Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2022 i Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

Most months (well, all months) what you see in the magazine is pretty much meticulously planned, almost to the n-th degree. It is not without reason that on every ‘Next Month’ page I say the following: ‘The editor reserves the right to completely mess up the above flat-plan (as he did last month) in a bid to give you the best mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s machines and fettling tips!’ I say this, because sometimes I’ll ‘flat-plan’ the issue and think that, maybe, there are too many older bikes, or too many younger bikes. Sometimes things fall out of bed because they’re not ready in time; perhaps the writers are busy with that other thing called ‘life’. Remember, I’m the only full-timer, they have main jobs/are retired, etc.…

Phil ‘Reevo’ Reeve says: “In 1986 at 19, I had a Suzuki X5. Then I bought a house and sold the Suzuki shortly after. That was my last bike for a few years! I worked in warehousing and didn’t have much money. I was married at 22 and after three children (we had five in total) I managed to scrape some money together (this was around 1994) to get another bike! I found an SP370 in Yorkshire about an hour-and-a-half away. I hired a trailer and picked it up, paying the princely sum of £100. On the journey home we turned a tight slow corner and it fell off the trailer. It didn’t seem to cause much damage as it was pretty rough anyway. Over the next few weeks I…

Astandard MZ ETZ is lucky if it can hit a genuine 80mph top speed. So 130mph seems an impossible dream, but in the words of the song: ‘If you don't have a dream, how ya gonna make a dream come true?’ Goddard has already got his MZ singing into three figures with certificates to prove it from speed event organisers Straightliners. So it's no pipe dream. Though it does involve pipes in the shape of power-liberating two-stroke expansion chambers. The first ton-plus certificate came first time out, and that was on power-sapping sand at Pendine in South Wales in 2019. There, Goddard recorded 109.839mph, which is amazing on such sand. The sky was Bible black as he tucked in behind the dustbin fairing, the bike snaking like a sidewinder on…

Suzuki’s TC185. HONDA CD175 Q Have you ever done an article on paint codes for old motorcycles like my Honda CD175? And please could you do an article on retrofit USB ports and also some form of sat-nav update might be helpful. I have owned my Honda CD175 from new for 50 years since 1972. I have ridden it across Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Croatia and Gibraltar. J Scarborough A I don’t recall an article here on paint codes but with older bikes I am not too sure how much use they are really. I say this because I am assuming you want to touch up an area or perhaps spray a complete part which should match the rest of the paint, but there are a couple of problems here.…

The good (or bad, depending on your view) thing about riding an old bike is there’s never any shortage of jobs to be done. Sure, a brand-new bike is a lovely thing, and there’s plenty of set up to fiddle with – especially nowadays where you can have electronic suspension and riding modes, multi-stage traction control and all that nonsense. But apart from that, lubing the chain, checking tyre pressures and polishing the plastic is pretty much it. Not the case with a 1999 Fazer 600 of course, especially one as weary as mine. It’s turned into a mini ‘Forth Rail Bridge’ type project, with a seemingly neverending list of jobs that I want to get done on it. Some of these are significant – there’s a long-term aim of…

Well, I have to admit I wandered into my workshop, looked at the bike and in despair thought am I ever going to get this finished? I’m suffering from the reality there’s still so much to do; even once the dry build is done there is all the refining and finishing of parts, plus stretched resources of money and time. Yep, in the middle of a house refurb and living on a building site is not much fun. Thankfully, I have a very understanding better half! I do aim to get something done most days if at all possible so it keeps moving forwards. I guess even slow progress is progress! Have you ever looked at a modern wiring loom? How many wires are there? I remember trying to trace…

Remember that song you absolutely loved when you were about 18? You know, the one with the storming intro and the killer chorus, which sounded like it was playing through Motorhead's PA system even when you heard it on the radio, and you played it to death for months until something else came along? If you heard it now – even through Motorhead's PA – you'd probably think it sounded a bit weedy and under-produced. Things move on, which is a long-winded way of saying that finally finding a decent, sensibly-priced, standard, low-mileage CX500 – more than 35 years on from owning one as my first big bike – has been something of a letdown. Now clearly, I wasn't expecting to be blown away by its performance and handling. I…

Our man Alan Dowds was out and about last month at a Kawasaki event at the firm’s Swiss importer. And bizarrely enough, it has an absolutely stunning range of bikes in a secret museum: genuinely zero miles, unridden, never-even-started machines. They don’t even have engine oil or brake fluid inside them; they’re completely as they left the factory. Over to Alan. Now there were loads of flash beasties there: Z1s, Z1-Rs, Z1300, GPz1100, ZXRs, H1 and H2 triples, the lot. But this is the one that caught my eye – an utterly immaculate GT750. We all see lovely Z1s and H2 750s every week nowadays; gorgeous restoration projects and upgraded specials. But who would bother returning a drab old GT750 to as-new order? And even if you wanted to, where…

GARMIN ZUMO XT Powering up any smartphone or sat-nav on your bike can sometimes be problematical if you’ve not got an auxiliary power socket, so what to do with my Honda Rebel 1100 CMX on long-term loan? With some distance travel on the Rebel a necessity, a dedicated GPS was the best way forward so I tried the Garmin Zumo XT. It boasts an ultra-bright, 5.5-inch screen and this system is billed as an ‘all-terrain motorcycle navigator’ by Garmin. While not an off-roader/green laner by any means, I do love riding as far away as possible from major A-roads and motorways. The sat-nav comes pre-loaded with on-road and off-road maps across Europe and there is no subscription required, so that’s a bonus. It also includes turn-by-turn directions with an option…

We love to hear from you, so why not let us know what you like, or dislike in YOUR magazine. Simply get in touch by sending emails to: letters@classicmechanics.com or direct to the editor at BSimmonds@Mortons.co.uk or post your letters to the normal address. A bit ‘tatty’ AGAIN! Bertie, you’re a prince! By the way, I did send the pic to Mr.McNiece, but got no response, so I guess he really wasn’t that interested. And yeah, I did screw up on the pics to you of my tattoo. I discovered I don’t have any digital photos of the Geese, just paper. I will have to remedy that. So, to make up for it (but it’s not a classic, yet) here’s my 2002 Speed Triple. Todd Haeckel Bertie says: “Todd! You’re…

We all need friends – especially handy are friends with the mechanical nous to get your bike back on track... Anthony Meenaghan is just one of those sorts of friends. When pal Niall McGonigle asked for help, Anthony answered the call – in spades! “Having received a message from my friend Niall regarding his 2001 Honda Africa Twin XRV750 (aka the RD-07A model) giving trouble I had to help,” says Anthony. “Niall said the symptoms as described were that it kept cutting out as he was attempting to pull away. Other information was that it was having a charging issue so he fitted a new battery and front brake pads. “Despite this work, he asked me also to look at the front brakes as he was concerned the front wheel…

You’re almost a decade into producing one of the world’s most successful big bore, parallel, four-stroke twins and, against all the odds, it’s still selling… Okay, it’s actually still selling rather well. You know your bike is a fundamentally sound design yet you suspect it’s beginning to look a little long in the tooth so what do you do next? You’ve already had to drop the 750 twin you pinned your hopes on and you know, deep down, that the smaller 500 twin is never going to outsell the 250/350/400 two-strokes that have been your bread and butter for ages. Oh, and your 750 triple isn’t so popular in the showrooms even if the bike journos love it. There has to be a plan and there is – in fact…

Anumber of bikes that feature in CMM are two-strokes – those humble, yet sometimes vexatious beasts that make many of us smile disproportionately to their engine’s capacity. Unlike their four-stroke cousins, stinkwheels rely on not one, but two forms of compression, primary and secondary. The latter takes place, as normal, within the combustion chamber and above the piston crown, whereas the former occurs below the piston and inside the crankcase in around the crankshaft itself. If this primary compression falls below a certain level the engine becomes hard to start and may also very well lose performance. An auxiliary effect can be the unwanted pressurisation of the transmission system if the leak is on that particular side. And this appeared to be the case with this month’s subject – my…

G’day friends! It’s been a while since my last update. I won’t bore you, but you probably saw the news on the floods over here. We had serious rain, for ages. Before that, we had the Xmas break and, well, things just got away from me in terms of shed time. Then the family got the dreaded Covid-19. I was nurse, looking after five patients, and we had to isolate for 13 days all up. A total pain… But all okay now, and Bruno is running! In total, from the last update I gave to where we are at now, it was only five full days in the shed, so not a huge amount of work, but that time was spread out. I’m so, so happy with the way it…

TRIM Seat trim hard to find; tank and panel emblems available aftermarket but quality variable. OEM badges and ‘C’ flashes command high prices. REAR LIGHT Teardrop/Fizzy-style lens indicates a UK bike probably; Europe, America and Australasia run different units. HYBRIDS Almost everything swaps over the YR5 350 and vice versa – 350 top-ends not unusual but you also need the 350 oil-pump and primary gears; also innumerable exchanges possible with later RD250/350. PISTONS Can crack between rear ports and gudgeon pin boss; remove all sharp edges carefully to relieve stresses. ELECTRICS At least 50 years old so expect alternators to need attention and wiring to have resistance issues. IGNITION Coils were never brilliant when new, OEM points/condensers expensive, some pattern parts okay, others of variable quality. The 1970 model year…

HJC CS-15 INNO If you want a competitively priced helmet, then look no further. The CS-15 comes with an Advanced Polycarbonate Composite Shell as well as great fit and comfort, a decent ventilation system and micro-buckle fastening. The visor is Pinlock ready; the interior is removable as well as being moisture-wicking, anti-bacterial and removable. Of course it hits current safety standards and has a warranty of between three to five years – from either purchase or manufacturing – whichever comes first! www.oxfordproducts.com £ 99.99 RENOLD CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CHAINS Apparently, the bush roller chain was the first design patented by the Hans Renold Company, all the way back in 1880. It was designed to last significantly longer than other textile machine chains available at the time. The chain had a series…

Graham Watson’s Cheney Cantilever Triumph Tiger Cub My father built this very unique Cheney Cantilever Triumph Tiger Cub in the early 1970s and, when I can, I still race her today: same bike, same rider for over 45 years! Eric Cheney was an off-road racer and builder. In the early 1970s, Cheney began working on a twin-shock cantilever frame, constructed of highquality Reynolds 531 tubing. Cheney was unhappy with the performance of the original prototypes and sold them. A year later, he received some newly designed gas and oil shocks from Girling, which completely transformed and perfected the frame’s performance, and he went on to produce cantilever frames built to house Honda XL250/350 engines with much success. My late father David wanted to build me (aged 12 at the time)…

Back in the 90s, the 750cc sportsbike arena was a hotlycontested place with the big Japanese four fighting their respective corners with their own four-cylinder warriors. Suzuki had the lightweight GSX-R, Kawasaki with the stylish ZX-7R, Honda the classy V4 VFR, and Yamaha the accomplished YZF. 750s were widely acknowledged by many that they sat in the sweet spot between the agility and usability of the 600s and the power of the 1000s, but without the weight penalty associated. The 750 sportsbike sector remained strong until a change in World Superbike rules saw the capacity limit raised for fourcylinder bikes from 750cc to 1000cc. The prestige of riding a bike that won on Sunday and was in the showroom by Monday was over. The last standing sportsbike 750 was the…

This is a new event on the calendar, held at the lovely, picturesque circuit of Anglesey and put together by the guys at Classic Bike Track Days along with the guys and girls from the VJMC. The Welsh Classic Motorcycle Festival had everything you could want as a classic motorcycle enthusiast. With displays from various clubs, there were some really tasty machines in the VJMC/RH Insurance marquee, including a stunning RGV250L with an astonishing 1481 miles on the clock; a gorgeous Kawasaki H2; a lovely 500LC; and various modified LCs and Powervalves. Four-stroke lovers weren’t forgotten with many lovely machines, including a Hayabusa, 1993 FireBlade, and even an SV650. Outside, the Italian motorcycle owners club had some beautiful bikes on display, too. Walking around the displays, the atmosphere was great…

Ithought I’d give you a rest from the inner workings of the Z900 mill this month and take a look at the wheels. Back in the day we all wanted the super-sexy ‘mag wheels’, though only those with very deep pockets could run to the real ultra-light magnesium wheels which were then the preserve of the racing fraternity, but we all called the alloy wheels we could afford, at a push, mag wheels. Apart from anything else, alloy wheels are a bloody sight easier to keep clean than traditional wire wheels and the spokes don’t rust. Many a bike of the 1970s was modernised with cast wheels, but nowadays people restoring them want to go back to the original wire wheels, rather like the original four-into-four pipes that we discarded…

One man’s muck is another man’s gold. It’s an old cliché that sums up this trio of Yamaha FZR250s. All three came to me via the same source; each bike had already been raided for their powerplants. The seller uses the high revving four cylinder engines to create retro-looking, if not sounding, track bikes. It’s not just the compact four-stroke water-cooled engine that he kept, it was also the carbs, electrics and exhaust systems. With the parts having sat under a tarpaulin for a few years, I convinced the owner to part with not just one of the Deltabox-framed rolling chassis kits, but all three of them! They were all either on an F or G registration plate; two came with logbooks and all three had keys. In the breaking…

The end is nigh for my relationship with Yamaha’s seminal pocket rocket. I have to admit that whilst she is drop dead gorgeous to look at and I love owning her, my collection must shrink. I thought that the more bikes the greater the joy, but, after a while owning bikes becomes a full-time job looking after them all; how Andy Bolas manages I have no idea. Space is also a nightmare. I have a large workshop and still have to rent another three lock-ups, none of which are as dry as I would like them to be, so the only sensible solution is to thin down the collection to just the bikes I really can’t live without. The things that have gone wrong with my baby Yamaha are typical…