The Race of Gentlemen

Malle London went down to the "Wildwood" for The Race of Gentleman (2014). Two days of vintage racing on the beach, with racers trying to avoid the ever increasing tide. The only rule of the race; the older the machine the better. 

DUCATI SCRAMBLER ICON VS. TRIUMPH SCRAMBLER – COMPARISON TEST

Is motorcycling's past morphing into its future? We scramble to find out.

By Mark Hoyer
Photographer :  Jeff Allen

One of the motorcycle’s best qualities is its ability to trigger your mind to build a pleasing image around the machine. For this pair of Scramblers, one from Ducati and one from Triumph, the image is idyllically rustic, backlit with hazy-warm golden light complete with lens flares. Much like the cozy cross-generational visions you’re looking at on these pages now. These are images evocative of times and feelings that may or may not have actually existed, though if you ask a riding enthusiast who lived and loved through the scrambler heyday of the ’60s and ’70s, there’s no doubt it was real.

And there is no doubt it is real right now, on the highways and dirt roads of America. Good times, accessible motorcycles, and decent pricing are what fueled the boom times first time around, and both of these Scramblers offer a lot of bike for the money.

Step one to good times was sending our pair of pro-racer photo models for a real scramble in the California desert near Pioneer Town, not far from Joshua Tree National Park in California. Ryan Dudek’s skills are well documented in these pages, and he was joined by AMA Pro SuperSport East champ Hayden Gillim. That’s Hayden on the Ducati (above photo), dragging a footpeg while dirt-tracking on a dry lake bed. It was totally impractical and all about fun, but if you happen to be a pro-level rider and want to slide one of these bikes on dirt, both of our guys picked the agile, light, and quick Ducati.

But back to reality.

Triumph came to this retro-scrambler land first, way back in 2005 (if you don’t count pre-unit and unit-construction scramblers it made during the company’s first life). If you missed it, the Scrambler is based on the love-object Bonneville, which I first rode on its introduction in England in 2001, when the weather forecast was so bad that the lady on the telly said, “Don’t leave your homes!” Could have used the Scramblers’ Bridgestone Trail Wings on that ride back then.

	UPS	DOWNS
Triumph Scrambler	The modern original 270-degree crank for sweet sounds So comfortable	So porky Time to get more power And a brake upgrade, please

We didn’t have any such weather troubles even though it was “winter” out here in Southern California. Sunny and warm, just like the personalities of these great bikes.

That said, the Triumph has that almost exclusively English property of being stylish and elegant while also getting its frump on a bit. This latter point comes mostly from the basic “thickness” of the bike, both in its width from the high-mount pipes and from the shape of the fuel tank and engine. Its weight and power output also give it some of that staid character. If you haven’t picked up 106 pounds in a while, give it a go and ask yourself if you’d like to not have to lift it. Better yet, try running with that load. One hundred and six pounds is how much more the Triumph weighs than Ducati’s exceptionally light Scrambler Icon, and you feel that difference in every movement of these bikes.

“The Triumph has that almost exclusively English property of being stylish…while also getting its frump on a bit.

The power situation is also decidedly skewed: The Triumph’s 51.6 hp from its 865cc parallel twin is delivered in measured fashion, thanks to the abundant flywheel inertia and bottom-end-centric power delivery. Its 46.2 pound-foot torque peak is essentially equal to that of the 803cc V-twin Ducati, but it’s delivered at 2,800 rpm, where the Duc’s peak is at 5,570. That’s it in a nutshell, but I’d be remiss not to point out the Ducati revs to 9K, 1,000 rpm higher, and belts out 69.7 vigorous horsepower along the way. It’s a completely different tuning ethic at work.

To the Triumph’s credit, it is exceptionally easy to launch, thanks to its torque character, smooth throttle response, and lighter-pull clutch.

But there will be no power wheelies.

This helps make the bike a friendly commuter, and its time-travel nature is accentuated by a pair of “carburetors” that house the fuel injectors. There is even a manual fast-idle pull-knob down on those carb-like things. It’s quaint and way cleaner than tickling an Amal Concentric. If you’ve never done that and want to experience it, every time you start your bike cold, go dip your finger in gasoline and pour some on the back of the engine so it drips onto the ground. Then pull the plug wires off and push the starter button until the battery dies, reconnect the plug wires, then push-start the bike. If you’re lucky. Breathe more gasoline fumes. That’s a roughly accurate approximation.

Rallye de France : 9 spéciales en Corse / 9 stages in Corsica

Le Rallye de France 2015 (2-4 octobre) devrait comprendre neuf épreuves spéciales, allant de 15 à 45 kilomètres, avec départ et arrivée à Ajaccio, passage à Bastia et Porto-Vecchio, et parc d’assistance à Corte.

Depuis l’annonce du retour du Rallye de France en Corse, les rumeurs allaient bon train sur le format de l’épreuve. Les plans initiaux était de proposer un parcours de seulement 5 spéciales, dont certaines mesuraient plus de 70 km. Mais organisateurs, constructeurs et promoteur n’étaient pas vraiment d’accord.

Finalement, le parcours du Rallye de France-Tour de Corse, 11^e manche du WRC 2015, comprendra 9 spéciales, 3 par jour, lesquelles ne devraient pas excéder 50 km chronométrés.

Les cérémonies de départ (jeudi 1^er octobre) et d’arrivée (dimanche 4 octobre) se tiendront à Ajaccio.

Le rallye fera halte à Bastia vendredi soir, et à Porto-Vecchio samedi soir, alors que le parc d’assistance principal sera installé à Corte vendredi et samedi (il n’y aura pas de service park dimanche).

The 2015 Rallye de France (October 2-4) will feature just nine stages ranging in length from 15 to 45 kilometres. The event will start and finish in Ajaccio and will visit Bastia and Porto-Vecchio, with the service park in Corte.

There have been rumours since the announcement of the Tour de Corse’s return to the world championship about the French rally’s proposed format. It was initially believed there would be just five stages, of up to 70km in length, but the organisers, manufacturers and promoters failed to find common ground.

In the end, the Rallye de France-Tour de Corse, round 11 of the 2015 World Rally Championship, will feature nine stages – three per day, of a length not exceeding 50km.

The start (Thursday, October 1) and finish (Sunday, October 4) will take place in Ajaccio.

Friday’s overnight halt will be in Bastia, Saturday’s will be in Porto-Vecchio, and the main service park will be based in Corte on Friday and Saturday (no service park on Sunday).

What’s hiding beneath this Mad Max-style Rolls-Royce Phantom?

Rolls-Royce has today unveiled the first road-legal test mule for its forthcoming four-wheel-drive offering, currently known as Project Cullinan…

Despite being fully road legal, Rolls-Royce states that this sinister-looking, four-wheel-drive test mule has been designed solely to develop the model’s all-new suspension system. Featuring a shortened Phantom Series II body complete with an outlandish rear wing, the test bed would not look out of place on the set of cult apocalyptic action film, Mad Max.

According to Rolls-Royce: “The body may hint at the size of the production model, but it features no design aspects of the eventual high-sided, all-terrain motor car announced by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in February this year.” And relax.

The test mule uses an early version of the model’s all-new suspension set-up, which Rolls-Royce promises will offer its hallmark “magic-carpet” ride not only on the road, but off-road too. The first series of tests will focus on delivering impeccable stability, putting the design through its paces on a wide range of international road surfaces – one of which includes Belgian Pavé.

Photos: Rolls-Royce

You can find many modern and classic Rolls-Royces for sale in the Classic Driver Market.