Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2024 i Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

What I love about our passion, our hobby, is the wide-ranging machines it encompasses. It’s not all about the Z1s, or the CB750s, or the ring-a-ding two-strokes. Nor is it just the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s bikes. It’s not even about the best bikes in class or the fastest or biggest sellers. This issue highlights a few machines that either are a bit different or perhaps weren’t the biggest hits when they first landed in showrooms. Take our cover star, the Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat. In the mid-1990s it wasn’t the best-selling super-sport machine (that would be the Honda), nor was it the fastest (Kawasaki ZX-6R), but many people I know loved them. One such person is Tony Hutchinson from Hagon, who loves his Cat and knew it needed some TLC…

More by happenstance than design I seem to have stumbled across the curious delights of big singles recently and especially those of the classic variety. It started off with the desultory purchase of my Suzuki Apache. Then it morphed into that curious amalgamation of spare TS400 motor in a Ducati GTV chassis, and now I’ve been looking wistfully at Yamaha’s SR500 and SRX600 of late. There’s a purity to a single-cylinder motorcycle that simply isn’t there when another pot is added. Yes, okay, most of us are fully aware the concept’s limitations, its faults and foibles, but fans of the ‘one-lunger’ are still legion. Once you’ve got the bug, you are truly smitten, apparently. So, perhaps it’s no real surprise I’ve landed on another of the genre to road test…

What’s in a name? Names are important, right? Think of your own – is it a short-form? Does your mum still call you by your full name when you’ve done something wrong? Some names are earned – our editor Bertie is actually Robert, but his evil older sister called him Bertie to wind him up and it stuck. Bikes have names, too, some great and some plain daft. Think of the FireBlade and it conjures up something almost mythical, but in the mid-1990s Yamaha tried to play the name game and maybe it didn’t quite come off with their 1000cc and 600cc sports machines: Thunderace and Thundercat. The subject of this month’s classic ride is the Thundercat, a name that millions of us of a certain age will attach to…

The Katana is now looking great and I’m really starting to enjoy my time with the big Suzuki. All it needed to change it from an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan was a £50 tail tidy and a few hours’ work! I still can’t get my head around the small fuel tank, but it isn’t a major hindrance as I’m happy enough stopping at around 90-100 miles for a stretch anyhow. This is more to do with me than the Kat not being comfortable though. I did mention previously I was going to get the suspension set up professionally, but I’ve spoken with a couple of companies and while they are happy to have a fiddle, the best results would come with a new rear shock. I have too…

Okay, so I’m dangerously close to getting the little Yamaha twin back on the road but, having come this far, I’m going to do my utmost to ensure everything is as it should be. As mentioned previously, when you’ve invested this much time and effort into getting the power unit sorted it would be churlish to cut corners now. With that in mind the carburettors are going to get a going over as they’ve not been touched in 15 years, the oil-pump still wants to weep, the drive chain needs some TLC and, of course, there’s still the generator to refit and reassemble. PICTURES 1 AND 2 Over on the left-hand side of the motor the ball bearing that sits on the stem of the clutch mushroom has been dropped…

*and FB Marketplace, and Gumtree, and anywhere else we spot something we like… 1991 Honda CBR1000F Asking: £750 Ballistic sofa anyone? I’ve always been partial to a CBR1000F, though back in the 90s I preferred my ZZ-R1100’s sledgehammer motor and eagerness to pull wheelies. The Honda was always more comfortable than the Kwak, which, along with its smooth engine and wafty suspension, made it the bike to beat for mile-munching. Handling’s a bit bus-like, but modern rubber makes a big difference. This one’s a bit scabby round the edges, especially the rear wheel, plus it’s been off the road a while and has a leaky carb which will need a strip and rebuild, but what do you expect for 750 notes? You might have trouble finding panniers to fit those Krauser…

CHOOSE WHICH CMM SUBSCRIPTION SUITS YOU BEST 1: 12-MONTH SUBSCRIPTION BEST VALUE 12 print issues for £47 Direct Debit 12 print issues for £52 credit/debit card SAVE £15.40 2: SIX-MONTH SUBSCRIPTION 6 print issues for £25 Direct Debit 6 print issues for £27 credit/debit card SAVE £6.20 WHAT OUR READERS SAY ABOUT CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS CMM is the ‘go-to’ magazine for sensible restoration advice. BRIAN HERRON The magazine covers a shrinking, niche area of interest perfectly. ALAN BROWN A valuable asset to the classic rider, restorer and enthusiast. SIMON ROSE WHY YOU SHOULD READ CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS EVERY MONTH >> IF YOU WANT THE BEST IN MODERN CLASSIC MOTORCYCLING, THIS IS IT! >> EACH MONTH YOU’LL GET THE VERY BEST IN PRACTICAL WORKSHOP TIPS AND ADVICE >> READ ABOUT THE…

This 1958 Isle of Man TT race shot is of Ernst Degner, a notable defector to the West in 1961 and winner of Suzuki’s first world championship in 1962. Degner’s defection meant that MZ’s expertise with racing two-strokes went to the west with him, although it would be Suzuki that would benefit just one year later with the 50cc World Championship. We love the setting of this shot – and many others like it – that we have in our archive. It is on the right-hander in Onchan Village opposite the Manx Arms Hotel on the Clypse Course which was used between 1954 and 1959. It clearly shows The Blue Dragon Café, a vantage point that was clearly a popular one over the years. In every shot you’ll see a…

A rare ‘low-number’ Kawasaki Z1 was the highlight of seven 903cc fours that went under the hammer by Iconic Auctions in April. The so-called ‘press bikes’ were produced by Kawasaki to promote the coming launch of its answer to Honda’s CB750 in the summer of 1972. Ten machines were made, with the first off the line number 90001 later appearing at the Earls Court Show in September that year. According to Kawasaki expert Rick Brett, that machine remains in the UK along with 90002. The bike auctioned at the Shuttleworth Museum came with VIN 90009 and had been shipped to Norway in late 1972 by importer Ter-Rek AS. The importer later went bust and the bike found its way to the UK to be restored by Mike Hunnisett. Mark Bryan…

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! Simon Hubbard says: “This is a 1972, bike mad (following a summer of illegal Ariel Arrow riding) 17-year-old me who wanted to exceed the 23mph my Honda P50 would do. A schoolmate said he knew where a Honda has been abandoned on a council estate in Colchester. £50 of hard-earned cash later his mother had sold it to me. It was all mine, a 1967 Honda CB72 250, whatever that was. Complete with a dented tank, huge red-and-white chequered mud flaps front and rear, and megaphone ‘silencers’ which made your ears bleed.…

“I first laid eyes on this bike when my long-term mate Paul rode back from the showroom after picking it up and I knew then that I just had to have the bike. I said to my neighbour if you ever wanted to sell this bike let me know and I’d have it. Which he did and the Thundercat has been in my custody for over 20 years and I’ll never part with it. I have known the bike from day one and I absolutely love it, it’s just like a comfortable pair of slippers and does everything I need it to. I have it regularly maintained and serviced even though one year I’m ashamed to admit I only managed to cover 32 miles due to work and off-road racing commitments. I…

Over the last few weeks, in between work done around the house (I can’t work on motorbikes ALL the time!) I have managed to get the wheels on and aligned with two long, straight edges, footrest assemblies and other bits and bobs (Photo 1). I now turn my attention to the complete electrical system and I have set up some temporary tables to give me some room to do this properly. Every item will be assessed and repaired as needed, to make sure I will have no problems in the future. Generator I removed the old cable sheath and plastic connector; there was no visual damage, so then I did a multimeter check and Insulation test 2 (Photo 2)using a Megger on the whole assembly. All was good. I was…

POWERVALVES Suzuki’s powervalve system (Automatic Exhaust Timing Control) uses ‘guillotine’ blades to open and close the exhaust ports. The three-stage system on the VJ22 saw an increase in complexity and parts, and the maintenance and set up of these systems became more problematic. Issues can end up with a catastrophic failure and associated rebuild costs. So check with the owner you’re buying from as to what work has happened and when. Regular maintenance is key here and more robust valves are now available which helps. SUSPENSION VJ22s had more developed suspension over previous models. In came a fully adjustable shock and 41mm inverted forks with pre-load adjustment. SP models had fully adjustable front and rear. By now, all suspension would need a good rework. Thankfully, as these were popular racers,…

Over the last three decades in pursuit of putting bread on the Redmond table I’ve bought, sold and broken pretty much every model from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Everything from breaking a Honda RC30 when prices were low (and everyone wanted a FireBlade instead) to working out where to start dismantling a Honda GL1100 Gold Wing – a job made tougher because it was way too heavy for my bike bench. When another trader tempted me with a Gilera Nordwest 600 I wasn’t overly excited. Not wishing to offend the Latin quarter that read this magazine, but Italian motorcycles aren’t something that get me hot under the collar. In fact, editor Bertie reckons this was also known as a ‘journalist’ bike. He knew of four bike scribblers who had…

Those with long memories (well, back-end of 2022, November issue) may recall that I bought my mate’s 2002 Triumph Speed Triple called Doris. It’s fair to say I felt duty-bound to buy her, as I’d complimented owner/friend Cliff Williams on her enough times when we’d been out for rides together. And, after all, I’d always had a soft spot for all Triumph Speed Triples and this 955i model most of all. I love ‘em. To recap, Doris is a 2002 Triumph Speed Triple which Cliff had owned since 2005, bought from Windy Corner Motorcycles. She appeared in the July 2017 issue where Cliff took her through Wales. All told she had almost 70,000 miles on the clocks and he offered her to me for a nice and cheap grand: lovely.…

Everyone is excited about the latest retro machine – Yamaha’s XSR900 GP. The good news is that CMM were invited on the launch by Yamaha, so we sent over one Niall Mackenzie to ride the bike. He rode a Marlboro Yamaha in 1989… His report will be in the next issue. But – interest in the bike is already going crazy. Check out these replicas… It seems that people are already offering body kits/paintwork to copy a range of historic Yams – including the FZ range and RDs. We love it!…

The ‘modern classic’ era of the super-sport class dawned with the arrival of Kawasaki’s GPZ600R back in 1985. From then on, the capacity segment was a succession of new models, most notably with the arrival of the Yamaha FZ600 in 1986 and Honda’s CBR600F in 1987. As the 1980s rolled into the 1990s, in the UK at least, the sports-bike was king and the super-sports 600 class was very popular both out on track and in the showrooms. On the road, the sports 600 was often the first ‘big’ bike that riders owned post-test. On the track the Honda CBR600 one-make series was very popular and the Supersport 600 class was also a big thing, seeing Yamaha and Honda battle it out for supremacy. By the mid-1990s new models came every…

Acouple of months ago I received an email virtually begging me to sort out a wrecked modern-classic pocket rocket, a four-cylinder quarter-litre machine which redlines around 19,000rpm… The owner of this Honda CBR250R MC19 had taken it to a local bike shop for an MoT and it was failed on a ‘flickering headlight’. The tester informed her that her bike’s wiring loom was shot and given it was a fairly rare grey import, getting a new one would be impossible, but he could make her a new one. She agreed and he readily pulled the loom apart and made a small start of taping a few bits of wire to a board. She kept asking when it would be finished and it was always ‘soon’ until he announced that the…

The VJ22 version of Suzuki’s seminal RGV series was the longest in production and came to the UK for around five years, so you should see more of these around than the other versions. For some that’s a bad thing – but we say ‘not so’. Many VJ22s were raced, meaning there are lots of parts out there and plenty of expertise – even if you want to keep the bike standard, which we would suggest. If we come straight in with prices, we suggest you sit down right now. Long-gone are the days of finding a rough one for a grand. Today, rough ones start at about £3-£4000. Nice VJ22s are going to be north of £5000 now and low-milers up to £8-£10,000. Dealer bikes with low miles (and…

Pic 1: A few aluminium parts after being given the treatment at Ribble Tech. Couple of small cracks in one of the crankcase mounting lugs, otherwise not too bad at all… seen worse! I’ve spent a heap of time looking and laughing at old pictures of bikes that various mates built, owned (no HP, cash was king), rode, crashed, thrashed, and then rebuilt all over again. This process meant that some of these bikes took on unique personalities. We had Bazil the Bonneville (NCB 616 1961 Bonnie), and Dave Parry had his psychedelic Wobble Wheel. Wobble Wheel was a sprung hub Triumph hailing from the early 1950s. This enabled Triumph to list a bike with rear suspension by substituting a (frankly, bizarre) back wheel that incorporated springs, bearings and much…

‘ Eventually it will have to stop, won’t it?’ I pondered… Was I thinking about the earth orbiting the sun, or Cliff Richard releasing songs at Christmas? Or, was it the never-ending capacity of my beloved Ducati Monster S2R 800 to demand new and expensive parts to keep it functional? As this is CMM and not Astronomy Today or the Cliff Richard fan club fanzine, you can probably guess… Buying a secondhand bike with no provenance always has the potential to do this: it’s not simply a Ducati thing. The bike had been laid up for six years when I bought it, and came accompanied by no service books or other history at all. If you have read and remember parts one and two, you will know the bike has already…