Kawasaki W650 "Blue Swingbob" by Deus

from Racing Café

Foto: Deus Ex Machina

Marc’s Honda CB400F custom

 Marc Ischepp just sent to blog.derestricted.com  some superb photos/renders of his custom CBR 400 project

Marco Melandri: We have to make the bike easier to use

Marco Melandri may have ended up third in the 2012 World Superbike standings but he was the first rider after BMW’s debut in the series in 2009 to bring the BMW S1000RR to victory, and he did it six times, at Donington Park, Miller Motorsports, Motorland Aragon, a double victory at Brno and then at Moscow.

For the 2013 season BMW has turned their factory effort over to BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK, but they will still continue to support the team with engine and electronic development.

Despite the six victories and five podiums in 2012, the Italian rider isn’t completely satisfied with the performance of his machine weekend after weekend, as he told the SBK website:

When works well it works very well, but that it maybe has a smaller window of perfection than some other machines. I think our bike is a very good bike but, like you say, the window to make it work and give you good confidence is very small. When you are inside this window you can be fast and it looks easy. When something is not perfect and you go out of this window you fight with the bike sometimes. I think this is the main place where we have to work, to make the bike easier. We knew this before the season, we know now. The first year was to try to understand what we have to do more on the bike. So for the first year, for sure we did more than was expected last season.”

When asked if he can repeat his sucess in 2013 with the new team, he said, “I think everything is a package. Rider, team, bike, factory - all together. For sure the rider may be on top and he must try to stimulate and push the team and give the right information. Then the team has to push the factory and the factory has to understand the information an what to do with the bike. I think it is always teamwork. Alone, the rider or team or factory cannot do this.”

Will Melandri be able to win the championship next season?

from Twowheelsblog

2012 Ural Yamal Limited Edition Sidecar Motorcycle

By guest writer from PIPEBURN.COM :  Ian Lee.

The Yamal Peninsular on the northwest tip of Russia is cold. Mind numbingly cold. Temperatures of minus 60 degrees Celsius have been recorded there, even in summer the arctic winds will bring on a chill. It’s definitely not the sort of place you want to find yourself locked out without your keys. It takes a hardcore form of transport to get around such an area, one of these being the nuclear powered icebreaker Yamal, named after the peninsular which it sails around. With a giant set of cartoon jaws adorning it’s prow, most pictures tend to show the Yamal leading other icebreakers through fields of ice, showing what it takes to traverse these waters. When Ural were looking for a name for their new special edition, Yamal seemed the perfect moniker. We present to you, the ultimate ‘go anywhere’ bike and sidecar unit, the 2012 Ural Yamal Limited Edition, complete with sidecar mounted oar. 

Now for a history lesson. Depending upon who you ask, there are two main theories as to how the M72 motorbike came into existence. One story tells of 5 BMW R71 motorbikes being bought in Sweden, shipped back to the mother country, stripped and every component copied to make the  M72. The other theory is that the plans for the Beemer were handed over to the Russian Defence Department as part of a pact between Germany and Russia at the time. No matter what story you believe, the BMW R71 was a counterfeit worthy bike, it being the inspiration not only for the M72, but also the Harley Davidson XA and the Chiang Jang CJ750. 

No matter how it came about, the M72 was a hit with the defence department, 30000 units being supplied in the first 9 years of production. Over the years the M72 changed from being a military unit to a more civilian friendly unit, until eventually the Russian state sold it’s stake and the Ural Motor company was born. The new owners decided that the design of the bike was good enough to continue, but the manufacturing methodology needed to be changed. Better quality control and build practices bringing this 70 year old design into the 21^st century. And that’s where our feature bike comes in.

The 749cc BMW derived engine puts out 40hp@5600rpm, with an almost matching 38ft-lbs@4600rpm. Because simpler is better when you take the rough road, twin 32mm Keihin carburettors are fitted, economy allows 165miles from a tank. The clutch fitted is a dry dual disc setup, running power to a 4 speed transmission, with reverse gear for when you get stuck. And this bike is built for taking places where you are likely to get stuck. As with lots of other Russian machinery, two methods of starting are available, both electric and kick, just to be sure. 

Interesting roads require adequate suspension, Ural decided that front and rear fitted Sachs hydraulic shocks are able to take the stress of where ever you are tempted to test this bike. The front leading link suspension harks back to the bikes original incarnation, the Brembo floating disc brake setup definitely does not. The rear end and the sidecar are both drum braked, again going with an easy useable idea. These units aren’t built for speed, so braking capability is more aimed towards stability at low speeds, for which drum brakes are adequate. Due to the bike being built on the same platform as Ural’s Gear-up model, on demand 2 wheel drive is fitted standard to these ‘in your face, where the mud at’ machines. 

Finished in a shade of orange that would come in handy to alert rescue helicopters, the bike is nearly all go and no show. Sidecar mounted foglights, crashbars, rider as well as passenger windshields, crashbars and more crashbars keep you safe on nearly any shortcut you wish to take. The only break from this style of the bike is the ‘grinning jaw’ decal fitted out on the sidecar, a homage to the Yamal icebreaker from which it gets it’s name. Tires are a nice and tall 19” front, rear and sidecar, aluminium rims steel-spoked around cast aluminium hubs. 

If you are planning on touring anywhere the roads are rough, then this bike is for you. Even more so if there are no roads, as testified by the oar that comes as factory equipment when you buy this bike. It is a bike that is been 70 years in the making, and as Ural themselves say ‘there are many places in Russia where only horses and Ural motorcycles can be used to transport gear where you need it’. This is the ultimate ‘that track looks interesting’ touring unit you can get your hands on from factory, surpassing even it’s namesake in ability. Whereas the Yamal icebreaker can’t go on land, the Yamal motorbike must have come with an oar for a reason…