Rodney Dangerfield’s Guide to Auto Repair is a famous 7 minute sketch by the legendary American comedian that’ll sound immediately familiar to anyone who’s ever had dealings with a shady mechanic. In the sketch the late-great Dangerfield is joined by Dick Butkus, Bubba Smith, and Morgan Fairchild. He plays a senior mechanic teaching a class…
The Honda CB985F Evolution is a motorcycle that started life as a regular CB900F, before getting a comprehensive evolutionary rebuild at the hands of Darren Begg – a custom motorcycle builder who specializes in taking classics from the ’70s and ’80s, then rebuilding them using modern suspension, brakes, and technology. dB Customs dB Customs is…
The Lincoln-Zephyr V12 engine made its first appearance in the Lincoln-Zephyr models of 1936 with a capacity of 267 cubic inches. The Lincoln-Zephyr V12 Engine If the design of the V12 looks familiar to you, it’s probably because it was somewhat based on the legendary Ford Flathead V8. The Ford V8 would become the backbone of…
When you see the Watkins M001 for the first time you spend a good 5 minutes staring, trying to wrap your mind around it. It’s equal parts complex, unusual, and unfamiliar, almost as if a motorcycle from the Blade Runner universe was modified in the Marvel universe, before somehow exiting a wormhole and landing on…
The idea of developing a home-built kit to convert the KTM 990 Adventure into a two-wheel drive motorcycle with hub-centre steering sounds difficult enough – but somehow also managing to reduce the weight by 40 kilograms compared to the stock bike sounds borderline impossible. Despite the litany of difficulties associated with the concept, mechanical engineer…
James Parker and RADD Inc. Suspension The Yamaha GTS 1000 was released in 1993 with unusual forkless front suspension designed by James Parker, a Stanford University trained Industrial Designer with an innate engineering ability – which he used to develop oftentimes unusual motorcycles. In 1971 when he ran a Hodaka dealership Parker created a 120…
This 10 minute films shows the process of building an engine from scratch, including the casting process, machining, final assembly, and the completed motorcycle’s first test ride. It’s an interesting look into how motorcycle (and car) engines were painstakingly built back in the early days of motoring, every step of the process involved highly-skilled machinists,…
The Heimplanet Fistral is a 2-person geodesic tent that tips the scales at an ultra-lightweight 2.5 kilograms (5.5 lbs), it manages to keep its weight so low by forgoing traditional tentpoles, and by using space-age materials throughout. The Heimplanet Fistral Geodesic Tent The main structure of the Heimplanet Fistral is made up of two beams,…
The DKW W2000 is a rotary-engined motorcycle that was sold under the name “Hercules W-2000” in all world markets outside the United Kingdom – it was the first rotary motorcycle (in full production) in the world and its engine would go on to form the basis of the Norton rotary-engined motorcycles that would be produced…
The Immortal Beaver – The World’s Greatest Bush Plane is a documentary that covers both the history of the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, and the recovery and restoration of “Olivia” – a former military Beaver that received a full restoration back to flying condition. The film includes interviews with Harrison Ford who is famously…
There’s nothing like finding an original Alfa Romeo V12 Formula 1 engine up for sale for the borderline affordable price (for some) of ~$20,000 USD to get you thinking about engine swaps. It comes with its original transaxle too, so you’ll just need to find a mid-engined car in need of a power plant –…
The first Porsche tractor designs were penned by Dr Ferdinand Porsche in the early 1930s alongside the early designs for the VW Beetle – the original plan was to develop a “Volks-Tractor” to be sold alongside the “Volks-Wagen”. A Brief History of the Porsche Tractor By 1934 there were three working tractor prototypes, all of which…
