Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2016 i Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

John Wyatt of Rising Sun Restorations They’re still fairly easy to get hold of. Values range from around £1500 for a rough one, up to £5000 for a really nice example. On average you’d need to spend between £2750 and £3750. They’re usually either pretty rough or have been restored fairly well. The majority are in near standard trim, with a few fitted with big-bore kits, ace bars, exhausts, shocks and the like. There are more F1s available than F2s. Most who bought 400/4s bought the first ones and didn’t need another. People didn’t like the yellow F2 models, and they’d sit unsold in showrooms for a long while. If you look after them well, they’ll easily do 110,000 miles or more. The secret is maintenance. Change the engine oil…

RH CLASSICS FLEET INSURANCE For motorcycle collectors switching your bikes from one insurance provider to another can be a real pain. The prospect of revaluing every single bike in a big collection just to satisfy a new insurer’s needs can be too daunting to even contemplate, let alone carry out. More often than not, the easy choice – to stick with our current provider – is the choice we reluctantly make. Thankfully, RH Specialist Insurance has just taken all the complexity and aggravation out of the switching process. Bike-by-bike revaluation has been consigned to history. Now, the motorcycle enthusiast can get instant cover for his or her entire collection in one quick phone call. For collections, or single motorcycles, valued up to £3000, RH is happy to accept the owner’s…

VINTAGE SUZUKI AT THE SUPER SAUSAGE! PHOTOS: KEV LARKINS Barry Sheene’s world championship-winning Suzukis were the scene-stealers at this year’s Classic Suzuki Sunday event, which took place at the Super Sausage café. The event, in its third year in 2016, saw the crowds flock to the popular Potterspury caf on the A5 in a bid to see the iconic racing machines – that won the 1976 and 1977 world championships with Sheene on board. That wasn’t all, as these amazing racers were displayed alongside Michael Dunlop’s Vintage Parts-supported XR69, which set a new lap record and new race record on the way to victory at this year’s Classic TT on the Isle of Man. Also on display was the TL1000S built from brand new components, highlighting the availability of genuine…

The way we were… Send us your nostalgic snaps of you back in the day with your steed page ! Either . C’mon send ! to me at bsimmonds@mortons .co.uk or via our vibrant Facebook Glynn Hartshorne says: “This is from 1982 showing my wife on my Terry Beckett tuned RD350LC. I still have the wife but sadly no longer the bike! It carried the genuine Pro-Am fairings and I believe Beckett pipes. I cannot understand why the gold wheels though! At that time it was the bee’s knees! Jonathan Welly purchased two RD350LCs in 1984, this one he’s doing the burnout on was the second one – the first one got stolen after two weeks of ownership! YoshiShabira sent us this cracking shot of his 1978…

MZ 250cc model history “The way an MZ 250 makes its power is a revelation if your benchmark is Japanese strokers in general and twins in particular. There’s an almost relentless delivery that’s more akin to an electric motor!” In very general terms there are only a handful of UK 250 MZs if we overlook basic and deluxe sub-models. First off from the earliest days of importation is the Trophy, aka the ES 250/2. With a headlamp built in line with and fixed to the tank, leading link front forks and 16in wheels its looks are, shall we say, unique. Quirky beyond belief and more than a little agricultural, the few that remain command surprising money. Oh and they handle much better that you might expect. Next up is the…

YOUR TIPS Deep penetration! In the February 2016 issue there is an article from the maestro Stan Stephens about loosening off a seized-on barrel. Stan explains that he is using WD-40 as a penetrating oil; although I tend to use WD-40 a lot, I never use it as a penetrating oil. In my opinion the oil is not thin enough do to a proper job. I always use a typical penetrating oil with MOS2. I’ve made many things come loose with penetrating oil that stayed put with WD-40, including seized-on barrels. Give it a plentiful dose, let it work a couple of minutes and most of the time I don’t need force, heat or heavy machinery to get things going. Give it a try! And keep up the good work…

Running and riding My take on older strokers is that if the crank seals are on their last legs they’ll soon let me know; if they work okay then it’s a bonus. Likewise the same with the mains, big ends etc. not every used or old bearing is a reason for total engine rebuild. If the bike makes it to and from the local MOT station I’ll have greater confidence in it and run it on longer trips looking out for any tell-tale signs or issues. If it performs and runs as I hope then it may get used consistently across 2016 before being worked on again seriously at the back of the year. There’s a whole host of plans in hand for the ignition, compression ratios and intake system…

Trumpets and un-filter tips! Losing the air filter entirely is the most obvious way to maximise air flow but it comes at a cost; bore wear. If the engine inhales particles they will find their way into the engine and gradually grind away at it. The old customising trick of fitting inlet trumpets or bell mouths to open carbs isn’t a guaranteed route to enhanced performance. Studies have shown that the pressure waves moving around an open carb are hugely influenced by the shape and length of the air trumpet. There simply isn’t a one size fits all solution. Forums and owners clubs are valuable resources when it comes to pod or cone filters. Unquestionably someone else will have been there before so learn from their mistakes, rather than making…

Making connections part 2 Getting plugged He’s back on the sparky warpath is our Ralph, yet again he’s making good connections. As a motorcycle restorer, I see some heinous electrical sights during my working week; twisted together wires, covered with insulation tape is a favourite DIYer money and time-saving solution. As with so many similar bodges the old cliché ‘penny wise, pound foolish’ springs to mind; there is a reason why Mr Kawasaki and the more modern Mr Triumph don’t save money on connectors by twisting wires together when building bikes – they would have to replace many burned out wiring harnesses during the first year and their products would gain an undesirable reputation for unreliability. It was badly designed and manufactured electrics that contributed to…

Yamaha DT175 MX part 2 Of plastics and powerplant! Ralph is sorting the bodywork and motor on his little trailie. What does he find? WORDS AND PHOTOS: RALPH FERRAND I am continuing to put every non-working, non-drinking waking hour into the diminutive trailie bike. Why, I’m not really sure, as I have never owned a trail bike in my life, so can’t be reliving my misspent youth and believe me, my youth was seriously misspent. I had big four-stroke road monsters, which I rode as though competing in the TT; fearless in the safe knowledge that I was immortal, as all young bikers are. For a short while I had a Bultaco Sherpa trials bike, but Icould never get the hang of it on the dirt; it just spat me…

Rainey days WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PHOTO: MORTONS ARCHIVE For many of us the first time we got a glimpse of Wayne Rainey was as part of the great Rainey and Schwantz double act in the Transatlantic Challenge races of 1987. This shot of the 1983 and 1987 AMA champ is from Brands Hatch, the first event, during their titanic struggles to be top Transatlantic dog. Unsurprisingly, the Brits really didn’t get a look-in and the American team ran away with the title but Kevin Schwantz and Rainey ran away with the accolades. Looking back now, it seems simple to think that they should have talked things through to win the £100,000 purse for the rider who won all the races, but each rider’s need to beat the other proved a…

GO ‘LIVE’ WITH THE NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM! The National Motorcycle Museum host its third annual FREE open day on Saturday, November 5. Yup, everyone can visit the museum collection free of charge. There will also be a host of other free attractions including the NMM’s amazing ‘Stars on Stage’ feature which is presented in association with Central Wheel Components Ltd In addition there will be an indoor autojumble and trade area, plus a ‘Meet the Experts’ section. ‘Stars on Stage’ will feature Carl Fogarty and our own James Whitham hosting a raft of top names including John ‘Moon Eyes’ Cooper, Ian Hutchinson, Chris Vincent, Peter Hickman, John McGuinness and James Ellison. In addition the NMM’s aural treat the ‘live start-up’ section will feature a host of amazing machines to assault…

I’ve been here before! I was on the front page of your excellent magazine back in August 1987. You did a feature on my restored BSA C11. The article started with: “Pete Henshaw, a 30-year-old fireman from Leicestershire.” I am now 57 and retired from the Fire Service. And put a wanted ad in the Matchless/AJS owners’ club for an-ex Fire Service AFS bike. I am pleased to say I have linked my interest of classic bikes and fire engines, like your magazine I am still going strong and thought I would send you a couple of pics. As you can see, the Matchless is all original: it just wanted a good T-cut and a bit of fettling. These machines were stored with the Green Goddess engines in the Cold…

MIRA FILES The best of 1979 Bikes got even bigger in 1979, a year when almost everything was going through changes. But what were the best new models? asks John Nutting. WORDS: JOHN NUTTING PHOTOS: JOHN NUTTING AND MORTONS ARCHIVE It would take something pretty dramatic in the motorcycle world to distract us from the economic and political miseries that we were suffering at the beginning of 1979. We were coming out of the so-called Winter of Discontent: inflation was rampant, public sector workers and miners were about to go on strike and Prime Minister James Callaghan was clinging on to power by his fingernails. He didn’t last long though and after he lost a vote of confidence Maggie Thatcher stepped in to lead the Tories to victory. Meanwhile the…

COMING CLASSIC Honda CBR600F-X 1999-2000 ASK ANDY CMM contributor Andy Bolas has owned hundreds of bikes new and old and he knows what to source, buy and collect for the future. Listen to him! In 1999 Honda took the plunge and released its all new middleweight supersports bike, giving the venerable CBR600F a huge revamp in the process. The old steel-framed CBR was falling behind its competitors in the sales stakes after most of the 1990s on top of its game. This time, Honda started with a clean slate and eliminated all of the old bike’s weaknesses: out went the steel frame and in came a lovely alloy frame and swingarm (which bolts straight to the back of the motor), four piston Nissin calipers up front replaced the ageing twin…

Derestricting air-boxes Engines need to breathe; here’s how to improve their respiration rate, according to Steve Cooper. WORDS AND PHOTOS STEVE COOPER Newton’s Third Law says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The statement means that in every movement, there’s a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects. When a piston descends on its induction stroke it creates a vacuum which then pulls in air to occupy the volume displaced. Simplistically a 250cc piston going down drags in an equivalent volume of air and fuel but of course as we know air is hugely compressible. Get more air in along with the requisite fuel and you get a bigger bang; ultimately this is the basis of forced induction i.e. turbos or super chargers.…

Project Ducati 996 part 3 Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’! Jim’s keeping his wagon rolling alright! This month he’s alarmed by wiring and making his own moveable stand for the 996. WORDS AND PHOTOS: JIM LINDSAY Plans only exist to show how wrong you were in the first place. When long-time mate and CMM’s 888 restorer Mark Forsyth dropped in for a cup of tea and we went to look at the 996, he asked why on earth was I planning to strip it completely. “Just the job for a rolling restoration,” he said. “Take the engine out and you’ll have a whole load of work you don’t need to do.” I could see his logic and it was all the more appealing because I’ve got two bikes after the…

Biting the bullets Non-insulated 3.9mm bullet connectors are a great way of connecting wires on bikes and have been used successfully by the Japanese bike manufacturers for years. I have always considered ‘non-insulated’ to be a strange term, considering they are actually properly insulated. They are easy to use and the insulators give proper protection to the join.…

COMING CLASSIC Honda X-11 1999-2002 BERTIE’S BLATHER The fat fool may not know about diets, but he is a serialbike-buyerwhohas just picked up a VFR for next to nowt! I’m ready to be shot down in flames for this one, but I’m putting the Honda X-11 up for coming classic-dom down to one reason only. They’re pretty rare. There, I’ve said it. So, let’s look at the beast. Firstly, it’s big. It’s basically a Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird with an updated ‘centre pivot’ frame, minus the fairing and a few horses. It’s still got the linked brakes but a lot less practicality. It’s also bloody ugly. In a time of the Bandit 1200, ZRX1100 and Yamaha XJR the X-11 simply looked naff: a single headlight, red-backed clocks (with only one…

What to buy and how much to pay It’s Italian, it’s from the 1970s and it’s rare so what do you reckon is coming next? Yes of course: buy the best and most complete you can find. Unlike the later 350 Ipotesi the earlier 350 wasn’t a significant seller in the UK so you will be looking to Italy for pretty much anything that’s missing or at least trawling Italian eBay. Project examples are, ideally, best avoided as it could be a very protracted process getting one back up and running. Barn finds aren’t so much of an issue and aside from the usual carburettor, tyres and cable scenarios most examples are readily retrievable. Pricewise the bikes are possibly cheaper than you might expect and the usual cachet of classic…

SCOOPERMAN! The sunny side of the classic world, with the VJMC’s Steve Cooper Many classic enthusiasts own more than one motorcycle. Some would say it’s an affliction while others argue it’s their own version of nirvana. Some of us have real problems with storage while others have no issues with keeping the best of a burgeoning collection in the conservatory, dining room, living room or even bedroom. Understanding significant others is a mandatory requirement for this scenario; well this or living on your own. Another solution is the obvious if expensive option of building an additional storage area which is grand if you have both the space and the finances to do so. It’s when that new bike storage area becomes full that things get a little messy. When you…

FEEDBACK Post to Mechanics, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ or email your pictures to editorial@classicmechanics.com WIN a Scottoiler bike care pack Every month we’re giving away a Scottoiler Bike Care Pack to the writer of the best submitted letter we receive. The pack contains two litres of Scottoiler FS365; giving you the ultimate in summer and winter corrosion protection. 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. When is a classic ‘vintage’? Could Steve Cooper explain why the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club has two different definitions of when a motorcycle is vintage? I was in contact with an individual in Ireland; he tells me it is 15 years,…

Show us yours We want to see YOUR pride and joy in our pages, so you can share what you ride and restore with fellow readers. Email your hi-res shots to bsimmonds@mortons.co.uk or mail in some photos to the address at the front of the mag. Let us know what you’ve done and how you’ve done it and send before and after shots if you can. Do get in touch. Bertie. Jason Madelin’s 1985 Honda XL600R Just a quickie to show my 1985 XL600R after a Sunday morning ride out, covering the green lanes of Devon and sometimes beyond. The old girl rides great over the rough and mud though she’s not as light and easy to start sometimes as her younger relatives. She still manages to make me smile…

SUZUKI GSX-R OIL-COOLED TIMELINE 1985 GSX-R750F, the original Slabbie is born: 100bhp @10,500rpm, 176 kilos, race-replica bodywork, endurance-style twin-headlamps, double cradle ally frame, 18in tyres: a modern classic. 1986 GSX-R750G features a longer (20-25mm) swingarm (now 1455mm wheelbase) 65/50W bulbs up from 45W, slotted end-can heat-shield, two fasteners on the top fairing not three, some air ducts remodelled/ altered too. The USA got the GSX-R750R which hadsingle-seat, radial tyres, uprated NEAS front suspension, amber headlamps, full-floating discs, steering damper, lighter sprocket cover, and cable clutch. It cost $2000 more than the standard model, and weighed 2.7 kilos less, but never imported into the UK. 1987 The GSX-R750H model takes many of the improvements on the USA-only 750R of 1986 (forks, damper, brakes) and adds thicker front wheels spindle, wider tyres/rims,…

Foibles and upgrades MZs are unusual and arguably quirky by anyone’s standards. It has to be remembered that their prime reason for existence was as utilitarian transport so many fripperies bestowed on even older Japanese bikes were often missing or low-rent versions thereof. In 250 form, all but the early Trophies and Trophy Sport run an engine that hangs from its cylinder head via a rubber coupling which isolates most of the vibrations along with the gearbox mounts. The engines jump around at tickover but that’s the worst they get. One of the main differences between MZs and pretty much everything else is the engine speed clutch that sits on the left end of the crank. It’s adjusted from a plate on the outer casing that also carries the tacho…

Best bikes of 1979 detailed BMW R100RT Engine: 980cc OHV flat-twin, five-speed, shaft drive. Peak power: 70bhp at 7250rpm. Wheelbase: 1473mm. Weight: 235kg dry. Maximum speed: 115mph (est). St ¼ mile: 13.5s. Fuel consumption: 49mpg. Suzuki GS850G Engine: 843cc DOHC inline four, five-speed, shaft drive. Peak power: 77bhp at 8500rpm. Wheelbase: 1499mm. Weight: 253kg dry. Maximum speed: 127mph (est). St ¼ mile: 12.9s (est). Fuel consumption: 42mpg. Suzuki GS1000S Engine: 997cc DOHC inline four, five-speed, chain drive. Peak power: 90bhp at 8500rpm. Wheelbase: 1499mm. Weight: 237kg dry. Maximum speed: 127mph (est). St ¼ mile: 13.0s (est). Fuel consumption: 42mpg. Kawasaki Z1000 MkII Engine: 1015cc DOHC inline four, five-speed, chain drive. Peak power: 93bhp at 8000rpm. Wheelbase: 1518mm. Weight: 246kg dry. Maximum speed: 130mph. St ¼ mile: 12.46s. Fuel consumption: 45.3mpg…

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’t forget to send in your own tips too. 1984 Kawasaki Z1100R Q: My problem is that after around eight to 12 miles the engine starts to go off one cylinder at a time until the engine finally stops as though I had run out of fuel. I then wait about 15 minutes and I can then start the engine and it does the same. I have changed the plugs, plug leads, plug caps and coils, stripped and cleaned the carbs and carb filters, set float heights, removed the petrol tap,…

Project Yamaha RD350 part 6 It’s alive! Scoop’s early RD350 is making smoke and screaming like a banshee… but why? WORDS AND PHOTOS: STEVE COOPER Following on from last time the dial gauge and timing light were pressed into service and a pleasant hour (not) was spent tweaking the RD’s points and back plates until we had a firing point of 1.85mm BTDC. And before every air-cooled Yamaha owner writes in, fighting off fits of apoplexy there’s a good reason why I’ve strayed from the supposedly sacrosanct figure of 2.0mm. With the advent of ethanol based fuel, two-strokes have been doing strange things and detonation has been taking out pistons, cylinder heads and, on occasions, even entire motors. My contacts in the industry are now strongly…

Project Suzuki TL1000S part 2 Tyred & shocked! CMM’s Andy Bolas has finally got time to give his big TL-S lots of TLC! WORDS AND PHOTOS: ANDY BOLAS At last I have finally found the time between helping sort bikes for the VJMC stands at various events to give my lovely big twin a little tender loving care! The bike was booked in for an MoT which it passed with no advisories although the rear rotary suspension unit was creaking like mad and when I got back the fork seals had started to weep slightly! And all this just after an MoT. I thought it may be just because of the bike standing for so long, as I’ve experienced this before so I did a few…

Holy perforations! Knowing where to drill the holes in an air-box is vitally important. They need to be around the periphery of the filter body and not in the initial induction areas at the front end of the air-box or there’ll be carburation issues. Before setting to with the drills it is worth taking some time out to study how and where the air-box draws in its air. How many holes is enough? A good question and there’s no simple answer but in reality the engine will only inhale a finite amount of air for a given state of tune so arguably you cannot drill too many. However, the filter still needs to be adequately supported so you’ll need to check what you’re actually removing and the structure of the…

Project Suzuki GSF1200 Bandit part 6 Bandit breathing Andy B is on it with his ‘Maid of all work’ Bandit as he tries a Stage 1 and 3 tune-up for the Suzuki: but does he make it breathe more easily? Things have been rather manic of late in the Bolas household which has meant the old 1200 Bandit has been pressed into service for all sorts of jobs. What jobs? Well, everything from bike displays at shows to the odd jaunt on track days, touring Europe loaded up with luggage and even a few blasts down the quarter mile strip at Santa Pod during the Race, Rock ‘N’ Ride event, which was agreat weekend! Anyway, back to the bike. As mentioned before the next step with the old…

Project Honda CB750 K2 Scaling the K2! A long-time Honda four fan, our Mark has finally taken the plunge and bought this. But does he have a mountain to climb? WORDS AND PHOTOS: MARKHAYCOCK Ihaven’t finished that TX500 yet, but it is getting there – honest – so now is the time to think about what is next and I have gone and done it! I do like Hondas and of course one of my favourites is the CB750 SOHC, so why not? One reason why not is that they are becoming rather collectable, particularly early ones, with some for sale for completely crazy prices like £50,000 (admittedly for an early sand-cast but really they are not that rare as the change to die-casting took place at engine number 7415).…

Project Honda SS125 part 6 The final furlong! The big day is getting ever closer as the final jobs are undertaken. WORDS AND PHOTOS: STEVE COOPER The little Honda is at that perplexing stage in a restoration where most of the good stuff, new stuff, restored stuff et al has been painstakingly fitted and no matter what you do next there’s little visible progress. Welcome to the pedantic world of fault finding and problem chasing where, on occasion, you’re almost disappearing through an ever more dizzying vortex of confusion. Many a resto never runs simply because the final stages are too much for would-be fettlers. A lack of sparks on one pot, a carburettor that won’t fuel correctly, poltergeist electrics and a score of other problems can poleaxe the best…

What happens now with the SS125? So Project Honda SS125 is completed and bar an unexpected MOT failure or an advisory it should be in the bag. So that’s it right? Well to be perfectly blunt, no way Jose! Just because it starts, runs and stops doesn’t mean the bike is totally sorted. This is something that really perplexes some people new to the arcane world of motorcycle restoration. Knowing you have all the correct parts even if they’re NOS does not confer an automatic right to a sweet running bike. When Honda rolled our SS125 off the production line five decades ago it was one of thousands built in series by a dedicated workforce who’d had every potential problem ironed out for them by the design, assembly and quality…

BIKE BUYER Make or Break REVISITED! What's happened over the last five years to bike prices? Scott Redmond reprises his role as judge, jury and executioner to a range of bikes he used to ‘make or break’. WORDS AND PHOTOS: SCOTT REDMOND It’s funny how things change over the course of just five years. When I started the regular ‘Make or Break’ column, showcasing what I’d bought, why and what I was planning to do with it, it reflected the then-current state of the market. And how it’s changed. Or not. It’s interesting now to look back on what I bought, for how much and what these bikes would go for now. Pull up a jerry can, let’s adjust those rose-tinted goggles and chew the motorcycle buying fat. Suzuki GSX-R750J…

Next month HONDA VF500FII: Lovely V4 middleweight MIRA-filed! YAMAHA YZF-R6: The sharpest sports 600 of the 1990s ridden. MOTO MORINI 3.5 SPORT: Scoop rides this lovely Italian. KAWASAKI ZX-12R: Speed merchant Quick Spinned! WORKSHOP: Wiring part three, and updating your ignition and generator! PROJECT BIKES: Yamaha DT175, Suzuki DR600, Ducati 996, Honda CB750K2, Kawasaki ZRX1100! AND MUCH MORE! DON’T MISS IT!* December issue on sale: NOVEMBER 16 SUBSCRIBE NOW ALL OF THE ABOVE DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR SEE PAGES 36-37  FOR DETAILS…