‘75 Moto Guzzi 850T - Revival Cycles

Imagine, if you will, a manufactured object that represents the perfect mix of Japanese and Italian culture. What do you think that would look like? As an obvious starting point, both nations are formidable engineers and industrial designers, so you'd have to expect something that was built to within an inch of it's life. Both countries are totally and utterly obsessed with food, so you'd assume that the object would show a love for the finer things in life. And both have a high appreciation of asthetics, so you'd think the thing would look a million dollars. No coincidence, then, that today's bike is exactly that; a killer Italianese mash-up that takes the best from both it's parents. Meet Revival's Yama-Guzuki ‘75 850T.

“This is a 1975 850t chosen specifically because it was the only Guzzi that came with the twin-leading rear drum brake” says Alan Stulberg, Revival's chief resucitator. “This made it the least desirable 850 model at the time it was made, but the best for the Guzzi parts stash I had in the shop to build what is ostensibly my personal dream bike; specifically the authentic OEM Yamaha TZ front dual twin-leading shoe or four-leading shoe drum brake that I'd been dying to put on something a little different. The brake inspired the entire build.”

“A long-time friend who is loyal to Revival commissioned the build and trusted our hair-brained scheme with the drum brake,so off we went. We found a donor 850T in Tennessee that was in pieces, but with a title. We immediately decided to add an inverted 2007 Suzuki GSXR front fork set-up to the drum brake, fully knowing this illogical combination would be ludicrous to most, but utterly simple in its intention to combine the best brake of the period this bike was made during and some of the finest suspension technology of modern machines. This challenge alone was a complicated one. Using the factory Suzuki large-diameter front axle was a problem that required us to machine the factory Yamaha hub to fit and sourcing of super thin diameter bearings to accommodate it all safely.”

“We then heavily gusseted the frame, removed the lower frame rail, gusseted the rear swingarm and added an Ohlins rear shock and spring. Then we completed shaved and cut open the rear Guzzi twin-leading drum to match the front TZ drum.

We then decided that a handmade one-off integrated unibody alloy tank, seat and tail would lead the style cues and the rest just sort of followed from there. The aluminum handmade pieces are all over this bike and include the headlight cowl, the headlight brackets, front brake linkage, footpegs, shifter, brake pedal, intake manifolds and exhaust. They were all hand-formed from scratch and machined in-house using our equipment. So much love went into this bike and it's been great to be able to say that only the powder-coating and leather seat was made elsewhere, the rest is all us.

“This bike was not only build to look good, it was built to perform. We recently took it to Jay Leno's Garage and after Jay rode it he exclaimed that it was by far the best handling and road-going Guzzi he'd ever ridden. It stops on a dime and it carves corners with the best of them. It's been ridden over a thousand miles now and it's ready for many more. 

Here's a not-so-simple list of mods that we can remember for the 850t. As mentioned there's the Yamaha TZ racing 4LS front brake and the Inverted GSXR Forks. There's some fully custom one-off CNC triples. POSH grips, widened hubs and Custom 18" alloy wheels. There's an LED alloy headlight with hand-formed headlight fairing and brackets. We've also got a Motogadget M-unit and M-lock which replacing all relays and fuses, one-off gullwing style alloy clip-ons, an integrated gas tank, seat and tail and a dropped & lower frame rail.”

“There's one-off pegs, shifter and braking system, a one-off stainless exhaust with CNC-machined header clamps, and (you guessed it) a one-off CNC-machined cut alloy frame tie-plate. All cables and the wiring was handmade and there's a hidden LED taillight system. We also polished and smoothed everything. Oh, and the handmade seat by Ginger at New Church Moto.”

via PIPEBURN

Behind The Scenes - Husqvarna Motorcycles Model Range 2014

The KISKA design boys on the set, filming the 2014 Husqvarna Motorcycles Model Range. -

Monster Energy X-raid Team Teaser for the 2014 Dakar Rally

Watch Monster Energy's X-raid team member Stéphane Peterhansel as he scales the dunes of Morocco, speeds into the city of Erfoud and off into the desert as he prepares for the 2014 Dakar Rally in South America. Stay tuned for the rally that will run from Jan 5-18th and watch as the entire Monster Energy X-raid team takes over!

le Scorpion de Loeb

Sébastien Loeb a participé à son premier Scorpion Masters. les caméras de TV étaient là... © DR

Le nonuple Champion du Monde rallye WRC, Sébastien Loeb, a participé ce weekend pour la première fois au Scorpion Masters. Enduro, trial, Supermotard et vitesse, la légende du rallye s'est confrontée aux stars de la moto le temps d'un weekend. Évidemment, avec la notoriété du garçon, les caméras de télévision de l'Équipe.tv n'étaient pas bien loin... Action !

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A closer look: Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing / Tonkov’s first test on the Husqvarna

A first look at the 2014 Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing team of Romain Febvre and Aleksandr Tonkov practising in Lommel. The rider interviews are in English but the rest is in Dutch. Video brought to you by Motocrossplanet.

THE SCORPIO 225 BY DEUS EX MACHINA

Lightweight, smaller capacity motorcycles are a particular interest of mine, the chuckability and the forgiving nature of bikes like this makes them easy to love. Sure you might not take it out for long highway-centric roadtrips but if you live in a city and need to get around town, you won’t find a better bike that a rough and ready 250cc. Or 225 in this case. Close enough.

Looking more like a creation from their Bali garage this Deus/Sydney build is based on a Yamaha Scorpio 125cc, I included a picture of the original bike below for comparisons sake, as you can see, this is a totally rebuilt/bored-out/nut+bolt custom.

The Scorpio looks like the perfect “summer bike” the on-offroad capabilities of it are plain to see, those flat-tracker style tires look like the business and that high-exit exhaust means you can take it for a splash through the shallows without giving your cylinders a saltwater bath.

We don’t have word from Deus yet on pricing for the Scorpio but if you live in Australia, are flush with clams and have been looking around for a beach bike for the summer, you might want to shoot them an email.

Via Deus Customs and SILODROME

Auto Fabrica Type 3

Da Vinci said, ‘simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’, or was it Auto Fabrica?  What started life as a standard SR250, Yamaha’s desperately sad wanna be chopper from the ’80′s, has ended up as a breathtakingly simple tracker that screams look at me, and ride me in equal measure.

Work started in earnest on the frame, with an overall mission of nipping and tucking everything to try and get the lines to flow seamlessly.   To that end, a loop was welded to clean up the rear and shorten the length of the seat. This helped the proportions of the bike enormously, giving it a much better stance. The loop also gave an aesthetically pleasing shape for the seat foam to follow.

The rear fender mounting point was hidden away in pursuit of the minimalist approach.  And the tank mounting points on the rear were modified in order to get a seamless transition from tank to seat without anything ugly getting in the way.

The engine was converted to kick start only, eliminating the battery and emptying the triangle on the bike.   An obvious mod, but the guys really wanted the eye to focus on the seat and tank, and felt that adding an extra panel made the bike feel a lot heavier than it was.  This was all about stripping weight, keeping the bike minimalistic yet usable.  And besides, kicking a bike is just so much cooler than pressing a button.

The exhaust was pie cut which was the only way to get the right curve. This was one of 2 designs on the table and the guys went for it because they wanted to add ‘texture’ to the bike in an area where, according to them normally a lot of “bling occurs”.  It also works well as it echoes the pattern of the knobbly tires, and the colours of the untreated welds are similar to the bike itself.  Now that’s attention to detail.  We love the understated, but clever use of leather on this bike. Hand stitched grips out of thick brown leather add a vintage, yet classy look . And using the same approach on the gear lever and the kick start arm is, like all good ideas, blindingly obvious when someone else does it!

The guys say they wanted to keep this build incredibly simple, with colour and trim that they knew would work well from years of experience.  They also say that they love the small and agile feel of the bike, adding that it’s effortless to ride, hop on and off of, and throw around corners, apparently it really puts a smile on your face.  It’s certainly put one on ours.  This SR250 is indeed the ultimate, in ultimate sophistication.  Da Vinci would have approved, as does Da Bikeshed.

Follow Auto Fabrica’s future builds on Instagram “auto_fabrica” and Facebook “Auto Fabrica” and contact them at info@autofabrica.com

Posted by Ian@TheBikeShed

Biascagne Cicli: Italian for advanced

Two guys, a garage and the dream of the perfect bike: at Biascagne Cicli in Treviso, Italy, old and new components are combined to produce highly creative custom racing bikes...

The pictures illustrate how the bicycle-makers of Biascagne Cicli give new life to old bikes, found rusting in dusty basements. The craftsmen carefully transform these elderly warhorses into modern gentlemen's bikes of distinctive elegance - usually reduced to their bare essentials before being rebuilt, but each one retaining its individual character. Our favourite? We'd pick the vintage model named 'Oliva', with its dark green frame and cognac leather saddle: simple, timeless, nonchalant. When will spring be here? 

Find more details at biascagne-cicli.it.

ROLAND SANDS DESIGN CUSTOM HARLEY-DAVIDSON FXLR

By Blake Conner  Photographer :  Brian Blades

from cycleworld

Most of us won’t ever be able to afford a big-name custom makeover for our ride. Which is exactly why BellHelmets and Roland Sands Design collaborated to create the Bell Star Treatment contest. Thousands of people submitted entries, all explaining why they should be the one who gets their own personal motorcycle transformed into a stunning custom by Sands and crew. Icing on the cake: a one-off painted Bell Star Carbon helmet to match the motorcycle.

Cutting to the chase, Ron Mercurio, a former Navy SEAL and current small-business owner, was chosen as the winner. He inherited a 1987 Harley-Davidson FXLR from his father, who had passed away from a brain tumor in 2012. But Mercurio, a life-long rider who has owned various bikes over the years (Kawasaki ZX-7R,Ducati 916, an H-D Heritage Special, and a Springer Softail), wasn’t a big fan of the bike’s style or stance, even though the FXLR did bring back fond memories of riding on the back with his dad as a 15-year-old.

By random chance, Mercurio noticed the link on Bell Helmet’s website (bellhelmets.com/powersports) and entered the contest. He was going through a personal rough patch, dealing not only with the passing of his father but also one of his best friends, who was killed in the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012. When the phone rang just days later, he was speechless. He had won the Bell Star Treatment, exactly the type of uplifting news he needed.

Cycle World was on hand at Roland Sands Design (rolandsands.com) the day the FXLR was delivered to the shop. Mercurio, Sands, and RSD’s Project Manager, Cameron Brewer, hammered out a few details to point the build in the right direction. At first, it appeared the build would be a purely cosmetic makeover, but, as partners in the industry got wind of the project, they quickly jumped on board to make sure the bike was transformed into something truly special.

The finished product now packs a black powdercoated Bennett’s Performance-built engine (bennettsperformanceinc.com) with 0.030-inch-over Wiseco pistons breathing through an S&S carb with RSD velocity stack and exhaling into a custom RSD 2-into-1 exhaust. Power is delivered to the 18 x 4.25-inch RSD Diesel (Black Ops) rear wheel via a Baker (bakerdrivetrain.com) direct-drive five-speed transmission and a Rivera Primo Pro Clutch (riveraprimoinc.com).

What little remains of the original bike includes the frame, which was de-tabbed, stripped, and powercoated texture black and the stock Narrow Glide fork that received a Progressive Suspension (progressivesuspension.com) spring kit. Progressive’s 440 Series shocks are fitted out back. Brakes include a Performance Machine (performancemachine.com) six-piston differential-bore caliper chomping down on a 13-inch RSD Diesel disc mounted to a 21 x 2.15-inch matching wheel up front. A PM sprocket-brake setup is used out back for final drive with a D.I.D Gold X-ring 530 chain.

Once committed to the transformation, the RSD guys left no nut or bolt unturned. The King Sporty fuel tank’s tunnel was modified for fit, while a one-off rear fender was formed on the English wheel. Chris Wood at Airtrix sprayed the matte black, red, and silver paint scheme that features gray, black, and hand-turned silver leaf scallops on the tank. The front end, controls, switches, engine, and transmission covers tap deeply into the RSD and PM catalogs, while a Dakota Digital (dakotadigital.com) speedometer eventually replaced the stock unit pictured here.

When Mercurio first laid eyes on the finished project, he was blown away. Sands interpreted his tastes perfectly, and Mercurio thoroughly enjoyed working with the master in refining the final build. Mercurio says he loves the attention the bike gets, especially when the seasoned Harley faithful recognize it as an FXLR and not as a custom Sportster. He rides the bike on a daily basis and says he’s most impressed with how well sorted it is, how it performs like a brand-new motorcycle, and how it looks like no other FXLR ever seen. As for us, we’re most impressed with how our industry stepped up to help a soldier in need.

Five of the Greatest Rally On-Board Clips You’ll See Today

Rallying, aside from being clearly the most awesome form of motorsport, has one particularly major issue. As a spectator, you usually see the total sum of not very much from your viewing point. With long, technical stages that are generally spread across huge areas, it’s usually not possible to watch all of the action in person – unless you’re viewing from a helicopter. Thankfully, someone realised this many, many years ago and started putting cameras into the cars so we can relive some of the greatest moments in motorsport that pretty much no one saw happen. In no particular order…

“Oh, dear God.”

Ari Vatanen, Manx Rally, Opel Manta 400. It’s probably the most famous on-board rally footage which also happens to include the famous line from Terry Harryman as Vatanen manages to squeeze the Manta through a particularly narrow gateway, immediately after clipping a wall. It’s butthole-clenching stuff. No matter how many times I watch it, I still expect it to end in disaster.

Röhrl Versus the Human Sea

I think if there was ever a video that depicted the insanity that was Group B, this is it. Although it’s benefitted (or suffered) from an editor’s hand, there’s no doubting what you see as Röhrl pilots his quattro S2 through a sea of people. Breathtaking.

Flat out followed Immediately by Brake Failure

It’s easily every driver’s worst nightmare. Approaching a square right at 120mph, Fisher somehow manages to guide his out of control Manta through spectators and cars parked in the run-off area. This is the sort of natural talent that very few are born with.

Over Jump

I’ll make no apologies for another Irish video in here. It may only be 14 seconds long, but it has hours of replay value. Flat, over jump, pull another gear. Ain’t care.

If in Doubt, Flat Out

Finally, I leave you with this. No gimmicks, no accidents, no cheesy music. Just six minutes of one of the greatest talents rallying has ever seen. Count those upshifts and watch in complete and utter admiration as McRae casually catches an armful of opposite lock at the top of fifth gear. On gravel. In the wet.

These are just five of my favourites, ones which I come back to time and time again. What are yours?

Paddy McGrath

Big business: Five of our favourite LWBs

When there's not enough space in a standard saloon, the answer is simple. Stretch it. By lengthening the wheelbase of the S-Class and its contemporaries, car-makers can release enough room to allow for real luxury in the interior...

In the early 1990s, many of the 'luxury' marques offered long-wheelbase versions of their flagship saloons to seduce the men of big business (as well as big businessmen) into the rear seats of their cars. The LWB models ranged from chauffeur-centric limousines, to large, long cars that were spectacularly good to drive. We pick five of our favourites.

Mercedes-Benz S 600 Pullman: Big business

From the  very first glance, it's obvious that Mercedes meant the S 600 Pullman to be a chauffer-driven limousine. With an overall length of 6.21 metres, it's hardly something that entices you to leap into the driving seat, but the four-door giants from Stuttgart were the ultimate in spacious on-road luxury for businessmen, politicians or royalty. Just 428 LWB versions of the 600 were built between 1963 and 1981, all of them highly individualised, with bullet-proof glass just one of the options. 

BMW L7: Long series

At BMW, the 'L7' was the name given to a rare, long-wheelbase, European limousine, available as either a 4.4-litre V8 or a 5.4-litre V12. Although still an ideal car for chauffeur-driven executives, it also beckoned to driving enthusiasts, offering pleasure behind the wheel as well as in the back seats. Of course it did: it's a BMW.

Audi V8 LWB: Failed despite its size

Convinced of the competitiveness of its own product, Audi tried a lengthened version of the V8. As it happened, the space for rear passengers in the standard Audi V8 was so modest that a long-wheelbase version was almost essential if one were to go on holiday four-up. But apparently only a few V8 drivers had the desire to do so - or perhaps they simply found the LWB V8 too expensive. Today, the long-wheelbase version is so rare that any examples on sale tend to be rapidly snapped up.

Bentley Brooklands LWB: Business as usual

The situation at Bentley was rather different from that at Audi. Even in 'short wheelbase' form, as introduced to the market in 1993, the Bentley Brooklands was 5.27m long and roomily spacious in the rear. An LWB version of the car, at 5.38m in overall length, gave even more opulent dimensions - that arguably weren't necessary. 

Porsche 911 LWB: Business unusual

Extending the wheelbase of a car has a dramatic effect on the dynamics, which is perhaps why Porsche decided against a mass production of an extended 911 and left it to Dr. William Dick, a Porsche dealer in Texas, to build this four-door 911 as a Christmas present for his wife in 1967.  It probably didn't drive all that well (compared with a standard 911, that is), but on the long, straight roads around Texas, perhaps that didn't matter too much.

Photos: Audi, Bentley, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche

Saloons of all lengths, from Audi to Rolls-Royce, can be found in the Classic Driver Market.