dWRENCHED

     Blessed be the ones who still dream, believe & build...

  Here's another machine I wanted to see featured on dWrenched ever since I've seen it. And since then few months have passed. Giving me time to read some of the most stupidest articles on the matter.
Because is very easy talking tales on a subject so strange to you, as vampires.

     Anyway, besides my passion for motorcycles, I also bare a passion for watches. And it so happens that the brand Bell&Ross is one of them. Maybe because their identity and heritage are well bound to the military domain; maritime and aviation.

   The B-Rocket, as it's called, is the swiss watch manufacture's Bell&Ross artistic exercise of combining the need of speed, retro aviation looks and the thrills of riding a motorcycle.
    Built in 2014, B&R turned to its favourite Harley customiser, Shaw Harley Davidson, in Uk. Their first collaboration, in 2011, named Nascafe (Nascar + Cafe Racer, clever huh? ) was quite a visual treat (as you can see in the photo below).
     The Nascafe was built from an FXSTB Softail Nightrain.

    The thing that I love the most is that the B-Rocket inspired the Bell&Ross's latest time pieces, and not the other way around. For the connaisseurs, we are talking about an 46mm BR-01 B-Rocket chronograph and a 42mm BR-03 B-Rocket three-hander. Both limited to 500 pieces. Going from around $9200, if I'm not mistaken.
    B-Rocket is a very retro 50's- 60's aerodynamic influenced machine. Looking  fast even when it's staying still. Bruno Belamich, creative director at Bell & Ross, explaines :

    ''The worlds of watchmaking and aeronautics are very closely linked. The avi­ation watch was born following the advent of aerial naviga­tion, and evolved alongside aeronautical instrumentation.

   Another legendary period was when American engineers set out to achieve supersonic speed and conquer space. This was an era characterised by research into aerodynamics, en­gine performance and speed, with pilots risking their lives in the name of glory. At the same time, land speed records were reaching astonishing figures.

   I wanted to explore this history in a different way, which is how I came up with the idea of building a motorcycle that would recapture the spirit of the time and the magic of this legendary place.''

   And dear God, it does look beautiful. The Bonneville Salt Flat beds in Utah; the legendary land speed record-breaking Mecca, was best way to showcase a machine like this.

    The upholstered fuel tank and solid wheel covers are a must for a Bonneville racer. Paughco forks, 21inch wheels with Avon Speedmaster tires and Mooneyes wheel covers. In fact, the rear one is transparent, helping the rider to check the bike without disassembling. Modified Harley-Davidson rocker arm and oil tank. Alf Hagon fairing. Inboard disc brake system, and custom exhaust system. Leather seat, chest pad, and plane-skark back fin rear fender. All done by Shaw. The downward bent handlebars are something straight from pre-war motorcycle boardtrack racing.

     As you already seen, there are a few other features of the B-Rocket fantasy related. Like the jet intakes. In fact, that area houses the intake, exhaust, and oil cooler. I can totally roll with that.
    The donor bike was a Harley Davidson Softail Blackline FXS with it's 1584cc Twin Cam V-Twin,  mated to a six-speed transmission that enables a top speed of 200 km/h -124 mph; some say.    What I can't undestand is why on Earth would Shaw use those ugly Knucklehead head covers. Or better yet, why not use an original Knucklehead engine ?! This is a major kick in the nuts for the whole project, if you ask me.
    Everything looks great, except that stupid motor. Shaw, big no no mates; thumbs down for that move. It wasn't built to break records, so why not go for ''cool'' all the way, right ?!

    I honestly can't wait for the 3rd result of this awesome collaboration.

Epic Bonneville photos by Claude Weber.
The rest, from Bell&Ross.
Shaw Harley Davidson