URBAN RIDER’S R80

Urban Rider on the New Kings Road in London is a den of motorcycle treasures; gloves, lids and leathers adorn the showroom in a manner befitting of its lofty address. They also cater for the commuter scooter crowd, but if you spend a few minutes chatting with proprietors Will or Andrew you soon realise that it is the geared machines that get their hearts pumping. Not content with merely supplying you with the best gear, the guys branched out and now design and build the bikes to ferry their fine wares about town.

One of their early CL400 Street Scramblers (based on the rare Japanese import) stole hearts at the very first BSMC event back in May 2013. The Urban Rider team have continued to build and refine their signature little Hondas whilst adding a Bonneville model to their repertoire. Now they present this lovely Boxer scrambler, a bike they assure us is but a one off, built by resident mechanic Len to sate his “soft spot” for the marque.

Len came across the R80 on ebay, it was the common story of a half finished project in need of a new owner with the drive and skill to fulfil the machines ambitions. He had owned many of the Bavarian twins over the years and runs a modern GS among his current fleet. This build was about getting the desire to customise a Beemer out of his system as oppose to launching Urban Rider into the highly competitive pro built BMW market.

“Everyone at the store pitched in with ideas but Len’s vision for the bike was clean, smooth lines and understated style.” To this end Len set about the bike with his angle grinder, the frame was de-tabbed and sent for powder coated along with the wheels, forks and swing arm. The engine was rebuilt with new valves guides and piston rings, the bores were then honed before it was all put back together using new stainless fasteners throughout. A full rewire keeps things simple and efficient.

The hand formed alloy seat unit was one of the few plus points of the previous owners efforts and along with the tank it received a lustrous,  classic colour combination before being dispatched to Viking Vinyl for a recover. “The paint scheme harks back to the old school BMW era and is meant to look as if were done by BMW themselves”.

The striking race style pipes are a stand out feature, bringing the classic styling bang up to date, “The silencers are GP race bike replicas which where chosen primarily because they look and sound great and we hadn’t seen it done before, the rear sets are generic aftermarket units that we modified to work with our set up.”

Other features include new piggy back shocks, Renthal bars, a Koso digital speedometer, and Biltwell grips

The bike rides on Continental TKC 80s and reportedly handles splendidly, “We have used them on other builds such as the modern Bonneville. They grip very well for an off-road biased tyre. Many BMW GS riders use them on all roads.” As their shop name suggests the team specialise in equipping riders for the no nonsense city environment and that ethos carries through to this highly functional bike that clearly also has the legs to carry you out of town for a sunny photo shoot.

The bike was a fun side project for Len and the team between turning around their CL400 Scramblers at the rate of at least one every six weeks, the last off the line was even fitted with a custom removable ski rack for an Alps dwelling customer. The BMW is now for sale and ready to go from their London Headquarters. We look forward to seeing more of these fun Urban Rider side project bikes as well as more of their staple machines on their Bike Shed page.

HUSQVARNA 510 BY VELOMACCHI

Kevin Murray is a petrolhead with a very interesting day job: he runs a company designing high performance gear for clients like The North Face, Nike, Mammut and Navy SEAL teams.

He’s now set up shop with his own brand, Velomacchi, producing “Everyday Carry for the serious motorcyclist.” In the works are backpacks, tool rolls, iPad and iPhone storage and messenger bags. The vibe is ‘privateer racer’—functional and good value.

It’s a very technical process, so Kevin gets his respite via the more analog pursuit of crafting vintage dirt bikes. Like this stunning flat tracker, based on a 1986 Husqvarna 510 pulled from a hedge in eastern Oregon.

“The air-cooled 510 was one of the last models built by Swedish hands,” says Kevin. “It was a legendary 4-stroke thumper with a 2-stroke style bottom end. It pulled like a semi and cut like a chainsaw, and was a great fit for our circuits in the Northwest.”

The Husky had two serious weaknesses though: a Motoplat electrical system and a temperamental Dell’Orto 40mm carburetor. So Kevin and his crew replaced the electrical system with a German-designed MZB ignition, and installed a new Mikuni 38mm flatslide carb for a snappier throttle response.

The exhaust system is a traditional low-slung flat track design, with stainless 2-into-2 cone silencers. It’s low slung on the right to avoid exhaust burns on the thigh when turning left, and also to save it from damage in a lowside crash.

The suspension was upgraded too, with a Kawasaki ZRX1200R front end boosted with Race Tech Gold Valve internals. Bringing up the rear is a Fox twin-clicker shock from a ZX9, hooked up to an adjustable spacer system so that the suspension can be fine-tuned. (“We machined three different-length spacers so the shock height could be quickly adjusted to fit the track.”)

The wheels went off to Buchanans, who supplied a new 19” wheel set with heavy-duty stainless steel spokes suitable for flat track racing. Meanwhile, the #2 stainless steel handlebars were hand bent by Ray Carroll, to get the perfect length and height to control the bike. “Ray is a legend in the Northwest,” says Kevin. “He maintains the Castle Rock clay track, builds custom frames and is still racing at 81 years old!”

An added dose of style comes from the new bodywork. “We really loved the lightweight simplicity of Husky’s 1970s desert racers. So we kept the frame, engine and swing arm from the 510 and tossed the heavy plastic fairing, tank and seat. We replaced it with a brand new tank from a 1979 Husqvarna 390 OR, and a custom seat from New Church upholstery.” The seat is not fashionably slim, but it sure looks comfy.

Now that the bike is fully sorted, Velomacchi’s focus is back onto the gear. And very interesting it looks too, providing a challenge to the likes of Kreiga and Ogio. Funding for the project has just launched on Kickstarter, and investors are piling in already.

Check it out here.

Images by Gregor Halenda.

Mad Max

Dakar : La Peugeot 2008 DKR/Michelin en tests - Peugeot 2008 DKR/Michelin test

A tout juste 100 jours de la cérémonie de départ du Rallye Dakar 2015, les trois équipages Peugeot-Total sont en essais sur les pistes du domaine de Château Lastours. Le copilote de Cyril Despres est lui aussi un ancien motard, Gilles Picard.

Après plusieurs séances de déverminage organisées depuis mi-juin en Ile de France (Freneuse, Montlhéry) et au Creusot, l’équipe Peugeot-Total a effectué cette semaine une importante séance de développement dans le Sud de la France, sur les pistes cassantes du domaine de Château Lastours. Les trois équipages se sont succédé au volant de la Peugeot 2008 DKR/Michelin.

Carlos Sainz et Stéphane Peterhansel seront accompagnés de leurs navigateurs Lucas Cruz et de Jean-Paul Cottret. De son côté, Cyril Despres a choisi Gilles Picard pour l’épauler dans cette nouvelle aventure sur 4-roues. A 59 ans, Gilles est un des plus expérimentés de la discipline Tout-Terrain et du Dakar (près de 30 participations). Ancien motard comme Cyril, Gilles Picard a débuté comme copilote il y a 20 ans chez Citroën Sport. Auriol, Vatanen, Fontenay, Schlesser, Shinozuka, Masuoka et Luc Alphand, Gilles a accompagné de grands noms du Tout-Terrain et remporté deux Dakar (1998 et 2006).

Les premiers tours de roue de la Peugeot 2008 DKR ont eu lieu en juin dernier. Les ingénieurs de Peugeot Sport sont partis d’une feuille blanche pour concevoir ce prototype 2-roues motrices à moteur V6 diesel 3200 cm³ bi-turbo. De son côté, Michelin Motorsport a développé de nouveaux pneumatiques (37/12.5x17) capables de transmettre au sol les 340 chevaux et les 600 Nm de couple et de résister aux pistes les plus défoncées. Le débattement des suspensions (440 mm) et les pneus de grand diamètre permettent d’absorber les irrégularités du terrain à haute vitesse.

C’est peut-être ce qui a le plus surpris Stéphane Peterhansel (9 victoires au Dakar), habitué au pilotage des 4-roues motrices depuis ses débuts en catégorie Autos. Carlos Sainz avait quant à lui déjà pu s’adapter au pilotage d’un Buggy 2-roues motrices lors du dernier Dakar. Quant à Cyril Despres, il a encore tout à découvrir et s’est dit émerveillé par la Peugeot 2008 DKR.

Il reste exactement 100 jours avant le podium de départ du Rallye Dakar 2015 à Buenos Aires (Argentine), le 3 janvier prochain. Les concurrents de Peugeot-Total fourbissent eux aussi leurs armes. L’Espagnol Nani Roma a récemment remporté le Rally Desafio Inca au Pérou au volant de la Mini ALL4 Racing/Michelin. Egalement sur Mini, le Polonais Krzysztof Holowczyc a gagné la Baja Poland fin août et Nasser Al-Attiyah a célébré ses débuts au volant de la Toyota Hilux/Michelin par une victoire sur la Hungarian Baja mi-août.

Au mois d’octobre, le Rally Oilybia du Maroc (3-9 octobre) et la Baja Portalègre 500 (30 octobre) seront les deux dernières occasions d’effectuer des séances d’entraînement grandeur nature avant le Rallye Dakar. Au Maroc, le Team X-Raid a prévu d’aligner six Mini All4 Racing et on attend également le Sud-Africain Giniel de Villiers sur Toyota.

 

With exactly 100 days to go before the 2015 Dakar’s start ceremony, all three Peugeot-Total crews have been testing at Château Lastours in the south of France. 

Following a number of shakedown tests last June at different locations in France, Peugeot-Total spent a week putting the Peugeot 2008 DKR/Michelin through its paces over the rough terrain of Château Lastours in the south of the country where all three drivers drove the car.

While Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel will compete with their usual co-drivers (Lucas Cruz and Jean-Paul Cottret respectively), former biker Cyril Despres has chosen Gilles Picard to ride alongside him.

Fifty-nine year old Picard is one of the discipline’s most experienced campaigners (almost 30 Dakar participations). An ex-biker himself, he began co-driving at Citroën Sport 20 years ago and has navigated the likes of Auriol (Hubert), Vatanen, Fontenay, Schlesser, Shinozuka, Masuoka and Alphand, earning Dakar victories in 1998 and 2006.

The new two-wheel drive Peugeot 2008 DKR was designed from the ground up by Peugeot Sport engineers and is powered by a 3.2-litre bi-turbo diesel V6 engine. It ran for the first time last June and Michelin Motorsport has developed new, large diameter tyres (37/12.5x17) to handle its 340 horsepower and peak torque of 600Nm and also soak up the knocks sustained on some of the world’s toughest high-speed trails, helped by suspension travel of 440mm.

This is probably what has most surprised nine-time Dakar winner Peterhansel who has been more accustomed to all-wheel drive cars since his switch to four wheels. Sainz, however, contested this year’s Dakar in a two-wheel buggy, while newcomer Despres says he is amazed by the performance of the Peugeot 2008 DKR.

With exactly 100 days remaining until cars roll off the ramp in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on January 3, 2015, Peugeot-Total’s opponents are also busy preparing for the ‘big one’. Spaniard Nani Roma recently took part in Peru’s Rally Desafio Inca in a Mini ALL4 Racing/Michelin and Poland’s Krzysztof Holowczyc won August’s Baja Poland in a similar machine. Meanwhile, Nasser Al-Attiyah celebrated his first outing in the Toyota Hilux/Michelin with victory on mid-August’s Hungarian Baja.

There are two big cross-country events to come in October (the Rally Oilybia du Maroc on October 3-9, and the Baja Portalègre 500 on October 30) for the teams to fine-tune their efforts. Team X-Raid plans to run six Mini All4 Racings in Morocco, for example, while South African Giniel de Villiers is expected to represent Toyota.