Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2021 i Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

DK SPARES OK,it’s DK! DK Motorcycles has been shipping bikes and parts in for decades – and thank goodness for that! WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PHOTOS: MARK ‘WEEBLE’ MANNING D&K Motorcycles – as it once was – was a powerhouse of a parallel and grey importer, back in the day. I’m talking about 25 or so years ago. Back then they could (and probably still do) boast that they had the biggest second-hand showroom of used bikes in Europe. About a decade or so ago, I popped along to visit their spares department – and it’s still mega today! Pete Amson is an industry legend. As ‘Used Spares Manager’ he has been with DK Motorcycles for almost 30 years and is the main man with the old classic parts. The parts…

PARTS AND EXPERTISE We’ve compiled this list of parts and expertise providers from the last decade or so of CMM’s Buyer’s Guides. So, this is – by no means – a comprehensive list. As we internet savvy people say: ‘Google is your friend…’ And so are the many forums and owners’ sites. Join the clubs and – of course – the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club. A www.apworkshops.co.uk www.fowlersparts.co.uk www.bike-parts-aprilia.com www.ultimateparts.net B www.badgereplicas.com.au www.benelliforum.com www.benelli-bauer.com/classic/750-SEI www.madeinitalymotorcycles.com Email: selwynmotorcycles@live.com www.boxerman.co.uk www.motobins.co.uk www.james-sherlock.co.uk www.motorworks.co.uk www.bmbikes.co.uk/index.htm www.airheads.org/ http://airheadtechforum.yuku.com/ www.bridgestonemotorcycle.com/index2.html www.bridgestonemotorcycleparts.com C www.classicbikes.co.uk www.cmsnl.com/ www.classiccycles.org D www.phildentonengineering.com www.madeinitalymotorcycles.com www.mdinaitalia.co.uk www.northleicestermotorcycles.com www.thebikespecialists.com www.dimarino.co.uk www.ducaticlassics.com www.ducatipaddy.com www.docgb.org www.bevelheaven.com www.bevelheads.org www.ducatimeccanica.com E www.ebay.com www.ebay.it www.exactrep.com F www.foc-u.co.uk www.fazerowners.yuku.com Ferret’s wiring services 07765 832420 G www.400greybike.com www.grampianmotors.co.uk H www.hvccycle.net www.hondatwins.net www.hoc.org.uk www.charlies-place.com www.hondarestoration.com www.cb750.org www.honda750expert.com www.worldmotorcycles.com www.sohc4.net/cb400 www.cb400f.webs.com www.higgspeed.com (two-stroke exhausts)…

Parts and parcel! We hope you’ve seen the 32-page parts supplement attached with this issue of Classic Motorcycle Mechanics. CMM does its best to highlight the places we can still source the parts needed for our favourite classic Japanese motorcycles and we decided that we wanted to showcase the best places around, not just the UK, but in some cases, the world. The internet and a certain popular auction site have shrunk the world considerably – and made it easier for us to search for parts for our bikes. Now, we don’t want to get political, but parts purchasing from the likes of the USA has always come with the sting of extra charges and now, perhaps, it’s the case from Europe too, post Brexit. We’ve heard that the likes…

Tested Riding kit worn, tools twirled & tyres turned SOLO STARTER I’ve booted many a Gold Star into life, but that was then, this is now, and the thought of busting my titanium hip trying to kick-start anything over 250cc nowadays just isn’t too appealing. I’ve been thinking about building a remote starter for a while but, while wombling around the internet looking at starters, I ended up on the Solo site and I have to say, it’s impressive. I’d seen their stuff in the GP paddock at Stafford and they start everything from zingy TZs up to 1000cc Triumph triples. So, do I really want to spend a heap of time (and probably a similar sized heap of cash) making something... and almost certainly remaking it, when…

Prize winner Subscription offers? Just want to say that I’m really appreciating the content of the magazine, but would love some offers to grease the wheels, so to speak? Yeah, sure, we all like a few quid off here and there, but I’d love some sort of option where maybe we pay a bit more than an outright financial deal and get something for our loyalty – like tools, DVDs or the like. Any chance? Frank Peters Bertie says: “We’re working on it Frank – in the meantime have yourself a Bridgestone Oxford Products Optimiser 3X charger!”…

Project Aprilia RSV1000 Mille part 2 Pure Performance! Having nearly set the Mille alight, Bruce finally decides to seek some professional help courtesy of Aprilia Performance. WORDS: BRUCE WILSON PICS: GARY D CHAPMAN There’s a time and place for a fire, and in my garage, on my Mille, wasn’t it. I’m easily distracted at the best of times, but hearing the Aprilia boom into life for the very first time completely consumed me… so much so that I didn’t clock the leak from the fuel tank drowning the rear exhaust manifold. To prove the old adage wrong, there was smoke, but thankfully no fire, but I did nearly head to my daughter’s sand pit with a bucket just in case! Despite this issue, I was buzzing because…

Project 1980 Suzuki RM80X Part 5 In suspense! Forkin ’ell! Jeff has been busy on the little Suzi. Must be all that shed time during lockdown and the fact the bottle shop is closed. More coffee, less beer = more work! WORDS AND PICS: JEFF WARE G’day! Well it sure has been a while since my last RM80X update, but in that time I have managed to make a lot of progress. I now have all of the parts I need to complete the job, even the correct decals. The fuel tank is painted and that was a challenge, finding the exact RM80XT tank decals for the Australian version, which is different to the USA version, where all of the decals were available. I ended up buying…

BREAKERS’ YARDS BREAKING GOOD! Their spanners often only twirl the one way, but your friendly neighbourhood breaker’s yard can still be a treasure-trove of odds and sods for a restoration or special’s build… Just make sure you take your wallet and a sense of humour. WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PICS: MORTONS ARCHIVE My local breaker’s yard in Kent was a treasure trove of parts and information – and also a hive of friendly banter and mickey-taking. Johnny who ran the place (no second name was ever mentioned, and he liked to keep it that way) had a toilet seat hanging over the very cluttered counter and when a young, green kid came in looking for bits for his or her bike, would dare to ask about the relevance of the loo…

wemoto.com OE and pattern perfection! Wemoto/World’s End Motorcycles is a refreshing success story of how people can accidentally become parts experts in the motorcycle industry. Here’s a brief history… If you need parts and you want new OE parts – and new pattern parts – then in the UK there is one very good place to go: Wemoto! Yes, we are blowing Wemoto’s trumpet, but that’s because they’ve often helped out with many a CMM project and they now stock (as of April 2021) THREE MILLION PARTS. This covers more than 620,000 applications for more than 9000 various models of motorcycles, some being OE, others high-quality pattern parts. Let that sink in for a while. And while it is all sinking in, some history. Paul England fell in love with…

Welcome! Welcome to CMM’s Parts Finder. Through these pages we hope we can offer you a general steer in the right direction for parts for your restoration or special project. You’d think that as we accelerate away from when the classics we love first rolled off the production lines in Japan and Europe, parts may be harder to find, but maybe that’s not quite so. With demand will ultimately come supply, and supply comes in many forms. Firstly, the holy grail of ‘New Old Stock’ parts is still there, thanks to the fact that the manufacturers themselves finally realise the worth of the NOS part. They now either dredge up parts from storage across the globe or – if the demand is there and the price is right – they…

Archive The wrong horse… WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PICTURES: MORTONS ARCHIVE I’m not normally a betting man. In fact I can count the number of times I’ve been into a turf accountants on one hand during my 50 years on this planet, but a bike race made me place my second ever bet. It was the end of July 1993 and I placed an each-way bet on Carl Fogarty finishing on the podium in the forthcoming British 500cc Grand Prix, taking place on August 1. Foggy’s qualifying on the Team Agostini Cagiva (he was fifth if I recall) spurred me on to pop round the corner from the flat I rented to place a fiver each way on a podium placing at the local Ladbrokes. I think the pay-back would have…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOC! 2021 sees the Honda Owners Club GB hit the big 6-0, meaning they are actually older than Honda UK themselves by one year. Former president of HOC and one of the founder members, Pete Goodger, says: “I remember it well. It was in the Spring of 1961 and I exchanged my Heinkel 197cc Bubble Car at H and A Motorcycles Ltd. in Croydon. These new-fangled Honda motorcycles had just arrived from Japan and were being shot to pieces by the motorcycle press at the time for having indicators and other things deemed as ‘extras’. The shop only had one C72 so I had to wait a week for the next one. When I rode it away I was amazed at the quietness and comfort of the bike.…

Love the GSX-R1100L! Reading your February issue (superb as usual), I was pleased to see your article on the GSX-R1100L. Many years ago I traded in my Katana for a GSXR1100G. Initially I found it to be a ferocious beast in a straight line and a bit frightening on the bendy bits. Still great fun to ride, but I wanted to improve handling and get better rubber. After hunting around for a few months I managed to source a pair of wheels off a Bandit 1200 (not surprisingly, there were plenty of rear wheels available, but few fronts). The retro-fitting of the rear wheel was fairly straightforward, but the front was a nightmare – the GSX-R had a solid spindle and the Bandit a hollow one, and I couldn’t source…

The tiddler twins Yamaha’s obsession with sub-25cc twins began in 1965 with the launch of JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) AT90 (below) which grew to be the full 100cc YL1 in late 1966 running until 1971. A sports 100 HS1 was launched in 1968 and aimed at new riders who were limited to sub-125 machines. The YL1 was offered in 6 volt, 12 volt and electric start versions and later became the YL3 with chrome front guards, an extra gear and candy scheme. The HS1 was latterly refreshed for 1972 to become the HX or HX90 and sold as a JDM looking remarkably similar to the 125cc AS3. Although the market 90 and 100cc machines had been relatively good, the sales of similarly physically sized 125s had been much better. Crucially,…

RETRO SPECTIVE Kawasaki Z750 WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PICS: MORTONS ARCHIVE We often shout about those mid-1990s nakeds that seemed to make us happy 25 years ago: they were cheap, they were cheerful. Bikes like the Suzuki Bandit – the original (-ish – let’s not forget the humble Yamaha Diversion 600) and others such as the Yamaha FZS600 Fazer and the Honda CB600F Hornet. Kawasaki were a bit late to the party (the ZR-7 of the mid-1990s was SO basic) but during the early to midnoughties the Big K were turning a bit of a corner. First of all they were kicking out some stonking bikes backed by some very fresh design – think the shark-like Kawasaki ZX-6R of the early 2000s and the 2003 Z1000. The 2004 Z750 was very…

Project Ducati 100 Sport part 1 Finger Trouble..... When you’re an experienced man of the motorcycling world like our Pip, you’ve seen it all, done it all and never make mistakes, right? Oh… WORDS AND PICS: PIP HIGHAM I know we’re all perfect here at CMM and we never cock up, but it’s time to own up. Let’s wind the clock back a decade and a bit and I’m searching for something old, small and Italian to ride around the Dolomites. In a chance social call to my mate Bill Hawker (general good egg and bike nut) Bill mentioned to me that there was a strange little Ducati on eBay: “It’s a 100 bevel, never seen one!” says Bill. I eventually found the incorrectly listed scoot and…

BARGAIN HUNT THE JUMBLE, BOOK! If you think that the days of the auto-jumble are dead – think again! If you want to search out those parts, you may find what you need at a jumble – so go ahead and book! In these days of the internet where you can find almost anything at the touch of a button, many think that the days of the auto-jumble are numbered. To be honest, this is far from the case, as auto-jumbles are still a burgeoning business – all you have to do is attend one to see trestle tables groaning under the weight of parts, or boxes lying on the ground, full of oily bits and pieces that could just harbour that part you’ve been looking for, to finish off…

Vintage Parts Perfection! Tim Davies of Suzuki GB had an idea: to plunder the files of Suzuki and see just what parts they still had in stock for a wide range of classic Suzukis… If the rumours are true, some top brass back in Suzuki HQ in Japan were asking why people wanted parts for their old Suzukis instead of buying new GSX-Rs… This was back in 2008 and with Suzuki’s amazing back catalogue of classic motorcycles it made sense for them to search out the parts to keep the owners of these classics happy. Suzuki’s Vintage Parts Programme was launched in 2013 and was the brainchild of Tim Davies, Suzuki GB’s aftersales coordinator. The VPP highlights just how many new/old parts the manufacturer still has available for sale –…

NEW/OLD PARTS NOS: PART OF THE PROBLEM? The golden age of cheap, plentiful new-old-stock parts is long gone, so how much is left? Will the supply of new parts run out, leaving certain bikes unrestorable, or will the manufacturers start remaking tanks, pipes, panels and big-ticket items for our favourite models? CMM found out… WORDS: JIM MOORE PICS: MORTONS ARCHIVE, SUZUKI GB, FOWLERS Spares are the lifeblood of the modern-classic world. Without them our old bikes won’t run, and restoration projects will grind to a halt. Fortunately, the parts we need come in numerous guises, from used and refurbished to reproduction. And yet for restorers of 1960s-1990s machines there is one variety of spare part that’s valued more highly than any other – new-old-stock. There’s something very special – almost…

HONDA SPECIALS ANNIVERSARY! With Hondas and anniversaries still in mind, we have been contacted by Daniel Brown who is putting together an event for a range of 1990s special-edition Hondas. Think of the Russell Savory’s RS edition 50th anniversary Hondas, such as the FireBlade, VTR1000 FireStorm and VFRs, along with the potent V&M CBR1100XX Blackbirds and, yes, CMM will be there. Daniel said: “The event will go ahead on June 6, 2021, on a Sunday so the roads won’t be too busy! We will be meeting up at the York designer outlet just off the A19 roundabout from 9:15am. So far we have two V&M Blackbirds, and at least four RS machines. We are also working hard to attract a special guest. Contact me at danb350z@yahoo.com for more.” We will…

BRISTOL SHOW CANCELLED! The popular Bristol Classic Bike Show has unfortunately had to be cancelled for 2021.This is due to NHS England extending their contract to use the venue (Royal Bath and West Showground) as a vaccination centre until the end of August. The event had already been moved to July 2021. It will now once again take place in its usual February slot in 2022. Dates will be confirmed later in the year. The Classic Bike Shows team will be in contact with anyone who already has a trade booking. For all trade enquiries please call 01507 529430 or email exhibitions@mortons.co.uk All visitor tickets will be refunded. For ticket enquiries please contact our Customer Services team on 01507 529529 or email customerservices@mortons.co.uk Lines are open Monday-Friday, 8.30am-5pm. For details…

Show us Yours MARTIN LLOYD’S HONDA VF1000F-E Firstly, I’m not a regular reader but over the last few years have enjoyed your mag! Being a VJMC member since the 1990s, still owning the 1985 plate VF1000F-E I bought new (part-ex with my VF750F for £3580) I thought you might like something different. As this is the only bike I have, it’s been a lifetime project, which myself and others have made, blagged or supplied parts for. A friend of mine at a club meet put the idea across to ask you, so I’m now following this through! The bike got re-registered on a B plate in 2003. It is still a classic customised bike with just over 35k on the clock and a one-off. I say this because Bob Stevens…

CLASSIC RIDE Perfectly formed! Reacquaint yourself with Yamaha’s LS2, probably one of the rarest from the manufacturer’s early 1970s Europa range. Scoop just has. WORDS: STEVE COOPER PICS: GARY D CHAPMAN Every now and then you just know, regardless of engine capacity, a certain bike is going to be a hoot to ride. Sometimes that feeling may come from a machine’s reputation, it could be the model has a certain cachet or it’s simply the supposed inherited DNA. In the case of this particular machine it’s probably the genetic make-up of Yamaha two-stroke twins that gives the game away. From the firm’s earliest offering of the YDS1 sports twin through the entire RD range, then the seminal LCs and on to the TZRs, every machine therein had been performance orientated.…

SEXY SIXES GROUP TEST SUPER Six appeal! It’s the ultimate multi-cylinder shootout – and we’re not talking a piffling triple or four-cylinder machine. Yes, we’re talking Benelli Sei 750, Honda CBX1000, Kawasaki Z1300. Welcome to the first of our Bridgestone Classic Rides tests! It began in the early 1970s as a charm offensive by an ailing Italian manufacturer, but turned into a battle of prestige between two Japanese motorcycling superpowers. The inline six-cylinder engine layout was a groundbreaking design that enraptured the public, yet ultimately faded out into a historical blip – one that wouldn’t be repeated until the 21st century, and then only cautiously. But all that only increases the stunning six appeal of Benelli’s Sei, Honda’s CBX1000 and Kawasaki’s Z1300. Let’s ride them… Good vibrations – or not!…

Breaking BAD Honda CBR600 F-R Scott Redmond once more looks at real-world spares prices from the bikes he breaks. This month it’s the faithful Honda CBR600F… WORDS AND PHOTOS: SCOTT REDMOND Some of the best buys that I find are those that I don’t actively look for. This L-reg Honda CBR600 F-R passed through the local bike trade before ending up in my life. The initial dealer that took it in with a job lot of other bikes kept the good stuff and touted the rest about. A guy that I know was offered it but wasn’t too hot to trot, so he sent me a few images of the bashed-up CBR and an asking price of £350. I replied without bothering to ask any probing questions, and simply said:…

BUYER'S GUIDE Benelli Sei 750/900 Are the Benelli triples overlooked and overpriced – or are they not? Steve Cooper tries to set the record straight. WORDS: STEVE COOPER PHOTOS: JOE DICK “Yeah, it’s okay but it’s really only a Honda CB500/4 with two more pots innit?” This is the normal response to Benelli’s 750/6 and one that immediately moves swiftly on to: “…and it’s nowhere near as good as the CBX1000/6 – now that’s what they should have done!” Which is fine and dandy if you aren’t a fan of Italian machinery and/or are a Honda lover, yet what’s missing from those two statements is a simple, seven-letter word – context. Grasp that and the world’s first, commercial, six-cylinder motorcycle makes a lot more sense. The unquestionably gorgeous Benelli…