Tour de Belgique : le parcours est déjà prêt / The Legend returns

Si son homologue cycliste a disparu des tablettes, le Tour de Belgique automobile compte – à nouveau – parmi les rendez-vous incontournables du calendrier national.

Certes, il n’y est plus question de vitesse mais de régularité, et ce sont désormais les voitures historiques qui s’y produisent. Néanmoins, un mauvais équipage ne gagnera jamais le rallye relancé en 2012 par DG Sport :« Comme à la belle époque, le Tour de Belgique demeure une épreuve longue et exigeante mais où tous les concurrents doivent s’amuser, quelles que soient l’auto dont ils disposent… et l’expérience dont ils peuvent se targuer », analyse Robert Vandevorst le directeur de course. « Cette approche nous a d’ailleurs incités à créer le Critérium destiné aux gentlemen drivers qui souhaitent participer à l’événement en ménageant leur monture et en évitant de devoir puiser dans leurs propres réserves… physiques. L’initiative a recueilli un réel succès en 2014 et suscite déjà l’intérêt de nombreux concurrents cette année. » 

L’élaboration du parcours est terminée. Comme l’an dernier, les concurrents se retrouveront au circuit Jules Tacheny à Mettet pour les contrôles techniques et administratifs : « Moche pour les superstitieux, le Tour débutera le vendredi 13 novembre », sourit le maître d’œuvre du rallye. « Les premiers concurrents s’élanceront dès 17h30 pour une étape qui s’annonce déjà corsée … »

Ce solide hors d’œuvre se terminera à Pont-à-Lesse près de Dinant d’où les équipages mettront le cap, samedi matin, vers le Karting des Fagnes à Mariembourg, avant de rejoindre Rochehaut via Givet, Gedinne et les petites routes serpentant autour de la vallée de la Semois : « Le timing sera calculé pour que chacun puisse pleinement profiter du repas servi à la salle du Petit Bois afin de recharger les accus avant un autre gros morceau du Tour… Cette deuxième étape s’achèvera à Houffalize au domaine Ol Fosse d’Outh. Mais mieux vaudra ne pas s’éterniser à table car le rallye ne sera pas terminé, loin de là ! »

La matinée de dimanche sera mise à profit pour rallier le circuit de Spa-Francorchamps en effectuant un large détour par les cantons de l’Est. Après la halte de midi à la Pit-Brasserie, il sera l’heure de se laisser « glisser » vers Spa et l’arrivée place Royale… en affrontant les ultimes RT dont on sait par expérience qu’ils peuvent chambouler la hiérarchie. La remise des prix est prévue vers 18h00 au Radisson Blu Palace Hotel.

Voilà pour les grandes lignes d’un parcours qu’emprunteront également les concurrents engagés en Critérium, à l’exception de la boucle nocturne du vendredi et des quelques secteurs en terre.

Côté règlement, DG Sport garde les lignes directrices qui ont fait le succès des éditions précédentes :

• Voitures dont le « body cage » date d’avant le 1/1/1975 (Tour de Belgique) ou d’avant le 1/1/1982 (Critérium).
• Moyenne de 50 km/h maximum pour les RT, contrôlée par Trippy. Chronométrage assuré par les chronométreurs du RACB sur les RT en circuit.
• Road-book en fléché métré (avec quelques notes non-métrées pour les concurrents Tour de Belgique).

DG Sport propose aux concurrents trois « packs » différents pour le logement et le catering.

• Avec logement et tous les repas.
• Sans logement mais avec tous les repas.
• Sans le logement du vendredi (le nombre de chambres au Castel de Pont à Lesse est limité) mais avec le logement du samedi et tous les repas.

On le voit, l’épreuve de DG Sport se présente sous les meilleurs auspices. Si son canevas rappelle celui des précédentes éditions, ce Tour de Belgique 2015 sera pourtant très différent, avec une attention particulière sur la qualité des routes empruntées, et ne manquera pas de réserver de nombreuses surprises aux participants.

Bien entendu, le site internet www.tourdebelgique.com est déjà actif. Au fur et à mesure qu’approchera l’échéance, il diffusera toutes les informations utiles pour les concurrents comme pour les suiveurs et passionnés.(com-photo dg)

Tour de Belgique 2014_Full reportage from DG Sport on Vimeo.

MADE MEN BIKES YAMAHA DRAGSTAR XVS650 PROJECT

by Imam Sadikin (OTOMOTIF USA)

Modern bikes are combined with the style of the 60s. It’s a perfect blend of British-style racing with the American bobber. It’s the work of Danish youngsters who will grab the attention of your eyes. When some of you choose to put a Cafe Racer style for a XVs. Here you will see, this is different. Prove it and see for yourself.

Mikael and Kris of Made Men Bikes is a pair of young men who try to build their big dreams. Originality is admirable, they build a bike with a different taste but still functional, can be ridden, and of course when talking about design of this XVS650 it will remind you to go back to the past. It’s a perfect concept.

We have previously made several different Honda VLX 600, as it has a good platform to make a bobber. To try something new, we would try to build an air-cooled Yamaha and get rid of the large cooling radiator that sits on Honda, another thing was that we wanted to try was the driving performance on a bobber with drive shaft.

We found a nice Yamaha XVS650 about 300 miles away from our garage. I took the train to get to it, got there and test drove it and everything worked perfectly, I was going on a ferry to get home and I had been delayed, so the newly purchased stock XVS that looks like a ugly granny chopper.

Why that looks like a ugly granny chopper? because with a lot of cheap plastic chrome and ugly fake leather bags were pushed to the limit to catch the ferry and got run on like a mixture of a Ducati and a lane splitter. First when we got home to the shop, the plan was to and make a bobber with the original VLX frame and fork.

When we stripped down the bike the frame was left we decided. But, the next inspiration has come. We planned only to go all out and make the frame from soft tail to a rigid frame with a single back bone, cause with the original dual backbone we could not mount a gas tank as the way we had planned.

On this Yamaha DragStar XVS650 Project required approximately 70% of the frame had to be converted! When the frame was finished, we decided not to build the bike with the original VLX fork. And you may agree if I say “this is the highest level in building a custom motorcycle. This is the place where an art that appears.”

We made a new neck bearing kit that could accept Harley forks and mounted a DNA springer, a standard DNA springer hasa ugly wishbone. So, we contacted Three Two Choppers which is located in Fort Worth, Texas. And there we can got one of their super cool wishbone and stabilers kit. We were really lucky guy.

The first design plan we had to mount a frisco gas tank and an 8″ Z bar, but since we were lucky enough to win an internet auction on a classic British road racing fairing we could see that neither Z bar or frisco tank would fit on the bike. We tried various bars and ended up making a dragbar and bend it, so it fitted perfectly to the fairing.

We were looking for an AMF Rapido gas tank and found it at our good friend Johann Dizon who makes some cool of custom motorcycles in the United States. The seat and rear cowl was handmade. To make the drag look we went with a Goodyear Eagle front runner on the rear and got a 21” rim with a mini drum brake to the front.

For perfomance we went with the KJS manifold and a single 40MM Mikuni HS40 carburetor. The bike have a nice aggressive stance, and since we have converted it from front to middle controls you have a surprisingly comfortable riding position. This bike smells of drag and speed, but don’t go bet all of your money on the drag strip for this bike to win, but you need to remember it’s only a 650 cc.

Check out their website for more examples of their work and follow Facebook to see what’s on the block next.

MOTO GUZZI V 35 TT SCRAMBLER BY MATTEUCCI GARAGE

by Imam Sadikin (http://otomotif.org)

Until now, Moto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer and the oldest European motorcycle manufacturer in continuous production. Moto Guzzi is sense of art. A similar thing is disclosed, Marco says this is a pride in riding a beautiful machine. You definitely know where some motorcycle-art was born here, from Italy.

Everything old is cool again and today! We will discuss a classic scrambler. Here is 1985 V 35 TT, a Moto Guzzi V-Twin Off Roaders. Honestly, every time I discuss a scrambler it would make me more excited. Scrambler is unique, she’s able to take you to places where a Cafe Racer won’t be able to reach out.

Furthermore, let Marco as the owner of Matteucci Garage perform an intermezzo and tells us more about his Guzzi. The summer of 2013, is where I begin. What a wonderful thing to be used in the summer? A classic two-wheeled, maybe it was the right choice. At that time, seriously I really don’t know about the engine of a motorcycle, like a simple tips for: how often to change the transmission fluid? Have much to learn, till today.

Who else worked with you? I’m working alone and all the build process are made in my garage. For this Guzzi, I bought it for myself. What was your vision/plan? I wanted to create a small and manageable bike, which gives pleasure to look at and fun to ride, light and airy painted, like a summer day by the clear sky.

What did you do to the bike? Tell us all the cool stuff, clever ideas or upgrades? The frame has been cut almost in half, leaving the back completely naked and suspended in space. The whole new part was rebuilt by hand. All handmade parts is fenders, handlebars, the rear shock arm, fender rail, also for the aluminum air filters.

All the wiring was redone, bringing everything under the seat, bicolor vintage handcrafted gastank, while the battery is housed under the engine. Saddle in fine leather with LED brake light drowned in it while the rear indicators. For the leds, you can find a hidden space inside the frame cut.

New exhaust system and new front braking system with replacement disc 320mm and 4 piston caliper. The engine remained in his original 349cc, small two-cylinder but brilliant short ratios, ideal for driving also outside the asphalt. The main interesting challenge is change the rear monoshock with cantilever system.

Tell us about the finish/logos/design? A bike that once soared you let the desire not to go down, like nice nature, essential as oxygen. This is my Guzzi O2. Any unique features? This is the first time (to my knowledge) that changes the classic Guzzi frame Tonti derived but with cradle applying a single shock rear cantilever.

How does the bike ride? stable, comfortable, safety etc. The bike is very light and easy to handle, maintains a high driving position, comfortable in off-road driving but also goes well on asphalt. What will you do next? Is there a new project? For the next, I’m working on a HD 1200 Forty-eight. But this is still keep as a secret.

Still have any questions about this bike? Please contact Marco Matteucci via Facebook or if you are now in Italy and intends to build your motorcycle into a custom motorcycle, feel free to ask and please contact them directly to inquire about shipping and the specific build requirements of your country

In the chintzy Sixties, Virgil Exner cast a copper Cobra

As part of an investigative project for Esquire magazine, Virgil Exner penned four design concepts on behalf of several defunct American marques. When his idea for an ‘updated’ Mercer was sponsored though to fruition, it wore not only a glut of copper jewellery – but also a CSX chassis number...

The magazine project sought to investigate the possibilities of classic, pre-War styling on modern technological platforms; Exner’s Mercer was the one to catch the eye of the Copper Development Association’s president, who envisioned it as the perfect marketing tool. Exner would guide the project through to one-off fruition, ensuring the diversity of copper and brass would be adequately reflected in its decorations.

Metallic monstrosity?

Exner refined his design, ordered a rolling Cobra chassis from AC through Shelby American, and commissioned little-known, yet highly talented Turinese coachbuilder Carrozzeria Sibona-Basano to literally hammer out the details. The resulting ‘copper Cobra’ employed flourishes of 11 different materials, alloys and finishes, which decorated a design so striking it stayed relevant on the show circuit for some time, ultimately travelling six continents. It might not have been the prettiest, fastest or most capable Cobra, but its 10-year retention by its Copper Development Association sponsor proves its effectiveness as a motoring mannequin. The car was sold by RM Auctions in August 2011 for $660,000.

Photos: RM Auctions

You can find AC and Shelby Cobras for sale in the Classic Driver Market.