Bike Mania

11/11/2013

30/07/2013

This is the latest Cafe Racer by Roberto Totti. As you can see this bike deviates from normal patterns of traditional racers that roamed around UK roads back in the 1960s. The base for this unusual bike is an Aprilia RS250, 2-cylinder twin-stroke bike, with it’s all aluminum frame and subframe. Spoked wheels and drum brake replicas are a nice touch – as they give the bike that “special” look&feel. Definitely the bike is very light and most probably snappy at the throttle, and when we look at those exhaust pipes, we know that is intoxicating at high RPM’s! We love it.

30/07/2013

Fong Bros XS650
This beautiful piece of chopper craftmanship was sent to us by Ted from XS650 Chopper. It was built by Denis (AKA Billy Joe Fong) from Fong Bros who has built many sweet rides in the past. Here's how Denis described the project: "As for the white bike, It’s a 1982 xs650 special. It was a mail delivery bike for the Post Office in either Delaware or Pennsylvania but was only used for about 10,000 miles. The tail is a TC Bros tail that I made some very minor mods to. I was using Kansas Kustoms but I was able to get a good deal with TC Bros. From front to back, here’s what was done. The forks were done by hand. I used an angle grinder and a hand file to get rid of all the tabs and smooth them out, then polished them. They are also lowered 2.75 inches.

The front and rear wheels are 21 inch Ankront’s laced to the 650 hubs and have Trials tires. I usually don’t like to use shouldered wheels, but I wanted Fong Bros on the wheels and it was easy to do on the shoulder. I made the handlebars out of the stock bars and a pair of clip-ons. The gas tank is a high tunnel Wassel that did not fit well at all. I had to move the coil and cut part of the motormount off the top of the engine to get it to fit. It is silver leafed. There is a LaRosa polished seat. I pretty much just wanted it to look old.” Denis has truly created a super clean vintage looking bike, right down to those ingenious boardtracker styled handlebars. To see more pics of this old school chopper check out XS650 Chopper.

30/07/2013

We love receiving emails from Ted at XS650chopper.com because he knows we get excited by Yamaha café racers. Frank Derris the owner and builder of this immaculate bike writes: "The concept was to blend old with new hence the crossover Yamaha racing paint scheme with the ton up stripe. I wanted the bike to handle and run as good as it could on tube tires and it does. I wanted to be able to look through the bike and see nothing but hard parts (no wiring, bolts or unsightly junk) 3 years of part time work. You judge the finished product." The parts come from a variety of bikes but they all work seemlessly together, the forks are from a 87 FZR 600, rear swing arm from a 1988 Radian, front rotor 87 FZR1000 and front caliper from a 98 Suzuki Bandit 600. The 2 gallon steel tank, seat and fairing have been painted in a fresh Corvette velocity yellow with classic black racing stripes. The impressive exhaust is a custom built 1¾ shell pipes with tuned port and exhaust port optimizers. You can read the complete spec list and view some more pics on XS650 Chopper.

28/07/2013

Honda_1000_CBX_Cafe-Racer

28/07/2013

THE VENICE CAFE RACER


A "proper" cafe racer is fine for nipping down to the pub for a pint, but the streets of L.A. are no tea party. So, when the call went out to build a Venice Cafe Racer, something a bit more revolutionary was in order. My vision was of a low, lean, street racer, with classic styling cues.


The starting point was a 78 CB750F, chosen for it's potent black lump. The Comstar wheels, and bodywork, however, stood in the way of the desired "rocker" look, so a little reverse engineering was in order.
Stripped bare, and shaved, the frame is fitted with forks, swingarm, wheels, and pegs from a 69 CB750. The rear subframe was modified to hold the battery and electrical components, which are concealed beneath a custom fitted tailpiece. Knee cut-outs on the 69 tank flow into the tuck and roll seat, to create a narrow cockpit.
The lowered stance comes from cut down forks in front, with 11" shocks, and a 135/15 radial in the rear.


The engines racer intentions are broadcast through a repro Yoshimura pipe, fueled by round-top carbs with machined stacks, and ignited by a Russ Collins bevel drive spinning a Vertex magneto.
Rounding out the package are a high capacity oil tank, and headlight bucket with integrated speedo.

27/07/2013

26/07/2013

http://youtu.be/puqJqkeLWZM

http://www.tarproductions.com A web commercial for motorcycle part company British Customs. The commercial was shot as part of a complete redesign and rebran...

26/07/2013

http://youtu.be/vmAaVgUzNh8

On this episode of The Downshift, we take a look at the stylish world of Cafe Racers and the vintage motorcycles they love. The Downshift appears every Tuesd...

26/07/2013

26/07/2013