Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2021 i Classic Bike Guide

Mods and rockers create a spark A couple of local chaps organised a Mods and rockers ride out from Fakenham to Wells next the Sea in Norfolk, so I decided to take the BSA A10 for a spin as it was a nice day. I met up with my old mate Cecil on his Vespa and lots of nice scooters, Harleys and bikes of varying shapes and sizes made it to the Wells football club where a cup of tea and a chin wag was duly held. As I was on a short leash, I had to leave early but the old bike would not start, even with an embarrassing and sweaty push around the pitch with a lot of onlookers feeling my pain! Fortunately I carried a spare set…

IT’S A GIVEN THAT THE TRITON HAS SPAWNED MANY Brit Specials, none more so than the TriBSA. Perhaps not as iconic, the TriBSA has, however, remained a popular choice with bike builders. For the purpose of this feature, we can also generalise that the TriBSA can be split into two distinct camps: the original café racer concept (see ‘The Triton Influence’ inset) or the more classic-styled version featured here. The SCMC (Scottish Classic Motorcycle Club) is fortunate to have two TriBSAs within its rank and file (plus several gorgeous Tritons), and member Ian Muir’s immaculate example pictured hereabouts slots nicely into the aforementioned classic category – as I’m sure readers will agree. When admiring Ian’s lovely A10 at a local classic gathering, to my embarrassment I somehow failed to spot…

ENGINE: OHV parallel twin BORE AND STROKE: 71x82mm CAPACITY: 649cc COMPRESSION RATIO: 9:1 CARBS: Twin Amal Monobloc POWER: 54bhp@7200rpm IGNITION: Twin coil Lucas with twin points ELECTRICAL: Lucas 100w 12v alternator TRANSMISSION: Chain primary drive, four-speed gearbox, wet multi-plate clutch FRAME: Manx Norton racing frame SUSPENSION: Manx Norton forks with Girlng shocks WEIGHT: 330lb/150kg (dry) WHEELBASE: 54in/1360mm OVERALL HEIGHT: 40in/724mm BRAKES: Front TLS Triumph in Fahron drum; rear Norton SLS WHEELS/TYRES: 4.10 x 19in, front and rear.…

WELCOME TO THE Japanese classic bike guide! No doubt many readers grew up with Japanese bikes, just as earlier generations spent their formative riding years on British machines. They felt familiar, were reliable and gave us what we wanted. Now, as classics, they offer all those benefits and so much more. The excellent Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club (vjmc.com) and the numerous superb marque clubs are all really helpful, there are more specialists making new parts and some new-old-stock (NOS) parts are still turning up! You’ll have to be creative with some parts thin on the ground, like rotten exhausts or bodywork panels, and the Japanese manufacturers had a habit of changing details every year or so – so you need to do your homework, but they use metric fasteners and…

Arguably, KHI (Kawasaki Heavy Industries) never really needed to even make motorcycles, yet they chose to do so. Allegedly the engineering giant wanted to get its name out in the public domain and with spare manufacturing capacity within its aircraft division, it decided to diversify into bikes. From humble two-stroke singles, BSA A7 copies via buying the Meguro brand, through disc-valved two-stroke twins, the legendary triples to the benchmark DOHC fours and beyond; Kawasaki has consistently delivered fast, eye-catching machinery. Keenly branded and aware of its target markets, Kawasaki has consistently moved with the times and often been ahead of the game. Having established itself on the scene with its pre-eminent triples, the company strangely chose to first marginalise and then axe their most successful models, as environmental concerns saw…

In an ideal world, the chassis parts of the AS1 would be painted semi-satin cum semi-gloss black two-pack paint, but that’s not happening on this project. Due to the myriad of corrosion spots, the scabby nature of the swinging arm, the rough-asa-badger’s-derriere footrest bar and all the other countless flaws, we’re going down the power coating route. I know it’s not ‘authentic’ but I’m really not too bothered as I’m rescuing an old wreck from the scrapyard rather than building a potential show winner. Yes, I could get the frame blasted and spend countless hours filling in all the nicks and dinks, then rubbing down, priming, re-sanding, undercoating, top-coating and the like but I’ve neither the time, the resource or, truth be told, the patience. Powder coating has come a…

Just from the poses, you can tell these people are unsure of what exactly is going on. The image is from 1924, a time when both photography and motorcycles were quite something to see – especially two British fellows in Poland. Teachers Mr Pratt and Mr Armstrong decided to see if they could get to Moscow in their outfit, carrying all they may need with them. After much trouble convincing the Russian consulate in London that they meant only to see Russia through sheer fascination, their Matchless carried them through Belgium, France, Switzerland and Czecho-Slovakia to Poland, where this photo was taken. Later they successfully got to Moscow, the RAC giving good advice on roads, but little was known about what they would find in Russia. The chaps discovered that…

Fancy going along to the NEC to see this great event and inspect a host of classics, plus the latest metal, up close? Well maybe you can. We’ve got 10 pairs of tickets which must be won. There are no tricky questions (as much as we were tempted to) or complicated entry process, to stand a chance simply visit our website (WWW.CLASSICBIKEGUIDE.COM/WIN), fill in your details before midnight on November 12 and wait to see if you are one of the randomly picked lucky winners. Please visit www.mortons.co.uk/privacy to see how MMG will handle your data. Good luck!…

The team at Oxford Products are continuing their efforts to beat the bike thieves with a new Diamond Sold Secure rated Beast lock. The £149.99 lock should be enough to give the most determined thief pause for thought. It has been designed so that the 30mm hardened locking pin resists angle grinder attack, and the ball bearing locking mechanism makes it tough to pick. The Beast weighs a hefty 3.6kg. Equally heavy duty is 12-15kg Beast chain with 22mm links (£149.99-£214.99) Oxford claims it would not be out of place on a ship’s anchor. There is also a new ground anchor (£99.99), while there is also a floor mounted pin to slot the Beast lock straight on to at £89.99. As well as being tested against tools, grinders et al,…

The ‘Lost Ogris’ are finally available in one bumper edition. Ogri was as close as you’ll get to a British superhero, and rode a Norvin, no less. Ogri ran in Bike magazine from 1972 as well as in Back Street Heroes and even, briefly, on the hallowed pages of the Daily Telegraph. In 2017, just as a special volume of the complete scripts was nearing completion, legendary comic artist and Ogri creator Paul Sample happened upon a last, almost forgotten portfolio of 102 original strips, including the last two, neither of which were published. These strips have now been collected into a full colour collection, all scanned directly from the original artworks. The new book OGRI – ORIGINAL AND BEST costs £15 and is available by visiting WWW.OGRI-BOOK.CO.UK where you…

At the 1965 Barcelona 24 Hours race, club racer Dave Degens snatched fame and victory on a home-built Norton Featherbed Special. Powered by a Triumph pre-unit T120 engine, his inspired special continued to beat the top factory teams at their own game, catapulting the Triton onto the world stage. Hailed as one of the best-looking specials ever created, the concept was quickly copied by garden shed builders throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Triton Specials (good and bad) began to appear at pub and cafe car parks up and down the country. Although not quite as common, the TriBSA Special soon followed and gained similar popularity as another facet of the Triton genre. Successful aftermarket specialists such as Dresda, Unity Equipe and John Tickle Racing Equipment flourished by developing products for…

When Oregon-based PABATCO (Pacific Basin Trading Company) were looking to expand their portfolio beyond agricultural products, motorcycles were immediately on the agenda. So, in 1961 they took on the Yamaguchi franchise, one of Japan’s oldest brands. That all went well until Yamaguchi folded in 1963. With a ready market but no product, PABATCO turned to Hodaka who had made the last engines for Yamaguchi. Working together, the two trans-Pacific organisations turned out a range of trail and off-road machinery based around well-engineered two-stroke singles. Strong marketing saw machines from 90cc-250cc successfully sold across the US with arguably some of the finest model names ever coined. Road Toad, Super Rat, Dirt Squirt and Combat Wombat were all pivotal models to this unique brand. A rising yen and falling dollar ultimately saw…

From weaving loom manufacturers to becoming world champions at multidisciplinary two-wheeled sport is no mean achievement. Like many of their peers, Suzuki were arch proponents of the two-stroke but their ‘acquisition’ of ex-MZ racer Ernst Degner gave the company a vital edge that put them centre stage of the GP scene. This success boosted the brand image immeasurably and saw the launch of the hugely successful T, GT and TS families. The subsequent and expensive blind alley that was the RE-5 rotary almost took Suzuki under but it came back harder and sharper with its celebrated GS range, which totally rewrote the book on air-cooled four-strokes. And it’s the same range of machines that really took Suzuki to the next level and, arguably, took the brand over and above its…

ENGINE: 853cc air-cooled transverse 90° V-twin, two valves per cylinder BORE AND STROKE: 84 x 77mm POWER: 65hp (47.8 kW) – 6800rpm (also available at 35 kW, A2 driver licence) version MAXIMUM TORQUE: 53.84lb-ft (73Nm) @ 5000 rpm CONSUMPTION: 57.65mpg GEARBOX: Six-speed FUEL TANK: 21l SEAT HEIGHT: 780mm DRY WEIGHT: 203kg FRONT SUSPENSION: 40mm hydraulic telescopic fork REAR SUSPENSION: Swingarm twin-sided with two spring preload adjustable shock absorbers FRONT WHEEL: Spoked, 18in 100/90 REAR WHEEL: Spoked, 17in 150/70 FRONT BRAKE: Stainless steel 320mm floating disc four-piston Brembo caliper REAR BRAKE: 260mm stainless steel disc 260mm two-piston caliper.…

RIVETS HELD STEEL TOGETHER FOR much of the Industrial Revolution and beyond, but until the middle of the 19th century, manufacturers of metal things who wished for them to come apart would make the threads for the fasteners that held them all together to their own specifications. If you needed a replacement, you had to go back to the original manufacturer and ask them to make one. Then, in 1841, Sir Joseph Whitworth proposed the world’s first standardised thread on a nut and bolt. After adoption by the nation’s railway companies – the largest industry at that time – the 55-degree angle, or pitch, thread with a curved edge and root-on bolts were named after him – and British Standard Whitworth was born. Such standardisation didn’t last forever. Now there…

It’s the one Japanese firm that really requires little introduction. The brainchild of Soichiro Honda, the firm was jointly masterminded by him and his right-hand, Takeo Fujisawa, who added the financial acumen to Soichiro’s mechanical genius. From humble commuter machinery to the world’s first superbike, Honda led the way while others followed. The sale of 50cc step-throughs funded the firm’s early racing and the knowledge thus acquired was fed back to both the R&D teams and the shop floor. Totally unafraid to challenge the norms, be it number of engine layouts, method of cam drive, suspension systems or established machine shop practices, Honda effectively pioneered modern working practices for the manufacturing industry. Sometimes Honda is accused of making bland machines; effective yet insipid, but this misses the point entirely. The…

From humble origins as a musical instrument manufacturer, Yamaha chose to base its range upon two iconic German machines, the DKW RT125 and the Adler MB250; shrewd moves that catapulted Yamaha into the limelight. From the earliest days, they challenged Honda for supremacy. Formerly overtly two-stroke focussed, Yamaha have successfully worked with automotive giants such as Toyota and Porsche to gain expertise that wasn’t necessarily in-house when needed. Always risk-takers, Yamaha have never shirked from gambling on controversial ideas. Some have paid off – XS650 parallel twins and water-cooled stroker LC twins – while others have bombed spectacularly – XZ550 water-cooled V-twin and TX750 parallel twin. Perpetually keen on bucking trends, Yamaha offer a different approach to many challenges. From feisty small strokers through to massive air-cooled fours, the tuning…

O OOH, IT’S BEEN A MESSY FEW days in that there workshop at the bottom of the garden – and on several occasions I’ve exited looking like a demented, dirt-encrusted hobgoblin. Why, you ask? Because I have been fighting with a veritable raft of fixtures and fittings originally supplied by Messrs Yamaha & Co, but latterly furnished by sensible folk who saw fit to offload their old tat onto a naïve punter, i.e., me. In reality, I still don’t regret buying the numerous boxes of sundry Yamaha ephemera, as the haul has divided up some really useful stuff for this project, and for mates’ bikes, too. However, what I do regret – and still rue to this day – was the decision to strip my mouldering AS1 down and lump…