‘El Chocolate’… bittersweet! / Croustillante « El Chocolate »

 The 2013 Rally Mexico features a new stage (SS6/11) named ‘El Chocolate’ after the village located at mid-distance where, 3,000 years ago, the Mayas enjoyed a drink known as ‘xocoatl’, the drink of Gods. 

La nouvelle spéciale (ES6/11) du Rallye du Mexique est baptisée « El Chocolate », du nom du village se trouvant à mi-parcours, où, il y a trois mille ans, les Mayas se délectaient d’une boisson chocolatée appelée xocoatl, la boisson des Dieux.

 

All the civilisations which have successively populated Mesoamerica – from the Olmecs, Mayas and Zapotecs, to the Huastecs, Toltecs and Aztecs – cultivated cocoa trees and transformed their beans into a creamy, bitter beverage known as xocoatl, or xocolatl.

Europe had to wait until 1528 before conquistador Hernan Cortes brought the beans back to Spain, but the drink soon gained favour on the Old Continent…

Today, most cocoa is produced by African countries like Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroun, and world production totalled some four million tonnes in 2012 according to the International Cocoa Organization.

Returning to the subject of Rally Mexico, the first 25 kilometres of the ‘El Chocolate’ stage are new, while the last 5km are the same as the end of ‘’Ortega’, the test where competing cars were frequently pelted with stones. Indeed, in 2012, the second visit to ‘Ortega’ was cancelled for this very reason.

As a result, the organisers had to find an alternative road and ‘El Chocolate’ was made rally-ready thanks to bulldozing work during the winter. The village of the same name is lost at the end of a valley. Its metal huts are not particularly picturesque (see photo), and the narrow, twisty, stony track could end up being a ‘bittersweet’ experience for some…

Olmèques, Mayas, Zapotèques, Huastèques, Toltèques, Aztèques : les différentes civilisations ayant peuplé la Mésoamérique ont cultivé le cacaoyer et transformé ses fèves en une boisson aux mille vertus, mousseuse et amère appelée xocoatl (ou xocolatl).

Les Européens ont dû attendre 1528 pour que le conquistador espagnol Hernan Cortes importe du xocoatl sur le Vieux Continent. Quelques années plus tard, des bateaux au ventre alourdi de cabosses mexicaines appareillaient de Veracruz en direction de Séville, Espagne…

Aujourd’hui, les fèves de cacao transitent surtout par l’Afrique : Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria et Cameroun sont les principaux pays producteurs d’un marché mondial avoisinant les 4 millions de tonnes en 2012 (selon l’ICCO, Organisation Internationale du Cacao).

Mais revenons à « El Chocolate », nouvelle spéciale du Rallye du Mexique 2013. Les 25 premiers kilomètres sont inédits et les 5 derniers reprennent ceux de la spéciale d’« Ortega » où chaque année, les voitures de rallye se faisaient « caillasser ». En 2012, le second passage d’«Ortega » fut d’ailleurs annulé pour cette raison.

Pour éviter ces problèmes, les organisateurs ont donc dû trouver une nouvelle spéciale, « El Chocolate », dont ils ont façonné les pistes cet hiver à grands coups d’engins de chantier. Perdu au fond d’une vallée, le village d’El Chocolate et ses baraques en tôle n’a vraiment rien d’alléchant (voir photo), mais la spéciale éponyme s’annonce croustillante, voire indigeste. Etroite, sinueuse, truffée de pièges et de pierres, « El Chocolate » pourrait avoir un goût amer pour certains…

from  best-of-rallylive

Cerberus Motorcycles CL350

San Diego custom shop Cerberus Motorcycles is a partnership between biking veterans David Hargreaves and Erik Borowitz; two cool guys with a few stories to tell (which you can read HERE). This is their latest custom cafe/brat, based on a 1973 CL350.

They picked the bike up from Craigslist in crates to rebuild and sell according to their own ideas, but three quarters of the way through the build a customer turned up so the bike started to change shape according to his wishes.

The CL is a pretty sweet bike to start with, once you throw away all the heavy and ugly stuff, and the guys wanted to make it a simple build utilising as many stock parts as possible. They also decided to make it black, or at least various shades of black and off-black finishes, including Matt Black Hot Rod paint mixed with a little graphite – although the new owner did ask for a few chrome details and switched the original high pipes to low items.

The bike was fully stripped and rebuilt, while the frame was reworked to suit the cafe/Brat style and delugged where parts like the sidepanels were ditched before being powdercoated in high gloss black. The engine was ok, but as it needed new gaskets, seals and paint it was also rebuilt, adding high compression pistons and a megacycle cam, and the ports were polished to improve gasflow.

The Carbs are 32mm Mikunis with pod style air filters pulling air in from the cleared-out rear sub frame. The Exhaust had to be modified to clear the rear sets, and the customer requested ‘shaker’ mufflers.

The brakes are the stock drums which have been completely rebuilt. The controls are all new, the headlight is a chrome CEV unit with an H-3 bulb and there’s a 60mm speedo mounted tight behind it. The classic 70s tank is from a Honda CB.

11” chrome shocks from Cycle X suspend the rear of the bike while the seat was made in-house by Cerberus’ seamstress, Jenifer. The wheels have been completely rebuilt and powder coated with stainless spokes from Buchannan and they wear fat Kenda Challenger tyres, wedged-in tight.

The guys are really pleased with the end result (although they preferred the high pipes). She sits low but rides superbly and really smooth, geared for city use, which is where the new owner will be doing most of his riding.

See more from Cerberus Motorcycles and take a take a little time to read about David and Erik on their Website and Facebook pages. We hope to see more of their builds on The Bike Shed soon.

 via thebikeshed.

2014 Chevrolet Carmao facelift announced for New York Auto Show

Could gain a twin-turbo V6

Chevrolet has announced plans to introduce the 2014 Camaro facelift at the New York Auto Show.

The company was silent on details but said the model "advances the design and performance attributes that has made it the most popular sports car under $50,000 for three consecutive years."

That's a little vague, but leaked documents have suggested the Camaro could gain a new twin-turbo 3.6-liter V6 engine with approximately 355 hp (265 kW). The documents also indicated there could be a new variant, possibly the long-rumored Z28, with a 7.0-liter LS7 V8 engine.

Regardless of the final details, the 2014 Camaro will be shown alongside the Corvette Coupe and Convertible as well as the SS performance sedan.

Note: Chevrolet Camaro V6 Performance concept shown

Source: GM

via Worldcarfans

North to Noosa no.1 by Deus