A Deus Triumph Bonneville

On Saturday I popped over to Deus for a coffee. As I arrived, I caught a glimpse of a Triumph Bonneville being wheeled out of the workshop and into the afternoon sunlight; I only saw it for a second, but it was long enough to make an impression. Deus have now released images of their latest custom, and yes, it’s one of their best yet. A lot of work has gone into ‘Dave’s Bonny’—for starters, it’s been lowered a full two inches from stock. You’ll find the complete build sheet below, but the highlights include a heavily modified Kawasaki W650 tank with the fuel injection unit tucked inside, and 41mm clip-ons from Australian specialist Tingate matched to handbar controls from a Triumph Trophy 955. The fiberglass seat unit is a Deus original, along with the headlight brackets, and the swingarm has been lengthened by 2.5 inches. (The rear frame section was modified to accept the seat and shortened four inches in the process.) The engine covers have been powdercoated black, and the fuel injection bodies are coated in 2-pack gloss black. A complete re-wire—with much of that wiring hidden—completes the look. I don’t know who Dave is, but he’s one helluva lucky guy.

Build Sheet :

7-inch side mount headlight
Deus headlight brackets in alloy
Integrated indicator lights in top of headlight
Smooth top tree
Deus speedo bracket
41mm Tingate clip on bars. Handlebars converted from 1″ to 7/8″
Triumph trophy 955 handle bar controls w/ custom cables
Clip-on mirror
Relocated ignition switch, British ribbed-style grips
Front suspension lowered 2 inches
Ikon tri-rate dampers—lowered 2 inches
Alloy “H” pattern rims: 18” rear, 19” front, with stainless spokes
Firestone tires, 4.00×19 front and 4.50×18 rear
Black braided brake lines
W650 gas tank: shaved, smoothed, knee dents added, fuel injection unit inside tank, Monza race cap.
Deus fiberglass seat unit modified to suit frame
Custom seat upholstery
Round stainless stop light on custom brackets
Rear frame section modified to accept seat and shortened 4 inches
Alloy turn signals
Hidden horn and rectifier/regulator
Hidden wiring throughout and re-wiring of half the bike
Swingarm stretched 2.5 inches
Alloy sprocket
HPC coating on standard header pipes. Maddass mufflers also in HPC with polished tips
Fuel injection bodies 2pack gloss black
All engine covers in powder coat black
Custom engine sprocket cover
Norman Hyde rear set pegs
Full custom paint job by Dutchy

Bron:

Bike Exif

SO

Motoring George Spauwen

"The Twin Man"

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A Triumph Bonneville Custom: Salt Ghost

Sometimes it’s the rattiest-looking bikes that are the most interesting.

And this machine, known as the ‘Salt Ghost’, is a classic example.

It’s owned by Wes White of Four Aces and Tyler Malinky of Lowbrow Customs,

and it’s got history by the bucketload.

Salt Ghost has been racing at the El Mirage dry lake since the 60s,

and like many successful racers, it’s a real mongrel in the parts department.

The engine is from 1961 Bonneville, and the chassis is a 1948 Triumph rigid.

Even the motor itself is a hybrid, with a nine-bolt head on a 650 barrel,

and Harmon & Collins roller tappets.

According to the excellent profile on Chop Cult,

“The cams have yet to be identified, but they have serious lift —

enough for the valves to require .008” and .010” clearances

when stock was .002” and .004”.”

Heavy-duty fueling comes from two Amal GP carburetors—

with no idle circuits, so the motor will die unless revved constantly.

The oil tank holds just enough to keep that engine alive for a short blast,

and to top it all off, the fuel tank is a rare 1957 Tiger 100R/R item,

complete with original paint.

It might look like trash to the casual bystander,

but this bike is all class. Head over to Chop Cult for the full story.

[Thanks to Tyler Malinky.]

(Bron:Bikeexif)

Motoring George Spauwen

"The Twin Man "

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A BMW Schneekrad 1936

Just in time for snow season, we have another single track motorcycle for you to consider. If you remember some of the other tracked vehicles we've featured here on The Kneeslider, you know there were some interesting examples of engineering, some practical, some not so much, and here's one that goes back a little ways, it's a 1936 BMW "Schneekrad" or snowmobile. I ran across this in an old magazine and other than the name and photographer, there's no other technical information of any sort, perhaps one of you with a good historical book on BMW would have something to share with us.

How it actually turns would be interesting to see and the top of the machine is a little visually confusing from this angle.

This photo is by Kurt Worner, a famous European photographer who passed away some years ago.

(By Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider ")

SO

STEEDS VERASSEND, ALTIJD DICHTBIJ!

Motoring George Spauwen

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A Triumph Tiger Custom

This 1971 Triumph T100 is called Boy Racer and it’s from a new Italian shop called Grease Monkey. Owners Gianluca Tiepolo and Max Trono are into old school bikes with a twist; they’ve come up with a machine that has a light-hearted, almost rococo feel. The intricate paintwork is certainly attention-grabbing—it reminds us of Sucker Punch Sally’s Fender Triumph—but the underpinnings are solid and conventional. The 498 cc parallel twin motor has been completely rebuilt, and the frame reconfigured as a bobber-style rigid. Grease Monkey has aimed for a compact look and shortened the front fork by just over an inch (30mm), which also makes the bike more agile. The wheels are 19 and 18 inches, but the frame can handle a 21/16 setup for a more custom look. It’s a bike designed to be ridden: the erratic original electrics have been replaced by a 12-volt system and electronic ignition, but vintage lights and Smiths instruments keep the visuals authentic. It’s a good start: I think we’ll be hearing more from Grease Monkey in the future.

Bron:

Bike Exif

SO

Motoring George Spauwen

"The Twin Man"

Sponsored by
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The Royal Enfield Specials

McDeeb Royal Enfield Specials :

– Six Days – Thruxton – Clubman

– Brand New Classics from Italy

McDeeb Six Days Royal Enfield Special

It isn't often a tip leads me to something that just makes my jaw drop, but these McDeeb Royal Enfields are stunning. All three models, the Six Days, Thruxton and Clubman are based on brand new bikes. McDeeb, if I understand correctly, is a brand developed by Classic Farm Motorcycles in Italy. Taking brand new Royal Enfield 500s, they can build one of these 3 models for customers with a variety of optional configurations, including a 612cc high performance kit.

McDeeb Thruxton Royal Enfield Special

Options on the bikes range from 4 and 5 speed transmissions,

left and right side shift, the Thruxton even has an optional full fairing.

I came across one mention of parts kits that a current Royal Enfield owner could use to build his own version of one of these but I couldn't find any more details about that. No mention of price anywhere, either.

These are beautiful variations of the standard models and the workmanship and well thought out designs merit high praise. If I owned a Royal Enfield, I'd be looking very closely at what these folks offer. If Classic Motorworks here in the U.S. who import the RE aren't working with McDeeb to bring these versions to the U.S., they should be. They do offer custom kits but they are nowhere near as nice as the McDeeb models. I like these, I like them a lot.

UPDATE:

I received a very interesting and informative email from Fabrizio Di Bella of Classic Farm Motorcycles explaining a little more about what they do. Here's what he had to say:

I'm Fabrizio "McDeeb" Di Bella and we appreciate the reception our bikes have received on The Kneeslider.

McDeeb was my nickname since I was young, due to an "insane" passion for British classic bikes, and it started from a shortened version of my family name created by customers of mine coupling it with "Mc" to emulate the "Scottish sound".

My career began as a motocross and road test-driver for some motorcycle magazines during my apprenticeship, my technical background was formed mainly in R&D in the Kawasaki off road and ATVs Italian branch, then 12 years ago I started my own garage and workshop: Classic Farm Motorcycles, in a quiet village in the mountains of the Camonica Valley, not far from Brescia.

Now the valley is not so quiet, thanks to some classic engines we usually drive on open roads, passion for motorcycles and metalworking culture are so strong here that we decided to plant a small workshop to manufacture specials "tailored to customer's requests."

The prices for our complete bikes (based on a brand new Royal Enfield Bullet) are between 10.850 Euros and 15.500 Euros, but the above prices are for fully optioned bikes, we also offer customization on customer owned bikes or less modification depending on customer's needs. We can supply both complete specials as separate parts or full conversion kits .

At this moment we are manufacturing 12 McDeeb "Limited production" motorcycles (most are already sold) and about the same quantity of "bolt on" kits, while the second batch is scheduled for the end May. We are looking for distributors and importers overseas.

We are also official dealers for Royal Enfield for our area and after receiving good feedback from the factory about our work, we’re pursuing a closer relation with them.

Our staff is made up of seven people but a larger crew is scheduled before the end of this year, and we can take good workers from other brands, due to the poor market for "normal" bikes.

We are also planning a larger facility of 800 square meters during the next months, in order to improve our manufacturing capability: in this area lots of skill artisans are still working and this helps us maintain the high level of hancrafted detail people appreciate in our bikes.

The metalworking tradition here started two thousand years ago during the Roman age, so the "Camonica Valley " is also called "The Iron Valley" and a lot of our suppliers are small factories run by the third or fourth generation: it provides great skill, passion and experience in metal working and allows us to offer "plastic-free" bikes.

My job is product manager and engine development (my co-worker Salvo Balli, a former Yamaha racing mechanic, also works in this role) and my responsibility of prototyping handmade alloy bodyparts is still active: I learned from an 84 year old artisan who had great experience in that field.

In our range, I've tried to create the bikes I dreamed of when I was a boy, and now, luckily, I own in my collection: BSA, Norton, Matchless and classic Triumphs and it seems that your readers have the same attitudes: they understand the feeling of what we are working to evoke.

McDeeb Clubman Royal Enfield Special

SO

STEEDS VERASSEND, ALTIJD DICHTBIJ

Motoring George Spauwen

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The Spider Run 2008

Juist ja... het was prachtig weer dit weekend!

Zaterdag 27 sept heb ik met "HansHans" nog even gereden naar

(Foto: Houthakkersfestival)

het hutje van Ome Jan bij dagrecreatieterrein Drakenstein te Lage Vuursche,

waar wij volop op het terras van de zon konden genieten!
Maar zondag 28 sept gingen er weer een aantal "diehards" (3) van start!

Het kostte nog enige moeite om een groenekanner tussen "de klamme lappen" vandaan te halen.

Maar na uitgebreid koffie te hebben gedronken en wat bijgekletst gingen we dus

met een klein gezelschap van start vanuit Groenekan.

"vertrokken"

Omdat we slechts met 3 DVMA-"Lidjes" op pad gingen hadden wij nu eindelijk

weer eens de juiste gelegenheid onze "brommers" echt de sporen geven...

Prima weer, Herfstkleuren, redelijk rustige stille wegen, olie, benzine,

en voldoende lucht in de bandjes...

Wel werd er wat "gedemoniseerd"...

Kijk uit voor flitspalen en...eh...ik zag wat oliesporen op de weg...

Nee...echt niet... niks aan de hand!

Gewoon RIJDEN >> GAAN...

Van Groenekan dus gingen we dus via de Bilt, door Lage Vuursche,

Soest, Soesterberg, ri.Maarn , via Woudenberg, ri Scherpenzeel, naar Achterveld.

Kortom De Utrechtse Heuvelrug,

zonder "booswachters" dit keer,

waar je nu met veel pleizier en extra breed aan het gas hangend
alle bochten goed kon nemen met een behoorlijk tempo.

In Achterveld werd op het terras bij de Roskam tijdens een stop genoten

van een paar heerlijke speciaalbiertjes en wat te eten...

Want echt scheuren maakte toch ook wel hongerig!

Daarna besloten we via Woudenberg, Doorn, het bekende Langbroek,

Bunnik, weer terug te rijden naar Utrecht, alwaar op bij terras van

Jan Primus nog wat nagenieten was

van deze toch al met al wel een snelle en geslaagde rit!

Er zijn weinig of geen foto's van....

maar herinneringen blijven ook bestaan!

Wij hebben in ieder geval weer genoten van dit alles...

en toch ook weer zo'n 80.2 mls = 128,32 km probleemloos "vintage" gereden!

Tot de volgende keer maar weer...

Zorg gewoon dat je er dan ook niet bij bent! :)

SO

Motoring George Spauwen

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