Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2020 i Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Let’s pull together… We need to be positive here, don’t we? We know that there will be a time when we can get out and about on our motorcycles and I for one am looking forward to it. Meanwhile we’ve all been indoors doing what we love – fettling and fiddling with older motorcycles. We know this because speaking to those in the trade, sales of tools and parts are going through the roof as classic bikers knuckle down and get on with various projects. Our contributor Ralph Ferrand runs Biker’s Toolbox (www.bikerstoolbox.co.uk) and he says: “We have been uber-busy at Biker’s Toolbox because everyone is in lockdown and has nothing to do other than fettle their toys. We’ve been working stupid hours, seven days a week to complete orders!”…

Stuff The latest riding kit, top tools, tyres, retro clothing and more! SEALEY STACKABLE FUEL CANS/DRAIN PAN Each of these 3L JC3 Stackable Fuel Cans are fitted with a safety screw lock cap and flexible spout, and are colour-coded: the black for diesel, green for unleaded and red for lead replacement. For space saving, these new Fuel Cans have been designed to be stackable and cost around six quid a piece. Another new product from Sealey is their 12L Plastic Drain Pan (£16.58.) www.sealey.co.uk REX’S SPEED SHOP IGNITION KIT The TY175 Junior electronic ignition kit is a simplified, no-nonsense version of Rex’s Speed Shop’s Clubman and Pro TY 175 kit. The kit is made in the UK and features quality items such as an OEM standard HT coil and NGK…

Premier Devil helmet TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE OF WINNING, HERE’S HOW TO ENTER: 1. Go to www.classicmechanics.com 2. Fill in your details 3. Press enter 4. Sit back, relax and wait Competition closes: 12/06/2020 Good luck! There are no cash alternatives available. The winner will be the first name drawn at random. Terms and Conditions apply. To view the privacy policy of MMG Ltd (publisher of Classic Motorcycle Mechanics) please visit www.mortons.co.uk/privacy We’ve teamed up with our friends at Premier to offer you the chance to win a Premier Devil helmet worth £289.95. Race performance tricomposite shell, with the convenience of a drop-down sun visor and the comfort of exceptional ventilation. Find out more at thekeycollection.co.uk…

CLASSIC EVENT Elsies at the Park! Classic Bike Trackdays and CMM, in association with Bridgestone tyres, have a weekend of fun lined up at Cadwell Park in June. Well, if we’re honest we are still no more the wiser as to whether this event WILL go ahead, but the organisers and the circuit owners haven’t officially cancelled… so… The details are: Our very good friends at Classic Bike Trackdays have joined forces with ourselves and Bridgestone tyres to line up a brilliant weekend of action over the weekend of June 6-7, at Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire. It’s hoped that we will have a whole section of track time dedicated to Yamaha’s RD-LC family of machines to mark Elsie’s 40th birthday. So, if you have an LC of any type, why not…

RETRO SPECTIVE BMW R1150 GS A real globe-trotting motorcycle that handles even Blighty’s blighted roads with ease. Check out BMW’s 1150 GS… WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PICS: MORTONS ARCHIVE Replacing the overlander’s favourite, the R1100 GS was never going to be easy – but BMW hit the bullseye with the 1150 GS. The 1130cc motor (up from 1085cc) had a six-speed box (up from five) pumping out 85bhp. Every one of those ponies was needed to shift the weight this bike carried – you were looking at around 250-255 kilos in wet configuration with fluids and fuel… Heavy, eh: ask CMM contributor Alan Dowds who was on the (crash-strewn) launch and who was hit by his cartwheeling GS on an off-road section. The end result was broken ribs, collar bone…

Project 1985 Yamaha RZV500R (51X) part 6 Rollin, rollin’, rollin’… Pre-coronavirus, bushfires pretty much stopped Australia for a month, but Jeff and Tim have managed to get the rolling chassis all sorted… WORDS AND PICS: JEFF WARE G’day. At the end of last year the days I’ve been able work on the RZV500R in my shed are limited due to severe heat, bushfire smoke and power outages. It has been a tragic time here in Australia and the entire country came to a standstill. Road closures, airport closures, damaged railway lines and power losses for a month meant work stopped in just about every industry. I live up the coast so the fires could only get within five miles or so from our town, but everyone along…

Project Yamaha TZR250 3MA part 3 Watch out, Luca! Our TZR250 3MA motor is in and ready so we’re going to show Luca Cadalora and that pesky Marlboro YZR250 who the real King is… WORDS AND PICS: JEFF WARE G’day! Last issue we were waiting on the engine parts and Darren, the owner, had taken the mechanically sorted rolling chassis home to make it look pretty. Well, despite the terrible bushfires we have made huge progress over summer; the rolling chassis is back and it looks stunning. Darren polished it all up, did an amazing job on the wheels in particular, as well as the calipers. The HEL brake lines went on and OEM-look grips to set it all off, along with decals for the switch-blocks and…

Kawasaki H2C part 6 Seal the deal… Ralph huffs and he puffs as he levers the triple stroker back into its natural home – but what’s this? WORDS AND PICS: RALPH FERRAND In my life I have always considered two-strokes to be trouble and in my experience the more pots, the more trouble; ergo triple trouble delivered by the purple pestilence! The last job to do in the engine build frame was to refit the check valves at the bottom of the crank cases. These were an idea Kawasaki Heavy Industries dreamed up in 1974 for the H2B onwards in an effort to do something useful with any oil building up in the bottom of the crankcase when the bike has been idling or slow running, and…

RED STAR RISING! MV Agusta began life as an aircraft company when Count Giovanni Agusta commissioned his own aeroplane – the AG.1 – in 1907, four years after the Wright brothers’ first successful flight. From then until the end of the Second World War, Agusta – as the company was known – produced a number of aircraft designs. With restrictions on aircraft building in place at the end of the conflict, Giovanni’s son, Domenico, decided to divert the company’s energies into building motorcycles. In fact, during the war he had even been designing and building a simple motorcycle that was finally unveiled in October 1945 – tellingly it had the letters ‘MV’ on the tank standing for the name of the motorcycle business name of ‘Meccanica Verghera’. By the mid-1950s…

BAG A KAT! Suzuki GB is offering customers an extra £500 off the price of selected models this Spring, in addition to its current four-year 0% hire purchase finance deal that has been extended until the end of June. Sounds good to us! The money-saving offer follows the most recent government announcement, allowing dealerships to take orders online or over the phone and deliver new bikes and parts to customers, in line with social distancing measures. It means those looking for a new bike this Spring can still take delivery and start planning those post-lockdown rides. Available with both an additional £500 off and included in the 0% offer is Suzuki’s Katana retro, and V-Strom 650 and 650XT. The GSX-S range – the 750, 1000 and 1000F – is also…

Prize winner Thanks CMM! As a long-term subscriber, I just wanted to say thanks for the latest edition, which came through the door this morning. In the current climate it is things like the mag arriving that cheer you up, so thanks to you and all the team for putting it together, I guess from home. You’ll be pleased to know that alongside a lot of tinkering and cleaning there is still some dealing going on, albeit over the internet and phone with deposits being exchanged, but collection/delivery at some future date as yet unknown. I put my 1989 NC30 on the owners’ Facebook page on a Friday eve and within a couple of hours had lots of interest and a deposit. I had been toying with replacing it with…

MAIN TEST RED DEVIL! Scoop gets to ride a tastefully modified MV Agusta Monza and plots how he can sell his soul to get one. WORDS: STEVE COOPER PICS: GARY D CHAPMAN My interests in the MV Agusta marque began before even I had a licence; probably early 1971. We were on a family trip to South Wales and we’d just climbed the original and somewhat tortuous Heads of the Valley road. My dad spotted a bike hustling towards us and swiftly wound down the window, saying: “Listen to this son, it’s going to be special.” And it was. Some very well-heeled enthusiast was working an early 750S MV Agusta really hard and giving it the beans. In a world still largely inhabited by British iron and small Hondas, any…

COMING CLASSICS Laverda 750S/Formula We will urge caution with a capital ‘C’ here, because, if we’re honest, you do need to have alarm bells ringing when you buy one of these. Why? Well, firstly they’re based on some pretty old tech, engine wise… The motors of the 650-750cc twins were effectively based on the old 500 Montjuic parallel twin of the 1970s, but updated, water-cooled and fitted with the stout Weber-Marelli fuel injection system. The early 1990s saw the likes of the 650 Sport range, with rectangular headlight and some dark green dull colour schemes, then from 1997 the 750 range with a twin-spot headlamps look. This was much better looks-wise! Power was around 80bhp at the back wheel from the 747cc motor, but delivery was awful peaky compared to…

Project Yamaha FZS600 Fazer part 6 Boxing clever! Fresh from winter hibernation, Al’s project Fazer 600 finally makes it to the MoT station. But how does it get on? And will he gurn in this episode? WORDS AND PICS: ALAN DOWDS It’s one of the main determinants of how proper a biker you are. What happens in winter mate? Is it into the Hyundai i30, heated seats on, with your fancy velocipede serviced, washed, dried and covered up in your mancave-spec garage? Or, are you harder core than thou all through the dark nights and salty asphalt? Commuting bright and early every morning, rinsing the salt off at night, cranking up your Scottoiler and breaking out the Keise heated vest and winter gauntlets? Like most of us,…

HAYNES PRINT & ONLINE Suzuki TR750 part 2 Two wheels on my wagon! He showed up in our pages last month and we’ve asked him to stay. Here’s part two of Malc Shaw's TR750 special build. WORDS AND PICS: MALC SHAW Hello all, Malc Shaw here. You may remember me from last month. I’ve been asked to continue with the TR750 build here in the pages of CMM, so I hope you like it. Last time I’d roughly assembled a rolling chassis. It wasn’t rocket science to see that quite a few of the critical components did not line up. Hardly surprising given the various parts came from different bikes; even if the Suzuki vein runs through most of them, it’s still all a bit like Frankenstein’s monster. I’m assuming…

News WINTER RAFFLE WINNERS! Time for some good news! We would heartily suggest you go in for the National Motorcycle Museum’s various raffles as you can win BIG! In the recent Winter Raffle to win a brand new Triumph Thruxton TFC Ltd Edition 1200cc motorcycle, due to the Covid-19 lockdown the raffle was drawn by racing superstar John ‘Mooneyes’ Cooper at his home at the end of April. The first prize was a new Triumph Thruxton TFC Ltd Edition 1200cc motorcycle won by Andrew Winscom, from Worcestershire. The second prize of a Sealey MC680E electro hydraulic motorcycle lift worth more than £1600 was won by Anne Alexander from Berwick. The third prize, a luxury hotel break and dinner for two at Marco Pierre White, Manor Hotel, Meriden, was won by…

It’s Dads’ day! If you’ve not got a clue what to get the dad in your life this lockdown Father’s Day then Machine Mart has the solution: a Machine Mart gift card! This gift is perfect for those dads with a craving for some tools and machinery! Machine Mart gift cards and E-Vouchers can hold any value from £20 to £500 and can be used in any of Machine Mart’s 65 superstores nationwide, over the phone by calling 0115 956 5555, or choose from over 21,000 products online at www.machinemart.co.uk You can also order them online. An E-Voucher can be sent in a personalised email style, courtesy of Machine Mart, whatever the occasion may be! To find out more about Machine Mart’s gift cards, their huge choice of tools and…

Bertie’s ZRX1200R! Hello there Bertie! So, CMM popped through the door yesterday and I must say you have improved it since you came on board, hence my renewed subs at Stafford recently. Anyways, I still won’t be selling you ‘your’ old ZRX1200R back, but I can do you a decent Yamaha RD350F2. She needs a bit of TLC, but is all there and running fine. She even comes with a spare engine! After all, it’s about time you got a stroker again: £2900 and it’s yours! By the way, your old Rex is doing just fine and she can’t wait for the TT! Keep up the good work, sir! Hugh Kennedy Bertie says: “Hugh, you swine! Let me make you a good offer on my once-beloved ZRX! Come on… I…

READER’S RESTO IN ASSOCIATION WITH  BRIDGESTONE Miller time! CMM reader Graham Zimmatore finds a 1975 Suzuki rotary being sold by none other than Sammy Miller and restores it WORDS AND PICS: GRAHAM ZIMMATORE Winter was coming and I needed a project: something quirky, something rare! I’ve restored a few Mach III Kawasakis in the past, a couple of Triumphs, a Norton Commando, GT Suzis (125, 185, 250) so what next? Eventually, I spotted a tiny ad in a classic bike mag for a 1975 Suzuki RE5 M that had been sitting in a garage for 35 years. I knew nothing about RE5s other than the fact that they’ve been touted as the worst motorbike ever made and that Suzuki nearly went to the wall because of them. Clearly with no…

The marvellous MV back catalogue It’s easy to assume that MV Agusta was a troubled Italian race bike manufacturer that only made road-going versions of its racing bikes and few random twins, yet the truth is rather different. Over the three decades the firm produced motorcycles, the Gallarate firm churned out everything from 50cc two-stroke mini-bikes, basic commuter machines, scooters, three-wheeled delivery trucks, a raft of clubman race machines, street scramblers for the American market, and a whole lot more besides. Utilising their four-stroke 175 single and bolting on a flatbed behind the saddle, prop shaft and differential, MV supplied the agricultural industry with the Motocarro. Taking the concept to its logical conclusion, there were even four-wheeled commercials with a range of engines from 300-1100cc powered by both petrol and…

HAYNES PRINT & ONLINE Yamaha TX750 part 4 Fork foibles! Mark is checking out the forks and brakes of his latest purchase. What does he find? WORDS AND PICS: MARK HAYCOCK I have spent some time sorting peripheral engine parts (though God knows what the important internal bits are like) so now I want to turn my attention to the cycle parts. I needed to sort out the front brake, which was completely inoperative, as well as servicing and checking the back brake. The front fork seals were leaking as one might expect and it would be a good idea to check the steering head bearings at the same time. The forks are very simple and straightforward to overhaul. I know you can buy a special tool for this job,…

BUYER’S GUIDE YAMAHA CS1C It’s just another Yamaha tiddler twin says Steve ‘Scoop’ Cooper… Or i s it? WORDS: STEVE COOPER PHOTOS: GARY ‘D’ CHAPMAN SEAT Natural latex-based seat foam acts as a sponge if seat cover is perforated, leading to rusted seat base. Trim strips difficult to source. EXHAUSTS Exhausts tend to get stressed if fitted badly. Get them mounted without stress at the barrel first, then adjust at the silencer before nipping up the collar at the barrel. Ensure all five supporting parts are present and correctly assembled at swingarm mount point. OIL PUMPS & TANKS Check the roll pin on the top of the pump for security as they can work loose. Always flush out the oil tank to remove sediment and ensure internal filter and…

CLASSIC RACING Crash course! PART 4 With pre-testing and the opening CB500 round under their belts it was time for some schooling for our Fast Berks, a lesson via the school of hard knocks! WORDS: CHARLIE OAKMAN PICS: MICK BROWN, JACK’S SNAPS The opening round had been pretty successful for teammate Gary ‘Bridgestone’ Hartshorne and I as we started our first full season with the East Midlands Riding Association (EMRA) on our Honda CB500s. I had scraped into the points in both the CB500 and Mini-Twin series, completing three of the four races. Gaz was getting quicker, earning three finishes in the top 10 and making his presence felt with the quick boys. My intention was to race a full season, but not look any further forward than that at this…