais est bien en Rally2 car les commissaires l’ont aidé à remettre la voiture sur ses roues dans la Superspéciales. Explication : il y a aussi un article qui dit que la règle du Rally2 s’applique avant les Superspéciales ! Pour l’ordre des départs de la 2^e étape, les commissaires ont tenu compte de cet article. Compliqué, n’est-ce pas ?