White Collar Bhaskara Thruxton

Angelina Jolie playing Lara Croft never looked quite real. You could stare at the screen, admiring her celestial, silver-clad proportions, mind wandering off into a daydream, asking; can what’s in front of me actually be real, or have the CGI wizards waved their wands around furiously and tricked my wide, misty eyes?
When Ram from White Collar Bike sent these images in, at first I thought Dutch had found a new 3D render filter in Photoshop, those of you who have seen this bike bouncing around the internet will know that this is most definitely not the case. This is mouthwatering, A-grade engineering. Ram designs and builds bikes for friends in his spare time, and is humble in suggesting that he is not a pro-builder, White Collar Bike isn’t even a company. Frankly, if this isn’t a pro-build then I am at a loss as to what is.

Rather than start with a donor bike and modify, Ram bought a 2012 Triumph Thruxton engine from eBay and set to work designing a bike around it. He gets bored easily so wanted to have interchangeable and removable parts so the seat and fuel tank cover simply clip on and off, black, blue and red Kevlar covers are the current range. And to match, or not, there are three different seat configurations, each mocked up in clay before being carved from solid wood. Boredom must have set in as one seat features a machined triumph logo.

To save repeating myself, all components have been designed, modelled and machined in-house by White Collar Bike. Ram, please send us pictures of your machine shop.
The forks are not WCB, merely a common-as-muck pair of Öhlins FG series, with the garish gold anodising removed. The rear shock is Öhlins too, mounted to a combination of billet and 8mm tubular aluminium swingarm and eccentric Ducati 1098 hub. I’m salivating over my keyboard here!

The triple tree is, you’ve guessed it, hewn from a sizeable billet with handmade clip-ons and brake fluid reservoirs; after market Brembo RCS 19 levers have been used though. Come on now Ram, don’t get lazy on us.

The headlight, machined from solid, the foot pegs, machined from solid, countershaft sprocket guard, machined from ….. you get the idea.

Horray for us mortals, some parts that Ram didn’t produce, Ducati Diavel wheels with Pirelli Diablo Rosso II tyres, how very hum drum.

Red Kevlar tank panels, one of the 28 seat and colour combinations. I think I like black with the Café-GP seat combo the best.

Exhausts, handmade of course, improving engine breathing and matching the wide throat velocity stacks. Brembo Monoblocks up front and matched calliper in the rear.

Well, I was going to head to the workshop and make some parts for my own bike but after seeing these pictures I’m not sure I can be bothered. Ram’s part-time, non-pro efforts have rendered me feeling my skills are woefully inadequate. Thanks Ram!
That said, I can’t wait to see his next masterpiece. This one has been sold, mid-build, to Ram’s friend Bhaskara; it would be great to see some shots of this futuristic beast out on the road, just to dispel any slight notion that this has all been a computer generated daydream.
via The Bike Shed

8 Heures d’Oschersleben : Honda Racing en tête à mi-course / Honda Racing in front at half-distance

Après quatre heures de course, Honda Racing mène les 8 Heures d’Oschersleben, troisième et avant-dernière épreuve du championnat du monde d’Endurance (EWC). Le GMT 94 (Michelin) et le Team R2CL complètent le podium provisoire.

Les 8 Heures d’Oschersleben sont parties sur un rythme élevé et n’ont pas épargné les principaux favoris à la victoire. Premier à en faire les frais, le SERT (Anthony Delhalle) chute dès le premier tour. La Suzuki n°1 est immobilisée pendant une dizaine de minutes dans son stand. Elle reprend la piste en dernière position à cinq tours du leader. A mi-course, le SERT est revenu à la 11^ème place mais compte toujours le même handicap de tours sur la tête de la course.
Auteur du meilleur départ, Grégory Leblanc (SRC Kawasaki), deuxième sur la grille, a mené les cinq premiers tours avant de laisser les commandes à Julien Da Costa (Honda Racing). Les deux pilotes, roues dans roues, ont enchaîné les tours rapides et ont creusé rapidement un écart sur leurs principaux poursuivants. Juste avant la demi-heure de course, Grégory Leblanc, gêné par un retardataire, a chuté. La Kawasaki n°11 a plongé à la 36^ème place à neuf tours d’Honda Racing. Elle occupe actuellement la 25^ème position mais n’a pas réussi à réduire l’écart.
Parti prudemment, le GMT 94 s’est installé à la deuxième place suite à la deuxième vague de ravitaillements. La Yamaha n°94, en prise avec le YART 07 lors du troisième relais, a profité de la chute de Broc Parkes pour se donner un peu d’air. Alors que le pilote australien venait de signer le meilleur chrono en course en 1.27.266, il est parti à la faute. Trop endommagée, la Yamaha 07 a été contrainte à l’abandon.
Au guidon de la Honda n°111, Julien Da Costa, Sébastien Gimbert et Freddy Foray ont maintenu une cadence soutenue permettant à Da Costa de conserver la tête de la course avec une avance de 35 secondes à l’issue du troisième pit-stop. A mi-course, ils comptent un tour d’avance et un ravitaillement de moins.
Team R2CL est troisième à deux tours. National Motos et Bolliger Team Switzerland complètent le Top 5. Les deux premières machines Superstock, le Qatar Endurance Racing Team et Penz13, auteur de la pole, occupent les sixième et septième places au général. Dans un bon rythme, elles sont retardées par des arrêts au stand plus longs.
Il reste encore quatre heures de course. La pluie est annoncée pour la fin d’après-midi. Honda Racing tient-il sa première victoire de la saison 2014 ?

With four hours completed, Honda Racing leads the 8 Hours of Oschersleben, the third and penultimate round of the 2014 Endurance World Championship (EWC). It is joined on the provisional podium by GMT 94 (Michelin) and Team R2CL.

The 2014 8 Hours of Oschersleben kicked off at a fast pace which caught some of the expected front-runners by surprise. The first team to suffer was SERT when Anthony Delhalle fell on Lap 1. The N°1 Suzuki then spent some 10 minutes in its pits before re-joining in last place, five laps down. It has since forced fought its way back to 11^th, but still with the same deficit to the leaders.
Grégory Leblanc (SRC Kawasaki) got away to the best start from second on the grid and led for five laps before being passed by Julien Da Costa (Honda Racing). The two riders then raced wheel-to-wheel as they pulled clear of their chasers thanks to a sequence of quick laps. Then, just behind the end of the first half-hour, Leblanc fell when he was hindered by a slower runner. The N°11 Kawasaki dropped to 36^th spot (+9 laps) and is currently 25^th, still nine laps behind.
After a cautious start, GMT 94 emerged in second place after the second wave of refuelling halts. The N°94 Yamaha then took advantage of a fall for YART 07’s Broc Parkes to earn a little breathing space. The Australian had just posted the fastest race lap to date (1m27.266s) when he made his mistake and the N°07 Yamaha was too damaged to continue.
The trio on the N°111 Honda (Julien Da Costa/Sébastien Gimbert/Freddy Foray) has been running strongly since the start and Da Costa re-joined after the bike’s third stop with a 35-second lead. It is now one full lap clear, but it has an extra pit stop to make compared with its rivals.
Team R2CL is third (+2 laps), chased by National Motos and Bolliger Team Switzerland, while the top-two Superstock runners are Qatar Endurance Racing Team and the pole-winning Penz13 (sixth and seventh overall respectively). Both squads are on a good pace but their pit stops take longer.
There are four hours to go and rain is expected before the end of the afternoon. Can Honda Racing hold on to collect its first victory of 2014?

 

Royal Enfield AVL 350 – Bull City Customs

Written by Ian Lee.

Royal Enfield motorcycles make a great platform for building custom bikes. Old school Brit styling, reliable single cylinder engines and factory spoke wheels. This is exactly what New Delhi based Bull City have done with their latest build, putting their skills to work on a Royal Enfield AVL 350cc, and producing something far removed from your everyday Enfield. With a build brief calling for an “old school thumper”, the Bull City workshop decided the idea has been done alot, and needs some special touches in order to stand out. That is why there is a rhino-skin inspired paintjob on the tank for instance – which I’m pretty sure is a first for Pipeburn.

Stripping the mid sized thumper back to basics, the clunky factory fenders were replaced with shorter ones, and the frame shaved of all superfluous bracketry. The toolbox is gone, replaced with a leather carrier bag mounted above the shorty pipewrapped exhaust. New framework has been mounted on the bike, and the battery box is sheet metal unit fabricated up by Bull City themselves.

At the front end sits a set of custom built T riser bars, adorned with a unique headlight surround enveloping the Yamaha RX100 headlight. The handlebars are Proracer items, mounted up with aluminised grips. Rolling stock is made up of 18 inch rims, with 120 profile at the front and 130 profile at the rear.

An impressive aspect of the build is the metal work carried out. The 22 litre fuel tank is a one off special, along with the ‘lightweight’ side plates. The foot pegs have been made from Royal Enfield engine internals, adding to the overall metallic touch to the build. This is matched with the fuel tank cap fashioned from a main shaft sprocket.

From the front to the back, there is little that hasn’t been aesthetically touched up over the course of the build. With much of the metal work coming from Bull city’s own workshop, this Royal Enfield is definitely a fun looking ride. We’ll leave the last word to Bull city: ” We wanted to build something you’d imagine riding across the Himalayan foot hills and also something you could take out for a beer without a second thought.” We’ll drink to that.

via PIPEBURN

Rallye Deutschland : Une matinée pleine de rebondissements

Jari-Matti Latvala continue de dominer l’ADAC Rallye Deutschland après s’être imposé dans Panzerplatte Lange (ES10, 42,51 km). Grâce à un judicieux choix de pneumatiques, Neuville (Hyundai) a pris la troisième place du général, à huit secondes de Kris Meeke. Maurin et Lefebvre ont pris le pouvoir en WRC-2 et J-WRC.

Au départ de l’ES8, Sébastien Ogier et Julien Ingrassia sont de nouveau sortis de la route, endommageant une barrière de sécurité et provoquant l’annulation de cette spéciale. L’équipage champion du monde est OK mais a été transporté à l’hôpital pour des examens.
Sur la route menant le camp militaire de Baumholder et les spéciales de Panzerplatte (ES9 et ES10), une « remote tyre fitting zone » permettait aux équipages de choisir leurs pneus pour ces deux ES asphalte les plus difficiles du championnat. Le revêtement agressif impose logiquement des gommes hard.
Mais ce matin, les risques de pluie étaient suffisamment importants pour que la majorité des pilotes optent pour des pneus Michelin soft S2, sauf les deux pilotes Hyundai Motorsport, Dani Sordo et Thierry Neuville, restés sur un choix de Pilot Sport hard (H2).
Il ne pleuvait pas quand les 1^ères autos se sont présentées au départ de la plus longue spéciale du rallye (ES10, Panzerplatte Lange, 42,51 km). Et une demi-heure plus tard, les pilotes ont confirmé que les routes étaient sèches. « C’est sec en grande majorité », a annoncé Bryan Bouffier (9^e), équipé de pneus soft. « Peut-être 5% d’humide. »
Au volant de sa Hyundai i20 WRC chaussée de pneus Michelin H2, Thierry Neuville a logiquement réalisé un excellent chrono, reléguant Andreas Mikkelsen (5^e) à près de 13 secondes. Le Belge a également dépassé son équipier Sordo (4^e) pour prendre la 3^e place provisoire : « On a fait le bon choix de pneus, mais mon pilotage n’était pas parfait. J’ai commis quelques erreurs et nous devons revoir nos notes », racontait Thierry.
On pensait alors que Neuville allait déposséder Kris Meeke de la 2^e place, dont la Citroën était chaussée de pneus soft, mais le Britannique a défendu vaillamment sa position : « Complètement fou. Etant donné les choix différents, je pensais que les écarts seraient importants, mais on n’a perdu que 5s2 sur Thierry sur 42,51 km. Ca me va. »
Thierry Neuville n’a pas signé le meilleur temps. Jari-Matti Latvala s’est montré plus rapide de 7/10^e de seconde au volant de sa Volkswagen Polo R WRC. Il compte désormais 45s8 d’avance sur Meeke à mi-étape.
Nouveau changement de leader en WRC-2 où Julien Maurin (Ford), en pneus hard, a pris l’avantage pour 4/10^e de seconde sur Tidemand. En WRC-3 et J-WRC, Stéphane Lefebvre a pris la tête après la sortie de route d’Eric Camilli à la fin de l’ES10.