CAFÉ RACER 76

Road Hunter episode 3: Sicily, Agrigento valle dei templi

Third episode of the "road hunter", the new format produced by DMD Helmet. In every chapter DMD bikers invite our road hunter to share a drive with them. This time we where in Sicily for the DMD photoshooting of the new catalogue 2015. This is a little back stage of the photoshooting in the Valle dei templi and a wonderfull ride around the area of Agrigento.

BLACK CLOUD XJ650

We keep banging the Shed drum about folk who head off into an outbuilding, with a bag full of tools and a mind packed with ideas, because without these people the new-wave custom scene wouldn’t exist. The enthusiasm and passion is wide reaching and not bound by language or border. Lukas from the Czech Republic is one such shed-head who has been lured into the custom world. He swore he’d always be a dirtbike kinda guy but stumbled across the café racer concept of modifying motorcycles both old and new, and now finds himself hooked.

Lukas had caught the bug and acted accordingly, borrowing a van and heading out to find a donor; in this case a 1980 Yamaha XJ 650. Three and a half decades had been kind to the mid-capacity four-banger and it ran sweetly so Lukas and his buddy Victor could concentrate on the aesthetics and convert their imagination into reality. Steve McQueen is much adored and an inspiration to many, especially in motorcycling circles and in this case the Ford Mustang from his film Bullitt set the colour scheme for Lukas’ bike.

Before the fancy business of painting could begin the frame required the now familiar chop and loop. The battery and other gubbins has been relocated in the tail leaving the rear triangle open; a mesh crud guard keeps all but the most persistent grime away from the carbs and engine.

Whilst enjoying their newfound outlet for creativity the guys starting amassing tools and equipment and named their endeavour Black Cloud, so it seemed fitting to produce a trick top clamp.

Lukas wanted to achieve the flat line look so trimmed the bottom of the fuel tank and TiG welded the seems back together. The existing off centre and ugly tank cap was discarded, blanked off and replaced by a more symmetrical version. The paintwork is the work of another mate drafted in, Adrian from across the border in Slovakia laid down the Bullitt green, gold pin stripes and airbrushing to the tail.

The sturdy motor was treated to a good service, with new seals and gaskets where required before coating in high-temp matt black paint, with some gold accents to match the pin striping. Corroded nuts and bolts have been swapped out for shiny nickel or chrome plated ones.

Lukas seems to have a good network of friends keen to help out at Black Cloud, Pavel pitched in with his wiring skills cutting out any botched repairs and hiding all the necessary electricity in the tail.

Good friends, sharing a passion for motorcycles and bringing a vision to life. Sounds like a perfect recipe from the Shed cook book. Lukas has another project in the pipeline, keep an eye on Facebook for updates, but in the meantime McQueen’s Toy is for sale.

Thanks to Michal for the photographs.

via PIPEBURN

1974 Honda CB550 – Café Cycles

Written by Martin Hodgson.

The CB550 was not a staple of the classic café scene back in the halcyon days but if they built them like Café Cycles that might have all changed. With the Café Racer culture booming again it’s easy for the new generation to forget its simple roots.

Most of the world’s biggest custom builders and even manufacturers have turned out big dollar Café bikes, but in a small workshop in Rhode Island a lover of British bikes and a master of hand formed aluminium parts, Pete Chase is proving the old simple ways still work. In fact he likes British bikes so much he barely cuts them up, preparing to turn out perfect custom Hondas with a British flavour!

Having half a dozen CB500 and CB550 bare frames in different states of disrepair in his workshop Pete needed a spark of inspiration to get this particular bike going. That came when passing by a yard sale he spotted from the corner of his eye what appeared to be an inline four cylinder engine. Pulling over he discovered it was in fact a CB550 engine that turned over relatively easily, asking price, just $40. Now with just a frame and engine to work with Pete set about building a masterful café bike just like it was done in the days of old.

To ensure the CB would be firing for many years to come the cases were split and a full rebuild undertaken. The rod and crank bearings were Plastigauge’d to ensure all were to spec while the primary chain and all bottom end seals were replaced. These are smart changes to make on any CB engine that has been left sitting, so to the new clutch and springs Pete installed. Up top the cylinders were honed, genuine Honda rings fitted and the head rebuilt, with mild porting, lapping of the valves and also polishing the cam lobes and rocker arms.

With the engine now ready to give years of active service Pete selected the right frame from his collection and then set about cutting it in half. In his own words “I basically chopped the bike in half right behind the gas tank. I built a new rear end with hoop in the back. I made new shock mounts about 2-1/2 – 3 inches forward from stock. On the swing arm I moved the lower shock mount forward by about 2 inches. This allowed me to lean the rear shocks forward, and raise the ass end up” and who can argue with that, a man on a mission with a grinder cannot be stopped!

While this is definitely a Japanese bike the tins and paint work combine the best of British. The old art of hand forming metal is one of Pete’s specialities and he made the beautiful seat pan and cowl in true Café Racer style. The tank is from a later model CB550 and what could be more Old Blighty inspired than a colour scheme of British Racing Green and Wimbledon White. The paint work is so good you’d never guess it was done in his parent’s garage due to an overcrowded workshop. The Lucas light, velocity stacks, Norton style exhaust and blacked out engine all hark back to a day of simple, classic styling.

Japanese bikes weren’t exactly popular amongst the café crews of the 60’s, but if you took any of the Café Cycles bikes back to the glory days of the Ace Café it’s hard to think that even the tea sipping Norton aficionado’s wouldn’t be reaching out to shake Pete’s hand, Bravo!

[Photos by Matt Francis]

via PIPEBURN

De Tomaso's most successful saloon was – a Maserati

In an effort to forget the unsuccessful Citroën era as quickly as possible and instead take up the mantle of the legendary 1960s Maserati Quattroporte, the then-new Maserati owner Alejandro de Tomaso plundered his own larder…

When Alejandro de Tomaso took over the reins of Maserati from Citroën in 1975, he was confident of the potential for a comfortable, high-performance saloon. He had already created such a car in the form of the De Tomaso Deauville, and believed that a new Maserati Quattroporte was the way to go for the beleaguered Trident. According to De Tomaso, the 1974 Quattroporte II, built on the extended chassis of a Citroën SM, was not right at all: the 3.0-litre V6 – a sad let-down after the powerful V8 of the first Quattroporte series – combined with front-wheel drive, left little room for sportiness. Alejandro was not impressed.

A Maserati born from the De Tomaso Deauville

De Tomaso let the Quattroporte second series die a quiet death, with only a handful made, and soon afterwards came up with the Quattroporte III – a development of the Maserati Kyalami, a coupé that was itself based on De Tomaso underpinnings. The third-generation Quattroporte used a modified De Tomaso Deauville chassis, and it was powered (through the rear wheels) by Maserati 4.2- and 4.9- litre V8 engines with up to 300HP. Meanwhile, the clean, sharp design of the new saloon came from the pen of Giorgetto Giugiaro.

Good things come in threes

The handling, performance and ride of the Quattroporte III convinced the pundits. If the Italian saloon had some weaknesses in the details, it was nevertheless extremely popular and the transport of choice for numerous celebrities, including the Italian President Alessandro ‘Sandro’ Pertini, the American publisher Malcolm Forbes and star tenor Luciano Pavarotti. With over 2,000 cars built, the Quattroporte III went down in history as one of the most successful models of Maserati ever created.

On 6 February 2015, Artcurial in Paris will offer the Maserati Quattroporte III in the attractive colour combination shown here. The car comes from the estate of the Moroccan King Hassan II and has covered 124,000km. The estimate is just 10,000 to 14,000 euros.

Photos: Rémi Dargegen for Artcurial