The team of Texas-based Revival Cycles believes that the motorcycle should be more than a machine; it is an aesthetic expression that demonstrates the beauty of purposeful form. This firm belief has given shape to yet another fantastic makeover of the retro styled Ducati SportClassic. Revival Cycle’s founder Alan Stlurberg recollects receiving the motorcycle in their workshop ‘battered and bruised’. “The owner is 6’5? and loved the bike, but wished it would fit his tall frame a bit better—and of course, quit catching fire!” – says Alan Stlurberg.

To begin with, the team created a new subframe and seat, and began designing a stretched-out aluminium tank. The new rear subframe is over 6 inch thinner than the previous seat and tail. The seat was moved back over 5 inch which works great for the owner. The bike also features a customized alloy tank, tail section, fenders, mounts, exhaust and much more. The wheels are Alpina carbon fiber with new Michelin Pilot racing wet-weather tires and Discacciati braking system from JC/Pakbikes. A custom ECU generates the maximum power from the engine and the bike has been rewired around a Motogadget M-unit. The suspension setup consists of a full Öhlins front and rear and custom triple trees. The charcoal grey body and the luxurious brown leather saddle with matching handlebar grips compliment the powerful mechanism of this bike…A bike makeover with classic style and modern performance!!

To read and see more visit: http://revivalcycles.com/

Stay with this- even if you aren't a 'car nut', this is incredible

* One Top Fuel dragster outfitted with a 500 cubic-inch replica Dodge (actually Keith Black, etc.) Hemi engine makes more horsepower (8,000 HP) than the first 4 rows of cars at NASCAR's Daytona 500.

* Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second;

* A fully loaded Boeing 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate but with 25% less energy being produced.

* A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to merely drive the dragster's supercharger.

* With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lockup at full throttle.

* At the stoichio metric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.

* Nitro methane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapour by the searing exhaust gases.

* Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is typically the output of an electric arc welder in each cylinder.

* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way thru the run, the engine is 'dieseling' from compression and the glow of the exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.

* If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with enough sufficient force to blow the cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half!!

* Dragsters reach over 480 KMH +... before you have completed reading this sentence.

* In order to exceed 480 KMH in 4.5 seconds, a dragster must accelerate an average of over 4 G's.

* In order to reach 320 KMH well before reaching half-track, at launch the acceleration approaches 8 G's.

* Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light 

* Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.

* The redline is actually quite high at 9500 RPM.

* THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is paid for, the pit crew is working for free,

   & NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run will cost an estimated $1,000 per second.

0 to 160 KMH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of the run)

0 to 320 KMH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of the run)

6 g-forces at the starting line (nothing accelerates faster on land)

6 negative g-forces upon deployment of twin 'chutes at 480 KMH

An NHRA Top Fuel Dragster accelerates quicker than any other land vehicle on earth…

Quicker than a jet fighter plane… quicker than the space shuttle… or snapping your fingers!!

The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.420 seconds for the quarter-mile

(2004, Doug Kalitta). 

The top speed record is 540.128 KMH as measured over the last 66' of the run

(2005, Tony Schumacher).

Let's now put this all into perspective:

Imagine this…

You are driving a new $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo powered Corvette Z-06.

Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged & ready to 'launch' down a quarter-mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard, on up through the gears and blast across the starting line & pass the dragster at an honest 320 KMH.... The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that exact moment. The dragster departs & starts after you. You keep your foot buried hard to the floor, and suddenly you hear an incredibly brutally screaming whine that sears and pummels your eardrums & within a mere 3 seconds the dragster effortlessly catches & passes you.  He beats you to the finish line, a quarter-mile away from where you just passed him.

Think about it – from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 320 KMH… and it not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the planet when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race!

That, my friends.....is acceleration.

Shortly before completion of another record year, including the launch of the revolutionary MY2014 1190 ADVENTURE and the brute 1290 SUPER DUKE R, KTM presents as a world premiere the three fully-faired RC model range for model year 2014 at EICMA (I).

RC125, RC200, RC390

Based on the same engine, three supersport bikes follow on from the small DUKE range which was globally presented in the last three years. With a completely new frame and chassis geometry and a racing oriented design, the RC125, RC200 and RC390 represent the affordable production version and the shining example of the Moto3 world championship bike. No matter who the rider is, a racing enthusiastic novice rider in Europe, a fast city racer in Asia or a true motorsport rookie in the ADAC Junior Cup, the three supersport bikes are the first choice for all, who are really into serious technology and are READY TO RACE!

1290 SUPER DUKE R

Already one year ago the prototype of the 1290 SUPER DUKE R stole the attention of thousands of journalists and visitors at EICMA Show in Milan. One year later, the production version of the “Beast” reveals itself as an incredibly rideable Naked Bike with almost infinite possibilities and hitherto unprecedented power and torque.

Hubert Trunkenpolz (KTM CSO): “As the largest European motorcycle manufacturer the 1290 SUPER DUKE R gave us the chance to once again substantiate our technical knowhow on asphalt and expand our leading position in the Naked Bike segment with the presentation of an entire model range. KTM´s most potent Naked Bike is once again a highlight at EICMA Show in Milan and will be rideable by the public for the first time. Just before Christmas, the 1290 SUPER DUKE R will be available at KTM dealers. Regarding the supersport RC models we look ahead with great confidence. With a range of in total six attractive models between 125 and 390cc, we are all set to show on a global base that highly attractive supersport bikes are also available at favourable prices.“

1190 ADVENTURE / R

The MY14 1190 ADVENTURE sets the benchmark in the segment of big travel enduros as well as the 1290 SUPER DUKE R. The 1190 ADVENTURE / R models are the first and unique motorcycles in the world which are equipped with MSC (Motorcycle Stability Control) developed by Bosch – an ABS that works even while cornering and thereby guarantees more safety. Both MY13 1190 ADVENTURE models can be retrofitted with MSC.

As the world´s leading manufacturer in Offroad competition, KTM is also deeply entrenched in the Offroad segment. The impressive Motocross, Enduro and Freeride 2014 model range was presented as always around midyear and was a crucial factor for the majority of the currently 19 world championship titles in 2013. In addition to the already reaped 2013 Moto3 Constructor´s Championship, the Rider´s Championship will definitely be sealed by a KTM rider for the second time in succession after 2012. In January KTM enters the Rally Dakar with a completely new rally bike and will fight for another Dakar victory in 2014 following on from 12 consecutive wins.      

www.ktm.com

www.ktmimages.com

Álex Márquez of Spain emerged the winner in the final meters of the Moto3 Grand Prix of Japan at the Motegi circuit to give KTM its 20th consecutive victory – the new record in the small class of the FIM Motorcycle World Championship!  

The series started at the same place one year ago by former and future Red Bull Ajo KTM rider Danny Kent (UK), who also won three rounds later at Valencia. The Spaniard Luis Salom is with seven victories onboard the KTM RC250 GP Moto3 bike the most successful rider in this period, followed by Alex Rins with six wins and Moto3 World Champion 2012 Sandro Cortese (D) and Maverick Viñales with two victories each.

26 victories in 33 races

Since the comeback of KTM in the new Moto3 category at the beginning of the 2012 season overall 26 victories out of 33 races went to riders sitting on KTM driven bikes. Cortese took three more wins in his World Championship season furthermore Luis Salom and Jonas Folger scored two and one victory on their KALEX-KTM bikes.

The championship now goes to the final round in Valencia (E) on a knife’s edge with Salom still in the lead by two points from Viñales with Rins five points behind the leader. Everything points to a great race for the sport, the Spanish fans and for KTM, who already won the constructors championship a few rounds ago and are in line to take their second World Championship title after Cortese of the Red Bull Ajo KTM team won the first ever Moto3 title in 2012.  

KTM’s 20 consecutive Moto3 winners

1st        Danny Kent (UK)           Motegi (J) 2012

2nd       Sandro Cortese (D)       Sepang (MAL) 2012

3rd       Sandro Cortese (D)       Phillip Island (AUS) 2012

4th        Danny Kent (UK)           Valencia (E) 2012

5th        Luis Salom (E)              Doha (QAT) 2013

6th        Alex Rins (E)                 Austin (USA) 2013

7th        Maverick Viñales (E)      Jerez (E) 2013

8th        Maverick Viñales (E)      Le Mans (F) 2013

9th        Luis Salom (E)              Mugello (I) 2013

10th      Luis Salom (E)              Cataluña (E) 2013

11th      Luis Salom (E)              Assen (NL) 2013

12th      Alex Rins (E)                 Sachsenring (D) 2013

13th      Alex Rins (E)                 Indianapolis (USA) 2013

14th      Luis Salom (E)              Brno (CZ) 2013

15th      Luis Salom (E)              Silverstone (GB) 2013

16th      Alex Rins (E)                 Misano (I) 2013

17th      Alex Rins (E)                 Aragón (E) 2013

18th      Luis Salom (E)              Sepang (MAL) 2013

19th      Alex Rins (E)                 Phillip Island (AUS) 2013

20th      Álex Márquez (E)           Motegi (J) 2013

www.ktm.com

Broadlink KTM’s Riaan van Niekerk finished the six day long rally of Maroc in a credible 11th place overall. The result is significant as he was up against all the top Dakar contenders and this was a FIM World championship event. This was also Riaan’s first rally since the 2013 Dakar in January and he is up against factory teams that have raced the entire world series. Riaan will try to improve on his fantastic 13th overall at the 2013 Dakar rally which was his first, he also won the rookie challenge and the Elf trophy challenge. The rally of Maroc has proven to be a great final test due to the rough nature of Marocco, we have been managed to secure factory suspension for Dakar and have ironed out some small issues on the bike, rather now than at Dakar 2014!

The battle for the World rally championship was decided between Factory Red Bull KTM’s Marc Coma (5 time world champion) and Honda’s Paulo Gonzalves, with Gonzalves taking the overall win of the Rally of Maroc as well as the World Rally championship. This win will surely boost Honda’s confidence going to Dakar, they have their guns blazing and will try to topple KTM’s Dakar dominence. Although the World championship was at stake, KTM’s focus has been on the final testing and further development of their new rally bike and the most important thing is that Coma and Caselli both finished without any mechanical issues.

We will continue with our roadbook training in South Africa and Namibia, there are just two months to go. Thanks to our title

Rumours have It as a V4. With an estimated price tag of around R500 000.00 there will be some fancy metals in there too. That sort of money means that the engine will be uber high revving and uber responsive. The real experience for the road user will be the ride by wire throttle Honda will undoubtedly use. No other road bike will feel as responsive or instant as the RCV road bike. Expect some fancy valves but probably not the fully fledged pneumatic valves the RC213V has. It’ll be a loud engine too, if they really intend to make it derived from their GP bike then expect some really smart engineering to keep the volume down and some really, really expensive Akrapovic exhaust pipes to send the volume sky rocketing again.

Honda has easily the smartest electronics package in MotoGP, we could shortly be saying the same thing of their road bikes. Expect near seamless shifting, back ends sliding and adaptive suspension. The mapping packages could mean that you can upload settings to your bike which will be really exciting for track nuts. Little is known as to how many sensors will be on board, gyros, inertia sensors and accelerometers could add up to quite the track day weapon if Honda are including them. Features like anti-wheelie would be very interesting to look out for.

At this price Honda have a little wiggle room to add a dash of carbon fibre here and there and some nice light metals to improve the handling. Don’t expect carbon swing arms but the wheels should certainly be bespoke. Weight will be saved through not having the usual pillion comforts and other such niceties we take for granted on a road bike.

The Honda RCV road bikes competition

Well there isn’t much really is there. The Ducati Desmosedici was around the same price and at the time was lauded as the closest thing to a GP bike. The Desmo is 5 years old now though and really won’t keep up. The BMW s1000RR HP4 will have a go but probably won’t manage. The most interesting thing would be if it is actually a success. Let’s face it Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin aren’t doing too badly. Could we see a breed of high price hyperbikes from the big manufacturers? The rich and the famous have the choice between a Hellcat and a Desmosedici if they want to splash their cash, in this day and age it can pay to go big.

The Continental GT Cafe Racer is based around Enfield's single cylinder Bullet 500cc engine but no details have been released about any upgrades to its performance. Due to the stripped down appearance of the Continental GT and the specially designed frame I'd expected that this bike will weigh in less than the Bullet so I would assume that performance improvements could be expected.

The styling of the Continental GT is text book Cafe Racer but it's not all about the looks. The new frame features a double down tube and double cradle design that will definitely outperform the more than 50 year old design of the Bullets single tubed frame. The front forks are stiffened up by an alloy brace that sits on top of the front fender and the rear stays true thanks to a pair of gas filled performance shocks from Ohlins. With this sort of handling it's easy to see why they've also put rear sets on the bike and not left any space for a passenger.

Starting with a motorcycle that was designed half a century ago as a base it's obvious why the GT looks so much like a classic. Enfield's designers have stayed true to classic Cafe Racer looks with an elongated, Manx style tank held in place with a leather buckle, a wasp tail single seat, clip on bars, bar end mirrors and low profile lighting (huge thumbs up from me for that one). The GT also features some high quality finishes including a polished triple tree, brushed alloy switch gear, alloy fenders, alloy dash and minimalist instrument cluster. 

As I said at the start of this post this has to be one of the nicest, "straight off the factory floor" Cafe Racers we've seen. It'll a classic before it even gets a chance to get old and I'm sure the waiting list will be disturbingly long.

For more info logon to www.royalenfield.com 

Ducati , the Bologna-based sport bike manufacturer may not be racing the Ducati 1199 Panigale in World Superbike this year, but the Italian brand still has many other teams in other racing series who are keen to use the latest Bologna Bullet. On such outfit is the Ducati Coventry / JHP Racing squad that is campaigning the 1199 in the upcoming 2012 British Superbike Championship, which just today took delivery of their Ducati 1199 Panigale RS.

 Essentially the bike we saw teased on the track before the Panigale’s official launch, the 1199 RS is an even more drool-worthy example of a track-ready Panigale than the Ducati 1199 S Supersport we showed you from the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan. Aluminum tank, carbon fiber bodywork, full Termignoni exhaust, and Öhlins & Brembo pieces abound…yes this is the type of thing that makes grown men weak in the knees.

Built by HRC, the production run will be limited to five bikes

The new CRF450 Rally was designed specifically to compete in the major rally races around the globe—with a focus on the Dakar Rally in January 2014.

Honda plans to race the bike in select rallys leading up to Dakar, starting with the Morocco Rally on October 13, using the same combination of five riders and motorcycles as for the 2014 Dakar Rally.

It is expected that racing the bike in Morocco will provide useful information for further improvements. 

Honda and HRC’s made their first return to the the Dakar Rally in 24 years at last year’s event with a prototype machine based on the Honda CRF450X. What they learned last year in the areas of engine power, aerodynamic performance, durability and maintenance requirements was used as a basis to build the all-new, 2014, fuel-injected CRF450 Rally.

After a seven race, season long, battle, Proudly Bidvest Yamaha’s Kenny Gilbert has been crowned the 2013 South African National Off Road Champion!

The last round of the South African National Off Road Championship took place the past weekend in Ventersdorp, North West Province, and Kenny Gilbert went into the race with a narrow two point advantage over his arch rival and fellow Yamaha pilot Ruan Roberts. With a total of three points difference between a win and second place (first place is awarded 25 points towards the championship, whilst second place is awarded only 22 points), Kenny was under huge pressure in the knowledge that nothing else other than a race victory would ensure him and his team and sponsors the glory of being crowned the National Off Road South African Champion.

Whilst Kenny spent the weeks building up to the race preparing his physical and mental condition for the battle ahead, the Team made sure that all the logistics were in order, as well as prepared his Proudly Bidvest Yamaha WR 450 F race bike to be the ultimate race winning weapon.

Race day came, and Kenny kept his focus on the task at hand, blotting out all the hype and hysteria that was behind what was to prove to be an epic race for the championship.

Roberts took the lead from the start, with Kenny hot on his heels. With 400km’s to race over the next six hours, race tactics would have to play a huge part in the outcome. For the next 250km’s the status quo remained the same, with neither rider giving an inch, and the gap between the two remained constant at around 10 seconds. With around 150km’s to go, Kenny’s superior physical, mental and nutritional conditioning started to give him the edge over his rival, and with Roberts succumbing to dehydration in the 35° degree plus temperatures, Kenny pounced and took the lead. He immediately opened the gap on Roberts to around 50 seconds, and then focused on riding as smoothly and consistently as possible, without making any unforced errors, to the finish line. Showing true professionalism dint of being a part of the premier race team in South Africa, Kenny maintained a consistently fast race pace to eventually cross the finish line some six and a half minutes ahead of Roberts, and be crowned the 2013 South African National Off Road OR1 Class Champion as well as the 2013 South African National Off Road Overall Champion!

With the glory of the laurels around his neck and borne high on the shoulders of his fellow team members, King Kenny and the Team will now proudly adorn the Number 1 plate on their bikes for 2014.

Kenny Gilbert: 2013 South African National Off Road Overall and OR1 class Champion:

“This is an amazing feeling!! I am so thrilled to finally be awarded this championship. All the hard work and sacrifices I have made to ensure that my physical and mental conditioning were correct was SO worth it. But this is without doubt a massive team effort. Without the commitment and support of the entire team this would not have been possible, so I am incredibly proud to be able to share this glory with them as well. This is as much Proudly Bidvest Yamaha’s championship as it is mine. I wish to extend my gratitude to each and every member of the Team, as well as to my wife and family, who have sacrificed a lot in order to assist me to achieve this goal. Most importantly, I wish to extend my deep gratitude to all of our sponsors. I am proud to be able to bring home this championship for all of them. I race the best bikes and wear the best products and am proud to do so, so to: