UNKILLABLE: GINGER MCCABE’S XS400

If you’re a motorcycle builder in the States and you need a custom seat, you know who to call: Ginger McCabe.

Ginger runs Portland, Oregon-based New Church Moto. She’s the go-to girl for workshops like Revival Cycles and Crowe Customs, plus top-flight restorers like New York’s Moto Borgotaro. So we were curious to see what she rides, when she’s not working on other people’s bikes.

Turns out it’s this very sharp-looking 1977 Yamaha XS400, which has survived two big crashes. “It’s been through hell and back with me the last six years,” says Ginger. “Started out as bone stock, but now the original owner would hardly recognize it.”

Ginger bought the XS400 from a co-worker, when she was cutting her teeth at Langlitz Leathers. She promptly stripped the bike back to basics, and rode it around for two summers until she got hit by a car. That accident bent the swingarm, so a rebuild was called for.

Then Ginger got T-boned again, this time from the other side—and much harder. The bike was wrecked.

Most folks would have given up at this point, but not Ginger. “I got pretty smashed up and couldn’t walk for about six months. Sad to say, the bike sat out in my yard because I had no money to rebuild it and couldn’t even ride. It was pretty much a bummer year.”

“When I was back on my feet and working, I managed to get it out of the yard and into a few different garages. It finally ended up in G & H Cycles.” Casey at G & H set to work, and the result is the little cracker we see here—which has already proven its worth on the flat track.

It’s now sporting Progressive Suspension shocks, a vintage aluminum fork brace, and custom drilled brake rotors hooked up to stainless lines. The headlight is from a Honda Elsinore MR250, with a neat cage, and the rubber is classic Dunlop K70—“the perfect highway-and-backroad riding combo,” says Ginger.

Casey also bumped up the racebike vibe with a 2-into-1 exhaust from Jones Racing and Development, and Tommaselli bars with a slight rise. He’s reshaped the rear end with a custom hoop and fender, and made a new seat pan.

The highlight is that beautifully painted tank, a deep gold sparkle set off with Euro style graphics—and matched to equally sparkly gold grips. The pleated seat looks pretty good too, with discreet gold stitching.

No prizes for guessing who made that, though.

Images by Kris Regentin | The Yamaha is now for sale. Contact Ginger via the New Church Moto website | Facebook | Instagram

via BIKEExif

UMC 27

The BMW custom culture continues to get better and better and this stripped-back R80/7 comes from London’s Untitled Motorcycles, exuding café racer charm. See previous work from UMC here.

Carsten Hayes came to Untitled Motorcycles’ workshop with the brief of creating a black and brown custom café racer. Carsten had seen UMC custom bikes on the web and loved their philosophy of bringing unloved machines back to life. “Adam and Rex understood exactly what I wanted, a usable understated café racer” A few weeks later a very unremarkable BMW donor bike rolled into the workshop.

The tank, frame and swingarm were de-lugged and a fabricated box welded to the shortened subframe to hold the Motogadget M Unit, modern tech meets classic styling, further appealing to Carsten’s desired theme. A headlight unit from a R75/5 was found on German eBay. The handle bars were flipped over to give them a clip on feel and Motogadget bar end indicators were fitted with the simple, compswitch gear. Rear sets were found and adapted to fit the frame and as Carsten wanted to take the occasional pillion new foot rest mounts had to to be welded to the frame.

As the bike needed to look very clean the rear guard was omitted, a splash plate was made up to stop an excessive water getting to the air box. The header pipes had to be cut, bent and welded so they could fit the lines that Carsten wanted for the new silencers. They are a classic British café racer style with a twist; they are ceramic coated by Camcoat in a dark brown to match the tank and seat.

After many hours of grinding and fabrication all parts that could be powder coated satin black were sent to Armourtex. This included engine cases, gearbox, air filter covers, forks, subframe, frame, wheels, bars and lots minor parts that would make a huge difference to the look of the bike.

The engine required a complete overhaul by Rex with new big end shells, piston rings, timing chain, exhaust valves and clutch. Stainless nuts, bolts and washers replaced the old rusty steel ones and the bike was re-wired by Anita UMC in house wiring expert.

A custom cafe seat in rich brown leather was hand-made by Glenn Moger, not UMC usual style but it works perfectly on this bike. The paint is remarkable curtesy of D-Luck. Carsten wanted a rich deep brown tank he had seen the colour on a Porsche a few years ago. Adam and Carsten marked out the lines on the tank and changed the solid brown to have the bottom of the tank to be black with a gold pinstripe between following the curves. Another classic BMW style detail with a twist.

Now complete, this bike will be on show at BMW Motorrad Park Lane, London, on 15th October (tomorrow evening). In the meantime Carsten is over the moon with the result, having this to say;

“Generally speaking I wanted to achieve a combination of solidity and functionality; from a design point of view I felt the best way to achieve that was by marrying the aesthetics of prewar era lines and modern technology. This meant plastic was off the materials list, chrome as having no functional merit, too. The bmw was a great machine to start with, essentially having its roots in a different era lent itself to being paired back from the “add on components” mentality of the 70s and thereafter. Also the aviation engine design heritage lent itself to the feel I wanted of a purpose driven, no frills machine. At this stage of my riding I wanted a smooth, dependable ride; speed isn’t paramount, nor is that feeling of being just on the edge. Age catches up with us I guess”.

Images by Ludovic Robert. via The Bike Shed

Ken Block’s modified Ford F-150 RaptorTRAX burnout

Burnout in Ken Block’s modified Ford F-150 RaptorTRAX. Care to rupture an eardrum?

Earlier this year, Ken Block and Hoonigan Racing unveiled the new RaptorTRAX, a modified, 6.2-litre V8-powered Ford F-150 Raptor re-designed as a mountain assault vehicle. And now, the master of the Gymkhana series demonstrates just what is involved when burning rubber tracks.

And if you’re wondering what modifications actually go into the above Monster (courtesy of Special Vehicle Concepts in California) aside from the four Mattracks, the RaptorTRAX features a full roll cage, Recaro seats, snowboard racks, a rear-mounted winch, exterior lighting, and a roof basket.

Source – TheHoonigans

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