“RIVERSIDE RACER” BY ANALOG

By Wes Garcia | Megadeluxe

The latest build from Tony Prust of Analog Motorcycles is this 1966 Wards Riverside—a bike that originated from an unlikely marriage between Chicago’s Montgomery Ward and Benelli motorcycles of Italy.

From 1959 to 1969 Montgomery Ward, the now defunct department store, sold motorcycles and scooters via a mail-order catalogue. Under the brand name of “Wards Riverside,” the relabeled bikes were supplied by Benelli. (Interesting that Montgomery Ward decided to rebrand these bikes, since many of the most famous racers during the 1960s rode Benellis.) Montgomery Ward would ship the motorcycles in crates, and it was up to the customer to both uncrate and assemble the bikes.

With all this unique history, it was no surprise to Tony that his client insisted on keeping intact the Wards Wheeled Goods serial number badge, and the Montgomery Ward logo.

Tony started the build by swapping out the front end with an EBR moped hydraulic set up, raising the rear with some slightly taller shocks, and re-lacing the hubs to powder coated aluminum wheels with polished stainless steel spokes. He then mounted Sava MC11 Moped racing tires. The engine was rebuilt and polished, and for maximum performance he installed a K&N air filter on a NOS replacement Dell’Orto Carb.

Unsure of what was the best option for tuning, Tony modified an aftermarket expansion chamber from a Kreidler Mustang to mount on the Wards, and had it ceramic coated. He then modified the rear subframe, fabricated a new seat pan with a speed hump, and wired in an LED taillight set up. Magura controls and NOS cables were mounted up, along with clip ons and CRG blind sight mirrors.

The stock Wards Riverside tank was treated to new paint scheme, as was the rest of the bike, in a silver metallic with orange and black accents. The detailed hand pin-striping was expertly done by Brando, and the paint by Kiel at Crown Auto Body. The seat was upholstered by Rod’s Designs. The bike has all new wiring, and the old rollerball bearing wheels were converted to sealed bearing units. Worn rubber pegs were replaced with lowered and hard-mounted aluminum pegs.

In Tony’s words, “It looks fast, but looks can be deceiving.”

Head over to our Archives for previous Analog builds, and the Analog Facebook page for news.

Author Wes Garcia is the chief editor of Megadeluxe, an online magazine covering the world of speed, sport and design. Images by Timothy Prust.

from BIKEEXIF

Aston Martin DB4 Convertible: Never in the shade

First on sale in 1961, the DB4 Convertible offered sporting intent in an open-top configuration – but only to 70 lucky owners.

The convertible DB4 made its debut at the 1961 London Motor Show, exactly three years after its be-roofed sibling had been revealed to an appreciative crowd at the same venue.

This time, though, the styling had been taken care of in-house, with Touring’s design for the coupé used merely as a starting point; a very pretty one at that.Often serving to improve and confuse in equal measure, Sir David Brown’s preference for ‘constant evolution’ was as present as ever in the open DB4. Though it went on sale at the same time as the ‘series 4’ cars (the ‘series’ were retrospectively defined by AMOC, the Aston Martin Owners Club), the convertible shared some features with the later ‘series 5’ coupés, including the extended section of the rear body. In fact, some of its characteristics – such as the opening quarterlight window – were not seen on a coupé until the DB6.


In comparison with these later cars, the DB4 Convertible also managed to retain a unique side to its character. In subsequent years, that process of ‘constant evolution’ meant the cars put on weight, negating the advantages of the Superleggera construction process licensed by Touring. Also, it has a fruitier exhaust note compared with later straight-six Astons: the DB4’s rasp only had to do battle with two silencers, while DB5s and 6s had four.

Nestle into the short but surprisingly supportive seats and you’re greeted by a thin, large-diameter wooden steering wheel. It’s bordered by simple switchgear and dials inset into a body-coloured dash panel, a touch that's exclusive to the convertible: the coupé had a sombre, black fascia.

While later cars enjoy popularity through refined looks, snowballing power figures and associations with certain film franchises, it’s the DB4 which offers perhaps the most honest experience of the Newport Pagnell six-cylinder cars. With the convertible only accounting for a small percentage of production, it also provides membership of an exclusive club – one whose members thrive on the DB4’s sporting intentions, and do so while basking in balmy sunshine whenever possible.

Related Links Further information on the DB4 Convertible seen here can be found in the Classic Driver Marketplace

Text: Joe Breeze (Classic Driver)
Photos: Simon Clay

Suzuki GSX-R "Back to Black" by KMP

Foto: Facebook (KMP)
via Racing Café

Cape Town to Dublin by Scooter

 

Scooter riding expedition that starts at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa in February 2013 - The route takes us up the length of Africa, then through the Middle East and right across Europe - visiting 14 different Children's Hospitals in total - Ultimately finishing at Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Dublin, Ireland - an 8 month journey. The trip is been completed to assist with the raising of funds and awareness for the wonderful work done by these amazing life saving organizations