VERTIGO70 ALMA PURA

Alma Pura? A brief toy with google translate reveals the meaning of the monicker gracing Vertigo70′s latest creation; Pure Soul. The essence of a motorcycle. Four months, four builds and four different donor bikes into their Bike Shed participation, Vertigo70 refuse predictability, and continue to roll unique rides out of their Milan HQ. Alma Pura is their take on the ever popular Dominator platform, a machine that persists to generate beautiful fodder for these pages.

The thumping single heart of the Dominator inspires simplicity and rewards minimalism, and this was the route the Vertigo70 team took. They chose to create a bike with a “Racing Soul” designed to run rings in the dirt around its competitors. Any unnecessary component was cut away and some useful ones were lost as well, but who needs a side stand anyway? This bike was designed to be ridden, to go, and then go again, only stopping in the garage.

The striking hand-crafted, fibreglass, flat track tail section waves loftily at the rooster tails sprayed in its wake. The white number boards eagerly awaiting some impromptu gaffa taped race numbers. The entire subframe was cast aside and the seat supported by invisible reinforcements, generating an incredibly light profile, the rear wheel encompassed by nothing but acres of air. The seat unit houses the battery and all electrical components, leaving the engine and rear shock uncluttered. It also contains a hidden tripod leg, that can be attached to an eyelet on the front fork, just incase there is no supportive wall available to lean the bike against.

The tank comes from the familial Honda XL and was stripped raw before receiving the dark, rich cherry paint, but only where needed. It is a style and finish we have seen from Vertigo70 before, on their McQueen CB500, on the Dominator it combines with the spoked wheels to evoke images of the scramblers from days of yore.

The colour palette is highlighted by details of copper, with cable guides and other minute details finished in the rose metal. A transparent plexiglass chain guard, chrome Bates headlight, and baby indicators completes the detailing.

The stance of the bike was dropped from its lofty standard height with eight centimetres trimmed from the forks and a new shorter shock supplanting the rear. The resulting geometry yields an incredibly rideable bike that relishes drifting its 17″ wheels on the rough stuff. Short hand made pipes finish with an under slung exhaust to supply the inevitably throaty soundtrack.

The Dominator craze shows no sign of waning as each one seems to showcase a new individual take on the platform and the donor prices continue to rise. No doubt Vertigo70 have just inspired further bouts of planning and ebay searching with their floating tailed tracker showcasing the pure soul of the breed.

See more from Vertigo70 on their Bikeshed page and discover many hours of Dominator themed distraction right across the Bikeshed pages. Got a favourite yet?

Day Trippers

Day Trippers from Staghead Moto on Vimeo.

Kaffeemaschine 10: A Yamaha to yearn for

So far, motorcycle customiser Axel Budde has based his café racer creations on Moto Guzzis – but his 10th ‘Kaffeemaschine’ began its life as a Yamaha…

The donor Yamaha SR500 was given its radical transformation into a desirable café racer under Budde’s ‘Kaffeemaschine’ label, with support from Hamburg-based marque specialist Kedo. “Although the SR has been around for more than 35 years and all possible customisation styles exist, I've only seen a few SRs coherently given the café racer makeover,” says Budde. His company not only fashions a new aluminium tank and seat to complete the conversion, but also puts around 250 man-hours into perfecting the smaller and more intricate details. The final result is named ‘Mezzomille’ (meaning ‘half-thousand’), and mimics the style of the late 1970s.

Classic motorcycles can be found for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

What colour is Hyundai’s i20 WRC? / De quelle couleur est la Hyundai i20 WRC ?

It’s a question many people have been asking since the car was unveiled in December. Blue? Grey? Blue-grey?

The car’s colour is officially known as ‘Hyundai i20 WRC Blue’, but don’t try asking for it in the Korean brand’s dealerships. It doesn’t exist. “Not yet,” notes Hyundai-Shell WRT’s spokesperson. “Later, it will be used for the Hyundai range’s high-performance models.”

Although you can’t choose this shade for your new i20, you may still spot one on the road: “All our company cars have been painted in the same colour as the rally cars. At each European round of the championship, there will be a dozen or so for team members, the crews, etc. It works out cheaper than to rent a quantity of cars each time.”

Some colleagues see the colour as grey, others blue. Jérôme, for example, plumps for ‘lilac blue’, but Autosport’s David is certain it’s ‘powder blue’, while German writer Christian says ‘Frangfrage’, which means a question that doesn’t have a correct answer. Certain wittier observers (no names!) suggest it’s an undercoat the team is using until it gets round to applying the definitive finish…

That said, a quick survey among the photographers and cameramen reveals that the colour stands out well in pictures. “It gives the cars a dynamic stance. We haven’t had any negative feedback.” The only problem is that it’s almost impossible to have unity of colour across the whole team. For example, the stylist in charge of the team’s clothing has yet to find an exact match for use with fabrics...

The livery of the Hyundai i20 WRCs is the work of the Hyundai Motor Europe Design Center (HMEDC) led by Jochen Werner. Along with the trucks and motorhomes, the third car which is due to run under the ‘Hyundai Motorsport N’ banner from Portugal onwards will feature the same shade in order to ensure a clear, coherent visual signature.

Depuis sa présentation officielle en décembre dernier, beaucoup se posent cette question. Est-ce un bleu ? Un gris ? Un bleu-gris ? Et d’ailleurs comment prononce-t-on Hyundai ?

La teinte s’appelle officiellement « Hyundai i20 WRC Blue ». Mais ne la cherchez pas dans le nuancier du constructeur, elle n’existe pas. « Pas encore », souligne le porte-parole du team Hyundai-Shell WRT. « Ce bleu devrait être la couleur des futurs modèles haute-performance de la marque Hyundai, qui se prononce comme on veut mais surtout pas Hyund…aîe ! Ca, c’est du passé. »

Donc pour l’instant, impossible de commander une Hyundai i20 de ce coloris chez votre concessionnaire, mais il en existe néanmoins quelques exemplaires qui circulent : « Toutes nos voitures de fonction ont été peintes aux couleurs des voitures de course. Sur chaque rallye européen, nous en acheminons une dizaine par plateau pour les membres du team, les pilotes… Cela revient moins cher que de louer des véhicules sur place. »

Certains parlent de bleu, d’autres de gris. Jérôme voit un bleu-lilas, David, d’Autosport, est sûr qu’il s’agit d’un « powder blue ». Notre confrère allemand Christian assure que c’est « Frangfrage », une question à laquelle la réponse ne sera jamais la bonne. Les plus moqueurs (dont on taira les noms) pensent qu’il s’agit d’une couche d’apprêt en attendant la peinture définitive…

Il n’empêche qu’après un rapide sondage auprès des photographes et vidéastes professionnels, cette couleur passe plutôt bien. « Le résultat donne un style assez « pêchu ». Nous n’avons pas eu d’échos négatifs ». Seul hic, il est quasi impossible d’avoir une unité de couleur dans le team. Par exemple, le styliste chargé de confectionner la ligne de vêtements n’a jamais pu retrouver la teinte exacte.

La déco des Hyundai i20 WRC a été confiée au département Hyundai Motor Europe Design Center (HMEDC) et au designer Jochen Werner. La troisième Hyundai i20 WRC engagée sous l’entité Hyundai Motorsport N à partir du Rallye du Portugal sera elle aussi peinte de ce bleu-gris – de même que les camions et motorhomes - pour avoir une signature visuelle cohérente.