Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2021 i Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Happy 400th, CMM! So it’s the night after yet another lockdown has been announced, and I’m still going to be positive. Why? Well, Classic Motorcycle Mechanics hits its 400th issue with the very magazine that is in your hands right now. Of course we had plans – big plans – to give away a FREE Allen Millyard special to EVERY reader; dancing girls were to leap from each and every one of the 400 pages handing every reader a pint of cask ale and a plateful of Chocolate Hobnobs. Sadly (ahem) Covid-19 has put those plans on hold. Okay, so maybe I was being a bit fanciful about the gifts I’ve mentioned, but it’s fair to say that, like everyone out there, we are finding it tough in the current…

Tested Riding kit worn, tools twirled & tyres turned ALCOSENSE PRO FUEL CELL BREATHALYZER I’ve banged on about this product before and it’s a winner in my eyes. Now, I’ve never suggested we bikers drink and ride – we can’t, we’d fall over and off the bike! But, for the ‘morning after’ whether you’re on a scooter, a bike or in a car, you’d be surprised at how much alcohol can stay in your system on ‘the morning after’. Way too many of my very sensible friends have fallen foul because of this – especially over the Christmas period – albeit when we were actually allowed out. I had an original AlcoSense Pro back in 2017 and this is the latest model. Once more I did the same series of…

SOLD OUT! We’ve made no bones about how saucy we think the MV Agusta Superveloce is and this is the sauciest – and it’s another sell out! MV launched a limited-edition Superveloce 75 Anniversario some time ago (which sold out) and so has this: the Superveloce Alpine, built to celebrate the French-built Alpine A110 rally car of the early 1970s as well as its modern equivalent. At the bike’s heart is the beautiful sounding 798cc three-cylinder motor, producing around 145bhp as well as updated parts and that beautiful Alpine colour scheme. The cost is around a whopping £32,750!) Fittingly, all 110 Superveloce Alpines were sold within hours!…

Super Hawk and Son! Greetings from the frozen colony! I enjoyed Bertie’s review on the VTR and Pete’s a while back. I am renovating one and also have the 1991 junior version. (BTW: if you could do a bit on how to turn a metal oxide tea bag into a fuel tank, that would be most helpful!) Personally, I don’t have a problem with the VTR’s fuel range, just the people who whine about it. Anyone buying a motorcycle should consider what they need the bike to do, and then go find a bike that does that. Saying the VTR is not great for touring is like saying the 916 is not great on gravel backroads. It was not built for that, so why are you trying? The VTR was…

CMM BIKE OF THE YEAR READER’S SPECIAL Some sorta Sanctuary! Inspired by the great specials builds from AC Sanctuary, Bob Haughton and friends set about making their own Zed homage! WORDS AND PICS: BOB HAUGHTON This bike has been a long time coming, ever since I saw the first of the Sanctuary bikes when I was working in Japan in the truck business. I was talking to Buzzard…. Well, let’s paint the picture. Buzzard is a good mate by the name of Dave Ennis. We called him Buzzard back in the 1970s as he had a big hooter and it’s kinda stuck. You’ve seen his stuff from BuzzWorkx before, back in the March 2020 issue. Well, Buzzard said we could do it better than that and for sensible money. Okay,…

WORK SHOP Q&A 2002 YAMAHA XJ600 DIVERSION Q: I’ve recently purchased this bike and had a problem with the clutch, which I thought was no big deal. So, after replacing the plates, springs, bolts, release bearing and everything but the basket which is unavailable, I cleaned this up as best I could. Still I find that when starting from cold, even after five to 10 minutes engaging gear, it clunks and stops. After a minimum of 15 minutes when the engine is hot, not warm, it’s as slick as you like – no problem! The bike passed its MoT and rides nicely. I didn’t have much hair to start with and now I’ve pulled out all the rest! Please help an old pensioner! Oh, and if I pop off…

Project Kawasaki H2C part 9 Loading up with carbs! He’s on his way to completing the mad machine that is Kawasaki’s H2C triple! WORDS AND PICS: RALPH FERRAND I am back at the bedside of a certain sick smog monster nursing it back to where it should’ve been when I bought it. It’s upset me too much to remain in my stable and just the sight of it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, so once it is fully sorted it will be up for grabs to scratch someone else’s big, bad-handling stroker itch. This month I’ll be refitting the now saved carbs. In some ways they were easier to fit than a bank of four on a mighty big Zed, in that you haven’t got…

Project Suzuki RG250 HB replica part 1 BAD BRUNO! When everything goes up in the air, spark up a smoker and kick-start an HB… Oh, hang on! WORDS AND PICS: JEFF WARE G’day! When I was 17, on my provisional licence here in Australia, one of the blokes in the riding group that I had latched on to rode a mint 1984 Suzuki RG250 HB Replica… I have really good memories of that bike. I only rode with the owner for the one summer, 1992/1993, the end of high school and the start of my motorcycle mechanic apprenticeship. I had my TZR250 and we would meet up with Helmut (the late mate that owned my RG500) and other friends and ride the ‘Old Road’, which is a…

Peter Williams: Innovator, racer, gentleman… WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PICS: MORTONS ARCHIVE Peter Williams, who sadly passed away in December, was more than just a talented motorcycle racer, he was also an innovator whose influences can be seen on modern machines to this day. Williams will be forever linked to the John Player Norton team and the Isle of Man F750 win in 1973, as well as his win at the 1971 350cc Ulster Grand Prix and 4th in the 1967 500cc World Championship; but he was so much more than that. With his background in engineering – he was the son of Jack Williams, who headed up development at AMC which at the time owned both AJS and Matchless – it was understandable that Pete would be very technically minded.…

News Lockdown and YOU The new lockdown, similar to the one we went through last March, will mean non-essential businesses closing alongside schools until at least February 19, maybe longer, with PM Boris Johnson saying this may be extended further. But can we ride our classics? While we may consider ourselves ‘socially distanced’ on two wheels (especially without a pillion) and we are fully covered with PPE, even if we really want to ride to ‘get away from it all’, it seems that riding our classic may go against the current Covid-19 guidelines and could see us risking a fine. The Government’s website states that you must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary. You may only leave the home to: Shop for basic necessities, for…

News CMM hits 400! Your favourite magazine has just celebrated its 400th issue – and we hope we are around for at least the next 400! Classic Mechanics first hit the shelves in the autumn of 1983 and between its pages were articles on servicing pre-unit Triumph and BSA twins, an Ariel Dion engine restoration, service notes on AJS singles gearbox service tips for Nortons, and Matchless servicing guidelines. Oh, and how to correctly align your sidecar… Issue 37 – June/July 1990 was the first ‘Classic & Motorcycle Mechanics’ issue. Since then the magazine has morphed into one that concentrates on the modern classic Japanese and European machines. We pride ourselves that we align with the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club’s ’15-year rule’ when it comes to what constitutes a ‘modern…

CLASSIC RIDE Shanks’ Pony One of the sharpest Blades in the toolbox: careful with it, or you’ll get hurt! The RR-4/5 was finally a full-fat 1000cc, used MotoGP technology from Valentino Rossi’s Honda RC211V, and it’s now a 17-year-old motorcycle: unbelievable… WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS, MIKE BOOTH, CARL STEVENS PICS: JAMES MORRIS, DOUBLE RED/HONDA UK Blades – I’ve owned/had/used a lot of them over the last 25 or so years. And this model is one of the best – if not THE best, but I have a caveat when I say this, more of which later. 2021 marks this machine’s 17th birthday: check out the fresh looks? Yes, I know many of you/us are into 1970s bikes, or 1980s or you shade into the 1990s, and while I know that this…

MAIN TEST INVERTED SNOBBERY! The GSX-R1100K was a bit of a handful and Suzuki’s successor the 1100L was supposed to turn all that on its head: literally, as it was the first Suzuki model with the soon-to-be-fashionable inverted or ‘upside-down’ front forks… WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PICS: JOE DICK, MORTONS ARCHIVE It’s fair to say it was form and function that led to the changes to the mighty Suzuki GSX-R1100 becoming the ‘L’ model for 1990 – that’s more than 30 years ago now… If we delve back into history, Suzuki’s GSX-R1100 was an impressive sports bruiser of a motorcycle. Coming out in 1986, the 1100G was based heavily on the previous year’s trend-setting GSX-R750F. So, it aped the looks of little brother, sharing a similar-looking MR767 aluminium box-section ‘double-cradle’ frame,…

How does your garden grow? Back in 2014 CMM was approached by the Suzuki Apprentice Centre in Doncaster. They asked us to follow their restoration on a 1990 GSX-R1100L, which would eventually result in a full road-test in this very organ. This would be a strip-down and restoration of this legendary machine, the aim of which was to teach the young apprentices all about sorting out ‘old’ rather than ‘new’ bikes – after all, many would go to their Suzuki dealerships and never see a bike this old and quite this tarnished! The finished machine would be road-tested in CMM and raise some money for charity – more of which later. Tim Davies from Suzuki GB’s Vintage Parts Programme knows the bike as it belonged to his brother Howard Davies…

COMING CLASSICS KAWASAKI ZZR1400 It seems fitting that with the Kawasaki ZZR1400 being discontinued at the end of 2020 and 2021 rumoured to be bringing a new Suzuki Hayabusa, we check out this green king of speed. The Kawasaki ZZR1400 was unveiled in 2005 ready for the 2006 model year, so it also sportingly fits into our/VJMC 15-year slot. Now, Kawasaki always knew how to make big, brash and ballistic bikes that were fast with a capital F… From the 1984 GPZ900R, through the GPZ1000RX and ZX-10, to the ZZ-R1100 of 1990 and then its replacement the ZZ-R1200, and not forgetting the quirky ZX-12R of 2000, the motors on these bikes were immense. For 2006, the Big K decided to replace both the ZX-12R and the ZZ-R1200 (which was a…

Project Suzuki TS400 Apache part 6 Ferret-ing about! Scoop calls in the ‘Samurai of Sparks’, the legend that is ‘The Ferret’ who will look at the Apache’s 47-year-old wiring. What will he find? WORDS: STEVE COOPER AND ‘THE FERRET’ PICS: STEVE COOPER Ferret and I go back probably 20 years or so when he was first establishing his mobile motorcycle rewiring business and I was getting back into classic bikes. I’ve learnt a lot from ‘The Messiah of Wire’ and given him some electrical nightmares that are way above my pay grade. We’ve got drunk together several times, consumed the odd kebab whist putting the world to rights, and once almost got thrown out of village pub for knowing more answers to electrical and chemistry questions than…

Project Yamaha RZV500R part 9 Original and best! The 1985 Yamaha RZV500R (51X) is done. Dressed, tested and handed back to a very happy Chappie… WORDS AND PICS: JEFF WARE G’day! Well, after more than 12 months of hard work, the RZV500R is gone and my own RG HB is on the bench (see page 92.) Chappie is over the moon and so are Tim and me. We worked hard to get the bike as close to perfect as possible and we’re super happy with the outcome. Being able to tick ‘RZV’ off the list is, for me as a motorcycle mechanic at heart, something I have always wanted to do. I know it sounds weird, but when I was a young apprentice in the mid-1990s I…

News NMM RAFFLE! A miserable 2020 was made less so for these lucky winners of the National Motorcycle Museum’s Covid-19 raffle appeal! The first prize of a brand new/ old-stock 1977 Norton Commando was won by Craig Lee, from South Yorkshire. The second prize of a restored 1948 Ariel NG 350cc was won by Phil Sherratt from Staffordshire. The 1959 BSA B31 third prize was scooped by Stewart Bramham of Cornwall. Lucky fellas one and all! The money raised by the raffle will – eventually – help to see the museum opening once more, for a limited time, when lockdown restrictions are lifted again. Sadly, the NMM hasn’t been open since March last year. So, for 2021 get this: ‘The Triumph Over Adversity Recovery Appeal Raffle 2021’ will also help…

RETRO-STYLED SUZUKI DEAL! Suzuki has announced a new finance offer across its V-twin models – including the retro-café racer styled the SV650X. The original SV650 arguably was responsible for establishing the booming naked middleweight sector – and the café racer-inspired SV650X is a stylish modern version of it. Both bikes use Suzuki’s 645cc V-twin powerplant, wrapped in a steel trellis frame equipped with KYB suspension and four-piston front brake calipers. The X sports clip-on handlebars and headlight cowling, plus a ribbed seat to complete the café racer look. We like it – it rides well, too! The offer is a three per cent APR available on both three-year PCP and HP agreements, with a minimum deposit of £300. For more information go to: https://bikes.suzuki.co.uk/offers-and-finance/…

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! We've teamed up with The Hobby Company (www.hobbyco.net) which distributes Tamiya plastic motorcycle kits in the UK to give our favourite restoration one of its amazing motorcycles in miniature. So, send in your pictures of your bikes and you could win the chance to indulge in a miniature motorcycle restoration of your own. Remember to send your name and address on each submission so we know where to post the kit. Steve Smith says: “The one of me on my beloved Z650 is from 1980 at the Triumph owners’ club rally at Lydden Hill circuit in Kent. I can’t believe…

Actually THIS is the best! Yeah, I mentioned a caveat and this is it: 2021 sees the RR-6 hit 15 and it’s a much refined version of the RR-4/RR-5. So, actually THIS is my choice for fave Blade of the last (almost) 30 years. Weird, the Blade is actually almost 30! Looking hard, the RR-6 and RR-7 do not seem to be much different from the 4 and 5, but there are some major refinements on board. Engine modifications included new porting, lighter cams and valve changes to give a small hike in power by 3bhp with a redline now set at 12,200rpm – 550rpm up on the 4/5. Brakes were improved but lighter, even if they were 320 not 310mm discs. You also had 2mm less trail, although not…

CLASSIC RIDE Cat - isfaction! PICS: GARY CHAPMAN Our Scoop rides the Suzuki TC120 ‘Trail Cat’ and comes away wondering why we Brits didn’t build something similar. WORDS: STEVE COOPER PICS: GARY CHAPMAN There’s a nagging feeling of déjà vu about today’s test ride and it’s coming from two different directions at once. The first assault on the old grey matter is courtesy of the simple, yet elegantly crafted, piston ported, two-stroke motor and the guy who is waving the keys at me. Chris Brealey allowed CMM access to his Suzuki Bearcat a few years ago and the engine (if not the transmission) of today’s TC120 is a direct crib. The second prod of the old grey matter is due in now small parts to the TC’s running gear which…

RETRO SPECTIVE Kawasaki Z1000 Stealing the name of a legendary Jap four sounds like sacrilege, but it wasn't. Welcome to the 2003-2009 Z1000... WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS Rehashing legendary names doesn’t always work unless the model continues with an unbroken bloodline. The original Z1000 was a logical progression from ‘The Daddy’ that was the Z1, but by the early 1980s the Z1000 bloodline ran dry. Kawasaki were the first to recognise that the style and substance of the Zeds were worth revisiting: first with the likes of the Zephyr range in the early 1990s and latterly with the ZRX1100 and 1200 from the late 1990s on – they aped the original Eddie Lawson Replicas in ‘R’ format. Then this thing came along… the Kawasaki (drum roll) Z1000. Supposedly it was to…

BUYER’ S W GUIDE LAVERDA 3C Two cams, three cylinders and four-strokes: well, that’d be a Laverda triple then! IGNITION The low speed exciter coil of the ignition system can fail, leading to profound starting issues. FRAME Check for cracking below the headstock. It’s not uncommon, but can be readily repaired via some strategic welding and additional reinforcing gusseting. CYLINDER HEADS It’s not unknown for the head to crack between the valve seats and the spark plugs. CLUTCH ACTUATION A large aperture on the outer clutch casing is evidence of an elongated actuation arm being fitted at some point and nothing more sinister. CAM-CARRIERS Early examples are known for the alloy castings that support the camshafts deforming if over-tightened. Later versions run revised components. CAM-CHAIN SPLIT LINK It’s vital that…

Ferret’s Cunning Plan! On the premise that I’ve convinced Steve to let me totally review/revise/ rewire the electrics of his Apache, here’s the plan. Stuff such as lights, indicators, etc., are essentially peripheral to the engine, its ignition and charging system, so that’s where I’ll be starting – ensuring that there’s a decent base to work from. If the basics aren’t sorted then we’ll just be chasing random faults rather than checking out the elephant in the room. Once that’s all signed off it’ll be time to look at the rectifier, the ignition coil and other key components. Once all of that’s sussed I can turn my attention to the loom itself and finally the indicators, as I know Steve has an irrational dislike of the OEM Suzuki ones…he’s strange…

Pip Higham Tuner, engineer, rider Where did it all begin? From time to time I’ve been asked where my interest in bikes started. It’s hard to say, but it might be a genetic ‘thang’. My dad, Ken, owned, raced, crashed and generally fiddled with bikes from quite an early age. I’m not exactly sure when it started. He had won a scholarship to Manchester Grammar School, but Ken being Ken, he was magnetically attracted to the dark side. According to him, he was studious, but misunderstood. According to others who knew what he was capable of, he spent most of his teenage years chasing girls or wagging off school to go and play snooker (for money) with the unruly scallywags of Shudehill, a notorious district of ‘alternative’ Manchester. The proceeds…