Roasting Tires, Toasting Freedom

Roasting Tires, Toasting Freedom from ICON 1000 on Vimeo.

Le Mans Classic : premiers essais, premiers chronos, photos

par Claude Foubert (Endurance-Info.com)

Les essais qualificatifs de Le Mans Classic avaient lieu ce vendredi de 15h à 22h, les essais de nuit ayant lieu de 22h40 à 2h40.

Les qualifications des Plateaux 1, 2 et 3 ont été une affaire de spécialistes, avec le meilleur chrono pour Christian Traber et la Talbot Lago ex monoplace décalée n°2 de 1939, une vedette habituelle de Le Mans Classic dans ce plateau 1. Christian Traber a devancé la Talbot 105 1931 n°12 de Birch/Burnett et l’Alfa Romeo n°138.

Dans le plateau 2, c’est un autre spécialiste de l’historique, même s’il court également avec assiduité au volant de GT contemporaines, qui s’est imposé. Le britannique Alex Buncombe et sa Jaguar C n°29 de 1952 ont damé le pion aux plus récentes Jaguar D. Buncombe a tourné en 4’57’’162 et a devancé d’autres spécialistes, Gavin Pickering (Jaguar D n°4) et Carlos Monteverde/Gary Pearson ( Jaguar D n°12)

Dans le plateau 3, les Jaguar D ont pris leur revanche, avec le meilleur chrono pour la Jaguar n°16 de Gary Pearson en 4’53’’925, loin devant la plus proche concurrente, l’Aston Martin DB4 GT 1960 n°27 de Alexander/Willmott et la Lotus 15 n°63 de Malone/Hall.

Dans ce plateau,un équipage attirait les regards, celui de la Jaguar D n°33 formé de deux noms bien connus des amateurs de l’endurance, Alain De Cadenet, dont les protos avaient la faveur du public manceau dans les années 1970, et Brian Redman, 77 ans, –trois victoires à Daytona et deux à Sebring- étant associés sur cette Jaguar.  Les deux britanniques ont encore de beaux restes puisqu’ils ont signé le 12^ème chrono sur les 73 voitures chronométrées.

Autre équipage dont les noms ont une résonance particulière, celui formé de Pierre Fillon, Président de l’Automobile Club de l’Ouest, et de son frère François, l’ancien Premier Ministre dont on sait    est un grand amateur d’automobile. Les deux frères pilotent une Alfa Romeo Giuletta SZT de 1962 et ont réalisé le 43^èmechrono, chrono fait par François Fillon.    

 Les photos sont ici

Les chronos sont là

HONDA CB 350 AHRMA RACER

The term ‘café racer’ is bandied about so much these days, it’s virtually lost all meaning. But this sleek Honda CB 350 is one of the few modern customs that live up to the moniker. Even better, it’s fresh out of the workshop and ready to race in the AHRMA Production Class race series—if you can bear the thought of putting a scratch on that immaculate bodywork.

It’s the personal project of Jason Paul Michaels, co-founder of Dime City Cycles and a man who knows a thing or two about building bikes. Michaels is not too vain to call in extra help though, and in this case, he approached Scott Turner, the multiple Daytona-winning AHRMA Sportsman 350 national champion. How’s that for a pedigree?

For Michaels, building the bike was a release from the pressure of running one of the most successful aftermarket parts companies in the USA: “A way to blow off some steam, and take a break from the daily rigors at Dime City,” he says. “Scott shared quart after quart of knowledge on perfecting the CB 350. To use his words, we wanted it to be ‘thefunnest bike there is to race!”

It’s a ground-up rebuild, torn down 100% and reassembled from scratch. Scott’s input extended to the tiniest details: Little things like back-cutting the transmission gears, installing solid chain rollers, and taking a notch out of the points case. (And adding a few extra washers here and there, “Because they just need to be there.”)

Building a race bike involves a learning curve. “When working with a seasoned builder and racer, there are things they figure out—due to necessity on the race track—that street builders like myself would never uncover,” says Michaels.

The mid-controls are a case in point. AHRMA Production Class rules dictate that a bike must be as close to stock as possible—including the fenders, seat, carburetors, a period-appropriate exhaust and so on.

So the mid controls on this Honda CB 350 were custom fabricated to push the limits of what AHRMA rules allow with back and upward placement, along with several other little tweaks. “To hit the track, we only need to use the quick disconnects built into the harness to remove the headlight, then swap in the number plate and fasten the belly-pan to the bottom,” says Michaels.

The mechanical spec is high end, with an engine completely rebuilt using .50 over pistons, Mikuni VM29 carbs, custom headers and Norton peashooter mufflers. It’s a bike designed to go fast.

Unfortunately, it will not be Michaels riding it. He’s a man with very little spare time, and honest enough to voice fears that he’d lay it down if he rode it in a race. “Scott hasn’t backed off, and I’m sure he’ll get me on the track sooner rather than later—but it’ll be on a different bike.”

So Michaels has decided to put the CB 350 up for sale. “The bike isn’t ‘brand new,’ it’s as-new. It has approximately 600 miles after the complete rebuild and got full adjustments to valves and other items at the 500-mile break-in mark. It’s a turnkey bike read for anyone to ride. Just a couple of kicks, and you’re on your way to the ton.”

Tempted? Contact Jason Paul Michaels via the Dime City Cycles website.

Specification

Complete Engine Rebuild w/ Powder Coated Covers & Cases
.50 Over Pistons
Back-cut Transmission Gears
Tensioner Wheels Replaced w/ Solid Delrin CAM Chain Sliders
Polished Fins
Custom Headers w/ Norton Peashooters Mufflers
Mikuni VM29 Carburetors w/ Emgo Throttle & Aluminum Velocity Stacks
Vintage Finned Valve Tappet Covers
All Stainless Steel Fasteners
New Chain & Sprockets

Gloss Black & Silver Flake Paint-job by Kevin Bates
Vintage Red hand pinstripes by Liza Hopkins
Stock CB 350 Tank w/ New Gas Cap & Petcock
Stock CB 350 Rear Fender
Stock CB 350 Front Fender
DCC Original Headlight & Ears
Lossa Engineering Handlebars
DCC Original Cafe Racer Seat w/ Flip-up Hinge
DCC Original Classic Retro Round Taillight
Hand-made Aluminum Number Plates
All Stainless Steel Fasteners
Stock CB 350 Seat pan with DCC Original Cafe inspired seat covering

Front Avon Race Compound Tires w/ Stock Wheels Powder-coated Black w/ Stainless Steel Spokes & Nipples
Rear Avon Race Compound Tires w/ Stock Wheel Powder-coated Black w/ Stainless Steel Spokes & Nipples

New Custom Harness
Dyna Coils w/ Points Ignition
Anti-Gravity Battery
Ricks Electric Hot-shot Regulator / Rectifier Combo

Stock CB 350 Frame Powder-coated Gloss Black
Progressive 412 Rear Shocks
Progressive Front Springs w/ Fork Gaiters
CB 400F Top Triple Tree Powder-coated Black w/ Tapered Bearings
CB 350 Lower Triple Tree w/ Tapered Bearings
DCC Original Steering Damper Kit

Stock CB 350 Front Drum (EBC Shoes w/ Turned Hub) *All Hardware Re-chromed, Motion Pro Cable
Stock CB 350 Rear Drum (EBS Shoes w/ Turned Hub)

via BIKEexif

2014 Harley-Davidson Street 500 by Speed Merchant

With Harley-Davidson recently unveiling two new models, the Street 750 and Street 500, we were wondering who would be the first to customise one. Well, we don’t have to wonder anymore. The guys from The Speed Merchant were approached by Mike Davis from Born Free on behalf of Harley to see if they were interested in customising one to be showcased at the Born Free show. Of course they said hell yeah. “Having never seen one in person, it was very intriguing” says Brandon from The Speed Merchant. “The new Harley-Davidson Street 500 is what showed up at my shop with about 3 months to get the job done.” They were given an open brief by Harley, but with all the choppers at Born Free, they wanted create something a little different that would stand out from the crowd.

Speed Merchant engineer and designer Brandon “Brawny Built” Holstein decided to build the bike with a nod to the Flat Track tradition. He started by removing most of the stock parts from the bike. Front end, wheels, bars, rear fender, battery, rear subframe, and exhaust – shedding 50lbs (22kg) from the stock bike. He replaced the stock wheels with some Sun Aluminum rims with SS spokes laced up to HD hubs. The front end was replaced with a set of Speed Merchant mid glide trees made for the HD 48 Sportster. Huntington Beach Harley Davidson donated the front end to the build. They topped off the front end with SM preload adjusters. To finish up the front, Brandon made a classic styled aluminum number plate that incorporates the overflow for the radiator and a LED driving light supplied by Lazerstar Lights.

Brandon used a Speed Merchant radial mount brake bracket up the front and mounted a Tokico caliper to it. The bars are a custom set made in house as well. The controls are off a GSXR 600, and 750, topped off with some Pazzo levers. The throttle is a 1/4 turn set up from Joker Machine – used mainly for speedway.

“Next I decided to mount the tank in a different position.” says Brandon. “I raised the tank by about 4″ to provide a more traditional stance. To match the line of the tank I started with the tail section next. After cutting off the stock subframe, and pulling the wiring from under the seat, I started laying out the new subframe set-up. Part of the new subframe houses all of the stock wiring just under the seat. The new tail section was shaped out of aluminum. Once the tailsection was finished, I fabricated a seat pan that was handed off to Bates Leather. They nailed it with this custom tuck and roll design.”

To change the stance of the bike, the guys at Speed Merchant used some tall rear shocks supplied by Ohlins USA. “They were kind enough to support this build.” The taller shocks provided extra ground clearance and helped to enhance the stance of the bike. To round off the rear section of the bike, Brandon decided to modify the rear swingarm by adding some extra bracing and hollowing out the square tubing. Then they made a battery box to mount the 8 cell Anitgravity Battery just above the swingarm.

Having such a new model created some challenges for Brandon and his crew. Like trying to find a front sprocket to convert this bike to a chain drive. “Luckily I was able to find one. I used a Super Sprox rear sprocket, with a black EK 530 chain. I made a custom aluminium front sprocket cover. Rounding out the rear end was a radial brake bracket with a Tokico caliper to match the front.”

The last thing that SM fabricated was the custom exhaust. Cone Engineering donated there 2″ core muffler for this build. Brandon used this and then recreated the front headers to fit the bike – a full stainless system is just what the doctor ordered.

The paint was done by John Edwards of Old Tyme Custom paint. SM wanted to keep it really clean and simple, but highlight the gold on the bike. Once the color was laid down the bike was handed over to Pacman Line & Letter Company to pinstripe and hand letter the Harley-Davidson. Then finally some pearl was laid over the top before clearing it.

The bike was unveiled at last weeks Born Free 6 and attracted an unprecedented amount of attention – with a constant crowd around the bike for the whole show. The guys from Speed Merchant some it up best with this quote: “In a sea of choppers, it was for sure, the dark horse and a massive attention grabber.” 

Photos by Mike Quinones from ourCaste

via PIPEBURN