Ambassadors of Distinction for The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride

Here are the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride Ambassadors. To find out what they will be wearing and riding head to www.gentlemansride.comand click on the Ambassadors link.

KTM 450 EXC BY WALT SIEGL

Walt Siegl is the embodiment of a life well lived. A former motorcycle racer, he now builds high-end Ducati customs in a picturesque New Hampshire mill town. His impossibly beautiful Leggero sportbikes are sought after and shipped all over the world.

Walt occasionally likes to mix things up though, and this is one of his most unusual creations. It’s a modern KTM 450 given a vintage motocross flavor without losing any of KTM’s legendary off-road prowess.

The commission came from a client who already owns several of Walt’s creations. “He asked me for a motorcycle that he can take off road on occasion,” says Walt, “and left the choice of donor bike up to me.”

Walt’s interest was piqued. As a boy growing up in Austria in the 1970s, he would watch the local motocross races with his father. It was a time when KTM was rising to prominence, so we can assume that Walt felt more than a little national pride.

“I’m even more impressed by today’s KTMs, so I decided to use the Austrian machine as a platform,” says Walt. But there was a catch. “My client is an extremely successful designer and businessman. His product has a high grade of hand-built quality to it. So he’s suspicious of anything that smells of computer design.”

The solution was to rework the razor-sharp edges of modern KTM styling. Could Walt give the bike timeless lines, ones that would sit well next to his client’s beloved Hodakas and Maicos? “I had my work cut out,” he notes wryly. “But I wanted to capture the visuals of past times, while taking advantage of the high tech performance of today’s KTMs—snorting, rowdy machines that perform like a shotgun.”

Walt started by shaping a mockup tank in foam, and had the mockup scanned. A hardwood plug was then machined, so Walt could make the fuel cell in aluminum. He also built a new aluminum subframe, but only after careful measurements—to allow enough suspension travel. The side panels are made of the same 60-series aluminum as the tank.

There’s a new aluminum seat pan too, with the seat core shaped in medium density urethane. It’s finished in leather by Vivian Smith, who does all Walt’s upholstery work.

The handlebars are vintage-style aftermarket items, and the rear fender is from Air-Tech, originally created for a Maico application. Walt made the front fender using fiberglass, and installed a headlight and shroud from eBay, extensively altered to fit.

The suspension and engine remained untouched: it’s hard to improve on the dynamics of a KTM 450, even if it’s a street legal EXC model. Walt did build a new muffler from stainless steel though, and re-jetted the Keihin carb.

The paint is simple and effective. “I wanted to juxtapose the vintage design elements with contemporary graphics in bright colors—as a reminder that the bike is a modern machine, after all.” The renowned Robbie Nigl of Peach Pit applied the colors.

The result is curiously appealing—a custom that’s been stripped back to its functional basics. There’s a love-it-or-hate-it aspect to the styling of modern KTMs—but it’s hard not to love what Walt has done.

Check out previous Walt Siegl builds on his stylish website, or follow his news viaFacebook. You can read extensive coverage of Walt Siegl’s life and builds in our bookThe Ride.

via BIKEexif

WRC, Australie : 25 ans de Mondial / Celebrating 25 years since Australia’s first WRC inclusion

Le Rallye d’Australie a intégré le Championnat du monde des Rallyes FIA il y a 25 ans, en 1989. Cinq constructeurs y ont triomphé à trois reprises (Ford, Lancia, Mitsubishi, Subaru [4] et Peugeot) et quatre y ont été titrés (Lancia, Subaru, Toyota, Peugeot). Cette année, Volkswagen pourrait y décrocher son second titre mondial.

Organisé seconde moitié de saison mondiale, le Rallye d’Australie a souvent consacré des Constructeurs avant terme. En 1992, la victoire de Didier Auriol a assuré Lancia/Michelin d’un 6^etitre consécutif – son dernier en WRC - face à Toyota dès le mois de septembre, le constructeur italien ayant déjà scoré ses sept résultats pleins.

En 1997, le succès de Colin McRae à Perth a permis à Subaru de décrocher le premier titre mondial de l’ère des World Rally Cars. Néanmoins, le constructeur japonais avait fait un grand pas vers son 3^e titre consécutif lors de la manche précédente, le Rallye Sanremo, avec le doublé McRae/Liatti.

Deux ans plus tard, la 2^e place de Carlos Sainz dans le Western Australia a suffi pour que Toyota remporte son 3^e titre mondial en rallye dans une ambiance très douce-amère: après des ennuis mécaniques, Didier Auriol et Carlos Sainz ont laissé filer le titre Pilotes à Tommi Mäkinen (son 4^ed’affilée, un record) et Toyota avait annoncé quelques mois plus tôt son retrait du WRC pour la F1.

L’année suivante, la fête d’après-rallye fut nettement plus joviale dans les rues de Perth pour les hommes de Peugeot Sport. Après la disqualification du vainqueur Mäkinen, Marcus Grönholm a hérité de la victoire australienne et offert le titre Constructeurs 2000 à Peugeot, le premier depuis le retour du Lion en WRC.

Contrairement à 2013 où le titre Pilotes pouvait être attribué à l’issue du Rallye d’Australie, il ne sera pas question de titre Pilotes en Australie, mais bien de titre Constructeurs.

Volkswagen Motorsport possède 167 points d’avance sur Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi WRT. Si le constructeur allemand repart d’Australie avec une marge de 129 points, il ne pourra être rejoint. Pour prolonger (encore) le suspense, Citroën devrait donc inscrire 38 points de plus que VW. Par exemple, en cas de double abandon pour Volkswagen (comme en Allemagne), les deux Citroën DS3 WRC officielles doivent être sur le podium final…

Après sa cruelle désillusion en Allemagne, Volkswagen devrait logiquement réagir et coiffer sa seconde couronne mondiale en Australie, en attendant qu’un de ses trois pilotes – Ogier, Latvala, Mikkelsen – le soit d’ici à la fin de saison, puisque le titre Pilotes 2014 ne peut échapper aux représentants de la marque.

Rally Australia first counted towards the FIA World Rally Championship in 1989. Five makes have won the event three times (Ford, Lancia, Mitsubishi, Subaru [4], Peugeot) and four have actually sewn up the title there (Lancia, Subaru, Toyota, Peugeot). This year, it could be Volkswagen’s turn…

Australia’s round has frequently decided the Manufacturers’ world title. In September 1992, success for Didier Auriol secured Lancia’s sixth consecutive crown (its last in the WRC) against Toyota thanks to the Italian team’s score of seven victories.

Five years later, Colin McRae’s victory in Perth, Western Australia, earned Subaru’s first title of the World Rally Car era after a one-two for McRae and Liatti in Sanremo had nicely set up the Japanese firm’s third consecutive championship honours.

In 1999, second place for Carlos Sainz was sufficient for Toyota to claim its third world title, although mechanical problems for the Spaniard and Auriol allowed Tommi Mäkinen to collect a record-breaking fourth consecutive Drivers’ crown. A few months earlier, Toyota had announced its decision to switch from the WRC to F1…

The following year’s post-event party in the streets of Perth was a far merrier affair. The winner Mäkinen was disqualified, handing victory to Marcus Grönholm which was enough to deliver the 2000 Manufacturers’ title to Peugeot, the first since the French make’s return to the WRC.

This year, the Manufacturers’ top prize might be decided once again in Australia, since Volkswagen Motorsport has a 167-point lead over Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi WRT. If the German brand completes the event with a gap of 129 points over its chaser, the outcome will be settled for 2014. In other words, to prolong the suspense, Citroën will need to score 38 points more than VW. For example, if both German cars fail to finish (as they did in Germany) both factory Citroën DS3 WRCs will need to be on the podium.

After its cruel setback on home soil, however, Volkswagen has a strong chance of wrapping up the championship, while the 2014 Drivers’ crown is now sure to end up on the head of Ogier, Latvala or Mikkelsen.

burn !