Rabu, 05 Januari 2011

Honda CBX V12 by Andreas Georgeades









There He's obviously not hesitant to attempt whatever he sets his mind to. Earlier bikes include 3 Ferrari powered machines, 2 with V6 powerplants, one of those supercharged, and one V8 from a Ferrari 308. Even more impressive is his workshop, for those who think a project like this requires an immense workshop filled with the latest machine tools, Andreas does his work in more modest surroundings.

His building technique is truly "old school," no CAD or computer work of any kind, just some sketches, and even those, sometimes not until after the work is complete to explain what he did. This CBX V12 came to my attention over a year ago but there didn't seem to be many photos available, probably because the project was ongoing and still incomplete for so long, then Doug sent me a link to these photos which show quite a bit of the build of the now complete bike, and it's truly impressive. He also raced and won in Canada with a bike powered by a Honda 600 auto engine, a water cooled engine converted to air cooling by removing the water jacket and adding cooling fins! Andreas, a former motorcycle racer from South Africa who raced his Matchless 500 at the Isle of Man in 1964 and 500cc GP racing in Europe, he also raced in Canada and the US. He's been doing things with motorcycles his entire life, starting out as a racer but quickly becoming a builder with some very unusual and creative skills.

Andreas Georgeades' most recent project is exactly that, the bike shown here, but "most recent" are the key words. Building a V12 from a pair of Honda CBX engines would be quite an accomplishment if it was the only motorcycle project a builder ever did, unlikely of course, but by itself it would stand alone quite well.