Lets begin this by summarizing the ‘Crud. It’s a bike gathering that is the official, unofficial ‘cafe gathering started quite some years ago by a small unofficial group of riders known as “The Slimey Crud”, of which world renowned author and journalist Peter Egan is a founding member. It’s basically evolved into a gathering of exotic Italian machines, others are from the land of the rising sun, and made purely from unobtanium (thanks for the word Craig) and worth a life to most riders. It’s an incredible experience to be smack dab in the middle of. I can’t imagine anything more interesting than meeting up at one location on the first Sunday in May and again in October, checking out some bikes, forging a trail to location number two and seeing what is there as some don’t go to one, but will end up at the other, some don’t find the second location, hell, some just don’t know!

 

From the official Slimy Crud website -
“There are no big ad campaigns, no corporate sponsors, no official website, no local or regional newspaper or TV promotions, not even the usual obligatory one-size-promotes-all beer banners with the name of the event emblazoned on a huge blank white spot.”
“The Crud Run meanders across the scenic Wisconsin River valley from Pine Bluff in Dane county to Leland in Sauk County. The distance between the villages is less than 30 miles in a straight line, but the road mileage can vary from about 70 to, well, who knows? No specific route is prescribed, so the best way to go depends entirely on your imagination.”

 

Two Wheeled Stimulus (not that kind you perverts)

 

 

The price of oil is thru the roof because a suit in his air conditioned office blames any and all blips on the natural disaster radar for a need to raise prices and compensate. Grocery bills are climbing and climbing because it takes longer to truck food around irradiated areas rather than drive thru them,  and the new Air Jordan’s cost more than a Chilean miner makes in 12 months.  This whole global economy thing makes my head spin, and unfortunately motorcyclists land right smack dab in the middle of it all.  While the big three motor companies in Detroit are receiving US federal money to get them out of trouble the Japanese based “big 4” motorcycle manufacturers don’t get the same concessions.  Multiple teams pulled their efforts from superbike racing due to funding issues, Suzuki has reduced sales of sport bikes to the US, and most manufacturers saw downturns of 30-40% since this global shitstorm began.

 

 

It’s a safe bet that many other motorcyclists you encounter are “brand loyal” to their current mount.  Kawasaki guys bleed green, Honda guys proudly display their wings, Yamaha guys don’t think blue is a sad color at all, and even Moto Guzzi guys are proud of………..I don’t really know what they have to be proud of, but they are.  But call it elitism, or boasting if you want, but nobody is a more fevered and adamant fan of their brand then the Ducatisti.  They are after all riding what equates to the Ferrari of the two wheeled world and have a long and storied racing lineage to recant.

 

Every so often in the street fighter community someone brings a new and interesting flavor to the scene and surprises everyone with some stunning build photo’s and a mindful tip of the hat in the direction of the fightering masses. Enter desmoBibu from Romania. A cheerful bloke with a desire for the Ducati’s. When he isn’t turning a wrench, he is thinking about it.

I contacted Bibu and got the inside perspective on his beautiful GTV cafe and the ideals behind his current crop of SuperSport goodness. At the very least I can say I am impressed with the level of dedication motorcycle builders have, the world over, we all speak the same language when it relates to chassis codes and torque specs.

 

“She’s a real looker” the old man croaked at me. I raised my helmet cloaked head up from my task at hand of topping off the gas tank in my 1000 to spy a white haired man in a dusty old Dakar jacket that looked as though it had circumnavigated the globe on Steve McQueen’s back. “Thanks” I shouted out thru my visor opening before quickly turning my focus back to my now close to brimming fuel cell.  As I finished up, replaced the pumps handle and removed my helmet, the old man crouched down and seemed to lose himself as he scoured the surface of my fighter with a glint in his eye similar to that of a 12 year old boy that just found his dad’s stash of Playboy magazines. “Good lord, what is this
thing?” he croaked, smiling up at me with his bug splattered teeth. I gave him a quick rundown of a majority of the components that she was built with, making sure to hit on all the high points all the while I scanned the parking lot wondering where the old boy had materialized from.  He continued to poke and prod me with questions about speed, horsepower, who had done my paint, and he was even keen enough to ask why a nitrous switch and no bottle.  “Cheeky bastard” I thought to myself while cracking a small smile back at him.  He knew his stuff and was obviously a fanatic of two wheeled wizardry just like me, so I knew that today’s ride could wait awhile.  The roads will always be there, but I never pass up a chance to chew some fat with an old timer of our beloved sport.

Gdogg’s interview series putting members of Custom Fighters that you should know in the spotlight!

 

Lance A. Lewsader: I have had a couple folks mention to me after reading your June 2011 FOTM interview that you seem to be combining a few elements. The 50′s UFO craze, Hot Rods, and Future SCI FI. Would you say this is a close representation of your style?

R3VO: I dont know about 50′s UFO, but I guess I can see that. I do like the beefy frontal look of muscle cars and try to incorporate that into the frontal portion of the bike. My goal in doing so is to eliminate visible air space in between the headers and forks. To me its one of the ugliest sections of a bike after the fairings are stripped. The addition of radiator covers widens it as well and covers that hideous chunk of finned aluminum all at the same time. As far as future/sci-fi….that’s a pretty good call. I get ideas from concept bikes from scouring the web. Search results on Google images is my friend.

This is a bike with a very interesting history, a history I’ve not been able to find out much about…not from a lack of effort on my part though.

I spoke to someone at the Javits show in NYC that recognized the bike in fighter form – thanks to the trick bits adorning it. It was apparently owned by Hungarians that were heavy into racing, as you can see by the parts list. Allegedly, they were caught up in some bad business, the bike began changing hands from person to person who clearly didn’t know what they had, and it eventually came upon someone who saw it for what it was.

Cafe, bobber, retro, custom………………..call these bikes what you will, but Long Beach CA based Lossa Engineering gets it.  That thing that drives people to endlessly tinker and seek perfection and a sense of mechanical completion that does not exist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is art meets motorcycling zen. The quest for the perfect blend of emotion, power, simplicity, desire, and good old two wheeled abandonment that frees the soul.

 

Check out their really cool short film “Solus”, and find lot’s more at their website http://www.lossaengineering.com/

 

 

“To honor the success of the Diablo family of performance tyres as copious companions for sporty road and racetrack use and its renewed role as Official Tyre Supplier to the Superbike World Championship, Pirelli has released the Diablo Super Biker iPhone App via the Apple® App Store^SM and iTunes.”

Husqvarna has a long history dating back to 1689 when the first Husqvarna plant was established as a weapons foundry. Over the years, Husqvarna has produced a large range of different products, including sewing machines, lawn equipment, bicycles, motorcycles and kitchen equipment. But, this new offering from the multi talented industry powerhouse isn’t your mom’s sewing machine or your brothers Schwinn.

Husqvarna has taken a BMW F800 parallel-twin motor, and bored it out by 2mm, as well as lengthened the stroke by 5.4mm, taking the reputably docile and smooth 798cc motor to a monsterous 898cc. Husqvarna has altered the 0º crankshaft to a 315º configuration, which the company says creates a more aggressive feel to the bikes’ power delivery and subsequent performance.

Thanks to modified valving, compression ratio, and various other mechanical wizardry, both the base model Nuda 900 and higher-spec Nuda 900R will make 105 hp and 73.8 lbs•ft of torque.  Weight is expected to be in the neighborhood of 380-385 lbs. Couple those numbers with top of the line equipment from Brembo, Sachs, and Ohlins and you have a recipe for smiles on the faces of hooligan’s around the globe.