László Kocziha by caferacerculture.net
vendredi 21 décembre 2012
jeudi 20 décembre 2012
WALT SIEGL LEGGERO SERIES DUCATI
The market for high-end, bespoke custom motorcycles is tiny. To move beyond bolt-on parts takes hours of craftsmanship, and true artisans don’t come cheap. Walt Siegl is one of those rare craftsmen, and he’s also keenly aware of the dilemma: His bikes, lusted after by so many, are affordable by relatively few.
Siegl has taken a big step to correct the imbalance with his new Leggero Series, a limited run of production machines based on two-valve Ducati 900cc engines. Because it’s a limited run, costs are reduced without affecting quality. This is the prototype: feast your eyes.
‘Timeless’ is a word that gets bandied around too much, but it fits this machine perfectly. It looks modern yet ‘old’, without being faddishly retro. “I wanted to use classic sport/racing design elements that are clearly recognizable,” says Walt, “from exhaust to frame design.”
The exhaust pays homage to the Conti systems that all the big Bevels had. Walt has fashioned his in stainless steel, feeding through a collector unit. The frame is crafted from 4130 chrome moly steel tubing, and its design is a nod to the Verlicchis built for racing. “As a matter of fact, it has exactly the same weight as the Verlicchi TT1 and TT2 frames—19 lbs,” says Walt.
Suspension is via the trusty Showa fork, and rear shocks are Öhlins. The motor, in this case, is fitted with 39mm Keihins FCRs. The bodywork is carbon fiber: “I built the original tank and tail, then Matt Tanner [of Tannermatic], used my prototypes to create molds for this and future builds.”
Walt has had the frame and rearsets reverse-engineered by M&E Design. A Solidworks computer program has been created, which allows him to reproduce the designs. Why? “It allows me to build a superior product,” says Walt. “Solidworks programs allow stress analysis to be done. They take away the guesswork and reduce time spent on research. I can make certain that what I am building is strong enough, and that the pieces will fit well together.”
Over time, Walt has collected a group of smart, talented people to help him build the best possible product, and he’s happy to give them the kudos. As well as Tannermatic and M&E Design, Walt enlists Dave Goddard for painting, Eric Kobalth of Clubhouse Motorsports for engine rebuilds, and seamstress Vivienne Smith for upholstery. Alex Vogel of AVA Restoration helps to design a truly modern, fully electronic wiring harness.
“Although the bikes are still hand-built by me, one at a time, these technologies have shaved off many, many hours in the workshop building one-offs,” says Walt. “It’s always been my desire to build more accessible bikes.”
If this Superlight takes your fancy, you’ll be glad to know that you get plenty of choices when it comes to specifying the bike. You can choose either a mono-shock or dual-shock set-up. There is a half-fairing option as well. Bodywork choices are: full carbon fiber, clear-coated or painted; or painted vacuum-molded fiberglass.
For price and availability, contact Walt through his website at www.waltsiegl.com. Take your place behind me in the queue—and no pushing.
Images by Michael Rubenstein. Head over to the Bike EXIF Google+ page for an extra photo gallery.
Men's FIle Issue 8 preview
For four years Men’s File has been the best seller in our (online) shop. The quality of the subjects, the photos and the articles make it a reference point and an inspiration for the world of fashion. The forthcoming issue highlights Denim,featuring 'Workwear' and 'Americana', so much in vogue at the moment. We are impatiently waiting to discover what Nick Clements and his team have for us, and we are proud to have contributed.
The eigth issue of Mens' File will be available in the Shop from the beginning of January, and we're taking advantage of that to remind you that Nick Clements is producing a limited edition of archive photos under the title of 'Mens' File Archive Transportation Book'. As a result of their success, we are promoting a series of 10, accompanied by 2 prints signed personally by the photographer
You can order your book by clicking here
By Vincent Prat (http://southsiders-mc.blogspot.fr)
Five Vehicles for the End of the World
You don’t have to believe that the end of the Mayan calendar signifies the beginning of the end, you just have to go to your local theater and see how many apocalyptic movies are out. It’s like we want it to happen. Whatever the case, make sure your bug out bag is ready, have ample supplies available and prepare to go off the grid. But just as important, if not more so, is your transportation. No average wagon is going to save your bacon when the cataclysm makes it rain (fire) up in this club we call Earth. Window shop our five apocalypse-ready vehicles to your heart’s content, and start dreaming about what it feels like to turn a zombie into a speed bump. And don’t forget to bring those sharpened garden tools. You just might need ‘em.
Patria XA-360 AMV
The Finnish “Armored Mobile Vehicle” makes Humvees look like wheeled toaster ovens. The 8×8 XA-360 isn’t just road candy — it can take hits like Balboa in the 15th round. We’re talking armored blast protection of up to 22 lbs of TNT. It can also fend off 30mm armor-piercing rounds, so you’re prepared for when the jealous (well-armed) masses lust after your ride. But it’s not all duck and pray. The XA-360 can be configured with heavy weaponry such as a 120mm mortar turret or a Mobile Gun System, and its eight massive wheels adjust independently via hydraulic suspension, so if you need to traverse a pile of burning cars to refuel at the last Costco in the area, you’ll be ready. Just hope you don’t have to inflate your tires with a hand pump.
Mercedes-Benz Zetros 6×6 Custom
If ever you needed to take a sizable portion of your possessions with you and not look back, theMercedes-Benz Zetros 6×6 Custom should be your oversized apocalyptic transport of choice. Originally militarily purposed, the Zetros is as tough as they come. The 7.2-liter turbo diesel engine provides 326 horsepower; six-wheel drive and three locking differentials mean you can get out of some thick and sticky trouble fast. Most importantly, if communications are still up, you’ll be able to charge serious coin for access to the grid, since the Zetros has a satellite dish and a flatscreen. Plus, with creature comforts like a full bed, dining room for 8 and a bathroom with a heated floor, you won’t be lacking for the finer pleasures while cities burn.
Panhard CRAB
Looking sincerely G.I. Joe-inspired, the Panhard CRAB (Combat Reconnaissance Armoured Buggy) is part mini-tank, part dune buggy and all awesome. French company Panhard plans to build the CRAB as a next-generation armored recon vehicle that can withstand ballistics and has a top speed of 70 mph. The CRAB can also be equipped with a 30mm gun turret, missiles and some sweet laser-guided rockets. Kinda makes you wanna buy one just for the drive to the office.
Conquest Vehicles Knight XV
Even though the Conquest Vehicles Evade is more than capable, we’d opt for its fully armored big brother, the Knight XV, when things really go downhill. The Knight possesses both luxury digs and half-track-like DNA due to its use of ballistic aluminum and glass, high strength steel, composites, aramid and ceramic that provide serious protection. Even the door hinges are reinforced and designed to not compromise armor strength. When the gas stations run dry, its huge 6.8-liter V10, bio-fuel guzzling engine will keep you from being left in the lurch. You might, however, opt to ditch the chrome wheels before you head out into the unknown. They make you look rich.
Organic Transit Elf
When all else fails, but you still have some sun and a reserve of leg power, the Organic Transit Elfmay be your only way to get from Point Alpha to Point Zulu. Designed for the busy urban commuter who wants to save money and perhaps drop a few pounds, the Elf might just be the perfect rudimentary ride when cars go the way of the dodo. Charge the 480Wh lithium battery pack in the sun or plug it into an available power outlet, and you’ll get 30 miles without pedaling. Just pack (and eat) light: it only holds around 350 pounds. Oh, and look for routes that are mostly downhill so your hamstrings don’t explode.
MOTO GUZZI NUOVO FALCONE BY THE WRENCHMONKEES
The Wrenchmonkees have a knack for producing the kind of motorcycles that are fantastically alternative, yet at the same time have an almost universal appeal, like this classic Nuovo Falcone.
The Moto Guzzi Nuovo Falcone was produced by Guzzi between 1971 and 1976, it’s powered by a 500cc, air-cooled single cylinder engine and was fitted with front and rear drum brakes. The Nuovo Falcone (or “New Falcon” as there was a similar model produced between 1950 and 1967) became known as a reliable and easy to fix motorcycle and was quickly adopted by the Italian police, army and even the fire department.
Approximately 17,000 were produced and due to their easy maintenance characteristics, many of them are still functioning today.
This custom by Copenhagen’s most famous garage has been fitted with a custom rear-frame loop and a 600cc big bore kit, the front and rear suspension are both totally original as is the frame, swing arm, brakes and carburettor. The Wrenchmonkees added a fuel tank from a Suzuki GS, created a custom seat, a lithium battery, new lights, vintage racing grips and custom front and rear fenders.
The finished bike is a design exercise in 2 wheeled minimalism and will probably still be running without a care in the world when all of us have shuffled off this mortal coil.
Read more via The Wrenchmonkees here.
from SILODROME
Woah... Woah... What's New Pussycat?
To our knowledge - and please correct us if we're wrong - a comprehensive and scientific survey has yet to be conducted in order to determine the answer to the most important question in the history of the automobile: which cars make the best babe magnets?
But if faced with the possibility of a wager, we would put our money on Jaguar as being the number one maker of four-wheeled crumpet catchers. Somehow, you see, Jags manage to make a superior impression without being too flash (no woman likes a show-off).
Traditionally, they are driven by the sort of gentleman a girl can trust (until, at least, she's trapped in the passenger seat at 100mph), yet the feline connotations of the name speak of underlying animal passions (unless, of course, you're dealing with the type of woman who believes bonnet length is inversely proportional to the filling of one's underpants).
Austin Powers was bang-on when he named his E-type the 'Shaguar', and not for nothing did Sylvia Kristel's 'Emmanuelle' find herself being driven through Bangkok in the passenger seat of a primrose yellow roadster.
And what about Simon Templar, the Saint? His XJS was as smooth as he was - and as for Inspector Morse... he might have been ageing, greying and celibate, but women had a strange tendency to fall for him.
His sharp, analytical mind, perhaps? Or was it the irresistible attraction of the vinyl roof on his Regency Red MK II?
We think you know the answer. Purrrrrrrrrr...
Text: Simon de Burton (Classic.driver.com)
Photos: Getty Images
Five Watches for the End of the World
Clearly Mayan watchmakers hadn’t cracked the horology of the perpetual calendar complication before their ateliers closed for good. Whether December 21st, 2012 portends an ominous implosion of this rock on which we live, a collapse of civilization or just severe disappointment for the crazies no one knows for sure. But it sure does present a great excuse to stock up on bombproof gear. We’ve got five timepieces to see you through the fire and brimstone — and if the Mayans were wrong, well, you’ve still got yourself a pretty badass watch.
Sinn EZM-10
No list of apocalypse-proof watches is complete without a Sinn. The German brand is known for its obsessively overengineered timepieces, and the EZM-10 is the culmination of everything they’ve learned to date. “EZM” stands for Einsatz Zeit Messer, “mission timer” in German, and past EZMs were developed for Germany’s serious forces of military divers, police and firefighters. The watch’s list of features is long. Its hardened titanium case is water resistant to 200 meters and is filled with Argon and with a copper sulphate capsule to absorb moisture; the movement, a Sinn-modified Valjoux 7750 with a central minutes counter and 24-hour subdial, utilizes Sinn’s patented DIAPAL oil-free escapement; the rotating pilot’s bezel is screwed on, and the crystal is secured against sudden pressure drops. We could go on but time is short. Suffice it to say, when it’s time to bug out, this is the watch to be wearing.
Casio Pathfinder PAG240
When you have to head for the hills and live off the land, this rugged Casio will be your new best friend. The Pathfinder has Casio’s Triple Sensor technology — barometer/altimeter, thermometer and digital compass — so plotting a course away from chaotic cities and forecasting storms is suddenly well within your wheelhouse. Sunrise and sunset data also help you stay out of sight after dark when the zombies come calling. Of course, finding watch batteries may become a difficult proposition, so the fact that this Tough Solar Casio gets its juice from the sun is an added bonus.
Panerai Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days (PAM 422)
Who needs electricity? Alongside a hand-cranked diesel engine, a handwound mechanical watch will see you through just about any catastrophe. After all, when you’re snaring rabbits and rubbing sticks together for fire, the last problem you need is a failed watch. Simplicity is the secret here, and there are few simpler timepieces than a Panerai. This survival watch’s large sandwich dial is easy to read at a glance, with only five-minute hashes and oversized numerals that glow like a watch named, “Luminor” should. The in-house Panerai handwound calibre has a three-day power reserve; the meter on the movement tells you when it’s time to crank it up again.
IWC Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar Top Gun
Just because the Mayan calendar is coming to an end doesn’t mean yours has to. Plus, if the Mayans were wrong, you’re still well prepared for whatever comes your way. With a stealthy ceramic 6-bar water resistant case, pressure-proof crystal and magnetism-shielded movement, there isn’t much that can harm this watch. Yes, it’s a $40,000 timepiece, but you were going to empty your bank account anyway, right?
NOMOS Glashütte Sonnenuhr
When the clocks all stop and we’re knocked back to the Stone Age, tell time like… well, like the Mayans did. With the sun. Lightweight, durable and highly portable, the Sonnenuhr (“sundial” in German) is the least expensive in-house timepiece that the small Bauhaus watch company from Glashütte, Germany offers. It’s worn around your neck; pull it out when the sun is shining to get a quick read of the time. Align the hole on the middle ring with the mark for the current month, hold it up to the sun, and wherever the light hits inside the ring is the time of day. And if the Mayans were wrong and Christmas comes as usual this year, you can always wrap it up and put it under the tree for your sweetheart.
Nissan lance la personnalisation du Juke
Ainsi, les propriétaires de Nissan Juke pourront décorer leur SUV en choisissant parmi différents éléments de carrosserie : coques de rétroviseurs extérieurs, baguettes latérales, poignées de coffre, cerclages de feux anti-brouillard et béquet arrière. Ces composants seront proposés dans cinq teintes : Force Red, Glossy White, Orange Racing, Piano Black ou Silver Grey. De quoi offrir un caractère sportif au Juke !
Vendus à l'unité, ces éléments seront également accessibles sous forme de packs de personnalisation (Style, Premium Light, Premium et Exclusive), d'un montant variant de 229 à 499 euros. Enfin, pour compléter la customisation, des jantes aluminium sont également disponibles dans les mêmes couleurs.
A noter qu'il ne s'agit là que d'un début, puisque le constructeur nippon annonce déjà d'autres accessoires destinés à l'habitacle pour 2013. Il est également fort probable qu'apparaîtront des jeux de stickers, à l'image de la Renault Clio 4.
by Olivier Thomas (Motor-Legend.com)
Behind the wheel of the Jaguar Heritage Racing E-type
As is appropriate at year’s end, Jaguar had arranged a bit of a family get-together. A snowy Goodwood would have been more seasonal — but we had to make do with torrential rain. Did we mind? Not for a minute...
First with the C-type (referred to originally as an ‘XK-120C’ – ‘C’ for ‘competition’) which won in 1951 and 1953, and then the D-type that triumphed three years on the trot from 1955 onwards, the day-long French race became Jaguar’s own.
And that’s without all the other victories worldwide, including the semi-official Lightweight E-type programme of the early 1960s.
Classic Driver dealer JD Classics ran the Jaguar Heritage Racing programme on behalf of the factory this year. So it was ‘The Guv’nor’, Derek Hood, and his two top drivers, Alex Buncombe and Wil Arif, who greeted a carefully selected group of journalists on a wet Monday at the West Sussex circuit.
Depending on experience, the options were to drive the cars or ride passenger with the experts. I’d decided to plump for the E-type. It has a roof… though I had made the decision weeks before, and was not wimping out from some rain on the day.
Having squeezed through the E-type’s small door and safety cage, I settled under the traditional wood-and-alloy steering wheel. A perfect driving position in what is Buncombe’s 2012 E-type Challenge-winning car.
Wil Arif sits next to me, an extra pair of eyes to spot standing water, apexes and exit points on what is now a totally soaked circuit. He’s also there as a driver coach to make sure I get the best out of the car in such treacherous conditions. (I “get on the throttle too early,” apparently – well, at least I’m trying.)
After thumbing the starter button, the highly tuned straight-six crackles away and, triple windscreen wipers whirring, we exit the pits.
All the controls are so, so positive. This is one beautifully prepared racing car – with a very powerful motor. The conditions being what they were, and with a perfectly reasonable (low) rev limit put on the JD Classics-built engine, it wasn’t really possible to stretch the car’s legs. One could feel, though, that with a dry track and another 1250rpm to play with, the metallic green roadster would really fly, using all of its 350+bhp.
And a special word here for the steering, something Hood says the Maldon-based company “has done a lot of work on”. He’s a master of understatement. It is very direct, leaves the car running straight as a die - yet is not so heavy that really long periods behind the wheel become tiring (many of the rounds are two-driver, long-distance races).
Sadly, after a dozen or so laps, it was time to pull into the pits, my own stint over. What a terrific car, and what a race series, one that also caters for less-modified cars.
The day didn’t end there. No sooner had I shaken myself down from the close confinement of the E-type, than Arif had the bronze C-type ticking over, ready for some high-speed passenger laps.
The ex-Fangio ‘C’ has been a front-runner in every event it has entered this year. With professional drivers Buncombe or Arif at the wheel, it’s either led or won most of them. Arif soon has the car making use of every scintilla of grip on the still sopping wet track. Looking on from the passenger seat, he is the master of smooth driving; exploring every inch of Tarmac with constant, minute corrections on the big, plastic-coated wheel.
Compared with my own efforts, he’s in a different league. There’s grip to be had, and more power that can be applied - this time further down in the rev-range compared with the E-type - from another JD-prepared motor.
With two or three laps of that, it was time to call time. The Jaguar D-type, also on hand, would have to wait for another day.
As will the all-new-F-type, which we will drive in 2013. Looking at the generations of Jaguar sports cars in front of the famous Goodwood pits, it was a happy family reunion.
| Related Links JD Classics' cars for sale in the Classic Driver Marketplace The HSCC-organised Jaguar E-type Challenge website: www.hscc.org.uk Many modern and classic Jaguars can be found in the Classic Driver Marketplace |
Text: Steve Wakefield (ClassicDriver.com)
Photos: Jaguar
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