Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2018 i Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

POWER TO THE PEOPLE! The GPz900R was the first Japanese production motorcycle that broke the 150mph barrier. This benchmark speed figure wasn’t the end of willy-waving by the Japanese, it was very much the beginning of the modern power struggle to produce a bike that could utter that immortal line ‘the fastest production bike in the world’ within its sales blurb. By the end of the 1980s Kawasaki had kicked the ball further into the grass with the all-new ZZ-R1100, with claims of 170mph being tossed about. Entering the 1990s and the previous gentleman’s agreement to sell bikes in the UK that only pumped out 125bhp was in tatters. The power capping was mostly achieved by nothing more technical than the equivalent of sticking a sock in its mouth (carb…

CLASSIC RIDE Street CRED... What it lacks in freshness, this 60s Yamaha street scrambler more than makes up for in originality. Scoop samples a YCS1C... WORDS: STEVE COOPER PHOTOS: GARY D CHAPMAN If you like your Japanese classics factory brochure correct and fresh as the proverbial daisy then you just might prefer to skip the following few pages. Graham Peters’ YCS1C may be structurally pretty damn close to Yamaha’s 1967/68 marketing images and sales pitch but there’s one thing that it isn’t and that’s fresh-faced. This bike is cosmetically challenged down one side in particular and our guess is that the bike has sat next to a welder’s bench for much of its life. The welding splatter (if that’s what it is) even extends over the speedo glass and trust…

Filter tips! We’re breathing easier, thanks to Scoop with his guide on air filter renovation. WORDS AND PHOTOS: STEVE COOPER Air filters perform a vital task on motorcycles by preventing abrasive particulates from entering the engine. Few if any bikes that fit within CMM’s remit ever arrived without one. Run your bike minus its filter? Then good luck; here’s hoping you have spare pistons, rings and the money for that imminent re-bore. Make no bones about it; that paper or foam filter is your front line between longevity and massive engine wear. Yes a filter adds a restriction to the inlet but the various components within the carburettor(s) have been carefully chosen to work in harmony with the incoming filtered air. If you remove the filter then the engine will,…

Mike Hailwood honoured! Mike Hailwood was honoured at the 2018 Motor Sport Hall of Fame Awards. Hailwood topped a Motorcycle shortlist that also included TT hero Joey Dunlop and American world champion ‘King Kenny’ Roberts. It is fitting that he would posthumously win the award 40 years since his amazing TT comeback win (see page 6). More than 40,000 enthusiasts from around the world voted for their favourite riders and drivers in a number of categories. Mike’s widow Pauline (right) was at the event, which was hosted by broadcaster Suzi Perry, to receive the award from Mike’s former team-mate Stuart Graham. He said: “Mike was just such a lovely guy. We became friends because in those days there was a wonderful camaraderie between riders – we watched out for each…

SCOOPERMAN! The sunny side of the classic world, with the VJMC’s Steve Cooper There are three lines shot by keyboard warriors and bar-room experts: ● Nah, you can’t get them sorted out, not up and running, no one has the spares for them. ● You’re wasting your time on that; get something more popular or modern. ● Might as well sell it or find some other mug ‘cos you’ll never suss it. All easy to trot out but an awful lot harder to accept if you’re armpits deep into a project. The simple facts are these: ● ONE – self-appointed experts often know bugger all. ● TWO – keyboard warriors often reiterate half-truths and lies acquired from the ether. ● THREE – if the bike is over seven years old…

FEEDBACK Post to Mechanics, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ or email your pictures to editorial@classicmechanics.com WIN BRIDGESTONE TYRES Every month we’re giving away a pair of Bridgestone tyres to the writer of the best submitted letter we receive. You can choose between Bridgestone’s BT-016 Pros, BT-023s or BT-45s! No cash alternative, before you ask! Simply get in touch by sending emails to: letters@classicmechanics.com or post your letters to the normal address, giving contact details just in case you are that lucky winner. Super CBs… I hope you received the photos I sent to you of some of my collection of motorcycle models. I never heard or saw them in the mag: presumably they were not to your taste or of relevance? I have had a quick…

Show us Yours Pete Felters’ Honda CB125T & CB550F Here are some pictures of the fruits of my labours over the past couple of years. My first venture was a Honda CB550F that was in fair condition when I bought it. The previous owner had fitted a new Motad exhaust and downpipes and the wheels were in very good nick. Unfortunately, the rest looked a bit shabby, but the bike did run so I spent the best part of the next year stripping down, cleaning and polishing. I had very little experience or knowledge of how to go about restoring or repairing a motorbike but I did have a lot of passion, patience and an internet connection that could get me on YouTube. The internet also got me access to…

WORK SHOP cmm Q & A Our very own wizened sages, Messrs Mark Haycock and Steve Cooper are here to answer all of your woes, be they mechanical or spiritual. Every month we will be giving advice, as well as some general tips. Don’ 1986 KAWASAKI GPZ600R Q: When I got the bike the carbs were blocked. I stripped them down, cleaned them and blew them with an airline. I brought carb repair kits, put in new pilot screws, new fuel inlet valves and new pilot jets. The rubber diaphragms were all in good condition, the two inner main jets are bigger than the outer two. The carbs were fitted back on the bike and I started it up. It fired and ticked over: but it won’t rev after…

Allen Millyard Award-winning motorcycle engineer! Running WILD! Allen sorts the carbs and sparks for his amazing six-cylinder build and finally fires her up! From the day I started making my RC374 engine I’ve been looking forward to the time when I could push the starter button to bring it to life and hear the howl of my own small capacity six-cylinder engine. This day was drawing closer, but I still had a few jobs left to do. The first one was to tackle the carburation. I was reluctant to simply fit the standard 26mm FZR carbs because they were CV type and looked too modern. I really wanted to fit a set of six direct lift carbs, so I had a look online and found that I could buy new…

Other filter media If your bike runs an oiled-foam filter that’s seen better days then it should be possible to purchase similar material in sheet format. What may be at odds with the OEM foam is the size of the foam’s internal passages; larger and the filter will run more air, smaller and it will run less. Either will have an impact upon the bike’s running so obviously some caution is required and possibly re-jetting. The default material is usually polyurethane and arguably it’s best to buy from a company that knows its products well – not some market stall selling furniture foam. Where the DIY approach seems to fail is when the filter is made from a short pile sheet material best described as looking like ‘Action Man’s hair’.…

IT’S MY BIKE: Mark Barge “As a spotty 15-year-old in 1979, I fell in love with was the KE175: great looking machine, simple but the best of both worlds. A plan was hatched to save up the £749 required to be on the road at 17, but girls and beer stood in the way, mission failed. “Fast forward to 2015; bit of money in the bank, bored during the long winter months so time to revisit my youth. Tracked this tidy and mostly complete 1976 B2 from eBay. The tank was full of sealer so the first ride ended in running out of fuel and pushing her home. After six months of messing around on the highways and byways it was time for the big rebuild. So a full…

Project Kawasaki Z1300 A5 part 4 Lump removal! Ralph gets the massive lump out of the Z1300 frame and gives it a spruce up! WORDS AND PHOTOS: RALPH FERRAND In last month’s article I was getting to grips with open head surgery on the big six’s head. Having taken so much off the engine and not much liking the state of the paint on it, I thought I might as well pull the rest of the powerplant out of the frame and spruce it up a bit along with the frame rails. Easy peasy, right? Before undertaking any job of this ilk I always read through the job as described in the manufacturer’s book of lies. Mr Kawasaki’s technical scribe gave no indication as to what an absolute nest of…

Who the hell is Martin Child? A friend of mine once saw Martin Child ride and said: “Bikes talk to him, don’t they?” Martin can wheelie anything: so much so he became a regular face at Performance Bikes magazine’s legendary ‘Frenzy’ events and was often naming himself Martin ‘Wild’ Child. This was in the mid-1990s when the likes of Gary Rothwell and later A C Farias made stunting and stunt shows very popular in the UK. This popularity saw the launch of the European Stunt Championships in 1997 which continues to this day. Sadly, Wildy’s clutch was knackered on his bike… so he didn’t do well. In the meantime Martin became a scribe for Bike magazine and during that time he raced…

When enough is enough! Some bikes automatically fall into the ‘potential restoration’ category simply because they’re too damn dog rough to do anything else with; Project Stinger immediately springs to mind. Others come with that impossible to reproduce veneer that comes with age/use and they genuinely only require recommissioning and possibly the odd new part which pretty much sums up the Yamaha RD350 I’ve been reporting back on over the last year or so. The CS3C was, I thought, just the right side of the line where its patina of use would be acceptable or at least tolerable. Unfortunately, the more I scrutinised the worse it appeared. It could very well have been mechanically sorted and used as a hack but I’m not sure that’s really where I wanted the…

Marketplace Birth of Zed Power Every month we take a look at the classic motorcycle market with a range of industry experts. This month, Paul Jayson from The Motorcycle Broker and our very own Scott Redmond look at high-performance yardsticks and Kawasakis in particular. The Z1 900 is a true design classic and a motorcycling icon – it has been since the day it hit the streets in the US in about July 1972. They really hit the US showrooms from about September 1972 onwards and are all referred to as 1973 models, although they were produced in 1972. The Z1 removed Honda’s crown and left them chasing shadows with the CB750 until they bought out the CBX1000 in 1978. The CB750 pulled a claimed 125mph while the Z was…

SEE YOU THERE! July 2018 1 Crich Tramway Classic Motorcycle Day DE4 5DP www.tramway.co.uk 1 Normous Newark Autojumble www.newarkautojumble.co.uk 1 Ace Cafe London Honda Bike Day 1 St Ives Festival of Motorcycles Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, sifom.org 8 Milton Keynes Bike Show www.mkbikeshow.co.uk 13-15 Dragstalgia Santa Pod: www.dragstalgia.co.uk 14 Sammy Miller Museum Ladies Ride In. www.sammymiller.co.uk 15 Sammy Miller Museum Italian Ride In. www.sammymiller.co.uk 15 Ace Cafe London, 70s Bike Day.london.acecafe.com 15 Warlingham Rugby Club Classic Car and Bike Show www.warlinghamclassics.co.uk 18 AUGUST ISSUE OF CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS 18-25 Lincolnshire Bike Week www.lincolnshirebikeweek.co.uk 19-22 Norton National Rally Meeting www.nortonownersclub.org/events 21 Donna Louise Trust Bike Show Carington Arms, Ashby Folville LE14 2TE. 21 Kempton Park Motorcycle Autojumble www.kemptonparkautojumble.co.uk 21 Leigh Vintage Classic Car/Bike…

The way we were… Send us your nostalgic snaps of you back in the day with your steed! Either send to me at bsimmond s@ mortons.co. uk  or via our vibrant Facebook page. C’mon! Nick Hill says: “I’ve been enjoying The Way We Were in the mag. Here are some touring trip pics from over the years. Fit in what you can! They include my first bike trip abroad to the 1984 Bol d’Or at Paul Ricard. “I was two-up on a GSX550 and it was very much an adventure done on the cheap with no thought for medical or breakdown cover! In August ’86 my GPZ750A2 and a friend’s 1000RX went on a weekend trip to Scotland: two-up and camping gear again. September ’87 and…

The owner’s tale: Graham Peters “Power delivery is as crisp today as it was way back in 1967. This bike still cuts the mustard and handling and braking punches above its weight too! Despite its patina, this bike still goes, handles and stops like Yamaha intended 50 or more years ago!” I couldn’t believe how little interest was being shown for a bike with so much potential. My 1968 Yamaha YCS1C was brought in September 2014 off eBay for just £686! It was obviously all there and just needed a few things sorting out together with some TLC. All I had to do was re-chrome the front mudguard, replace both levers and sort out some small issues such as the headlight rim, side casings, foot rest rubbers etc. Oh and…

Project Z1325 part 9 Box of (elec) tricks! Ralph talks recycling, securing the battery box and electrics for the very special Z1325. WORDS AND PHOTOS: RALPH FERRAND Previously, I explained how I had modified a battery box from a stock Zed to fit in this big block special. There was only one place in the frame where the battery could go but the fit between the top frame rails was as tight as a Yorkshireman deprived of his natural sense of generosity, but it was the only place it could go. I nosed around my stock of steel and came across some 3 x 20 x 20mm angle iron that was perfect for the job: yup, I re-purposed it, rather than sending it for ‘recycling’. Like keeping our old…

Kawasaki GPX600R part 1 The Catman cometh! Former CMM ad man Andy ‘Catman’ Catton returns to this illustrious organ with a tale (or should that be tail?) of his new acquisition! WORDS AND PHOTOS: ANDY CATTON The Kawasaki GPX600R at its launch in 1988 was Kawasaki’s flagship 600 sports bike, taking over from the legendary GPZ600R. It was an evolution of the GPZ in the engine department but was a completely new model outwardly with angular styling, black plastic tank protectors and a fully enclosed chassis. Engine changes meant eight additional horsepower from 76bhp to 84bhp and a higher top speed (140mph against the GPZ’s 135mph) along with mid-range improvements. The bike was also on the receiving end of a different anti-dive fork system under the new ESCS (Electronic Suspension…

Project Honda CB750 K2 part 13 Electrickery! More issues have been found with the Yank-spec K2; this time it’s the electrics! WORDS AND PHOTOS: MARK HAYCOCK In common with every other bike project I have worked on, the K2’s wiring needed a little attention, well, quite a lot of attention actually! We saw last time that I gave the engine a once-over just to make sure that it was in a condition where I could reasonably expect it to work, and now it was time to do the same thing for the electrics. The first item that caught my eye was the remains of the fuse box (Photo 1). Judging by the connections to the fuse I think they had perhaps been a little overloaded. One of the improvements which…

What to buy and how much to pay If the KE175 you are looking at is complete and in decent condition then buy it… pure and simple. Most trail bikes took a real hammering when they were being used in anger and suffered as a consequence, leading to a variety of pattern and/or alternative parts being fitted just to keep the bike functional. Finding one with all the correct parts is going to be key to the veracity of any restoration project. Never forget that a trail iron with all the correct stuff in place will always be a better option than someone else’s stalled resto. For these and numerous other reasons we’d strongly urge buying the most cosmetically complete KE175 you can find and worrying about the mechanicals later.…

Project Suzuki GSX-R1100G part 1 R is for ‘Revival!’ It’s been a long time between Gixer 11 drinks for Martin ‘Wild Child’ Child. But then what’s 30 years between old friends? WORDS AND PHOTOS: MARTIN CHILD The pile of paper is steadily growing: “3300, 3400, and those two make 3500.” As the last £50 notes are slapped into the open palm of a slightly concerned friend, the realisation that I’ve reached the top of the motorcycling tree isn’t lost on me. I’m 19 years old and the keys to Suzuki’s then flagship hyperbike, the mighty GSX-R1100H, are firmly in my grasp as I straddle the blue and white speed-seeking rocket. I’d started my biking journey on an equally blue and white TS50ER a mere three years previously, offering speed and…

Project Yamaha CS3C part 3 Panel beating! The more you dig the more you discover, as Scoop finds out to his cost. WORDS & PHOTOS: STEVE COOPER For the moment we’ll neatly sidestep the issue of the recalcitrant rotor detailed in last month’s missive, simply because I’m still sulking about it. Instead (while grumbling, cursing and muttering various obscenities) I’ve opted to look more closely at the running gear and peripherals instead. Knowing that the project wasn’t turning out as nicely as I’d hoped the entire paintwork set has been removed, cleaned and packed off for a nice fresh coat of Candy Green. Finding someone who has empathy for older bike panels is key to getting the finish needed: lots of firms claim to be able to do the job…

Pip Higham Tuner, engineer, rider Other musical genres are also available... It all started over a small beaker of fine red wine: “Go on then, what’s your favourite book then?” (Not Much of an Engineer by Sir Stanley Hooker, or maybe Stupid White Men by Michael Moore) Bob had sparked the interrogative debate off after a notably large swig, I deftly countered with a swift jab: “So music, Bob, what’s your fave? Grunge? Country? (without the ‘Western’) or Geetar Rock?” Quick as a fish: “Hip hop!” quoth Bubba with a cheek full of tongue. “Hip-op,” says I, and the next thing you know I’m in the recovery room at Wrightington with an armful of pipes and a significant dressing adorning my upper leg area. My hip has been a source…