TRÈS CHIC: CAFÉ RACER DREAMS’ BMW R100

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Despite the flood of BMW customs hitting the streets, certain workshops can be counted on to consistently produce good examples. Like Café Racer Dreams—who’ve shown their prowess yet again with this elegant Boxer.

CRD #58 is an 84-model BMW R100, and it was built for a regular of the Madrid-based shop who lives in Nice, France. (This is his third CRD bike, with a fourth on order.)

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The brief was to produce a Boxer custom that would buck current design trends—in stylish fashion. Luckily CRD’s Pedro García and Efraon Triana are a pretty versatile team, and masters of good aesthetic judgement.

A sketch on a napkin was all it took to get the client excited and the project rolling. But early in the process, ideas started changing.

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“The drawing on the napkin was based on the original R100 fuel tank,” says Pedro. “But we wanted to put a smaller tank on”.

The guys had a 1972 Puch Minicross tank lying around the workshop. So they tried it out and showed their client, who immediately fell in love with the shape.

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Next on the agenda was the rear end, with CRD ditching the subframe in favour of a solo seat configuration. This pushed the shock mounts significantly forward, so a pair of Hagon XL shocks were fitted to compensate for the gap.

The seat itself is custom-made, and has a LED tail light built into it. The rear fender is a re-purposed R100 front fender, mounted on a hand-made brace.

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Up front are the forks, front hub and brake disc from a 1994 BMW F650. The hub’s laced to a 19” rim, matched to an 18″ spoked setup at the rear. Both wheels are shod with Continental TKC80 tires.

Moving to the engine, CRD fitted a pair of K&N filters and ditched the air box. In its place is a custom aluminum battery box—which subtly completes the contour of the engine block. It also houses a Motogadget m-Unit control unit, around which the whole bike’s been rewired.

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Other Motogadget components include the speedo, switches and bar-end turn signals. The bars are set of inverted Renthal Ultra Lows, fitted with Biltwell Inc. Kung-Fu grips. They’re held in place by a new set of of handlebar risers, mounted on a custom triple clamp.

CRD finished off the build with a smattering of parts from their own online store—including the headlight, reverse-cone mufflers and Tarozzi rear-sets. The ignition’s been relocated to the side of the bike, just underneath the fuel tank.

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The paint job is a nod to BMW’s iconic motorsport liveries: white, with blue and red stripes and traditional roundels. The engine’s been cleaned up, and the rest of the components have been finished in black.

CRD #58 is as classy and tasteful as we’ve come to expect from Pedro and Efraon. And we’re more than a little jealous that we won’t be blasting around Nice on it.

Photos by Enrique Pacheco | Café Racer Dreams website | Facebook | Instagram

via BIKEexif

The Mini Monsta

Here’s a small bit of advice for you: never underestimate little cars. It’s something that I’ve come across countless times over the years, especially so in Japan where you really have no idea what people have done to their respective cars. When it comes to Minis, it was well over a decade ago that I saw a crazy van version of the familiar British city car blast past pretty much every single car on the Nordschleife. The ‘Ring Mini was the perfect example of what a lightweight car can be made to do when there’s something nuts under the bonnet and someone equally crazy behind the wheel.

So when I came across a car dubbed ‘Mini Monsta’ at Malaysia’s recent Art of Speed event, I had to take extra special notice. After a quick chat with the man behind the project, I was shown around what will no doubt be a very fun little beast once it’s fully completed.

Powering the tiny front wheels is a Japanese-sourced Daihatsu L700 1.0-liter block which has been mated to a heavily-reworked L200S head to get the best possible flow. The internals are all forged, because as you can see there’s some forced induction going on here too.

Mounted on the custom exhaust manifold is an HKS GT2510 turbocharger which will be supplying around 1.5bar (22psi) in the lowest setting and around 2.0bar (29psi) at full whack – which should equate to about 150hp and 200hp respectively. Even though it’s possible to go crazier, the owner is after reliability rather than an engine that will just keep grenading all the time. Apparently people have pushed similar setups to 300hp, which is not bad from a 1.0-liter lump!

The little intake manifold that’s on the engine now will be scrapped in favour of a custom fabricated item and then re-plumbed with all the necessary piping. A Haltech Sport 1000 engine management system will also be in the mix, so it’s easy to see that no corners are being cut.

The scoop on the bonnet is there for a reason – it’ll supply cool air to an RNN14 Nissan Pulsar GTiR intercooler that will be positioned on top of the engine.

That’s why the front grille almost looks like it’s been sealed up, but behind it there will still be a small radiator and oil cooler making full use of the air that gets through. The car will also be fitted with an A/C system, which is actually mandatory for street cars in Malaysia. Why? #becausedamnhot!

The JRD 5-spoke wheels are custom order items and have been shod in 175/50R13 Yokohama A539 rubber.

Once the engine’s running it will be onto the suspension with a long list of parts already waiting to be fitted. First though, the owner wants to see how the car feels and handles with all that power (for the compact FF chassis) so he can install and adjust the shiny new parts as he sees fit. The gearbox and LSD are also special order components, and there to make sure that the driveline is able to take all the abuse the engine can throw at it.

The car runs a full Zeemax body kit which includes tasty fender flares that help give the little classic Mini a menacing stance. The flat black color helps too!

The attention to detail continues inside with a very clean and properly-equipped cabin.

Seeing the owner runs parts import company JDM Auto Link, it’s not surprising that there are a lot of Japanese modules being used, like the A’PEXi meters and a GReddy boost controller. The main instrumentation however, is via Auto Meter Pro-Comp gauges as you can see above.

The nice touches continue to the smallest details. This will definitely be one car I’ve got to take a ride in next time I’m over in KL, and I’m sure it will end up embarrassing a few high horsepower cars in its various outings! To me, Mini Monsta proves that the only real thing you really need to build a seriously fast car is imagination.

Dino Dalle Carbonare

‘98 Suzuki DR650 – Yellowood

It’ll come as no surprise to regular readers that we sometimes feature bikes that incorporate elements from other subcultures. Be it surfing, camping, or in today’s case skating, some of the most inspiring and original builds we’ve seen happen when two unexpected yet cool pastimes collide. In the past, we’ve seen bikes with boards attached to them, seats built on decks and even chain tensioners made from their wheels. But we think it’s fair to say that today’s Suzuki takes it to a whole new level, or ramp, as the case may be. So please get righteously gnarly for Portugal’s Yellowood and their DR650 ‘Skate Goat’.

“I’ve been a skateboarder for 27 years,” says Matosinhos local Philippe De Goyri. “Nowadays, I own a company called Yellowood. We specialise in the production of fingerboards and skateboards. Here in our beachside town east of Porto, we enjoy skateboarding & surfing a lot. It’s our life. And because of the sun, we like to call it ‘yellowlife.’”

Philippe mentioned that he’s an artist and someone who likes a challenge. Needless to say that this was his first proper bike build. “The bike that inspired me was the DR650 from Deus Bali, mainly because of the classic Suzuki yellow colour scheme.”

And here we were thinking you needed opposable thumbs to skate

“I got my first bikes around the same time I developed a skateboarding habit and I always connected both riding and skating with those moments when I felt truly free. It was also a lot of fun to ride my bike while sitting on my skateboard.” Then last winter, Philippe found himself with enough free time to develop a crazy idea. “It was simple – I’d make a bike using skateboard decks.”

“I bought a DR650 from a farmer in the middle of Portugal and immediately started designing the bike. First, I used some of my fingerboard decks to make a small model _ I had to see if the idea would actually work. It was surprisingly easy to cut decks and model the new parts of the bike I’d be making.”

Once satisfied, Philippe handmade the decks to be used for the project with a grey dyed veneer to match the rest of the bike’s colour scheme. Although he notes that he really doesn’t like to destroy decks unless absolutely necessary. “I have a lot of respect for skateboarding, so I used broken boards to make up the templates. In the end, I only used three fresh decks to make all the final components for the bike.”

“For my projects, I always like to use yellow. On this bike I really wanted more yellow, but just on the details and as a highlight colour. So I decided to yellow anodise all the bike’s bolts and nuts. It was quite a challenge when the box came back with all the pieces mixed together. But I really liked the effect, and for the rest of the build I tried to prepare all the components before building the finished product.”

Love that logo

The rest of the build pulls no conservative punches, either. “The gas tank was from an old Maico and it was restored inside out. Then I hand-painted a goat riding a skateboard because that’s really how you feel when you ride it.” Okay – maybe that’s a Portuguese thing… “The frame was then cut in order to match the deck for the seat with the deck for the tail at the correct angles. The tail light was made using an old Independent skate truck.”

Up front, Philippe adapted a radiator from a VW beetle to cool the thing down and topped it off with an old Hella rally headlight. The final touch was to independently shape all the boards to fit the overall look of the bike.

Philippe flees after noticing the ‘No Skateboarding or Livestock’ sign

“In the end, the bike turned out exactly the way I envisioned it. It was a good technical challenge and I had ablast doing it. I’m already planning to make more bikes using skateboards, that’s for sure.”

via PIPEBURN

Yamaha Yard Built XV950 ‘Playa del Rey’ by Matt Black Custom

Words by Ian Lee.

I’m a sucker for a board track racer. V-twin low slung bikes, with handlebars that droop so low they make clip-ons look like ape hangers. Their styling is perpetually cool, and the inspiration for this off the chain custom. When Yamaha Europe were looking for their latest workshop to collaborate with for the next ‘Yard built’ project, they made their way to sunny San Pedro, to the Matt Black Custom workshop. Known for their ability to mix old school cool with late model reliability, this Spanish workshop is the best choice for a fresh take on Yamaha’s cruiser. Meet Matt Black’s own take on the Yamaha XV950, ‘Playa del Ray’.

Taking Yamaha’s low and lazy boulevarde cruiser, the idea was to utilise all of Matt Black’s technical team to create a ride ‘paying tribute to the board track racers of 100 years ago’. To do this, a range of  ‘one off’ parts have been manufactured, along with bolt on mods from Matt Black’s own shelves, to allow all XV950 riders to get their piece of ‘Playa’ action.

From the front to the back, little remains of the aesthetics of the metric cruiser. The original fuel tank has been chucked and in its place is an angular unit, fashioned up by the workshop’s own Anthony Partridge, with the fuel cap supplied by Crafty B out of the States. Anthony is also responsible for some of the other trick parts on the bike. To give the switch gear function as well as form, Kurt Lohse used his technical skills to ensure the layout of the Rebufini switch sets looked good and were laid out to suit the new dropped handlebar styling.

To keep XV owners happy, a range of bolt on parts were knocked up to fit. The 21 inch rims, cushion drive rear pulley, plexiglass cam gear cover as well as a raft of extras have been fitted to the Yammie. An adaptor plate was knocked up to mount the Crime Scene air filter cover. Exhaust is stock XV950 headers, matched to a custom collector and finished with a modified MIVV Ghibli silencer.

Keeping with the old school theme to the build, the front end now sports a Rebufini springer front fork, slightly modified to suit the XV. The factory bars have been reworked, in order to gain that board tracker aesthetique. Braking power has been beefed up at the front end with a set of PM calipers, and handling at the rear has been improved by a set of Ohlins shock absorbers.

According to Shun Miyazawa of Yamaha: ‘This combination of new and old mixed together is something we saw in the work of Matt Black’s previous builds As a result we knew they were the right people to take on the latest XV950 Yard Built project and the result is amazing. They’ve kept all the fun of the standard bike, but shown you can use it as a base to easily build something iconic with a perfect blend of vintage and modern without compromising the ride.” ‘Nuff said really.

Porsche celebrates historic one-two finish at Le Mans

With the 919 Hybrid’s one-two finish at Le Mans last weekend, the works Porsche team secured its 17th victory at the legendary endurance race…

It was the junior team that took the victory – current Formula One star Nico Hulkenberg taking the start on his debut at Le Mans, supported by teammates Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy. Despite strong pressure from the Audis, unscheduled pitstops for them allowed two Porsches, the second driven by Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley, to take the chequered flag. Team boss Friedrich Enzinger said that last year’s technical education had been worth it and that the victory was a great success. Furthermore, during the victory celebration, Porsche boss Matthias Müller announced that the team will return to La Sarthe next year. See you there...

Photo: Porsche

You can find historic Porsche racing cars for sale in the Classic Driver Market. 

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The Double Up Ford Escort

If you enjoyed my main event coverage from Malaysia’s Art of Speed show, that’s a good thing. It’s good because I haven’t even shown you my favourite picks from the event yet – I’ve selfishly kept them to myself, but only because I wanted to share them with you in far more detail.

To get the ball rolling let’s take a look at this Fast And Furious 6 inspired Ford Escort Mk1, which as you have probably seen in the opening shot, has given up its factory-spec four banger for something with double the cylinders.

Even the paint scheme isn’t enough to keep your eyes from automatically peering into the engine bay and finding something way too Japanese looking to be powering an old Escort.

The Toyota 1UZ-FE quad cam V8 fills up the space under the bonnet rather well, and with no apparent fitting issues. Even the stock intake plenum and plastic engine cover are retained.

It actually looks tighter than it really is, and both exhaust manifolds still have room to spare from hitting the chassis. Perhaps enough space for a future twin turbo setup?

The exterior of the Escort has been beefed-up with some flared arches front and rear, and classic 8-spoke style wheels running Hankook Ventus TD semi slicks at the front and some radials at the rear. Sounds like a bit of a drift setup, doesn’t it?

The same two-tone colouring scheme has been carried over into the interior, brightening things up quite a lot. But it isn’t the white seats, nor the leather work on the dashboard that grabs your attention – it’s what’s sprouting out of the transmission tunnel.

I’m still rather confused as to why the 1UZ was dropped into the car along with its Celsior-spec 4-speed automatic. It seems to go against the whole feel of a lightweight ’70s rear-wheel drive car, but that’s also what makes it unique I guess.

It all makes for one of the most memorable MK1s I’ve ever come across – albeit confusing due to the transmission choice. But maybe the owner just wanted to build a cruiser with decent levels of torque to play with. What do you guys think?

BY Dino Dalle Carbonare

24H du Mans : La 25e heure…/ 25 hours and more…

Le Mans, Daytona, Spa, Nürburgring, Dubai… Mais pourquoi les plus grandes courses d’Endurance au monde durent 24 heures ? Pourquoi 24 et pas 25, 30 ou 48 ? Pourquoi un double « tour d’horloge » et pas un triple ou un quadruple ?

Certains en ont eu l’idée, bien sûr. Depuis 1999, le circuit de Spa-Francorchamps accueille les 25 Heures VW Fun Cup. D’années en années, cette course organisée par Kronos Event est devenue un événement très populaire et familial.

Les 11 et 12 juillet prochains, 120 Be Kox sont attendues au départ à 17h30. En 2014, 40 nationalités étaient représentées et c’est la « Coccinelle » Allure Team 2 qui s’est imposée après 413 tours bouclés à la moyenne de 115 km/h.

De l’autre côté de l’Atlantique, la National Auto Sport Association organise depuis 2002 – année de sortie du film « La 25^e heure » - les 25 Heures de Thunderhill, en Californie. C’est la plus longue course automobile américaine, devant les 24 Heures de Daytona ! Forcément…

L’an passé, le départ a été donné à 11h00 et après 25 heures de course et 682 tours de circuit (3 miles) bouclés, c’est un prototype Norma M20F BMW (Frisselle/Pobst/Llyod/Marcelli) qui s’est imposé devant une Porsche 997 GT3 Cup.

En Europe, la Maxi Endurance 48 avait été programmée sur le circuit de Navarra, en Espagne fin 2013. L’épreuve a finalement été annulée et fut remplacée en 2014 par la Maxi Endurance 32 à Portimao (Portugal) mi-décembre. Le départ a été donné samedi à 9h00. Le lendemain, à 17h00, la Seat Leon Cup/Michelin de Formula Racing a coupé la ligne d’arrivée en tête après 773 tours et 32 heures de course (dont 30 sous la pluie). Cette année, la 2^e édition se déroulera les 20/22 novembre.

Toujours plus long. En Arabie Saoudite, sur le circuit Al Reem de Ryad, le départ de la Regional 48H Endurance Race a été donné dimanche 1^er mars à 9h00. Mardi 3 mars au matin, c’est une Nissan Altimat qui a été déclarée vainqueur avec 4323 km parcourus.

Pour préparer les 24 Heures du Mans, les top-teams ont pris l’habitude d’effectuer des séances d’essais de 30 heures. Porsche Team en a planifié quatre cette année, dont la dernière après les 6 Heures de Spa sur le circuit de Motorland Aragon.

There are modern 24-hour races at Le Mans, Daytona, Spa, Nürburgring and Dubai, but why are the sport’s major long-distance races restricted to just twice round the clock? Why not 25, 30 or 48 hours? 

Naturally, some organisers have had the idea of exceeding 24 hours. Since 1999, Spa-Francorchamps has hosted the 25 Hours VW Fun Cup, for example. The Belgian fixture has gone from strength to strength and is extremely popular as a family event.

The next one is on July 11-12 and 120 Beetles are expected for the 5:30pm start. The 2014 race attracted participants from different 40 nationalities and the winning Allure Team 2 car completed 413 laps at an average speed of 115kph.

In California, the National Auto Sport Association has organised the Thunderhill 25 Hours since 2002, the year the film ‘25^th Hour’ was released. It’s the USA’s longest race and is obviously an hour longer than the 24 Hours of Daytona!

Last year, the winning Norma M20F BMW prototype of Frisselle/Pobst/Llyod/Marcelli completed 682 laps of the three-mile course. A Porsche 997 GT3 Cup was second.

In Europe, a race called Maxi Endurance 48 was scheduled to take place at Navarra, Spain, at the end of 2013. The idea was finally dropped, but the Maxi Endurance 32 was organised at Portimao, Portugal, last December. The race started at 9am on the Saturday and, at 5pm the next day, Formula Racing’s Seat Leon Cup/Michelin was first past the flag after 773 laps. Thirty of the 32 hours were marked by wet conditions. The second edition will be held this year on November 20-22.

Even longer was Saudi Arabia’s recent Regional 48H Endurance Race at Al Reem de Ryad. It kicked off at 9am on Tuesday, March 1, and ended on the morning of Tuesday, March 3. The win went to a Nissan Altimat after 4,323km.

As part of their annual build-up to Le Mans, it is now customary for the leading teams to organise 30-hour simulation tests. Porsche Team ran 4 such tests this year, the last of which was at Motorland Aragon, Spain, in May.