Photography | Once we run out of fuel..

Last October we were driving through southern Spain, and somewhere between Tarifa and Jerez de la Frontera we came across this ruined gas station.

This might be a common view once we are running out of fuel.. Although I loved the atmosphere around this abandoned gas station, I hope we hope we can refuel our motorcycles and car for many more decades!!

Video | Urban Outlaw

The second Porsche based movie clip in a week.. but this one is so damn briliant! Magnus Walker is a UK born chap, living in LA and building the best looking classic Porsche 911's I have ever seen.

This is a feel-good movie you have never seen before.. grab a cup of coffee and take 32 minute break!

Via http://www.reelhouse.org/mos/urbanoutlaw. Thanks to Tony for the tip!

Video | Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo - the design process

Intresting to get a glipmse of the development of the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo. I always love it to see the development of clay models, hard models and the show cars!

Via the Porsche Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/Porsche?feature=watch

Update | Fuel tank refinement

Quick update of the refinement on the tank area and around the vertical cylinder. Last weekend I have been tweaking all this.. hope to finish the clay modeling before the end of the year.
So we can 3D scan the body early January..

Video | Long Live The Kings

LONG LIVE THE KINGS - Short film documentary - from SAGS on Vimeo.

SAGS (the snake and the german sheperd) is the pseudonym for award winning French duo writer / director Clement Beauvais and writer / producer Arthur de Kersauson.
Together they have made this awesome feel-good movie clip!

Update | Rizoma parts

Last Thursday I mounted some more beautiful Rizoma parts on to the motorcycle; the open clutch cover, gold pressure plate, milled timing belt covers and the oil plug.
I absolutely love the look of these parts together! Thanks to Rizoma!!

Video | RideApart - The Man Who Designs Moto Guzzis

Another very cool video of RideApart! Once again a very interesting interview by Jamie Robinson; interviewing Miguel Galluzzi. Designer of the Ducati Monster, Aprilia Dorsoduro and RSV4... A list of amazing motorcycles!

Thanks for the tip, @HellForLeather

Update | Clay modelling the fuel tank

Last Sunday I continued working on the body of my café racer, the fuel tank was the main focus. Most of the surfaces are ready, still need to tweak some of the smaller surfaces before I can bring the clay model away for 3D scanning.

Most likely the body will be scanned by the end of December, so one of my Christmas presents will be a NURBS-model... Yes!!

Video | Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series

This is an impressive piece of clay modelling!
Thanks to @Autovisie_NL for the tip!

Update | Body kit anyone?

Last weekend I have been working on the body refinement. I am approaching the final stage of the clay modeling of the motorcycle.
This weekend I have tweaked the tail section; the flowing line which joins the tank and the tail section together. Also the chamfered surfaces on the lower side of the tail have been smoothened.
The rear part of the fuel tank, just in front of the seat, was slightly modified. I had to add some more clay to establish the smooth fit of the seat.

At the moment I need to finish the clay model; cleaning up all the surfaces, apply the radii to the edges of the body and prepare it for 3D scanning.
Since I aim to finish with HD PU milled molds for the motorcycle, I am playing with the thought of preparing body kits fitting a Ducati Monster frame. With a slight modification of the frame, shortening the rear, this kit will fit.

So if you have any interest in a body kit to transform your good old Monster into something new, send me an email!

Update | Sketch refinement of the body

The latest sketches made over the last few days, to check the body refinements that will be made this weekend on the clay model.
A rather quick and dirty tool is to pick some photo's from the clay model, from the right angle and perspective, drop the visibility in Photoshop to 10% and sketch over it with a black pencil. I printed quite a few shots, and sketched during our holiday in the Spanish sun!
Basically I am looking for the right lines of the lower part of the tank-seat. This will be a fairly straight line, giving this ride its forward leaning character and the feel of a true café-racer!

Video | The Fabulous Lifestyles of Professional Motorcycle Racers

For more cool video's check out http://RideApart.com

Thanks to Michael Ras via his Twitter @Michael_Ras, for sharing!

Update | a glimpse of the body..

Just a few "spy shots" of the body design. I am progressing slowly with the clay modelling job, due to a lack of time... In the meanwhile I am planning the next steps, towards mold making.

Keep in touch to follow the next phase, soon on this blog!

Video | Protest Rock a Rail presented by Monster Energy 2012

Protest Rock a Rail presented by Monster Energy 2012 - Teaser from Tim Schiphorst on Vimeo.

Nice teaser made by Tim Schiphorst; for Protest Rock a Rail presented by Monster Energy 2012 in The Hague, the Netherlands. The event will be hosted on October 12th 2012 in The Hague. Check out the recap of 2011 as well!

More info check out; http://www.rockarail.com/news

Update | Trimming the body

Last week I have been shaping the body of the café racer; the mid section of the body has been trimmed. The first set up of the clay model was rather bulk in the mid section and felt uncomfortable while sitting on the bike. The tank section is very slim, creating a comfortable yet dynamic riding position.
For this moment some close-up shops of the motorcycle, the overall view will be given later on.

In the coming weeks the clay model will be prepared for 3D scanning, after which I will design the motorcycle's body in CAD, making use of the 3D data generate by the scan. This allows my to prepare the molds in CAD as well, so these can be milled out of HD PU foam.

Even so this offers the possibility to manufacture multiple bodies in the molds instead of one! So last weeks I am playing with the thought to develop a small body-kit serie; if some people are interested in a unique kit fitting a Ducati Monster frame.

Video | MX deep sand practice

Kick ass video of some KTM's riding in the dirt; with Dutchy Jeffrey Herlings, Antonio Cairoli and Jeremy van Horebeek!

Update | Fitting the bike

Finally! This week I was able to sit on my café racer for the first time! It was a very pleasant “ride” as you can see on the picture below.
The Spark exhausts will be positioned a little bit backwards. The current position is not the final one, due to a connector I need to bend to fit the silencers to the manifold.

The automotive tape is applied on the clay body this week! This is such a great tool to check out lines on the body of the motorcycle and the planned transition of one surface into the other.
On the second photo you’ll see the two black lines of tape positioned lower than in the last two photos’. I have lifted the lower part of the fuel tank a little bit, to give motorcycle a more aggressive and agile feel.

The coming weeks the volume and surfaces of the café racer will be tweaked further.. Stay tuned!

Update | Main body volume refinement

The tank area appears to be a little bit too bulky; it feels too much like an Enduro type of tank. The top surface is trimmed down, so the bike leans forward a little more. This modification has increased the aggressive feel of the motorcycle enormously. The lower part of the tank will be tweaked this week as well.

The seat and the rear end of the motorcycle where a little bit too slim in my opinion, so I smudged on more clay to increase its volume. At the same time I fitted the seat on the motorcycle again, to have a proper overall view on this café racers volume. Pictures of the bike with seat will follow later this week..

Update | Tweaking the main volume of the body

It has been a short while since my last blog post about the bike build. I have been more busy building and shaping than blogging, so I will make it up this weekend with more posts than regular.
A week and a half ago I have been tweaking the main volume of the clay model. First the tank area has been shaped with a big rasp to create its rough shape. After that I have used Kolb slicks (spring metal strips) to smoothen the surfaces of the tank.

Similar to the tank area I used the slicks to smoothen the rear end surfaces of the motorcycle, for the time being.. because from now on the refinement starts; trimming and optimizing the motorcycle’s volume, lines and surfaces.

Video | Café racers

This is where the café racer culture and heritage is all about!

Airing on Discovery HD Theater on October 13th 9.00pm (in the US..)

Update | start clay modeling

The clay modeling finally started! The polystyrene core was already mounted on the frame, but last week I added the Kolb automotive styling clay onto the polystyrene. Smudging the 60 degree clay on the body is a hot and time consuming job, but once the clay is on the real shaping starts!
These pictures show the clay modeling preparations, the coming weeks more shots of the clay modeling will appear on this blog! Keep in touch..

Video | Ducati and Audi on Pikes Peak

Two iconic brands on a legendary mountain; Pikes Peak.. no need for extra explanation; just watch!!

Video | Dorian van Rijsselberghe

Impressive documentary showing what it takes to become an Olympic windsurfer, winning a Golden Medal in London. A Video about physical training, mental training, hours… days no years of practice!
One of the most interesting “lessons of the day”; how to reset your mind during a race on the water; use your nose as the reset button!! It is a 45 minute documentary in Dutch, but the video footage is very cool!

Update | Healight and speedo bracket

Just a quick impression of the work of last week.. I have been measuring and tweaking the headlight and speedo bracket, and modeled it in CAD. This part will be waterjet-cutted out of stainless steel, as well as the exhaust brackets and some other small brackets.
Altogether it is a lot of measuring, modelling, template printing, checking, modelling.. but in the end these brackets will make this motorcycle looks awesome!

Video | BOTT M210 Moto2 Motorcycle

Bottpower at the CEV from Bottpower on Vimeo.

Cool video clip of the BOTT M210 Moto2 bike at the Valencia circuit. The guys at Bottpower and Anima did a great job; turning such a dream into reality is an awesome achievement!

This year they are racing in the CEV; the Spanish Moto2 championship. Hope to see them racing in the Moto2 championship next year..

Update | technical updates

Last Saturday I have been working on my motorcycle project, and I mainly focused on some technical issues. Before starting the clay modeling I want all the parts to be mounted on the motorcycle, especially the larger ones; head light, exhausts and oil cooler. Since these parts really contribute to the overall look and feel of the bike, and the balance of the visual weight distribution.
The Spark exhausts are mounted on the frame, but I am not happy with the look right now.. the exhausts are mounted to vertically and I will continue tweaking the final position the coming week. You might have seen it on the photos already, but the exhausts do not fit the manifold right now, some home-made adapters should solve this.

By the way, the cool scenery of these photos is the Spark design & innovation studio in Rotterdam. The studio where I am working during the weeks, and where I can work on this motorcycle project in the weekends!