4WD vs Cafe Racer

Well when you ride a bike everyday it's only a matter of time before it's involved in some sort of accident. A couple of days ago I parked my W650 Cafe Racer in a kerb side bay outside a photography store. I went in and waited while another customer was being served. The customer before me left and I started up conversation with a sales assistant. About 2 minutes passed and the previous customer reappeared looking very sheepish. "Do you ride a motorcycle?" she asked. I looked at her and knew straight away what had happened. I said "You've just reversed in to my bike haven't you". She nodded and my heart sank.

When I parked there was a 4WD parked in the bay in front of me. I had thought when I parked that there's a chance the driver wouldn't see me bike so I gave her a good 2.5m of clearance. I also checked how much space it had in front and there was about 1m before the next car...so I stupidly thought "there's no way that 4WD will have to reverse back that far"....WRONG!

When I got outside my bike was lying on the road. I lifted it up, we exchanged details and parted ways. I pulled my tool kit out and was able to get everything back in to place so I was able to sheepishly ride my battered Cafe Racer home. The damage was mainly cosmetic and thankfully my alloy tank and custom seat weren't harmed.

The damage list is as follows:

Right side exhaust

rear indicator

footpeg

foot brake lever

front brake lever

right side grip

throttle cables (housing bent and scratched up)

How much will this cost to repair? The quote stands at $2900!!! Thankfully the woman was kind enough to not drive off and admitted fault. Now I have a 4 week wait to get it all fixed. Yay.

Twinline Motorcycles

Twinline Motorcycles are a custom motorcycle shop in Seattle who's "inspiration comes from 60's cafe racers, race bikes, streamliners, board racers, flat trackers and anything else that looks fast!"


Using vintage Japanese and European motorbikes as a base they build custom bikes for urban riders as well as offering tuning, restoration and painting services. Twinline have this to say about their custom motorcycles...

"Our designs are usually stripped down, accented to be aggressive, with clean
lines. With tightly built motors, and precisely tuned performance these bikes
can deliver fantastic usable power"

Check out the Twinline Motorcycles website for more about the company and details on some of their bike builds. If you're in the neighbourhood you can visit their workshop at 2106 S. Holgate St, Seattle.

The departure

Zero engineering at Bonneville. Correction: Chabott Engineering at Bonneville.

Die Cast Cool - Tamiya Honda CB750

If you're looking for the ultimate toy for your motorcycle obsessed kid or something ultra cool to sit on your office desk check this out.


Easliy one of the best motorcycle models available, Tamiya's 1/6th scale Honda CB750 semi assembled premium model is the ducks nuts.

"On March 15, 1970 at the worlds largest production motorcycle race the Daytona 200, the Honda Motorcycle Group entered its racing version of the CB750. With an average lap speed of 164.3km/h, the CB750 went on to set a new course record. Pumping out 95ps/9500rpm with a top speed of 240km/h, the racing CB750 continued its winning form not only in Japan but also abroad, becoming the standard where other high performance motorcycles would grade themselves against.



This is a Semi-Assembled Honda CB750 Racing model. 1/6, Length:348mm, Width:92mm. Each part not requiring gluing can be easily assembled with bolts. Air cooled inline 4 cylinder engine, Keihin carburetors, oil cooler, and chain are all realistically reproduced. Front and rear wheels are set on aluminum hub and rims with stainless steel spokes. Fitted with fuel tank and racing seat. Dressing and undressing of the cowling can be done easily. High quality assembled aluminum stand. Screwdriver and tweezer included. "



The Tamiya Honda CB750 model comes complete with a small tool kit to fit the front forks, wheel and brakes, rear shocks, seat, tank and fairing and it all comes packaged in a beautiful collectors style case. With a price tag of over $300USD it's definately a special treat but I have to say I'd never grow tired of stripping it down and rebuilding it. Read more at the Tamiya website.