Ever seen one of those bikes on Bike Exif or Pipeburn that look great - until someone sits on them? That's not the case with this custom 1977 BMW R100!
vendredi 21 novembre 2014
The 2014 Geneva watch auctions achieve record results
Each autumn, three of the world’s most respected auction houses – Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Antiquorum – descend on Geneva to offer a selection of important watches for sale. This year’s results eclipsed previous years; we bring you the most important…
There appears to be no stopping the continual upward trend in prices for rare vintage watches – and the latest results from Geneva provide further evidence.
Sotheby’s: ‘Supercomplication’ beats its own record
Watch auctioneer Tim Bourne showed strong nerve as he settled the audience down ahead of an intense 15-minute bidding war over the 1933 Patek Philippe Supercomplication pocket watch. Famously created for Henry Graves Jnr. with no fewer than 24 complications, the well-known Patek – last wound in 1969 and still ticking – quickly surpassed the $11m record it set in 1999, the bids culminating at CHF 23,237,000 ($23,983,140).
The winning bidder was not revealed, but rumour has it that Patek Philippe itself tabled the final bid in order to display the piece in its museum, alongside others made for Henry Graves Jnr.
Christie’s focuses on vintage Rolexes
At the Christie’s auction, vintage Rolexes were the toast of the evening, contributing towards a large portion of the CHF 14.7m sale total. Highlight results included CHF 100,000 each for the ultra-rare platinum Rolex Prince and a Paul Newman Daytona, the latter of which was first registered to the Peruvian Air Force in the 1970s. The results show that there is no sign of stagnation in the historic Rolex market either.
Antiquorum: Patek, Blancpain and Rolex are the stars
While Rolex was the Christies’ brand of the hour, Antiquorum’s lotlist was a little more varied. A rare Patek Philippe golden chronograph with perpetual calendar and moonphase achieved CHF 381,750, confirming its place as one of the brand’s most collectable watches. Meanwhile, a Blancpain Grande Complication – of which only 30 were produced – sold for the same price. Collectors also had the rare opportunity of securing an Audemars Piguet concept watch, the Royal Oak concept CW1 fetching CHF 225,750: a good price for a watch of which 150 were made.
Photos: Sotheby's / Christie's / Antiquorum
You can view a full list of results from the Geneva auctions at the websites of Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Antiquorum. If you weren’t able to find what you were looking for in Geneva, we recommend browsing the catalogues for the forthcoming auctions from Bonhams and Fellows.
MR SWALLOW’S CX500
Usually when a first time build story is submitted to the Bike Shed it comes baited with the promise of future projects now that the first born has flown the nest. But for Sebastien from Normandy, news of his freshly completed Honda CX was swiftly followed by the sentence, “Since her I’ve made a 400 cx, a 1976 Honda GL 1000 Goldwing and a 125 Suzuki Gn, I’m just an amateur but would like to make a shed in the next year…” Four builds down and you have only just got around to telling us about the first of them? His passion and dedication to shed building bikes is truly infectious. Hats off to you sir.
Sebastien was given this 1981 Honda CX500 by a friend, but before we all get too carried away praying for mates like Seb has, he points out that it came to him in a terrible state of repair, good for little but the rubbish bin. Despite the condition Sebastien gleefully accepted the project and promised his generous friend that he would reinvent the trusty CX as a cafe racer. Taking inspiration from the many fine CX customs to be found on the internet Seb started the process of stripping and rebuilding.
“I’ve tried to make something really homogeneous regarding the frame curves.” With a CX the main area in need of modification is the rear section of the frame. The twin shocks mount high on protrusions creating an obvious dip in the frame line, Seb has built his seat to reflect this curve accentuating its presence as oppose to trying to mask it. Beyond the shock mounts the remaining frame has been cut away, seamlessly blending into the classic cafe seat hump.
Sebastien was a little light on information in his email, he was probably too busy building more motorcycles, but he did mention a full rewire and that he had to source the tank from the USA after France came up short in his search for a suitable receptacle. His build choices include clip ons with bar end indicators, crash-bar mounted spotlights, pipe wrap, shortened forks, original clocks, and a vintage tail light above the side mounted numberplate. All his hard work is crowned with that lustrous retro black and orange paint job, executed to perfection.
Sebastien goes by the curious nickname Mr Swallow which he intends to expand to Mr Swallow Customs as customer’s start to come his way. He does not elaborate as to the reason he was bestowed this particular nickname but from certain angles it appears as if his lovely CX has in fact swallowed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with its yellowed spotlights sitting astride the radiator just like the old car’s headlights.
“This bike isn’t a thunder but the twin is really nice to ride, flexible and player… I really take pleasure to ride with it even if the position is like riding a horse for your legs…”
We already know what bikes Mr Swallow transformed for build numbers 2, 3 and 4 so what lies next in his busy production line?
“My next projects are so multiple, I really want to make a GS 750 from Suzuki, maybe a CB550 four for a customer and probably a Ducati 750 SS in a few months.”
This CX was but the first of many. Keep feeding the addiction Mr Swallow.
via The Bike Shed
Kawasaki W650 “Bean” by Revival Cycles
Written by Martin Hodgson.
If I sat down with pen and paper and began to brainstorm my perfect café custom I could never limit myself to just one influence. I’d want the vintage appeal of 1950’s British bikes, the beauty and charisma of Italian styling, the function and reliability of Japan’s best and then I’d entrust the whole build to a workshop of builders who understand the beauty of raw mechanics and properly engineered fabrication. Pen and Paper can be pushed aside, silence and admiration is all you need and join me in feasting your eyes on Revival CyclesKawasaki W650 “Bean”, my dream bike come true.
Revival Cycles from Austin Texas are a no nonsense workshop of craftsmen who restore motorcycles so that part of their aesthetic appeal is their mechanical purpose. The Kawasaki W650 is an often overlooked modern motorcycle that lends itself extraordinarily well to a custom make over. Japanese mechanicals and electronics provide the function, the parallel twin engine is the perfect tip of the cap to the golden age of British bikes and a bevel drive is straight from the Ducati playbook. Immediately your eyes are drawn to the tank inspired by both the Ducati “Jelly Mould” tank and the Gilera Rossa Super Sport tank. The tank has its own “spoiler”, side wings and flows seamlessly into the tail section. All of which is then lovingly coated with the bright blue and grey paint work following the strong influence of the 1957 Mondial Dustin Road Racer.
But much of the bikes detail comes straight from the great minds at Revival, the front forks are Yamaha R6 items that maintain the vintage look while providing modern day technology and full adjustability. Revival engineer Stefan then turned his attention to make the perfect set of triple trees. Rather than just knock out something that would fit he ran full simulations with all the relevant suspension and geometry data inputted to create a piece that is as beautiful in its form as it is its function. And that front brake, a reproduction of the 260mm four-leading-shoe front drum brake used on the 1974 Yamaha TZ350 GP racing bikes, I could look at it all day!
Then there are the details, the stunning custom stainless exhaust system that weaves through the frame never obscuring the beautiful bevel drive while saving weight along the way. The hand-built leather seat pad by “New Church Moto” of Portland, the AMAL style cleaners, the bespoke rearsets and the new progressive shocks. With such a clean bike an untidy wiring loom would be sacrilegious so Revival installed a small lithium battery and rewired the entire machine for LED lighting. Tiny LED rear taillight and turn signals are integrated into the frame, while bar mounted Motogadget items take care of the front end. There’s an LED headlight, Motogadget M-unit controller and speedo that is elegantly integrated into the front trees.
There is so much detail I could keep writing for days, 19” shouldered alloy wheels front and rear, custom chrome-moly subframe, polished side covers, the list simply goes on and on. Yet despite all that Revival has done and added to the W650 not only has it lost 50 pounds in weight, its also gained a simplicity in both form and function that the big manufacturers could never achieve with all the latest technology in the world. It’s a revival of the days of man, machine and the pursuit of sweet mechanical dreams.
via PIPEBURN
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