Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2018 i Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Two-stroke fever! It’s funny how certain motorcycles really get under our skin. Or in the case of a two-stroke, under our skin, fingernails and into our lungs: if there’s a sweeter motorcycling smell than a freshly-warmed up two-stroke, I’ve yet to smell it. It’s as good as cut grass… My own two-stroke experiences were limited to a 125cc learner bike (ahhhh the KMX125…) and an RD350 F2, but they left their own indelible mark on me: I always have two fingers hovering over the clutch, for a start. I then got into four-strokes and never looked back, but perhaps I should. People like reader Tim Partington and our own Andy Bolas love their two-strokes. Andy has a large number in his collection and this month we see his rare-ish Yamaha…

News ‘New’ W800 coming! If you’re a Kawasaki fan of a certain age, you will ‘recognise’ these two beauties… These are the new Kawasaki W800 Street and W800 CAFÉ and they are coming to a dealership near you in 2019. Kawasaki says that both models can trace their lineage back over half a century to the original 1966 W1 650; at the time the largest capacity four-stroke machine manufactured in Japan. A number of W-models have been in the Kawasaki modern-classic/retro stable since, but this is 90% new and is Euro 4 compliant. Sharing a completely new chassis, each machine has modern brakes (with ABS and a disc rear for the first time) and modern touches such as LED lighting. The motor is a 773cc bevel driven camshaft parallel twin.…

Prize winner Thanks, mate! You asked for thanks to friends getting us into bikes, well, my mate Phil Blennerhasset, has a lot to answer for. Biking was a cheap commute for me 36 years ago, when Phil and I met and became life-long friends. Fast forward to four years ago when I hadn’t ridden a bike for 25 years, and Phil persuaded me to come along with his mates (as a pillion, to begin with) around Europe. Well you can imagine the stick I got to get another bike. So, on the spur of the moment I went out and bought a GS, and tentatively rode it the six miles home. I didn’t realise how big bikes had become and I couldn’t even turn it round in the garage! So…

READER SPECIAL Holiday FUN-D! CMM reader Tim Partington had a plan for his 50th: a top holiday away with missus Nicole. Then this bike happened… WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PHOTOS: SIMON EVERETT, TIM PARTINGTON Like many of us, when we get to certain special times in our lives, we like to treat ourselves, yes? Hitting 40 is a classic, 50, 60 and 70 too… Often we have what’s fashionably called a ‘bucket list’. It could be throwing yourself out of a perfectly good aeroplane, or travelling to a faraway country. For many of us men (yes, I know we have a proud female readership, but bear with me on this) we confuse a ‘bucket list’ with ‘mid-life crisis’. Some may seek out the delights of the younger, fairer sex, while the…

Roamin’ roamin’ roamin’… The Bobber is, well, the Bobber – but its sibling is ‘the Roamer’. This is a much more classic cruiser, so you’ve got the same tubular steel double cradle, but the 16in/16in tyres of the Bobber have been swapped for a 19in front and 16-rear for the Roamer. The ergonomics are more ‘cruiser’ too. Both machines have the same suspension units and brakes (which isn’t a bad thing) but the Roamer has a plusher seat,  more traditional pull-back bars and your more ‘normal’ cruiser fayre of gloss paint and chrome aplenty. We didn’t ride the Roamer on our day out, but expect a similar overall feel to the Bobber, except with that more laid-back riding position, which I would guess may actually lend itself to the suspension…

Buying one today Scouring the internet for used R1-Zs opened my eyes and the fact you can pick up a fairly mint example for a quid under £4000 makes me think that the two-stroke buying public are missing a trick here, as this is a far superior bike compared to say a 350LC although it won’t appeal as much to your nostalgic side! The cheapest one I found was £1475 and this was for a project which someone had started to install a 350 motor in. DK in Stoke had an unregistered project which at the time of writing was less than £1400 but hadn’t reached its reserve; a couple of other bikes on the net were listed as being sold ‘as is’ off the container for £3250 and fast…

You want even bigger kicks from your TZR? Although these Yamaha TZR250 3XV V-twins have similar basic architecture they came in different specifications, starting with the ‘entry-level’ R with a wet clutch, the RS with a dry clutch, while the Sport Production (SP) came with different cylinders and heads, stronger TZ-style crankshaft and con-rods, a dry clutch, and a more sophisticated CDI ignition system. This made it easier to upgrade the SP with the Yamaha RC Sugo racing kit that increased peak power to 72bhp for use in Japan’s Formula 3 race series. Daniel Williams of UK-based Gecko Motorcycle Imports, which specialises in parts for the exotic Japanese domestic market models, says that his list of Sugo parts changes regularly so check with him first on availability. Also, because the…

Kawasaki Z1300 part 8 Water sports! Ralph is on the home stretch now, getting radical with the rad and sorting the water pump. WORDS AND PHOTOS: RALPH FERRAND I am back at the bike bench, which is groaning under the not inconsiderable weight of my beloved Z1300. For many reasons this motorcycle was a game changer back in 1979 when it was first offered to the motorcycle buying public. Many felt that such a massive bike would not handle and such a formidable engine output would surely lead to the demise of anyone foolhardy enough to throw a leg over such a perilous contrivance. However, most test riders at the time said that the bike handled far better than it had any right to, given its extravagant size and mass.…

cmm Archive Grazzi, Guzzi! There is something so special about the Moto Guzzi marque. Founded in 1921 by a pilot and a mechanic from the nascent Italian air force, Moto Guzzi has become the oldest European motorcycle manufacturer in continuous production. Giovanni Ravelli was a friend of the founders who died in a plane crash in 1919 – Carlo Guzzi and Giorgio Parodi would remember him by incorporating the Italian Air Corps’ logo on the tank of their machines… Any machine bearing that logo just feels special – from an innovative race machine (thanks to their aeronautical background, they developed and used the first ever motorcycle wind tunnel) through a V8 and to their almost trademark longitudinal-crank, 90º V-twins… The brilliant bit about Guzzi is the wide-variety of machines produced…

News STOP PRESS! SHEENE BIKE BUILD! If you’ve just got this issue of CMM you’ll still have time to head to the Birmingham NEC for Motorcycle LIVE! And if you do, pop along to Suzuki’s stand in Hall 2. There you will see this very G-54 being rebuilt. The bike was the precursor to the XR14 and RG500 machines that went on to take Suzuki and Barry Sheene to world championship glory. The G-54 concept was born in May 1973, five years after Suzuki withdrew from Grand Prix racing following regulation changes by the F.I.M. But, after competing in the smaller 50cc, 125cc, and 250cc classes, Suzuki had decided to make a return, this time in the premier 500cc class. The bike – where G denoted Grand Prix use only…

A 2019 Bobber job! Bobbers are part and parcel of the specials scene now, and it’s the case that the major manufacturers have been producing these retro-styled factory specials for the last few years. This issue, we have a go on the Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber (page 32) so we figured it prudent to show you this 2019 take on the base model: this is the V9 Bobber Sport. Guzzi says that the Sport gives the basic Bobber design a more aggressive, racing style, drawing inspiration from the flat-track racers that originated the Bobber phenomenon. On paper the Sport has a lower seat height, gorgeous twin Ohlins shocks, a slip-on end-can for more sound and updated aesthetics, including a solo-only single seat vibe… We won’t say too much about our…

CLASSIC RIDE Parallel lines While the R1-Z didn’t officially come into the UK, there is a lot to love about this Yamaha parallel-twin two-stroke, according to Andy Bolas. WORDS: ANDY BOLAS PHOTOS: GARY D CHAPMAN A few decades ago virtually everyone at the beginning of their biking career would have owned or ridden a two-stroke 250: it was a given! Okay, so – as time went on – not all were giant killers and not all were tuned to the edge of sanity, but many are looked at fondly today, with the benefit of hindsight. I have a hunch that, if the bike we’re about to test had been a UK model (and I can’t for the life of me see why it wasn’t an official import) it would have…

HAYNES PRINT & ONLINE Project Kawasaki Z1325 part 14 Anchors a-way! Our Ralph is on the home straight with this South Wales special: this month he’s sorting some braking and mounting issues. WORDS AND PHOTOS: RALPH FERRAND This month I shall initially turn my attention to the rear brake, more particularly the master cylinder reservoir. I couldn’t find any bikes with an attractive rear remote fluid container that would look right on a bike of this nature, so I then had to look for a mass produced ‘custom’ item. They seemed to be either stupendously expensive or very cheap, but all seemed to be geared up to a very small bore pipe to feed the master cylinder. I had previously had a bad experience with a cheap plastic reservoir with…

HAYNES PRINT & ONLINE Guiding light! Our Scoop replaces a sealed beam bulb and a headlamp lens. If you own a motorcycle that once resided Stateside then the chances are it will be running a sealed beam headlight. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with such a set-up until one of the filaments goes pop, at which point you are royally screwed because you cannot change the bulb! Sealed beam headlights became mandatory across in America from 1940. Supposedly the measure was taken in response to alleged accidents caused when drivers had been temporarily blinded by super powerful headlights from oncoming traffic. The logic was, if the vehicle owners couldn’t get access to the bulbs they won’t be able to muck about with wattages. All perfectly logical I guess (or damn stupid)…

BUYER’S GUIDE KAWASAKI KT250 It’s a trials bike that’s happy to commute or take you anywhere off-road! WORDS: STEVE COOPER PHOTOS: GARY‘D’ CHAPMAN When two-stroke motorcycles ruled the world, the damn things were everywhere from road-racing right the way down to commuter machinery. Every manufacturer (Honda excepted) offered almost every capacity of stink wheels machine for virtually every conceivable application. There was one notable exception. Kawasaki’s UK agent’s (Agrati of Nottingham) approach to their model range had often been a little haphazard and although they’d eventually imported the 125 and 175 F series trail irons in small numbers they’d studiously overlooked the key 250cc learner option. Heron Suzuki had been on the game from fairly early on with their robust TS250 with Mitsui Yamaha taking a little longer to pluck…

Project Suzuki GSX-R1100G part 6 Paint your wagon! As cool as she looks naked in the living room, it’s now time to fix the GSX-R 10/11’s clothes and get her ready for that first road-ride date. WORDS & PHOTOS: MARTIN CHILD I just can’t watch the TV. This is mainly because what’s on it is so rubbish that it’s depressing... but it’s also because I’m easily distrac… oooh, what’s that? The cause of my eyes-right is the mix of metal and rubber that sits alongside the goggle-box. Yup, black, grey and more black, Project 10/11 is certainly living up to the cool dream. It’s worthy of being mounted on the wall, as a three-dimensional offering to the Gods of Motorcycle Art. But that would be a waste of this bike’s…

cmm Tested Riding kit worn, tools twirled & tyres turned BELL MOTO-3 ACE CAFE GP 66 HELMET There’s no denying the Bell Moto-3 Ace Cafe GP 66 is a cool looking lid. It looks almost identical to the iconic helmets worn by 1970s scrambling stars – but don’t worry, it’s equipped with the latest and greatest modern materials and technology, to meet European and American safety standards and help keep your noggin safe out on the Tarmac (or dirt). It’s not packed with an abundance of features though – after all, it’s a fairly simple and straightforward design, that’s been tried and tested over the years. Why change a winning formula? The lid is made using a modern lightweight fibreglass composite shell – which comes in three different sizes, allowing…

MIRA FILES Adrenaline JUNKIES If there’s anything better than a big powerful bike, it’s a small powerful bike. John Nutting gets out of his comfort zone and onto a pair of Yamaha TZR250 two-stroke V-twins WORDS: JOHN NUTTING PHOTOS: GARY D CHAPMAN Some say that the 250cc two-stroke twins of the late 1980s and 1990s represent the pinnacle of racing machine technology. Fans of these machines rue the day when organisers cut the class from international competition, saying that their combination of light weight, relative simplicity and undiluted power made them the ultimate tool for the track. Being two-strokes, they harked from a less environmentally- conscious era, so unlike modern machines they were not compromised by having to be developed from road bikes. These 250cc racers were the real deal,…

“I own the TZR250 Yamahas” The Yamaha TZR250 V-twins are just two of a number of exotic Japanese sports bikes owned by Owen, a master carpenter who lives in west Kent. A lifelong motorcyclist who started on Vespas in the 1980s, Owen soon graduated to an RD350LC and after owning big sports bikes in the 2000s found their appeal waning. That’s when raw 250cc race replicas caught his eye. “I got bored stupid with what the factories were producing, so I started looking for Japanese market models,” he says. Along with the TZR250 RS and SP, there’s also a triple-powervalve SPR, a 1989 TZR250SP 3MA parallel twin with reverse pipes and a Honda NSR250R MC28, the last of the line that is one of Owen’s favourites. Just as tasty is…

RETRO REBOOT Yamaha RD350N Pure, stripped down fantasy, this is what a rebooted naked Powervalve could look like. WORDS AND IMAGES: KAR LEE After the arrival of the RD350LC’s replacement in 1983, the YPVS-endowed 350 LCII’s place in history was already ensured. A startling sales success, the simple addition of a mid-range-boosting powervalve in the cylinder barrel allowed the exhaust port to be raised and lowered automatically via a servomotor, resulting in the greatest production two-stroke motorcycle engine of the decade. For just one year in 1985, Yamaha released its purest version of the 350 – it came sans-fairing or belly-pan, but added low clip-ons to create a screaming café racer style hooligan that could race from chip shop to chip shop, leaving heavyweight GPzs and VF1000s behind in a…

HAYNES PRINT & ONLINE Project Honda NT650J Bros part 5 On the road again Nutters completes the ‘spruce up’ of his Honda 650 Bros. WORDS AND PHOTOS: JOHN NUTTING There’s nothing quite like the glow of satisfaction when all your components for a restoration project are laid out, clean and fresh, ready for reassembly. But, will everything go back together as intended? Do I have the skills and tools necessary to get everything to fit as the factory originally intended? You read about the heroes of resto and rebuilds and wonder if you can match even a small part of their achievements. Paranoia sets in and you wake up at night in anticipation of the next job. It can be a nightmare. You’ll recall that the 1988 Honda NT650J Bros…

SPECIFICATION KAWASAKI KT250 ENGINE TYPE Air-cooled 246cc, two-stroke single, piston ported BORE AND STROKE 69.5mm x 64.9mm CLAIMED HORSEPOWER 16bhp @ 6500rpm MAXIMUM TORQUE 13.7lb-ft @ 4000rpm TRANSMISSION TYPE 5-speed COMPRESSION RATIO 6.5:1 IGNITION Magneto/CDI Carburettor CARBURETTORS Mikuni VM26SC TYRES 2.75– 21 (F), 4.00 – 18 (R) FUEL CAPACITY 1.2 gallons (5.5 litres) DRY WEIGHT 96kg (212lb) WHEELBASE 1305mm (51.4in) OVERALL LENGTH 2015mm (79.3in) OVERALL WIDTH 835mm (32.9in) HEIGHT 1155mm (45.5in) What to buy and how much to pay Purchasing a competition machine, even if it is road legal, requires a fair bit more savvy than, say, a low mileage superbike. Trials bikes are normally used and used hard; just because they’re made to be ridden in anger off-road doesn’t mean they’re bomb proof. A lot of attrition can occur…