1979 Honda CB750F Super Sport "Montjuïc Special"by Luis Etchenique

 

I'm not often impressed by motorcycle builds, but this Honda CB750F Supert Sport built by my friend Luis Etchenique is just a work of art in my eyes. Luis Etchenique built this bike as a tribute to the Honda RCB machines that won the 24 Hours of Montjuïc in Barcelona, Spain, back in 1976.

 

Stan Woods in Montjuic 1976

The 1976 edition of the 24 Hours of Montjuïc, won by Stan Woods and Charlie Williams on a Honda 941, was the 22nd edition of this race, organized by the Barcelona Motorists Association at the Circuit de Montjuïc on the weekend of July 3 and 4. It was the second round of the European Endurance Championship (called the FIM Cup until 1975) that year.

That year's extremely hot Barcelona summer forced the Honda Britain ( Stan Woods/Charlie Williams ), and Honda France ( Jean Claude Chemarin/Christian Leon ) teams to remove the machines' cowlings as to allow for a much needed improved cooling. You could see all the hardware, the mechanisms, the internal components. I recall being at the pits ... in awe of such raw performance and engineering.

I was at the time a teenager, and I promised myself that one day I would build a bike that would convey a similar feeling; a bike where you could see its engine, the carbs, the exhaust -- its guts and its soul.

For this project I used a 1979 CB750 Super Sport I found ( in need of many of its original parts ), which otherwise would've probably ended up in someone's junkyard. 

1971 BMW F750 Butler & Smith Factory Racer

 

Road racing history has many fascinating footnotes, most about "near success", and so it is for the very last BMW using a factory race chassis. Look no further than this American BMW that represents the glorious first steps that would lead to R90S domination in mid-1970s Superbike racing.

BMW's participation in Superbike racing was part of a process of rejuvenation from staid to exciting. And so it was after the Adams family purchased BMW's US importers, New Jersey-based Butler & Smith, in 1971 and were faced with sluggish sales of the new R75/5, that company president Dr. Peter Adams created a five-year race program to refresh both his sales and the brand at large. Immediately he provided parts manager (and part-time racer), German-born, former NASA engineer, Udo Geitl, with resources to develop a Formula 750 R75/5 racer for AMA's 1972 National championship, run for the first time under F750 rules. Read more : Here

Why We Ride

 

What started as a documentary about the legendary racer “Iron Man” Ed Kretz become a 15 month long production studying the “two-wheeled perspective” of the passion of life told through anecdotes of those who live and breath it everyday. This was one of the most transformative filmmaking journeys our crew had ever embarked on. - James Walker, Producer of Why We Ride & Co-Founder/CFO of Motovational, Inc. Why We Ride is a story about who we are. Individuals with a desire to dream, discover and explore. From a kid’s dream come true, to a retiree’s return to freedom. From a family riding together on the sand dunes, to hundreds of choppers carving through the canyons – the bond is the same. It’s about the passion of the riders and the soul of their machines.

Todd Cameron and The Canonball

 @Marjorie Kleiman

Todd Cameron raced this 114-Year-Old Motorcycle Cross-Country and won the Class 1. Todd Cameron completed the ‘Cannonball’ going 40 mph and using pedals to climb mountains on his 1909 Indian motorcycle. The competition between Todd Cameron and Dave Currier was fierce, yet friendly. The two Cannonball veterans could often be seen riding the course side by side. And through each stage of the competition, everyone wondered whether Dave would keep the #1 spot or turn over the championship to challenger Todd. It wasn’t easy for either of these men to maintain the top two positions like they did throughout the entire run. Todd had to change both front and rear sprockets on his 1909 Indian Single not only many times throughout the competition, but multiple times in a single day! And Dave’s 1911 Harley-Davidson Single could not be left to idle in traffic or the belt would have burned up. Those who rode near him would see him either ride circles to avoid stopping at lights, or jump off the bike and roll it back and forth until the light changed or traffic cleared enough that he could jump back on and take off again. Once the endurance run reached its conclusion, riders went through many different, and sometimes conflicting, emotions: exhausted and happy it was over, sad to leave the camaraderie and the new friendships formed, pleased with their bike’s performance or thinking about mechanical improvements for next time, ready to go home, looking forward to the next Cannonball—the entire range of feelings one can experience when an event of this magnitude is suddenly over.

Class 1:

1 - #99 Todd Cameron

2 - #1 Dave Currier

3 - #109 Alex Trepanier

(Thanks Don McGovern 😁)

An Officer and a Gentleman T140

 

Keith Turk

My T140 USA a few years ago ...

Yes, this is the same Triumph Bonneville from the movie An Officer and a Gentleman. Paramount Pictures made two bikes for the movie, both purchased from Dewey's Cycle Shop in Seattle. The "stunt" bike, with lower gearing and some other differences, is at Planet Hollywood; the other one belongs to Keith Turk. Keith Turk found the bike on eBay in 2002. A Hollywood prop designer had the bike in storage for many years before she sold it. Keith has always been into English sports cars, and he was looking for a motorcycle to go with his Austin Healey 100/4. The movie history was cool, but he bought it first as a Triumph and because it had almost no miles on it and had been stored in California, so it was essentially perfect. Honestly, it’s just not a great motorcycle. It’s from one of Triumph’s worst years. It’s kickstart only. The gearbox doesn’t snick, it snatches through the gears. It’s got a 4-inch over front end, which makes it less than comfortable to ride.  Pretty much everything about the bike is difficult. Keith bought it on a whim. He had enough money to do what he wanted, so he went out and bought this really cool Triumph. He has been without a bike since 1976, when he joined the Army. He put 1,500 miles on it the first year, and it mostly reminded him how much he really loved riding bikes. Then he bought some old Honda 550s, and he as been back riding ever since.

By Keith Turk via motorcyclistonline.com

VOC International Rally 2023

 

A few days ago my friend Wayne Kogan went to the VOC International Rally celebrating the 75th Anniversary of The Vincent H.R.D. Owners Club. The Rally was hosted by the Southern California Section, one of the oldest and strongest Sections in the VOC. There were Iconic Racing Vincents featured including the John Edgar's 'Bathing Suit' LSR rode by Rollie Free. The story of the Bathing Suit Bike started In 1948  when Philip Vincent was touring America and meeting his dealers. While at V.L. “Mickey” Martin’s shop in Burbank, Calif., he was introduced to John Edgar, a well known West Coast journalist and sportsman with a liking for fast motorcycles. Edgar appreciated that the Black Shadow had the potential to take the American speed record from Harley-Davidson and rider Smokin’ Joe Petrali. And the Vincent “Barn Job” built by Clem Johnson would become the first drag bike racer to go 140, 150 and 160 mph. For more than five years, the machine held the record for both elapsed time and top speed. Its quickest would be 9.70 seconds; its fastest was 151.51 mph. It was for Wayne the occasion to meet with the "one and only" Alp Sungurtekin and his amazing 1948 Vincent Twin Engine, production number ‘F10AB/1/666’ which became in 2021 the fastest 1000cc Vincent Record Holder of all time with a two way average of 193.621MPH.

History under the hammer

 

 

It looks like a Harley-Davidson, but it is indeed a Japanese version of the Harley-Davidson, produced under license. Rarer than rare, only a handful have ever reached auction in the West, and this unit set an auction record price.

The first American V-twin motorcycle, the holder of the World Land Speed Record for motorcycles, the subject of a stunning restoration by Steve Huntzinger.

 

Two decades ago it was one of the rarest and most valuable motorcycles in the world, selling for $126,500 in 2001.

When it comes to investing in collectible motorcycles, the provenance of a name like Steve McQueen is "Blue Chip." Indeed, if this bike hadn't been owned by McQueen, it would be worth MUCH less.

Few motorcycles can claim to be this beautiful and this functional at the same time. The Brough Superior Pendine was introduced to the range in 1927 with a guaranteed top speed of 110mph. It looks that fast just standing still.

One of just 308 Brough Superior 11/50s made prior to WW2, the 11/50 was most frequently paired with a sidecar due to its muscular 1096cc J.A.P. flat-head V-Twin engine.

 

This 1955 Vincent Black Prince has just 5,136 miles on the odometer from new. At that time, it was one of just 132 fully-enclosed versions of the Black Shadow produced. Despite being a low, original miles, museum quality specimen, it fetched just $110,000, well below the model record of $164,500, and many other Black Princes that have sold for more than $110,000 in recent times.

The National Motorcycle Museum replicas of the iconic motorcycles from the 1969 film "Easy Rider" sold for $60,500 and $24,200 respectively.

National Motorcycle Museum Collection sells. The sale of the John Parham Motorcycle Collection a couple of weeks ago didn’t receive much coverage in the motorcycle media, perhaps because it wasn't widely recognized that Parham was essentially the National Motorcycle Museum. When a museum collection goes to auction there are always historically significant artifacts on offer, and in this case the sheer volume of high quality lots combined with a non-mainstream location meant that some serious bargains were snaffled. John Parham was the driving force behind the National Motorcycle Museum in Iowa. Following his death, his 300-plus motorcycle collection which formed the core of the museum display, was sold off by Mecum Auctions “in situ” and it contained so many of history’s most important motorcycles that it offered something for everyone, regardless of their two-wheeled interests.

Read more : Here

1938 Brough Superior SS100 for Auction

 

An extremely rare 1938 Brough Superior SS100 is about to be auctioned at the NEC Classic Motor Show Sale in the UK in November 2023. This particular specimen is an extremely well-known machine in the Brough community, with a complete history and documentation dating back to 1954. The current owner has had it since 2018. It’s a correct, numbers-matching example that was restored by the late renowned Brough restorer Tony Cripps in 2010. It’s a racing model, according to the owner and is presented in a condition deemed excellent by the auction house. In more recent history, this machine has won several awards at exhibitions, including twice winning the Best MX SS100 award at the Brough Rally. It also won Best Ridden to Show at the Brough Rally once, and also won Best Bike at the VMCC Rally twice. As it is a competition model, this bike has a current UK registration, complete with V5C. The bike will be auctioned live at the NEC Birmingham on November 12, 2023, at 13:00 Greenwich Mean Time. It is expected to cost between £240,000 (€280,586.89) and £260,000 (€303,969.14).

via :  motorcyclesports.net 

see also : https://themotart.blogspot.com/2010/12/bonhams-motorcycles-department.html