R Madhavan's BMW K1600 GTL - The Ultimate Touring Bike

 R Madhavan has always had a secret passion for bikes. He also owns a Yamaha V-max. The BMW K1600 GTL is the ultimate touring bike. The bike offer one of the smoothest and most comfortable rides ever imaginable. It would be the ideal bike for a multistate trip. Launched in 2010 and put for sale in 2011, the bike costs around Rs. 24 lakhs!

Source

How a NASCAR race car gets its colors

   Joe Gibbs Racing gives us a look at Kyle Busch's 2013 No. 18 Toyota Camry as well as how the paint scheme is put on the car.

    Check out JGR's time-lapse wrap video to see how this Gen-6 NASCAR Toyota Camry got its colors.

Auto racing's All-America team

   The American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Ass’n has announced its annual All America Team, which the group has done every year since the conclusion of the 1970 season.

    A unique team of special drivers representing multiple forms of professional motorsports is elected each year by AARWBA. The association’s members vote on drivers within their participating categories of racing and the top two from each discipline are elected to the first team.

The 2012 All-America first team:

Open wheel: Ryan Hunter-Reay and Will Power

Road Racing: Teams of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas and Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr

Short Track: Bryan Clauson and Donny Schatz

Stock Car: Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson

Drag Racing: Antron Brown and Jack Beckman

Touring Series: James Buescher and team of Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal

At-Large: Johnny O’Connell and Tristan Vautier

Rising Star: Courtney Force


The 2012 All-America second team:

Open Wheel: Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon/Helio Castroneves (tie)

Road Racing: Chris Dyson/Guy Smith (team) and Ryan Dalziel

Short Track: Bobby East and Darrell Lanigan

Stock Car: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Clint Bowyer

Drag Racing: Tony Schumacher and Ron Capps

Touring Series: Ricky Johnson and Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner (team)

At-Large: Frank Manzo and Jimmy Owens

Dale Jarrett's son to play baseball with Charlotte 49ers

   Zach Jarrett, the son of former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Dale Jarrett, was one of eight baseball players signed by UNC Charlotte during the early commitment period for the 2014 season.

    Jarrett, 17, played third base for the Hickory High (N.C.) Red Tornadoes for coach David Craft, and was a prep teammate of current 49er Tyler Barnette. He also was a participant in the State Games after an All-Northwestern Conference season and a second-round appearance in the state playoffs. He posted 15 RBI in 62 plate appearances with a .355 batting average. He was also rated as a national "high follow" by Perfect Game Crosschecker.

    A two-sport star at Hickory, Jarrett was a member of the varsity basketball team which finished as the state runners-up in the 3A classification.

Salman Khan's Mobile Studio Designed By DC

This is just one among the vanity vans designed by DC. Hrithik Roshan, Ritesh Deshmuk, Sanjay Dutt, Shah Rukh Khan are some of them who own the custom designed DC vanity van. More pictures at the source site.

Source-DC Design Facebook page

#NASCAR No. 2 sports trend on Twitter in 2012

   In 2012, NASCAR partnered with social media juggernaut Twitter, solidifying an upward trend that has seen Twitter explode across the NASCAR scene over the past two seasons. That partnership has led to the hashtag #NASCAR rating as the number two highest trending sports topics of 2012.

   Read more here: http://thespeedzine.com/2012/12/17/nascar-number-two-sports-trend-on-twitter-in-2012/

Could GM Say Yes? The Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS! For 2014?

Well I found this image on an automotive Facebook page while car surfing - my daily, time consuming habit. I clicked on the image, and saved it to my desktop for further inspection. Upon my subsequent inspection of zooming in and panning around on the image, I came to the conclusion that rather than a rendering, it is a Photoshop job. And that's because I realized that it has old rims as well as left over lower body pieces from a previous Chevy Monte Carlo model. However, irregardless of whatever Photoshop job this is, I am really digging it, it is quite unique! I love the huge grille cut into the lower front fascia - very truck-ish! I have never seen it like that on any Chevy models to date. It adds anelement of ultra aggression and massive horsepower, which by extension, is also visualized due to the huge bulge in the hood. And further adding to this is the racing stripes on top that enforce a visualization of speed!

Furthermore, with this design of a new Chevrolet Monte Carlo, it seems that the artist combined the pre-2012 Dodge Charger body design with a Chevy Monte Carlo body. That was very clever! This Dodge Charger influence can be seen in the rear rump, the rear profile (including the spoiler), the roofline, as well as in the design of the greenhouse or windows area. The headlamps, with the rectangular prismic design, resembles that of the 1983-1986 model Monte Carlo - a car which was really cool looking - infact almost better looking than all the rest of the models that followed! Hate to say that GM, but that's just what it is! The rest of those Monte Carlo models were just bland, un-artistic garbage that is worthy of being riddled and pierced to pieces with bullets from a .50 caliber machine gun. I can just picture myself doing it too. You know, that gunners area on top of the army Hummve (hahaha) Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!

Well anyway, let me give you a brief synopsis of the history of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo car. The Monte Carlo was developed by Chevy as a competitor for the Ford Thunderbird. It began its run in 1970 and continued for over 30 years later, until 2007. Below are pictures of the enitre model progression in resume-type chronological order. (Following this line-up is a highly detailed design analysis of some of the Monte Carlos).

6th Generation (production run 2006 - 2007)

Notice the sweeping lines on the side body panels.

6th Generation (production run: 2000 - 2005)

Notice the sweeping lines on the side body panels.

5th Generation (production run: 1995 - 1999)

Now this model is a bit interesting. Notice that this is the only Monte Carlo that doesn't have the sweeping lines on the side body panels! It looks like it veered from the pack? Right? What occurred was the then Chevy Lumina sedan was split into two models. The 4-door sedan was kept as a Chevy Lumina, and a 2-door variant or coupe was labeled as the Monte Carlo.

4th Generation (production run: 1983 - 1986)

Notice the sweeping lines on the side body panels, albeit a bit more subtle

4th Generation (production run:1984 -1988)

Notice the sweeping lines on the side body panels

3rd Generation (production run: 1979)

(Notice the sweeping lines on the side body panels, and it is outlined)

3rd Generation (production run: 1978 - 1980)

(Notice the sweeping lines on the side body panels, albeit a bit more subtle. They're almost disguised by the reflections on the surface).

2nd Generation (Production run: 1977)

(Notice the sweeping lines on the side body panels, they are more pronounced, in addition to being highlighted by an outline).

2nd Generation (production run: 1976)

(Notice the sweeping lines on the side body panels, and they are a bit more pronounced, as they bulge alot).

2nd Generation (production run 1975)

 (Notice the sweeping lines on the side body panels,  are a bit more pronounced -bulgin - here too).

2nd Generation (production run 1975)

(Notice the sweeping lines on the side body panels,  are a bit more pronounced - bulging - here too).

2nd Generation: (production run: 1972)

 (Notice how the sweeping lines on the side body panels are more dashing)!

1st Generation (1973 - 1977)

(Notice the sweeping lines on the side body panels,  are a bit more pronounced -bulgin - here too).

1st Generation (production run: 1970 - 1972)

 (Notice the sweeping lines in succeeding models are pronounced in comparison to this one).



Now let me go over a few of the Monte Carlo models which appeal to me and those which don't and why.

This model isn't too bad....but still a loser anyway!

This model is a loser period!

Look at this picture, it is just so ugly...well no fugly! It looks like "a fish outta water"!


The other two Monte Carlos that I like are the very first 1st generation version (1970), and the 3rd generation 1983 -1988 version. That 1970 version looks dashing I like how the entire body looks like it is an  animation of the sweeping sculpted effects on the sides. It looks lit just wants to take off. I can just hear the engine go "rag-a-ragga rag-a-ragga rag-a-ragga into floored-pedal oblivion!

The 1983-1986 model has that fast, dashing look to it as well. That aspect is gained primarily from the forward slant of the rear profile. It appears ready to tear off the pavement. When I was a kid, every weekend, especially on a Sunday, I used to see that car tearing down the street in front of my house at withering speed!

Another Monte Carlo that I liked alot was the 95 production run. I remember first seeing it as a kid, as I was paging through a National Geographic magazine. The thing that I liked about this car was its overall swift aesthetic - this is achieved without a rear lean-forward profile). Everything looks like it is rushing towards the front headlamps. If you observe closely, that longitudinal line right below the door handles, is a principal player in this achievement. Infact, wait a minute, it is all about this, because if I visually subtract it with my eyes, the car appears less swift! Another thing that I liked about the car was the wheel arches. They werent the usual circular design, but rather kind of squarish - kind of SUV-ish. And in addition, they didn't hug the tires, there's a little bit of space between it and the tire itself. That design lends to a cruising-at-high-speed look.

Now back to the future! Well, at least an attempt to get there!

Reference site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Monte_Carlo

- Gebre Mesquitta