WILKINSON BROS BMW R75/6 CAFE RACER

(See the feature first posted at BikeEXIF.com by its editor and publisher, Chris Hunter, who has his finger on the pulse of today’s global custom and classic motorcycle scene.) 

Old stock BMW airheads catch our eye. We dig their unique profiles and opposed-cylinder power plants, but also recognize their potential as even more unique customs. Below is a feature penned by Chris Hunter of BikeEXIF.com about one of our Good Spark Garage bikes: Casey Wilkinson’s 1976 BMW R75/6.

1970s-era BMW airheads respond well to the cafe racer treatment. But you don’t often see one with a mono-shock conversion. This 1976 R75/6 is owned by graphic designer Casey Wilkinson of the motorcycle-mad Wilkinson Brothers, and he spotted it at the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days. Despite having 100,000 miles on the clock, Casey bought it, and started drawing up a racy profile for his new acqusition. He mocked up a subframe and swingarm with quarter-inch steel round bar, and shaped a new tailpiece with insulation foam board.

This served as a template and guide for metal fabricator Cliff Meyer of Meyerbuilt Metalworks. Cliff stayed true to the mock-up, but carefully addressed each mounting point and joint, improving the overall strength and fitment. His hand-formed aluminum tailpiece is a work of art.

“The goal of this project was to compensate for a limited budget with elbow grease and creativity,” says Casey. So the foot controls are made from bicycle freestyle pegs and hand-cut aluminum flat stock, finished with plumbing nipples for the toe pegs. The rear shock is from a Suzuki GSX-R750 and the headlight rock guard is an aftermarket MG auto part, fastened to the bucket with springs. The stock motor chugs away with shorty Dunstall-style mufflers and K&N pod filters. It’s a daily rider with more of a flickable-fun persona than its original touring stance.

For a temporary solution, an old motorcycle jacket serves as the seat cover. The tailpiece houses a teensy lithium ion battery, and the top fork brace was CNC’d by ToasterTan Custom Braces. The logo “Good Spark Garage” comes from the Wilkinson Brothers’ moto-culture blog (which is highly recommended). “If we had more equipment and time, perhaps Wilkinson Bros could evolve into a custom bike shop,” Casey wonders.

He’s off to a good start with this BMW cafe racer; hopefully we’ll see more customs from the Wilkinson Brothers in the future. –Chris Hunter, editor and publisher of BikeEXIF.com

At Good Spark, we utilize what tools we have, take our projects as far as our skill-sets allow before calling on craftsmen. Yep, perhaps Wilkinson Bros could evolve into a custom bike shop; that’d be great. In the meantime, we have a lot of good friends/craftsmen to lean on. They help us achieve exactly what our minds and pencils conceptualize, rather than stopping short of a goal. When all is complete, we then ride the heck out of our bikes.

To see another Wilkinson Bros / Meyerbuilt Metalworks collaboration, see the Wilkinson Bros Kawasaki W650 Cafe Racer here.

via goodsparkgarage

Spirit’s RD400

Chris Bullick originally bought his RD400C in 1977 when he was a sixth former, and the same year that EMI signed the Sex Pistols, Star Wars was released, and Elvis left the building. The RD400 was a relatively short -lived model, produced for only three years from 1976-79, but was a bike that did wheelies off the throttle at a time when nothing else did, and handled better than its ‘characteristic’ Kawasaki and Suzuki counterparts. On a good day, a set-up RD could give a Triumph Bonneville or Norton Commando a run for their money.

1977′s model was supplied with US-spec tall handlebars, giant rubber footrests sedately positioned below the engine, and large self-cancelling indicators. It wasn’t long before Chris had removed the cow-horn bars, replaced the weighty chrome silencers, and repainted the bike with the classic yellow-black-white race livery of Kenny Roberts’ TZ750. …But that’s where the story stopped for 30 years.

Chris pursued a career across the globe, started a family and the RD slumbered behind a false wall in a garden shed. In 2012, having eventually got the kids to leave home, Chris decided that a restoration was in order, and a natural choice was Spirit of the Seventies in Chris’ native Kent where he used to thrash along the same A-roads as a lad.

Chris’ plan solidified that summer when he visited Tim and Kev at Spirit and a chance sighting of a Yamaha RD400/TZ350 hybrid behind the shed started “a conversation”, which turned into some ideas, then renderings, then a bone fide rebuild.

Spirit started by replacing the flimsy front end with an R6 setup, chosen for its performance and authentic-looking RWU forks, complemented by a Spirit headlight on LSL brackets, machined clip ons and Oury grips. Tim and Kev retained the original clocks and key-worn instrument panel as they are the familiar face of the bike: “Chris was looking at them all those years ago and it seemed appropriate to keep them. They could’ve been replaced but it wouldn’t have been right.”

Next, the “ridiculously heavy” original cast alloy wheels were replaced with refurbished later-model, lighter-weight RD400E rims wearing modern Bridgestone BT45s with a short carbon fibre Spirit mudguard.

The engine was vapour-blasted and powder-coated before receiving a re-bore, porting and jetting by Martin at Taymar Racing who shares the building with Spirit. Martin is a specialist in Yamaha 2-stroke restorations ever since racing and tuning LC350′s at nearby Brands Hatch way back when. New flat-slide Mikuni carbs (from a TZR250-2MA racer), foam air filters, and race-bred expansion pipes (that had been hanging in Martin’s workshop for 20 years but perfectly matched Spirit’s needs) helped release more power from the 40bhp motor.

Chris’s original aim was to lose 10kg to give the bike “a bit more zest” that could convincingly do a track day. Spirit’s and Taymar’s combined efforts created an extremely light 145kg rocket (20kg saved by ditching the original cast wheels and replacing the rear swingarm with a lightweight FZR400 alloy unit) that produces 50bhp at the rear wheel.

Since the lines of the bike were in Chris’ words “so timelessly right” he wanted to retain the original side panels and tank. A sophisticated grey-and-black Revolution paint job, subtly echoing the Roberts Yamaha race livery of the past, and a two-tone leather seat by Glen Moger did just that: keeping the original spirit but simultaneously updating it.

Well done Tim and Kev. See more from Spirit of the Seventies on their Bike Shed Pages or on their Website.

Posted by Hugo@TheBikeShed

LOADED GUN TRITON

This Triton has been built by Loaded Gun Customs from Delaware for the Baltimore Tattoo Museum. The engine was originally built by Arno St Denis, a legendary tuner who worked on the old racing Trumps and that is currently a renowned restorer of rare antique motorcyles from collectors all over the world. The Featherbed frame has been recovered from a bent one and fixed with new proper sizes The front end has been provided with Atlas triple trees, Commando fork legs and Commando hub laced to 19” anodized Sun rims. The rear wheel is a 18” laced to a Triumph conical hub. The new engine plates have been custom made by Loaded Gun. The engine is fuelled by Mikuni carbs (sorry, no Amal this time) and it’s approx 830 cc, running 10:1 pistons with modified valve train, lightened crank dynamic balanced. The whole bike looks beautiful and performing and seems to be far away from the concept of an oldie and delicate machine.

Questa Triton è stata realizzata da Loaded Gun Customs del Delaware per ilTattoo Museum di Baltimora. Il motore è stato originariamente costruito da Arno St Denis, un leggendario meccanico preparatore che lavorava sulle vecchie Triumph da corsa ed è oggi un rinomato restauratore. Il telaioFeatherbed è stato recuperato da un uno piegato e messo in maschera con nuove quote appropriate. Il frontale è stato fornito di piastre Atlas, steli forcella e mozzo Norton Commando con cerchio a raggi anodizzati da 19”. La ruota posteriore è da 18" e gira su un mozzo conico Triumph. Le nuove piastre del motore sono state realizzate artigianalmente da Loaded Gun. Il motore è alimentato da carburatori Mikuni (spiacenti, niente Amal questa volta) ed è di circa 830 cc, compresso 10:01, valvole modificate, albero a came alleggerito bilanciato dinamicamente. Tutta la moto è bellissima e performante e sembra essere molto lontana dal concetto di una macchina vecchietta e delicata.

via INAZUMA CAFE RACER

Wheels on the wall: Petrolified's print of classic Japanese rims

The Japanese are simply crazy about jewellery-like rims. Now, some of the wackiest wheels in Far-Eastern car culture are available in 2D format – more precisely, as a poster series…

Wheels are like the cufflinks of cars – relatively basic in isolation, but get them wrong and you spoil the whole ensemble.  The Japanese recognised this long ago and hence have awarded their cars these finishing touches. Some collectors prefer to consign the rarest pieces to the safety of their living rooms rather than expose them to the risks of the road. For your own living room wall, Petrolified – a new Slovakian online shop for car enthusiasts – has now created an A2-format print showing the most memorable Japanese wheel designs.

Photos: Petrolified