In the mid 90s, the XJR 1200 was Yamaha’s foray into the increasingly popular ‘naked’ bike market. And it was no slouch, with a reported top speed of 220kph (136mph). Fast forward a decade, and here’s an even faster XJR 1200—built in 2006 by German designer Jens Finke, and featured in Fighters Magazin. The engine is heavily uprated: the stock inline four puts out 98 hp, but Jens’ bike has considerably more. It’s packing serious heat with JE pistons, a flowed head, a hot cam, K&N filters and a stage II Dynojet kit. Plus that 4-into-1 exhaust—a lightweight Eagle Mach 7 DB Killer model, designed to give a useful power boost without infringing strict European noise regulations. Jens also reinforced the frame, powdercoated it black and attached an FZR front end and custom swingarm. Those unusual parts on the front are CNC-machined and there are neat touches throughout, such as the ignition being moved to under the seat. Good to see a streetfighter with a little restraint—I’d say this one is an iron fist in a velvet glove. Read More »
Wednesday 28th July, 2010
Milwaukee’s current offerings rarely get my motor running, but I find it hard to resist a good Panhead. And this one is an absolute knockout. It’s owned by Troy Critchlow of the Chico Moto blog, and it’s the quintessential vintage Harley, as seen through a 70s lens. Troy has an eye for a good ride and he’s an inveterate fiddler when it comes to mechanicals—so it’s not surprising his own bike looks like a million dollars. His Panhead is something of a hybrid, with a 1951 FL motor (74ci, high compression) connected to a 1939 EL transmission case with Pan gears. It’s all sitting in a 1949 wishbone frame with an offset Springer fork—“Bed springs on a pogo stick,” says Troy. The carburettor is an authentic Linkert, the magneto is a Morris, and there’s no battery—just a Cycle Electric generator and an Electric Franks regulator. Troy himself made the sinuous, stainless exhaust with the perfectly-judged upkicks, along with the sissy bars, and he also modified the tank to hold a little more fuel. And as you can see, he’s pretty handy with a camera too. Close to Harley perfection, don’t you think? [Check out Chico Moto for more vintage chopper goodness.] Read More »
Think of a custom Honda and it’s invariably a CB. I don’t think I’ve seen any Rebel customs before, and I certainly haven’t seen a Rebel bobber. But this little machine, nicknamed ‘Rocky’ by owner Justin Wolske, looks sweet. And even better, he’s catalogued the whole build on a Tumblr blog, along with excellent photography. When Justin bought his bone-stock 1985 Honda Rebel CMX250, it turned out to have no compression in one cylinder. So he bought a replacement engine for the princely sum of $350 (including shipping!) and started work. This included struts to turn the bike into a rigid, a solo seat, a velocity stack and K&N filter, a white-faced speedometer and drag bars with new grips. Relatively simple and cheap modifications, but ones that presented a few unforseen problems along the way. Justin reports that Rocky has a new owner now: “I put her on Craigslist and in under 24 hours she was gone. Craziness. Anyway, on to the next project. I learned a whole lot about bikes, that’s the whole reason I bought the bike to begin with.” [Spotted on Vanishing Point.]
Nikon D300 | 1/800s | f/1.4 | ISO 320 | Focal length 50mm
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It’s a shame not to see Moto Guzzi competing at the top level in motorsport—especially given the marque’s illustrious racing history. And a MotoGP Guzzi roaring down the never-ending Mugello straight would sound like the proverbial Lancaster bomber taking off. But despite Mandello’s official disinterest, there’s no shortage of racing Guzzis out there—and this retired racer looks like one of the best. It’s owned by Dylan Egon of New Jersey, who also has a BSA Lightning, a Norton Dunstall and a Ducati Scrambler in his stable. The Guzzi is thought to be a ’76 Le Mans, and Egon is planning to make the bike road-legal again. That way he can make better use of the upgraded suspension set-up and reworked motor—which is running Carrillo rods, dual-plug heads and a long duration, high lift Megacycle cam. With straight pipes so short they’re almost invisible, I bet this Guzzi sounds insane. [Images by Svend Lindbaek.]
Canon EOS 5D Mark II | 1/640 sec | f/4 | ISO 200 | Focal length 50mm
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Jeremy Cupp of LC Fabrications is a true original when it comes to building bikes, renowned for his ‘antique’ customs such as TT Deluxe. So this ’79 XS650 custom, called ‘Chicken Salad’ is a departure from Cupp’s usual style. Cupp got the bike from a friend who’d started work on it and then had enough, and when LC Fabrications had some down time, Cupp decided to see what he could make of this XS650. The result is a compact tracker-style custom but with a hard-tail back end and a cantilevered seat. The bars are stubbed right into the triple tree, and the tank is a cut-up old Honda CL360 item. The motor—which had only 11,000 miles on the clock—was boosted with a 750 cylinder kit from XS Performance, 36mm Mikuni round slide carburetion, and mild porting. And why ‘Chicken Salad’? According to Cupp, it’s from the saying ‘You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit’: “The guy I got this bike from gave it to us, because it was ‘just an effing Yamaha’. So I thought the name was appropriate!” Head over to XS650chopper.com for more pics and an interview with Cupp. [Thanks Ted. First two images by Nathan DiClaudio.] Read More »
There’s something to be said for a simple, classic British thumper, and they don’t get much simpler than this. It’s a 1949 AJS 18, sent in by Vincent from the Southsiders MC. The 498cc four-stroke thumper was one of the last big-selling British singles before the industry turned to twins, but the AJS 18 was actually designed before WW2—so it was three decades old by the time production stopped in 1966. This particular model belongs to Polo Garat, a well-known photographer from the Basque country; the guys shot it during a recent weekend while crossing over the beautiful Pyrenean mountains. The bike has been stored in a barn for the past ten years, but was ridden daily in the 80s and 90s—and wheeled out for longer travels too, despite the rigid rear end. I can just imagine this one putt-putting leisurely over the hills, and then parked up in front of a café in an ancient town square. Have a great weekend. [Thanks to Vincent Prat.] Read More »
There are some bikes that are all show and no go, but this BMW reflects a different kind of ‘show’. It’s positively theatrical. Secreted amongst the mechanicals are an antique glass doorknob, a brass bicycle bell and a tiny cameo portrait—see images below—added by the owner, Vancouver-based artist and actor Justin Wright. His Beemer started life in 1987 as an R80/RT, and was customized by an engineer/machinist called Kurt Lang. “Kurt decided to use the bike as a custom platform,” says Justin, “and in his words, ‘To see what I could do with metal for a motorcycle’.” Kurt spent a winter building this BMW, and after a couple of months of riding, sold the bike to Justin. I don’t know how much money changed hands, but there are a lot of man-hours here. The tank, seat and engine top case are all polished, hand-made aluminum. The headlight, brake light and footpegs are also aluminum, and were hand turned on a lathe. The straight bars, controls and the entire exhaust are hand-crafted in stainless steel. And if you’re wondering why the engine looks a little unusual for an R80, it’s because the cylinder heads were replaced with those from a much earlier model BMW—for the rounded look—with the remaining fins rounded off. Despite the elegant little accessories, this BMW is intrinsically functional: “Everything not necessary has been removed,” says Justin. “The bike is basic and detailed with purpose in mind. I think of it as a futuristic motorcycle built by someone in the 1930s.” [Images by Jason Lang.]
UPDATE 25 July 2010 We’ve added two new images at the bottom of the photo gallery below to show the seat and exhaust more clearly. There’s also a basic YouTube video that reveals what the R80 sounds like when started up.
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Wednesday 21st July, 2010
One of the saddest stories of recent times is the demise of Moto Morini. The Scrambler remains one of my all-time favorite bikes, but the factory is now in liquidation and remaining stock is for sale at a discount. So it felt appropriate to travel back in time a little and feature a classic Moto Morini, courtesy of the Italian Motor Magazine blog. This lovely machine is based on a Corsarino but is styled on the 175cc Settebello single cylinder. It’s using a 22mm Dell’Orto with remote float bowl, a PCB racing Fontana-style front brake, and a massive Veglia white face tachometer. So it’s some way between a resto-mod and and a full-on custom, and none the worse for it. “The puny Corsarino front end was abandoned in favor of a telescopic Marzocchi unit from an Aermacchi 350 … Tank and seat are Settebello fiberglass units widely available for racers and restorers in Italy, but it was necessary to trim and scale down the length of the tank to fit the weeny Corsarino,” says Adam from IMM. “I rode it a year or so back along empty Tuscan roads; it’s tiny and fast—60mph fast—and furious and deafening at 8,000rpm and top gear, as only a small Italian racing motorcycle can be.” [Check out the Italian Motor Magazine for more vintage two-wheeled goodness.] Read More »
Frank Charriaut of the French blog theMotArt sent in this lovely story he received from a friend. I think it’s something many of us can relate to.
My name is Bill and I’m a café racer at heart. I live at the base of the Cascade Mountains, twenty miles north of the Oregon/California border.
I bought the Triton about a year ago as an unfinished project and as is often the case, it was a lot more unfinished than I first thought. Many times I stood alone in my garage scratching my head and saying out loud, “Why the Hell did they do that!” In the end though, I’m quite happy with the result. I wanted a period-correct British café racer, and I think there is nothing more iconic to the genre than a pre-unit Triton.
The bike is a ’64 Norton slimline featherbed, with a 650 built from ’58 Speed Twin cases, and the original AMC gearbox mounted with converter engine plates. I especially enjoy some of the small details that you don’t notice at first glance, like the NOS Wassel grips and the John Tickle headlight brackets.
I think people, including myself, get somewhat jaded by the internet. It’s easy to write off a bike like this as “just another café racer”, but to see and hear one, on the road, in person, then you’ll understand. I love this bike, and I think it would take a very large pile of cash for me to part with her.
[Merci, Frank! All photos © Back Alley Studio.]
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