Let's Face It

There are those of us whom were not meant to ride.

It's Ride To Work Day

Seeing that I now work from home, I rode my bike around the block. I hope Y'all ride to work every day.

Here We Go Again

It's no secret that I love Suzuki's first incarnation of the Katana. This design is one of those that seems to have no middle ground, you either love or hate them. I did a post a while back on a Katana built by a fellow from the U.K. named Steve Adams. That bike was a real labor of love. Steve took a basket case and transformed it into one of the most heart stopping bikes I have ever seen. The best part was, he built this bike in his garage to his vision of what his Kat should be.

AC Sanctuary takes a bit of a different approach, they have a shop that hot rods all types of super bikes from the seventies and eighties. Where as Steve built his bike for himself, Sanctuary builds their customs for sale. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Anyone with eyes can plainly see that the people at AC Sanctuary are no less passionate about the specials they build. No expense is spared when they create their road going master pieces. One would be hard pressed to ride something so beautiful. As much as I would love to ride this bike, I would want to park it in my living room and stare at it's sexy lines for hours on end.

This particular AC Sanctuary piece is called the RCM-189 Final Edition. They feel they took this bike as far as they could, hence the moniker. They lavished bits and pieces from about every high end parts producers in the book. Forks from Ohlins, OZ wheels wrapped in Pirrelli Diablo Rosso's. Sunstar discs squeezed by Brembo two pot calipers. A one off Nitro Racing exhaust and can. While a Earls 9 inch 13 stage oil cooler keeps that hot mill from cooking it's self. And a frame reinforced in all the right places to insure this object of desire can handle anything it's proud owner may throw it's way.

It's nice to know that there are companies like AC Sanctuary preserving these bikes and turning on a whole new generation on to these bikes, not just old farts like myself.

A New Guzzi Water Cooled V-Twin?

Word 'round the campfire is Moto Guzzi has a totally new v twin in the works. The 90 degree twin is not another rehash of the marques forty year old design, it is completely now from the valves to the crank. In order to comply with the ever tightening emissions regulations, Guzzi has a compact water cooled mill on the drawing board. It also is supposed to have quite a bit more power than anything the company currently offers. It is rumored to have as much as one hundred forty horse power on tap. The new engine is said to have double overhead cams and four valves per. look for the new power plant to make it's debut in 2015. Myself, I would love to see it in a modern version of the Le Mans. A friend of mine had one back in the day and I always loved the lines of that bike. The prospect of this new engine is causing beads of perspiration to form on my forehead.

Been a Year Already, Man I Miss This Guy

Unk left us a year ago today, I really miss his view of the world and sense of humor.

BOTT XR-1

My buddy Red, of Self Sufficient Slackers fame shot me a link to a motorcycle that got my heart pumping like a shapely young lady strolling past in a pair of Yoga Pants. Those pants on the right behind have been known to send me strait to my cardiologist, and to the chiropractor not long after that. So the bike we are talking about here may have you whipping out your Blue Cross card in a hurry.

If your Buell XB 12 has gotten a little milk toast for you. And you crave a street tracker that handles like a road racer, I have some good news for you. There is help in the way of BOTTPOWER. They have brought us the BOTT XR-1, it blends the DNA of a XB12 with the soul of an Street Tracker. They can build a complete bike for you, or for the do it yourselfers amongst us, they off it in kit form. In kit form, you can use your XB12, XB9 or Ulysses as a donor for the transformation. Here are the specs sniped from BOTTPOWER'S web site:

Engine Air/oil cooled 1203cc Thunderstorm V-Twin, 1203 cm3 (it is possible to build it also with the 900 cc engine), 100 Horsepower at 6600 rpm, Torque 110 Nm at 6000 rpm. Fuel system: 49 mm downdraft DDFI II fuel injection
Gearbox: 5-speed Clutch: Wet, multi-plate, compensated
Final Drive: Belt
Frame: Steel central Spine Bottpower frame, with vibration isolation system.
Front Suspension: Showa inverted fork with adjustable compression damping, rebound damping and spring preload
Rear Suspension: Showa shock absorber
Front Brake: ZTL type brake, 375 mm stainless steel floating rotor, 6 piston caliper Rear Brake: 240 mm stainless steel rotor, single piston floating caliper Dimensions Geometries are the same than the original Buell XB donor bike.
Wheelbase: 52 in OR 1321 mm Seat Height: 30.1 in OR 765 mm Ground Clearance: 4.3 in OR 109 mm
Weight: 179 kgs (20 kgs less than the original Buell XB donor bike).
Fuel Capacity: 13 liters. The bike has a top fuel tank and 2 secondary fuel tanks. Original Buell fuel pump located in the left secondary fuel tank.
Tires: Front 120/70xZR17 and Rear 180/55xZR17

As you can see from the pictures, this one is a looker. I loved the original Harley XR1000, but I am not a big fan of the current XR1200R. I think this bike shows what the XR1200R could have been.

 The XR-1 is being put through it's paces by Anthony "Ant" West, who has more than a little experience wringing the necks of dirt trackers. He has ridden everything from Honda RS125's to NSR500's to ZX-RR's in Moto GP. He currently rides out of the QMMF Racing Team stable in Moto2. Mr. West took two five lap sessions on the bike to get a feel for it. He had very good feedback for the BOTTPOWER crew so they wrapped and headed home with large grins on their faces.

So things at BOTTPOWER are on the upswing, and judging from the styling and feedback they are receiving on the XR-1 it looks to be a very popular option for those who would like to lighten up and get more performance from their XB Buells. Lets see I think I saw a couple promising looking XB's for sale on craigslist.

The Tourer, The Racer, The Dual Sport Maker

Quite a few people are faithful to one brand. Be it Harley, BMW, Ducati, Moto Guzzi, you get the picture. Myself, I'm a motorcycle Lothario, my head is easily turned by many different brands and all types of bikes. While I do find that a certain type of bike kinda gets my blood surging more than others. That would be the UJM, I have always loved naked Japanese bikes. The super bikes of the late seventies early eighties are my most desired rides.

Enough about me, let's take a look at Jimmer. He still has the Yamaha XS500 that he bought way back in '78. Thirty five years, a lot of us don't keep the same bike for thirty five months much less 35 years. It's not that Jim doesn't like other bikes, he does. I even have a picture of him drag racing a Kawasaki Z1000. But there is something about the XS that strikes a chord with Jim. He has adapted this bike for touring, road racing, drag racing and now, believe it or not, he has transformed it into a dual sport bike. Lets let Jim pick up the story from here.

I bought the bike in High School-brand new XS500. First road race-Road America, 13th overall out of 84 teams. After sport touring all over the Midwest, I returned the bike to stockish.

I was fortunate enough to grow up around bikes, cool cars, aircraft, most all motor sports and racing. My Dad, Uncles, Brother, and all his friends gave me a horsepower fix at a young age. By the time I was in high school I new twisty roads were my "thing". The XS was a sweet handler [RD Yamaha type chassis]. I drag raced all through high school, started road racing in 1981. The XS500 got the attention of many people when we placed 13th overall in what was the largest endurance race in the USA. My friend Bob Benedum and I finished 13th out of 84 bikes, all but one[GS450] were much faster/bigger bikes

After road racing for 4 years I did all street riding. The 500 covered every square inch of Wisconsin numerous times, and most of the Mid west. I really liked taking back roads en route to my favorite campsites/camping trips. Fast forward to 1996 and we are now living in Oklahoma, I new right away I needed a dual sport for the awesome dirt roads, AND I was within 1hour 25 minutes of 3 drag strips, so the 500 came off the street and went drag racing only, until this year. I never had the head off the motor until 2011! I have run stock carbs, stock carbs with a gutted air box and rejetted, Suzuki T500 carbs and the 36mm TM Mikunis which have been on forever now. For exhaust the stock exhaust is awesome [but heavy] on the street. It provides fantastic roll on torque with proper carbs and gearing.

I then add a CR500 Honda moto crosser to my spare chassis ,bike hauled azz but really needed a 6 speed or a wide ratio transmission as I had to gear it ridiculously tall to run a 1/4 mile.1st gear was then a dog and it was out of revs by 3/4 track anyways, but in between it was a rocket



My first header was a Dick's Cycle West/Racer 1 I bought from a dealer. It worked great but had really crappy ground clearance. It put me on my ass one time when I levered the rear wheel off the ground. I have been running the Jardine since mid '90's I built two different electronic ignitions for it. The first an after market Ford kit I retro fitted. Turns out it had a built in rev limiter that would shut it down at 6500! So I had to take it off. I also built an amplifier points booster from a kit that I used until I bought the Newtronics. I think that gets you pretty much up to date-sorta?!

Several years ago I had a really nice CR500 that came with some super trick alloy handle bars. I made up my mind then, that I would build an "all around bike" based on those bars. Then last autumn I picked up a 1989 YZ250 roller for $50, and so it began.

I used the YZ complete front end and internally lowered it 3 1/2" and rebuilt the forks at the same time. I mounted a new Acerbis replica fender and cut out the super critical fender vent for the cylinder head. I had the Acerbis headlight and reused that, tucking all the wiring into a PVC electrical box just behind and slightly below the headlight.

I then moved to the back end and removed a bunch of the mono shock junk from the swing arm and bolted that on after adding shock mounts. I treated myself to some new 13" Progressive Suspension shocks and springs. I reused a stock XS500 chain guard clearanced for the shock. Tires are Shinko DOT trials tires with fresh IRC tubes and rim strips. I replaced my old Acerbis LED tail light with a newer, brighter one that also has the white tag light. I added a Wolfman fender bag to the rear fender.

Next up was to detail the instrument cluster to clear the bars and headlight, and mount the reused Tiny Tach. The tach has seen 25,000 miles on my MZ and a couple more years on my brothers MZ. The controls got new dogleg levers and new rubber dust covers. I have lusted after YZ450F mufflers since 2006,so I had been watching for a good one. Wichita Craigslist came though for $40 and I welded that to a collector I had lying around. Tone and sound level is exceptional. Now it is time for an updated title and Antique Kansas tag.

That is quite a love affair with a single bike. While Jim has transformed the bike several times, he has stayed with the same bike he bought all those years ago. I never in my wildest dreams ever pictured an XS500 in off road trim, but then some people have a bit more imagination than others. Most keep stock, build a tracker, bobber or chopper like every one else. I say, great job thinking out of the box Jim.