Halloweenazuma!

"Natrium" by Elemental Rides

KZ1000 by Elemental Rides

found via my master and friend Ottonero

Sporty CR by Headcase Johnson

Casey "Headcase" Johnson is from Southern California where he lives and works as talented coachbuilder and pinstriper. He has been in the business for 11 years and, in the past, had also an experience with West Coast Choppers. He has been recently interviewed by Mark Kawakami  who took the beautiful pics of this really nice 1995 Sportster 883 cafe flakester. Check out all the details on Joyrides.

Casey "Headcase" Johnson vive in Southern California dove lavora come raffinato carrozziere  e pinstriper. E' nel business da 11 anni e, in passato, ha lavorato anche con West Coast Choppers. E' stato recentemente intervistato da Mark Kawakami che ha scattato le belle foto di questa elegantissima Sportster 883 del 1995 trasformata in cafè flakester. Tutti i dettagli li trovate su Joyrides.

CBX Raw by MotoRRetro

Honda CBX1000 "Raw" by MotoRRetro

In the late seventies, the four major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers started to build superbikes: big displacement road bikes with top performance. Honda intended the CBX 1000 to re-establish the company's position at the forefront of motorcycle technology. When the CBX arrived on the market, in 1978, it wasn’t the first production motorcycle to be powered by a six-cylinder engine. The Italian Benelli 750 Sei was indeed the very first, but the amount of bikes produced, the reliability and the performance of the Sei cannot be compared with the CBX. Design and performances of the Honda six were considered almost revolutionary. The CBX was among the very first production cycles to feature not only a six cyclinder engine, but it also had four valves per cylinder and this, for its time, was highly advanced. The highly modified café racer shown in the (inazumized) shots of this post, is the model produced in 1978-1980: naked and with double rear shock absorber. In 1981, Honda headed the CBX into the sport touring category with the CBX-B, adding fairing and panniers, as well as Pro-Link "single-shock" rear suspension and air-adjustable front forks. For riders of my generation, driving a CBX Six is still a rare treat. 

Alla fine degli anni settanta , i quattro principali costruttori di moto giapponesi cominciarono a costruire superbike: moto stradali di grossa cilindrata con prestazioni al top. Honda porogettò la CBX 1000 con l’intento di ristabilire il suo predominio tecnologico nel settore. Quando la CBX fu messa sul mercato, nel 1978 , non era la prima moto di serie motorizzata da un sei cilindri. La Benelli 750 Sei in effetti era arrivata prima, ma la quantità di moto prodotte, l'affidabilità e le prestazioni della Sei non sono comparabili con quelle della CBX . Progettazione e prestazioni della Honda sei vennero considerati quasi rivoluzionari. La CBX è stata tra le prime moto di serie non solo con un motore a sei cilindri, ma con quattro valvole per cilindro: questa, per l'epoca, era una soluzione estremamente avanzata. La café racer profondamente modificata, negli scatti (inazumizzati) di questo post, è il modello prodotto dal 1978 al 1980: nuda e con il doppio ammortizzatore posteriore. Nel 1981, Honda indirizzò la CBX nella categoria Sport Touring con la CBX - B, aggiungendo carenatura e borse laterali, così come il monoammortizzatore Pro-Link e la forcella regolabile ad aria compressa. Per i motociclisti della mia generazione, guidare una CBX Six è ancora oggi un raro piacere.

Suzukamelo by FMW #2

Here we have the official photos of the GS1100 "Suzukamelo" (which, in Italian, sounds like "suck me it"!). My friend Lorenzo Fugaroli from Ancona, better known as Fugar Metal Worker says: "The bike is provided with a Yoshimura racing kit including valves camshafts and pistons, all strictly from the 80's... The engine has got 135 hp... The color, vaguely 'gay style', is going great. I really wanted a super sport from the eighties: no ostentatious vintage style, I got enaugh of it. Obviously, the entire bodywork is custom handmade... ". I do not think there's anything to add: this bike is bloody cool.

Ed ecco le foto ufficiali della GS1100 "Suzukamelo". Il mio amico Lorenzo Fugaroli, meglio noto come Fugar Metal Worker racconta: "la moto monta kit Yoshimura con valvole alberi a camme e pistoni, tutto rigorosamente anni 80... Il motore ha 135 CV... Il colore 'rechionazzo' va alla grande. Volevo una super sportiva anni 80: niente vintage ostentato che ormai a stufato. Logicamente tutta la carrozzeria è battuta a mano...". Non credo ci sia nulla da aggiungere: questa moto -mi si consenta- è una figata!

Outing

Photos by Aldo Chaparro Winde

Z650 by Kerozin

Philippe's 1977 Kawasaki Z650 by Kerozin  - Tolouse

Photo by Clément Lazzaro

 

Triton Trident by Spirit of the Sixties

When we admire a finished vintage cafe racer, perfectly sleek as it was just released from the factory, sometimes we forget the countless working hours spent on it. This is particularly true when we refer to a original British lady from the fifties or the sixties. Garry Laurence told Inazuma Café the detailed story of the build of this Triton. This reminds us to think twice before starting a project like this, justifies the considerable amount of money we are often required to purchase one of this bikes and demonstrate the huge passion which is behind these restorations. Just read the rest of this post if you don't believe me.

Quando ammiriamo una autentica cafe racer d’epoca, tirata a lucido come se fosse appena uscita dalla fabbrica, spesso ci si dimentica delle innumerevoli ore di lavoro che è costata. Questo è particolarmente vero quando ci si riferisce ad una autentica signora inglese degli anni Cinquanta o Sessanta. Garry Laurence ha raccontato all’Inazuma Cafè la storia dettagliata della costruzione di questa Triton. Una storia che ci invita a pensarci due volte prima di iniziare un progetto come questo, che giustifica la notevole quantità di denaro che viene spesso richiesta per l'acquisto di una di queste moto e dimostra la grande passione che c'è dietro questi restauri. Leggete il resto se non mi credete.

“Building Café Racers – Garry Says – is an art form. They need to look good but, at the same time, have form and functionality”. When Garry found this bike in a garage “this one had none of that". That's the reason why he called this bike Metamorphosis. "The saving grace was the engine came with an invoice for a £2000 rebuild by Norman Hyde albeit ten years ago. It had a good frame Norton wideline frame short road holder forks with conical rear hub and a John Tickle front brake, as for the rest it, it all had to go. I sold the oil and petrol tank, seat, exhausts, front brake, scrapped the handle bars, chain guard and engine plates so there was not much left, but even then it looked better. I started to think of the very things that make a good Café Racer, design, form and function, its no good looking good if it doesn’t go. As they say “it must do what it says on the tin” and that’s what I wanted to achieved. (…) I wanted to build an eye catching triple Triton. I opted for TZ front brake with the short road holders de lugged with Manx front mud guard and Y bracket with standard spring covers. Steering damper was a fitted hydraulic unit. Front and rear hubs are laced to stepped 18” Akront alloy rims. I opted for swan neck clip ons with standard Norton head light brackets. I made new clock holders but was not satisfied with the look: they needed to be lower to give the front end balance. So they were scrapped and I went for Commando holders filling the bottoms in with alloy plates so all you see is the Speedo/rev counter cable and the illumination bulb wire to give a finished look. The bike came with a Dresdsa swinging arm so I kept it and spaced the new rear mud guard to give it symmetry. A new rear number plate holder was made to fit properly with the standard Lucas rear light unit. A de lugged and polished a Triumph Daytona aluminium side stand and bracket was welded to the frame. This just about finished the specification for the rolling chassis".

"The engine plates fitted were just about the worst I have ever seen along with the foot pegs and standard T150 exhaust system, they all had to go. I spent a number of hours designing the engine plates to complement the engine. I made several designs and the ones fitted were the most pleasing to the eye as they curve under the engine and pick up on the central mounting under the engine but allow access to the engine oil filter. The plates also provide the rear sets mountings for the modified Triumph Daytona foot rest hangers and Barleycorn engineering foot pegs etc. Satisfied with the engine mounting, next came the oil pipes which, let me tell you, were an absolute nightmare. Having owned a standard Triumph T150 I thought the oil pipes were a plumber’s nightmare, just an awful design. With the oil cooler mounted on the front down tubes at the front and the oil tank mid way down the frame I spent the next two weeks playing with the oil pipes routing and re-routing them, it drove me mad, I just didn’t want to see them. Having opted for a Manx petrol tank and seat with one off designed side panels these were complemented with a Manx elephant’s foot oil tank which had to be modifed three times. The first time so I could get it past the offside of the engine. The second time for the feed and return for the oil pipes and the third time to clear the three carburettors. So, the oil feed to the engine drops out of the bottom of the oil tank straight to the engine, no problem there. The return is fed from the bottom of the engine through the oil tank mounting plate, passes through one of the conventional oil tank mounting tubes and runs along the top of the frame feeding the rockers and into the oil cooler, out of the oil cooler back to the oil tank along the other side of the frame. All pipes are clipped to the frame, sounds easy, it wasn’t, but it is neat and tidy. I made the mounting brackets for the three coils and the Boyer electronic ignition mounting them just behind the oil cooler. As with all my Café Racers a standard feature is all the wiring is run through the frame and clip ons. Turning my attention to the exhaust system next in collaboration with John at Campbell exhausts came up with the exhaust system, a three into two with up swept side winder megga’s in stainless steel. There are a thousand and one jobs I have not mentioned but with the dry build complete Colour schemes can make or break the look of a bike, having just finished The VOODOO in black and was really pleased with the look opted for the same again black with chrome lettering. I was particularly pleased with the response the Voodoo “Spirit of the Sixties V” got when people saw it, because it was so different from the normal silver".

"With the dry build finished as far as it could be it was time to strip for paint and polishing. While frame and tanks etc were away for powder coating and painting I set about stripping the top half of the engine off for repairs to some of the fins which were broken. Having made and repaired the fins the whole lot was soda vapour blasted to give that new look. I re-polish everything prior to re-assembly With the seat and tank back from the paint shop Lee from Viking Vinyl’s came over to discuss the seat cover design as he had made the one for the Voodoo. Again I didn’t want to see the tank fixing or the oil filler cap which meant putting a raised curved front on the seat cover and making a cover for the oil tank recess along with the embroidery on the seat back. Reassembly is straight forward providing that all the pre build work has been completed 100% because it’s too late to start modifying things at this stage. That’s not to say I don’t tweak things I do, I decided that running a 4 leading TZ front brake anchored by the quarter stud front mudguard fixing was not sufficient, so they were taken out to 8mm with steel inserts a sensible mod that I will use in future. Care, patience and taking your time are the key element at this stage if you don’t something is going to get damaged. The day arrived to start the machine, it didn’t. Petrol. The lack of it was surely the problem. So I stripped the three concentric carburettors off as I suspected the pilot jets were blocked having stood for about ten years. I had mistakenly only given them a superficial clean as they looked brand new. I was speaking to Steve Blackwell and he advised the only way to clean them properly is to drill out the factory blanks to get to the pilot jet to clean it. Taking his advise I stripped them down drilled out the plugs and put them in my ultra sonic cleaner over night followed by a good wash in thinners and a blow through with an air line. This appeared to do the job Light could be seen through the pilot jet. Refitted the engine still would not fire. I had checked the Boyer ignition timing as per the fitment sheets and workshop manual, all appeared correct. You cannot really get it wrong? It was spot on as per the instructions? I was not convinced I advanced the timing manually until it fired up and it ran for a couple of minutes, then it cut out and just wouldn’t start. No Spark. Eventually I traced the fault to the electronic ignition system which had an intermittent fault on the stator plate firing one minute and not the next. I decided to replace the whole system as the one fitted had come with the machine and sods law it was the only electrical part I had used. There’s a lesson there somewhere!

With the new Boyer electronic ignition system fitted it fired up and ran very well, a small adjustment of the carburettors and it ticked over a treat. The amp meter was not showing a charge, on testing the alternator field windings there was an open circuit. I fitted a new alternator which cured the problem. I had a healthy charge across the amp meter. This completed the build of Metamorphosis: Spirit of the Sixties VI”.

Slug Cycle SR400

Elegance made in Japan: 1996 SR400 by Slug Cycle - Kobe

via Street Ride 

Monster made in Holland

Mario from Holland "radicalized" his 1996 Ducati Monster 900 and sent the pictures of the built, shot by René van Duijnhoven, to our friends of Rad in Madrid… Check out all the specs over there!