Tank Moto: New Motorcycle Mag Coming From Geoff of "Return of the Cafe Racers" Blog

Tank Moto Announcement

Geoff of the Return of the Cafe Racers blog --- on of our favorites --- is teaming up with Fuel Magazine to bring Tank Moto, a new, independent motorcycle mag to the marketplace in late May.

Love the Norton... the choice of this bike for the publicity pic tells me I'm gonna like the mag. Looking forward to it.

Bryan Fuller's ShoGun Cafe Racer in Latest Cafe Racer Magazine

Cafe Racer Magazine Issue 25

I picked up a copy of the latest issue of Cafe Racer, one of my favorite bike mags, at Barnes & Noble yesterday. The cover article features famed hot-rod builder Bryan Fuller's "ShoGun" Honda CB-550 cafe racer.

The engraved metalwork --- tank, headlight shell, engine covers, and fork legs --- is what really makes the bike stand out... Fuller commissioned legendary metal engraver Tay Herrera (aka Tarrera) to design and create the Japanese-themed engravings. Go here for a video of Tarrera at work with his chisels and hammers on the ShoGun.

ShoGun's Engraved Fork Legs

Pictured at the lower left here are closeup shots of ShoGun's engraved fork legs. An extensive gallery of pics showing details of ShoGun's metalwork is available here at Digital Press Images.

Car Guys: The Speed Hunters blog has a collection of great pics of Bryan Fuller's 1960 Caddy "Thundertaker" hearse, taken at the SEMA 2012 show.

Norvil Reproduction Nortons

Norvil Motorcycle Company's Norton Fastback

A lot of Norton stuff here the last few days, it's true... Well, just got to say that of all the bikes I've owned over the years, and no longer own, the one I really, really, really wish I'd hung on to was the black and gold 1973 Commando 850 I bought new from Brooks Cyclery in San Jose, California back in my youth.... I miss that bike, big-time.

So, I was just blown away to discover that courtesy of Norvil Motorcycle Company in the UK, you can buy a complete, built-from-new-parts Norton... a Commando roadster, a Dominator, and even a street-legal production racer. 

If you want to build your own from scratch, or refurbish your own Norton, Norvil will also sell you a complete engine made from new parts, whether Commando or Dominator... scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the engine options and prices.

Norvil-Restored Commando Cafe Racer

Norvil also makes and sells their own frames, Featherbed and Commando. They've got a Commando frame that is smaller than stock, designed for smaller riders.

I can't do it all justice here... Norvil is very much a one-stop shopping site for all things Norton, and not for just the Commando: parts, frames, engines, rear sets, wheels, chassis components, they've got it all. And used and restored Nortons, too, like the cafe racer to the left here.

If you need anything Norton, you gotta give Norvil a look.

        

Norton Featherbed Cafe Racer Build Diary

Jean Des Rosiers Norton

Jean Des Rosiers of Canada built this cafe racer, a Norton Commando engine in a Norton "Featherbed" frame. He has a very thorough build diary/photo gallery that documents the build process from start to finish.

The legendary Featherbed frame, which Norton developed in the Fifites for racing the Isle of Man TT, has become a perennial favorite for cafe racer builders in the intervening years. Builders have stuffed all sorts of engines in them, especially Triumph (which yields a "Triton"), and even Vincents (a "Norvin") and Harley Sportsters ("Norleys"). Reproduction frames are available from a number of companies, such as Old Britts in Seattle and Unity Equipe in the UK.

So, if a Featherbed-framed cafe racer is your dream machine, you can have a go at it, too, without trying to run down an original frame (hard to get a hold of, and not cheap). And while you're at it, consider a complete reproduction Norton Commando engine from Norvil Motorcycle Company in the UK.

          

TRITON BLACK LOGO. by stevehammons
More Vintage T-Shirts

Classic Ron Wood Norton Dirt Tracker

Just because it's beautiful... and a little piece of racing history: It's the only Norton to ever win an AMA mile.

This bike was piloted by two AMA greats, Dave Aldana and Alex Jorgenson. See it sideways at speed here.

Many more Norton racing machines here.



            

Colorado Norton Works Cafe Racer Coming to Market

Norton ace Matt Rambow at Colorado Norton Works designed and built the beautiful, award-winning Norton cafe racer you see here. This baby has been so well-received that Rambow and company have decided to use it as the basis of a limited production run special (12 bikes), with some high-tech upgrades...

The new bike will feature fuel injection, a new CNC'ed head, belt drive, hydraulic clutch, Brembo disk brakes front and back, and modern electronics (no Lucas "Prince of Darkness" stuff). An electric start conversion is optional. The announced base price is $44,500. You can go here to read all about it.

Do take a look at the the page for the bike above, there is a great gallery of pics documenting all stages of the build.