Innholdsfortegnelse for September - October 2018 i Motorcycle Classics

The enduring appeal of Honda’s small off-highway motorcycles stems from two factors: America’s passion for playing in the dirt; and the remarkable versatility of the Honda Cub. The story goes that in 1960, a single Honda shop in Boise, Idaho, was selling more Cubs than the entire dealer network in the Los Angeles, California, area. Honda distributor Jack McCormack discovered that the dealer was fitting trials tires on his C100s and reducing the gearing to suit offroad use. McCormack sent an example to Japan and the factory responded with the 1961 C100H “Hunter Cub” — although it was little more than a 50cc C100 Cub with the bodywork and front fender removed, and with offroad tires and a larger rear sprocket. Honda got serious in 1964, introducing the CT200 with…

Colin Seeley at Barber The 14th Annual Barber Vintage Festival, the largest vintage motorcycle event in North America and attended by 70,000-plus enthusiasts in 2017, happens Oct. 5-7, 2018, at Barber Motorsports Park outside Birmingham, Alabama, with famed British builder Colin Seeley this year’s Grand Marshal. A successful AJS dealer, Seeley raced sidecars in the late ’50s and early ’60s before moving into frame building. A huge fan of then-popular British singles, he bought all the tooling and spares for the overhead cam Matchless 350cc and 500cc singles (and the Norton Manx; he later sold those rights) after AMC closed its race shops in 1963. He started producing complete bikes in 1966, and his Seeley specials represented the very best in handling and were raced at tracks across the U.K.,…

Two hipster skateboarders interrupt their “kick turns” with a “tail stop” as they sight something they’ve never seen before. The setting is the crowded, semi-industrial neighborhood South of Market in San Francisco, California, a city that has had a reputation of “anything goes” since the end of World War II. In this area street-skaters are as welcome as collectors of vintage motorcycles, so it’s not unusual to see both on the street at the same time. However, today is different. The sight is a genuine Grand Prix winner being pushed across a pedestrian crossing. The skaters reverently place their boards under their arms and a meeting of two subcultures takes place. Later, the man with the Grand Prix 250cc machine that won last year’s Quail Motorcycle Gathering explains: “Of course…

Rollie Free’s capture of the “world’s fastest production motorcycle” record in 1948 on a tuned Series B Black Shadow led directly to Vincent marketing a racer of similar specification to Free’s machine: the Series C Black Lightning. This Vincent Black Lightning — frame no. RC3548, engine no. F10AB/1C/1648 — was the second one built, completed in January 1949. It was ordered for Hans Stärkle, a rider for the NSU works team, during the Earls Court Motorcycle Show in October 1948, where the first Black Lightning was displayed on the Vincent Stand. Stärkle, who had already won three European Championships for NSU, raced RC3548 in the Unlimited Class with a sidecar attached. The Black Lightning was sold in May 1952 to a Mr. Amrein of Basel, Switzerland. Amrein rode the Lightning…

Thanks to a gas-guzzling pickup truck, Josh Withers discovered motorcycles. “I didn’t need to drive the truck all the time,” he says, “so I wanted to get a motorcycle, something a bit more economical to get around on.” In 1998, Josh picked up a ratty Yamaha Virago, which he rode for five or six months before he traded it and $50 cash for a mint Kawasaki 440 LTD. A variety of machines followed, but for Josh, one thing always remained the same — he liked to add a few custom touches. A different set of signal lights, a different handlebar or a different seat, just something to set his bike apart from all the others. It was that attitude that eventually led him to vintage BMWs. “I was going to…

It makes sense that a motorcycle designed to stimulate adrenaline and invite bad decisions has the same power when broken down and parked in a barn. My first glimpse of a Kawasaki triple came in A Century of Japanese Motorcycles by Didier Ganneau and Francoise-Marie Dumas. The triple shown on Page 96 disengaged my frontal lobe and raised hairs on my arm just looking at it. The third pipe was a middle finger to the EPA, your parents, Ralph Nader or anybody else trying to keep you down. While Honda wanted to grow the U.S. market with easy-riding bikes with push-button starting, Kawasaki just wanted to dominate anything unlucky enough to line up next to it. Before anyone cared about emissions standards or product liability, a large 2-stroke street bike…

Charging systems improved markedly in the 1970s, both in terms of output and component quality. But age isn’t always kind, and 40 years later, many of those systems are experiencing their share of issues. Burnt or corroded contacts in the charging system wiring are something of a silent killer, creating resistance that heats up the wiring, often leading to stator failure. That was the case with our subject 1977 Suzuki GS750, which was suffering from low voltage output from the stator to the rectifier/regulator. One of the stator’s three output lines was badly burnt at its connector. The rectifier and voltage regulator were working properly, but there wasn’t enough voltage output to keep the battery properly charged. The problem most likely started with mild corrosion, then as resistance built and…

I grew up in New Jersey, and I’ll confess: I forgot just how great the riding can be on the East Coast. When I was a teenager, my favorite motorcycle ride was New Jersey’s CR 518 to New Hope, Pennsylvania, and on a recent visit to the Garden State I made that ride again. The ride and the destination are as grand today as they were 50 years ago. The speeds along this scenic stretch rarely exceed 50mph, and anything from a 250cc bike on up will work just fine. County Route 518 is a bucolic 20-mile New Jersey road that runs from Franklin Township in central New Jersey (where CR 518 intersects with SR 27, near Princeton) to Lambertville. County Route 518 ends at the edge of the mighty…

Proving their popularity when new, used Honda CT90s are still thick on the ground today, and they’re still fairly affordable. We looked at the mountain states markets first, knowing their popularity there, but the best — and best priced —examples we found were on the West Coast. Project and/or parts bikes are typically listing in the $250-$400 range, but that seems money poorly spent when fully functional machines are listing for as little as $600. The most expensive CT90 we found had an asking price of $2,250, and the most interesting listing was for a “restored” 1971 model. Interesting because not only was it not restored, it was missing its seat. Go figure. We found this 1969 CT90 on Craigslist in Seattle, Washington, where it was posted for $1,350, an…

In the late 1950s Triumph was one of the most popular brands in America. For that reason alone it makes sense that a Triumph would have captured Gary Athey’s attention, but it was his choice of model that proves interesting. “I grew up near Green Bay, Wisconsin, and was riding when Triumphs, BSAs, Nortons, Harleys and Indians were popular,” Gary explains. “All of my friends had those bikes, and they were a dime a dozen; you could see them all over the place. No, what I really liked was the look of the bathtub Triumph, and you didn’t see very many of them around.” Styling misfire Triumph’s Edward Turner initiated the design theme of the bathtub rear metal enclosure and the deeply valanced front fender. First seen early in 1957…

1957 175cc GS (Gran Sport) This single overhead cam, street-legal racer was designed for the Formula III series of Italian road races. It is the rarest and fastest 175cc street-legal bike Mondial ever produced. In very good and unrestored condition, it is an authentic Mondial 175 Gran Sport. “All other Mondials I have seen described as 175 Gran Sports are not; they are 175 Sports,” Goldman says. 1951 125cc double overhead cam (Bialbero) Grand Prix Racer This is the actual motorcycle raced by Carlo Ubbiali to win the 125cc Grand Prix World Championship in 1951. It is 100 percent original, unrestored and correct. It was also the Best of Show winner at The Quail Motorcycle Gathering in 2015. Ubbiali was the most successful Grand Prix racer of all time in…

By the mid-1980s, America’s motorcycle community was primed and ready — even love-starved — to host a world championship Grand Prix race. Only one obstacle stood in the way: The U.S. didn’t have a suitable venue at which to stage such an event. To obtain Federation Internationale Motocycliste (FIM) sanction for a world championship race a facility had to conform to a litany of standards including track length and width, adequate runoff room in the event of crashes, emergency response preparedness for injured riders, spacious paddock and enclosed garages for team transporters and race bikes, suitable spectator seating and viewing areas, and more. Few, if any, race tracks in America could fill all those prerequisites, and so for years America’s best road racers ventured overseas if they wanted to become…

When Chief Designer Phil Walker started work on a parallel twin for Britain’s Associated Motor Cycles, he seemed determined to better the competition. By 1949, every major British motorcycle manufacturer had announced a parallel twin, including BSA, Ariel, Norton and Royal Enfield. (Velocette and Vincent, as usual, went their own way.) Edward Turner’s Big Idea had become ubiquitous in the industry, and represented modern thinking and sporting performance. Suddenly, singles and V-twins looked stodgy and dated. Compared with a single-cylinder 4-stroke of the same capacity, power delivery was smoother, thanks to twice the power strokes for the same revs. That also allowed for lighter flywheels, so pickup was faster. Compared with a V-twin, parallel twins were more compact and typically lighter, too. Stylishly late Associated Motor Cycles (AMC), AJS and…

Australia’s biggest vintage motorcycle race festival moved up a gear for its 25th anniversary, Jan. 26-28, 2018. Retired World Superbike heroes Troy Corser and Colin Edwards lined up for their respective teams in the International Challenge showdown between Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. for some spectacular racing, with the Aussies finally winning the trophy back from Team U.K. after three years. The International Challenge is run over four six-lap sprints of Phillip Island’s 2.8-mile, 12-turn MotoGP circuit. The field is dominated by Forgotten Era (pre-1983) machines, but the bike that usually wins is based on Suzuki’s XR69 Formula One racer of the early 1980s. Team U.K. brings out Harris-framed XR69s, mainly powered by Yamaha FJ1200 engines and raced by top U.K. racers like Jeremy McWilliams, Peter Hickman and Michael…

Carburetor jetting Q: I have just acquired a 1976 Suzuki TC185. The bike starts easily and runs, but has some minor problems. It has a 71.5 main jet, but my manual says it needs a 130 main, so now I doubt any of the jets are correct. What is the correct carburetor setup for this TC185? I can’t find any information, much less the parts. So far I’ve cleaned the carb, the air filter, the gas tank and the spark arrestor. I’ve replaced all the fuel lines and added an inline filter and a new spark plug. As I said, it starts and idles but then gets blubbery, like it’s holding back. I think my top speed might be 30mph with the throttle wide open. I’ve tried the dual-range transmission…

What: New Hope, Pennsylvania, a delightful and historic village on the Delaware River. How to Get There: From central New Jersey, pick up CR 518 and follow it to Lambertville. From anywhere else, find your way to the Delaware River and follow it. Best Kept Secrets: The famous folks who have lived in New Hope and the area’s rich history. I visited the area for years without knowing these things. Knowing this now seems to make the ride even more enjoyable. Avoid: Trying to get a bridge photo while standing in the road (there’s a not-readily-visible police officer above the bridge who will gently correct your errant behavior; don’t ask how I know this). More Photos: californiascooterco.com/blog/?p=28635 More Info: visitpa.com/cities/new-hope…

Rider: Adrian Barb, Downingtown, Pennsylvania Adrian’s story: “I am one of your magazine's subscribers and I have to say that I love it. "A while ago, I stumbled on a rather unique motorcycle, at least for the U.S. It was offered on eBay as an old BMW, but I knew exactly what it was, as I used to have the same one back in Romania when I was in my teens. “It was a 1957 AWO 425 Sport, also known as a Simson Sport. I was surprised to see it on this side of the Atlantic as it was produced in the DDR and offered only to countries in the Eastern Bloc. It is a BMW replica, I would say, which is why it resembles a BMW R25 single. It…

1966-1967 Kawasaki J1TR/TRL 80 Introduced in 1966, the J1TR used a rotary-disc-valve intake system like the Yamaha Trailmaster. This fed the 81.5cc alloy head 2-stroke single, driving an unusual 4-speed transmission, also known as a “rotary shift.” Gear selection went N-1-2-3-4-N, continuously! It was a setup that confused many first-time Kawi pilots. The TR was intended for on/offroad use, though unlike its Honda competition it never acquired dual-range gearing. The engine attached to a pressed-steel spine frame running on 2.5 x 17-inch wheels with a telescopic fork at the front and a spring/damper controlled swingarm at the rear. The TR featured a high-level exhaust, knobby tires, sprung front fender and engine skid plate. Available from 1967 was Kawasaki’s “Superlube” automatic oiling system, adding “L” to the model designation. As well…

A 1913 Flying Merkel Twin won Best of Show at The Quail Motorcycle Gathering, held May 5 at The Quail Lodge in Monterey, California. Wearing the famous orange livery for which Merkels are known, the 1913 twin belonging to Douglas and Marian McKenzie was a standout among the 350 spectacular machines on display for the 10th anniversary of what’s become the most prestigious vintage motorcycle event in the U.S. The Quail showcases some of the most beautiful and historically important motorcycles ever to roll on two wheels, but it’s not just about vintage bikes. This year’s four featured classes included bikes from the private collection of famed builder Arlen Ness, electric motorcycles, vintage and contemporary café racers, and a special nod to the Ducati Monster, now celebrating its 25th year.…

The family firm of Albert John Stevens & Company was founded in 1909 to build and sell complete motorcycles, and to compete in motorcycle racing. With multiple wins including back-to-back victories in the 1921 and 1922 Isle of Man TTs on the famous 350cc “big port” OHV single, AJS motorcycles sold well. But by the end of the 1920s they had, like many other bike makers, overstretched themselves with a wide motorcycle model range and interests in automobile and bus production. And they suffered a common fate in 1931: bankruptcy. In stepped the more cautious Collier Brothers, Harry and Charlie of Matchless Motorcycles, acquiring the AJS company and its assets. But they respected AJS’ racing reputation and cannily preserved the name for racing motorcycles they developed, like the 1935 supercharged…

It’s now exactly 50 years since Honda changed the face of motorcycling forever with the October 1968 unveiling at the Tokyo Show of its 4-cylinder CB750, the first such volume production street bike to be produced anywhere in the world. The arrival four years later of the bigger, faster, 4-cylinder 903cc Kawasaki Z1 meant Honda dealers around the world would have to work a little harder to keep moving the huge number of such bikes they’d become accustomed to selling once CB750 deliveries got properly underway. And nobody tried harder than France’s largest Honda dealer, Paris-based Japauto. Japauto patron Christian Vilaséca was an entrepreneur who, after taking control of his family’s large GM car dealership in 1961, founded Japauto in 1966 to import Honda motor cars. But Vilaséca also planned…

Riding Royal Enfield’s new Himalayan When most of us think of Royal Enfield, we imagine the venerable single-cylinder, overhead-valve Bullet or Classic, somewhat quirky, retro-classic bikes with British roots in the 1950s. Those bikes are still staples in Royal Enfield’s lineup, but the Indian company has been busy the past few years, remaking itself to take advantage of changing markets in the U.S. and its home country and staking its future on dominating the mid-capacity category. 2014 saw the introduction of the café racer Continental GT. RE India’s first sporting single, it boasted a completely new chassis designed by Les Harris in England housing an enlarged, 535cc version of RE’s familiar 500cc overhead valve single. Two years ago, RE pulled the wraps off the Himalayan, a completely new model sharing…

8/31 Back for its 13th year, join us for the fun at the Bonneville Vintage GP, Aug. 31-Sept. 2, at the Utah Motorsports Campus in Tooele, Utah. Triumph and BSA Triples will be the featured marque of the Motorcycle Classics Vintage Motorcycle Show on Saturday, plus trophies in six classes and a People’s Choice award. Sunday will feature a custom bike show. Both days will feature AHRMA racing, along with the CB160 races with Le Mans starts both days. On the web at bonnevillevintagegp.com 9/1 Visit the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine, for the Vintage Motorcycle Festival and Antique Aeroplane Show, Sept. 1-2. Owners of pre-1998 motorcycles are encouraged to exhibit and will be admitted free of charge. In 2017 the show attracted more than 400 exhibitors throughout the…

Forget about traction control and other electronic doodads on today’s high-tech MotoGP race bikes. When 2-stroke engines ruled the roost in world championship competition 30-some years ago, GP racers relied on disciplined throttle hands and deft clutch hands to manage power output from their bikes; when the green flag dropped, wheelies were to be avoided at all costs. However, wheelies were welcomed at the annual Laguna Seca AMA National, held mid-summer. Prior to the glory years of the USGP at Laguna Seca, the AMA National served as a summer break of sorts for American GP racers from their hectic European schedules. Initially, factory riders Kenny Roberts (Yamaha) and Randy Mamola (Suzuki) headlined the Laguna Seca marquee, showing up on year-old GP bikes. They were eventually joined by Freddie Spencer (Honda)…