A day with Dimitri Coste by John Carriere

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A DAY WITH DIMITRI COSTE from EASTPAK FRANCE on Vimeo.


Today my friend John Carriere send me the video he made about Dimitri " Surfing " his motorcycle.
This video is a pure moment of pleasure ... enjoy. Frank

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Stacie B. London by Scott Pommier

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Scott Pommier shooting my friend Stacie B. London for –SHUTTER SPEED– image courtesy of camerabag.tv

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Dutchmann Photos

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Today i would like to present the work of my friend Maurice van den Tillaard from Netherlands. Maurice is a self taught photographer and mostly works under the name DutchmanPhotos and concentrates on shooting downhill mountainbiking and BMX, motocross and other motorsports, newer or vintage motorcycles and automobiles, and more...

http://dutchmanphotos.blogspot.com

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The Sunday Movie

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A video from my friend Kenny Cummings from www.nycnorton.com


'68 Seeley Norton Commando at AMA Vintage Grand National Championships, Mid Ohio, July 26, 2009. I was gridded in the last row of the second wave and had a group of 350 GP bikes in front of me. In front of them was a group of Middleweight Superbikes that went off in a first wave. I was able to get a great start and made my way past all bikes from the 2nd wave by Turn One. I then set out to chase down the Superbikes from the first wave. I managed to pass all bikes and not only led my class but got the overall win as well. Unfortunately I forgot to turn on my camera until about the 3rd or 4th lap, so I missed all the action in the beginning, but you can see me catch the last Superbike at about 6:00. My camera worked well, but I still have to figure out how to get better sound and less wind noise.




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Shinya Kimura

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via : the Selvedge Yard

In 1962 I was born in Old Town Tokyo

I was brought up surrounded by the smell of oil and steel, and the sound of machinery

I think this is why this life suits me well

I have Images but I am not inspired by any particular thing

I don’t draw either

I cut steel or bend aluminum listening to how I feel at that moment

I use my own hands and break my back making the bikes

I believe that speaks to peoples emotions and makes them want one... Read more

image by Scott Pommier

http://shinyakimura.blogspot.com



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The Kestrel

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A few days ago, Amaryllis Knight from Falcon Motorcycle send me this video of Ian Barry riding the Kestrel in the desert. Its a real cool video so take time to look at it and enjoy. Frank



Second of Falcon's Concept Ten, a series of custom motorcycles designed around the engines of iconic pre- and post-War British motorcycles - The Kestrel is the engine from a 1970 Triumph Bonneville, which Falcon cut in half and completely re-engineered.

With the exception of a few critical pieces (crankcases, gearbox, and 10 inches of the original Triumph headstock), everything -- including the frame, girder front forks, gas and oil tanks, exhausts, handlebars, levers, even the cylinders -- was fabricated in-house from blocks, sheets and rods of steel, brass and aluminum.

Directed: Matt Taylor & Amaryllis Knight

Edited: Matt Taylor

Song: Torment of the Metals / Black Math Horseman

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Ossa Desert

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Gianni send us this picture of his restored ossa ( aft6er villa 250, bultaco alpina, fantic, montesa 123...) what do you say ?
Gianni is from Isola della Scala - Verona- Italy



The Ossa firm was a strong supporter of all forms of motorcycle sport including: road racing, motocross, enduro and observed trials. Their first success came at the 1967 24 Hours of Montjuich on the streets of Barcelona. Against all the major Spanish factories, Ossa motorcycles finished a surprising first and second. Inspired by this success, the factory decided to compete abroad in order to make inroads into the international market.



They achieved early success in Grand Prix road racing, competing with an innovative monocoque-framed bike designed by Giró's son, Eduardo and ridden by Santiago Herrero. Herrero won four 250cc Grands Prix with Ossa before he died while competing at the 1970 Isle of Man TT. The loss of their star rider affected the Ossa team so much that they withdrew from road racing altogether.




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The Kestrel by Falcon Motorcycles

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via:
It's been two years since Falcon Motorcycles in Los Angeles sped onto the custom scene with a high-end concept bike fashioned from old British iron.

Commissioned by actor Jason Lee and unveiled at the much-loved but now-defunct Legend of the Motorcycle vintage bike show in 2008, the Bullet scavenged the engine and frame of a 1950 Triumph Thunderbird and fused it with the profile of a '20s board tracker and obscure bits and bobs to create a could-have-been bike that never actually existed.


Two years and 2,000 man-hours later, Falcon is back with a follow-up to its award-winning Bullet. It's called the Kestrel. Fashioned around the engine of a 1970 Triumph Bonneville and outfitted with hundreds of handcrafted pieces dreamed up by builder Ian Barry, the Kestrel, to be unveiled at this weekend's Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Carmel, is an evolution of the Falcon concept: one-of-a-kind motorcycles built around the engines of pre- and post-World War II British bikes.


Founders Barry and Amaryllis Knight won't disclose the price tag on the Kestrel, the second official Falcon bike. They prefer to use the term "priceless." And for good reason. Two thousand hours is more than double the amount of time it took to build the $45,000 Falcon Bullet.


And that doesn't even begin to get at the sleepless nights Barry said he spent conceptualizing his latest creation, or the cost of the vintage "donor bike" or the extensive machinery and raw materials employed to turn the Kestrel into elegant, two-wheeled art.



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IronHead Ron

Two weeks ago I paid a visit to my friend Ron. Ron's a Die-Hard IronHead Sportster Hi-Performance Freak and always has some interesting projects up his sleeve.


Here's his XR Ironhead that he's building for the street. He started with a genuine factory XR 750 frame and oil bag.



Look close and you'll see that the cylinder fins have all been drilled. I believe he said it's a 77" stroker. Ron likes to use socket (Allen), head fasteners as much as possible.


His next project, an Ironhead Bagger. Ron always uses trick parts. That's a raked XLR frame and those are aluminum engine mounts dangling up front.


This 1965 stroker will go in the bagger. It's cases will be converted for electric start. When was the last time you saw Axtell aluminum Ironhead cylinders?


A flat track style Triumph project awaits in the back. Once again, featuring aluminum cylinders.


Here's a shot taken in Dec. 2001 of the Sportster from the above shot. There is a lot more going on here than at first glance. Ron shaves, drills, and massages each part before it goes on any of his rides. After an unfortunate incident, that motor went into the bike below.


This bike also recently had an unfortunate and very serious incident. We're glad Ron is now OK. Some of you may remember this bike from the Dec. 08 Century Motorcycles Post.

I'll post more shots as Ron progresses and finishes these very personalized machines.

Nick Clement

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My friend Nick Clement is a fashion photographer working between NYC and London. His website contains all his important stories over the past two years as well as his latest work creating a complete portfolio.
His work can be seen here in its entirely and new work is added as it comes into the public domain.





Nick you're the best keep on showing us what's in your Eye.

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BMW ISDT Enduro Racer

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Via our good friend Bike Exif



BMW’s profile in the racing enduro market seems to be slipping of late. (Which is a pity, because the G450X offers promise, as well as BMW’s usual 24-month warranty.) But this factory-endorsed, 900 cc boxer endurofrom almost thirty years ago shows what could have been. In 1980 it won the German and European enduro championships, plus the prestigious ISDT.



The bike apparently sports 50 bhp and weighs just 132 kg, and inspired the cultish BMW R80 G/S (Gelände/Straße, or off-road/street) built from ’81 to ‘87. That machine married the 800 cc R80/7 engine to a strengthened R65 chassis, and was the only BMW twin to be unaffected by the launch of the K series. For more obscure BMW off-roading goodness, check out this gallery from German BMW race preparation expert HPN.


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Doxa Watches

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Doxa S.A. is a Swiss company, founded in 1889, that manufactures watches. Doxa is best known for its dive watches.Doxa, founded in 1889 by George Ducommun, began as a maker of fine dress watches and other timepieces. Over the years, Doxa gained in size and branched out into other timekeeping markets.
In the late 1960s Doxa realized that diving was becoming more popular—especially given the success of early innovators like Rolex and Blancpain in the early 1950s.

Picture courtesy of : lesmala.net

In fact the success of Rolex's Submariner and Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms helped originate a market for followers such as Doxa. This may have been due to the efforts of Jacques Cousteau and increased general awareness of the sport. Doxa decided to devote resources to create a watch to be used for diving. Tests indicated that an orange face was more visible in murky water. Doxa also consulted with divers, including Cousteau, then chairman of "U.S. Divers," and Claude Wesly (a Cousteau companion and the first man to spend seven days thirty-three feet underwater). A staff of engineers and professional divers was assembled to create a watch with features important to the diving industry. The Sub300t was purchased in quantity by U.S. Divers, who resold the watch in the United States. It was an instant hit with divers and quickly sold out upon its introduction.

The Doxa Sub300t features an orange face to make it more visible in the water. It has a rotating bezel with the official US Navy air dive table for no-decompression dives engraved onto its surface. The watch could be used to calculate decompression times, and other information useful to divers. It was rated to work 300 meters below sea level, and later versions were introduced that could work up to 750 meters below sea level.

Other watchmakers then followed with similar bezels, as well as colorful and bright faces.
Soon after the introduction of the Sub300t, the Swiss watch industry was hard-hit economically by the quartz watch revolution. Accurate, reliable and small timepieces could now be made without the mechanical movements that the Swiss specialized in constructing. In response, Doxa joined a group of Swiss watchmakers to consolidate resources. This eventually failed and Doxa, after being sold, ceased operations in about 1980.

Picture courtesy of : lesmala.net

Recently, Doxa has been revived by the Jenny family of Switzerland, who owns the brand. Since August 2002, Doxa has introduced re-editions of its well known watches and timepieces in limited quantities. Many are faithful to their original models in design and construction, and all use Swiss movements.



First Orange Faced dive watch, Sub300t in 1967.
First watch with a rotating bezel to compute no-decompression times, Sub 300t, 1967
First Publicly Available Dive Watch with Helium Release Valve named the Conquistador. In certain diving situations, helium can penetrate the watch seals and cause a pressure buildup in the watch, eventually blowing the crystal off the watch face. Rolex, invented and introduced the first dive watches with a helium release valve in 1969, which prevented this helium buildup. While this was a major advance at the time, few actual watches with this feature were produced. Doxa introduced the Sub300t Conquistador in 1969 featuring a helium release valve.



According to the sales brochures and advertisements in Skin diver magazine, DOXA was the first watch company to introduce this device to the public for general sale. Rolex was manufacturing watches with the Helium Release Valve at the same time, but was only selling them to Commercial Diving Companies such as COMEX. Rolex offered the Sea Dweller with Helium Escape Valve to the public in 1972. Omega also eventually introduced a helium release valve, in its Seamaster watch.



In the media
The hero of the Dirk Pitt book series by author Clive Cussler wears an Orange faced Doxa watch and also in the movie Sahara an orange faced Doxa is worn by Dirk Pitt. In recognition of this Doxa have officially recognised Clive Cussler and presented him with a special watch.

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