When Spring rolls around in Indianapolis, the vintage bike scene comes alive at Rockers Reunion. The 7th annual event brought out the city’s coolest customs and oldies-but-goodies, but it’s the overall scene we dig the most: the people, the music, the vibe. If you couldn’t make it, here’s a taste of what you missed and why we’re a proud sponsor of this always-entertaining motorcycle gathering.
Local photog and motorcyclist, Michelle Pemberton arrives on her ’73 CL350 Honda.
Corey from Good Spark Garage gives Ton Up Indy’s Eric Anderson a ride around the venue as he announced tidings of great joy.
Artist Chris Sickels’ custom, hand-painted “Half-Ton” symbol for cracking 50mph on his ’65 HD Pacer. He now moves a little faster on his R60/2.
Metal, polished or with patina, is abundant. So is leather and black apparel.
Jared from Vardagen brought his Norton Commando along with some nicely designed and hand-printed shirts at their vendor tent.
Rik Tommasone’s li’l Honda won a well-deserved trophy for Best Cafe Racer this year.
Matty Bennett from National Moto+Cycle sets up an impressive row of their custom motobikes in the vendor area.
Indy motorcyclist, Jessy Falvy, and her Honda shod with good n’ meaty tires.
American iron added to the mix of Japanese and Euro motorcycles.
Firing the bikes up to ride from Melody Inn to Flat 12 Bierworks for the afterparty.
We believe a child should be raised in a healthy environment and exposed to motorcycles as early as possible.
Lotta Hondas zipping around Rockers Reunion; cool to see the variations on a theme.
A little Italian thump to supplement the soundscape.
Ryan Abegglen of Ton Up Indy parks his Triumph.
Old bikes. Old-school helmets. Right on, dudes.
Battle-ready BSA.
Along with the eclectic mix o’ bikes, these events are great for people-watching.
Bikes and their riders gather at the afterparty at Flat 12 Bierworks.
Louisville’s Vice Tricks added some psycho-rock ambience to the afterparty with Ms. Verity Vice on the upright bass and King on vocals and guitar.
Ton Up Club members. Thanks, guys, for hosting a great event!
A handful of winners from the 2013 Rockers Reunion Indianapolis Bike Show.
This year, the weather forecast was looking terrible for the event. Hail, high winds and torrential downpours were potentially headed to Indy, but when the event rolled around there was only a few minutes of sprinkles and perfect temps for the entire bike show and afterparty. That’s Spring in the Midwest. So, if you stayed home or couldn’t make it to Rockers Reunion this year, don’t miss next year and ride on in, man! Keep it tuned to the event’s website for dates and info about 2014.
Also, to see lots more of our pics from the event, click on over to our Facebook photo album and share with yer friends!
This is the only event in TTC's seven-event repertoire that doesn't require mud bogging, rockcrawling, or deep water navigation. Nonetheless, this kickoff event instills fear in competitors because it has the potential to annihilate weak components. The Tow Test is like a truck pull that drank a case of energy drinks. It takes place on a dirt hill that climbs approximately 13 feet in elevation over its 150-foot length and it has a maximum angle of approximately 16 degrees. Each competitor's rig was fastened to a 36,000-pound cement mixer and each competitor was allowed one pull. There was no time limit and a pull was completed when forward momentum ceased or the front axle of the cement mixer crossed the finish line. This event favors heavy rigs with big power and grippy tires.
Little Misfit is exactly that. Super-skinny wheels & tyres carry this 350 single with a scrambler tank and inverted bars finished off with a crooked cafe racer seat that runs up the tank. You won’t have seen a build quiet like this before, and this is all good in our book.
Roberto Polizzi is the builder, and he hails from Biella in the north of Italy where the 42 year old worked in a motorcycle spares shop, and now with his friend Andrea Campagnolo in a workshop they’ve christened “Leave your S…” This is where Little Misfit was born.
The bike was originally a mid-sized 1991 TT350 trailie which Roberto found in a friend’s garage. It wasn’t in good condition, having been thrashed off-road most of it’s life, but it was a runner. Roberto started to strip her down to see what the potential was. In his own words, he doesn’t usually begin a project without “an exact idea of what I want” but in this case his only thought was to build a bike with cheap parts and scrap metal, heavily influenced by the aesthetics of movie road-warrior Mad Max; “a punkish post atomic bike that could make a Humungus smile”.
As well as benefiting from an engine overhaul and modified airflow, the bike has front forks from a Honda XL125 and have been shortened, while the rear shocks were pinched from a Cagiva Elefant 200. The front wheel is also a XL125 laced with galvanised spokes to a freshly powder-coated rim shod with an Avon while the rear wheels is the stock Raggi, again, with new spokes and powder-coated rim wearing a Metzler.
The bars are Ergal, mounted upside down. The tank is frm an XL125, while the seat is hand made. Apart from the obvious changes to the lights, etc, there are a few scrap/punk touches like the Volume Knob earnings used on the fork caps, Brass Knuckle starter and a skateboard wheel as the chain tensioner.
“My final project was something completely against the trend: now everyone turns every bike into a old fashioned stylish scrambler, ok I did the opposite, I started from an off-road bike and I got a sort of café racer. Well, It’s not so easy to realize which type of bike is, it looks like a strange mix between a cafè racer, a boardtracker and an hardcore punk singer: that’s why I called it “Little Misfit”, a misfit to other bikes.”
With this build Roberto decided to create his own brand, Dagger Motorcycles, which comes from the two daggers he has inked on his arms. It also relates to the idea of him “stabbing” stock bikes with his own modifications.
The bike Roberto’s his own personal ride and he loves it; “I just wanted to get around and make some noise because in the end, I’m just here for the gasoline”. At just 125kg a 350 single is going to be a hoot to hoon around on, and it’s certainly unlikley to pass unnoticed through the streets of bike-loving northern Italy.
See more from Roberto on his Facebook page and thanks to Gianrico for setting up the story.
To state the bleeding obvious, motorcycles are at their most fun when they are ridden fast. Another undeniable fact is that riding motrcycles on the the road fast, attracts highway patrol members and can be financially damaging due to loss of folding fun tickets and licence points. Luckily, a solution is ready made and it's called RACING. Proving point two, has left it's toll on my wallet, I don't have $250 k to spend annually on ASB racing, and lets face it....I'm not 17 years old and I aint going to be world champ. I also love classic bikes, luckily there is a whole circuit of Historic Racers.
The journey began when I was offered a Z500 shed find and I started my first build. Got the motor running after months of late night tinkering and beers with Craig Longhurst (ok, perhaps there was more beers than tinkering and perhaps it was more Craig mechanicing than I), and we said "By golly, you know, this isn't going to work.....what about an SR400 ? We (read Craig) could make quite a fun little thing from one of those".....(points vaguely to the pile of SR400s stacked in the corner of the workshop). SR400 falls very neatly into Period 5 The Forgotten Era (love that moniker) period racing. They are a very nippy short stroke, don't need to run a battery and therefore are light, and trick race bits are very accessible. We'll do it !!!!!! (read Craig will build it). National race licence obtained, bike log booked, entry fee paid, I was going to race The Southern Classic, Broadford.
The Southern Classic is the second biggest Historic Motorcycle Race in Victoria on the calander and this year attracted over 220 entries in all classes of racing with a wide range of machines. As my excitement level grew in proportion to my nervousness I was pleasantly suprised that anouther member of Melbourne Cafe Racers was also making his debut to racing on a sweet little Period 4, 350 Ducati.
So with the knowledge that I wasn't alone, I set out for the scheduled practice day on the Friday. First learning exercise.....start the bike. The bike very quickly reminded me it was prepared for racing, no delux push start, no kick starter as this just adds weight (not quite sure what the logic of this is when the bozo riding weighs 92 kg, what's an additional 750 gm...ok ok I weigh 97 kg). My first lap at practice, shiver me dead, this was a toey beast. Returning to the pits it would have taken the knowledge that World War 3 had started and I was to lead the clones into battle, to wipe the smile off my face. Then super mechanic Craig showed me my lap times - 1 min 36 sec. "Is that good?".... "Well you'll need to get to 115% of the quickest in your class to qualify tomorrow and they do 1 min 9 sec". BUBBLE BURST, hello sleepless night.
Fortunately, Saturday's qualifying saw me flying and with some tweaking of the rules I started from the back of the grid. I loved being in the race paddock. So many beautifully prepared machines and the sounds, man a petrol head's heaven. Racing on the weekend was feirce. I had come to this pursiut too late in life but was immediately made to feel welcome. No other sport that I have participated in have the fellow competitors (racers in this case) come up to me and said things such as "Hi...I'm TJ....I race in your class....good to see some more Period 5's,.....follow me I'll show you the race line!", This bloke was helping me get better and loving doing it, even though I potentially (very very slight chance) would take that knowledge and beat him.
Saturday night was time for frothy beverages, a band and a dinner for the racers. It also meant that teams of mechanics worked on broken bikes well into the early hours of Sunday ready for that days racing. Carlos Delgrado and Craig Longhurst changed fork springs, fork oil, replaced a triple clamp and massaged my ego. I then wandered back to camp, this little black duck was exhausted. Sunday was even better. The bike was responding to the TLC provided the night before and I now was less intimidated by the bikes around me. Yep, at the end of the four races I had passed a total of ONE bike (he stalled at the start of race 4) but I could not have had a better weekend....ok well if someone would like to pay for semi-naked grid girls just for me, it could've been better, but that's a road that has led to my downfall in the past......
Thankyou to all of the MCR members that popped their head into the garage over the weekend, Bill, Darren and Gail, Josh, Ash, Noel and Brian. Crongratulations to other MCR members that raced...Mark, Brian and Cas on sidecars, Noel on solos. Most of all thankyou from the sub cocheal region of my heart to my pit crew...Matt, Craig, Sandy and Annie. Next stop is the South Australian Championships held between Christmas and New Year, just try and stop me attending !!!
A few months after the release of the Hollywood epic ‘Rush’, one individual has commissioned Ferrari’s Tailor Made division to customise a 458 Italia in tribute to legendary racing driver Niki Lauda…
Focusing on his memorable spell racing for Ferrari – which included two Drivers' Championship wins – the customisation department has taken inspiration from Lauda's 312T F1 car.
Naturally, then, this Tailor Made 458 is red, but it also has a white roof and accents, as well as longitudinal roof-stripes in the colours of the Italian flag; and some very 70s gold wheels that really stand out.
Inside, the themed tribute continues. The stripes of the national flag are used again, while red stitching has free reign over the dashboard, instrument panel and seats – the latter of which are of a fittingly pared-back design.
The owner was clearly satisfied with the 458’s performance straight from the factory, as no mechanical upgrades were commissioned.
The reasons why we choose to build cars are as varied as the makes, models and intended purpose. For some it’s all about extracting the very last drop of performance and testing the the laws of physics, for others it’s the simple satisfaction gained from presenting the fruits of their labour on the static show floor. Regardless of mindset, there’s one aspect of automotive culture that binds us all together: the happiness that cars bring. It’s something we like to call #JoyOfMachine.
For Martijn Groters and his small, close-knit group of friends from Netherlands it always has been, and very likely always will be, about Volkswagens. Together, they’ve been putting their spin on humble commuters from the German manufacturer’s back catalogue ever since they left school, and doing so have created some of the most well-known VW-badged cars in the country under their group banner, VWDepartment.
During that time Martijn has owned his fair share –including a couple of modified water-cooled cars and then a rat-styled and suitably-slammed ’67 Beetle. While the Type 1 provided a first step into the world of air-cooled Volkswagens, he knew it wasn’t the right car to really sink his teeth into. It wasn’t ‘the one’.
T1 panel buses consumed his thoughts for a long while, but given their rarity – and subsequent buy-in price – that idea was eventually put on the back-burner and Martijn went looking for an early oval-windowed Beetle, preferably with a ragtop and within his modest budget.
Ticking off all those boxes was never going to be an easy ask, but Martijn’s patience and perseverance eventually paid off in 2005 when he received a call from his local specialist air-cooled workshop.
There was a car for sale – a restoration project that had only got as far as a partial strip-down. It was a ’57 and therefore the last of the rear oval windowed models, it had a ragtop, and it was parked in a barn in the same spot it had occupied for the last ten years having previously been imported from California in 1990. It was all the encouragement Martijn needed to contact the owner straight away and set up a time to view the car the very next day.
What he found wasn’t that quintessential barn find we all dream of – a totally original, low mileage, one owner car sitting under a thick layer of dust. Instead he came face-to-face with an incomplete Type 1 shell that had been largely ravaged by rot. That might not sound all that appealing, but in an instant Martijn had fallen head over heels for the ‘piece of rust’ and secured the deal.
Although ovals in good, or at least complete condition fetch considerable money, but because of its ailing state, Martijn didn’t need to part ways with a lot of folding in order to be able to bundle the ’57 basket case up on the back of a trailer and tow it home. That bit came later, during the full off-chassis, back-to-steel nut and bolt restoration which took the better part of six years to see through, working on and off at night and in the weekends.
Considering he’s an electrician by trade and only builds cars for a hobby in his spare time, Martijn has done an amazing job transforming the Type 1 from ruins to one of the coolest and cleanest Beetles we’ve ever seen. Amazingly, the paintwork was the only aspect that was outsourced; everything else, including the extensive panel repair work required to properly reinstate the body, was handled himself.
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During the years he spent dreaming about T1 Buses and oval Type 1s, Martijn had a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve with the build. In fact, there were only three prerequisites: a clean and classy look, a super low ride height, and the right set of the wheels.
Apply that sort of thinking to any old school car and chances are you’re going to end up with a good outcome, but with so many neat period touches to be found around early Beetles, the build has some beautiful details.
From the refashioned factory rag top…
… through the inch-perfect bodywork finished in period-perfect L378 Prairie Beige paint…
… to a set of a genuine 16×6-inch Porsche Fuchs wheels that Martijn has polished and detailed to the nth degree. I’m sure you’ll agree that no other rim would have worked quite as well here as the iconic German Fuchsfelge five-spoke does.
To get the wheels sitting just where he wanted them and achieve the desired ride height, Martijn narrowed the beam and modified the fuel tank to suit, and finished off the front end with a pair of Monroe air shocks. At the rear it was simple case of rotating the splines on the torsion bars to alter the height, which although much lower than standard, is raised a little more than the front for some good old fashioned rake. The combined result is rather effective. This is one low Bug.
Mechanically speaking, Martijn stuck to the ’57 factory script using all the correct gear for the vintage, including the manual four-speed gearbox, and 1192c flat-four engine. In keeping with the rest of the build, all components were either rebuilt or rejuvenated before being refitted.
Although the set-up had all just been removed prior to our shoot, the 1.2-litre motor had previously been given some ‘vintage tuning’ by the way of an Okrasa camshaft, dual carburetors on a special manifold and a lightweight flywheel. It was no racing machine according to Martijn, but it certainly looked the part when you lifted the lid, and no doubt set free a few more ponies than the 36-odd horsepower the engine’s now back to making in its original production guise.
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As simply laid out as the Beetle’s interior is, through a quality refinish and attention to even the smallest details, Martijn has created a space that’s not only totally in keeping with the rest of the car…
… but is also a very cool place in which to enjoy the driving experience from.
Judging by the style of that Blaupunkt logo, it’s safe to assume that the analogue push-button style radio in the dash is probably not the same vintage as the car itself, but either way it certainly has a retro flavour and is nicely integrated into the mix with matching ivory trim and chrome detailing.
Of course, no oval Type 1 modified in this vein would be complete without the ultimate touring accessory from a bygone era of motoring: a car/swamp cooler. These large canister reservoirs that became popular from the 1930s were attached to a door, filled with water prior to a road trip, and through the process of evaporation, provided cool air flow into the cabin when the vehicle was moving.
Along with the immense satisfaction that I can only imagine comes with the completion of an extensive restoration project like this one, the ’57 has been the source of so much happiness for Martijn, that even a couple of years on, it still manages to put a smile on his face every time he opens the driver door, slips into the low-back seats and twists the ignition barrel to spark the side-punching four into life. It doesn’t really get any better than that…
Or does it?.. Given Martijn’s connection with the ’57 I was surprised to learn from him a few days ago that the car had been sold on to a new owner in Switzerland and all that he had left to show from it was his beloved wheels.
Of course, there was a very good reason he had decided to let the Beetle go, and that was to follow his original dream of owning a T1 Panel Bus. In Martijn’s eyes, it’s a sacrifice that had to be made. In a scenario that’s already playing out like his oval barn find, he found exactly what he was looking for in an incomplete ’59 project in need of some serious TLC. The plan? Original, low and rolling on the Fuchs, plus a bigger, badder engine to boot this time around.
If the ’57 oval is anything to go by though, it’s definitely in safe hands.
