‘74 Honda CL360 – Modern Metals

As the saying goes, life wasn’t meant to be easy. It’s the same reason that diamonds and gold are buried deep underground and not just rolling around in the gutter outside your house. All the best things in life take hard work to achieve. Take, for instance, the bike you just picked up off of a complete stranger for a song. If you brought it home and it customised itself, that’d be no fun now would it? No, it’s the challenges that make it all worth while. And trust us when we say that the challenge Doug Devine from Modern Metals faced after he peered inside the engine of this innocuous little Honda would be enough to test anyone.

“Nothing feels better than being able to help out a friend, says Louisville, Kentucky local Doug. “I just so happened to have an abundance of extra space at my shop when Bryan, a buddy of mine, needed some space for his cars. After watching me work on a few builds, he decided to hunt down a bike for himself. He returned from a short road trip with a ‘74 Honda CL360. I thought his find was pretty nice until we couldn’t remove the spark plugs…”

An engine teardown revealed a horror show that had been hiding inside the engine for years; a dropped valve had been left to fester until… well, you’ll see. “Unfazed by the disaster, we discussed what Bryan envisioned for his bike over coffee. Within a few days, I received an invitation for PDX’s The One Motorcycle Show. Knowing that I would only have 40 days to complete this build in time for the event, I asked Bryan if we could get started.”

After stripping down the bike and detabbing the frame, Doug modified the rear seat stays so they were pointing skywards for the seat he imagined in his head. And for the tires he imagined, he ordered a pair of Firestone ANS boots. “I just so happened to have a Honda CB450 tank that fit perfectly with the look of the tires.” David ‘Matchstick’ Brooks expertly applied some gold leafing and stripes along with the black aluminium trim pieces which Doug added for more width.

After fabricating at least four different seat pans and cowls trying to determine the direction he wanted to move in, Doug settled on what you see here and left the upholstering to Ginger at New Church Moto. She really came through for Doug when she produced some old oxblood-dyed horse hide for the seat.

“I searched long and hard for the frame color which is ‘Lincoln Ginger Ale’ metallic over a black base coat. I had to source a new engine because the original was clearly beyond repair. I wanted to keep the high pipes but wanted to cut off some old megaphones with an angle to induce a more speedy look. Ben “Bender” Boyle of Benderwerks saved the day when he offered to do the headlight work after dropping by. Thanks also to Kim Boyle of BCM for the tail light, See See Motorcycles for the micro handlebar switches, and Farmers Racer for the orange pack bag.”

Unfortunately, this story doesn’t finish with a first place at the One Show. But gladly it wasn’t through a lack of trying. “We finished the bike just in time and I attempted the cross-country trip to the show, but I was snowed in once I reached Iowa.”

Doug returned home and then called in a few favours from his extended family. “My brother-in-law owns Headliner’s Music Hall, a historic building that houses one of the best music venues in the city. He graciously allowed us to shoot the bike in front of the turn-of-the century artwork.”

Adding new meaning to the term ‘valve grind’

[Photography by Seth Schikler]

via PIPEBURN

INGLORIOUS MC GN250

Essex based Sam Evans’ career was going along rather nicely, as a Junior Race Engineer he was honing his skills playing with glorious 1980′s group B rally cars on a daily basis. But then his head was turned. He happened upon the short film “Cafe Cowboy” by Benedict Campbell, this showcases the Californian Bike builder Dustin Kott of Kott Motorcycles in a sun bleached, black and white montage of welding, riding, moody music and passionate prose. Sam was hooked, multiple viewings could not sate his desire, he craved the lifestyle, the work ethic, the finished product. He set up his shop, Inglorious Motorcycles, and sought to build himself the bikes and the life that the film had inspired. You can watch “Cafe Cowboy” and many other beautiful and inspiring films in the Bike Shed Video Library, but be warned, prolonged stays in the library may completely change your life.

This is the second build that Sam has turned out, the first was a patina heavy, firestone shod 78′ CB400 Superdream which he named the Cali Cafe after his West Coast inspiration. For his second Inglorious Motorcycles build, Sam wanted to make a scrambler, “function over form was the feeling behind this 90′s thumper, Being able to ride comfortably down the streets, but without the boundary of that rocky lane or field between yourself and the beach.”

He procured a 1993 Suzuki GN250 single for the project, “The bike was owned by an old boy down the road, who was the typical keep everything clean and never ride it kind of guy.” With the bike in his workshop, rescued from its clean, unridden stasis, Sam wasted no time in turning it into a dirty little rider, within an hour all the junk had been stripped off and the rear section of the frame had been chopped.

Sam knew exactly how he wanted the bike to look, “The design plan was like most, simple. Loop that rear end, shorten those fenders, get some chunky tires, and bin everything but the essentials.” To guarantee the machine in his minds eye kept going in real life, Sam set about the engine, the head was lifted to check the condition of the piston and rings, and then treated to a complete rebuild. To make the little 250cc engine “look a bit more badass”it received a coat of wrinkle black to contrast with the home polished engine cases and forks.

“After all the fabrication was done it was time to think colour schemes. I’ve always gone on the basis that the best way to make something look classic, is to use old classic colours. So the frame was powder coated in a light grey, and the tank sprayed in a vintage Porsche red. The ‘Inglorious Motorcycles’ logo was then hand lettered on to the top of the tank.” The colour scheme is a complete winner, along with the plush brown seat it adds class to the cheeky, cartoonish proportions of the bike.

All seals and bearings were then replaced and it was time for final assembly. The spoked wheels were painted black and black Renthal bars were fitted along with fork gaiters and the bobbed, mudguards front and rear. Small chrome brat style lighting was added, tying in the chrome shocks, muffler and speedometer, the twin downpipes were mummified in wrap.

“Down the lanes and around town the bike is a little ripper! Its light weight and has enough poke to really have some fun on. Overall I’m very happy with how it turned out, and will be building another in a different colour scheme to keep for myself!”.

Sam has turned his film inspired daydream into reality, building bikes and having a damn good time doing it. He may not have the Californian sun beating down on his efforts but the bikes and his ethos are the real deal. Check out hisInglorious Motorcycles website for more information and we will be sure to share his next build (potentially an XS650 or W650 tracker) right here on the Bike Shed.

21-WINDOW DELUXE VOLKSWAGEN TYPE 2

The Volkswagen Type 2 is better known by the nicknames it received in the various countries where it was sold, the Americans usually call it the the Bus or Hippie Van, the Brits call it the Camper and every Australian I talked to knows the Type 2 only as the Kombi Van. Following on from their success with the Type 1 (commonly known as the Beetle), the designers at Volkswagen wanted to capitalise on the tried and tested platform of the Type 1 whilst offering significantly increased passenger or cargo carrying capacity.

A simple box design was used to maximise internal space – often leading to the Type 2 being loaded beyond the weight limit that its engineers originally envisaged. The 21-Window Deluxe model was marketed at its introduction as being the perfect vehicle for touring the Alps – although if it were filled to capacity it’s questionable whether it’d make some of the more challenging grades.

As time went by, the 21-Window Deluxe became the most sought after variant and we’ll sorted examples like this red/white two-tone model are valued in the $100,000+ USD range – with many selling for quite a bit more still.

Originally delivered to Rome in 1965, this Type 2 still wears its original Italian license plates from the era. It was recently restored to original condition and repainted in its original red on white with matching interior – if you’ve been looking for a family-sized way to tour the Italian countryside, this could be just what you need.

Click here to read more via RM Auctions.

via SILODROME

ERC : Vaclav Pech s’impose à domicile

Voilà plus de dix ans que le pilote tchèque Vaclav Pech n’avait plus gagné le Barum Czech Rally Zlin. Il a remporté la 44e édition au volant de sa Mini John Cooper Works S2000/Michelin devant le pilote officiel Skoda Sepp Wiegand et Tomas Kostka (Ford).

Septuple Champion de République tchèque, Vaclav Pech n’avait plus remporté le Barum Rally Zlin depuis 2003. A 37 ans, il a enlevé cette 44^e édition, 8^e manche du Championnat d’Europe des Rallyes FIA, au volant de sa Mini/Michelin, mettant ainsi un terme à cinq années consécutives de domination Skoda sur cette épreuve asphalte au profil rapide et technique.

Une Skoda Fabia S2000 est tout de même présente sur le podium final, celle de l’Allemand Sepp Wiegand, venu arracher la 2^e place à Tomas Kostka (victime de soucis moteur) pour 2/10^e de seconde. Wiegand comptait 3s3 de retard au départ de l’ultime spéciale. Son équipier et leader du championnat, Esapekka Lappi, est sorti de la route en début de rallye. Reparti en Rally 2, le Finlandais a ensuite remporté trois spéciales. Il reste leader du championnat avec 19 points d’avance sur Wiegand.

Comme souvent, Kevin Abbring (Peugeot 208 T16/Michelin) fut le 1^er leader du rallye. Le Néerlandais a dominé les trois 1^ères ES avant d’être éliminé par un problème mécanique (connecteur électrique). Son équipier de la Peugeot Rally Academy, Craig Breen, n’est guère allé plus loin, abandonnant suite à une sortie de route dans l’ES4.

Après le retrait d’Abbring, le Tchèque Roman Kresta (Skoda Fabia S2000) s’est retrouvé en tête, mais à l’issue de l’ES5, un échappement cassé l’a forcé à l’abandon lui aussi. Nouveau leader, Vaclav Pech a dû attendre la faute de Jaromir Tarabus (Skoda, ES7) pour voir un 7^e titre national et la victoire se profiler à l’horizon.

Au pied du podium au départ de la dernière spéciale, le Polonais Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Ford Fiesta R5) a perdu deux places en 21,41 km au profit de Jaroslav Orsak (Skoda), finalement 4^epour 8/10^e de seconde sur son compatriote Tarabus (5^e) ! Vainqueur du dernier rallye ERC en Estonie, Ott Tanak (Fiesta R5) a terminé à la 7^e place.

Après le Rallye Deutschland, le Français Stéphane Lefebvre a remporté la catégorie Junior pour la seconde fois en huit jours. Au volant de sa Peugeot 208 R2, et malgré une crevaison et une casse de différentiel, il a devancé l’Allemand Marijan Griebel (Opel) et le Polonais Aleksander Zawada (Peugeot). Favori à domicile (même s’il réside loin de Zlin !), Jan Cerny a lui aussi connu une crevaison et termine 6^e. Il perd sa place de leader du championnat au profit de Lefebvre, désormais en tête des Juniors en WRC et ERC !

La catégorie 2-roues motrices a été remportée par Adam Kobliha (Renault Clio R3) et le Tchèque Martin Brezik (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) s’est imposé en Production. Les débuts de la nouvelle Subaru Impreza JRM de Mark Higgins furent écourtés (moteur).

La prochaine manche ERC se déroulera à Chypre (19-21 septembre) sur un parcours mixte terre/asphalte.

jeu de jambes