The “Gin Devil”, the custom project by Stefan Everts
Some teasers had already appeared on social media of a project that Stefan Everts was working on during the corona pandemic. The Legend brought a nice idea to life and built a café racer with the S72 Gin colors as an eye-catcher.
We asked Everts about the how and why of this project and went to Hasselt with our resident photographer and a truckload of lenses in the suitcase. The machine was photographed in the vacant buildings of furniture manufacturer Recor at the exit of the E313 in Hasselt by Gino Maes. Everyone in and around Hasselt knows the iconic building with its neon letters high on the roof. Pending the redevelopment of this building, owners Futurn and Mathieu Gijbels offer entrepreneurs and artists the opportunity to film commercials, photo shoots and video productions in an industrial setting. And so it happened.
Everts used the legendary Honda CB750 Four from 1980 as a basis. It is the fourth generation of this motorcycle. Everts has always been a fan of custom motorcycles, such as the choppers and Harleys that used to be modified. Nowadays café racers are very popular and are often featured in the trade magazines. It also caught Everts' attention because he had been thinking about an eye-catcher for the gin for a while. The S72 gin is marketed with the slogan “Gin with an attitude” and that of course includes a cool café racer.
The engine will mainly be used to act as an eye-catcher at events where the S72 gin is offered. For example, the Gin Bar is at the Superbiker competition in Mettet every year. That's the right audience to show this machine. It is not a typical motocross crowd in Mettet but more of a general motorsport-minded crowd.
Everts himself determined the general look of the café racer with its typical purple colors and gold accents. He first went to Werner Speeckaert, a graphic designer who does many motorsport-related projects and at the time gave Stefan's helmets a new design. Stefan Everts: “Werner then made different designs from my idea and from that we chose a mix of different things that ultimately led to what the bike looks like now."
There are a lot of nice details in it. For example, there is the gas tank with the crowns and titles in it. Werner Speeckaert finished it with glossy and matte paint and that is very special. For example, the logo is made of gold leaf and on the rear fender it is written: “be a legend, don't drink and drive”. The overall look of the machine was of course largely in the hands of Everts himself and that is why he opted for special things such as the typical rear fender, the thick rugged studded tires, and a massive front fork with a special triple clamp custom made by XTRIG. There are also the well-known Flame Discs from Moto-Master that look great on this café racer.
The rugged, robust look of the machine has gradually grown during its construction. “I'm not the type who can draw and write out everything in detail. I had an idea in advance of what direction I wanted to go in, but we took it day by day to make the project become reality.” says Everts. “During the corona period I was able to do many things myself, but we had to publish certain works. That caused a serious delay because everything was at a standstill due to the corona. It certainly caused a delay of half a year."
Ultimately the machine was finished by a German friend of René Oberkersch, Liam's training mechanic. Stefan took the engine apart here in Belgium, cleaned everything and painted the engine block with different colored side covers. The frame of the Honda CB750 has also changed, especially the rear. A lot of time was spent on the polyester shape for the rear.
When the motocross competition started again, René no longer had the time to continue building the machine and so it was moved to the former East Germany to do the complete finishing there.
This café racer will mainly be used as an eye-catcher to promote the famous gin, but in principle it could go on the road. Everything is provided to install indicators and the like and there are papers with the motorcycle. In any case, a lot of man-hours are spent manufacturing or adjusting parts by hand. The clutch lever, rear brake and footrests are truly handmade. The front fork, rear wheel and front wheel come from a Suzuki Hayabusa.
Naturally, as soon as the engine was almost ready, the start button was pressed to hear the sound this machine produces. The experts know what it means if there are throats on the carburetors and there are no silencers on the exhausts. The “Gin Devil” sounds like it looks.
Stefan Everts:The sound is incredible and gives you goosebumps all over your body. Raw is the only right word for the noise and a treat for the ears if you like motorcycles. The design of the exhaust is a bit taken from the Yamaha machines from the MotoGP. It's a powerful thing to see when you see those four exhausts leaving the block. It could be a bit of “overkill”. Sometimes you see café racers with a single-cylinder engine, but that is not bombastic enough for me (laughs).”
More photos can be found under the specs.
Photos: Gino Maes
Tekst: Danny Hermans
Gin Devil specs
The beast was partly built in the east by Mattias Kiel & René Oberkersch
Model: Honda CB 750 Four 1980
- Engine; 4 cylinder 4 stroke
- Engine prepared & painted by S72 / René Oberkersch
- Modified air filters
Frame & Chassis
- STD custom modified
- Subframe-battery holder-rear brake-footpegs-stearing stopper-
- sandblasted & painted by Marko Roggensack Lackiercenter Gerd Handel, Lange Stege 11, 18273 Güstrow
- Handmade chaingard, regina chain PN: 530 / 136ZRT,
- Side stand shorted and bent
- Rear fender customized
- Side panels handmade
- Front sprocket made from 2 sprockets, move 5mm to the outside
Suspension
- front fork suzuki hayabusa
- rear shocks
- Fork protection Ktm sxf250 2021 (modified) with special made adapter fitting to the fork
Brakes
- Moto-Master Brake systems, flame 320mm 5mm, suzuki GSX-R 600/750
- Front Brake pump CB 750 honda modified, lever hayabusa modified, brake cables probrake steelflex custom made, double caliber hayabusa (first generation) tokico 6 piston
- Pump Rmz450 factory , brake pedal CB 750 honda modified , brake cable probrake steel flex custom made
handle bar
- Triple clamps Xtrig ROCS tech 87000035 yamaha cafe racer Black
- Modified throttle house and cable RMZ 450 factory
- Front Brake CB 750 honda modified, lever hayabusa modified, caliber hayabusa nissen
- Handle bar original KTM SX 2019 tease
- Clutch hydralic magura HYMEC system, lever magura MX RMZ 450
Tyres
- rear Continental 180/55 B17 M/C 73Q
- front Continental 120/10-17 M/C 58Q
Electronics By Mattias Kiel
- LED Headlights
- rear light LED
- motogadge multifunctional instrument speedometer LED display, time, voltage, 4 indicator lights
exhaust
- Front part STD CB 750
- Silencer stainless steel laser cut custom made, optic MOTOGP inspiration
Design
- Overall Design: Piranha /S72
- Custom painting: Piranha (tank-panels-rear fender-fork protectors-lamp holder)
Special thanks to René Oberkersch, Marko Roggensack, Matthias Kiel, Werner Speeckeart, Moto-Master, Regina Chains, X-trig, Qwart helmets, OCD painting, MC-Machines.
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