Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2023 i Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

SEALEY WINTER TOOL PROMOTION You can discover 100 new products inside the latest edition of Sealey’s Tool Promotion, valid from October 1 until December 31, 2023. This year’s issue includes the Space Warmer heater range, battery chargers and lighting set ups to help you through the cold, dark, winter months ahead. Also included are some inspirational Christmas gift ideas AND the chance to win an incredible Hi-Viz Green Workshop kit, worth £830. This includes a workshop trolley, tool storage, an inspection lamp and a mechanic’s utility seat. Enter on the website before December 31 for your chance to win. Go to: www.sealey.co.uk HANKS – ON MY KNEES Roy Hanks raced across four generations of the family, starting alongside father Fred on big-wheeled sitter sidecars and carrying right through to his…

That we are all getting older is an immutable truth. You may not like the fact that you are no longer as flexible as you once were, jobs take longer, memory’s not as razor sharp, etc., but the point is it is happening. Riding old bikes arguably keeps us younger for longer; as significant others might opine, boys don’t ever really grow up, the toys just get more expensive. If that’s the case so be it – who doesn’t want to remain active and having fun for as long as possible? And having fun is really what it’s all about, doing what makes you personally feel happy. For most of us a few decades ago that would have been riding a bike to both its and our own personal maximums.…

WINNER We want to see YOUR pride and joy in our pages, so you can share what you ride and what you restore/build with fellow readers. Email your hi-res shots to bsimmonds@mortons.co.uk or mail in some photos at the address at the front of the mag. Let us know what you’ve done, how you’ve done it, and send before and after shots if you can. Do get in touch – because the best of the month gets a free T-shirt! Trigger Rogers’ Collection So this is my little stable of mainly 1990s bikes – although the BMW is a 2001 model! The CG125 was a complete ‘pig’s ear’ of a running bike that had been rattle canned black within an inch of its life. That was my lockdown project to…

My smile is a mile wide today… I’m not on a test bike, I’m not on the latest retro or even a well-prepared reader’s core classic, I’m on my own BMW R1150 RT boxer twin tourer and all is right with the world. It’s one of those days when you ask yourself: ‘Do I need any more than this?’ The bike at best probably owes me £2500 tops but is as ready to hit the road and cover continents as it was 20 years ago. And with just over 30,000 miles on the very analogue clocks, it’s barely even run in. This is my ‘second’ 1150 RT. I say that in inverted commas, because my time with the model goes back to February 2001 and the launch of the bike,…

You may want to shoot me down in flames, but I reckon most affordable modern motorcycles aren’t much better than those produced back in the 1980s. Sure, they have fancy fuel injection (to meet the latest emissions regulations) and dinky instruments that look like smartphones (because they’re cheap to make) but your average middle-of-the-roadster doesn’t go or handle much better after four decades of development. And yes, I’ve ridden some modern bikes, and they’re fun. I can’t say, though, that a Honda dating from 1984 is much less of a machine than the latest offerings. Motorcycle design hasn’t changed much over the past two generations. Steering geometry and suspension compliance are critical to the way a bike behaves, as are weight distribution and rider ergonomics. The modern layout as we…

Kev Raymond keeps his eye on the choppy waters of the classic world to see if any projects, donors and bargains are out there worthy of being dragged out of the surf for some mouth-to-mouth… 1997 Honda CB50 Dream Asking: £1999 If you look at this and don’t immediately start mentally working out which forks you’ll fit and what engine you can shoehorn in there, you might be reading the wrong magazine… The Dream 50 (or AC15 to give it its factory designation) was a Japanese market-only retro designed to evoke the firm’s 1960s racers. The 50cc engine had double overhead camshafts, but rice pudding skins remained untroubled. This one’s lost its forks and wheels as well as engine and exhaust, so a packet of nuts short of two grand…

Perhaps the market for original Honda FireBlades has slowed down a little now compared even to two or three years ago. If you want a clean example of the first ‘classic’ twin-headlight version, expect to pay anything from £4000 up to £10k for a real minter. We suggest you make sure that it is, for that price! After that you’re really looking at a wide array of prices for the subsequent models, so there are plenty for each pocket. We’d suggest going for something as original as possible – which is hard to find: avoid paint jobs, but end-cans can be swopped out for standard, rare as they can be. Foxeyes can vary from £3000-£7000 with the later 918.5cc versions (RR-T/V) starting at a little less – these are the…

Ah, where would we be without ’em? I have a modest collection covering many things. I’ve got the compulsory ‘Catch 22’ and Michael Moore’s ‘Dude, Where’s My Country’, but as I sken (look, observe, usually over the shoulder, my books are behind me, sithee?) around my tiny little play space I find books that beg the question: ‘Did I really buy that?’ Alongside ‘Legend Of Speed’, the Tim Hanna story of Burt Munro’s adventures, curiously with a $12 price ticket still affixed, there’s ‘Sh*t My Dad Says’, a raucous dive into the vagaries of the stuff that old people (that’ll be me then) tend to say when confronted with things they either don’t understand or possibly don’t want to understand. Delving a bit deeper, just behind the Bill Bryson stuff,…

ROADSKIN TARANIS ELITE JEANS Interesting factoid: I play footy with the chaps who tested these jeans at SATRA, in Kettering… So there ya go! It’s pointless having this casual-looking bike kit if you look like a bag of spuds when you’re at the place you want to go, which is why I love these Roadskin Taranis Elite motorcycle jeans. On the protection front, they give you an AAA safety rating in a single layer, as tested by my mates. To do this, protective Kevlar fibres are woven into the denim, so they feel and look exactly like a regular pair of jeans but with the reassurance of AAA jeans. I have to agree… I will trust the testing my mates do on these but on the comfort front I can…

Henry Cole and friends return with a new series of Shed & Buried from October 16. Henry (CMM’s special guest at Stafford) will be joined by fellow fanatic Fuzz Townshend, with top restorers Allen Millyard and Guy Willison, on the hunt for vintage treasures in the nation’s sheds. They’re going to buy them, fix them up and then sell them for a tidy profit. That’s the plan and fans will be able to follow the team’s progress in 10 brand-new 30-minute episodes, as they wrestle with neglected motorcycles, cars, trucks, tractors, petrol pumps and more, in an effort to bring them back to life. Motorbike-mad Henry will be haggling, while Fuzz uses his automotive expertise to spot hidden gems on four wheels. Back in the shed, Guy’s talent for restoration…

Paul Bird, owner of the most successful team in the history of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, died in September following a short illness. ‘Birdy’ was a keen competitor himself in Supermoto and rallying and he took this competitive spirit forward into team ownership. Paul played a part in helping to push forward a number of riders from the UK and abroad either outside or inside his Paul Bird Motorsport team, which was launched in 1996. Big names included Chris Palmer, James Haydon, Scott Redding, Casey Stoner, John McGuinness, Shane Byrne and many more. McGuinness would take PBM’s first wins in the Lightweight TT of 1999 and that year’s British 250cc title. PBM would take to the tracks around the world, as well as the Isle of Man; they’d race…

The silver bike you see over these pages is mine – and I love it. Bought for £1800, it’s got full BMW luggage and now a Garmin Zumo sat-nav wired into the lights. Talking of lights, I’ve now got HID dip and running lights in the LED indicators as well as an LED tail-light which really improves on the original lighting set up (www.motorcycleparts-hornig.com). At night, I find that the (normal) fog lights also help with vision ahead and (more importantly) being seen by other road users. One thing that some tourers even of 20 years back had was what we called ‘entertainment systems’. Even though my first 1150 RT was made in 2002 and I’d long since gone to CDs, the RT had a radio/cassette player in the left-hand…

The CBX750F featured was bought in 2021 by Neil Haworth, 64, a retired classic and vintage car restorer from Hampshire, from DK Motorcycles in Stoke-on-Trent, which regularly imports machines from Japan and the US. A Japanese market model made in 1984, it came with a km/h speedo and the 55mph warning light in the dash. Neil, who paid £1100 for the bike, plays down his exceptional skills in describing the resto. “It was pretty rough,” he says. “It had been stored badly for years. Maybe it had been left outside in Japan where it came from. I stripped it right down, painted everything, plated everything, and put it back together.” Originally, the paintwork was the black version and Neil thinks that it might have been used by a paramedic because…

Brake fluid is hygroscopic, i.e. it absorbs water, which is good because there is lots of it in the atmosphere and you don’t want a puddle of it in your brake calipers. But if your brake fluid has too much water in it then it lowers the boiling point of the fluid which can cause brake fade when you most need your anchors, like when some muppet in a car pulls out in front of you because they didn’t see you. The basic logic is that you don’t want your brake fluid boiling because when that happens, brisk stopping doesn’t and extreme pain is the likely result. You can’t stop water getting into the fluid, so it needs to be monitored. This month I am trying two types of fluid…

BRAKES Wemoto sell TRK Braking caliper kits for just £35. Bargain. Discs from £104-£180. Honda disc wear limit is 3.5mm. EXHAUSTS Downpipes can rot, stainless replicas are available. End cans that are original are desirable, too. This model can be seen with both black painted and brushed aluminium cans: some say the UK model is black and the ally cans are imported bikes. BODYWORK Indicators suffer from the typical 1990s Honda ‘droop’! Panels are now hard to find in the colour you want. Tanks are the same/have the same bolt/brace set up from RR-N/P/R/S (1992 to 1995) and changed from RR-T/V/W/X (1996-1999.) FRAME That great big beam frame is unprotected in spills: beware carbon-fibre frame protectors as they often hidedings… ENGINE/GEARBOX Original models vary wildly in power outputs from 105-120bhp!…

We’ve got some great prizes donated by our friends at Axxis Helmets and Bikers Paradise. All you have to do to stand a chance of winning is set off on our digital treasure hunt! The businesses on this page have each provided us with a question… All you have to do is visit their websites, search for the answer to the question, then fill in the form and return it to be in with a chance of scooping one of the great prizes. Once completed send your entry form to: CMM November Treasure Hunt, Mortons Media Group, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs. LN9 6JZ OUR PRIZES… There are three great prizes from Bikers Paradise: The Rida-Tec Waterproof Over Jacket is perfect for when the weather turns damp… retailing at £41…

LS2 VECTOR II CARBON HELMET Carbon was SO cool in the 1990s – so it’s cool to us oldies, too. New for 2023, the Vector II Carbon brings the race-helmet technology of a 100 per cent full carbon shell with the comfort and practicality required for the road, and it’s cheap, too! The Vector II Carbon’s premium spec starts at the outer shell, which is made from multiple layers of LS2’s High-Grade Wide Weave carbon fibre. It offers high penetration resistance and energy dispersion, yet weighs in at just 1350 grams. The Vector II is produced in six outer shell sizes for the smallest outline and closest possible fit in each size range. Up front there’s a 3D Optically Correct A-Class Polycarbonate visor (anti-scratch and anti-fog) which sits in a…

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. The best will win one of our lovely T-shirts! Star Letter Fair play, CMM! Hi CMM: I don’t think we understand how difficult your job is, making a magazine every month full of new and interesting content. Personally, I take my helmet off to you all! Like many others, I’m always looking for the article containing one of the bikes I own or used to own; lapping up the nostalgia like a ‘dog at the water bowl’! Although being classified as an old fart now, I…

Meet Nigel and Kirsty Glover (also known as Hedgehog and Tigger, don’t ask) and meet their 1978 Moto Guzzi Le Mans. This bike is special because it carries memories of a departed friend, so restoring it to its former glory has been a labour of love as well as a technical challenge. This Guzzi was bought from a friend 25 years ago, ridden and used as it should be, then neglected for a while due to health issues, until there came a moment when a decision had to be made about its long-term future. Sell it or restore it? Decisions, decisions. As you'll have guessed, restoration got the nod, but we'll let them tell you about in their own words. But first, a bit of a back story… Kirsty: “When…

So, Suzuki’s opinion-splitting new model Katana is back in the spotlight, after receiving a host of detail tweaks to align with Euro 5 regs and fatten up the spec sheet along the way. I snapped up the chance to live with it for a month, and took it on some epic opinion-forming days out which included one day of 340 miles commuting to a track-day, where it also did 100 miles on circuit. Whilst most of the changes to the 2023 model won’t be immediately visible other than the attractive new dark-blue satin and gold-accented paint scheme, under the Katana’s quirky modern-retro skin there’s more going on. Whilst meeting tighter Euro 5 regs could be expected to soften the power, Suzuki claims to have found an extra 2bhp from the…

Honda CBX750F owners don’t come more dedicated than Andy Jordan, from Byfleet in Surrey, who’s run his immaculate and uprated example for almost 30 years. Now semi-retired at 59 and working as a volunteer at the Brooklands museum, he was asked in 1993 by an old school friend to help get the bike, a late CBX750FE first registered in May 1986, through its MoT. His friend was the fifth owner in its seven-year life, and as Andy says: “It was in a pretty sorry way!” Despite this, he took up an offer to buy the bike. “I paid £1000, which was quite reasonable at the time. I’d forgotten how good they looked.” He used the CBX750F for three years ‘as a hack’ and decided to restore it rather than sell…

Our very own wizened sages, Messrs Mark Haycock and Steve Cooper, are here to answer all of your woes, be they mechanical or spiritual. Every month we will be giving advice, as well as some general tips. Don’t forget to send in your own tips, too. HONDA CB400A Q: Okay, I have been saving up all my little questions til now, when a traumatic event on wheeling my CB400A out of the garage (or not, as you may understand soon) after the winter break. The final straw, mentioned above, is the front disc brake has seized! I have dismantled the slave cylinder and cleaned and rebled it, the piston sliding out easily on application of hydraulic force, and on the rebuild the piston drifted back in nice and easy… result.…

We will be looking in more depth for a future Buyer’s Guide for both the 929 and 954cc FireBlades – but what were they like? The 2000-2001 CBR900RR FireBlade, known as the ‘929’, had that cc of four-cylinder motor, with fuel-injection for the first time, derived from the original. Big changes were made to the chassis, with an all-new beam frame that was pivotless at the swingarm – which was also longer and beefier than before, for better traction. Up-front came a 17-inch front wheel (at last) and inverted front forks with improved Nissin calipers and brakes. The ‘looks’ were a little problematic for some. 2002-2003’s ‘954’ was more of the same (1mm bore increase) but with much improved aesthetics and a new swingarm. Many rate this as the best…

Ah… projects – full of highs and lows, aren’t they? Here’s my roller-coaster of a ride over the last few months. Let’s start with the highs, eh? Wheels and brake discs: I have completely changed all the bearings and seals in both wheels. I have also refurbed them with a few different sized wire brushes that fit into my cordless drill. Also I had sufficient cans of the correct hard-wearing paint left over. As for the discs, well, all three were near minimum so new ones were ordered and fitted. Yes, you can see they are ‘wavy discs’ and not round discs like the original bike, but they were £30 cheaper and I think they look good. Next up a big thank you to Bridgestone who support CMM’s Bike of…

WITH MORE THAN 30 PAGES OF PRACTICAL ADVICE! HONDA CBR1100XX SUPER BLACKBIRD: Why this 1990s sports tourer is still a top buy… YAMAHA XS650C: Steve Cooper on a terrific twin! HONDA VFR400R NC30: Buyer’s Guide SHOW US YER SHED: WIN a £50 tools voucher if you show us YOURS! PROJECT BIKES: We will be showcasing some of the following (space allowing): Pip Higham’s Suzuki TC305 Laredo, Alan Dowds’ Kawasaki ZRX1100R Turbo (we’ve heard it running!), Mark Haycock’s Honda ST70, Steve Cooper’s Yamaha YL1, or new Ducati/Suzuki special. Perhaps Steve ‘Stavros’ Parrish’s racing Yamaha TD2B and Jeff Ware’s Suzuki GSX-R750 F or his new Bridgestone BS90. David Punshon’s Honda CB750 DOHC, Malc Shaw with his Suzuki GT500 Café Racer and maybe Taylor Mackenzie’s Yamaha TY80, and let’s not forget Dave Marsden…