The 59 Club Australia 'Cafe Racer' was filmed in the Yarra Valley Victoria using 3 Go-pro cameras. Thanks to everyone who braved the conditions on the day.
The 59 Club Australia 'Cafe Racer' was filmed in the Yarra Valley Victoria using 3 Go-pro cameras. Thanks to everyone who braved the conditions on the day.
jeudi 27 novembre 2014
MAIDSTONE H-D CAFE RACER
Maidstone Harley-Davidson is a proper, grown up dealership with the usual expansive showroom packed with Milwaukee muscle, a full-on clothing emporium and a parts department large enough to keep the average customer happy for years. But that’s just it, the average customer is now more discerning, wanting a bike not available in the 3 inch thick accessory catalogue.
As you can imagine, a main H-D dealer workshop is a rather well kitted out facility, perfect then for letting creativity loose. Inspiration for this project was varied, from early 20th century board track racers to flat trackers but the first spark of an idea was a picture of a chopped Sportster seat. Building a whole bike around an idea for a seat isn’t the craziest beginning we’ve heard of, by any stretch.
The guys chose a SuperLow as the foundation. A good beginners Harley, slightly lighter and more nimble than the rest of the family. Obviously this is to be taken with a pinch of salt, or a grain as the Yanks put it. Calling any Harley light is like saying Kim Kardashian’s butt is petite compared to the Epcot Centre, we’re splitting hairs. It’s also one of the cheapest bikes in the range and seeing as so many parts would be changed anyway this made sense. And not being a particularly racy model would mean improvements would be more obvious, and head technician Dave A.K.A. Junior #5 would make sure of this.
Where possible the less handsome but necessary inner workings have been hidden away, and the more mechanical and exciting parts emphasised to hint at the work that had gone on with the motor. A 1200cc conversion running ported and flowed blueprinted heads, a more aggressive cam sucking through a Roland Sands Design velocity stack air filter and shouting through a carbon tipped pipe. Lairy!
Rearsets and clipons morph the rider from couch potato to racer in one fell swoop, jumping from stock bike to this must feel like the difference between driving a car and riding a motorcycle. Gilles levers and Biltwell grips finish off the bars and an RSD speedo bracket tidies up the cockpit.
The smaller, peanut tank from a Forty Eight is a common custom option but it was decided that the more rounded and classic lines of the original SuperLow unit suited the tail and kept closer to the original design brief. And passing petrol stations is now possible thanks to the tanks extra capacity.
To match the new purposeful riding position a cafe seat and tail was fabricated to sit on the existing frame rails. The green and silver paint with gold pinstripe came courtesy of Image Design Custom. If you’re into paint jobs have a look at some of their previous work, rather excellent. Progressive Suspension shocks out back and matching springs inside the braced forks are a huge improvement over stock whilst RSD preload adjusters offer further fine tuning.
To harness the extra shove the gearing has been altered which required an XR1200 type belt roller setup with an RSD belt guard. Velocity stacks, loud pipes and whirring belts; this thing must sound epic.
Ex-racer and now Head Technician Dave A.K.A. Junior #5 has certainly delivered on the brief and turned a lazy budget cruiser into this B road belter. If you find yourself in Kent why not check out Maidstone Harley-Davidson showroomand maybe ride this bike away
via The Bike Shed
HYUNDAI Santa Fe - T1 Rally Raid
Honda CLR125 Scrambler – Dream Wheels Heritage
Another day, another great custom from Portugal. We’re not sure what they are putting in the Peri-Peri but whatever it is, we’re more than little keen to get our hands on some. This graffitied gob-smacker is from Dream Wheels Heritage, a shop straight out of Porta, north of Lisbon. Hélder Moura and his team of merry metallurgists have created the best small capacity Honda we’ve seen in a month of Sundays. And it’s got a rack for your skateboard, to boot. What’s not to love?
“With the law allowing anyone in Portugal with a car license to ride bikes up to 125cc without the need for extra testing, this is definitely a new market that could become quite interesting,” notes Hélder. “So far we have not seen many bike builds based on such small capacities. Dream Wheels Heritage aims to change that and therefore we decided to tackle this project: our Honda CLR125 CityFly Scrambler.”
“Originally, the Honda CLR 125 City Fly was a natty little urban bike (forget the supposed off-road potential) to be enjoyed mostly in the city and in flat areas, mainly because its 125cc engine was not designed for speed, but to be economical and reliable in daily use. This type of bike was and still remains the model of choice for Portugal’s delivery of pizzas, couriers, and so on. And it was a pizza guy that sold us this bike, too. He bought it specifically to ride for work because he had no full bike licence. He sold us this bike and then took some lessons to get a licence to ride his new motorcycle – a Honda NX400.”
“This Honda uses the same engine as the 124cc Honda XLR125, which means it’s an old lump – but it’s already proved to be extremely durable and reliable one. In other words, typical Honda. It stock form it puts out around 11 bhp and 8 ft-lb or torque from a bike that weighs in at 120 kilos.”
“What we were really looking for when we were searching for a donor was to get a bike that had all the legal documentation and that was in a decent, working condition. Once that was sorted, we decided that the style we wanted to give this bike was the Scrambler look; one whose functionality was much more off-road capable than the original design and who’s lines were a good mix of the new and the old.”
“The list of what we changed is pretty lengthy. Basically, it started with a new sub-frame, seat, fenders, and the restoration of a Yamaha FS1 tank from the 90s. We customized an ex-fridge magnet to make the gas cap. The new handlebars are a Renthal ‘Fatbar’ model. Then we added a new headlight and an oval front plate.
The tires are Heidenau K67s and the front 18” wheel is from an Yamaha XS400. We added some new 18″ rims and spokes at the back, and finished them off with some red spoke clamps.”
‘The front brake and disc are also from a Yamaha XS400. The fork is a reworked set from a Suzuki RMX 50. New NGK spark cable was added, along with some new air filters from K&N. We used some new light switches and a horn from Blitz Motorcycles because we really like their stuff.
To finish, we added a new LED brake light, lowered the whole thing about 10cm and added a used FMF Mega Max II exhaust with a new, handmade collector. And as you can probably see from the photos, the bike also has a removable skateboard holder.”
“We couldn’t have done it without the support of Pitta Designs who did all the paint and typography, Luís Conrado for the seat, Bicas Customs for the skateboard and Pedro Marcelino for the photos. We really hope your readers like it.”
[Photos by Pedro Marcelino]
via PIPEBURN
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