DAUPHINE-LAMARCK TW125

Ever get that feeling you should never have sold something? Yup, thought so. I met FCL Motorcycles owners Phill and Graham at the BSMC Event III and it reminded me to ask what happened to my old TL125 I sold them years ago, for £80, ouch! Turns out it had a tuned motor with hot cam, bespoke frame a host of trick parts. I was young, and needed the money, I’m now old-ish and still need the money, damn it! (Bear with here, this tangent is relevant).

The welcome inundation that is the BSMC inbox offers flashes of images that inspire us to read particular build stories. A fleeting glimpse of the TL tank on Dauphone-Lamark’s TW125 got my pulse racing. There we go, got there, tenuously! Phil from Dauphine-Lamrack, Paris has continued his winning recipe of modding diminutive Japanese Trailies, Stepthroughs and Monkey-bikes, as seen previously in The Shed.  If the donor bike’s piston will fit into a glass of Pernod, he’ll be happy to build a bike around it.

Californian desert racers and BMXs from the 70s & 80s were the inspiration for this dual-breed creation, that and Phil’s penchant for no-fuss city hacks. Something that will never ever happen on a race circuit, Yamaha and Honda have been forcefully conjoined.

Once stripped right down, the Yamaha TW frame received the obligatory de-tabbing and weld grinding before the rear was adapted to accept the single piece Honda TL tank and seat unit. The fibreglass was reworked and given a proper period paint job and machined fuel cap. The seat pad looks to offer a touch more comfort than the original TL thats for sure

The Kitico parts catalogue was raided for understated indicators and lights, with most of the wiring requiring a tidy and hiding where possible. Apart from the HT lead and matching red fuel hoses.

The engine is stock and was in perfectly good condition so didn’t need opening up. To cope with the open filter and handmade stubby exhaust the 24mm Kehin carb received a bigger main jet. Rolling burnouts might be off the cards but with such a stout rear Bridgestone wheelies should be possible.

Wide, laid-back bars, with old school grips look the business and will make filtering in the Parisien traffic a doddle, if not Phil could practice his bunny hops, or just pull over and admire his creation.

With Yamaha’s cheap pressed steal tank binned and this sleek one piece Honda unit taking centre stage the sand-spec tyres look purposeful rather than silly and would probably have the designers at Yamaha wishing this is how they’d designed their bike in the first place.

Thanks to Hugo Michaudel for the moody photography, really makes the red pop, as they say in Cali.

via The Bike Shed

Inside Andy Green's 1,000mph office

No one likes going to the office. There, I’ve said it. I’m on my fourth cup of coffee and the week has barely started… If I had Andy Green’s Bloodhound SSC seat though. I wouldn’t be complaining.

There are exceptions to every rule, and the same applies here. You see, when your office moves at a 1000 mph, you’d have to make a VERY compelling case not to go to work. Enter Wing Commander Andy Green. An RAF pilot by profession, he is better known for his extra-curricular activities. Like attempting to break the land speed record.

Everyone is fascinated by land speed records, especially due to the numerous attempts – sometimes successful – to push the boundaries of speeds that can be attained with all four wheels on the ground.

Green set the last record at Black Rock, Nevada in 1997 with the Thrust SSC, under the direction of Richard Noble, the previous record holder. Green managed to reach speeds of 763 mph, creating a new and yet unbeaten land speed record.

Thus, it is only fitting that Green should try to break his own record. With the attempt scheduled for late summer 2015, Green has just been shown his new ‘office’, the Bloodhound SSC. Rolex instrumentation, multiple computer systems and numerous fail-safes are part of the cockpit, which has been made, or molded rather, to Green’s exact dimensions.

So sit back and let Andy Green show you around his office, while I try and work out how to fit a jet engine to my swivel chair.

HOBIE’S GN400

28 year old ‘Hobie’ from Orange County, California, has a pretty ironic way of paying the bills. He makes prosthetic limbs, so predictably once a month he’ll be knocking up a leg or an arm for one of us lot. But this hasn’t deterred him from pursuing his life long love of riding and now building motorcycles. In fact, it doesn’t put the patients off either, most of them are keen to get back on two wheels as soon as possible – if it’s in the blood…

This Suzuki GN400 is his first custom build, and after getting some great feedback from friends in the industry and people on our forum, he decided to come out of the shadows and show the world his creation. We’re glad he did.

Being from Southern California, everything Hobie had built in the past revolved around off road desert racing, motocross and Baja style race cars, so he wanted to build something designed to stay clean for once. The bike started out as a non running, stock 1981 Suzuki GN400 found on craigslist, but after a simple carb clean and valve adjustment she was up and running. Hobie rode it stock for two weeks to get a feel for what he wanted (always a good idea) before then tearing into it.

He stripped the bike and cut the back half of the frame off. When rebuilding the subframe, he took some of the rake out of the rear shocks and detabbed the entire frame for a clean look. The rear was raised a few inches and the front forks were lowered 4 inches to get the right stance. Everything was then sent away for coating and paint.

After aesthetics came the engine. It was treated to a new top end and a valve job before being painted, polished and dropped back in. The stock rims were powdercoated and wrapped in Bridgestone Trail Wing TW40′s  (120/90r16)(130/80r17). A custom seat pan and seat were also done to finish off the bike, and all the electronics are tucked away between the seat pan and a vanity plate. The rear end has two small integrated brake lights and a small taillight. The battery was removed so it’s kickstart only – as if a bike like this should be started any other way!

Hobie tried to keep the bike as light and simple as possible, as a result there really isn’t much to it, but what there is looks just right. He says this bike is also a right laugh to ride. In the two weeks since he finished it it, Hobie has been on several rides up and down the Pacific Coast Highway, he’s slid up some dirt roads in the Ortegas, and has even hit a few of his local bicycle jumps (see above). Hang on, thought you said this one was built to stay clean mate?

via The Bike Shed

SCORE Baja 500: New TT-truck from Brenthel Industries victorious at Baja 500

Development of the new Spec TT/6100 class truck design from "Brenthel Industries" continues to proceed with excellent results. In one of the toughest Tecate "SCORE Baja 500" in years, Jonathan Brenthel and co-driver Jordan Brenthel overcame brutal terrain and a tough field of competitors to take the win. Brothers Jonathan and Jordan drove the entire distance without relief from teammate Jamie Galles.

The truck performed perfectly during the race despite having over 1000 miles on the clock. The team’s prerunner was sidelined with a mechanical issue during the ever important course reconnaissance leaving them without a ride. They were forced to run the entire course in the race truck the week of the race.

"It was not the best thing to do but it was our only option," says Jonathan Brenthel, "The crew changed the 3rd member and replaced the air filter after the prerun, that’s all it needed after running 500 miles. During the race it was flawless."

Their Falken Tires made the win possible. Jonathan was forced to run one of the toughest sections of the course with no spare tire. While stopped on the course at one of the numerous bottlenecks that developed in the silt, vandals stole their spare tire off the back of the truck. "Not only did they steal the spare but they cut the strap costing us time to repair it when we reached the pits," said Jonathan.

Falken Tires are just one of the great sponsors chosen by Brenthel Industries for their great products but more importantly their strong customer support. "We are doing intense R&D on this truck," says Jonathan. "We rely on our sponsors to respond to our needs during development and Falken Tires, King Shocks, Rigid Industries, Method Race Wheels, CBM Motorsports, Rancho Performance Transmissions and Jamar Performance Products have all worked closely with us to improve the truck. Don at Jamar made two trips back to the shop for parts to increase our brake pressure before the 500 and has even more mods in mind build more pressure."

In only a few short months, this same Spec TT truck from Brenthel Industries has run over 3,000 race miles and was rolled a couple times with no significant damage, earning Jonathan the nickname of "Crash". Despite the accelerated pace of development it continues to get faster every race. They reached the podium at the Silver State 300 and have now taken a huge victory at the Baja 500. 
via marathonrally.com