#his name is ab-yss

[beastkaiju]

Subnautica precursor x Dark Souls 3 yes I have done an Abyss Watcher Architect...fight me I love these 2 games

[risalei-nur]

TAFSIR: Risale-i Nur: The Twenty-Ninth Letter - Part 58

The Second Way starts from the outer world; it gazes on the reflections of the divine names and attributes in their places of manifestation in the greater sphere, then it enters the inner world. It observes their lights on a small scale in the sphere of the heart and opens up the shortest way within them. It sees that the heart is a mirror to the Eternally Besoughted One, and is united with the goal it is seeking.

If people who travel the first way are unsuccessful in killing the evil- commanding soul, and if they cannot give up the desires of the flesh and break the ego, they fall from the rank of thanks to that of pride, then descend from pride to conceit. If such a person feels the captivation of love and becomes intoxicated by it, he will make high-flown claims far exceeding his mark, called ecstatic utterances. This is harmful both for himself and for others.

For example, if a lieutenant becomes conceited out of pleasure at his position of command, he will suppose himself to be a field marshal and will confuse his small sphere with the universal one. He will confuse a sun that appears in a small mirror with the sun whose manifestation appears in all its splendour on the surface of the sea, due to their similarity in one respect.

In just the same way, there are many people of sainthood who, resembling the difference between a fly and a peacock, see themselves as greater than those who in reality are greater than them to the same degree; that is how they see it and they think they are right. I myself even saw someone whose heart had just been awakened and had faintly perceived in himself the mystery of sainthood; he supposed himself to be the supreme spiritual pole and assumed airs accordingly. I said to him: “My brother, just as the law of sovereignty has particular and universal manifestations from the office of Prime Minister down to that of District Officer, so sainthood and the rank of spiritual pole have varying spheres and manifestations. Each station has many shades and shadows. You have evidently seen the manifestation of the rank of supreme spiritual pole, the equivalent of Prime Minister, in your own sphere, which is like that of a District Officer, and you have been deceived. What you saw was right, but your judgement of it was wrong. To a fly, a cup of water is a small sea.” The person came to his senses, God willing, as a result of this answer of mine, and was saved from the ab yss.

I have also seen many people who thought themselves to be Mahdis of a sort, and they proclaimed their Mahdiship. Such people are not liars and deceivers, they are deceived. They suppose what they see to be reality. As the divine names have manifestations from the sphere of the Sublime Throne down to an atom, and their places of manifestation differ to the same degree; so the degrees of sainthood, which consist of manifesting the names, differ in the same way. The most important reason for the confusion is this:

In some of the stations of the saints, the characteristics of the Mahdi’s function may be observed, or a special relation may be formed with the Supreme Spiritual Pole, or with Khidr; certain stations are connected with certain famous persons. In fact, the stations are called the station of Khidr, the station of Uwais, or the station of the Mahdi. Because of this, people who attain to these stations or to minor samples or shadows of them, suppose themselves to be the famous persons connected with them. They suppose themselves to be Khidr, or the Mahdi, or the Supreme Spiritual Pole. If such a person’s ego does not seek rank and position, he is not condemned to the state. His excessively high-flown claims are deemed ecstatic utterances for which he is probably not responsible. But if his ego is secretly set on acquiring rank and position, and if he defeated by it and leaves off thanks and becomes proud, from there he will gradually fall into arrogance, or descend to the depths of madness, or deviate from the path of truth. For he reckons the great saints to be like himself and his good opinion of them is spoiled, for however arrogant a soul is, it still perceives its own faults. Comparing those great saints with himself, he imagines them to be at fault. His respect towards the prophets diminishes, even.

[olivereliott]

Gorilla Racer: A Honda Monkey 125 with attitude

K-Speed is one of the busiest shops in the business, turning out customs at a head-spinning rate. That’s because they’re also one of Thailand’s largest aftermarket parts suppliers, so they know a thing or two about production.

That being said, we’ve never seen K-Speed build the same type of bike twice. Until now, that is. This Honda Monkey-based mini-cafe racer is a twist on a minimoto we’ve featured previously…but with a few tasty enhancements.

K-Speed boss Eak has a soft spot for the Monkey; he grew up riding them. We asked if he gets a lot of orders for Monkey-based customs, but he tells us it’s mostly just his friends that order them. And his company makes a range of custom Monkey parts, too.

“The new Monkey inspires my imagination to customize them into many styles,” he says. “It’s like making a new toy.”

The ironically named ‘Gorilla Racer’ is not a customer bike though. It’s an in-house project for K-Speed themselves, and based on a 2019-model Monkey 125 (yours from $3,999). The shop wanted to showcase some of their own catalog parts, and use the project as a test bed to try out some new concepts.

Just like their previous Monkey cafe racer, Gorilla’s had its stance tweaked with a pair of 14” wheels. According to the guys it’s a fairly easy mod—they use aftermarket wheels made for the Honda Grom, which fit without much fuss. A set of alloy wheel covers adds a little brawn to the design.

K-Speed lowered the front forks, and fitted a set of YSS shocks at the back. They went a bit overboard on this Monkey though. It’s also sporting a lightweight aluminum swing arm, and a set of Brembo brakes that it probably doesn’t need.

Up top the subframe’s been shortened and looped, and capped off with a custom cafe racer-style perch. The rear end’s finished off with a classically styled rear fender and LED taillight. There’s a neat little fender up front too, and a new set of side panels to tie everything together.

Even though most of K-Speed’s changes have trimmed the already small Monkey down further, they went in the opposite direction with the fuel tank. It’s been given a super-sized look, thanks to an ABS plastic cover that sits on top of the existing unit.

With no need to increase the bike’s fuel capacity, it’s a quick and easy way to switch up the look. The cover’s also designed to interface with the existing fuel cap, so K-Speed simply swapped the actual cap out for a swankier one from RZM racing.

The last piece of the bodywork puzzle is an aggressive belly spoiler, also formed from hardwearing ABS plastic. And as if to drive the ‘small but belligerent’ point home, there’s a custom street fighter-style exhaust poking out from the back of it.

On their previous Monkey cafe, K-Speed went retro by ditching the LED headlight and fitting an analog speedo. Here, they kept the Honda’s surprisingly slick digital dial, and installed an even bigger (6.5”) LED headlight. It’s mounted on custom brackets, and capped off with an aftermarket grill.

The rest of the cockpit consists of clip-ons, simplified mini-switches and new grips. K-Speed also added a pair of plugs to close up the old handlebar riser holes, and relocated the key ignition to one of the side panels.

The velocity stack and rear-sets were CNC-machined for the project, and the latter are finished off with carbon fiber heel plates. The Monkey also has LED turn signals at both ends, and a new chain and sprocket set.

Gorilla Racer’s final color scheme hits the mark too: Lambo grey, with a whole lot of components blacked out.

K-Speed have managed to surpass themselves, and it wouldn’t surprise us if this little machine sparks a whole flood of Monkey-based customs. And honestly, if they started producing these en masse, we’d be totally down with that.

K-Speed website | Instagram | Images by Hipmotography

[olivereliott]

Custom Bikes Of The Week: 15 October, 2017

This week we’re serving up a sharp pair of matching Honda CB900s, an oddly intriguing CB550, a brawny Katana restomod, and an SR400 desert racer. And sadly, we’re also saying au revoir to one of our favorite custom builders.

Honda CB550 by Kyril Dambuleff Mr. Dambuleff is a name you should have on your radar. The man has a knack for making magic happen when a Honda CB lands on his bench. And his latest—’Bikini’—is a revelation.

The drive behind this CB550 build was to showcase the inner workings of a motorcycle, and to focus on the engine. That’s why the tank is asymmetrically formed, exposing near everything on the right hand side. That engine has been over-bored, with a set of Wiseco pistons punching up its performance, but it’s also had its casings blasted to a better-than-factory finish.

Cleanliness extends to the exhaust that, although it appears chromed, is actually a highly polished Cerakote affair. The frame—which is from a 1972 CB500—has been meticulously detabbed.

On his ‘Blacksquare‘ website, Kyril tips his hat to Dustin Kott as being the CB Guru. But with work like this, we’d say Kyril’s right up there too. [More]

Two Honda CB900Fs by Sylvain Carignan When French-Canadian professor Sylvain Carignan sold his custom 79 CB750 last year, he knew exactly what he needed to do next: buy two more motorcycles. Within a day, there was a pair of CB900Fs staring him down. Over the last year, he’s turned them into these two customs—’Blue Angel’ and ‘SS.’

With his sights set squarely on creating a Bol d’Or design, the first thing Sylvain tackled were the modifications to the CB subframes. The new lines they create are a spot-on match to the stock tanks, and they also gave Sylvain a spot to tuck away the electrics. But it’s the bodywork that stands out at first glance—especially those rear cowls. Working with Solidworks, a 3D model was created, then finessed, before carbon fiber was laid to match the shape.

The inline-four engines were both treated to some glass-blasting, and during their rebuilds both received a Wiseco big-bore kit, a Cycle X ignition kit that sparks three times per stroke, and a row of 34mm Mikuni carbs. [More]

Yamaha SR400 by Fuel The more I read about Scram Africa, the more I’m tempted to give it shot. Of course, seeing the bikes built for the custom category doesn’t help this hankering. And few build them better than the minds behind Scram themselves—Fuel Motorcycles.

Working from a Yamaha SR400, the Barcelona-based team were tasked with prepping a scrambler for an Italian client competing in this year’s Scram. That meant it needed some off-road chops.

The suspension was an obvious starting point, so the forks now have a reworked progressive set of springs with a set of YSS shocks bolted up out back. A set of meatier foot pegs were mounted to help with grip, and a wider set of bars to deliver more control.

Aesthetically the bike looks top notch too. That’s thanks largely to the new saddle, and the rear cowl and headlight—both co-opted from an Ossa Stiletto. TKC 80 rubber looks the part too, and helped this Yammie perform just fine across Morocco. [More]

Suzuki Katana by Darren Begg When it was first released in 1980, the Suzuki Katana was claimed to be the fastest mass-production motorcycle in the world. Its 111 hp GS1100-derived motor gave it the hustle, and the radical Hans Muth design exuded speed, but it never claimed the crown.

That’s because Darren Begg hadn’t got his hands on one yet. Now that he has, look out. Darren is the man behind dB Customs—a resto-mod specialty shop based in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, and his carbon fiber-clad Katana could scorch the earth.

The engine has been punched up by Xtreme Motorsports to a 1260cc beast that breathes 173 hp. In typical dB fashion, every component has been upgraded to handle the increased power too. Brakes are from Brembo, the suspenders are now an Öhlins AB Race kit, the wheels are from OZ and the electrics were tackled by Dynatek. Now that’s a beefy can-o-tuna. [More]

Au revoir Ed Turner It’s always inspiring to read of the men and women that throw off the shackles of nine-to-five life, and pursue their dreams in the garages and sheds of the world. But we’re rarely faced with the struggles these new realities create.

After four years of impressing us with his incredible talent and dedication, Ed Turner—the mad genius whose Zook graced the cover of the Rebel Edition of The Ride: 2nd Gear—has decided to hang up his spanners. Ed speaks about his decision being tough, but cites time with family and a replenishing of resources as the main reasons behind it.

As he says, “If you want to end up a millionaire in this job, you have to start a billionaire.” We are all going to miss being treated to new creations from the ‘Head Turner‘ around here, but wish him well in his new endeavors, and thank him for the artistry he shared with us.

Merci beaucoup, monsieur, et bonne chance.