Saturday 31 July 2010

Don’t hesitate to get out there!



The weather in Denmark really was not for riding yesterday. All day rain until 21:00, so I spend the night at the beach by a bonfire with friends.

But the weather forecast for today is a bit better, not perfect, but it is time to get in the saddle and Cling On!

Don’t hesitate to get out there! And Remember to Cling On!

Thursday 29 July 2010

What the… ?!?


Honda! Build to withstand the most monstrous challenges… Right?

Wednesday 28 July 2010

The CB 750. The first ever superbike – Part. 1 [The hard facts]





The Honda CB 750 was design by Yoshirou Harada, who also designed the Honda CB 72 & CB450. Before the design process started Mr. Harada gave seven guideline criteria that the new bike should fulfil. The criteria was as follow:

1) A highway cruising speed of between 85 and 100 mph. Abroad power band with minimum vibration and engine noise.

2) Excellent stability, even when travelling at over 100 mph.

3) Strong and reliable braking, effective at high speed and with full loading.

4) Ergonomic riding position and controls, for a relaxed and comfortable ride.

5) Lighting and instrumentation which is patently sophisticated and reliable. Overall looks that will get the machine noticed by other road users.



6) Utter reliability from every component, while inspection and maintenance must be easy.

7) Full use of new materials, technologies and the latest surface treatments to ensure unique design and promote ease of production.

Being the fastest production bike at the time of its release, and on top of that the only production bike with a disk brake, this bike was something else. Remember this bike came out in 1969! Cycle magazine & Cycle world magazine gave floorless reviews of the bike in there January & August issues, and was noticeably amazed by the bikes good handling, acceleration, and stopping power.

Having produced one of the most reliable motorcycles at the time, the CB 750 took the USA & Europe by storm! And crippled the British and American motorcycle production for years and send them onto a serious crisis in the 70’s & 80’s.

No wonder that Honda, a bit cocky some might say, quote themselves in their US commercials; “Sonner or later, you knew Honda would do it”.

The CB 750. The first ever superbike – Part. 2 [In Racing]





Bold d’Or 1969

Winning the prestigious Bol d’or (Golden Bowl) in France in September 1969, gave the CB 750 another promotional boost, just when initial waves caused by its launch earlier in the year were beginning to settle. Two bikes were ridden at the Bol d’or, with hotter camshafts and special exhaust sustems. No air filters were fitted and power output was up to 72 bhp. The bikes were driven by 19 year old Michel Rougerie & Daniel Urdich.

The relatively inexperienced rider Michel Rougerie measured up to the task by winning Bol d’or with an average speed of 72 mph / 116 km/h, and completed 445 laps in the 24 hours the race was on.

Rougerie whent on to be one of France’s top racers, winning three GP races, but lost his life en a crash in Yogoslavia in 1981.








Daytona 1970

To demonstrate the capabilities of the CB 750, Honda put together a factory effort to race the bike at Daytona in 1970. Honda’s race division quickly went to work on the already capable stock CB 750, to produce a race version of the bike for the Daytona 200. It was initially referenced as the “CB750 Racing Type”. It later became known as the CR750. The factory produced four bikes for that early race effort, unfortunately Ralph Bryan crashed during practice and the bike burned dramatically due to the high amount of highly flammable magnesium used in building the racer .


On March 15, 1970, Dick Mann rode one of the factory CB750 Racing Types (against a field of Harley-Davidsons, BSAs, Triumphs, Suzukis, and Yamahas), to win the Daytona 200, and set a new track record.

Dick Mann returned to Daytone on CR 750s up through the 70’s but never to win again.

The CB 750. The first ever superbike – Part. 3 [Racing Today]



As a direct result of, and to support the 1970 race effort, Honda produced a limited number of CB750 race kits, and made them available to their dealer network. The race parts kit contained over 150 special parts, including everything from special racing pistons, rings, valves, crankshaft, camshaft, pipes, forks, brakes, gears, rims, spokes, and sprockets, down to special gauges, carburetors, and a generator.

The net result of installing the race kit was to raise the engines output 23 horsepower to 90 horsepower, and the redline to an angry 10,500!

Today many vintage racers cling on to CB 750s all around the world. [Pirctures are from the UK and Japan]

The CB 750. The first ever superbike – Part. 4 [Café Racers]





Chris Sharon...

...is the proud owner and builder of this immaculate CB750F. Based in Seattle, he is also a member of a vintage motorcycle club called the Knuckle Busters. To get a few extra horsepower, the heads were ported and polished, 849cc big bore with stage three cam and chrome 4 into 1 exhaust. The frame was powder coated in flat black paint with hand laid pin stripes.



Jason Koschnitzke...

...is an industrial designer by trade and has been wrenching part-time on bikes for many years and many late nights. Recently he decided to follow his dreams and make wrenching his full-time job. So he created Motto Motorcycles which are based in Chicago. The 1978 Honda CB750 is built with a 836cc Wiseco 10.25 C/R kit and supporting go fast internal modifications. It's running Keihin 29mm CR carbs and a ceramic coated Kerker 4-1 exhaust with 2.0" baffle. It has double disc brakes in the front, drilled rotors and he flipped the forks around to place the calipers on the back side.




Wrench Monkees...

...Gorilla Punch is probably the most famous CB 750 Café racer. Being posted on almost every MC blog ever it is hard to miss.


Steve "Carpy" Carpenter...

...from the amazing CB750 Cafe has build this CB750 called the "Road Warrior'. Carpy dedicated this CB to the helicopter crew of HS-6, who died last year in a tragic training accident. The 'Speedy Indian' graphic on the side cover is a tribute to the aircraft referred to as the "Indian 617".

The Brammo Empulse RR






The Brammo Empulse represents the first production sportbike to be available by consumers.

The Empulse comes in three flavors (Brammo Empulse 6.0, Empulse 8.0, & Empulse 10.0) with differing amounts of on-board power each variant. While mileage will vary on actual riding conditions, the range are based on mixed use of freeway and city streets. All the Empulse models are capable of speeds in excess of 100MPH, and feature a 40hp liquid-cooled AC synchronous motor.

With the Empulse 10.0 having a 100 mile range, and costing only $13,995, Brammo is offering a potent and affordable package.
The big issue here is price/performance parity with internal combustion engines. When you consider the Ducati Streetfighter that’s currently only gets about 130 miles on a tank of gas, and costs $14,995 retail, the Empulse 10.0 becomes a vary attractive option to consumers. Obviously there are cheaper motorcycles that get better range than the Streetfighter, but the point is that for the first time, production electric motorcycles are creeping onto the performance figures of ICE motorcycles, while remaining affordable to the average consumer.
The Empulse will be sold through Best Buy, just like the Brammo Enertia, and will be available mid-2011. Orders will be served on a first-come, first-serve basis, and can be placed at brammo.com. A $99 fully-refundable deposit must be placed 90 days before delivery of the Empulse to the customer.

Designed by Brian Wiseman, Brammo’s Director of Product Development, the Brammo Empulse has a striking design that mixes bodywork that could find itself just as easily on an Italian sportbike as an American-made powercycle.
The Brammo Empulse RR entered the e-Power electric race at Laguna Seca, and was on display in pit area with a full race fairing. Brian Wismann says that fairings could be an option to Empulse owners if there’s enough interest. There is also some hinting as to the possibility of there being an Empulse spec-racing class, but we’ll have to wait and see on that development.

The way of the future!




One of my other big interests is electric vehicles. With the battery and sustainable energy technology speeding ahead, it is the only way forward if we want to go forward (on wheels). Alternative fuels? Fuck that! You still have emissions, and just because you can make cleaver calculations and say that your vehicles has a low carbon footprint it do not compete with green energy electric motors. Let’s make this perfectly clear ones and for all: Electric vehicles driving on green energy from sustainable energy sources have zero emissions. IT IS THE WAY OF THE FUTURE!

“But electric vehicles are boring”, you say. Yes in the past because nobody put an effort in developing them, and because the agenda on the energy front did not permit it!

Have a look at this! It is the Motoczysz-E1pc. It just won the Isle of Man for electric motorcycles, with an average speed of just under 100 mph/160 km/t. Cool??? Yeah it is fucking cool!!! Last week it won again at laguna seca in the US, and it is not the last we have seen of the killer machine…

I personally want one! And bad to! Michael Czysz, who build this machine, has talked about putting it in production? I will be the first to get a huge loan to get my name on Czysz’s “I-WANT-ONE-OF-THOSE-COOL-BIKES” list.

Electric vehicles are boring? No no no… There are so many cool vehicles coming. It is the way of the future.

Tuesday 27 July 2010

Vanishing Point





Was just watching the movie “Vanishing Point”, and just loved the scene with the nice old Honda in the dessert. Cool Stuff…

Why “Cling On” ?!?


BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T YOU FALL ON YOU ASS STUPID !!!

The Ideal Workshop


Luckily I have access to a workshop, shared with 7 other guys. But the ideal workshop would be something like this. My own small workspace.

My Café Racer Project





As any Hot Shot Hip Kid, Snot Punk Wannabe, I also want a piece of the action! So of cause I needed my own Honda CB 750. It is a 1977 K7 CB 750, and I plan to re-build her over the next 2-3 years.

At the moment I am driving it almost every day. It needs a new clutch at some point, and its electric system is allergic to rain at the moment. Apart from that she purrs like a kitten.

With a dual disk brake conversion, black clubman bars, CB 750 Daytona or CB 450 race tank, race tail, belmouth intakes, a different exhaust, and rear sets, she will be a stunner!

Check out the progress on this blog from approximately September :)

Back in Ghana





Returning to Ghana I believed I needed a bit stronger bike, and switched the Sukida with a used Yamaha AG 100. The Yamaha was ideal for my needs at the time. Its was simple and economical, had a 98cc two stroke engine with autolube system and CDI ignition that meant no plug oiling or fewer moving parts. The last thing I needed was a high maintenance machine!

Out on the dirt roads it has an extra low first second and third gear spread that is perfect for low-speed crossing on foot paths on the savannah, while fourth and fifth gears provide enough top-end speed to get you from place to place with ease.

In less then 2½ month I did almost 5400 km on it.

The reconstruct





Haven returned to Denmark, I was isolated at the hospital due to danger of me carrying disease from Ghanaian hospitals. After 3 weeks from the accident I was finally operated, and my leg was put back together with an Ilizarov system, and two internal screws. After 2½ month in hospital, I returned home and started training and rehabilitation. Nearly 6 month after the accident I was able to walk well enough to return to Ghana and finish my work. The two screws were later taken out, and I still keep them as a freakish souvenir.

Sunday 25 July 2010

The accident





On September the 27th I was involved in an accident in the town of Kumbungo and seriously fractured my knee and leg. After having been lying on the ground for nearly two hours I was picked up by a passing pick up and taken to Tamale hospital 45 Km away. The fracture was so complex that they could not do anything, and the day after I was flown the capital Accra, where I was hospitalised in the 37 Military Hospital for 2 days. After having stabilised my leg and taken the pain with heavy dosses of morphine, I was flown to Denmark…

Traffic in Africa





Looking at my decision to ride motorcycles in Africa, it was probably not the best idea. The road that I most frequently used was filled with heavy loaded tipper trucks, that left a tail of dust in the air when they past you. This caused a serious danger of invisibility, which has killed many motorcycle riders when they have been enclosed in a dust cloud and hit by a vehicle from behind. The first week I counted 5 accidents involving trucks. And then I decided that it was time to drive on the footpaths in the bush away from the main roads. It was too dangerous to drive next to the trucks…