CAFÉ RACER 76

THE DECOSON BY RANDY GRUBB

Randy Grubb is almost certainly the best aluminium fabricator you’ll find anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, his work with 4, 3 and 2 wheeled vehicles using the bauxite based metal is legendary and after taking a look at his newest creation, I can’t help but think of him as a bit of an artist.

The Decoson is so called because it’s the “son” of the now-famous Decoliner (another of Randy’s creations), it’s based on a 1984 Harley-Davidson Sportster though much of the original bike had to be either modified or removed to allow for the new and remarkably beautiful body of the Decoson to take shape.

The rear suspension had to go in favour of a rigid-tail, the handle bars were removed and new, much lower drag bars were added. All the gauges, switches and electronics were lowered down, the original seat was discarded and the fuel tank had its top half cut off – to make way for the new body shell. Interestingly, the handlebars are mounted inside the new body, so you actually reach into the bike to steer it.

The opening for the front wheel is also designed to allow air flow in over the air-cooled Harley v-twin, Randy added a series of louvres on both side to allow the hot air to escape and a small windshield to push a curtain of air up over the rider’s head at higher speeds.

Officially, Randy says that this bike is a work of art and isn’t really meant to be a daily rider, but unofficially it looks like he has an extraordinary amount of fun riding it, and I want to have a go.

If you’d like to see more from Randy Grubb, you can click the link here to visit his website. I’ve added episode 1 and episode 2 of the show “Randy Grubb’s Garage” below, if you want to see him fabricating and building the Decoson you’ll want to hit play and watch both episodes.

Photo Credits: Randy Johnson

via SILODROME

Cars and Films: The car's the poster star

What would James Bond have been without his Aston Martin DB5? Or Mr Bean without his Mini? Now, Spanish graphic designer Jesús Prudencio has reinterpreted classic movie posters with the cars as the real stars…

Actors are overrated, right? Jesús Prudencio, a graphic designer and illustrator from Seville, certainly thinks so. ‘Back to the Future’ would have been nothing if it weren’t for the DeLorean and its flux capacitor. The best moment of ‘Ghostbusters’ was, surely, when ‘Ecto–1’, the converted Cadillac ambulance, was finally scrambled against the ghoulish monsters.

Señor Prudencio simply loves films and cars. Abiding by the motto ‘reduce to the max’, he has designed new posters for several hit movies, which portray the cars as the films' real heroes. Critics might be shocked by his ‘Pulp Fiction’ poster, which presents not John Travolta, but his character Vincent Vega's cherry red Chevrolet Malibu Convertible. Jack Nicholson’s iconic wicked grin for ‘The Shining’ has been replaced by a solitary and quite eerie alpine truck on caterpillar tracks. A classic Vespa adorns the ‘Roman Holiday’ poster, but without Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck astride it: the couple who so famously rode it through Rome in the film.

007 fans can’t protest at Prudencio’s ‘Goldfinger’ interpretation, though. No beautiful gilded Bond girls, but the sleek, sinewy form of the legendary DB5. It’s great to see the cars and other forms of mobility being recognised as actors in their own right. Perhaps, one day, we might see an Oscar category for best vehicle.

Photos: Jesús Prudencio

Yamaha XS650 Cafe Racer

It’s safe to say that the motorcycle Yamaha XS650 will go down in history as a legendary motostrano donor. For several decades, customizers around the world use this model to build cafe racers, street trackers, Bobber, and many other kinds of custom-bikes. The only problem some custom bikes Yamaha XS650 is that sometimes begin to master repeated, without causing any interest. However, in this case, propose to consider the unique bright green cafe racer Yamaha XS650, who built by Steve Baugrud.

It is important to note that this bike is the first creation of Stephen, who is not professionally engaged in customizing and mechanics. In fact, he had to learn on the go rework motorcycle, reading forums and specialist literature.

Yamaha XS650 Cafe Racer Details and Features: