STOCKING STUFFERS

Publisher Scott Brady shares his lust list for this Christmas season.

While the most important thing this holiday season is time with friends and family, I am frequently asked for gift suggestions, often for the adventurer that has everything. Here is my top 10 recommendations for awesomeness this Christmas.
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1. Snow Peak GigaPower Torch: $39.95
There is nothing else sold for $40 that will make you more of a campground hero and aspiring pyromaniac than the GigaPower Torch. Spending 20 minutes preparing the perfect Boy Scout teepee fire thingy is dumb. The torch will do the trick in seconds, and can also start charcoal and finish a creme brulee. FIRE!
http://snowpeak.com/products/gigapower-2way-torch-gt-100

2. Longhunter Axe: $125
Continuing with the fire theme, this long-handled hatchet looks sweet and will last a lifetime. I appreciate the simple appearance and non-tacticool approach. For the guy who is bound to whine in the comments section:  “A $125 Axe! I bought mine from Walmart for $5″. It is Christmas, get over it. . .
http://www.2hawks.net/longhunter/

3. American Optics Aviators: $63 
I love these sunglasses and have several pair strewed around various vehicles and bags. They are Made in USA, metal frame and less than $70. You can even find them on Amazon for less then $50 at times. I have worn them on seven continents, and never had a pair fail me. . .
http://www.aoeyewear.com/ 

Meh, Humbug! Does my kafia make my head look bald?

4. Trip to Iceland: $3-10,000 with truck rental
Iceland is one of the most incredible places on the planet. Beautiful, unique and you can drive a diesel Hilux or Prado on 44″ tires across the largest glacier in Europe. You can also rent a stock Suzuki Jimny for a few hundred Euro per day and camp or stay in huts.
http://www.arctictrucks-experience.is/

5. Diesel Land Cruiser: $10-18,000
For the overlander that really does have everything, buy him a turbo diesel Land Cruiser. He will fist pump for days and love you forever. . . promise.
http://www.landcruisersdirect.com/

6. Filson Heritage Sportsman’s Bag: $360
Made from oil finished tin cloth, this is the bag I have traveled around the world with. Mine is thoroughly beat on and still works great. It is carry-on sized and easily takes three to thirty days of stuff for adventure travel. (note: yes, you can travel for months out of a carry on bag. I haven’t checked bags for years) I also have a few for range bags and they just look better the more you use them.

7. Prometheus Design Werx Danger Bear T-Shirt: $29
It is hard to find cool t-shirts. These are the coolest. . . Grrrrrr
http://prometheusdesignwerx.com/products/drb-v9-t-shirt-lieutenant

8. NEMO Helio Shower: $99It is shocking how much effort and expense people will go for a shower in the field. They fit impossible to clean storage tanks, elaborate electrical pumps and an expensive water heater. In reality, few of them work and all of them break. Unless you are traveling in a Unicat, just buy the Nemo Helio. $100 and it works every time, stores the size of a cantaloupe and you can move it from truck to truck- brilliant I tell you!
http://www.nemoequipment.com/product/?p=Helio+Pressure+Shower+%28Grey%29

9. Aether Shelter NH Jacket: $260
Clean and functional, this compressible and warm jacket suits most travel needs, and is the jacket I take along for most travel adventures. I wear it daily in Prescott during the fall and winter, and also use it for an insulating layer underneath a technical shell. It stuffs into my camera bag and looks at home around the campfire and during a night out in Tallinn.  Aether.com

10. 4WD Training: $200-1,000
80-percent of the people we see on the trail can’t drive themselves out of a paper bag. While you are no doubt convinced you are part of the 20-percent that can drive off-highway, even you can benefit from intermediate or advanced 4WD instruction. Training is always the best money spent in a new hobby, so seek out a qualified trainer. Unfortunately, the quality and experience of 4WD instructors varies wildly, from those that don’t know the difference between a KERR and a winch line extension, to the Round the World teams that have genuine experience with all brands and all environments.  Do some research, but Barlow Adventures in the west and Overland Experts in the east are good places to start.
Barlow Adventures
Overland Experts

BONUS. Overland Journal: $45
Overland Journal is a 136-page, perfect bound adventure travel magazine filled with real-world tested gear, incredible journeys and drool-worthy 4WDs and motorcycles.
Subscribe: www.overlandjournal.com

Note: Sure, I could have filled the list with a bunch of 4WD parts, but that would have been boring, and few actually fit in a stocking. . .

via http://expeditionportal.com/stocking-stuffers/

1927 Dodge Sedan Hot Rod by Sasse van Essen

Beauty Shot Dakar

Beauty Shot Dakar 2014 par Dakar

More information on www.dakar.com 
Facebook.com/Dakar ; Twitter.com/Dakar ; Instagram.com/DakarRally 

Snapshot, 1963: Something sinister in the woods?

The early 1960s saw Mercedes release this strange image of the new SL 230 deep in the woods. Are we about to witness a crime? Classic Driver follows the trail...

It’s a grey winter day; the trees have shed their leaves, and we imagine an eerie silence. A brand-new Mercedes-Benz SL 230 is parked to the side of a trail, and to the left of the picture, we see two people disappearing off into the woods. A harmless Sunday stroll, you might say. But some details arouse suspicion: the couple is dressed a little too formally for a casual wander. And why is the driver’s side window wound down in such low temperatures? We could be witnessing an affair, or a short escapade during a business trip. Or perhaps something more sinister – could the man, whose head is bowed slightly, be in search of a secluded location to eliminate his unpleasant wife?

Send us your interpretation of what’s happening in the picture to contact@classicdriver.com. The most creative answer will be published.

Are you in search of the ideal classic car in which to commit your next atrocity? You can find numerous Mercedes-Benz SL Pagodas for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

attente

“HEADING OUT TO THE BRIBEWAY”

As you well know Bali is a lot like the old west, fairly lawless, lots of bars, hookers etc. So when Adrian rocked up to The Temple for a little R-n-R from the Euro JR. cup we figured a bit of the open road may do him some good. Bali is putting in a high-speed toll road and its not finished, but that didn’t stop us from sneaking in and firing off a video of young Adrian fanging the shit out of a custom Yamaha 225cc Deus café racer.

RUST & REDEMPTION

Had filming not already wrapped on next years “Mad Max: Fury Road” then the production team may well have rethought the titular character’s vehicle of choice had they seen stills of this fearsome looking Yamaha XS1100 from the team at Rust & Redemption. All bare metal, knobbly rubber, spiky bits and skulls this is a bike that looks poised to tear into a post apocalyptic world. But as the second part of the Rust & Redemption moniker suggests, this machine opts to tell a different story, a story not of destruction, but of rebirth; of rising from ashes, not leaving a trail of them in its wake.

The bike was built as a homage to the city of Detroit, Jason from R&R tells it best.

“Detroit – a city that is rusted out and broken down. A city that is slowly beginning to rebuild and re-invent itself into something new and different. After years of decline Detroit is working hard to redeem it’s troubled past.”

Once the hotbed of the American Automotive industry the city has in recent times been subjected to much decay, high crime rates and a dwindling population. But it is fighting back and that is the inspiration of this machine.

Jason came across a forgotten ’79 Yamaha XS1100 oddly named Evan, it was a poor imitation of its former self, perfect for the build concept.

“We wanted the bike to have a modest bare metal feel with an industrial cafe/city street fighter look. We wanted to show the mechanics of the bike. Stripped down. Exposed. Something with attitude. All characteristics of Detroit.”

They tore the bike back to its bare bones, reviewing each parts necessity and deeming whether it enhanced either the function or form of the bike before either binning or reworking it and putting it back in a better place. The aim was to utilise what they had instead of turning to new bolt on parts. Items such as the foot pegs and bars were massaged and modified into a superior form until they met Jason’s scrutiny.

“If I don’t like something, I hate it. I will redo it until I like it or someone tells me it is fine.”

The tank is the stock item with the badges removed and new panels welded and smoothed in, like most of the bike it was sanded back to bare metal, the fabric of the city. The lean tail piece was hand formed, the ubiquitous loop rejected in favour of a sharp apex jutting aggressively skyward, mirroring the triangular light upfront. We have seen this shape of headlight before in the ‘Shed, but never inverted like this. Never much liked it before, love it with this execution.

“The paint is as minimal as possible. We didn’t want to busy the bike with a bunch of cosmetic paint work. We wanted the metal to be displayed so as to get the true form of the machine showing through. It needed to not only show it’s war wounds but also have an appearance so that there didn’t need to be a concern over potential scuffs or scratches as it rides through the streets of Detroit.”

The Rust & Redemption Skull logo was painted onto the tank and then fatigued to match both the bike and the city. The same companies Speed and Strength emblem adorns the tail. The R&R team offer a full range of bike gear and casual clothing with the same themes and graphics, this machine now supports the range as an attention grabbing billboard for their design work.

Jason loves what he does, it allows him to travel, build and ride cool motorcycles and to fix them when they break, but it is clear no matter how far he roams, that his heart lies in the city of Detroit. If even a small portion of its inhabitants share his passion and drive then the city is in safe hands on its path to redemption. Caps off to you sir.

from The Bike Shed

cafe racer

The 59 Club Australia 'Cafe Racer' was filmed in the Yarra Valley Victoria using 3 Go-pro cameras. Thanks to everyone who braved the conditions on the day.


The 59 Club Australia 'Cafe Racer' was filmed in the Yarra Valley Victoria using 3 Go-pro cameras. Thanks to everyone who braved the conditions on the day.

MAIDSTONE H-D CAFE RACER

Maidstone Harley-Davidson is a proper, grown up dealership with the usual expansive showroom packed with Milwaukee muscle, a full-on clothing emporium and a parts department large enough to keep the average customer happy for years. But that’s just it, the average customer is now more discerning, wanting a bike not available in the 3 inch thick accessory catalogue.

As you can imagine, a main H-D dealer workshop is a rather well kitted out facility, perfect then for letting creativity loose. Inspiration for this project was varied, from early 20th century board track racers to flat trackers but the first spark of an idea was a picture of a chopped Sportster seat. Building a whole bike around an idea for a seat isn’t the craziest beginning we’ve heard of, by any stretch.

The guys chose a SuperLow as the foundation. A good beginners Harley, slightly lighter and more nimble than the rest of the family. Obviously this is to be taken with a pinch of salt, or a grain as the Yanks put it. Calling any Harley light is like saying Kim Kardashian’s butt is petite compared to the Epcot Centre, we’re splitting hairs. It’s also one of the cheapest bikes in the range and seeing as so many parts would be changed anyway this made sense. And not being a particularly racy model would mean improvements would be more obvious, and head technician Dave A.K.A. Junior #5 would make sure of this.

Where possible the less handsome but necessary inner workings have been hidden away, and the more mechanical and exciting parts emphasised to hint at the work that had gone on with the motor. A 1200cc conversion running ported and flowed blueprinted heads, a more aggressive cam sucking through a Roland Sands Design velocity stack air filter and shouting through a carbon tipped pipe. Lairy!

Rearsets and clipons morph the rider from couch potato to racer in one fell swoop, jumping from stock bike to this must feel like the difference between driving a car and riding a motorcycle. Gilles levers and Biltwell grips finish off the bars and an RSD speedo bracket tidies up the cockpit.

The smaller, peanut tank from a Forty Eight is a common custom option but it was decided that the more rounded and classic lines of the original SuperLow unit suited the tail and kept closer to the original design brief. And passing petrol stations is now possible thanks to the tanks extra capacity.

To match the new purposeful riding position a cafe seat and tail was fabricated to sit on the existing frame rails. The green and silver paint with gold pinstripe came courtesy of Image Design Custom. If you’re into paint jobs have a look at some of their previous work, rather excellent. Progressive Suspension shocks out back and matching springs inside the braced forks are a huge improvement over stock whilst RSD preload adjusters offer further fine tuning.

To harness the extra shove the gearing has been altered which required an XR1200 type belt roller setup with an RSD belt guard. Velocity stacks, loud pipes and whirring belts; this thing must sound epic.

Ex-racer and now Head Technician Dave A.K.A. Junior #5 has certainly delivered on the brief and turned a lazy budget cruiser into this B road belter. If you find yourself in Kent why not check out Maidstone Harley-Davidson showroomand maybe ride this bike away

via The Bike Shed

HYUNDAI Santa Fe - T1 Rally Raid

Greece 24 Hours of Rallyraid this weekend... International premiere of the new Semi-Factory Hyundai Santa Fe RR T1 - made in Bulgaria... we will see

Honda CLR125 Scrambler – Dream Wheels Heritage

Another day, another great custom from Portugal. We’re not sure what they are putting in the Peri-Peri but whatever it is, we’re more than little keen to get our hands on some. This graffitied gob-smacker is from Dream Wheels Heritage, a shop straight out of Porta, north of Lisbon. Hélder Moura and his team of merry metallurgists have created the best small capacity Honda we’ve seen in a month of Sundays. And it’s got a rack for your skateboard, to boot. What’s not to love?

“With the law allowing anyone in Portugal with a car license to ride bikes up to 125cc without the need for extra testing, this is definitely a new market that could become quite interesting,” notes Hélder.  “So far we have not seen many bike builds based on such small capacities. Dream Wheels Heritage aims to change that and therefore we decided to tackle this project: our Honda CLR125 CityFly Scrambler.”

“Originally, the Honda CLR 125 City Fly was a natty little urban bike (forget the supposed off-road potential) to be enjoyed mostly in the city and in flat areas, mainly because its 125cc engine was not designed for speed, but to be economical and reliable in daily use. This type of bike was and still remains the model of choice for Portugal’s delivery of pizzas, couriers, and so on. And it was a pizza guy that sold us this bike, too. He bought it specifically to ride for work because he had no full bike licence. He sold us this bike and then took some lessons to get a licence to ride his new motorcycle – a Honda NX400.”

“This Honda uses the same engine as the 124cc Honda XLR125, which means it’s an old lump – but it’s already proved to be extremely durable and reliable one. In other words, typical Honda. It stock form it puts out around 11 bhp and 8 ft-lb or torque from a bike that weighs in at 120 kilos.”

“What we were really looking for when we were searching for a donor was to get a bike that had all the legal documentation and that was in a decent, working condition. Once that was sorted, we decided that the style we wanted to give this bike was the Scrambler look; one whose functionality was much more off-road capable than the original design and who’s lines were a good mix of the new and the old.”

“The list of what we changed is pretty lengthy. Basically, it started with a new sub-frame, seat, fenders, and the restoration of a Yamaha FS1 tank from the 90s. We customized an ex-fridge magnet to make the gas cap. The new handlebars are a Renthal ‘Fatbar’ model. Then we added a new headlight and an oval front plate.

The tires are Heidenau K67s and the front 18” wheel is from an Yamaha XS400. We added some new 18″ rims and spokes at the back, and finished them off with some red spoke clamps.”

‘The front brake and disc are also from a Yamaha XS400. The fork is a reworked set from a Suzuki RMX 50. New NGK spark cable was added, along with some new air filters from K&N. We used some new light switches and a horn from Blitz Motorcycles because we really like their stuff.

To finish, we added a new LED brake light, lowered the whole thing about 10cm and added a used FMF Mega Max II exhaust with a new, handmade collector. And as you can probably see from the photos, the bike also has a removable skateboard holder.”

“We couldn’t have done it without the support of Pitta Designs who did all the paint and typography, Luís Conrado for the seat, Bicas Customs for the skateboard and Pedro Marcelino for the photos. We really hope your readers like it.”

[Photos by Pedro Marcelino]

via PIPEBURN

for fun : TRECUARTI

CB750 SOHC "Trecuarti" by Vibrazioni Art Design - Ravenna, Italy 

via INAZUMA

SandRaiders 2015

Soloraids wants to step forward and offer even more, a new adventure with more desert than ever. This new proposal is called SANDRAIDERS. This adventure has more than 1000 km of tracks and is thinking for nostalgic motorbikers!!

The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride. Hamburg 2014

The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride. Hamburg 2014 from DREH-MOMENTE.DE on Vimeo.

noir et blanc

SOUL Motor co

Royal Purple Outperformer

To Roland Sands, "Life is just one big project. You got to hit it every day." The custom motorcycle builder is featured in this second installment of the Royal Purple Outperformer Series. Then click here to meet more Outperformers: http://www.royalpurpleconsumer.com/ou...

Dainese 36060 Vintage

IT WAS 1970. I WANTED TO TRAVEL, AND I BOUGHT THAT BULTACO...

In 1972 in Molvena, a small village in the hills near Marostica (the city of chess), I made my first pair of leather motocross trousers. A small workshop was home to the beginning of Dainese’s production of motorcycle clothing. A few years later, I contacted Giacomo Agostini and suggested him to race in one of the leather suits that had been refined by Elio Forte, my legendary pattern maker; the suit provided Agostini increased protection, and from that day on Dainese has been a part of motorcycle racing history, securing undisputed leadership in safety and performance wear.

Now with 40 years of experience, Dainese has set out to reconquer the essence of its origins by making stylish daywear for the motorcycle enthusiast, applying the same passion that drove me back in the early days.

Once again, Molvena-36060, Vicenza, Italy-is the starting point for an unforgettable trip.

VIDEO. Human bat opens WEC Bahrain

Red Bull daredevil Jokke Sommer opens the World Endurance Championship round in Bahrain with fellow athlete Abdo Feghali by landing on the Bahrain International Circuit after a 140kph run in his wing suit.

Abdo Feghali performs prior to the FIA World Endurance Championship at Bahrain International Circuit in Manama, Bahrain on November 15th, 2014 // Dan Vojtech / Red Bull Content Pool // P-20141115-00288 // Usage for editorial use only // Please go to www.redbullcontentpool.com for further information. //

That’s one way to make an entrance.

Grandstand attendees at the recent World Endurance Championship round in Bahrain – all 12/13 of them – were treated to a typically ‘extreme’ display by Red Bull drift artist Abdo Feghali and daredevil Jokke Sommer, who flew onto the grid just before the formation lap in a Red Bull liveried ‘wing-suit’.

Sommer hit speeds of up to 140kph after bailing out of the helicopter hovering over the Bahrain International Circuit before landing in the donut marks left by Feghali (former Guinness World Record Holder and current Red Bull Car Park Drift lynchpin) in his Ford Mustang drift machine just moments earlier.

The penultimate round of this year’s WEC championship was won by Toyota teammates Alexander Wurz, Mike Conway and Stephane Sarrazin in the #7 TS040 Hybrid but it was Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi in the sister #8 machine who, despite only finishing 11^th after alternator issues, took the plaudits by taking the WEC Driver’s crown one race early.

Source – Red Bull

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