Interview: Shasta Smith - The Vintage Monkey

Let's be honest, there's not a lot of females working in the motorcycle industry. So when I recently stumbled across a site called The Vintage Monkey, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was run by a fiery red head from Sacramento called Shasta Smith. She doesn't claim to be the female version of Shinya Kimura, but she is passionate about building vintage motorcycles, so we asked her a couple of questions...

Can you tell us a little about yourself and The Vintage Monkey?

I (Shasta Smith) have personally been a motorcycle enthusiast since I was a teenager and have always had a fondness for vintage motorcycles. I have a 13 year background in design for construction (architectural design) and on really good days I get to incorporate motor-sports into the interior of buildings. I operate The Vintage Monkey full time. The Vintage Monkey acquires vintage motorcycles and respectfully modifies them based on designs by Shasta Smith. In support of the brand, The Vintage Monkey designs and manufactures apparel and accessories. 

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Vekst Boardtracker

Tally ho old chaps! It's been a splendid weekend of moustaches, smoking pipes and all things distinguished. As gentleman from around the world hang up their suits – until their next court appearances that is – it's safe to say the first Distinguished Gentlemans Ride was a resounding success. We thought it was fitting to feature this hat tip to the vintage board tracker. However, this exquisite board tracker is surprisingly not the vintage most would expect. Built by Co Bappe who was inspired by the board trackers of old. "Bikes never really appealed to me until I discovered the early board track racers" says Co Bappe. After some research Co realised he could never afford a vintage one and would probably never have the opportunity to ride one. "So I bought a welder, angle grinder, and tubing notcher from Harbor Freight and 11 months later I had built my own board track racer" he says. If you're thinking 11 months is a long time, that's because Co was learning how to weld and fabricate along the way. 

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Interview: Paul d'Orléans - "The Vintagent"

Sometimes, this Pipeburn thing really sucks. A new post every 48 hours. Every 48 hours. It's truly never ending - like the mail. Screw going postal, sometimes we feel like we're going Pipe-al. Or is that Papal? Whatever the case, it's all too easy to view the constant search for new bikes as a chore rather than a pleasure. After all, we've got lives that are already full-to-overflowing. You just want a quiet Sunday night in front of the box, but instead you have to churn out another article for the hungry biking masses. Like me, tonight. After serious considerations about out-sourcing the whole dog and pony show to India I begin to trawl through the bowels of my inbox. Woah. Here's some emails and an interview from Paul d'Orelans. Christ on a trike! We'd totally forgotten. Shoot - he's going to be pissed we left it so long. Four months! Oh the bitter, burning guilt of the slack-ass-ed. I read through it. He's a really good writer. This stuff is great. And just look at the bikes he's owned. Damn - we're so blessed to have guys like this on the blog. You know, sometimes this Pipeburn thing really rocks.

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1930 Norton CS1 TT

When the original Norton CS1 was released way back in 1927 it pretty much blew the socks off everyone. On its first race it won the Isle of Man Senior TT and also set the fastest lap time. This thing was like a superbike before the word even existed.

Marcel Schoen from the Netherlands is lucky enough to own the pictured 1930 CS1 TT. "It belonged to my late uncle and has been in the family for more then 50 years" said Marcel. Over the past few months Marcel has been busy rebuilding this classic motorcycle. He gave it a complete check over, new 20" tires were fitted, the magneto was rewound and many original nuts and bolts sourced. It has a special 3 speed gearbox type N103, Webb 650 forks, the engine is a hybrid between a W.Moore and A.Carroll design.

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1953 BMW R51/3 Cafe Racer

Steven Whelan is an American living and working in Germany. Over the years he has amassed a motorcycle collection that Jay Leno would be envious of. Some of his bikes include a 1936 BMW R12, 1952 BMW R51/3, 1964 BMW R69S, 1950 Vincent Comet and a 1962 Triumph 6T Thunderbird that was restored as a copy of the Steve McQueen fence jumping German bike from the film "The Great Escape". 
So when he decided it was time for a new project, Steven had his mind set on building a Rocker-styled cafe racer, inspired by the 1939 Supercharged Schorsch Meier BMW Type 255 which won the 1939 Isle of Man TT. "I found a complete 1953 R51/3 and started the project by finding an aluminium specialist in Germany that had already made pre-war racer style aluminium tanks and mudguards" says Steven. The frame was then modified by welding anti-flex reinforcement and adding a pre-war  style 2-spring seat. A replica "Rennbrotchen" seat extention was  added allowing the rider to flatten out while driving. After searching many biker flea markets and through contacts, Steven was able to find several unsual and rare racing parts from the 1950's and 60's. I will let Steve tell you about all the specs and mods: "The wheel hubs are original Hoske racing full-width hubs; a Rausch headlight sporting a peaked Hella chromed rim holds both the 3" speedometer, tach and 700cc Keyser cylinders with modified heads replaced the original BMW 500's. Added to the engine were two Mikuni VM 28mm carbs with replaceable K&N filters or polished inlet tubes, & replica Hoske racing exhausts. The gearbox had the original air cleaner mount machined off to resemble the pre-war machines and was re-built using 4-speed racing gears. The front fork is a 1960's Ceriani  that was originally sold in the 60's as a replacement for the BMW /2 series Earl's Fork, but was shortened to retain the original R51s wheelbase. Handlebars and mirrors are from a R75/5, tail light is a Miller/Vincent replica and a modern fly screen was fitted. The silver mudguards with black tank & hand pinstriping was used to give a more Rocker look & feel to the bike. Lastly the classic Avon Speedmaster Tires were fitted to the aluminum rims." 

As far as vintage racers go, they don't get much cleaner than this. The attention to detail is superb and apparently, so is the handling. Steve tells us he is still breaking this beautiful Beemer in, but did "reach 70 MPH in one burst, and on curving roads the bike handles superbly." 

Webb's Classic Motorcycle Auction

It's that time of year again when Webb's auction off some of the worlds most beautiful vintage and collectable motorcycles. With a catalogue that is sure to make Billy Joel and Jay Leno weak at the knees – although looking at some of the price guides, you don't have to be a celebrity to afford them. Judging by last years results their will be a few bargains to be had. Here's how Webb's describe the collection:

"The machines offered in this catalogue continue to reflect Webb's passion for things well made. From the humble to the extraordinary, all are designed for the motorcycle pilot. The collection is significant because it offers a select pedigree of race machines that have been conceived by the very best minds in their fields." 

If you have some spare coin and room in your garage, the auction takes place on October 5 in New Zealand and overseas bidders are more than welcome. There's also a diamond motorcycle chain which would make the perfect gift for the fussiest woman. [Thanks Deus]

Imaginary Garage - 1929 Norton Café Racer

Written by Andrew Jones (AKA Pamberjack)

If you're anything like me, the bikes you lust after tend to go through phases. My current obsession is English bikes from the 20s and 30s so I've been doing a lot of thumbing through Google images and drooling over various Matchless, AJS, and Vincent collectibles from the era. Yesterday I found myself daydreaming about customising something from this era, but shrugged it off as pointless – like tweaking a Jean-Michel Basquiat or re-recording a Joy Division album.

Then I thought, "what would a café racer from the 1920s look like?" Whether it be a real custom with a bike from that era as a starting point, or maybe the product of some parallel steam-punk universe where café racers somehow kicked off in the 20s rather than the 50s, it would surely be an amazing combination.

So, armed with the above 1929 Norton 500 Single "Flat Tank" image, I cranked up Photoshop and pushed some pixels. First, remove the excess parts to save weight. No need for clip-ons; the bars are already pretty low. Ditto with the ride height. Add a headlight (an option in the 1920s, I think), trim the mudguards, and wrap the exhaust in tape. Finally, my take on a sprung saddle-meets-café-racer humped seat. Patent pending.


And Voilà! My imaginary 1929 café racer. I'm open to suggestions for more mods to the bike - or maybe a whole new project. Only rule is that it has to be an interesting or unexpected combination of styles or eras. See if you can stump me...

1959 Honda RC160

This amazing illustration is by Japanese artist Kendge Seevert of a Honda RC160. Seevert is renowned for his highly detailed illustrations of motorcycles. Apparently the RC160 was never raced outside of Japan and was usually raced on Japanese unpaved roads, which explains why it was mostly shown without a fairing and with semi-knobbly tires. This is what Honda aficionado Joep Kortekaas says about this great looking racer "The Honda four, designated the RC160, had the same specifications as the 125cc twin, but the cylinders were now upright instead of being inclined, and the ignition was changed from magneto to battery with four coils. Claimed power output was 35 bhp at 13,000 rpm, with the same maximum engine speed of 14,000 rpm as the twin. The engine had a five-speed gearbox and weighed 58 kg. The cycle parts were nearly identical with the 125cc twin, the wheelbase being longer by 45 mm at 1310 mm, and the total weight of the bike was 124 kg". You can read more about Honda and it's racing history on vf750fd.com.

Ridley Vintage Motorbikes

Ridley Motorcycles are some of the best vintage looking motorized bicycles on the market. There are five different models, each based on different time periods ranging from 1903 through to the 1940's. They are offered with either a 49 or 70cc engine, and also feature pedals for those that want to keep it green and create zero-emission. The standard 70cc engine has a pretty impressive top speed of 34mph, which is fast enough to keep up with most traffic in rush hour. The gas tanks are beautifully incorporated into the frame which can either be ordered in steel or aluminum. My favourite is this OD green 'MP' which is styled on a vintage military police motorbike. To view the rest of their first-class range visit the Ridley gallery.