ACE CAFE RADIO

    samedi 11 mai 2013

    WSBK; Eugene Laverty fastest in final free practice at Monza


















    from Twowheelsblog
    The final free practice at Monza finally saw a completely dry track which allowed the riders to work on setup after all the previous sessions that were either wet or very damp.
    With a dry track Eugene Laverty was the fastest rider with a best lap in 1.42.375 that he did half way through the 45 minute session, but he wasn’t able to improve in the finale.
    Marco Melandri was second fastest and just a little less than two seconds adrift and followed by Tom Sykes, Sylvain Guintoli, who was literally the fastest with a top speed of 337 km/h, and Fixi Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier, in a very tight session, with the first five riders separated by a little more than three tenths of a second.
    Sixth fastest was Kawasaki’s Loris Baz who was unable to break the 1.43 barrier and tailed by Davide Giugliano and Chaz Davies who posted the same identical lap time.
    After being no lower than second in all three previous sessions Jonathan Rea dropped to ninth but the Honda rider did suffer a lowside at turn 1 when he hit the kerb just minutes after his team mate Kosuke Akiyoshi crashed out with a massive highside at turn 7 (Lesmo 2).
    The Japanese rider apparently didn’t suffer any injuries, but did go to the medical center without recording a single lap.
    Closing out the top ten was Michel Fabrizio who is sporting a one off helmet to support Sofia, a little girl who is suffering from leukodystrophy.
    This afternoon’s Superpole could easily see Max Biaggi’s 2011 Superpole record (1′41”745) fall.

    2013 WSBK Monza FP results:
    1. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′42.375
    2. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) BMW S1000 RR 1′42.537
    3. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′42.628
    4. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′42.682
    5. Leon Camier (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′42.715
    6. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′43.188
    7. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′43.322
    8. Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) BMW S1000 RR 1′43.322
    9. Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) Honda CBR1000RR 1′43.410
    10. Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′43.517

    TRACKMASTER BY ATOM BOMB


    Trackmaster motorcycle
    Clay Rathburn is one of those annoying ‘renaissance’ types who seem to be good at whatever they turn their hands to. First was a string of traditional Triumph hardtails—including the irresistible Velvet Underground. Then we had the RVA Overland vintage dirt bike, and a Harley Sportster 1200 that was straight out of the 70s. So it must be time for something completely different.
    The latest Atom Bomb bike is a classic Triumph Trackmaster, finished in the usual immaculate Atom Bomb style. “The client bought me a rolling Trackmaster frame with a bent up swingarm and clapped-out Betor forks,” says Rathburn. “And, as we discovered later, a hell of a motor in it …”
    Trackmaster motorcycle
    The ’67 motor is sporting a big-bore Sonny Routt 750 kit, big Kenny Harmon cams, steel H-beam rods, a lightened and balanced crank, and a five-speed conversion. “It was a full-tilt race motor. But the valve guides were loose in the head, the seats were cracked, and half the cylinder studs were pulled out of the cases,” says Rathburn. “So I fixed all the issues and put it together just as it had been. I was reluctant to change anything: it felt like I was working on a piece of history.”
    Trackmaster motorcycle
    Rathburn did change other things, though. He fabricated an aluminum swingarm, installed custom shocks from Works Performance, and fitted a modified Barnes hub. (“Huge thanks to Richard at Mule Motorcycles, who held my hand and pointed me in the right direction on forks and a few other odds and ends.”)
    The front end of this Trackmaster is a mix of Yamaha, Buell, Triumph and Ducati parts. Rims are Excel and the tires are Goodyear DTII dirt trackers.
    Trackmaster motorcycle
    The bodywork is all aluminum and scratch-built by Rathburn. The tank is a replica of the original fiberglass Trackmaster tanks, and the tail is just what Rathburn thought would look good. “My client wanted the seat pad to extend back a little bit, so I shaped the seat pan to fit, and had it covered in black leather by a local shop.”
    The stainless exhaust was built in-house and hooked up to a Supertrapp muffler. The custom bars are also stainless, and like the foot controls and pegs, were built in-house.
    Trackmaster motorcycle
    This was not an easy build, even for someone with Rathburn’s skills and experience. “I stopped working on it a few times, because it was so frustrating. But at the end of the day I love it, and don’t care how much hassle it was.”
    Rathburn didn’t get to ride the Trackmaster much, because the client needed it back. “But it sure felt like it was going to be fun after a little bit of dialing in. It’s got way more brakes than any vintage Triumph I’ve ever ridden … and plenty of power!”
    Images by Anthony Hall. Visit the Atom Bomb Custom site for more of Clay Rathburn’s work, or check out our archive of previous Atom Bomb builds here.
    from BIKEEXIF

    WSBK : Marco Melandri maintains top spot in QP2 at Monza



















    from Twowheelsblog
    The air at Monza has certainly given Marco Melandri a big boost of confidence after struggling these past few rounds.
    The BMW Goldbet rider’s yesterday’s lap in 1′42.883 remained the benchmark for the field. The Monza track was still damp after an intense rain shower late last night, but the field was able to use their slicks and in the final minutes of the session with a drying track there was the usual final rush to qualify for this afternoon’s Superpole.
    Melandri and Jonathan Rea didn’t improve their Q1 times, and were safely in first and second, but Sylvain Guintoli did. The Aprilia factory rider dropped four tenths of second from yesterday and touched a top speed of 333.6 km/h.
    Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty were 4th and 5th fastest, with the Aprilia factory rider pipping the two Aprilia privateers in the finale with Davide Giugliano in 6th and Michel Fabrizio finishing 7th.
    Loris Baz also improved and he was 8th and followed by Fixi Crescent Suzuki duo Leon Camier and Jules Cluzel. Chaz Davies moved up to tenth after his yesterday’s bad crash at the Lesmo, which left his BMW in pieces and to be put together again.
    Carlos Checa would have been in the Superpole after qualifying 11th yesterday, but the Spaniard has decided to withdraw from the round. The Ducati Alstare rider arrived at Monza suffering from osseous edema on his humerus.
    Qualifying for the Monza Superpole are Ayrton Badovini, Fabrizio Lai who is replacing injured Alexander Lundh in Kawasaki Pedercini, Max Neukirchner, and Federico Sandi who edged out Mark Aitchison for the last spot in Superpole

    2013 WSBK Monza Q2 results:
    1. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) BMW S1000 RR 1′42.883
    2. Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) Honda CBR1000RR 1′43.157
    3. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′43.167
    4. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′43.521
    5. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′43.535
    6. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′43.623
    7. Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′43.849
    8. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′43.961
    9. Leon Camier (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′44.090
    10. Jules Cluzel (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′44.466

    1982 Honda CB750 ‘Convertible’ - Steel Bent Customs


    Yes, you are on the right site. And no, we haven't suddenly decided to add four wheeled vehicles to our stock-in-trade. That's because the convertible we happen to be talking about here isn't a little red Corvette or your daddy's Thunderbird, but instead it's the latest build by Florida's Steel Bent Customs. This Nighthawk not only ticks all the right boxes in terms of clean lines, cool pipes, and sweet paint - it also manages to be both a café and a brat at the same time. Cool trick, huh?
    Mike Mundy, owner of Steel Bent Customs, has a simple plan. “I will build 15 to 17 bikes this year. 12 or so will be commissioned, built to order bikes - the others will be personal shop builds to allow us to express some creativity.” This is the first of these builds, and by the looks of what he's created, it won't be the last.
    Mike wanted to create a center, or ‘cat's butt’ (as he put it) exhaust bike. “We didn't know how to expect the exhaust to sound or if we even had ample rear tire clearance.” Turns out that the set-up is good on space and the exhaust tone is very similar to your average 4-in-to-1 set-up. He also wanted to do a mono shock out back without switching out the rear swing arm. Tick and tick again, we'd say.
    “Once we were moving along with the build we decided that we liked the look of the seat cowl, but wanted the option of a space for a passenger. Hence the ‘Convertible’ name,” Mike says. The guys then had their upholster give them a diamond stitch pattern on the two seats, and their painter finished off the tins in a wet-look gloss black and silver design with a red go-faster stripe.
    Then, when most of us would be happy with creating a bike that simply crossed two genres, Mike still wanted more. “We went with a motocross bar set up and added a screen protected headlight for a look we are coining ‘urban cafe’ - ready to assault the city streets.” Assault the streets and then sip a nice latté, we're guessing.
    For the final touches, red pod filters and mono shock springs give the bike a little attitude. Mike notes that although the bike was inherently an ‘inside job,’ the new features and unique details will allow new customers to see more options when detailing their own builds.
    Mike ends by pointing out that she was purchased by a guy overseas before she was finished and that they will be shipping her out soon. How's that for an endorsement? We're guessing that if Mike and the lads can keep this up, it won't be just one ‘guy overseas’ who wants a part of the action. I wonder if they ship to Sydney?
    from Pipeburn