Iron Bikers 2014 Kids With Lenses

Iron Bikers 2014, awesome motorcycle week-end in Paris, on the Carole road race track. Shot by Kids With Lenses.

We Are Racers : Michelin & Porsche Le Mans documentary:

PACIFIC MC CO DESERT SCRAMBLER

Nobody thinks twice about custom builders taking angle grinders to ageing “Universal Japanese Motorcycles”, but when sparks fly from rare pieces of classic Brit machinery, the occasionally uneasy relationship between classic purists and custom aficionados can become stretched. But when a bike has been crafted with the care and respect that is put into the builds of The Pacific Motorcycle Co. you simply end up with a bike that satisfies every niche of biking admiration.

Based in Nelson, New Zealand, The Pacific Motorcycle Co. specialise in both customising bikes and in classic restorations - “but sometimes the two get mixed up, on purpose,” as was the case with this beautiful 1965 Triumph TR6 SR Desert Scrambler.  You may well recall the story of their ’69 BSA A65 which arrived in a wondrous consignment of old Brit machinery that they had shipped to New Zealand from the United States.  This Triumph emerged from the same Aladdin’s cave.  The majority of the bikes that made the voyage arrived in a a sorry state and the TR6 was no exception, but it showed enough potential to earn the nickname “Fonzie” and be ear marked for much further attention.

“The plan was to restore, but with a twist, as the TR6 SR was built for the American market and in particular Desert Racing, she was to receive a look of a classic scrambler. At first glance of the original, it seemed a very long and arduous task, but with a clear picture of what she could become, the teardown started.”

The process was extensive, all parts were disassembled, the engine was completely stripped down, rebored and fitted with new bearings, pistons, rods, seals, valves, guides and any other bits it craved. Whilst its inners lay in pieces the cases were vapour blasted and given a coat of flat black powder coat along with the frame. Once the motor was completed, it went back in the frame with electronic ignition and a 12 volt conversion. The colour matched engine cases and tank (complete with rack and grippy knee pads) supply the bike with great visual balance, sandwiching the bright clean engine and pipes in deep black.

Those high straight through exhausts allow the engine to project its glorious rasp as it fires toward the horizon. The wheels were stripped, blasted then coated and fully rebuilt with new spokes, nipples and bearings before being shod in dual purpose modern rubber befitting of the bikes multi purpose proclivities. The rear shocks are modern YSS units.

The original seat pan was narrowed and fitted with high density foam to provide a slimmer profile without sacrificing the comfort, it was then upholstered in black with classic grey banding.  A high level front mudguard was fabricated and fitted whilst the original rear was cut down for balance. The headlight is the restored original fitted with a black stone grill whilst the rear light was modified from an old “Sparto” unit that was pilfered from a Ducati Desmo single that was residing in a corner of the shop.

After featuring so many modern Bonneville scrambler customs it is splendid to see how perfectly the original stacks up when given a similar treatment. The regulation enforced extra weight and bulk in modern machines that builders try so hard to hide is gloriously conspicuous by its absence. In selecting the vintage donor the Pacific Coast boys were left with the job of bringing the best out of the motorcycle as oppose to hiding the worst of it. It is a job very well done. Their own words to end, “No frills, just an old Triumph that’s had an attitude adjustment!”

See more from Pacific Motorcycle Co on their Bike Shed Page, and on their Facebook page.

via The Bike Shed

‘11 Royal Enfield 500 – MotoVida Cycle Inc.

Royal Enfields. Is there nothing they can’t do? Whether it’s carrying yaks around Tibet, being sent off to war with machines guns attached or ferrying riders on trans-continental journeys, it seems that there’s not a thing on god’s green earth that can stop them. And now we can add another notch to the bike’s belt – that of beach cruiser. Strange as it may seem that classic, sand-loving bicycle and signifier of all things holiday is just what Canadian bike builder Brent Giesbrecht used as inspiration for this simple yet impressive build. And the results are so bang-on we can almost feel the sand in our swimmers right now.

“My name is Brent Giesbrecht and I’m from Kelowna, Canada. I’m the owner of MotoVida Cycle Inc. Kelowna is a city of about 130,000 people that’s full of orchards, vineyards, wineries, golf courses, micro breweries and lakes. It also has a great, laid-back, west coast vibe.”

Brent also tells us that he has always loved the beach cruiser bikes that fill Kelowna’s waterfront boardwalks. And with their pastel colors, fat tires and brown leather seats, can you blame him? OK, so maybe not so much on the pastels… but still.

“I wanted to try and capture that beach bike look and feel on a Royal Enfield, so I started with a ‘11 Royal Enfield 500 EFI. It was stock except for an off-road pipe and an ECU. Once I stripped everything off the bike and was left with the frame and swing arm, it became pretty clear that it was leaning towards the bobber end of the spectrum. So somehow, a beach-bobber idea started to brew.”

Brent thought that the top yoke, gauge cluster and headlamp assembly seemed a little cumbersome, so he found a trials yoke and a separate headlamp setup from an older 350 Enfield which did the trick. He also added some gaiters to cover up those skinny Royal Enfield front legs.

Finding the original tool and air boxes a little too bulky, Brent removed them thinking that maybe some thinner, off-the-shelf saddle bags would look better in their place. But after a month of fruitless searching trying to source the right items, he decided to visit his local saddlery, where he bought himself a nice chunk of hide and taught himself to use a sewing awl. “One bag is equal to 370 stitches,” he says, wearily.

“Then, after finding a set of Italian barrel handgrips in blue and white, the color choice was done. I really love the Royal Enfield wing logo on the engine cases, so I decided to incorporate that into the paint design - I wanted it to be bold, too. Local painter Todd Regier obliged.”

Brent flipped and reversed the ‘bars, chopping an inch or two from either side. This was to be temporary, but the bend of the bar matched the contour of the top yoke exactly, so naturally they stayed. The rear fender is a chopped-down, aftermarket item which is held in place with the leftover front fender struts.

The seat is from Sinister and is a clearly a very nice piece, although Brent suggests that the more miles he puts on the bike, the more he is thinking about a change. The rubber is Kenda K761s, as he felt that the original setup was “a bit too Kate Moss and needed to be butched up a bit.” Personally, we think a house brick would look masculine if Kate Moss was standing next to it, but that’s probably just us.

To finish, Brent puts his glowing stamp of approval on the bike – and it’s one that turns out to be very close to his heart. “All in all I am very pleased with the outcome. To be honest, I built this one for myself and it brings a huge smile every time I ride it.”

Brent practices his huge smile

[Photos by Darren Hull]

via PIPEBURN