Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2024 i Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

It’s a strange thing, but getting on the same model of bike you spent a lot of saddle time in/on decades ago is a fascinating experience. I’ve had that this month with the Y2K Honda CBR900RR – better known as the ‘929’. I spent many a happy year on mine back in 2001 and did more than 10,000 miles on it in about nine months. I didn’t care that it wasn’t a Yamaha R1; it helped me commute 200 miles-plus a day, four days a week, and helped me enjoy a track day or three. Of course, like we do with newer bikes when we’re lucky enough to have them, I moved on. I think I moved on to an Aprilia RSV-R Mille. Not quite as practical and certainly not…

Harris Performance, the manufacturer of sports motorcycles set up by Lester and Steve Harris and Steve Bayford in the early 1970s, is being more closely absorbed into Eicher Motors, the Indian owner of Royal Enfield. It means that the expertise in frame and chassis fabrication will no longer be available to external customers. Eicher bought Harris Performance in 2015 for its expertise in chassis and prototyping work, which was carried out at the Hertford base that had been the source of so many racing and sporting motorcycles over the years, including the Magnum derived from endurance machines and two-stroke GP bikes used by some of the biggest stars in international racing. A new and more extensive facility will be constructed at Royal Enfield’s UK Technology Centre at Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire.…

We’re a careful lot, us classic owners – and our machines are often securely garaged and locked. Also, traditionally it’s more modern machines that are the target of bike thieves, but it’s still interesting to see these stats… Anglo Scottish Data has dug down in DVLA data to find out where in the UK bike thefts are more prevalent. They looked at June 2022 to May 2023 and if you live in London or any other major city it doesn’t make comfortable reading. London had 2975 bikes reported stolen to the DVLA, but with a population of almost nine million, the bike theft per capita number sits fairly low at 33 bikes stolen per 100,000 people. In second was Bristol with 482 bikes stolen (population of just over 600,000), then…

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’ll send you a T-shirt if you are our first pick! www.facebook.com/ClassicMechanics/ www.twitter.com/cmmmag…

From technical and performance perspectives there is genuinely no reason whatsoever for the S1 and KH250 to exist. Truth be told, these gorgeous triples aren’t realistically an improvement over their forebearers. Those who know the marque well reckon that the previous A series Samurai twin was a better machine. Its disc-valve motor was genuinely faster and its chassis had better manners. However, the baby triple was a substantial facet of marketing and brand imagery. Someone high up decided back in 1971 that all the road-going strokers over 125 would sport three pots and so that’s what happened. There’s also a school of thought that suggests, development costs aside, the piston-ported triple was cheaper to make and assemble than the disc-valved twins. Come 1972 the iconic S1 was unveiled, which immediately saw…

*and FB Marketplace, and Gumtree, and anywhere else we spot something we like… 1998 Suzuki Inazuma 750 Asking: £300 Anyone looking for the base of a cool retro special could do worse than have a gander at this, spotted on Marketplace. In the UK, the bike was called the GSX750 and was only sold for a few years before deletion. We were mad for Bandits at the time and quite a few made it over here as the Inazuma, as alternatives to Kawasaki’s Zephyr retros. The engine’s yet another iteration of the venerable 1980s SACS GSX-R750 lump, and they’re pretty much bulletproof, so I suspect it’s saveable. It’s missing the fuel tank, clocks and headlight though, amongst other bits, so I’d see that as an excuse to mix it up a…

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Did legendary racer Phil Read have a love-hate relationship with the Isle of Man or was it just TT race fans that had a love-hate relationship with ‘The Prince of Speed’ himself? This shot, from legendary lensman Nick Nicholls, shows Phil on his Yamaha 125 in jovial mood as he spots the photographer during the 1966 Isle of Man TT races. Without doubt, Phil was a legend – eight World Championships and 52 Grand Prix victories prove that alone. But then there were also eight Isle of Man TT wins. Sadly, these seem to be overshadowed by his criticism of the course itself. In the early 1970s Read had been one of the main critics of the course, which led ultimately to the race losing its status as a grand…

May 12: VJMC Hampshire Auto-Jumble. At Weyhill County Market (SP11 0PP), just off the A303 on the A342 on the Weyhill to Luggershall Road. Trade pitches are £10, public admission £1. Gates open to the public at 07:30, trade pitches open for set up at 05:30. For more information contact john.barter@ntlworld.com. June 19: Shiny Bike Night. At The Plough at Cadsden near Princes Risborough, Bucks. (HP27 0NB). Held by The Bucks. British & Classic Motorcycle Club, this is a friendly concours event with lots of trophies up for grabs as well as a raffle, good food and great music.http://www.bbcmcc.freeuk.com or Paul Goff 01494 868218 June 23: Ace Cafe Honda Day. At the Ace Cafe, North Circular Road, London (NW10 7UD). From 10am-3pm. A gathering of all things Honda, but with an…

This very nicely turned out Honda CBR900RR-Y FireBlade was bagged by our own Andy Bolas for £1000… Yes, just a grand and, of course, he’s sorted out the issues, which were many. First of all it was fairly tatty and bedecked by stickers, some of which were doubtless hiding some issues. The tank had some damage on it; a rattling sound was coming from the H-TEV (powervalve) section of the exhaust; it had a 20-year-old alarm on it; an awful blue screen; old blue-coloured Micron end can; and it also had some iffy rusty bits and pieces. The alarm removal sorted the battery drain problem and from then Andy gave the bike some serious TLC along with new fasteners. He also got an H-TEV blanking plate from Max Torque Cans and…

Laurence Kelly, owner of the blue KH250: “It was April 1977 and just about to leave Thomas Alleyne’s Boys School and what a brilliant time to be 16 with the sports moped revolution in full swing. All I could think of was getting my provisional licence and buying a bike. My best mate was slightly older than me and his big brother had just purchased a Daytona Orange BMW R90 S. It might have been from Hexagon London but all I knew was it was also a Kawasaki dealer as well. Anyway, he came away with the KH250 for my mate and the Beemer for himself. I received a phone call to go and have a look – oh my God, a two-stroke with three exhausts – it looked and…

1977 Honda GL1000 Gold Wing Asking: £1999.99 Actually I’ve got nothing against old Wings – they’re tough, reliable, comfortable and handle surprising well for such weighty lumps. I’m less keen on them the later and more motorhome-ish they get. But I couldn’t pass up the chance to show you this one, just because of that seat! I can only assume it was specially tailored round the amply-proportioned posteriors of a State-side couple who should have stood considerably further away from the all-you-can- eat buffet… I very much doubt (and certainly devoutly hope) I’ll ever again see anything quite so horrible bolted to a motorcycle, no matter how long I live. Okay, so the seat should obviously be killed with fire at the first possible opportunity; the bald rear tyre’s not a good…

Last month I left off having had a pretty successful return to racing but with plenty of room for improvement. Suspension wasn’t where it needed to be and neither was ground clearance, both relatively easy to fix, and I had a few weeks to go at it before my next round at Cadwell Park. The main issue with my ground clearance was foot-pegs decking out, which you expect of the standard items. I just didn’t have time before the Donington race to sort it. Off-the-shelf items are not easy to get hold of for these Triumphs and where they are available they are a hefty wedge, so the easiest option was to make some. I have a drawer full of all manner of race rear-sets I have acquired over the…

Last time out, I’d just bought a stunning looking, Sonauto-liveried 1990 Yamaha XTZ750 from eBay, at about half the expected price – £1500. Why so cheap? Well, the bike had a coolant leak which the seller had diagnosed as a head gasket problem and also the small matter of a blowing exhaust header pipe, where a piece of casting in the exhaust port had chipped off and prevented the gasket from sealing. I’d normally be put off by stuff like that, but winking at me from my lock-up was a laid-up Mk.1 TDM 850 with a decent lowish-mileage full service history motor. It just so happens the TDM engine will drop straight into this XTZ chassis and offers 10 per cent more power, similarly more torque AND better gearing for…

NEXX HELMETS While we’re not quite sure of the names, we do like the look of the latest helmets from NEXX. First up is the X.WED3. A real two-in-one, it converts from an off-road/adventure helmet to a full-face street riding lid without any tools, offering unbeatable value. It retails from just £329.99 with a multi-composite fibre shell and £509.99 in full carbon. Joining it is the race-ready X.R3R. Its lightweight shell has been aerodynamically optimised using virtual Computational Fluid Dynamics and wind-tunnel testing, for minimum air resistance. The X.R3R is also available in a choice of shells: an aramid fibre composite retailing at £349.99 and a full carbon version at £534.99. www.nexx-helmet.co.uk LASER TOOLS CAT III MULTIMETER Laser Tools has just introduced a new CAT III multimeter. This advanced meter (part number…

Carole Nash is to return as headline sponsor at The International Classic MotorCycle Show and the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show in 2024. The two shows in April and October, both held at Stafford County Showground, are the largest classic motorcycle gatherings on the planet and are must-do events for any classic motorcycle fan. Famed for its star guests, huge autojumble, record breaking Bonhams motorcycle auction, massive trade village and, of course, the people that make the scene so vibrant. “We’re delighted to be back at Stafford,” said Carole Nash’s marketing director Rebecca Donohue. “Sponsoring the biggest classic bike shows in the world and supporting the hobby are vitally important, as looking after customers and their classic motorcycles have always been at the heart of our business. There’s no better place…

Honda’s CBR900RR FireBlade was the archetypal sports-bike of the 1990s and boy did Britain love sports-bikes in the 1990s… Most of the best sellers of the decade were machines of a sporting bent – with the odd budget naked (such as Suzuki’s excellent Bandit family) thrown in for good measure. And if you wanted a sports machine – and most of us did – you had plenty to choose from whatever your experience or even the type of licence you had. The fledgling riders had the 125cc two-strokes, often thrashed and crashed and bedecked with an L-plate, but once you passed your test, the motorcycling world was your oyster. You could choose from two-stroke race-replica 250cc bikes, or their four-stroke 400cc equivalents – many of these brought into the UK…

Two Kawasaki KH250s two-stroke triples in the same place on a sunny day – does it get much better than this? A pair of period 250cc learners as close to standard as you might possibly expect from machines that are regularly ridden – and not an aftermarket ‘spannie’ to be heard! The locals don’t know how lucky they are! Sitting glinting in the sun just as if it’s 1977 all over again, the Candy Sky Blue and Candy Super Red bikes have stood the test of time much better than the contemporary fashions. And, perhaps fortunately, there’re no period soundtracks spoiling the ambience either. No David Soul requesting ‘Don’t Give Up On Us Baby’, Julie Covington isn’t droning on about Argentina and, blissfully, Paul Nicholas hasn’t been reminding us it’s…

Let’s cut to the chase right away – the GPz750 Turbo was the best of the forced induction bikes from the 1980s. In fact, we’d say it was the most traditional, too. Originally when development began in 1981, the base motor chosen was that from the Z650 – which shows just how strong that original inline four, two-valves-per-cylinder, air-cooled motor was. During development Kawasaki wanted to be last out of the blocks with a turbo, but with the best bike available, so it soon became a fuel-injected 738cc machine. When released in 1983 the GPz750 Turbo (known in other markets and to Kawasaki as the Z750 Turbo) could produce 112bhp and had the sort of performance that was up with its bigger brothers the GPz1100 and even the 1984 GPz900R……

As you can imagine, a bike with a 70cc engine is not going to be a record-breaker but Honda claim the top speed to be 48mph, which should mean that it can at least keep up with most traffic on the overcrowded roads where I live. Except that mine only seemed capable of around 40mph and that was a struggle. One day, I got so fed up with it that I wound the throttle right round and held it there (it was early on a Sunday morning so I had an empty road for a change) to see what would happen. What did happen was that it seemed to get slower and slower until it stopped, and then would not go again. Fortunately, I was only a couple of miles…

Now the stock Z900 is finished I can start what for me is a build I have wanted to do for a very long time. I have built custom bikes for others, but I have never built a full-on Big Zed special for myself before. I’m doing real custom building – by which I mean that I won’t be using CNC machined goodies from catalogues, nor will I be ‘enhancing’ the handling of my bike by bolting on parts from more modern bikes. I will not be aping the Japanese Sanctuary bikes, (nothing wrong with those who choose to do that) because I want to make something truly unique and a genuine expression of my thoughts and skills. I am trying to build a bike that could have been built…

IN CONJUNCTION WITH Machine Mari Back in the 1970s, I worked as a fitter in a commercial vehicle workshop. It was a dirty job in a cold, oily space, where everything had to be finished yesterday, and where often I laboured through breaks. I rode to work each day on a Yamaha XT500 and at night parked the bike in the street outside a grim little bedsit. I dreamt of a proper home, a garage and multi-bike heaven. And of a cave I could retreat into: my space, where everything would be done at my pace. It came, thankfully, eventually, gradually. A flat sold for a small house that in turn became a larger one with a garage. Then retirement and a move to a place with enough land to…