The Lucky Cat Garage

In 2008, blogs were rare: this growing phenomenon, in which we have participated from then til today, is now something known to everyone. "Seb" ran a blog called "The last chance garage du 7-8" and we started to communicate back then.
Seb now evolves in his world around the bikes that he builds patiently in his garage, to develop what is called today "The Lucky Cat Garage".

Last year I broke my ankle and fibula in a bike accident the week before Glamseck 101, that I'd been preparing for months. In my hour of need all my friends and family rallied round to get the bike finished. It was finally ready in time for the sprint races in Germany. My friend Sylvain took me over there, rode my bike, and won the StarWars category. The bike also won Best of Show. This sucess was followed by a wave of enthusiasm for this bike, which we called 'Sprintbeemer', and which will be few months after on exhibition at the Museum of contemporary art at Lyon, at the Moto Légende show and part of the exhibition at Wheels and Waves.

I loved the atmosphere at Glemseck 101 and I have promised myself to return and ride the bike myself. However, it feels a bit of a pity to return just to ride it myself: why not push the project a bit further? That is how I started the project officially called 'Furtherer', though between ourselves we call it 'brainfuck'".
I had been happy with the previous version with its barnfind petrol tank and fairing hand painted: it worked well, and the bike was coherent. I had kept the (original) fairing and petrol tank to one side. However I eventually decided that it was a bit too classic; I wanted to push the design a bit further and take the BMW sprint to another level, to correspond 100% to my vision, to take more risks and not to sleepwalk through the design. To me the bike tasted slightly of unfinished business.... and, after all my motto is "dream, wrench, love, weld, machine, ride, repeat" !

From the beginning the whole project depended upon the idea that a sprint race is won before the race starts, by getting the upper hand over your opponents psychologically. And this year, I have had various ideas of how to spread worry and uncertainty amongst the ranks.... visually and mechanically! The story of this bike, then, is above all else a story of friends and good times spent working in the workshop in the evenings, and the weekends and during the holidays.

Benny and Seb "Brainfuckin'"

A design that M.C Escher would be proud of !

The most visible part is obviously the new fairing, provided by my friends Kent and Dutch at Airtech Streamlining. As I'd imagined, I wanted only to show the boxer heads under the fairing. To do this I lengthened the original fairing. Next, the painting, which was a real headache. Benny aka Machine 17 came up with the idea of the design for the pattern which almost hurts the eyes and makes an optical illusions with the arrows in 2 directions. Benny usually works as a graphic designer/ photographer for Edwin Europe. It was amusing as I found out later (as he did, from another source), that the idea of interlocking arrows had already been used by Jean-Pierre Lihou on a Citroën concept car in the 1970s. Benny is a genius!!
Then, to complete the visual update, I found a new petrol tank. It's a Malagutti 50, which had suffered Cyril's attacks. He incorporated my requirement,which was to be able to mount the ammeter and the Lucas headlights... some brainstorming sessions later..... the English section finally joined with the Italian petrol tank to accommodate the petrol pressure and oil temperature gauges.

Lastly I needed a little more horsepower for the come back of the Lucky Cat (and the races to come).... for that the engine was completely reworked by Edelweiss Motorsport. In the end they kept only the cases and the crank from the R100RS. Still the breaking-in period, the motor already has more than 100 HP when benchtested and the engine is currently limited to 9500 tr/min. There has been a lot of work here: the crankshaft has been modified, the conrods, pistons, cylinders, camshaft, pushrods, lifters, rockers, and heads of the R 100 GS have been reworked, the lubrication circuit has been modified, the oil pump and the programable twin ignition..... the assembly and metrology were done by the sorcerers Edelweiss Motorsport in Essen who christened the engine the " Sprintbanger ". It is "only" 1,070 cc but enough power and torque to wrest the Sprintbeemer from the starting line.

Photos credit: Daniel Beres



As always, I didn't want to leave it there, and to make the connection between the visual and mechanical, I found various components from the world of drag racing to complete the bike. I managed to finance a nitrous kit, thanks to the sale of Edwin X Lucky Cat garage tee shirts on Facebook. They all sold in a few weeks, and I was even able to add some more goodies, like the pneumatic shifter!

I would like to thank again the supporters from all over the world who helped the project along its way: it feels good to be so supported.

Technically I had loads of help on the set up of the nitrous from friends who race on modern bikes in the French championship . Thanks to their advice I choose a "wet" nitrous kit from NOS. With this system you can easily supercharge the engine with nitrous oxide and petrol. I still need to refine the settings a little, to take full advantage of the system that is still set in safe mode.... then I need to finish the mounting of the pneumatic shifter with the introduction of a reinforcement cylinder and selection shaft. I have preferred taking my time to make the reinforcement of the selection shaft Despite this care , there are still 10 bars that go into the cylinder when you change gear from the handlebars ... I am not sure the shift shaft will hold up for long without reinforcement. In short there is still some work planned for this winter!

But, hell, WHO NEEDS 9 LIVES ?: not the lucky cat!!

Here is a short summary of the modifications and the work done this year (there's obviously more work for next year!)

-Airtech full Dustbin fairing extended in the rear
-Brainfuck" paintjob by Benny Machine17 Nico ATN
-1070cc engine by Edelweiss Motorsport
-nitrous NOS "wet" kit with purge kit & kill module
-homemade intake manifolds (thanks Chrisian!)
-Handlebar controls (Pingel)
-adjustable shift light (MSD)
-Electric over air shifter (Pingel)
-mega slash cut silencer
-NOS & engine kill modules (under tank)
-full electric harness
-Malagutti gas tank modified and including oil ang gas gauges(nice job by Cyril!)
-Engine hood in alloy foundry (thanks 8cycles)
-Finish of the rngine foundry parts (thanks Get)

-modified R50/2 frame
-BMW R75/5 shorter fork.
-shortened swing arm BMW R100/7 .
-modified final drive BMW R80/7 .
-billet alloy struts hidden in the rear shocks
-BMW R 100 R 5 speed gearbox
-ceramic Sachs clutch
-front wheel: R75/5 machined hub - anodized Morad rim.
-front tyre: Avon Speedmaster 19''
-rear wheel R100/7 machined hub - anodized excel rim
-rear tyre MH Racemaster 18''

Seb and the good Managers: Ola and Sylvain

As fast on  dirt and track : Franck Chatokhine

This summer the Lucky Cat crew again worked furiously day and night to finish on time: Christophe, Frank, Quentin, Sylvain; Florent, Christian, Cyril, Nico, Mathieu, Sou, Laurence, Daniel, Dirk and all his team. This is where the Lucky Cat shows how lucky he really is.
For the finishing touches, Furygan made a one/off overall to match the fairings in their workshop in Nimes. Benny designed this as well. Last but not least, Bruno from Gentlemen's Factory painted my helmet Shoei NXR with my mascot and his broken legs!
Thanks to all the partners and friends who have helped the Lucky Cat Garage this year: Edwin Europe, Furygan, Shoei Europe, Instantané, Perfect Start, Airtech Streamlining, New Com, FTWco, Mombaerts Race, Gentlemen's Factory, Castrol, Edelweiss Motorsport.

FRanck Chatpkhine, Hugo Jezegabel , Seb Lorentz

Next step: the Custom bike AMD championship in Cologne. The Sprintbeemer "Furtherer" will be on stage. The Nights will be short to ensure that the finish is perfect! Whatever, the Sprintbeemer isn't a showbike, but a race machine. Built on purpose, built for Speed !



Last minute news: Seb just won the second place in the retro modified categorie at the AMD championship !!! Congratulations !!!

Do, start and keep trying

 . This is the story of a chance meeting.

The Southsiders share many passions, from bikes to surfing, therefore it was only natural that my neighbour Julien who shares the same interests has recently become integrated to the Southsiders’ crew. The Norton that we are showing you today has been a long challenge for me. As a matter of fact it got me thinking as to why do we only see rigids based on Triumphs or BSAs and never on  Commandos? It’s an unanswerable question for me but we are very proud of the finished build

Vincent Prat



words by Julien Azé

 A couple of years ago I went to see my neighbour who was reputed to be an authority on old motorcycles to show him a beach cruiser I had recently bought. We talked,then visited his garage where I saw an old Mercedes,a bettle,Ducati,Moto Guzzi,Norton and a Triton.

For me everything started from meeting Vincent. Then I began to follow the Southsiders blog and attend some events they organised at the shop "Eastside" in Toulouse and at the "The third year party".I then became involved in the first and second W&W.
 During the weekends of the (cold) winter of 2011-2012, I was spontaneously invited to Vincent’s garage. Florent arrived at the same time, with the project of reviving his father’s old Norton : I got involved with the project with Vincent, the thinker, and Florent, a novice like myself: both of us in the role of those carrying out the orders. Slowly, I became familiar with this type of mechanics and despite some periods of inactivity, I made progress. Certainly if Vincent hadn’t put his ideas, his knowledge and his garage at my disposal, I would never have thought to have thrown myself in to the project of acquiring the Norton.

I had bought my 1974 Norton HiRider 850cc a year and a half earlier from  a French importer of English motorcycles destined for the American market. For him this bike, an order that never came off, was incongruous in his stable of flamboyantly new bikes: it was my holy grail.
I came back from a trip in the USA and despite its numerous stylistic faults, this English bike reeked of California!
This Norton came from Baxter Motorcycles in Iowa. Its historical importance was slight, but the style is irreprochable… the previous owner had the ideas, but not the means. I nicknamed him ‘the butcher of Iowa ‘Mechanically the bike was not functional, the front tyre was from a car, the sissy bar was looked like it had been forged by teeth. Mechanically everything had to be redone: Having been thrown in at the deep end I had to develop from a novice into a quasi-expert in Norton Commmandos


Like so many others I would go off driving, break down, repair the problem, find another…. During one and a half years our relationship was up and down: full of joys and despair, numerous frustrations, desire to abandon the project, then start it again. During this time I would visit the Southsiders garage, where I witnessed several other exciting projects: the beautiful realisation of Florent’s Café Racer, the preparation of Vincent’s Triton for Bonneville 2012, the finishing touches for the electrics and last details on the Bobber Triumph of Christophe Canitrot …I realise today that it was that period, so rich in apprenticeships: (mechanics,design, forging, electrics, painting, etc), which pushed me to make my Norton project so much better, and to have such an ambitious goal. Compare a stock version of the HiRider to that which I have accomplished, and you'll see how far I have gone.
Nothing has been  delegated to a subcontractor: everything that has been done on this motorbike, has been done in the garage, and I think I can say that everyone who has set foot in there has particiapated to some extent in the project. Corey Wyatt, who speeded up the process, thanks to his skill and speed at welding and Chaudonnerie;  Frédéric Antoine,, for his talents as a blacksmith; Marcel Galinié, the goldsmith/ mechanic,whose milling and lathework, made a big difference onthe bike, Thierry De Miras for his unerring ear which can detect potentially expensive suspicious noises ,Henry Martinez, for his generous inventory of readily available parts; Benoit Guerry for the quality of his photos, and for sharing each disappointment. Vincent Prat, for time spent in the garage discussing things together, thinking about all possible angles by which to advance the project. And for the final touch, Jerome Gone, who brilliantly adjusted the cable throttle!

Today, it's just pleasure. The bike reacts perfectly to me. The engine runs like clockwork, and its handling on the road lives up to all its promises, with the added bonus of watts à gogo as it accelerates. Several days ago  the guys at Southsiders all took to the road on it in turn and as I saw their collective unanimous smile I said to myself that the project is validated.... !

Photos by Benoit Guerry (studio) and Vincent Prat (action)

Not one but two oil tanks built from stolen urban furniture

Handforged bars

That Cibié Headlamp comes from the 30's thanks to JCBarrois

 Shall we remove that front brake Julien?

Back to the forge, where the bike was born.