Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2020 i Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

The Fast and the Furious! We recall bikes from our past for many different reasons and there’s a lovely mixed bag in CMM this issue. I was interested to see how John Nutting would get on with the Suzuki Hayabusa, which is our cover star. Y’see, I recall (as if only yesterday) my first ride on one. It was all white knuckles, dry mouth and an almost soiled seating position. Ah, those were the days! Suzuki’s B120P (or Bloop) seems to have stirred up lots of love and interest from our Buyer’s Guide last month. Readers have recalled stories and rides, and our own Pip Higham decided to get one to restore to riding condition. See how he gets on from page 68. For me, the stand-out is Rob Bean’s…

Tested Riding kit ridden in, tools twirled and tyres KNOX ZERO III WINTER GLOVES I’m usually a little reluctant to wear serious winter gloves. I often find them too chunky to be truly practical, offering limited feedback and restrictive movement. But having spent the last few months wearing Knox’s new Zero III gloves, I’ve been forced to question my prejudice. Knox’s Zero IIIs build on the success of its previous generation Zero IIs. First thing’s first. For a pair of chunky winter gloves, the Knox Zero IIIs are surprisingly stylish. Designed to be worn under the cuff of your motorcycle jacket, they’re comfortable, waterproof and exceptionally warm. Constructed from tough goat skin with a durable water-repellent film on the outside, the Zero IIIs also come with a new highly breathable,…

READER’S RESTORATION 50-Cent! Young Jack Watts returns to CMM with a restoration love story that cost a pretty penny! WORDS AND PICS: JACK WATTS You may remember me, a 17-year-old with a passion for restoring old bikes! For CMM you may have seen my Honda Express restoration and CR125 overhaul – here is my latest: a 1979 Honda Z50R. I really do think this is my favourite so far. In fact, I like it so much I keep it in my bedroom. It took a lot of persuading my mum, but eventually she caved in! I got it from some motocross friends of ours who had kept it in the family for 30-odd years and had been passed down the generations. They own a private motocross track so the little…

BUYER’S GUIDE HONDA CD185 This month, we look at one of Honda’s seminal ride-to-work twins. WORDS: STEVE COOPER PHOTOS: GARY ‘D’ CHAPMAN ELECTRICS Only 6-volts on hand with early models so connectors, terminals, etc., need to be squeaky clean. Earth issues are the most common form of electrical gremlins. BRAKES Basic single leading shoe set up benefits from proper setting up along with quality and properly routed cables. Modern EBC shoes come highly recommended. GUARDS Well known for rotting out so check any potential purchase over carefully. Fibreglass replacements are sometimes available; decent steel examples should be treated with corrosion protectant. ENGINE As with all Hondas, regular oil changes using the correct grade of bike-specific oil are the key to longevity, along with the occasional cleaning of the centrifugal oil…

What to buy and how much to pay The UK only officially received the CD185T, but more than a handful of CM185T Twinstars have found their way here so we’ll include them as well. Whether it’s the CD or CM you’re looking at, pay particular attention to overall condition as panels and trim aren’t exactly plentiful. Quiet engines are  a must-have; avoid rattlers at all cost. Prices aren’t high and decent runners start as low as £400 in non-standard paint. Tidy, well-used originals seem to start as low as £600, rising to £1000. Mint examples aren’t often a lot more and £1200-£1500 seems to be the going rate for a good one. Even a stunner isn’t likely to be more than £2000, but it would need to be immaculate for…

Project Yamaha RZV500R part 4 Degrees of separation 50 degrees, in fact, as this month Jeff puts the grog down and strips the mighty twin-crank V4 RZV500R engine down… WORDS AND PICS: JEFF WARE G’day! Things are really progressing well with the RZR500R rebuild. I’ve now got the engine fully stripped and as you read this, I’m about to start the process of cleaning and inspecting the parts. I’ll be running you through that next issue, with some tips and tricks on what to look for, and then I will take you through a step-by-step build of this cool motor that is (sadly) a bit buried beneath plumbing and covers and wiring. Once on the bench, it really is a sexy looking motor – a proper 500…

Percy Tait: 1929-2019 Percy Tait was more than just a journeyman motorcycle racer. He was a key figure in the old Triumph concern as a road tester and – on retiring from bike sport – became an award-winning sheep farmer. Tait’s skills on two wheels were developed initially during his spell of National Service, when he became a member of the famed White Helmets motorcycle display team of the Royal Corps of Signals. Following this he joined Triumph, initially working in the factory itself before being encouraged to go racing. This he did, developing the firm’s range of three-cylinder machines, often racking up many thousands of miles in all weathers. Some say he must have clocked up more than a million miles on Triumphs over two decades. His race career…

News Motorcycle Live a classic success! Motorcycle Live saw more than 104,000 visitors make the annual pilgrimage to the four halls containing 46 manufacturers. Once more, for CMM readers, it was the many and varied classics that were the big draw over the nine-day event in November. Yet again, it was Suzuki that stole the show. They had a duo of Barry Sheene’s race bikes arrive from Australia specifically for the event, where Nigel Everett and former mechanic for Barry Sheene, Martyn Ogborne, set to work lovingly restoring them and firing them up over the event. The bikes were Barry’s last Grand Prix bike – a DAF Trucks-sponsored 1984 Harris-framed XR45 RG500 and a special XR23A 652cc big bore RG500 – raced in the Trans-Atlantic series and F1 Championship in…

News Hello Blackbird! Is Honda on the verge of building a new Blackbird? They could be, if these latest patent drawings are anything to go by. Fans of the original CBR1100XX have been waiting for something to fill the high-speed super sport-tourer gap left since the original Blackbird was discontinued in 2005. The files from Honda were recently made official under the premise of the fairing that’s going to be fitted to 'a' future model. All the information on the patent focuses solely on the front bodywork of the bike, in particular outlining the effect and the position/styling of the eight wings hidden inside the fairing. What is very clear is that the wings on the next generation high-speed sport-tourer are NOT movable, but will remain fixed in place for…

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. George Bent’s Honda RC173 Here’s my replica Honda RC173, which started life as a 1976 Honda CB400F FOUR. My aim was to change it to be a replica based on the late, great Mike Hailwood’s winning Honda RC173 350cc. I decided to keep the original 400cc engine and had it tuned. The frame had to be modified to make…

FOCUS ON REX’S SPEED SHOP The magic of Marcus Rex’s Speed Shop in Sussex is a vital source of replacement ignition, generator and ignition systems for classic Japanese machines. John Nutting talked to Marcus Rex WORDS: JOHN NUTTING PICS: GARY D CHAPMAN Deterioration is a fact of life with old classic motorcycles, and more than anything it is the electrical systems that suffer the most. The components most vulnerable are generators and ignition systems where heat and corrosion conspire over time to undermine their performance, often in mystifying ways. Replacing parts with new old stock is fraught because even the original parts weren’t particularly good, and anyway never designed to last 50 years or more. With this in mind, former aircraft engineer and electronics fan Marcus Rex first designed a…

The Puch Back Story Like many firms, Puch began by making bicycles back in 1889 and commenced motorcycle production in 1906 just two years after it made its first car. By the early 1920s Puch were making split single two-strokes and racing them. The engine design became something of a signature model for the firm and the set up gave them a commercial edge over many of their rivals for a considerable time. By semi-separating the intake and exhaust parts of the two-stroke cycle the engines had a degree of asymmetric port timing, which conferred improved breathing, fuel consumption and performance. The split single design was carried to its logical conclusion when the firm effectively doubled up two motors to produce both the 500N and 500VL machines utilising four pistons.…

MIRA FILES THE KING IS DEAD… After 20 years of speed record breaking, the GSX1300R Hayabusa was dropped from Suzuki’s UK line-up in 2019. John Nutting celebrates some of its achievements and rides a pristine example. WORDS: JOHN NUTTING PICS: GARY D CHAPMAN I must confess to feeling slightly nervous after editor Bertie asked if I’d like to have a go on a Suzuki Hayabusa and write about it for CMM. After all, not only was the Hayabusa launched in the late 1990s, long after I’d retired from performance testing motorcycles, but it had acquired legendary status as one of the fastest production machines ever offered with, some say, the capability of topping 200mph. In other words, the Hayabusa could be regarded as a bit of a handful…

Project BMW R1100 S part 3 Curse of the clutch! As things progress on the Teutonic Boxer twin, Ralph asks: “Is this revenge for Brexit?” WORDS AND PICS: RALPH FERRAND There are a good number of people who think that the BMW Boxer powered bike is at the pinnacle of the motorcycle tree. I have to be honest and say that I am not one of these devotees, but as the years have gone by I have developed a respect for the Boxer. I have no time for the latest crop of bikes coming from Munich, because they are absolutely rammed full of computerised wizardry and CAN bus (Controller Area Network), which in my humble opinion is the work of Satan himself (Robert Bosch Gmbh). It supposedly…

HAYNES PRINT & ONLINE Project Suzuki B120P part 1 Blooping thing! Here’s our Pip with a story about restoring his beloved Bloop – shame he can’t ride the thing! Read on… WORDS AND PICS: PIP HIGHAM I started to hanker after a Bloop a few months ago. I’d sold a lot of them back in the 1970s and, apart from one failed main bearing, I had never had a mechanical failure, even on examples that had been hugely abused both on, and off road. Starting in 1966 the basic format remained for the life of the bike. Why? Because it was tough. The frame and forks are simple but strong, and the beating heart is a pearler, with a weighty flywheel sitting on a…

HAYNES PRINT & ONLINE Project CRK Triumph Café Roadster part 6 Parcels of delight This month another large consignment arrives, containing the new spoked wheels, enabling the tyres and brakes to be sorted out! WORDS: JOHN NUTTING PICS: GARY D CHAPMAN AND JOHN NUTTING Last month, I pondered that there could be nothing better than receiving parts back from a paint shop. They all look new and fresh and present a positive image of the process, which is why CMM publishes lots of pictures of them. Now I think there could be something better, and I’ve experienced it. One of the many delights of a CRK project is that by delivering the various components in manageable chunks, the cost is spread over a period…

Marketplace Sweet 16! Ducati’s 916 and racing homologation SP/SPS is a real keeper in the classic world, so says Paul Jayson. WORDS: PAUL JAYSON/THE MOTORCYCLE BROKER PICS: PAUL JAYSON, MORTONS ARCHIVE When Ducati released the 916 Strada in 1994, the world of motorcycling was rocked to its core. The FireBlade had just turned design upside down in 1992 and suddenly the ripped-up rule book was set on fire and trodden into the dirt by the Italians with a mix of performance and jaw-dropping style. The first model was the Strada and this was the ‘monoposto’ (single-seat) standard machine and available only in red. Customers were going to have to wait to get the Biposto, sometime in 1995, if they wanted to carry a pillion. We also heard about the very…

The way we were… Send us your nostalgic snaps of you back in the day with your steed! Either send to me at bsimmonds@mortons.co.uk or via our vibrant Facebook page. C’mon! Mark Bokowiec says: “I wondered if you might want to show my 1965 T100SS that I rebuilt in my bedroom while living with my ‘oh so understanding’ parents. I purchased the bike in 1971 and fitted twin Amal concentrics and had the frame stove enamelled ‘Flamboyant Red’ at Ellis Briggs Cycles in Shipley, West Yorkshire. I still remember the registration number: DAF 140C. Some things stay with you forever. I loved this bike.” Luke Gorman says: “It was November 1996, I had just turned 16 and I was instantly transformed into the coolest kid at school, thanks to my Suzuki…

CLASSIC RIDE Cute Puch! Scoop samples a rather obscure 1960s 125 – the Puch M125 – and comes away rather impressed. WORDS STEVE COOPER P CS GARY CHAPMAN More than a decade ago I was offered a strange looking Austrian 125cc motorcycle, but at a meaty price. It was said to be the very bike featured on the front cover of our forerunner, Motorcycle Mechanics. I looked, examined and kicked the tyres as you do but then politely declined. After all this time another one comes up on my radar and we’re offered the chance of a road test. Other than the VZ50 that we ran in Buying Guide a little while ago, I really cannot recall the last time CMM featured a Puch. Although the Austrian firm was…

DIARY DATES See you there! Welcome to our updated section for the best of the classic events across the UK and the globe. Send your events/info/flyers to: bsimmonds@mortons.co.uk FUN WITH FRANKIE! There’s still time to meet the great Pier-Francesco ‘Frankie’ Chili, Guest of Honour at the Carole Nash Classic Bike Guide Winter Classic at Newark Showground over the weekend of January 11-12.  Bologna-born Frankie had a long and successful career in most classes, winning the 125cc European Championship in 1985, before moving to Grand Prix level in 250 and 500cc World Championships, and ultimately World Superbikes, where he became one of the stars of the show in an era of great names such John as Carl Fogarty, Aaron Slight, Kocinski, Simon Crafar and Neil Hodgson. Before retiring in 2006, he…

RETRO SPECTIVE SUZUKI SV650/S If you want a beautifully balanced V-twin sportster that has acres of room for improvement, look no further than Suzuki’s SV family. WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PICS: SUZUKI GB/MORTONS ARCHIVE The mid to late 1990s saw a raft of relatively cheap, capable and practical middleweight naked sportsters hit the UK market and Suzuki’s SV650 was one of the best. It’s been more than 20 years since the first SV family broke cover back in 1999 and since then it’s been an evergreen favourite with British bikers: it’s a bona fide classic. Unlike most naked middleweights of the time, this came not with a de-tuned four-cylinder from a sportsbike, but instead came with a delightfully pokey 645cc liquid-cooled 90-degree V-twin. This pumped out around 69bhp (claimed) at 9000rpm and…

Project Kawasaki Z1300 clutch swop part 1 Fluid fun! Following on from the Z650, Ralph Ferrand finds a kit to make his Kawasaki Z1300 clutch a lot easier. WORDS AND PICS: RALPH FERRAND Some short while after successfully easing the clutch lever pull on SWMBO’s Z650 I was reading my copy of British Dealer News whilst sitting upon the throne in Vision House’s smallest room, when I came upon information that Venhill was selling a ready-made fluid clutch system that was effectively a direct replacement for the Bowden cable. Typical I should spy this gem after I had worked so hard engineering something from another bike to fit hers. But it got me thinking and I thought that fitting such a system to a bike would make…

HAYNES PRINT & ONLINE Project Yamaha TX750 part 1 Pond hopping… Oh dear, our Mark has had a few drinks and bought a bike online... from the USA! Welcome to his Yamaha TX750. WORDS AND PICS: MARK HAYCOCK I finished my Yamaha TX500 series a little while back and in it I aimed to challenge the popular viewpoint that it was one of Yamaha’s mistakes, and instead show that it wasn’t really bad at all. I have been pretty pleased with the result, which I must admit is a little challenging in some respects. This got me thinking about these old Yamaha twins of the early Seventies: apart from the TX500 there was the TX650 (which developed into the well-known and fairly successful XS650)…

HAYNES PRINT & ONLINE Project Triumph Sprint Sport part 1 Sprint finish! Our mate Rob buys a dud triple, but with some luck and ingenuity, soon gets the Sprint running once more. WORDS AND PICS: ROB BEAN Like a lot of us, I have a garage full of bikes in various states of repair, and the couple I have that are useable are far from standard and not really ideal for everyday riding, so I decided to look out for a something cheap, reliable and fairly sporty that I can jump on and use whenever I fancy being on two wheels. I had loads of candidates in my watch list on eBay, but the bike that really took my fancy was a 1997 Triumph…