Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure exactly what he did, since all the info I can find on this car is in French (my knowledge of which pretty much starts and ends with "force de frappe"), but the photos tell enough of the story to make it clear that we're dealing with a junkyard god here. According to tipster and Project Car Hell Poster Child Franzouse: "ok, so the guy didn't have to pose in his speedos, but what an awesome nut job! (if you scroll around the site you'll see he's also built a boat... )
[Chameu d'acier, Foutraquegarage]

Shanghai Sideways offers highly detailed tours of both the new and old Shanghai, including the new financial district and the 1920s French Concession. Prices range based on time and number of passengers, but a thorough tour consists of a 4 hour ride at a rate of 1000 rmb ($146 USD) or you can get the quick version with a 1 hour tour costing 600 rmb ($87 USD) for either one or two passengers.

The motorcycles used for these uniquely guided tours are Chinese ChangJiang 750cc which are based heavily on the 1956 Soviet IMZ (Irbitski Mototsikletniy Zavod) M-72 which in turn is a replica of a 1938 BMW R71.

The only thing we're asking ourselves now is how we missed this intimate guided attraction when we were in Shanghai. Until next time. [via Shanghai Sideways]

East Bay native Arlen Ness is well-known these days, but in 1970 he was still building his creations at his house. This bike, which I spotted at a local car show a couple weeks back, was one of his very first machines. It sat behind a bunch of boxes in an Oakland garage for more than three decades, before being unearthed and cleaned up. Check out the sign-painter-grade gold leaf stars on the tank- maybe Detroit could start putting these on their cars as part of their survival strategy!



I saw some other cool stuff at this show, including the legendary Boss Pinto; here's a bonus gallery for y'all:

Created by a Brazilian artist by applying teeth, fangs, bones, hair and "fine stones" found along the Amazon to basic, open-faced helmets, the New Jersey-based Craigslist entrepreneur selling them claims they're fine to ride in. We wouldn't do the same, not just because they look really gross, but because all the stick-on animal parts would fundamentally compromise the crash worthiness of the helmets by altering the way in which they control neck movement on impact. But hey, they're only $99! [via Craigslist]

Trike Japan is a company that designs and manufactures trike conversions for some of the most popular motorcycles available in Japan. They decided to build this special Ferrari-branded trike to show off their new Suzuki Hayabusa Trike conversion. Dipped in Rosso Corsa and adorned by replica Ferrari F1 graphics, this trike definitely screams out Ferrari. Though, at the same time, it screams "I'm a tool" to anyone riding this abomination. While little information is given, we do know that it retains the stock Hayabusa 1300cc motor. At least it has some go to back it up.

Video Build Diary

We've Got No Clue What They're Saying, But She's Hot

[via carzi]

[Telegraph.co.uk]

And here's the Discovery Channel piece that got Mr. May going on the topic:

It’s the aforementioned V4 engine that forms the motive force behind Glinik’s design. Essentially an Enzo’s V12 with eight of the cylinders lopped off, the resulting capacity is two liters, huge for a motorcycle engine, rendering this bike more of a boulevardier than a performance bike with its weight. That cruiser-like lack of ability is backed up by the wheelbase, which looks impossibly long, the low center of gravity which will slow down direction changes and require more lean per-speed in corners than the low pegs, huge fairing and Ferrari-style pedals will allow. Of course, there’s also the belt drive and the limited movement and feedback allowed by this particular girder fork arrangement to keep it from actually riding like you’d think a motorcycle made by Ferrari would.

If Ferrari were actually to design a motorcycle, we’d hope it would draw enough inspiration from the firm’s supercar to give it a performance emphasis, while leaving the actual engineering up to people that know how to make bikes work. We’d imagine they’d continue their proud tradition of stealing buying engine technology from Yamaha, maybe in the form of the 2009 R1’s long-bang engine technology. Doing both of those things would result in a fast, desirable motorcycle that would do a much better job of fitting in with the rest of the Ferrari brand than this abomination does. Look at the way the upcoming S1000RR has adapted technology from BMW’s M-division, but housed it in a thoroughly conventional package for an example. But, of course, Ferrari will never actually make a bike, so all of this is just meaningless speculation. [via Wired]

Its builder, who at this point remains anonymous, apparently feels that a massively underperforming air-cooled Harley v-twin makes the perfect synonym for a smooth V12, while the raked out custom frame hidden underneath the plastic leaper should do a good job of eliminating the good handling more often associated with the brand. Of course, all this will be the last thing on its rider’s minds; they’ll be way too focused on the excruciating riding position created by the rear-axle-mounted foot pegs and way-forward bars. [T3 via Autoblog]

Shenzhen police have confiscated and destroyed 14,277 supposedly illegal motorcycles in China's southern Guangdong province. According to ChinaCarTimes, new motorcycle registrations in the city of 12,000,000 have been outlawed due to roaming motorcycle gangs, bent on petty theft and a lust for purse snatching. Although the policy has been in place and mass motorcycle executions have taken place in the past, this orgy of destruction is by far the largest. Seems China's on a slippery slope here, because as everyone knows, when motorcycles are outlawed, only outlaws will have motorcycles. [ChinaCarTimes]

Chances are, Arcee will resemble this bike in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
[via Hell For Leather]

The rumors follow an interview with VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech in German magazine Stern in which he expressed regret for failing to buy Ducati during the '80s when it was troubled financially. He then went on to say, "I would still like a small, valuable motorcycle manufacturer, I myself drive a Ducati. 180 horses and more power per kilogram weight than a 1,001hp Bugatti."

KTM would be a good fit for VW. Not only are they based just across the border, but the two already collaborated on the X-Bow track car. It's this, combined with Piech's statement, which is most likely fueling these rumors.

In our opinion, it's unlikely that VW would consider its own range of bikes. Not only is it litigation adverse, but there's a limited market for motorcycles that pales in comparison to that for cars. Neither does KTM need the partnership, after a fresh injection of capital from Indian motorcycle maker Bajaj, they're on course to become Europe's largest bike manufacturer by 2020, when they aim to produce over 200,000 bikes annually.

It's also extremely unlikely that VW would revive the GX3, an expensive program that caused much controversy within the company before being killed off.

It's much more likely that if VW and KTM are talking it's about producing a lightweight, high-tech, ultra-high-mileage car, something like the 1-Liter Car concept. KTM would be able to offer expertise in both carbon fiber and small production runs, VW could offer money.
[via Auto Express]

I still don't remember the accident or what caused it. Three days later, with morphine obscuring my ability to distinguish fact from fantasy, I do have a vague, split-second clip running through my mind. It plays like a first-person reel from Raiders of the Lost Ark. You know the scene where the Nazi BMW rider gets a pole shoved in his spokes? It plays like that, only I was that rider and not Harrison Ford.

I don't remember what caused it, or hitting the ground, but apparently I hit it pretty hard. According to my doctor, my official diagnosis was a concussion and "a Galeazzi Fracture, which is an eponym for an injury pattern which includes a fracture of the radial shaft and dislocation of the Distal Radial Ulnar Joint (i.e., the end of the two forearm bones)." In addition to the titanium plate you see in the picture, there's a pin holding my wrist together and one by my elbow holding a fractured piece of bone on. And thus I have become the bionic man.

There are no X-rays yet. My surgeon ― a Jalopnik reader himself ― sent them as some form of strange file I haven't the will nor the technical prowess to open. He was probably much too excited about the 996 Turbo being financed at least in part by all my operations to send them in a normal format.

Every scrap of riding gear I was wearing at the time was destroyed, but thank God I was wearing it. Aside from my head and back, the forearms were the most protected area on my body, benefiting from the overlapping hard jacket armor and racing gloves. I did manage to get some decent road rash on my legs.

It's going to be six to eight weeks until I can drive or ride again, but hopefully I'll be able to start posting again next week. Until then, ride (or drive) safely.

I'll get to the car: hold your horses. This pertains.

I bought my motorcycle new in 2003: a Honda 919, aka Hornet in other markets. Most of a CBR900RR performance and mechanical foundation, but with EFI and as is common with "naked bikes" a fatter midrange and slightly emasculated top end. 105 hp at the rear wheel, 65-ish ft. lbs of torque.

Within 3 months of purchase I had my most expensive speeding ticket ever ($455) and was leaving every stop light on one wheel. Often riding in jeans, a tank top, and shades. Stupid at any age, stupider at 39. It wasn't my first bike, but it was the most liberating to my inner hooligan of any bikes I've owned.

My dad died that autumn and left me a little inheritance. Although I had never seen photos and he never owned a bike after he "settled down" I just know that he passed on his love of bikes to me. He had owned a 1928 and a 1935 Harley when he was in his twenties. They would have been WELL used ratbikes by the time he got them. I think he paid $5 for the '28.

I decided that I was going to go drag racing, partly in homage to my dad. After all, I could never have afforded to do it properly without his parting gift to me. I first commissioned an extended swingarm: if I'm going drag racing, I'm NOT going to be "the guy who looped the bike off the line that time." Because Honda never sold a large number of 919's in America and the 919 is not a design that lends itself to modifications, increasing the engine output in any significant way is difficult. VERY restrictive porting, very limited availability of big bore kits, high lift cams, NO turbo kits whatsoever on the market...I was running out of options for achieving my goal of a nine second quarter mile on this bike. If I knew I was going racing when I bought a bike, I certainly wouldn't have started with this one. A CBR1000 STARTS with 50 more h.p. , and has many options for pursuing greater performance.
After engineering and installing what I believe is the world's only wet nitrous system in this application, as well as a few other little mods, I was ready to take it to the track and see what The Tinman could do. I'd rarely ever finished off a can of whipped cream, never mind tuned a nitrous system in my life. And after getting caught in the rain and nearly ruining the most expensive suit I'd ever own (Alpinestars) I HAD to come up with an alternative way of getting to the track.

In my driveway sat an unused 1999 Honda Civic HX; the VERY tall-geared, 43 mpg rated, lesser-engined version of their coupe that I had bought new. It had served me well, ferrying me across Alaska for my inspection business to the tune of 147,000 miles in the first two years of ownership. I got mine back from the insurance company virtually for free after totaling it in 2002, and band-aided it back together with a plywood front bumper and some judicious tugs on the "frame" from a come-along anchored to a concrete parking garage support. I drove it for a few years before I found a clean old BMW 320i and parked the Civic. Because it had 210,000 miles nobody would be too interested in salvage parts, and because it had been totaled and was still not titled, it was unsellable as a car.

I began thinking of cutting the car up and making it into a trailer before I got the brilliant (ahem) idea of making it into a self-propelled trailer, or "truck" as they are sometimes called. I took a few measurements, checked my stock of Sawzall blades (if only I'd had my air compressor and die grinder/cutter then!), bopped down to the liquor store for a rack of Alaskan Amber, and got to drinking...I mean, re-manufacturing.

I started by removing the trunk lid and gutting the interior of carpeting and basically everything but the driver's seat. I removed the back glass, cut out the package shelf, and sawed out the center of the rear bumper and everything between the taillights. The floor was poorly shaped for truck duty, and a hump for the fuel tank was going to cause my bike "deck" to sit much higher than I wanted. I hacked out the floor above the center of the gas tank, and quite proudly only sawed through one vapor return hose/valve assembly in the process! I got skills! Somehow, the fuel tank still held fuel and I was still not engulfed in flames at this point. But I was pretty s-faced now, so really, I was amazed that I hadn't wound up in the E.R. yet nor spilled any...okay, MUCH blood. There is a high-strength steel crossmember in the area under the former back seat, so this served as the main anchor of the ramp/deck for the bike and provides a surprising amount (ANY is surprising, right?) of structural integrity.

Because The Tinman is stretched and slammed he cannot negotiate much of a ramp without high-centering, so the deck is mounted nose-high and El Civico is MUCH more accommodating than would be a pickup truck or trailer. This car, albeit somewhat odd, is the best way I could hope to transport the bike without spending an arm and a leg. Or really, more than $50, as is the case.

As you can imagine I get some looks on the highway on the way to the track. I'm simply amazed that with the dozens of cameras that I've seen hanging out of passenger windows, I've never come across a picture of my rig on the internet.

After a passing rain shower last year, track management allowed spectators to take their cars down the track to assist drying. Slapped on my helmet, fired up El Civico (sans Tinman in back) and high-tailed it to the staging lanes. With 216,000 miles on the original clutch (and everything else but the front brakes and timing belt) I bounced it off the rev limiter in the burnout box for 15 seconds, released the ebrake, and sidled up to the tree. My reaction time wasn't great; this WAS the first time I'd ever drag raced a car, but I left the line around 6,000 rpms with a taste of equal parts clutch slip and tire spin: exactly what this tall-geared car wanted. Second gear is good for 72 mph, a quick slam into 3rd and we crossed the finish line with a 16.84: one hundredth quicker than I'd just seen for a new Mini !

El Civico has no problem keeping up with highway traffic, or any other kind really. I had it up to 95 on the Old Glenn Highway, a lovely meandering old two-lane, following a WRX on the way home from the track and all hopped up on adrenaline and Diet Rockstar. Thankfully the peace officers up here don't seem too concerned about the car and technically, they don't need to be. It has all its safety equipment besides a license plate light, but thanks to the late sunsets of summer here that's not really an issue.

Okay, so El Civico ain't too fond of washboard bumps: the torsional rigidity obviously does leave something to be desired. But I seriously doubt it's less safe than just riding the motorcycle. Granted, once I get into an accident in this car I'll be in for a world of hurt. Do I have any other mods planned? Probably an ejection seat for just such an occasion. I'll want to get some distance between me and the bike should the 's' hit the fan.

But until the doors stop working due to body flex, or the front half says 'Adios' to the back half, El Civico will remain the workhorse that keeps me in the racing game. In fact, working as a team last year, The Tinman, El Civico, and I took home the top trophy of Alaska drag bike racing.

My apologies to DeWalt, but their heavy duty reciprocating saw turned out to be less heavy duty than a drunk with an old Civic. May it rest in peace.

In addition to his Triumph, Schumacher brought his track prepped Ducati 1098R and Desmosedici RR to the Barcelona track for testing. It's not known which series, if any, Schumacher would choose to participate in, but it's assumed he can pretty much write his own ticket. Any lack luster performance would be made up for by his crowd-pulling name. [Via Motorcycle News]

The stunt was made all the more difficult due to the choppy waves and windy conditions. Pastrana needed to hit the four-foot wide ramp with precisely the right amount of speed, flotation and angle; otherwise it'd have been like hitting a wall.

Speaking immediately afterwards, Pastrana said, "This is one of the most dangerous jumps I have ever made. If I had failed to get into the lake at the proper speed I could have ended up hitting the ramp really hard."

The stunt will form part of the Nitro Circus 6 DVD.
[Via Hell For Leather]

And unlike the 09 Challenger SE of Spin's dreams, you can only get this with a five-speed manual. Oh, and it's got A/C, a CD player and a push-button heater. Though they claim the goal is to sell 3,000 of them, we think they're going to do ten times that. American salesmanship with Chinese quality. How can you lose?

Originally introduced by State Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, who developed an irrational fear of bikers after he witnessed some pulling wheelies and driving dangerously during a ride-along with Miami police, HB 137 has become known as the Anti-Biker Bill due to its discriminatory nature.

Defending motorcyclists during hearings at the state legislature, a representative of ABATE, a motorcycle lobby group, argued that the motorcycle specific penalties far outweighed those for motorists who violate a rider's right of way, killing or injuring them.

While the bill was modified to include all vehicles before being passed into law, the anti-motorcycle language remains, specifically that referring to the revocation of a motorcycle endorsement, leading to some confusion. It's not known if car drivers will face the same license suspension as bike riders.

Jalopnik does not endorse dangerous driving, but its our belief that the best way to make roads safer is through education, not draconian enforcement. After all, isn't anyone with only a week or less of Driver's Ed and very little idea of how to control their vehicle in an emergency driving dangerously? [Via Hell For Leather]

Update: It looks like we spoke too soon folks. While this bill has passed committee in the Florida House of Representatives, it hasn't yet been voted into law. Let's hope it isn't.

Florida Bill HB 137, pre all-vehicles amendment:

F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled

An act relating to offenses committed while operating a
motorcycle; creating s. 316.1926, F.S.; providing
additional penalties for certain offenses committed by a
person operating or in actual physical control of a motorcycle; requiring that the person be taken into
custody; providing for seizure and forfeiture of the
motorcycle; providing for revocation of the person's
privilege to operate a motorcycle; providing an effective
date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
Section 1. Section 316.1926, Florida Statutes, is created
to read:

316.1926 Motorcycle offenses.—

(1) When a law enforcement officer charges a person with
reckless driving in violation of s. 316.192 or exceeding the speed limit by 30 miles per hour or more in violation of s. 316.183(2), s. 316.187, or s. 316.189 while operating or in actual physical control of a motorcycle, the officer shall arrest the person, take him or her into custody, and seize the motorcycle, which shall be subject to forfeiture under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act.
(2) Upon conviction, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, the court shall revoke the person's
authorization and privilege to operate a motorcycle for a period of 10 years and order the person to surrender his or herdriver's license.
(a) If the person holds a Class A, Class B, or Class C
driver's license, the department shall issue a replacement
license, valid for the remainder of the person's unexpired
license period, without the endorsement to operate a motorcycle.
(b) If the person holds a Class E driver's license that is not restricted to motorcycle operation only, the department shall issue a replacement license, valid for the remainder of the person's unexpired license period, without the authorization to operate a motorcycle.
(3) Revocation of the privilege to operate a motorcycle under this section shall not prohibit or restrict the issuance or renewal of a driver's license for purposes other than the operation of a motorcycle.
Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2008.

[MIRG]