CAFÉ RACER 76

Karen Souza - Every Breath You Take (LIVE)

WHITE COLLAR

So this time last week over 5000 of Bike Shed’s Facebook followers clicked the, I really frickin appreciate that man’s skills button when we posted the White Collar Bike Thruxton. Whether to everyone’s particular aesthetic taste or not was largely irrelevant as even the most vehement of haters had to appreciate the astonishing craftsmanship on display. This bloke isn’t Roland Sands but a normal dude (We’re not saying Roland isn’t normal BTW) with a small design business and passion for bikes. So, in a polar opposite to the CNC billet-fest that was the Thruxton, here is Ram from White Collar Bikes and the Barracuda, wartime aviation style with old school rivets and hand-beaten panels.

Actually, that’s a slight fib, of course there’s a load of high-end machining work mixed in with the rawness.

Ram’s buddy Cefi Duff, AKA Duff Rider, is the founder of Cafe Racer Indonesia and frequent visitor to the White Collar workshop. Cefi was completely fed up with his incontinent 1993 Honda CB 750 Night Hawk that had been customised by a local outfit. Oil leaked out of the bottom and smoke poured out of the back, some of his mates ribbed him for not only riding an fugly bike, but the only 2 stroke CB750 they’d seen. The mechanical embarrassment was deposited at Ram’s place with a brief of “Do what ever you want with it”.

Ram duly posted back the parts that were not required; which was everything bar the engine and badly twisted and bodged frame. Having spent a small fortune already Cefi’s heart sank, deep down into the bottom of the money pit this bike had become. After a few 3D renders though things started to look up and this jet fighter racer build could begin.

3mm aluminium sheet sections were hand cut, formed and riveted together; including the fuel tank, which required a couple of layers to ensure Cefi didn’t end up with another leaking machine. The finish is care of gentle sanding to the sharp edges and the rest left raw and slightly scratched up, before hand painting the jaws onto the tank. To me the result looks somewhere between a Mig 15 fighter and a WW2 Mustang, and I’d happily fly either of those.

After the old fashioned panel beating Ram couldn’t help himself and got back to the CAD station to knock up some drawings for a host of billet parts. The swingarm is one of them, made from thick walled tube with machined mountings. Showa forks from a Ducati are clamped by custom yokes, which in turn have custom clip ons clamped to them and a custom throttle clamped to those and finally custom grips clamped to that. Foot pegs are GSXR and the hydraulic clutch conversion is aftermarket, phew, something us mere mortals can cope with.

Wheels are Kawasaki Z1300, powder coated black and rolling on Bridgestone Battlaxs. Up front radial callipers are by Brembo and a Nissin at the rear. The exhaust is in an in-house effort with a Gattling gun style end baffle and a riveted heat shield. Velocity stacks are of course machined from solid.

The stop light looks like an jet’s afterburner and sums up this build. Serious engineering and stunning craftsmanship but with a fun and creative edge. I’m all for that approach, but wish I had the skill to amalgamate the two with this level of finish.

Keep an eye on what Ram is up to on his Facebook page or just pop back to The Shed as we’re sure to be featuring the next build very soon.

via The Bike Shed

1989 Honda NX650 Dominator Flat Tracker

Written by Martin Hodgson.

When you think of a dual-sport motorcycle, the first things that comes to mind are the Dakar rally bikes and more recently the BMW GS series ridden by actor’s Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman used on their world famous rides around the globe. What doesn’t come to mind is a handcrafted, urban assault style, custom brawler straight out of a small village in Normandy, France. But that is exactly what builder Simon Garcia has created, taking a Honda NX650 Dominator and making it his own.

Having worked for Honda in the past it made sense for Simon to select a bike from their stable from which to fashion his custom creation. Leaving aside the usual selection of CB’s, he sourced himself a 1989 NX650 Dominator with only one small problem, it had been sitting for 13 years after the engine had suffered catastrophic failure. The 650cc single was torn down and rebuilt with no stone left unturned, new crank, new piston, valves, and cylinder head. Just to make sure nothing was left to chance Simon also rewired the entire bike.

With it now running like it should, Simon’s dislike of plastics and the factory lines took over and anything that would normally be seen on a dual-sport was sent to motorcycle heaven. Looking for a fuel tank, Simon jumped on Ebay and across the Channel in the UK he found a one owner – two large dings included – XT500 aluminium tank. Putting his metal work skills to the test he first took care of the damage that wouldn’t be hidden by paint and then modified the tank to fit the Honda frame.

Knowing the look he wanted and with a self-confessed “overactive imagination” Simon was adamant the rear end was not to his liking. Wanting the classic look he set about design and building a rear sub-frame that looked the part and would hold a more traditional looking twin shock rear. But that imagination had to be satisfied, so no less than 11 different rear frames were fabricated and removed before Simon was completely happy with his handiwork.

To match the new rear end, the front forks have been modified to lower the overall ride height and improve the handling. While Excel rims greatly reduce the unsprung weight and wrapped in Dunlop K180’s sourced from the USA ensure the NX is glued to the road. Renthal bars now control the Dunlop rubber, with new switch blocks and a small single headlight fitted to light the way home. Simon custom made the stainless steel exhaust system from scratch and topped it off with a first class Akrapovic pipe that once called a Hornet 600 home.

Now requiring somewhere to sit Simon reworked the custom pan and even utilised the original seat foam, cutting, sanding and shaping till he had achieved the desired look. The genuine cow hide leather sewn over the foam by a professional saddler remains the only work not carried out on the bike by Simon himself. To finish the look before final assembly took place the frame was coated in anthracite grey satin and the tank given the three colour Honda RC30 treatment.

Simon now calls Sydney, Australia home and the bike was finished just 3 hours before he left France while the photos were taken the night he boarded a flight to start his new life Down Under. Now firmly entrenched in the Australian way of life, Simon is determined to build more bikes that reflect his new laid back outlook on life, but never forgetting the elegant vintage spirit that first inspired him. It’s fair to say his exceptional custom Honda NX650 is a testament to both old and new – Oh oui, c’est parfait!

[Photography by Frédéric Rombaut]

via PIPEBURN