In the workshop of the German Thorsten Ihlo, toxic carburettors are treated like top models in a wellness oasis! Visit a workshop where time has stood still before the age of injection. Texts Charlie Lecach, photos Götz Göppert "Corbus chose me, not the other way around," Thorsten says when asked how he came to specialize in restoring carburettors. "I have been tinkering with vintage cars for over twenty years, and at some point I had to replace the anti-corrosion devices. And I developed a kind of affection for these parts, for these often neglected pieces. I reworked them with love and care, first for myself, then for my colleagues and finally for customers. And so it came about that one day he opened his studio in Hamburg, for which he ultimately gave up his job as a graphic designer in the advertising industry. Although Thorsten Ihlo has only been on the market for a short time, he already counts several big American names among his regular customers. The success of his "Vergaser Manufaktur" - his manufacturer of high-quality carburettors - is impressive. And this despite the fact that Thorsten has not yet advertised, as he has only become known through word of mouth. He even goes beyond the borders of his home country, as he already counts some big American names among his regular customers. One of his many specialties is - upon express request - purely technical restorations in which the valuable patina that has accumulated over the decades remains intact. One of his Swiss customers, for example, owns vehicles from the 1910s that are still in their original condition. Equipping them with a polished carburettor or a micro-bead carburettor would therefore be heresy. Another strength of the "carburettor manufacturer" is the possibility of customizing a carburettor. Thorsten is paying tribute to the tenth anniversary of Indian Larry's death by polishing and engraving a large SU Rivera, which today drives a RevTech engine with a displacement of just over two liters, which responds perfectly to the kick. Even though he has his preferences, the Hamburg magician likes to repeat what an old man who taught him the trade told him: "Every carburettor is the best there is if it has the right jets and is well adjusted." This is even more true when prehistoric parts are replaced by modern technology, as Thorsten does when, for example, he equips an old Linkert from the 1940s with a new composite float and gaskets that are better than the old, relatively leaky paper discs. Other parts that cannot be found are made to measure, preferably from stainless steel to ensure a long service life. With a share of around 70% motorcycle construction sites and 30% automobile construction sites, the "Vergaser-Manufaktur.com is the address to turn to if you have any questions about carburetors. Ihlo.carburetor.com Carburetor restoration from the expert: Thorsten Ihlo. Precision for historic vehicles. Individual solutions for collectors and specialist workshops.

Carburettor? That makes many people tremble. Not Thorsten Ihlo. "The heart of the engine," he says. If that's true, he's nothing less than a heart surgeon of a special kind. And of course it's true. It is always difficult to find a beginning when there is none. Or several. One beginning of this story is as follows: The agreed appointment is only in half an hour. Thorsten Ihlo opens the door anyway, he smiles, he shakes your hand and invites you into his house. Rock music is playing, Thorsten is still having breakfast, he is spooning oatmeal with Nesquik, and little by little a conversation starts that feels as if you have not just met, but have known each other for years. Sometimes it's much less about carburettors than it should be about carburettors, and that's not because Thorsten himself is more important than his work. He says: "My work is the focus, not me." But without him, his work wouldn't be his work, it would be just any work. It would be arbitrary. And Thorsten Ihlo's work is just as little like that as its result. You can tell that from the way he talks about it, calmly and always with equal measure of enthusiasm and modesty. It makes no difference whether he overhauls a Dell'Orto, cleans a Weber, Mikuni or Keihin, or tunes a New Old Stock S&S so that it harmonizes with a machine it was never intended for. Whether he restores an old carburetor so that it works like new but retains the dignity of age. Whether he builds a custom carburetor, like he did for Uwe Ehinger's Speedster, a crazy feat because he had to get the old Linkert M74B in such a way that he could cleanly breathe this hybrid of flathead and knucklehead with its open valve control. So it doesn't matter how complicated, how expensive, how comprehensive, how special or how unique the task is that Thorsten, whom others - not himself - like to call the Wizard of Flow or Guru of Carbs, devotes himself to. What matters is how he approaches these carburettors, how he reproduces parts for hundred-year-old mechanics, for example. He does it as if it weren't just mechanics and as if it weren't just parts. "It's become a fetish," says Thorsten, grabbing his beard with one hand. "But I don't know why I developed such a thing for carburettors." That brings us to the second beginning of the story, the beginning that isn't really a beginning, but rather a transition, a development. Because the day when Thorsten lhlo would have said: "I'm going to make carburettors now" never happened. "I didn't make a decision," he says, and "I didn't have any ideas." But after years of tinkering, he has a feeling: "People often say that the engine is the heart of the motorcycle. That could be. For me, at least, the carburettor is the heart of the engine." A matter of the heart, then. But not sentimental nonsense. Otherwise, they would hardly come to him from the USA and ask: "Thorsten, we're making a show bike, can you get the carburetor fixed for us?" He can. Even if it's often difficult. "I think most people," says Thorsten, "are afraid of the carburetor. They want to install it and have nothing more to do with it." This could be because problems with the carburetor don't necessarily have to come from the carburetor. "It's usually the ignition." Secondly, problems are never that easy to fix unless it's a standard overhaul. "There are so many rules you have to follow - or get around - so many variables. Dimensions, jets, settings, intake tract, mechanics. It takes time until everything is in harmony and works. Often you go two steps forward and then three steps back. Or four. You have to want something like that." He wants to. Or can he not do anything else? Probably both. "If you overhaul a 100-year-old carburettor, for example, there are no parts left for it. You have to rebuild two thirds of it. These are immense challenges." For example: turning and milling jet needles, jets or jet blocks, or putting a worn throttle valve shaft back into the housing so precisely that the valve moves freely, but the carburettor doesn't take in any extra air. "I'm meticulous about that," says Thorsten. "It shows how good you really are. A nerdy topic," he calls it, and he's also making fun of himself. Ihlo.carburetor.com Carburetor restoration from the expert: Thorsten Ihlo. Precision for historic vehicles. Individual solutions for collectors and specialist workshops.

In the workshop of the German Thorsten Ihlo, toxic carburettors are treated like top models in a wellness oasis! Visit a workshop where time has stood still before the age of injection. Texts Charlie Lecach, Photos Götz Göppert "Corbus chose me, not the other way around," Thorsten says when asked how he came to specialize in restoring carburettors. "I have been tinkering with vintage cars for over twenty years, and at some point I had to replace the anti-corrosion devices. And I developed a kind of affection for these parts, for these often neglected pieces. I reworked them with love and care, first for myself, then for my colleagues and finally for customers. And so it came about that one day he opened his studio in Hamburg, for which he ultimately gave up his job as a graphic designer in the advertising industry. Although Thorsten Ihlo has only been on the market for a short time, he already counts several big American names among his regular customers. The success of his "Vergaser Manufaktur" - his manufacturer of high-quality carburettors - is impressive. And this despite the fact that Thorsten has not yet advertised, as he has only become known through word of mouth. He even goes beyond the borders of his home country, as he already counts some big American names among his regular customers. One of his many specialties is - upon express request - purely technical restorations in which the valuable patina that has accumulated over the decades remains intact. One of his Swiss customers, for example, owns vehicles from the 1910s that are still in their original condition. Equipping them with a polished carburettor or a micro-bead carburettor would therefore be heresy. Another strength of the "carburettor manufacturer" is the possibility of customizing a carburettor. Thorsten is paying tribute to the tenth anniversary of Indian Larry's death by polishing and engraving a large SU Rivera, which today drives a RevTech engine with a displacement of just over two liters, which responds perfectly to the kick. Even though he has his preferences, the Hamburg magician likes to repeat what an old man who taught him the trade told him: "Every carburettor is the best there is if it has the right jets and is well adjusted." This is even more true when prehistoric parts are replaced by modern technology, as Thorsten does when, for example, he equips an old Linkert from the 1940s with a new composite float and gaskets that are better than the old, relatively leaky paper discs. Other parts that cannot be found are made to measure, preferably from stainless steel to ensure a long service life. With a share of around 70% motorcycle construction sites and 30% automobile construction sites, the "Vergaser-Manufaktur.com is the address to turn to if you have any questions about carburetors. Ihlo.carburetor.com Carburetor restoration from the expert: Thorsten Ihlo. Precision for historic vehicles. Individual solutions for collectors and specialist workshops.

Thorsten Ihlo's carburetor manufactory breathes new life into old carburetors. He is now a globally recognized specialist in his field. Privately, Thorsten rides a Late Shovel. Naturally, we take a look at their carburetor. Carburetor maintenance in an ultrasonic bath” was the title of a technical article in our September 2014 issue that dealt with the overhaul of carburetors. At that time, it was not foreseeable that Thorsten Ihlo, the protagonist of our article, would develop into a globally sought-after specialist for tricky carburetor-related issues within just two years. His work is represented at pretty much every popular event. They could be found at the Born Free Show in the USA, the Wave and Wheels in France, the Art and Wheels in Switzerland, the Kustom Kulture in the Ruhrpott or at our own CUSTOMBIKE-SHOW in Germany. This was a small but significant contribution to the show successes of numerous custom bikes from Hamburg. So it makes perfect sense to take another look at the head of Vergaser Manufaktur. And because our magazine is first and foremost about bikes, we asked Thorsten to roll his own bike in front of the lens to explain what he finds particularly appealing about working on a carburetor. No matter how perfectly designed an engine may be, it is nothing without an equally perfectly tuned carburetor. So if the engine can be regarded as the heart of a machine, then in Thorsten's understanding the carburetor is the soul of the whole. “And the soul needs empathy,” Thorsten is certain. His own machine, consisting of a Late Shovel engine modified to just under 1400 cubic meters in a 52 Wishbone rigid frame, is a good example of his attitude. Over a period of two years, he built his Harley with a lot of passion and in a classic style - unobtrusive, but perfect in every detail. As you can see from the technical data, the engine was fitted with the finest internals in order to reliably transmit its power to the rear wheel. To produce the necessary brackets and rods, Thorsten consistently used stainless steel as the base material, which was used with a high standard of craftsmanship and a satin-brushed surface. “You can't just put a kit on your bike and assume that it will fit straight away. I have unscrewed and re-screwed the carburetor countless times for tuning” However, the absolute highlight of the machine is the Sudco Nos carburetor kit, which was specially manufactured for use on Shovelhead engines. The original kit is extremely rare and is based on two Mikuni VM-29 carburetors. As there are plenty of these on the market, there are always kits that are thrown together and offered as Sudco kits but are not. Thorsten was correspondingly enthusiastic when he had the opportunity a few years ago to secure one of the kits in its original condition and packaging. It goes without saying that you don't just screw something like this onto the engine and then assume that the two will harmonize with each other straight away. But before Thorsten could even think about the set-up, the problem of the kit's considerable weight had to be solved. He was rather critical of the traditional brackets and preferred to construct his own stainless steel bracket, which now securely supports the kit via three carefully selected mounting points. The subsequent fine-tuning took three full working days. In the end, Thorsten can no longer say exactly how many times he screwed the kit on and off to swap jets, check fits and perfect the set-up. The only thing he remembers fondly is the first extensive trip to the Hamburg area, “I was simply deeply satisfied.” In conversation Name : Thorsten Ihlo Year of birth: 1970 Profession: Trained wholesale and foreign trade merchant, as well as communications and graphic designer Company : Vergaser Manufaktur Hamburg CB: How long have you been working with carburetors and when did you make them your profession? Thorsten Ihlo: In 1994, I began to take a close look at classic cars and their technology. At first it was four-wheelers, but then two-wheeled vintage bikes soon followed. As I was a BMX rider from 1983 to 1992 and was already building my own bikes back then, the motorized two-wheelers were only a logical consequence. I somehow had a screwdriver fetish - and when I overhauled the first Solex 28 PCI carburetor for my VW Karmann Ghia in around 1996, my screwdriver fetish turned into a carburetor fetish. I had found my own comfort zone in the screwdriver area without ever having thought about it. I have been working professionally in the trade since 2014 and have also been registered with the Hamburg Chamber of Crafts since 2016 in the craft requiring authorization for: Motor vehicle technician trade, partial activity: Restoration and general overhaul of mixture preparation systems. CB: Where does your love of carburetors come from? Thorsten Ihlo: Just like an engine or gearbox, a carburetor “lives”. This is probably why there are people who develop a special love for these components. It breathes, drinks, “beats” in a rhythm, it stinks, leaks and sometimes makes strange noises - that's where sympathy and love come from if you have an affinity for machines. CB: What influence does the choice of carburetor have on a motorcycle - technically and visually? Thorsten Ihlo: The same great influence as in other vehicles such as automobiles, old airplanes, old gasoline-powered ships, etc. Simply put, the carburetor is actually an atomizer. The carburetor atomizes the fuel and mixes the correct ratio with air. It must also adapt the required mixture quantity to the respective operating state of the engine. To list all the related theoretical values, data and factors here would be too technical and your readers would fall asleep while reading. From a visual point of view, carburetors have always played a role in the chopper and custom sector, albeit a subordinate one. Unfortunately, the carburetors on custom bikes are often simply mounted unseen and hidden behind something creative like an old coffee grinder from the flea market. The custom bikes from the 1970s by Arlen Ness show the influence of custom carburetors. On these bikes, every component - including the carburetor - was consistently processed and further developed down to the last detail in terms of its function and appearance. When I saw one of these bikes on display at the Born Free Show in California in 2015, it gave me goosebumps. “When it comes to custom bikes and choppers, creativity usually stops at the carburetor. If the handlebars, the tank, the paintwork or the custom-made leather saddle are a special style element, why don't we look at the carburetor with the same eyes? ” CB: What are the most common mistakes that can be made in connection with carburetors? Thorsten Ihlo: That the carburetor environment is ignored. Around two thirds of so-called “carburetor problems” can be traced back to the carburetor environment or other engine components. Sluggish throttle cables or lack of lubrication, defective or incorrectly adjusted ignition, centrifugal governor and ignition box, old or dirty fuel filters, swollen fuel hoses and tank seals or fuel additives are just some of the points that need to be mentioned at this point. Even the best carburetor restoration/general overhaul is useless if, for example, the ignition and valves are not set correctly. Especially for the old Harleys - although, actually, always - the issue of secondary air/false air is an eternal companion. I can only ever repeat one piece of advice: The carburetor on Harley models such as Knuckle, Pan, Ironhead, Shovel etc. should always be supported, even if it doesn't look good. Simply supporting the manifold is not sufficient in the long term. Harley-Davidson still does this today with its mixture preparation systems ex works - and they know why. No clamp or clip in the world is sufficient to support the carburetor correctly in the long term. Incorrect air/side air is the quick consequence. Sources of error are basically also settings, jetting and the correct dimension of carburetor and jet. These are always individual to the engine and the selected setup of ignition, exhaust, air filter, valve control and other engines. CB: What are the most common problems you have to deal with when restoring carburetors? Thorsten Ihlo: With “broken” carburetors and worn carburetor housings in the throttle valve area. Unfortunately, there are also repeated cases of carburetor batteries from cafe racers, where the customer wanted to save money on the carburetor overhaul and thought that a 4-carburetor battery could be immersed in an ultrasonic cleaner in one piece and after half an hour of “soaking time” all would be right with the world again. Unfortunately, such dubious offers for general carburetor overhauls/cleanings are also available online and are offered for less than 100 euros. After that, the problems are only worse and carburetor workshops have even more work to do with the carburetor battery than before. Another funny example was the wife of a customer. She had opened the package for her husband after I had sent her the finished and fully adjusted carburetor. He was still at work. She liked the carburetor so much that she turned all the brass adjustment screws she could find - that was a nice problem. CB: Which is your favorite carburetor? Thorsten Ihlo: Like other specialist carburetor workshops, I also have my special areas and preferences. For me, these include air-cooled Volkswagens and German automobile manufacturers and the carburetors they use. And of course the Indians and Harley-Davidsons. So I don't have ONE favorite carburetor, but I am fascinated by the Schebler, Linkert and all pre-war carburetors up to the year 1900. I also have a strong passion for motorcycle racing carburetors, especially from the 60s and 70s. The oldest carburetor I was allowed to restore was from 1907 - you never forget one of those. CB: How much longer will we be riding carbureted mopeds? Thorsten Ihlo: As long as there is gasoline. “For over 100 years, even seasoned bikers have been kicking a handle on their legs from time to time. Accept the lack as an integral part of old technology and gain experience. The rest will come naturally at some point.” Ihlo.carburetor.com Carburetor restoration from the expert: Thorsten Ihlo. Precision for historic vehicles. Individual solutions for collectors and specialist workshops.

THE MAN WHO LOVES CARBURETORS “The carburetor is the heart of the engine and deserves more respect,” says Thorsten Ihlo, a passionate carburetor man at the Vergaser Manufaktur in Hamburg, who restores more or less rare soup mixers and converts them into perfectly functioning works of art. It's not just the old Asa Nisse films that spread myths about how a "new carburetor" can work wonders. According to many experts, Harley-Davidson itself contributed to this myth when it decided to use the low-performance Tillotson carburetor (also known as the "flamethrower") in the 1960s. And indeed, we in the editorial office have often experienced that changing the carburetor can completely change the character of the engine and even the exhaust sound. The most extreme was an old Linkert DC, which made the motorcycle twice as loud - and you could lower the idle speed as much as possible without the engine stalling. The disadvantage was that you had to pedal a thousand times before the motorcycle would start. No wonder you were so thin back then. Ihlo.carburetor.com Carburetor restoration from the expert: Thorsten Ihlo. Precision for historic vehicles. Individual solutions for collectors and specialist workshops.

Thorsten Ihlo takes care of what he calls “the heart of the engine” in his carburetor factory. So it's a good thing that his work is not just a matter of the head. Text: Michael Orth It happens the first time. That was 21 years ago. He opens the engine cover of his malachite green KarmannGhia, locks the hood in place and waits a moment - perhaps the moment it takes, because in it, determination takes its place alongside excitement and the importance of the task. Then he grabs a 14 mm wrench, loosens the two MB nuts on the flange, pulls the Solex-28-PCI off the intake manifold and finally holds the carburetor in his hands. “I took it apart and restored it,” says Thorsten Ihlo, ”I can still remember exactly how all the individual parts lay in front of me. It fascinated me”. He says that something happened that he hadn't even consciously noticed. “I just realized that it was doing something to me. I discovered my personal comfort zone,” he says today. Thorsten Ihlo, who runs his carburetor factory as a master craftsman's business for the motor vehicle guild, trained as a wholesale and retail salesman, later studied communication and graphic design and worked in an agency. And he has always been tinkering since he dismantled his older brother's racing bike when he was eight. “I wanted to see how it worked,” he says. “You're crazy,” says his wife, ”you take everything apart.” But also: back together again. From hundredths to thousandths There is still the drive to get to the bottom of things, to find out how something works, or why it doesn't, in order to then repair and improve it. He can still go from hundredths to thousandths until it is clear how he can really do justice to the matter. So each individual carburetor: with careful disassembly, thorough but careful ultrasonic cleaning of individual components in the appropriate bath, blasting of the housing, revision, repair or restoration as well as the procurement and reproduction of special parts. In one case, a housing has to be welded at a crack, in another it has to be re-bushed or face-milled after material has been applied to the flange. The next patient has a rattling throttle linkage, draws the wrong air, has a crooked throttle valve shaft or one that needs to be replaced in the housing, or requires specially manufactured nozzles, needles and gaskets. Ihlo reaches into one of the black-lined cases in which the overhauled carburetors live as if in comfortable single rooms, and carefully places a Schebler HX in front of him on the workbench, where a revised pair of Zenith 35/ 40 from a BMW 3.0 CS is also waiting for a final inspection. “This Schebler here,” he begins, ”is 100 years old, 100 years old, and nobody had touched it before it came here for a patina restoration. You then think very carefully about how you should remove the soldered throttle valve from the shaft. What solder did they use 100 years ago? How will it react to heat now? And you only have one attempt. If you don't think carefully, the part is broken and gone. The work is very complicated, although the carburetor is actually simple in design. The carburetor batteries for a Maserati or Ferrari twelve-cylinder or the two on the other table are much more complex.” The individual parts of two Solex twin carburetors from a 190 SL are spread out like twins on white paper towels, arranged as if in pedantic order. How many? “That depends on how you count them,” says Thorsten Ihlo, picking up one of the diaphragms. “It's already bolted to the carrier. That could be considered one part”. Or take it apart, then it would be six parts. But that's not the point, it's not about the number of parts or the complexity of the design. It's about the interaction of all the parts in each individual case. “As I see it, the carburetor is the heart of the engine. The best engine is nothing without a suitable carburetor. But the carburetor environment is as important as the carburetor itself. Two thirds of all problems with the carburetor are not due to the carburetor itself, but come from the intake tract, the exhaust, the engine, the valve clearance or the ignition. It all has to fit together, it has to be coordinated.” Thorsten Ihlo raises his eyebrows behind his glasses. “The problem is,” he then says, ”that you tend towards perfection when you do something like this. But there's no such thing as perfection.” It doesn't exist, he says, as an exactly reproducible calculation parameter. Because on the one hand, every carburetor is just an atomizer. “It mixes fuel with air, that's all it does”. This matter-of-fact approach is as true as his assertion that he “doesn't do anything special. It's just a craft. I love doing it and I feel it's a privilege, but you can't overdo it.” Living beings On the other hand, each of the carburetors he devotes himself to, which in some cases he even has to rebuild two thirds of the way through, is like a living being. Thorsten Ihlo also acknowledges this: “It drinks, it stinks, it makes funny noises and needs a lot of attention. Everyone is very individual. They all have their own character.” No two are the same, even if the model is the same. “You can get lucky with standardized bushings or gaskets. But as a rule,' he explains, 'that doesn't work. It doesn't work because the 40, 50, 60-year-old or even older carburetors have tolerances that Ihlo says are “hilarious” due to the production machines and methods of the time. It almost can't work, you think to yourself, as imperfect as it all is. But that's the case throughout the engine. Now you go and perfect every component. You put everything together and think it works perfectly? Not at all.” It's not that easy. Coltrane's saxophone It only works with a great deal of empathy and a precision that can give the imperfect just the right amount of space to harmonize with the other, equally imperfect parts so that the whole thing works perfectly in the end. And perhaps there is more to it than mere craftsmanship, perhaps there is a little bit of craftsmanship in it. “I'm just meticulous,” is all Thorsten Ihlo says. The carburetors that he has overhauled do not contradict this. The SU unit of a 4.2-liter E-Type rests in one of the boxes, while a pair of Solexes wait in another until they are allowed back under the hood of a Porsche 356. Ihlo has just replaced the double Weber for a racing Alfa on the old tester with the Zenith of a Commodore A when he opens another case and removes a Dell'Orto DHLA 40. Converted for use on a motorcycle and completely chrome-plated, it looks like a musical instrument surrounded by the aura of a work of art, Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet, John Coltrane's saxophone. “For me, working with the carburetors has something meditative about it. I'm usually a rather impatient person. But here I can really withdraw into what I'm doing. But it's not about me either.” Thorsten Ihlo emphasizes this again and again. “My work is the focus, not me.” At first, that sounds as if the one can be separated from the other. But it's not. You have to listen to him carefully. Thorsten Ihlo doesn't speak in such a way that the subtleties don't matter. He doesn't say “the work”, he says “my work”. He is in his work, it is in him. ■ Ihlo.carburetor.com Carburetor restoration from the expert: Thorsten Ihlo. Precision for historic vehicles. Individual solutions for collectors and specialist workshops.

The rarer and more original a classic car is, the more valuable it is. Many things can be rebuilt, but engines are often the end of the line. Not for Thorsten Ihlo. He specializes in carburetors.Text: EVA EUSTERHUS Thorsten Ihlo, carburetor restoration: In a basement room in the north-east of the city, Thorsten Ihlo stands bent over his workbench in the light of a neon lamp. If he wasn't wearing the kind of overalls you see on mechanics, you'd think he was a master watchmaker. His workplace looks so neat and sterilely clean. On the right, various metal parts are arranged in numbered heaps on special cloths. Screws, eyelets, plates, caps, springs. At the front left of the workbench are two chunky housings, the size of an egg carton. It is the dismantled carburetor of a Bentley from the 1930s. The proud age is nothing special for the expert. The reason why he takes particular care with this specimen is that there is only one of its kind in the world. It comes from a one-off production that was built for the then head of the factory. “For me, that means I only have this one chance. If I do something wrong, the piece is ruined forever,” says Thorsten Ihlo. To Online Publication Welt am Sonntag A British classic car workshop approached the Hamburg native with the rare specimen. The collector scene, which is now getting its treasures ready for their first outing at the start of the season, is small, and Thorsten Ihlo is known as a specialist for particularly difficult cases. He and his workshop specialize in carburetors. These are the housings in which the fuel mixture is produced, which then enters the engine's combustion chamber. Their era only lives on in old vehicles, as they have long since been replaced by the injection engine as the most common method. Collector's items have long been regarded as a stable investment. Because originality and rarity value are the currency of these driving investments, owners spare neither expense nor effort to maintain the original condition as far as possible. The major car manufacturers now have their own workshops that specialize in rebuilding historic vehicles. However, overhauling old engines is a science in itself. And so the majority of the jobs that Thorsten Ihlo handles come from specialist workshops that rely on his expertise. In addition to him, there are a few mechanics in Hamburg who, like him, only refurbish carburetors. But when it comes to particularly old and rare specimens, people are referred to him. The 49-year-old blocks out questions about his customers. Just this much: they come from all over Germany and Europe, but many also come from the USA and Japan. And he treats everyone the same, he says. Whether owners of large vehicle collections or private individuals with an average budget - they all appreciate his work. He doesn't have any employees; he charges according to working hours and material costs. According to the restorer, he doesn't get rich from the job. “Nevertheless, I see this work as a privilege. I know it sounds trite, but I've turned my hobby into a profession.” The rarer and more original a classic car is, the more valuable it is. Many things can be rebuilt, but engines are often the end of the line. Not for Thorsten Ihlo. He specializes in carburetors. He has been working intensively with carburetors for 26 years, focusing on old cars and motorcycles. In 2014, the Bremen native, who had previously earned his living as a communication designer, changed tack and set up his workshop. “You're crazy,” many people said at first. Today, the lead time for new orders is four months. The vehicles he is currently working on will not be running until the 2021 season at the earliest. The jobs vary in complexity. Some are completed in a few hours and for a few hundred euros, others take several weeks and cost 2500 euros and more. Some carburetors are part of a complete restoration that costs in the seven-figure range. Despite its important function, the carburetor often receives little attention. The beauty of an old bodywork inspires many, but the aesthetics of the rather bulky carburetor housing are more difficult to convey. Wrongly so, says Thorsten Ihlo. For him, the carburetor is not just any old part, it is the heart of the engine. “No matter how well preserved a vehicle is, if the carburettor doesn't work, everything else is invalid.” Of course, today's technology is superior to the old mechanics, but it doesn't get under your skin as much, he says. “An old carburetor like that stinks, it smokes, coughs and sometimes chokes. You can feel, hear and smell it.” This also applies to the one that is nearing completion and is standing on another work surface in the workshop. It is not shiny, its casing is dull. It has a patina and that is how the customer wants it to stay. It is the carburetor of a Porsche 914/6, built in 1970, a garage find that is very rare. “It's been standing for over 20 years and has only run very little.” However, this has left its mark - in mechanic's jargon, this is referred to as “damage from use”. This refers to gumming caused by the hardening of fuel residues. This is a classic car disease that particularly affects models that are refueled with today's standard fuels. They contain ethanol, which leaves more residue in the engine than purer mixtures that were used in the past. As a rule, these heavy deposits can be cleaned, but Thorsten Ihlo cannot always save everything. “The basic substance, the material, must be in good condition, otherwise I can't do anything.” If the carburetor housing has not been damaged by moisture or even salt deposits - caused by sea air, for example - or an accident, the restorer first disassembles it into individual parts and cleans them using special techniques. He does not want to reveal exactly what these are and what tools he uses. “That's my knowledge, and I keep it to myself.” Once everything has been cleaned, the most important step follows: analyzing the substance. The further processing of the individual components depends on this; it determines whether cutting machines such as milling machines and lathes are used or whether soldering or laser welding is required. In the case of the Porsche carburetor, which looks inconspicuous from the outside, everything on the inside has been redone. The throttle valves, the mechanics, the connecting pieces, the nozzles and threads for adjusting the fuel quantity. A few brass screws gleam and stand out against the otherwise matt steel. Thorsten Ihlo manufactures smaller wear parts himself if he does not have them in his stock. They are stored in narrow workbench drawers, sorted by manufacturer brand. In addition to original spare parts, he uses historical factory documents and operating instructions as well as parts lists to help him with his work. He bought some of the items in his workshop for a few cents, others for a lot of money at auction or received them as gifts from fellow mechanic friends or former factory managers. Does he have a tip for classic car owners? Yes, he does. “Drive it as often as you can. These historic vehicles are made to run.” Otherwise it will get complicated sooner or later. Ihlo.carburetor.com Carburetor restoration from the expert: Thorsten Ihlo. Precision for historic vehicles. Individual solutions for collectors and specialist workshops.

The forest is a special place. And this is a special forest. The Bavarian Forest is home to Germany's first national park. Since 1970, nature has been allowed to be nature again here, wilderness has been allowed to spread once more. An excursion with two Harleys into the countryside, fully adapted with organic petrol and green electricity. TEXT: Michael Orth FOTOS: Arturo Rivas The road to Zwieslerwaldhaus leads gently uphill. A carpet of moss lies lush and high and soft between the trees. The trunks are so dense in some places that the view only extends ten or 20 meters before the green forest wall closes in. The air is much cooler here than where the sun reaches down to the asphalt on the main road. It smells fresh like spruce and turpentine like fir resin and also like dark, damp earth. Two thin girls rollerblade on spindly legs. It's not far now. We pass a few houses and soon turn left behind the oldest inn in the Bavarian Forest. Then, where the last toilet before the primeval forest stands between storm-bent trees at the Brechhäuslau parking lot, it's the end. Or does it begin? That's a question of perspective. That's what it's all about. Because where the road ends, the wilderness begins, the wilderness of Germany's oldest national park, the Bavarian Forest National Park. At the end of the 1960s, the conservationist Hubert Weinzierl and the zoologist and wildlife filmmaker Bernhard Grzimek came up with the idea that it might be time for a national park in Germany too. At that time, the world's first national park, Yellowstone in the USA, was already over 80 years old. Not an entirely new idea. But in Germany at the time, it was still a revolutionary and, as it were, crazy idea: that nature should develop according to its own laws and that humans should stay out of it with their demands and needs. This is not at all easy for man. He doesn't like to stay out of it because he thinks that everything belongs to him anyway, because he believes that he is part of nature insofar as he can control and exploit it and subject it to his rules. Only one percent of Europe's land area, a single percent, is still free from its influence. On the other hand, there is a lot of mystification. The German forest, in particular, has always been associated with so many things, at least since Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel. In the forest there is either rustling or peace above all treetops. It is a German topos, a highly charged, not to say overcharged place, transfigured like a fairy tale by poets and thinkers and cranks as a mysterious embodiment of the anti-urban, as a counter-concept to the objectification of civilization, as a place of healing and knowledge, where you can escape the grip of modernity and find yourself again by bathing in the forest. Or you can lose yourself in the undergrowth of convoluted ideas. Only to be quickly overtaken by reality at the Großer Arbersee. What the poor ducks don't have to watch there. Excursionists of all ages, wearing squeaky checked functional shirts and carrying rucksacks and binoculars, strutting along the lakeside paths, enjoying pedal boats in the company of their children, sipping diet sodas or umbrella-covered mixed drinks in deckchairs, half-strong jumping jacks roaring along the road in their bangers, and hordes of motorcyclists circling the Großer Arber every week in search of enlightenment in this paradise of bends. But right now, it's Wednesday and still early, there are only a few on the road. One of them, who has just parked his Guzzi on the road, wants to know if it's “that electric Harley”. He means the LiveWire, and yes, it is that electric Harley. Thorsten Ihlo built the other one a few years ago: Shovelhead, rigid frame from 1952, 1400 cubic meters, sharp camshafts and what not. The evening before, it was given a very special cocktail for the National Park tour: regenerative fuel from the KIT ReFuels project in Karlsruhe. With the green fuel made from biomass, which is otherwise only used for research purposes, it is no less environmentally friendly and CO₂-neutral than the LiveWire. “The old Zossen” is sustainable anyway. Will the E-Harley still be running in 70 years? Does that play a role? Do we humans still have a role to play? Could it be a different one than it is today, a more modest one, not a self-important monologue perched on a throne that we have placed in the middle of the stage with our own hands? We could start rehearsing the new role immediately. There are enough teachers. “People pay for the increase of their power with alienation from that over which they exercise power”, wrote Horkheimer and Adorno 75 years ago in the ‘Dialectic of Enlightenment’, referring to nature, both internal and external. As early as 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson argued in his essay “Nature” that we should strive for a direct experience and a real perception of nature, instead of always just bringing our understanding or our desires into it. The aesthetics of nature are not limited to the feeling of well-being that arises when contemplating its beauty. Experience and sensual experience are more important for its understanding than knowing facts, Emerson said. His friend Thoreau stated: “We are in the habit of overestimating the importance of our works. And yet. How many things happen without us doing anything?” He wanted to look for the roots of true life in the forest, in untouched nature, because all forms of vitality can be found there. In the Bavarian Forest, for example, the pug bat, grouse, lynxes, beavers, the shag beetle and the occasional moose that come over from the Czech Republic; epiphytic mosses, fescue moors, the blue tarantula, the many-part moonwort, the green goblin moss, the lemon-yellow tramete and the Woid Woife. His real name is Wolfgang Schreil and he has made an old caravan somewhere in the forest his “Hoamatl”, his home. He doesn't live there. But he feels at home there. Woid Woife says things like: “Nothing is foreign to me out here. I feel at home in nature. Seeing how the cycles of life come full circle helps me a lot, it brings me peace. No matter where you are in the forest, there is always something beautiful to discover.” Woife has already written books about how to discover and experience “the secrets of the forest and the power of nature”. There is no question of understanding. “We don't know,” he says, adjusting his hat, ”but we still judge from morning to night. Nature is the simplest and most beautiful world there is if we don't judge and instead take off the crown of creation.” And then he suddenly looks to the side, raises a finger briskly and says: “Düt, düt, düt!” A bullfinch. The Woid Woife recognizes it immediately amidst all the other chirping, pauses and says: “It's about to come around, then you'll see it here on the branch.” And that's exactly what happens, and the Woid Woife is delighted. Not because he was right, but because of the bullfinch. The joy accompanies the rest of the way along the national park and every now and then a little way in. But this is rarely possible. Most of the few roads in the national park are closed or can only be used early in the morning and in the evening. The path up to Waldhäuser is an exception. And as nice as it is to drive along there at a leisurely pace, finally emerging from the dense canopy of leaves and having a clear conscience because the LiveWire is humming with green electricity and the Shovelhead is shooting with biofuel, the conversation with Woid Woife is still vivid in my memory as the view stretches over the mountain ranges as far as the Great Rachel. His openness, his optimism and his view of things, his commitment to the national park and to wilderness. Wilderness means that we humans do not intervene and let things take their course, as nature dictates. “What we perceive as normal is nothing more than the blink of an eye. In just 100 or 150 years, we humans have changed nature, the whole world, in such a way that everything should be geared towards us. But it's not right what we do and how we do it.” Some things are: the bread rolls that Carrie, Thorsten's girlfriend and soon to be his wife, had made for us in the morning. “See, that's Carrie,” says Thorsten and shows us the Edding heart on his bag of rolls. We chew and smile silently to ourselves, because sometimes that's all it takes. You could spend the whole day sitting on a fallen tree over a stream not far from Guglöd. But then we wouldn't be able to drive and visit the forest gnome. The forest gnome once studied chemistry and developed dashboard films for the car industry as an engineer. That wasn't his life. His life was the dogs, and they still are today. Together with 48 sled dogs and other dogs, Waldschrat - whose real name is Thomas Gut - and his partner Anke live on the husky farm near Flanitzmühle, where they have been running Germany's first sled dog school for almost 35 years. Although the dogs need the school less than the people who want to handle them. “If they don't accept you,” says Thomas, ”they give you the finger. If you want them to accept you, your personal ambition has no role to play. You have to be able to trust them and they have to be able to trust you. Always,” he adds, ”not just when you're in the real wilderness.” The real wilderness? The forest gnome is unlikely to find it in the national park. Especially as he's not even allowed to drive there with the dogs on the sled. “If it really were wilderness. But nature in the park isn't that yet, and not by a long shot. It's still the remains of a forest, and there are parking lots for tens of thousands of people on the edges. The logical thing would be to have an area where nobody is allowed in.” But maybe we don't need to. Maybe it's even a good thing that we can learn to encounter nature differently in the national park, to get to know it differently. And ourselves too, at best: as a small part of a context that goes far beyond our greed, our control and regulation mania and also beyond our understanding. For which our intellect is perhaps not the right instrument anyway. The man with the bird thinks so too. He formulates it differently, but that's what it actually boils down to. The man's name is Dieter Betz, the bird is Burli. Burli is a golden eagle and sits on Dieter's arm in the Grafenwiesen Birds of Prey Park, his heads close together and, man, his beak is so big and he's got quite a hook, and Burli keeps looking like he's in a really, really bad mood. Dieter looks really relaxed when he drops it: “When he grabs it, he's got 180 kilos of pressure on his claws.” You don't just put a dinosaur like that on your arm. Dieter has to grin. “No, it doesn't just sit on your arm. It takes time to tame it, it's called abduction. It takes a lot of time and a lot of trust so that the bird learns that this is a safe place with you.” Dieter scratches Burli's chest: “It only works if you forget your own ego and it's like a tree where it can sit.” What kind of tree would you be and where would you want to stand if you didn't have to be human? A birch tree wouldn't be bad, in the primeval forest somewhere near Zwieslerwaldhaus, where the moss would lie on your roots like a heavy, damp carpet. TOUR DURATION: approx. 3.5 hours (pure travel time) DANGEROUS ROUTE: 130 km (without loops and detours) 1. From Thenried to Ramsried, there turn right into Ammermühlweg through the forest uphill to Wolframslinde, a few meters back again, then turn right and follow the asphalt road through the forest to Bad Kötzting, at the traffic circle turn left, at Herrenweiher turn right to the bird of prey park Grafenwiesen 2. Along the Weißer Regen to the ST 2140 and 2138, heading east via Arrach, Lam, Lohberg and the Scheiben-Sattel to the Großer Arber and the Arbersee lake further south. Optional: before the Großer Arber, a detour east to Bayerisch Eisenstein and Markt Eisenstein in the Czech Republic. Another option: behind the Arbersee, turn right to Bodenmais and take an extra loop around the Arber via Drachselsried, Arnbruck and Arrach. Or take the same route back and turn sharp right at the junction onto the ST 2137 and continue to the B 11. Two kilometers to the left turn-off “Zwieseler Waldhaus”. 3. On the same road back to the B 11 and the Falkenstein National Park Center, optionally left at “Gasthaus Ludwigs thal” to Schleicher, then back to the B 11, left and left again at the next junction to Oberlindberg mühle. Here, either continue along the edge of the national park to Spiegelhütte and Bu-chenau Castle, crossing the Mühlbach stream again and again via the Oberzwiese-lau golf park to the ST 2132. The route is shorter via Lindberg and Unterzwieselau. Head south on the ST 2132. From Stecher to the Frauenau drinking water valley barrier. 4. For a further detour, follow the left branch to Klingenbrunn station. Or continue on the ST 2132 to Spiegelau. Turn left at the traffic circle and take the national park road. From the Diensthüttenstraße parking lot, the path to the Ra-cheldiensthütte may be used before 8.00 am and after 6.00 pm. Follow this road back to the national park road. Turn left there and soon turn left again following the sign to Guglöd. After Guglöd, turn left and initially along the Kleine Ohe to Waldhäuser. After 4 p.m., you can follow the road behind the hamlet, which leads directly to the Lusen National Park Center. Otherwise, turn around here too. Then turn left at the crossroads onto the national park road and continue to the finish at the national park center. THE SPECIAL TIP Walking. Not just to the loo. But for a whole day. It's called hiking. It's the only way to get to the most beautiful places in the national park. You can also take a guided tour, as the rangers know special paths and have amazing things to tell about nature. bayern.de/besucher/fuehrungen Ihlo.carburetor.com Carburetor restoration from the expert: Thorsten Ihlo. Precision for historic vehicles. Individual solutions for collectors and specialist workshops.