Parade of Champions at the Imola 200 Revival rally

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

Last weekend, at the renowned Enzo & Dino Ferrari circuit od Imola, Italy, one of the most exciting classic Italian events of the year took place, the “200 Miglia di Imola Revival“. The event is actually a tribute to the Imola 200 race of the 70s/early 80s and this last one was just its 4th edition, but nonetheless it is quickly becoming one of the most popular rallies in Italy, thanks in most part to the former Champions that have shown up in the first three editions to make a few laps for both classic and modern racers.

This time around both rider and motorcycle line-ups were absolutely awesome, starting with 15-time World Champion Giacomo Agostini and 3-time champ Luca Cadalora, both of whom lapped with Eddie Lawson’s 1986 Yamaha YZR-500 (the red and white one with the number one plate which won the Championship that year), a 1990 YZR-250 as well as a modern Yamaha YZR-M1 MotoGP provided by the Yamaha Factory Racing team with a special ‘50th Anniversary‘ livery and the ‘1Ago + 3Luca’ race number.

On the Honda side, the guest of honour was the legendary ‘Fast’ Freddie Spencer, the mighty American rider who won both the 500 and 250 classes in 1985 when he was still a kid (until last sunday, when Spanish wonder boy Marc Marquez took the records away from him for a matter of days, he still was the youngest rider ever to win a race and take the pole position in GP Racing’s top class) and performed a bunch of laps with his old 1985 Honda RS250RW machine. Also making an appearance on the track last Sunday there were 7-time World Champion Phil Read, two-time Champ Carlos Lavado from Venezuela and former Supersport Champion Fabrizio Pirovano: if you like taking trips down memory lane, you will just love our massive photo gallery.

Elio Motors Planning New 3 Wheeler in Former Louisiana GM Plant

by PAUL CROWE

Elio Motors 3 wheeler to be built in a former GM plant

When someone announces a new motorcycle or car, coming soon with great specs and amazing price, you just have to be a bit cautious, so this new 3 wheeler from Elio Motors, may be a huge success, it may never be produced or it may fall somewhere in between.

Elio Motors 3 wheeler to be built in a former GM plant

The quick story:

• 3 wheels
• tandem seats
• 84 mpg highway / 49 mpg city
• 8 gallon tank
• inline, 3 cylinder, 1 liter, 70 HP, fuel-injected, SOHC gas-powered, liquid-cooled, automotive engine.
• 5-speed manual or automatic with reverse
• 3-wheel disc brakes with ABS
• front engine front wheel drive
• $6800

Three wheels means it's a motorcycle for registration purposes, but the CEO says it will meet automotive crash standards.

They are setting up shop in a former GM plant in Shreveport, Louisiana and will employ 1500 workers and it will be manufactured in the USA with American made parts.

Add it all up and my "I'll believe it when I see it" radar is on high alert, but you never know. A lot of former auto execs are on the board so maybe it will take off when it is introduced in the spring of 2014.

Head on over and see for yourself.

Link: Elio Motors

Elio Motors 3 wheeler

from thekneeslider

left for Africa Scam but do not worry we will return!

DEFENSOR by DP Customs

Introducing “DEFENSOR.”  This bike was inspired by one of our heroes, a true racing legend.  Just sitting on this bike will put a smile on your face.  All hand made, right down to the 2 into 1 exhaust.  The nine stage custom paint job is finished in a hot-rod matte clear.  We hope you like it!

BMW’s 1960s R50/2 – More ‘Munich’ than ‘Monterey’?

With its classic lines, piano black paintwork and traditional layout, you’d be forgiven for thinking this 490cc BMW motorcycle is from the 1930s, not the acid-tripping late-60s.

Yet the beautifully restored example that Classic Driver dealer Movendi is offering came out of BMW’s Munich factory in 1969. That does not make it any less ‘modern’ compared to its contemporaries, though, as the Bavarian company’s products were usually pretty advanced – just ‘different’ from the others.
The bike features the famous BMW flat-twin ‘boxer’ engine and shaft-drive – features to be found on its bikes today. At the time, a BMW motorcycle was considered the ‘thinking man’s bike’, providing reliable, low-maintenance transport for the connoisseur, or a tough workhorse for sidecar duty. But performance from a machine like the R50/2 wasn’t bad: 145km/h flat out from 26HP wasn’t a lot different from a Bonnie or Besa of the day.


And high-performance fiends could always order a R50S. With a higher compression ratio, the ‘S’ model raised the R50 series' maximum speed by another 10km/h. You will notice the front wheel’s characteristic ‘Earles fork’, an engineering solution to the problem of conventional telescopic forks plunging the front of the bike sharply under braking, thereby shortening the bike’s wheelbase and creating inherent problems with its handling.
Today, classic BMW motorcycles are prized not only for their engineering quality but also for their style. In fact, an older BMW, with bouncy big rubber seat and stark black paintwork, is about as hip as you can get. Movendi’s example can be described as ‘near concours’, perfect for a ride in the Peak District with similarly groovy friends.

Realted Links For furher details of this 1969 BMW R50/2, please look in the Classic Driver Marketplace Classic Driver dealer Movendi's entire stock can be viewed in the Classic Driver Marketplace

Text: Steve Wakefield (ClassicDriver)
Photos: Movendi

BMW and Paris Photo celebrate anniversary with 1979 Art Car and 6-Series GranCoupe burlesque photos

At L.A.'s Paramount Pictures Studios

Andy Warhol's 1979 BMW Art Car was presented at the inaugural fair of Paris Photo at L.A.'s Paramount Pictures Studios.

Andy Warhol raced at Le Mans and he wanted to give the M1 "a vivid depiction of speed. If a car is really fast, all contours and colors will become blurred." Those who are attending the event can also have a look at the making-of clip of Warhol working on the special BMW M1.

For the same occasion, the Bavarian marque is also showcasing several burlesque-style photos of the 6-Series GranCoupe (650i) made by German photographer Uwe Düttmann.

Source: BMW

via Worldcarfans

THE SUPER 86 GETS DIRTY

Last month we got a little preview of Monster Tajima’s new “Super 86″ hillclimb machine. Since then, the car has been making its way around Japan appearing at various events including the recent All Japan Dirt Trial meet in Kyushu. Car@Nifty was there and captured this video clip of Monster ripping around the course.

Not only is the Super 86 impressive to see, I’m also thinking that we gotta get Dino out to one of these dirt trial events sometime. Looks like a ton of fun!

21st Century Watchmaking Men: Urwerk

When the atomic clock clicked over to 00:01 on 1 January 2000, the 21st Century had arrived. So would the prophecies of so many sci-fi writers come true? The horological world rose to the occasion with new brands such as Urwerk bringing radical new ways of reading the time with complex, over-sized watches. 

The company was founded in 1995 by brothers Felix and Thomas Baumgartner, in partnership with their friend Martin Frei, an artist and designer. The trio wanted to break the mould of typical round case/round dial watches with traditional hands. Having produced their first piece in 1997 (the UR-101), it was in 2003 that Urwerk made the UR-103, a four-dialled watch with hours indicated by one of the four rotating dials in analogue and digital displays, and minutes by the precise position of one dial as it arcs across the minute chapter.



That the original watches looked like a mixture of a Star Trek Communicator and a Star Wars CLE-004 Window Cleaning Droid is mainly thanks to Frei’s enthusiasm for science fiction. If you look at the images above, from the Urwerk creative department’s ‘mood wall’ on its virtual desktop, you will get the picture. There, stills from Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’ are mixed with the Millennium Falcon from ‘Star Wars’.

In the first decade of the millennium, Urwerk injected a much-needed breath of fresh air into a sometimes stuck-in-a-rut Swiss watch industry. It was a completely new way of thinking, and a logical step for the trio was to launch a pocket watch that played on the image of a time-travelling Victorian adventurer.

The new device, the UR-1001, featured in the 2003 sci-fi fantasy film ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’. In addition to days, hours and minutes, the display also showed centuries and millennia.Despite some criticism from the Swiss watchmaking industry ‘establishment’ for their outlandish designs, the trio is unrepentant, proving that the horological world belongs to the brave, not just the traditional.Text: J. Philip Rathgen (Classic Driver)
Photos: Urwerk

Maria Sharapova named Porsche ambassador

Three-year contract

Porsche has named 26-year-old tennis player Maria Sharapova as brand ambassador.

She signed a three-year contract with Porsche and during this period she will be involved in the firm's global communications campaign. She is familiar with the brand as last year in Stuttgart at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix she won a white 911 Carrera S Cabriolet, along with the prize money.

CEO of Porsche AG Matthias Mueller describes Maria Sharapova as "an exceptional athlete. She combines top performance in her sports with elegance and power. These are precisely the qualities that are embroiled in our sports cars." Sharapova declared during her presentation in Stuttgart "I have had the privilege to be associated with some of the best brands in the world, but now to be partners with Porsche is such an amazing honor."

Source: Porsche

voa Worldcarfans

Max Biaggi keeps teasing on comeback

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

Max Biaggi shot down any possibilities of returning to World Superbikes in an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport with ‘it’s impossible’, but the Roman Emperor via Twitter keeps teasing his millions of orphaned fans with ambiguous tweets that leaves his intentions open to interpretation, and our Italian cousins over at Motoblog are now suggesting that Biaggi may decide to wildcard at the Monza.

Biaggi’s wrote in his latest tweet:

Which translated means more or less, “tomorrow a long day of work and important answers, will let you know. Keep training.”

The question that Italians keep asking themselves is why Biaggi is spending so much time training if he hasn’t any intention of taking part in a race.

Many hope that the Black Corsair will at least do a couple of wildcards in order to raise more interest in World Superbikes that has yet to fully take off now that it’s aired on an important TV channel like Sportmediaset on Italia 1 and 2 and with Biaggi himself as one of the commentators.

What do you guys think? Is is just some wishful thinking by some die-hard fans who read more into Biaggi’s cryptic messages than there actually is?

air force!!

McLaren X-1 photographed at Bahrain GP

Based on MP4-12C

The McLaren X-1 one-off was seen last weekend at the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix.

As you might remember, this truly uniqueX-1 was developed by McLaren Special Operations (MSO) and is based on the MP4-12C. The vehicle tips the scales at around 3,086 lbs (1,400 kg) and "shares the same major mechanical components as the 12C, including the twin-turbo 616 bhp (460 kW) engine."

It was conceived for a wealthy client who already owned a McLaren F1, an MP4-12C and a Mercedes-Benz SLR. The client wanted MSO to implement styling cues from a 1953 Chrysler D'Elegance Ghia, 1961 Facel Vega, 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K, 1959 Buick Electra and a 1971 Citroën SM, mixed with a grand piano, Airstream trailer, Jaeger-LeCoultre clock, Thomas Mann Montblanc pen and an eggplant - resulting in something that only Batman would drive.

An additional photo is available at the source link below.

Source: teamspeed.com

via Worldcarfans

Coma takes win in opening stage in Sealine Rally

KTM factory rider and three times Dakar winner Marc Coma of Spain was the pace setter on the opening day of the Sealine Rally in Qatar to win the first of four hard stages in this, the second round of the World Cross Countries Rally Championship.

Fresh from his victory in the Desert Challenge, Coma said it was a difficult but satisfying day. “I am happy with the stage and I’m in a good position but it was a tough day with difficult navigation and it was necessary to stay focused. I had a good starting position and after I caught the riders in front I was able to open the race. It was perfect.”

Riders are in a bivouac in the desert near Doha and completed the first of four very long loop tracks that make up this year’s second edition of the Sealine Rally. In a new format this year, riders have one day less but a very heavy program with the timed special each day representing at least 97 percent of the total kilometers. Tuesday’s stage, which featured a range of fast and stony desert terrain and dunes, had a timed special of 405.12 km from a total distance of 415.11 km.

After an early morning start to avoid the searing heat desert heat, Coma completed the first stage in four hours 58.46 and crossed the line with a 2.04 advantage over Portugal’s Paolo Goncalves. KTM’s Norwegian rider Pal Anders Ullevalseter was third and Coma’s two KTM factory teammates Jakub Przygonski of Poland and Chaleco Lopez of Chile were fourth and fifth. The top five riders, all veterans of the Dakar Rally have already distanced themselves from the next group and there is 19-minute gap between Lopez and the sixth placed rider. Coma, Przygonski and Lopez are all riding the KTM 450 Dakar-winning Rally bike

Coma is looking to build on the world championship points he picked up in the Desert Challenge as he lays the foundation stone to retain his world title. Making a welcome return to racing after a shoulder injury kept him out of the Dakar 2013, Coma considers the early season as important confidence builders. Speaking to journalists after the ceremonial start on Monday evening Coma said: “I’m pleased with my riding. My navigation is strong, my speed is good and I know my fitness will be fine,” Coma said. “I will try to win again like last year. I feel that there’s a perfect route for a perfect race here.”

Wednesday’s Stage Two is the longest of this year’s edition with a total distance of 423.28 km including 413.19 km of timed special, relating to 99.5% of the total distance.

Photos by Chytka M.

KTM Results
Sealine Rally at Doha, Qatar
Stage One total distance 415.11 km – including timed special of 405.12 km

1, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM 4 hours 58.46
2, Paolo Goncalves, Portugal, Speedbrain at 2.04
3, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM at 4.00
4, Jakub Przygonski, Poland, KTM at 6.02
5, Chaleco Lopez, Chile, KTM at 12.01
6, Juan Carlos Salvatierra, Bolivia, Honda at 31.15
7, Khalid Khammis Ozair, Honda, 50.47
8, Mohammed Al Balooshi, KTM, 52.07
9, Rafal Sonic, Poland, Honda, 56.22
10, Quin Cody, USA, Speedbrain, 1:15.23

Rally concludes Friday after four stages