‘78 Honda CB750 – Steel Bent Customs

Written by Marlon Slack.

In the last few years news articles beginning with the words ‘Florida man’ have become a running joke. There’s even internet forums devoted to headlines that depict some of the most wonderfully bizarre acts to come out of the Sunshine State. If you get a moment, they’re worth checking out; ‘Florida Man Breaks into House, Poops on Floor and Drinks Contents of Vacuum Cleaner’ is my personal favourite. For me, that best sums up some of the drunken, insane characters that make up the unwashed social fabric of much of the South. Against such inebriated anarchy and swirling head noise stands Florida’s Steel Bent Customs, one of the most professional and consistently clean builders around, who have turned their capable hands to this 1978 Honda CB750 Super Sport.

Steel Bent Customs started five years ago with owner Michael Mundy buying a bike that he wanted to build, customizing it and selling it off before channelling the funds into his next project. As the pace of his work started to quicken and he took on more bikes he soon he found himself head of a workshop with one of the more efficient work processes I’ve heard of recently.

Customers place a deposit which holds them a spot on in the line to have their bike built. Once the bike is in the workshop and on the lift they’ll go over what the customer wants, pouring over photos and inspiration to help bring their dreams to life. This process allows them to keep bikes rolling through their shop at a pretty respectable pace. With builds taking around two months to complete Steel Bent Customs manage work their way through twelve to fifteen bikes a year.

And that’s how this CB750 Super Sport came to life. It was in a condition typical of many old bikes, lying in parts in the owner’s garage as he waited for the time and space to be able to do the project justice. Instead of letting it lay dormant all the pieces were picked up and taken to Built City Customs who drew up a plan with the customer and went to work.

Like most of the bikes that they build, Steel Bent Customs went around the frame removing all the unnecessary tabs and bracing, giving the frame a light and uncluttered appearance. The standard bulky rear end was cut and bent into a loop before it was sent to their local powder coat shop for some gloss black. Their go-to shop, ProFab, had a bit of work with this CB750 with the engine cases, ComStar wheels, kick starter and an assortment of other parts getting freshened up.

The paintwork on the headlight bucket, tank and front fender was painted by Florida man Craig at his aptly-named workshop ‘Craig Paints Bikes’, finished in a beautiful shade of light silver. And the way the tank has been finished is interesting too, with the wide strip of gloss black along the bottom helping it appear smaller and lighter than it really is. That’s a neat trick.

Finally the CB was fitted with a four into one exhaust system and the headers wrapped with titanium tape. The seat was finished in-house and four new air filters were fitted to the freshened-up carburettors while a pair of Shinko 230 Tour Master tyres were mounted front and back. Smaller gauges were fitted up front and some long and low tracker-inspired bars help round out a clean CB750 SS that’s sure to make any Florida man proud, vacuum cleaner fluid affected or not.

[Photos by Erick Runyon]

via PIPEBURN

Sin City Hustler Combines Excursion Limo, Monster Truck

If you have an irresistible urge to be bigger than everyone else and are willing to spend anyamount of money to do it, your ride has arrived. Ladies and gentlemen (or bros), meet the Sin City Hustler, the brainchild of Brad Campbell, owner of Big Toyz Racing Motors. The best way to describe it is a motley marriage of a Ford Excursion limousine and a monster truck.

Naturally, the press release for such an over-the-top vehicle is spilling over with hyperbole, including such gems as a custom parts list “a mile long” and that it’s “virtually unbreakable and up for the challenge on any terrain.” This beast is also claimed to have a “virtually maintenance-free platform.” While the Hustler’s 3-plus-foot ground clearance and massive balloon tires would get it over most topographical imperfections, we don’t think its massive size and width would work well on the tight, narrow, technical trails of Moab, Utah, or the Rubicon.

Among the hardware on the Hustler is a 521ci, 700hp big-block gas V-8, a DOM-tube frame chassis, and a quick-swap engine, transmission, and transfer case, in the off chance the virtually maintenance-free platform has an issue. If you’re interested in getting a Hustler of your own, scribble a check for $1 million to Big Toyz Racing Motors in White Hills, Arizona, or visit bigtoyzracing.com.

Source: Big Toyz Racing

Read more: http://www.trucktrend.com

Colourful classics at Motostalgia's Indianapolis auction

The catalogue for Motostalgia's Indianapolis sale on Sunday 12 June comprises not only a diverse array of American, European and Japanese collector cars – but also almost every shade in the colour spectrum. Here are our ten favourites...

Auctions | Cars

1955 Porsche 356 - Speedster

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1951 Ford Woody

EUR 57 943 - 75 771

Auctions | Cars

1956 Mercury Montclair

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1960 AC Aceca - Bristol

EUR 169 371 - 218 399

Auctions | Cars

1970 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 'Daytona'

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1985 Lamborghini Countach - 5000S

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1962 Mercedes-Benz SL 190

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1962 Alfa Romeo 2600

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1928 Auburn Speedster

P.O.R.

Wheeling .........

Twins & Fins 2015 | second edition

Bikes, boards, babes, beer, live music, sun, longboards, fun, fun, fun...

Music - Come Home by Fast Eddie Nelson

Twins & Fins 2015 | second edition from Manuel Portugal on Vimeo.

WRC, Sardaigne : Chaleur, poussière et nouveautés / heat, dust and changes

Après Ogier au Mexique, Meeke en Argentine et Latvala au Portugal, le quatrième rallye terre de la saison 2015 verra-t-il un quatrième vainqueur différent ? Renouvelé à 80%, le parcours du Rallye d’Italie-Sardaigne s’annonce particulièrement éprouvant.

Si les organisateurs du Rally Italia-Sardegna avaient essuyé quelques critiques quant au parcours 2014 jugé long et ennuyeux, ils ont concocté un itinéraire particulièrement corsé cette année, à parcourir sous le soleil brûlant de Sardaigne.

Comme l’an passé, l’épreuve est basée à Alghero, sur la côte ouest de la Sardaigne, et le départ sera donné à Cagliari, au sud de l’île, avec une Superspéciale sur le port (jeudi 11). Puis, contrairement à 2014, la remontée vers Alghero (vendredi 12) ne s’effectuera pas en convoi, mais par neuf épreuves spéciales allant de 2,60 à 26,40 km.

Des spéciales pratiquement nouvelles pour tout le monde, sauf peut-être pour les insulaires, les pilotes du championnat terre italien et les concurrents de l’IRC 2010 (Meeke, Neuville, Mikkelsen, Al-Rajhi…). En effet, la manche italienne du championnat IRC 2010 avait emprunté les pistes de Monte Grighine qui avaient causé bien des dégâts parmi les ténors.

Samedi et dimanche, l’action se déroulera à l’est et au nord d’Alguero, sur des spéciales – ou du moins des profils connus -, comme la classique Monte Lerno (42,22 km) et son fameux jump. Sur les 240,99 km chronométrés, 185,20 sont nouveaux, soit près de 80 % !

Côté engagés, peu de surprises. Sébastien Ogier visera une 3^e victoire consécutive en Sardaigne, mais il ouvrira et balaiera sur l’essentiel du parcours. L’an passé, ses équipiers Jari-Matti Latvala et Andreas Mikkelsen lui avaient donné bien du fil à retordre.

Kris Meeke et Mads Ostberg tenteront de maintenir l’équipe Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi à la 2^eplace du championnat Constructeurs, devant Hyundai Motorsport (Neuville, Sordo) et M-Sport (Evans, Tanak).

L’an passé, Thierry Neuville et Juho Hanninen jouaient aux avant-postes en début de rallye au volant des Hyundai i20 WRC. Pareil pour Mikko Hirvonen sur la Ford Fiesta RS WRC, avant qu’elle ne parte en fumée. Grâce à leurs récentes évolutions, ces deux modèles pourraient donc s’immiscer dans la lutte pour la victoire, du moins le podium en Sardaigne.

Le plus Italien des Polonais Robert Kubica va disputer les deux prochaines manches WRC à domicile. Khalid Al-Qassimi, Martin Prokop, Hayden Paddon et Lorenzo Bertelli (qui a remplacé Giovanni Bernacchini par Lorenzo Granai) sont également engagés en catégorie WRC.

En WRC-2, le plateau est aussi copieux qu’au Portugal avec 28 engagés. L’absence du leader du championnat Jari Ketomaa laissent pas mal d’opportunités à ses poursuivants et candidats au titre 2015 (Al-Attiyah, Al-Kuwari, Al-Rajhi, Protasov, Lefebvre, Kruuda…). A domicile, le multiple champion italien Paolo Andreucci (Peugeot 208 T16) est un des favoris.

Le Shakedown est programmé jeudi 11 à partir de 7h00 près d’Alghero.

After Ogier’s triumph in Mexico, Meeke’s maiden win in Argentina and Latvala’s success in Portugal, will the 2015 WRC campaign’s fourth gravel outing produce another different winner? The stages of this year’s Rally Italia-Sardegna are 80-percent new and promise to be particularly gruelling.

A number of criticisms were levelled at last year’s Sardinian itinerary which was judged to be long and boring, so this year’s menu in the Mediterranean island’s sunshine has been spiced up somewhat.

As in 2014, the event will be based on the west coast in Alghero, with the start in the south in Cagliari, followed by a super-special by the capital’s harbour on Thursday, June 11. Unlike last year, however, instead of everyone returning in a convoy to Alghero on Friday, June 12, a programme of nine stages of between 2.60km and 26.40km in length has been concocted.

These tests will be new for practically everyone, except perhaps the local competitors, Italian gravel championship runners and those drivers who were around for the 2010 IRC, like Meeke, Neuville, Mikkelsen and Al-Rajhi. The stages in the Monte Grighine caused havoc amongst the favourites on that rally.

The action on Saturday and Sunday will take place to the east and north of Alghero, including classics like ‘Monte Lerno’ (42.22km) which is reputed for its big jump. Almost 80 percent of the total distance 240.99km will be competitive (185.20km)!

There are few surprises regarding the entry list which stars Sébastien Ogier who is on target for a third straight victory in Sardinia. However, he will be first on the road again for much of the week and, last year, team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen gave him a good run for his money.

Kris Meeke and Mads Ostberg will be out to defend the second place of Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi in the provisional Manufacturers’ standings, ahead of Hyundai Motorsport (Neuville, Sordo) and M-Sport (Evans, Tanak).

Last year, Thierry Neuville and Juho Hanninen played leading roles early on in the Hyundai i20 WRC, as did Mikko Hirvonen before his Ford Fiesta RS WRC was consumed by flames. Thanks to recent evolutions, both cars could well figure in the fight for overall or, at the very least, podium honours.

Italy’s favourite Pole Robert Kubica will be on ‘home’ ground for the next two rounds of the championship, and the WRC ranks will also feature Khalid Al-Qassimi, Martin Prokop, Hayden Paddon and Lorenzo Bertelli (who has replaced co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini with Lorenzo Granai).

The WRC2 field will be as impressive as it was in Portugal with 28 cars in all. The absence of the class’s leader Jari Ketomaa will provide chasers like Al-Attiyah, Al-Kuwari, Al-Rajhi, Protasov, Lefebvre and Kruuda with a welcome chance to boost their 2015 title hopes. The multiple Italian champion Paolo Andreucci (Peugeot 208 T16) is another probable front-runner.

Shakedown is scheduled to start at 7am on Thursday, June 11, near Alghero.

La lutte pour le titre Moto2™ continue à Montmeló / Moto2™ title fight continues in Catalunya

Johann Zarco demeure en tête du classement général suite à ce que Tito Rabat ait décroché sa première victoire de l’année en Italie.

                 

Vainqueur depuis la pole l’an dernier en Catalogne, Tito Rabat (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) a remporté sa première victoire de l’année, la première depuis Misano 2014, au Mugello à la fin du mois de mai et a ainsi lancé pour de bon sa saison 2015 après un début d'année compliqué. Le Champion en titre sera donc en confiance ce week-end pour courir devant ses fans au Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya et cherchera à finir devant Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport).

Deuxième au Mugello, Zarco conserve 31 points d’avance sur l’Espagnol et demeurera donc leader du classement Moto2™ à l’issue du Grand Prix Monster Energy de Catalogne, quel que soit son résultat, mais visera bien évidemment le podium, dont il occupait l’an dernier la troisième marche. 

Après un nouvel abandon en Italie, Jonas Folger (AGR Team) est descendu à la cinquième place du classement général, derrière Tom Lüthi (Derendinger Racing Interwetten) et Sam Lowes (Speed Up Racing), alors qu’il est le seul pilote à s’être imposé deux fois cette année.

                  

Suite à un impressionnant début de saison, Álex Rins (Páginas Amarillas HP 40) a aligné deux résultats blancs en France et en Espagne, avant de finir en onzième position au Mugello. Le rookie espagnol demeure un sérieux candidat au podium et notamment chez lui à Barcelone, où il arrivera en étant classé sixième au championnat.

Mika Kallio avait fini au pied du podium l’an dernier, à deux dixièmes de seconde de la troisième place, et demeure en difficulté sur la Kalex 2015 avec l’Italtrans Racing Team. Le Finlandais et son équipe avaient réalisé d’importants changements au Mugello, où son week-end s’était malheureusement conclu sur une chute.

La première séance d’essais Moto2™ du Grand Prix Monster Energy de Catalogne aura lieu vendredi matin à 10h55.

                    

Moto2™ has seen five different winners in the five previous races held in Barcelona, while Rabat looks to become the first repeat winner.

Catalunya has seen Tito Rabat finish on the podium in both 2013 and 2014, last year converting pole to victory. The Spaniard returned to the top step of the podium for the first time since Misano 2014 last time out in Mugello and has reignited his Moto2™ Title defence. His win at Mugello is also the first win by a reigning world champion in the intermediate-class since Marco Simoncelli won the 250cc race at Philip Island in 2009.

Johann Zarco had a strong performance in Mugello, recovering from a lacklustre grid position to challenge Rabat for the victory down to the final corner. The Barcelona track has seen mixed results for Zarco who crossed the line first in 2011, but was given a 20 second penalty for an illegal passing manoeuvre. He secured a third in Moto2™ last year and has so far this seen shown steady form allowing him to securing five successive podium finishes.

2015 has been a season of highs and lows for Jonas Folger; the German has taken two wins but also failed to score points on three occasions. The 2011 season saw Folger claim third in the 125cc race at Catalunya, but he failed to finish the Moto2™ race last year. More race wins and increased consistency could still see Folger as a championship contender.

                       

At the start of the season, Alex Rins looked set to be a title contender, but after DNFs in both France and Spain his title challenge has faded. Rins’ performances are still remarkable as a rookie in the highly competitive Moto2™ class, the Spaniard sitting in sixth on the championship table, former teammate Alex Marquez is the next highest rookie in 17th

Last year’s Catalunya GP saw Mika Kallio finish just off the podium in fourth position, within 0.2s of third spot. The Finn has had a difficult season since transferring to the Italtrans Racing Team, struggling somewhat with the 2015 version of the Kalex frame. He and the team made changes in Mugello, but an unfortunate crash stopped them from assessing the alterations over race distance.

Speed Up’s Sam Lowes continues to put up a strong fight against the overwhelming number of Kalex bikes on the Moto2™ grid. The aluminium swing arm introduced during the off-season as well as increased track knowledge has seen the British rider able to finish inside the top five on all but two occasions. Last year sway Lowes crash on the opening lap in Barcelona.

                

The Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya Moto2™ on-track action kicks off on Friday at 10:55am local time in Barcelona.

Scooter tuning drag race

MotoGP ; Lorenzo sera l’homme à battre en Catalogne / Lorenzo the man to beat in Catalunya

La saison 2015 continue cette semaine au Grand Prix Monster Energy de Catalogne, où Lorenzo visera une quatrième victoire consécutive.

              

Vainqueur des trois dernières courses, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) est revenu à six points de son coéquipier Valentino Rossi au classement général et arrive à Barcelone en pleine confiance après avoir surclassé ses adversaires à Jerez, au Mans et au Mugello.

Le Majorquin a déjà gagné trois fois en catégorie reine au Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya et pourrait aligner pour la première fois de sa carrière une quatrième victoire consécutive.

Rossi est de son côté le pilote au palmarès le plus étoffé à Montmeló depuis l’introduction du circuit catalan au calendrier des Grands Prix et y a remporté un total de neuf victoires : 1 en 125cc, 2 en 250cc, 1 en 500cc et 5 en MotoGP, dont la dernière en 2009. L’Italien avait fini deuxième l’an dernier, une demi-seconde derrière Marc Márquez.

Márquez (Repsol Honda) traverse pour sa part le moment le plus compliqué de sa carrière et est reparti du Mugello sans le moindre point suite à un week-end cauchemardesque marqué par deux chutes, dont une course. Le Champion du Monde en titre et son équipe espèreront tourner la page ce week-end chez lui en Catalogne, où il tentera de rattraper une partie de ses 49 points de retard sur Rossi. Quatrième en Italie, son coéquipier Dani Pedrosa sera lui aussi déterminé à décrocher un bon résultat devant ses supporters, sur un circuit où il n’a plus manqué le podium depuis 2011.

Chez Ducati, Andrea Iannone est en pleine confiance après avoir signé sa première pole position en MotoGP™ ainsi que son meilleur résultat dans la catégorie en finissant deuxième au Mugello. L’Italien devrait être en meilleure condition physique après avoir souffert de son bras en Italie et avait gagné à Montmeló en 2012, en Moto2™.

Contraint à l’abandon en Italie, son coéquipier Andrea Dovizioso voudra se relancer ce week-end et retrouvera un circuit où il s’était imposé en 250cc en 2006 et avait fini troisième avec Tech3 en MotoGP™ en 2012. Avec quatre podiums en six courses depuis le début de l’année, Dovizioso occupe la troisième place du classement général, à 25 points de Rossi.

             

Le Team Suzuki Ecstar devrait disposer d’un nouveau moteur pour la GSX-RR cette semaine à l’occasion de la septième manche de la saison, une bonne nouvelle pour Aleix Espargaró comme Maverick Viñales, qui seront tous les deux à domicile. Espargaró continue de récupérer de son opération du pouce droit et avait fini sixième à Montmeló l’an dernier tandis que Viñales a décroché son meilleur résultat en date, la septième place, lors de la dernière course et voudra poursuivre sa progression ce week-end en Catalogne.

Suite à la chute de Cal Crutchlow (CMW LCR Honda) en Italie, Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) est passé en tête de la lutte pour le titre de premier pilote satellite, avec dix points d’avance sur son compatriote et douze sur son coéquipier Pol Espargaró, tandis que Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) continue de s’adapter à sa RC213V Factory.

Dans la catégorie Open, Loris Baz (Athinà Forward Racing) n’est plus qu’à dix points de Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) après avoir décroché une fantastique douzième place au Mugello et essayera de poursuivre sur sa lancée ce week-end en Catalogne, où Barberá ne sera vraisemblablement pas à 100% après s’être fait opérer d’un syndrome des loges à l’avant-bras droit.

Le coup d’envoi du Grand Prix Monster Energy de Catalogne sera donné vendredi matin à 9h55 avant la première séance d’essais de la catégorie MotoGP™.

                 

The one question on everyone’s lips as we head to the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya is, can anyone stop Jorge Lorenzo?

               

The Movistar Yamaha rider has won the last three races in a row at a canter, and has looked simply untouchable, although he currently occupies second in the MotoGP™ World Championship standings, six points behind his teammate Rossi.

Lorenzo has three premier class victories to his name at the Circuit de Barcelona, which will host the seventh round of the 2015 MotoGP™ Championship, and finished last year’s race in fourth.

Rossi is the most successful rider at the Barcelona track ever since it was introduced to the World Championship calendar in 1992, with nine victories to his name across all classes (1x125cc, 2x250cc, 1x500cc & 5xMotoGP), although the last of these came back in 2009. The Italian finished second in the race last year, just 0.5s behind the winner Marc Marquez.

Rossi has not finished off the podium yet this season, but if he is to stop Lorenzo’s charge, and maintain his lead in the World Championship standings, he will need to improve his Saturday performances. Rossi has effectively been giving Lorenzo a head start in recent races due to his poor qualifying performances, and will need to address this is if he wants to win his 10th World Championship title this year.

              

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez is facing the biggest crisis of his career so far. A nightmare weekend in Mugello saw him take no points for second time this year as he crashed out of the race. The Spaniard has identified a number of issues with his RC213V, as it appears as though his team has been treading water while his rivals have made giant strides. Marquez, the winner in Catalunya last year, will be hoping to turn his season around in front of his passionate home support and reduce the 49 point gap to Rossi in the championship standings. Marquez’ teammate Dani Pedrosa finished a comfortable fourth in Mugello, and will be confident of a good result in a race where he has not finished off the podium since 2011.

Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone will be looking to build on his first MotoGP™ pole position, and his best ever race result (second) last time out in Mugello. The Italian has had an extra two weeks to recover from the arm injury that was affecting him in Italy, and has won at the Barcelona circuit before in Moto2™ (2012). 

               

His teammate Andrea Dovizioso will be looking to bounce back after he was forced to retire from the Italian Grand prix with a rear sprocket issue. He has tasted success at the Circuit de Barcelona before, winning the 2006 250cc race, and finishing third on the Tech 3 Yamaha in MotoGP™ in 2012. Dovizioso has stood on the podium in four of the six races so far this season, and is currently third in the title standings, 25 points behind Rossi.

Team Suzuki Ecstar have announced they will be bringing an engine update to the Catalan Grand Prix, which will come as an added bonus to riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales who both felt they made a major breakthrough in their chassis set-ups in Italy. Espargaro will continue his recovery from the ligament surgery he had on his right thumb after his huge Free Practice crash at Le Mans, and finished last years race at the circuit in sixth. His teammate Viñales will be looking to follow up his best ever MotoGP™ result last time out at Mugello (7th) with another good performance, at a circuit he has won at before in Moto3™ (2012).

The battle for the top Satellite rider took a further twist in Italy, as CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow crashed out of the race with just three laps to go, allowing his compatriot Bradley Smith to cross the line in fifth and open up a 10 point lead in the championship standings. Crutchlow dislocated his ankle in the crash, and will have to pass a medical inspection by before he can race.

                

Pol Espargaro closed the gap to Crutchlow to just two points, as he followed his teammate Smith home in sixth in Italy, while Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Scott Redding knows he needs to show his true potential on his Factory Spec RC213V, after another finish outside the top ten last time out.

In the Open class, Athina Forward Racing’s Loris Baz (10pts) closed the gap to the leader, Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera (16pts), to just six points after taking the victory in Mugello. Barbera underwent compartment syndrome surgery after the Italian Grand Prix to alleviate arm pump symptoms and will not be 100% in Barcelona.

               

The Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya officially starts with the Press Conference on Thursday at 17:00 local time, while the MotoGP™ on-track action kicks off on Friday at 9:55am local time in Barcelona.