mercoledì 22 maggio 2013
Brutal Spirit of the Sixties VII G.Laurence
Churchill meets Mussolini / British
Bulldog tames the Italian stallion what ever way you look at it harnessing of
one of the fastest Italian road going engines the Laverda Jota into the best
handling Manx Norton style frame is
going to be brutal.
There is no getting away from
it ,its not been done before and therein lies the challenge to create “Spirit
of the Sixties VII”.something completely different.
To start with, finding a
genuine Jota engine was not going to be easy or cheap but looking to build Cafe
Racers which, either challenges the standard set or sets new standards isn't
easy anyway. Having searched for a long
time I eventually found and purchaed an engine. Then it sat idle on the garage
floor while I finished work in progress "THE
VOODOO" and "METAMORPOSIS"
but giving lots of thought to design, form and function. This
combination has not been done before so it was all going to be ground breaking
stuff and one off designs. At the end of the build it had to live upto it
prdecessors, ie look the part as well as
function as a true road burning Café Racer,
the latter I had no doubts about.
So where do you start?, I knew
what I wanted the finished bike to look like and had some definite ideas and designs I wanted to incorporate into
this
build along with some of my signature features if one can call them
that. I considered for some time whether to buy a genuine Manx or
featherbed
frame and alter it to harness this brute
of an engine. In the end I opted to have a replica frame made by Brad at
Classic Race Bike Developments as I did not want to take a chance on
metal
fatigue or chopping about a historic Manx frame albeit I had a
featherbed frame
sitting in the garage. The frame and box section swing arm were made to
order
and I have to say, given my very high standards of build, that Brad has
made an
excellent job of the fabrication and I would strongly recommend him.
Whilst the
frame was being made I purchased a complete set of Norton road holder
front forks which I
overhauled. Milling off all excess brackets to make them look like Manx
bottom
ends. Fitting all new bushes, seals and stauntions with the additional
modification of fitting 8 mm steel inserts into the ¼ mudguard stay
bolt holes given I intended to
fit a 4 leading front brake set up . Which brings me onto the brakes.
Well, what would you opt to
stop a machine of this power and weight which
will be very quick? There is only one option in my opinion, in keeping with
Spirit of the Sixties Motorcycles it has to be drum brakes and those are Yamaha
TZ racing items. Having bought a TZ Yamaha four leading front set up for the T150
Triton "METAMORPHOSIS" which unlike the ones on my Norvin was a new
item but of exceptional quality I went back to Don Pender in the Philippines and ordered four leading front and twin leading rear brakes on 18" rims both
on 280 mm drums. They do look the business. The problem with these hubs drums is
that there is no provision for a speedo drive and given I wanted to use chronometric clocks in keeping with the sixties theme and given I had already
bought them I set about designing and making a rear speedo drive to go on the drive side of the hub. The
speedo drive uses the standard 2:1 Smiths gearbox drive coupled to a bolt on
drive similar to the Triumph /Norton set up with the appropiate spacer. The
result was the wheel was off centre and had to be adjusted by 5mm to centre it.
It now looks purpose made, I did have
the advantage of having made a similar set up for the Norvin so it was not entirely new.
While waiting for the wheels
to arrive I took the frame to my tank maker
and dicussed the design of a Manx 3 1/2
gallon tank, seat, side and closing panels to
fit this individual frame.
I could not just order
standard items because to fit the Jota engine into a Manx style frame it has to
be about an inch and a half taller to accommodate the Jota engine, thus the top
rail turns up 10 degrees at the head stock instead of turning down 10 degrees which to the untrained eye most would not
notice but with the tank made to fit itis barely noticeable and sitting on 18” wheels it
looks low and right.
Another problem I ran into was carburation. The
Dellorto carburettors on the outer
cylinders would without modification to the inlet stubs foul the top tubes. To
resolve this problem I opted to modify the Dellorto's by removing the throttle
mechanism and fitting standard tops and a three way cable pull. In addition I
fitted bell mouths which are true Café Racer. This lowered the carburettors by 35 mm and
clears the top rails on standard inlet stubs but in the end still not satisfied
I opted for RS 36 flat side Mukunis which give improved performance.
With these obstacles overcome I
installed the engine into the frame ensuring everything was aligned I made the
engine plates to suit. First making cardboard templates before cutting them in
dural aluminium.
The frame needed additional
brackets for the oil cooler and side stand as well as an additional front frame
brackets for the engine mounting plates instead of a single frame bracket
fitted as standard. Other fabrications included the battery and electrical
panel mounting etch.
Thy bike was
now more or less a complete looking with forks and swing arm fitted, head light
brackets modified to accept swan neck clip ons. Mud guards fitted and rear
number plate holder made and fitted. The next step was the fitments of the side
panels which in the end In opted for two rubber mounted top pegs and the bottom
fitted with a thumb screw fastener for ease of removal.
I booked the
bike in for the exhaust to be fabricated to my design a three into four similar
to the MV fours in stainless steel. I entrusted the work to John at Campbell
exhausts in Chelsfield Kent. As this was
a month away I ordered all the electrical components I needed to design and
make the loom and fitments of all components battery,rectifier and the Witt electronic ignition system which all
had to be fitted and concealed. I made the loom and fitted all the electrical
components. With this done it was time to disassemble the bike for paint and
polishing etc..
I opted for
traditional colours of black and silver with a tinge of Jota orange and
polished all components myself.
This is the
easy part of any build but caution and taking time to assemble is key to
prevent damage to paintwork etc.
With everything
fitted it was time to start it up and see if all the hard work was worth it.
Initially it popped and banged but at least all the wiring was functional. I
traced the issue to the crank sensor which was the wrong way around putting the
timing out. With this rectified it fired up first touch of the button and ran
very well settling down to a nice tick over.
Next was a road
test to see if it went as well as it looked to say I was not disappointed would
be an understatement. The machine fully fuelled weighs 210 kilos and absolutely fly s.
In conclusion
you can judge yourself whether it all works and looks as it is factory made my
view is a resounding yes but it will not
be to everyone's taste. Meanwhile I am working on the next Café Racer a Norton /
Ducati Bevel drive.
Thanks to the
following who helped in the build of this machine:
Brad for frame
work at Classic Race Bike Developments 0161 478 4317
John at Campbell
exhausts 07946 759990
Nigel for paint
at Legend Vehicle Specialist 01474568490
Mark at RG Powder
Coating 01322 526733
Lee at Viking Vynl
seat cover 07977
874075
Steve for tank
and bodywork
Don Pender for
TZ Yamaha brakes
Keith at Laverda
Scotia for help and advice 07766694567
Motalia for
help and advice Garry Laurence
martedì 21 maggio 2013
Kawa Z1000 CR
Ecco un'altra bella proposta caferacer costruita partendo da una base moderna,
ovvero una Kawa Z1000 2003.
Opera del restyling sono i ragazzi di Gia.Mi. Racing, di Città di Castello (PG).
La domanda sorge spontanea..."operazione riuscita" secondo voi ?
giamiracing.it
ovvero una Kawa Z1000 2003.
Opera del restyling sono i ragazzi di Gia.Mi. Racing, di Città di Castello (PG).
La domanda sorge spontanea..."operazione riuscita" secondo voi ?
giamiracing.it
MANUEL GONELLA
Etichette:
kawasaki
Z750 Cafè
Stavo proprio per farlo!
descrizione:
nessuna pretesa di realizzare
una cafe racer vera e propria, ma un tentativo di dare una veste più
naked e meno plasticona ad uno dei modelli più diffusi della kawasaki:
la Z750 my 2006.
realizzati a mano in alluminio il parafango con
relativa staffa, reggifaro, piastra strumenti, base sella, sottocoda,
portatarga, parafango posteriore, fianchetti (wrappati), battitacco.
Sostituiti: manubrio, specchi, faro, fanale, frecce.
Realizzazione
by "Ferrante".
Etichette:
kawasaki
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