I’m always looking for an excuse to feature a racing motorcycle with a dustbin fairing. These new shots are from Australian photographer Phil Aynsley, and were taken recently in Florence. They show an exquisite 1956 FB-Mondial: the very machine that took Tarquinio Provini to second place in the 1957 250cc Grand Prix world championship — via Bike EXIF
Dutch designers Nathan Wierink and Tineke Beunders made a lovely wooden table covered with marble runs. The video is mesmerizing. Young children could have a lot of fun with this table — via Neatorama
For most of the bikes we feature here, performance is relative. (There’s even the odd replica Grimeca drum brake.) There’s no true answer to how much is too much
, but in the streetfighter world, you can never have too much. Most streetfighters leave me cold, but this one stopped me in my tracks. Probably because I’m a sucker for anything connected to Yoshimura, and builder Lee Workman is a kindred spirit — via Bike EXIF
Have you seen the BBC show Restoration Home? Generally speaking, someone buys an interesting or period property, then does the renovation with… variable… results. This disused 1930s fire station in Accrington, Lancashire would be a prime candidate for the show.
Want it? Well, price is on application, although we suspect it’s available for around the £300,000 mark. If you want it for your dream home, get in quick before someone turns it into apartments and offices. Find out more at Rightmove — via WowHaus
These are the new Shanghai Tang Scuba Class 888 dive watches. Although this Chinese luxury lifestyle brand was previously unknown to me, their new watches caught my eye. The 888
notation on the watch is both a reference to the water resistance rating (888 meters feet) — and of course the most auspicious of all numbers in in Chinese culture. A review of the Shanghai Tang web site indicates that the brand originated in 1994 and is known for promoting contemporary Chinese chic
— mostly clothing and accessories, with the new Scuba Class watch collection being its first foray into timepieces — via Perpetuelle
If you haven’t already guessed, a Norley is a cross between a Norton and a Harley. In this case, we’re looking at a 1200cc Sportster motor shoehorned into a Norton-style frame. This bike was built for charity, and it’s more interesting than most machines of that ilk. It was created by Alain Bernard of Santiago Chopper in Florida, using a 4130 chromoly frame from JW Motorcycles in Wale — via Bike EXIF
Our hunt for interesting property has taken us across the Channel, with this 1970s architect-designed five bedroom house in Guarard, near Paris, France looking straight off a particularly hip movie set from that era.
Of course, film set-style living doesn’t come cheap, with this one selling for €1,090,000, which I make at £956,000. Find out more at Luxury French Property — via WowHaus
Canadian designer Keith Baker has sent us images of the Armada House he designed in Victoria, BC, Canada — via CONTEMPORIST
Just like ordinary concrete surfaces, it looks a tad dull and drag when dry … but put it in a place with condensation-producing heat, running water or natural rain and it reveals hidden decorative designs (that disappear again as it dries).
Conceived by Frederik Molenschot and Susanne Happle, it is a bit like the old bathroom mirror trick — the writing, picture or pattern appears and disappears with moisture content. On a humid day you might get partial glimpses of what would be fully visible during a torrential downpour — via Dornob
This unique archaeological site is one of the best examples — along with Machu Picchu — of what might be called extreme Inca landscaping. Three enormous pits, each with beautifully curved sides that staircase down like the interiors of titanic flowerpots, have been carved out of the earth to depths of up to 100 feet and more. Air temperatures between the top and bottom layers can differ by more than 20 degrees, which has led some researchers to theorize that Moray was an Inca agricultural site where experiments on crops were conducted — via National Geographic
Wallpaper is daunting for a few reasons, one of them being the peeling off part. Design Milk features a great solution for this with Znak’s tear-off wallpaper. You can custom the design to your liking by tearing off pieces.
I particularly dig how you or your small fry can create a mural over it, then rip it off and create a really interesting abstract wall — via CRAFT
I’m ambivalent about most electric motorcycles, but this new design from a Dutch company ticks the box for me. In fact, it’s the first electric moto I’ve seen since the Hammarhead Volta that I like. It’s called the Orphiro, and it’s described as a wide-body cruiser
— which also explains the wire spokes and bobber-style seat. To my eyes, it’s a surprisingly successful update of retro styling cues — via Bike EXIF
For years, Shawn Hakimian has wondered why a World War I fighter plane sits on the roof of 77 Water Street.
It’s not every day you see an airplane taking off from a New York City building,
says Hakimian, a developer whose 75 Wall Street condominiums have views onto the roof of the neighbouring Water Street building and the biplane that is parked there, on a landing strip lined with runway lights. It’s one of our buyers’ most commonly asked questions.
When the William Kaufman Organization built the 26-story office tower in 1970, the owner wanted to adorn its roof with something more interesting than air-conditioning machinery.
When you’re in a building that’s higher, and you’re looking down, it’s pretty ugly,
says Robert Kaufman, the company’s president. So we said: ‘what can we do?’ And we got the idea of putting an airplane on the roof
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
Looking more like a creation from their Bali garage this Deus/Sydney build is based on a Yamaha Scorpio 125cc — via (SILODROME)
Reclaimed and blown-down local timber come back together in this eccentric, organic and playful home — as its lead architect David Rasmussen jovially puts it: There is always a place for fun and frivolity in architecture!
Green Line Architects specialises in rural retreats that respond to nature in terms of both environmental sustainability and physical context — this work is no exception — via Dornob
If you live in Europe and you’re a Triumph fanatic, the biggest event on the calendar is the giant Tridays festival. Every June, it draws hundreds of motorcyclists to the picturesque village of Neukirchen in Austria. The Tridays is organized by the Tyrolean screenwriter Uli Brée, who must be an extremely busy man. This year, Brée increased his workload even further and unveiled a custom bike, the Tridays-Eleven—a high-performance machine that bears the stamp of some of central Europe’s top builders — via Bike EXIF
A house with a stunning exterior and an interesting past, although this 1930s six-bedroomed art deco house in Luton, Bedfordshire doesn’t quite have the inside to match.
The house was originally designed in 1934, then exhibited at the Daily Mail Home Exhibition at Earls Court in the same year, subsequently built in 1935, along with only two others, one in Hendon and one in Bognor, to the same design.
If you fancy a ’30s-style existence in Luton, £465,000 is the asking price. Find out more at — via WowHaus
Christopher Ward’s latest offering is the new C8 Pilot Mark II Vintage, a contemporary take on the IWC B-Uhren watches used by pilots and navigators in World War II.
The design shares many of the characteristics of the watches commissioned by the Luftwaffe, and then the RAF, designed to be worn over thick flying suits. The watches had large faces to provide maximum visibility. In the cramped, cold and extremely noisy environment of a fighter plane’s cockpit, such a watch was a godsend — via Watchuseek Watch Blog
We don’t see many Suzukis here. Of the Japanese big four, Suzuki is probably the least represented in the custom motorcycle world. But this classy machine shows what can be done with a bread-and-butter model—in this case, the GSX750 Inazuma
of the late 90s. At the time, it was regarded as a competent roadster somewhat overshadowed by the Bandit 600, which offered similar performance. This 2002-model custom comes from Luciano, one of our Italian readers, and he’s lifted his GSX750 into another league — via Bike EXIF
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