KEVILS EL TORO

Kevils. It is a word so synonymous with classy BMW builds that you can forget that it derived from a man’s name. Kevin Hill – Kev Hill – Kevils. That old linguistic technique of Portmanteau - the blending of two words to create a new one, like brunch or sexcapade. Now as is our netiquette I should get back to his latest bodacious machine named “El Toro” which was built for a Spanish aerospace worker named Alex.

“When Alex paid us a visit in Devon he knew exactly what he wanted.” Explains Kev, “Jota bars on a street tracker with twin megaphone silencers, Led hidden rear lights and indicators, distressed leather diamond stitched seating for two, a small bates headlamp, and definitely a silver tank.” But such is the automotive pornocopia that Kevin has created down in Devon that Alex’s carefully conceived design changed. As his eyes wandered they happened upon Kevin’s trusty rusty smart car “That’s what I want” he said. Thankfully they happened to have enough of the rust effect paint left over to satisfice.

A fairly craptacular 1982 BMW R80 was sourced as a starting point and work began. If you are a regular reader you will know by now that the team in Paignton do not spend a lot of time chillaxing under Kevin’s watch, anything fuglywas instantly binned and soon enough the donor had received the customary Kevil’s ground up restoration rebuild in which all components are either replaced or upgraded until the bike is as new.

There are various swapportunities within the Kevil’s build programme and Alex opted for a flat subframe with a rear loop and a short rear mudguard. The frame received graphite powder coating whilst the fork sliders were blacked out along with the spoked wheels. A two into one low level exhaust with twin raw steel megaphones was another swaptionthat will, in time, end up the same colour as the tank. This is a bike that will develop with age.

The Kevil’s Speed shop knowledgebase of the BMW is second to none, you will find no imagineering or guesstimationin this or any of their builds, just immaculate detailing. The Jota bars and small bates light are present just as requested along with the distressed diamond stitched seat. At the front of the seat is what Kev refers to as a “posing pouch” in which Alex can stash either change or his aviators, but for the purpose of this article I prefer to refer to it as a frocket (front pocket) and imagine it concealing a small croissandwich.

Alex’s work sees his time split between Manchester during the summer and Valencia during the winter, unsurprisingly it is Valencia where he is sending El Toro, just in time for Christmas, well which would you choose for a staycation? Kevin reports that Alex is Spanish through and through, however his Spanish Manchester (Spanglish) accent “is about as Spanish as straw donkeys and sombrero hats?”

It is yet another brilliant build to add to the Kevils Speed Shop fanzine page. It is their fourteenth build to feature on the Bikeshed in 2014, the only question that remains is whether they can go one better in 2015 and reach 15? We certainly look forward to finding out.

Apologies for all of the Portmanteau words – Goodbye! (god be with you).

via The Bike Shed

KRIS’S M900 GREEN MACHINE

What is it about Ducatis? Surely they’re just like any other motorcycle? OK so the Bolognan Bullets have owned the WSBK championship since its inception and have never finished lower than third in the MotoGP championship but looking further back through the annuals of history there are other manufacturers that eclipse Ducati’s success. Away from the circuit Ducati’s have produced some truly handsome machinery, and a few seriously questionable ones but something remains true, they are just that bit different. The refusal to adopt water cooling until the EU regulators got nasty, valve actuation different to that employed by every other manufacturer, continued use of that clattery dry clutch all housed in a trellis frame that’s about as modern as a ….

Apologies, for the digression, but you either get Ducati’s or you don’t. And here in the Bike Shed we do, in fact there are as many Ducati’s owned as there are members; we’ve nearly all got one, an engine from one or plans to build one. So when Kris Reniers from Belgium sent this latest build in there was a bit of a scrabble to write it up.

Kris has been building café racers for five years and has completed fifteen bikes thus far. Not bad considering he has a normal day job as an electrician in a stainless steel factory. The ubiquitous Honda CBs came first, then a Laverda 1200, all of which were given a good seeing to around the local circuit of Spa Francorchamps.

Hobby has morphed into business with the creation of a small workshop called Deep Creek Cycleworks, which has necessitated evening classes to gain the appropriate qualifications to offer a commercial service. This 1996 Ducat Monster, AKA The Green Machine, shares its name with a track by Californian heavy metal band, Kyuss. Loud, aggressive and fast paced – perfect. And green isn’t a colour seen all that often on Ducati’s so Kris went for a stand-out scheme loosely based on the PBM MotoGP bike from this season.

As any Ducatista will point out, the air-cooled 900cc lump has been superseded by the wet version. A 916 SPS had its Desmoquattro unit liberated and was slotted into the Monster’s frame. Anyone who’s lifted the tank on one of these will know that the stock battery is large enough to turn the world on its axis so finding a bit more real estate for the heavier breathing motor was always going to prove a bit of a problem. The underside has been cut and re-welded to accommodate the 916 airbox

Spoked wheels are from a Paul Smart version of the Sport Classic, and therefore are the lightweight alloy rims, not the plated steel ones from a GT. Sorry, have hijacked the story to prove to Dutch that we are engaged when he waxes lyrical about his Paul Smart.

The tail hump was fabricated from scrap and retro-fied (probably not a real word) with a simple stop lamp from a 1960s car. The sliver of a seat is more for sliding around on, transferring weight between corners, rather than designed for cruising comfort. The front mudguard also utilises old materials and has been recycled from another project.

An Acewell speedo keeps the dash tidy and mirrors the slightly classic rear light, although there probably won’t be a great deal of attention paid to either of these things once the vintage gripped throttle is wound open. Track-spec rear sets ensure Kris’s feet stay planted during apex hunting. To let everyone know he’s on a hot lap, there’s a custom exhaust system running into Laser Extreme mufflers, for a proper Desmo-howl.

Squat, muscular and well executed. Monster based café racers aren’t a new thing but they can often look slightly compromised. I’d happily turn up to our weekly meeting on this one and bore the rest of the gang with the benefits of water cooling, over their agricultural 2-valve steeds. We look forward to seeing Kris’s next build and in the meantime look out for the soon to be live Deep Creek Cycleworks Facebook page.

via The Bike Shed

Which unexpected manufacturer created this stunning 1969 concept?

You could be forgiven for assuming this svelte concept hails from Italy, especially given its appearance of a smoothened Lamborghini Espada. However, it came not from Bertone’s Turinese atelier – but rather Opel’s studio in the slightly less glamorous city of Russelsheim, Germany…

We all know what Bryan Adams was doing in the summer of ’69. But while the Canadian was taking delivery of his first real six-string, Opel’s new design director George Gallion was settling into the company’s new German studio, penning something that even the coachbuilders located 500 miles south would have been proud of.

Sparked by a Stuttgart supercar

The role of the new styling centre in Russelsheim – an exact copy of GM’s site in Michigan, albeit on a smaller scale – was to develop a recognisable design language for the brand. First came theExperimental GT then, in 1969, Gallion et al created the Coupé Diplomat concept as a response to the Mercedes C111 that was rumoured to be debuting at that year’s motor show in the neighbouring city of Frankfurt.

Taking the 5.4-litre V8 and associated mechanicals from the traditionally styled Opel Diplomat, Gallion topped them with sumptuous candy red bodywork. The simple lines formed a work of art by themselves – but the focal point was the glass canopy that lifted forward in a single piece, incorporating windscreen, roof, side windows and doors. As such, it was free of vision-obscuring A-pillars, but the preferred viewpoint undoubtedly remained on the outside, admiring the car's external lines.

Left with a Bitter taste

A healthy reception at Frankfurt led to GM commissioning Pietro Frua to develop two production-realistic (i.e. sans-canopy) prototypes, but ultimately it was former racing driver Erich Bitter that took up the real-world reins of the idea. He created a new company specifically to market the CD (with production subcontracted to Baur), though by this time a little of the car’s charm had been lost in the design translation.

In its original form, the CD is remembered as Opel’s most beautiful concept car. Not only did it inspire one man to invest a fortune into making it more widely available – it also proved to other European manufacturers that the path to simplistic beauty needn’t necessarily originate in Italy.

Photos: Opel

World of Outlaws : Donny Schatz

Donny Schatz Dominates In 2014

Scores sixth World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Championship 

CONCORD, N.C. - Nov. 6, 2014 - After a disappointing end to the previous season, Donny Schatz and his STP Armor All Tony Stewart Racing Team entered 2014 on a mission.

The Fargo, North Dakota native fired the opening shots of the season on the second night at Volusia Speedway Park in February. That night, Schatz charged forward from an 11th place starting position, scoring his first win of the year.

From there, he never looked back.

Wins came at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas, Devils Bowl, Lernerville and Berlin.

Where rare bad luck struck Schatz, the STP Armor All team persevered. He led the number of KSE Hard Charger awards received at 13.

Schatz swept through Canada - the first Outlaw driver to ever win all Canadian races in a single season. He took home wins at Autodrome Drummond in Quebec, Cornwall Motor Speedway and Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario and both nights at Castrol Raceway Park in Alberta.

"I love Canada!" Schatz said following his sweep of the Oil City Cup. "We've always had great races when we've come up here and always enjoyed it."

At the Knoxville Nationals, it was déjà vu for Schatz and Brian Brown as the two battled for the coveted title for the third straight season. And for a while it looked like the story that played out in prior years would have a different end.

For the eighth time though it was Schatz hoisting the trophy in victory lane.

"It's unbelievable - it feels so unreal, like it's not happening," Schatz said after the win.

Schatz was not done. He won the next event at Junction Motor Speedway in Nebraska and then, beginning at Nodak Speedway, started what would become a six race winning streak. From Aug. 17 to Sept. 1, through two countries and two states, Schatz racked up win after win.

When Shane Stewart ended Schatz's streak at Willamette Speedway on Sept. 2, Schatz had 20 wins, an 18-race podium streak and a 215-point lead in the championship race.

2014 was a season for the record books for Donny Schatz. The driver broke his single season win record surpassing the previous 23 wins, went on one of the longest win streaks in series history, took home his eighth Knoxville Nationals title and notched his place among the greatest Outlaw drivers of all-time, becoming the third-winningest driver in Outlaws history.

By signing in at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Schatz scored his sixth World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship.

Donny Schatz

Wins - 26
Top-Fives - 62
Top-10s - 79
Quick Times - 8
Points - 12,161