MORIWAKI’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY HONDA CB1100

Think of Moriwaki, and you probably think of snarling racebikes tearing around Suzuka in the 70s and 80s. Invariably piloted by hairy-chested legends like Graeme Crosby (above) and Wayne Gardner.

These days, the family-run race team is also a big name on the Japanese custom scene, with a huge range of hop-up parts carrying the famous blue-and-yellow logo. The company has just turned 40, and to celebrate, they’ve turned the Honda CB1100 into a classic café racer.

Being Moriwaki, there’s a serious amount of engineering going on here. The highlight is the lightweight fuel tank, which is crafted from three blocks of billet aluminum. It’s built using 5-axis machining—the same 
method Moriwaki uses for its Moto2 racebike frames.

The seat unit is also machined from solid aluminum billet, and designed to be as light as possible without compromising strength. With kicked-up styling, it instantly removes theslightly staid vibe of the stock CB1100—plus a much-needed few kilos of weight, too.

Power gets a boost from a stunning black one-piece exhaust system, but the Moriwaki engineers have wisely focused on dropping weight. The stock engine is smooth and torquey, but the showroom CB1100 weighs the wrong side of 500 pounds.

So we get a truncated rear subframe, a new steering stem, top yoke and clamps, and lightweight foot controls. The bike veritably drips with featherlight parts, like carbon and aluminum side covers, headlight brackets and compact lights.

To keep the rear end planted, Moriwaki have installed Öhlins shocks. And sitting right above them is the only splash of color on the CB1100: a beautifully finished tan leather seat.

It looks absolutely gorgeous and you can bet it’s a blast to ride. So will it go on sale? Unfortunately, no. According to Jin Sasaki of Moriwaki’s Race Department, there’s over $50,000 of work in this CB1100.

“Some of the parts are one-offs,” he tells us, “and too expensive for us to reproduce at reasonable pricing for the public. But we’re considering selling some of the bolt-on parts.”

Let’s hope Sasaki-san gives the go-ahead. Quite apart from being pure mechanical sculpture, they’d give the underrated Honda CB1100 a much-needed shot of sex appeal.

Moriwaki Engineering website | Facebook

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Not even Google has heard of this Porsche 911 HLS

Can you believe that there’s still a Porsche model today that doesn’t have a single entry on Google? We wouldn’t have believed it either, until we came across this unique Porsche 911 HLS ‘retractable roof’…

Project ‘Racing Coupé’

The story of the forgotten Porsche began in 1964. Back then, this particular Porsche 911 sports car was happily running along in its standard form, little knowing that in 1966 it would be sent to the Automotive Engineering department at the University of Aachen. The mission: to turn it into a ‘racing coupé’ with a folding roof. The design study seems to take at least some inspiration from the pure racing Porsche 904 and its rear engine cover, which could be seen as a kind of retractable roof.

Body shop at the end of the road

Technical drawings and a miniature model were devised before the in-house body department at the University of Aachen went to work on building a completely new body. To keep the weight low, many parts were fabricated in aluminium, including the characteristic rear louvres and the adjacent ‘Targa’ rollover bar. The fact that this Porsche had genuine racing ambitions can also be seen from the arrangement of the instruments on the dashboard: they were subsequently added to the right-hand side. The highlight of the study was undoubtedly the hinged cockpit canopy, integrated in its closed state to flow in harmony with the body line. Finally, the concept car, complete with its retractable roof, was sent to a paint shop in Würselen, a German town in the Aachen district of North Rhine-Westphalia, where it was given its bright green colour. Here, too, the model name Porsche HLS was added in black letters.

Left to rot

What happened next explains why the retractable roof Porsche 911  has, up till now, generated not a single entry on Google: it simply disappeared. Presumably, the slightly eccentric study found no favour in the Zuffenhausen headquarters, and so it was simply parked up at the bodyshop and left there…  for the next 40 years. It was not until 911 expert Manfred Hering of Early 911S was asked whether he could restore the long-forgotten concept Porsche that it once again came blinking into the light of day. “I was asked whether I could restore the Porsche for around 30,000 euros. Of course, I had to say no, but I then tried to buy this unique Porsche,” says Hering. “After three years of discussions and negotiations I stood in front of the handsome wreck that had been left exposed to the weather for the last four decades. The original engine, and a spare engine, were dismantled but came with it – and had already served as a home for several families of mice.”

A bright future for the retractable roof Porsche

Hering has definite plans for the future of the car: “In mid-April 2015, I will present the retractable roof Porsche at the Techno Classic for the first time. Then we will study it more closely and attempt to restore as many original parts as possible.” Whether he will at some point in the future want to sell this unique treasure is a question we’ll save for a later meeting…

Photos: Rémi Dargegen for Classic Driver © 2014

Other early Porsche 911s can be found for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

HONDA CB CAFE RACER BY EXESOR

Is brown the new black? This highly-caffeinated Honda CB café racer built for a coffee company sure looks good. It’s a creative mix of CB250, CB360 and CB400 parts, and it took Christian Schwarzenlander of ExesoR Motorcycles over two years to construct.

Christian is a quality control engineer from Austria, and his attention to detail shows in every aspect of the build. The prestigious German magazine Custombike was impressed too, and earlier this year, awarded Christian the first prize in its annual competition—the first time that a café style bike has taken the top honor, and the first Honda too.

After cutting his teeth on streetfighters, Christian found himself veering towards the café style and picked up a 1976 Honda CB250 basketcase for €250 ($340) on eBay. “It was in a very bad condition,” he reports. “I started sketching out a design study, using as few stock components as possible.” There was another rule: No chrome. “Every metal part is either nickel-plated, black chrome galvanized or made from bare stainless steel.”

The work is meticulous. Christian strengthened the CB250 frame and slotted in a CB360 motor, bored out to 390 cc. The motor itself is blueprinted and juiced up, with a hot cam and a tweaked intake manifold. The kickstart is removed in favor of electric start, and power now runs through a race clutch. A Dyna ignition system controls the spark, and a custom-made LiFePo123 accumulator acts as a battery for starting.

The suspension is pretty trick as well. Christian’s upgraded the stock CB250 forks with Wirth springs, and coated the inner tubes with DLC—diamond-like carbon—a treatment more usually found on racing forks. The swingarm is a CB400 item extended 7 cm, with a custom-fabricated chain tensioner, and the drum brakes have been modified with extra ventilation to keep them cool during brisk riding.

The construction is impressive, but for me, it’s the warm, vintage aesthetic that takes this one to another level. Head over to the ExesoR website for more images of Christian’s work, and follow his news via Facebook.

Images by David Matl.

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Pirelli 2015