vendredi 19 septembre 2014
24 Heures Moto : la pole pour Kawasaki SRC / pole position for Kawasaki SRC
Kawasaki SRC s’élancera demain de la pole position de la 37ème édition des 24 Heures Moto, dernière épreuve du championnat du monde d’Endurance FIM (EWC). La Kawasaki n°11, vainqueur des quatre dernières éditions, devance quatre autres prétendants à la victoire, Honda Racing, le YART, le SERT et le GMT 94 (Michelin).
Une piste humide n’a pas permis aux pilotes des deux premières sessions de la seconde séance d’essais qualificatifs d’améliorer leurs temps réalisés hier. Seuls les pilotes de la troisième série ont pu bénéficier de conditions climatiques optimales pour signer de meilleurs chronos que la veille.
Aucune amélioration pour les pilotes Kawasaki SRC (Leblanc/Lagrive/Foret) qui conserve la pole position avec une nouvelle moyenne record en 1.37.274. La meilleure performance absolue des qualifications de la 37ème édition des 24 Heures Moto est à attribuer à Fabien Foret, pilote en championnat du monde Superbike (WSBK), en 1.37.205.
Malgré une amélioration de Freddy Foray qui signe le meilleur temps de la troisième session aujourd’hui en 1.38.120, Honda Racing (Da Costa/Gimbert/F. Foray) partira de la deuxième position avec une moyenne d’1.38.006.
Pas de changement pour le YART (Parkes/Laverty/Morais) et le SERT (Philippe/Delhalle/Nigon) qui se classent respectivement troisième et quatrième en 1.38.450 et 1.38.641. Mathieu Gines a bouclé son meilleur tour aujourd’hui en 1.38.189. Le GMT 94 (Checa/K.Foray/Gines), leader du championnat, occupe la cinquième place en 1.38.668. Ces trois équipes se tiennent en un peu plus de deux dixièmes de seconde.
National Motos (Debise/Tizon/Four) pointe à la sixième place (1.39.283) devant trois équipes engagées en catégorie Superstock, le Qatar Endurance Racing Team, Louit 33 et le Junior Team LMS Suzuki. C’est très serré entre ces teams séparés seulement par 17 centièmes de seconde.
La BMW n°31 du team Penz13, première machine Open, gagne deux places et se hisse dans le Top 10 en 1.39.849.
Le perchiste Renaud Lavillenie améliore également son propre record personnel en bouclant son tour le plus rapide en 1.50.106. Il répondra cet après-midi à vos questions en direct sur Twitter sur le compte de MotoRacingLive en utilisant le hashtag #askairlavillenie.
La traditionnelle visite des stands à partir de 18 heures a clôturé cette journée.
Kawasaki SRC will start the 24 Heures Moto, last round of the 2014 FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC), from pole position. The N°11 Kawasaki, which is chasing a fifth consecutive victory at Le Mans, qualified ahead of Honda Racing, YART, SERT and GMT 94 (Michelin).
This morning’s damp conditions prevented the riders in the first two groups (‘blue’ and ‘white’) from improving on yesterday’s lap times, but some of the ‘red’ armbands took advantage of the drying track to go a little faster than they did on Thursday afternoon.
None of the Kawasaki SRC trio improved, however, but that didn’t stop them from earning pole with a new record average time of 1m37.274s. The fastest lap of the two qualifying sessions combined was posted by the Superbike World Championship specialist Fabien Foret (1m37.205s).
Freddy Foray’s improvement in today’s ‘red’ session (1m38.120s) wasn’t enough to take Honda Racing to the top and Da Costa/Gimbert/Foray (average: 1m38.006s) had to settle for second place on the grid.
YART (Parkes/Laverty/Morais, 1m38.450s) and SERT (Philippe/Delhalle/Nigon, 1m38.641s) held on to third and fourth places, while Mathieu Gines produced today’s fastest effort (1m38.189s) for the EWC-leading team GMT 94 (5th, Checa/K.Foray/Gines, 1m38.668s). These three bikes were covered by a little more than two-tenths of a second.
National Motos (Debise/Tizon/Four) was sixth (1m39.283s), ahead of superstock runners Qatar Endurance Racing Team, Louit 33 and Junior Team LMS Suzuki who were covered by just 0.17s.
The N°31 BMW (Penz13) topped the Open order and gained two places today to ease into the top 10 (1m39.849s).
None of the Kawasaki SRC trio improved, however, but that didn’t stop them from earning pole with a new record average time of 1m37.274s. The fastest lap of the two qualifying sessions combined was posted by the Superbike World Championship specialist Fabien Foret (1m37.205s).
Freddy Foray’s improvement in today’s ‘red’ session (1m38.120s) wasn’t enough to take Honda Racing to the top and Da Costa/Gimbert/Foray (average: 1m38.006s) had to settle for second place on the grid.
YART (Parkes/Laverty/Morais, 1m38.450s) and SERT (Philippe/Delhalle/Nigon, 1m38.641s) held on to third and fourth places, while Mathieu Gines produced today’s fastest effort (1m38.189s) for the EWC-leading team GMT 94 (5th, Checa/K.Foray/Gines, 1m38.668s). These three bikes were covered by a little more than two-tenths of a second.
National Motos (Debise/Tizon/Four) was sixth (1m39.283s), ahead of superstock runners Qatar Endurance Racing Team, Louit 33 and Junior Team LMS Suzuki who were covered by just 0.17s.
The N°31 BMW (Penz13) topped the Open order and gained two places today to ease into the top 10 (1m39.849s).
Pole-vaulter Renaud Lavillenie beat his personal record with a 1m50.106s. The French athlete will be available to answer your questions via MotoRacingLIve’s Twitter account (#askairlavillenie) from 4pm local time this afternoon (Friday).
Today’s programme will end with the traditional pits walkabout.
ROLAND SANDS X INDIAN: “TRACK CHIEF”
The Indian Chieftain is a big motorcycle, designed to soak up the miles on the smooth highways of ‘Murica. The star of the show is the new Thunder Stroke engine, a mighty 111 cubic inch (1811cc) monster pumping out 119 ft-lbs of torque.
It’s a remarkably good-looking motor, and it caught the eye of Roland Sands, the man who can do no wrong when it comes to creating genre-bending customs. Sands has now tapped into Indian’s rich motorsport heritage, and slotted the Thunder Stroke into a vintage-style, boardtracker-inspired build: the Indian Track Chief.
There’s so much detail on this bike, it’s hard to know where to start. The single-side rigid frame is a masterpiece, hugging the engine just-so. It’s hand-fabricated from 4130 chromoly steel, finished in black by Olympic Powdercoating.
The frame is a perfect match for the black Paughco Leaf Spring Fork assembly, a fascinating contraption designed for customizers who want a vintage look with high-quality, modern construction. Tucked down low on the left side of the fork, near the axle, is a Fox DHX mountain bike shock—a component popular with riders on the World Cup downhill series.
“It controls the motion of the front end, and works really well,” reports Sands’ project manager Cameron Brewer. “The compression and rebound dampening of the shock is a perfect match to the rate of the leaf spring.”
Sitting above the frame is a hand-fabricated titanium tank; hidden below the frame is an aluminum belly pan. The engine internals are stock but there’s a Roland Sands Design Blunt air cleaner, a high-flow, low-profile fitment that doesn’t get in the way of your leg. The titanium pipes of the custom 2-into-2 exhaust system follow the lines of the V-twin snugly, and terminate in RSD Slant mufflers.
There’s a see-through RSD Clarity cam cover and a matching outer primary cover too—revealing a custom clutch pressure plate from Barnett. “We told Barnett we were making a one-off primary cover and wanted some high-end billet clutch internals to show off. These are not production parts for either of us, but may be down the road,” says Brewer.
Track Chief sports a serious turn of speed on the road: it’s considerably lighter than the 827 lb. Chieftain that donated its engine. “We haven’t weighed the bike,” says Brewer. “But two of us did pick the Indian up by the wheels—if that’s any gauge of the actual weight, we’d guess it’s in the 400-500 lb. range.”
The handlebars are welded to the upper triple: allowing Sands to make very narrow bars, and eliminating the use of risers. (“They are basically clip-ons—without relying on a pinch bolt.”) RSD Traction Grips with a custom bronze anodized finish add to the vintage look.
As we all know, wheels are critical to the boardtracker look. And here we’ve got 21” x 3.5” lightweight RSD Del Mar rims—with the same bronze finish as the grips. They’re shod with Dunlop Elite 3 tires, which are conveniently available in a 120/70-21 size for custom builds. Stopping power comes from Performance Machine calipers and Brembo cylinders, and the rear sprocket and drive unit come from Gregg’s Customs.
Paint is low-key: a classic Indian red and black combo, applied by Hot Dog Pinstriping, with gold leaf for the oversized logo on the raw metal tank.
It’s not the kind of machine that will find its way back into Indian’s catalog any time soon. But the burgeoning cool factor of America’s oldest motorcycle brand just stepped up a notch—or three.
Image below courtesy of Barry Hathaway.
via BIKEexif
YAMAHA SR500 BY EXESOR MOTORCYCLES
Venturing into the left field is risky business for any builder. Go too far, and you could end up with a garish and impractical machine. But ride the line between quirky and classy just right, and you’ll have a hit on your hands.
Christian Schwarzenlander’s Yamaha SR500-based “ExesoR MACHINE” strikes that balance beautifully. Operating out of Austria as ExesoR Motorcycles, Christian’s aim was to build a café-racer-styled custom, “with a touch of Dieselpunk.”
Christian picked up the SR500 for a steal—but it was totally disassembled. “Even the engine was taken apart,” he says, “but it was 90% complete and no important parts were missing.” Naturally, the engine received a full overhaul—finished off with bespoke cooling fins. It now inhales through a velocity stack, and exhales via a stainless steel exhaust system from Two Hands Motorcycles.
For the bodywork, Christian turned to Bernhard Naumann, AKA Blechmann, for assistance. Bernard is an accomplished builder in his own right, known for building “Walton”—a wild Norton-powered chopper that took 6th place at the Sturgis World Championships in 2010. “His knowledge was essential for the final result,” says Christian. The two are now good friends.
Bernard was responsible for the SR500’s seat (covered in tobacco brown leather), and he’s modified an Omega Racer fairing to suit the bike. The tank is also from Omega Racer, now fitted with a custom filler cap. All the bodywork is aluminum, finished in a raw, semi-matte effect. Furthering the Dieselpunk agenda are various brass components—including fastener covers.
The re-wired SR500 now sports a custom ignition system, complete with a hand-built coil and cool little electron tube indicator light (below). The bulk of the new harness is stashed away under the seat. Embedded in the fairing are two LED headlights, and out back is a one-off tail light.
Christian made extensive mods to the frame too. It’s been cleaned up and reinforced in key areas, and shortened in the rear—with a pair of LED turn signals embedded in the tubing. There’s a new swingarm, made out of two SR500 units, and 7cm longer than stock. The frame and swingarm are painted in a color taken from Porsche’s swatch book: Seal Grey.
The front suspension has been lowered and upgraded with Wirth springs, and a pair of custom Hagon shocks prop up the rear. The original Yamaha SR500 wheels are now painted in an antique copper color and fitted with Avon tires.
The final product is kitted with a Daytona speedo, LSL rear-sets and Fehling clip-ons—adorned with a pair of hand-crafted aluminum and leather grips. Christian has also fitted custom sleeved cables, a CNC-machined brake fluid reservoir and a host of other fine details that reward close inspection.
ExesoR’s SR500 is a great example of the interplay between creativity and functionality. I’d even go as far as to call it art—and rideable art at that.
Photos by David Matl. Keep in touch with ExesoR via Christian’s website or Facebook page.
via BIKEexif
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