The Ride of Her Life Official Trailer

The all-new 2015 Subaru WRX STI is “Uncovered. Unleashed. Unleaded.” in its starring role in ‘The Ride of Her Life’.

DoubleURXXX Productions Presents The Ride of Her Life Official Trailer (2014) starring Bucky Lasek, Michael Wiles, Kayslee Collins, Jenette Goldstein, Eddie Rice, Jr. and a Subaru WRX STI.

The following preview has been approved for all audiences by crankandpiston.com

For more information visit www.therideofherlife.com

1953 Triumph 500 by Berham Customs

When you’ve been building custom Vespa’s for most of your life and you decide you want to build something with a bit more power, then a 1953 Triumph 500 hardtail is a pretty good place to start. Built by Marcus Offergeld and Martien Delfgaauw of the relatively new Berham Customs based in Berlin and Hamburg. “I’ve always ridden, raced, tuned and customized Vespa’s” says Martien.  “It’s not what you work on, but rather how. Because for a great result you need to be driven by the joy of doing, rather than wishing to finish.”

After happening upon an “ugly looking and pretty run down” 80s chopper with raked front forks, the boys from Berham could see potential not in the bike itself, but certain aspects of it. Most importantly, the Triumph 500cc pre-unit powerplant had the 1957 Triumph race kit with the splayed port aluminium cylinder head kit. A good base for a build, the bike was given the Berham treatment.

The bike was parked up in the workshop and the garish 80s custom job undone. The forks, wheels, tank and seat were removed and put to the side. To replace the long rake front fork setup, a set of Vincent style girder forks were fitted to the front end, and the front drum cover given the Swiss cheese treatment.

To keep with the low flowing lines of the bike in it’s new guise, a frame hugging exhaust system was manufactured and a seat built in house by Berham to keep the riding position low. An American Bonneville tank has been used – the US spec tank being narrower than the Euro spec for the same model. The rare primary cover for the motor didn’t escape customisation either, as the Berham crew “aren’t that much into keeping things in original condition.”

From an overdone custom chopper to a tasteful bobber, Berham Customs were able to see past the garish mods and see the potential underneath. With only a few motorcycle builds under their belt, this small German workshop have created one clean and understated hardtail Triumph. Since finishing this project Martien has already received many requests from potential customers who want him to build them a bike – which is always a good sign.

Photography by Matthias Dahl

via PIPEBURN

Journey of a lifetime: Classic Cars Challenge China 2014

Warning: reading this article could seriously disrupt your plans for 2014; because we challenge anyone to learn about the Classic Cars Challenge China (or ‘4C’) and not want, desperately, to take part...

Why? Why does this classic rally tour stand out among the many that take place every year across the globe? In a word: China. Home to a quarter of the world’s population and with a history stretching back an incredible 5,000 years, it’s a land of stunning landscapes and fascinating culture. One of those ‘must see before I die’ places. And what better way to see it than on a challenging (but fun) rally tour from Beijing to Shanghai.

Six days and 1,800km

Over the last few decades, China has astonished the world with its incredible economic growth – a growth that most Westerners only became fully aware of at the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Three years later, in 2011, with the approval of the Federation Internationale des Vehicules Anciens (FIVA), Classic Vehicle Union of China (CVUC) launched the first, annual ‘4C’, to which international enthusiasts brought their classics and drove from Beijing to Shanghai in 6 days... covering 1,600km. The route has since been altered slightly, and now stretches 1,800km.

And you can imagine why they were so keen: just picture driving through the ancient Chinese capital, the heart of thousands of years of Eastern culture, seeing for yourself the spectacular Bird’s Nest and Water Cube, the Great Wall, the streaming waters of the Yangtze River. When not behind the wheel, the participants could indulge in the finest Chinese delicacies and fragrant wine, all against the backdrop of some of the most startling natural scenery on the planet.

Two million spectators

Never fear, the 2011 event wasn’t a once-only event, as it ran again in 2012 and 2013 - last year welcoming 51 vehicles, along with 186 Chinese and foreign participants from 22 different countries. Even more remarkably, the organisers estimate that on its journey from Beijing through Tianjin, Qingdao, Lianyungang, Nanjing and Hangzhou to arrive in Shanghai, the spectacular motorcade was admired by more than 2,000,000 people. Two million!

And… the bit you were waiting for. From 9-21 October 2014, 4C again opens its doors and invites friends from all over the world to enjoy this extraordinary ‘China Festival’. This year, some 80 classic vehicles (eligible years are from 1920 to 1984) will make the journey of a lifetime, through some of China’s most visually arresting scenery. They will once again enjoy the route Beijing – Tianjin – Qingdao –Huai’an – Nanjing – Hangzhou – Shanghai. For those who are lucky enough to take part, it looks set to be the experience of a lifetime. Start clearing your diaries...

The application deadline is 30 June, and you can find out all the details at http://www.classiccarchina.org/4c/.

HOLOGRAPHIC HAMMER THE TZAR

Holographic Hammer is no stranger to the custom scene, being the render-master behind many well-known custom builds. In fact, few people realise that the man behind the Hammer works as a designer from BMW Motorrad and was the designer of the infamous and very beautiful Concept Ninety that Roland Sands went on to build for BMW. Anyway, he’s been teasing us with gorgeous bike designs for a long time now, so we were very keen to see what an influential taste-maker would do with his own personal ride, the Suzuki Tzar… And, we wanted to hear about it in his own words…

Being a motorcycle freak, what could be any better than building your own custom bike ? But before getting my hands dirty, I had to figure out what I exactly wanted: – A good steel frame for the stiffness, but it also had to run under the tank and not be perimetric to get a more classic look. – An oil-cooled engine because it is simple and reliable. – A big bore inline 4 cylinders to get decent torque and power. – Twin shocks for its beauty. – and all of it in a “modern” base to be ridden everyday.

After some quick research, only two bikes fit the bill, The Kawasaki ZRX 1200 and the Suzuki 1200 Inazuma. I went for the Suzuki simply because the tank looked better to me. I bought the donor a few weeks later and started to tear it apart. At that point I was very skeptical, the stock bike was miles away from what I had in mind… This bike is a light custom, the goal was to get the maximal impact with a tight budget so it was all about updating the chassis in some areas and reworking the all tail to get a proper cafe-racer fly line.

I have been maintaining and working on all my own bikes  for years, but I didn’t have the skills to do this, but luckily my best friend (Hugo Lambert) is a race mechanic and took care of the proper custom elements. We started to swap the front end for a 2006 GSXR 1000 fork and brakes, combined with LSL clip-ons, an Acewell speedo and a pair Braking PR19 master cylinders. The subframe has been shorten by 30 cms and totally reworked to place the battery and the CPU under the seat. The engine was fitted with K&N filters, bigger exhaust pipes with a ZARD silencer, a modified ignition finger and a pair of Yoshimura camshafts that brought the torque up to 13.5 Mkg and the power to 160 Hp. The major components were powder coated black, and we finished the bodywork with a Barry Sheene’s 1975 RG500 replica paint job.

If you still have no idea who Holographic Hammer is check him out on Facebook, but here’s a little more info from the horses mouth: Building a custom bike takes a lot of time and money, as a designer I realised that the first idea is rarely the best, perfection comes with exploring different options and trying unusual things. All my friends ride or work in the custom motorcycle business and I was always around them to quickly photoshop their garage builds, and make them so logos. That is the all meaning of Holographic Hammer, a digital tool helping and simplifying the manual labour.

I am convinced that doing a sketch before building helps to get the global proportion right and stay on track while doing it, because you can easily get lost redoing the same part again and again until it works. It doesn’t matter if the bike is gonna be built or if it’s just about making a cool picture, I am always having fun drawing custom bikes for friends, and that is how I ended up sketching for El Solitario MC, Untitled Motorcycles, Fuel Bespoke, Icon 1000, The Lucky Cat garage and Derestricted. If you would like to visualize your dream custom bike or simply see some cool shit? Make sure you check Holographic Hammer on Facebook and I will be very happy to to sketch it up for you!

As some engineers say; “Measure twice. Cut once.” We’d take it one step further when it comes to building a custom bike… Plan your build with some sketches, even on the back of a napkin, and you are less likely to end up with some weird Frankenstein’s Monster build… See more from Holographic Hammer Here.