Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2022 i Classic Bike Guide

FIRSTLY, MAY WE WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY New Year from the Classic Bike Guide gang! We hope you all stayed well, got what you wished for, and enjoyed some quality time. I was most lucky, with Father Christmas bringing me a new helmet to match the R100RS! Many find the New Year a great time for reflection. But with young’uns, this reflection time was dominated by Lego and a new fascination – model railways! For us mere adults, this year needs to see a clear-out, so we can concentrate on a few machines, as well as riding more. Starting with great intentions, unusually warm weather saw the bikes pushed into service; Maria on the B31, Maria’s dad, Butch, on his Honda, Uncle John on his Royal Enfield Interceptor (5300…

January 29/30 The Manchester Bike Show: Now in its ninth year, the show will include 2022 models from the dealers and manufacturers. The event also features a stunning display of 500-plus modern, racing, classic, custom, off-road, and streetfighter machines from clubs and private individuals, along with thrilling stunt shows, live music, a live music stage, and arena with commentator. EventCity, Phoenix Way, off Barton Dock Road, Manchester M41 7TB. Visit www.manchesterbikeshow.com 30 ‘Normous Newark Autojumble: Newark Showground, Drove Lane, Winthorpe, Newark, Nottinghamshire NG24 2NY. February 4 MARCH EDITION OF THE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE OUT TODAY 5 OLD BIKE MART OUT TODAY 5 Rufforth Autojumble: Rufforth Park Ltd, Wetherby Road, Rufforth, York YO23 3QH. Admission £2. 7 FEBRUARY EDITION OF REAL CLASSIC 11-13 London Motorcycle Show: ExCeL London, Royal Victoria Dock, 1…

THE SWORD KNOWN AS THE KATANA IS regarded in Japan as not just a weapon, but also as a work of art. The single-edged blade was first created in the 14th century, when traditional Tachi swords, which were longer, were cut down to make them easier to handle in combat. The Katana was not used as a primary weapon in battle, but rather as a close-quarter blade. It’s probably something to do with being a bit of a fan of science fiction, but the look of the Suzuki Katana has always appealed to me, especially the really big one. It’s also always been beyond my reach financially. Katanas were not cheap when they were new and they aren’t cheap now, either. So, given the opportunity to actually try a virtually…

IF YOU USE THE WORDS ‘JAPANESE’ AND ‘motorcycles’ in the same sentence, chances are many classic enthusiasts will be visualising either large air-cooled four-cylinders or frenetic, smoking two-strokes. And even if that genuinely is the major part of the picture, it’s empathically not a complete image by any means. Sometimes in your face but more often tucked away in dusty, rarely visited alcoves of the Japanese History of Motorcycles, there are numerous examples of the lusty four-stroke parallel twin. Some are almost blatant copies of British machines, others are sport considered revisions, and a few are very obviously contemporary Japanese in the concept. One or two demonstrate amazing left-field thinking. Almost without exception, the end products were – or have been – variously mocked, vilified criticised, and/or derided. Some, arguably,…

“In 1964 this rather special competition machine, with Jeff Smith on board, won the World Motocross Championship in considerable style, winning seven of 14 races and coming second in another six, with one third place, thanks to his suffering a puncture.” The BSA unit singles replaced the venerable B31/33 pre-unit singles and were developed not from a BSA at all, but from Triumph’s successful Tiger Cub, which in turn had been developed from the 150cc Terrier. By redeveloping the Triumph’s bottom end and making the cylinder upright rather than at a slant, the Tiger Cub concept became the utilitarian 249cc C15, a compact and useful – if uninspiring – mount that was BSA’s first four-stroke unit model, replacing the heavy and pedestrian C11. The lightweight 15bhp C15 was developed into…

IF YOU’RE READING THIS, THEN HURRAH! WE HAVE helped yet another dear soul delve into the wonderful world that is old bikes. May your lights forever be bright and your magneto forever spark. But we want you to enjoy this escapade, so have a read below. It does involve some questions you need to ask yourself, as well as some home truths. But honesty will bring more fun and avoid most pitfalls. WHAT IS IT THAT YOU REALLY WANT? Many of your answers could come from a retro classic, like the Bonneville range from Triumph, the Royal Enfield Intercepter 650, or a Moto Guzzi V7. They offer all the looks with most of the feeling, yet most of the time better performance, better brakes, and much, much better reliability. They…

■ I don’t think anyone saw… The London to Land’s End trial first began as a reliability trial in 1908. It has been held every year since, with only two wars halting proceedings – and we see here, in 1926, how popular it was as a spectator event. The unfortunate rider has possibly given the machine’s (not sure what) all to get up the incline, only to run wide on the hairpin... in front of the entire local population! And notice how everyone is wearing a hat. It still runs every Easter, and several of the trails are the same as those used originally. For more information, see www. themotorcyclingclub.org.uk/the-lands-end-trial/ MORTONS ARCHIVE over a century of motorcycle memories Tel: 01507 529423 www.mortonsarchive.com…

WORD GOT OUT THAT NEW ZEALAND’S iconic Brass Monkey winter rally would reach its final 40th run this year. One could call this event the equivalent of the famous German Elephant Rally, but based in the Southern Hemisphere. Despite this, declining attendance numbers, high compliance costs and the original founders not getting any younger saw the organisers calling it quits. The first rally attracted 350 faithful patrons, with attendance peaking to 5000 in 1990 and levelling to 1050 in 2018. I always thought about one day doing the Monkey and 2021 would be the year, for its final swansong. I set off from the South Island’s city of Christchurch on Friday, June 4 for the first 300km (186 miles), heading south. The sun was shining for about the first 10…

Kawasaki GPz 1100 In 1981, Kawasaki took its by now venerable big four and punched it out another 75cc to create the GPz1100, a giant that summed up the early 1980s. Big and brutal in every respect, the first one was simply a beefed-up version of the Z1000, and the important thing seemed to be to make it faster, and not try to cope with any extra power. The bore was increased by 2.5mm, there were bigger valves and more compression, and intermittently successful fuel injection increased power from a lighter crank. Kawasaki was finally confident enough to drop the kick-start, and the frame was strengthened with bracings but made of thinner walled tube to keep the weight down. The engine was slightly rubber-mounted with a single mount at the…

THE FIRST BSA VICTOR SOLD WELL in the USA and Canada when it launched in 1966, where a stinky two-stroke Japanese, Spanish, or Swedish middleweight wasn’t considered as robust as a mighty British four-stroke single – especially if you wanted something to power up mountains or trek across vast deserts, probably with a spare fuel can strapped on somewhere. A lot of these Victors are now finding their way back over the water, and some of them come here in almost untouched original condition, like this 1967 Victor. I have a feeling that the reason why these Victors come back in such original spec with next to no miles on the clock is because they were toys, bought for summer weekend trips on the trail of the lonesome pine. Starting…

I RECENTLY HAD A TRIUMPH 500 IN THE workshop and took the head and barrels off for a couple of jobs. Afterwards, I had refitted the barrels to the bottom end and was doing a dry build of the head assembly to try and get a desired amount of crush on the pushrod seals for an oil-free fit – hopefully without having to play about with seal sizes. A slightly thicker head gasket was more desirable than the one that came with the top-end gasket set; 500 Triumph gaskets apparently come in two thicknesses, but I had a root about in my box of new unused Triumph gaskets and came up with a few more copper head gaskets of a range of thicknesses. A bit of a measure of thicknesses…

Matt has hankered after a BMW R100RS for years. When first seen in 1976, the German ‘sportsbike’ was the most powerful of the boxers, with 70bhp and a 125mph top speed. It was the first motorcycle to be designed by a designer (Hans Muth, of Suzuki Katana fame) and not an engineer, and featured the first full fairing designed in a wind tunnel to prevent the front lifting at high autobahn speeds (the Vincent Black Prince and the Aerial Leader came before, but cannot really be described as a full fairing in the modern sense). The combination of a classic sportsbike that you can comfortably ride all day, every day, that is a quality machine, easy to work on, which has parts available, and is a genuine classic was too…

In that strange but true way, the little machine was dragged from the canal the following morning, as reported by the police, who were as mystified as I by the fact that the steering lock was still locked ONE OF MY VERY FAVOURITE descriptions of a bike offered for sale is ‘rolling restoration’. I’m unsure when the phrase first appeared, which is probably a good thing, but I can recognise the point at which all of the bikes I owned and rode were in fact rolling; in that they were rideable, if not road legal, restorations and that they needed to be endlessly repaired to keep them going. By 1976 I had become disenchanted with the relentless entertainment offered by creative motorcycle failures and bought the best bike I could…

The accidental Triumph It is surprising how many classic motorcycles get bought by accident. It’s happened to so many people that one may consider it a trend. An example is this machine John Foster bought by ‘accident’, which started life as a 1961 Triumph 3TA. He explains: “I’d put a silly bid on it when I spotted it on eBay one night and then forgot I’d done so. It was only when I got an email that I realised I’d won it.” After a long drive to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk and exchanging the princely sum of £1500, John was the proud owner of very careworn but complete Triumph 350 twin, complete with ‘Roman centurion’s helmet’ front mudguard, original headlamp nacelle, and the bathtub rear end. “It looked a…

The David Silver Honda Collection has reopened its doors for the first time in almost two years. The collection contains more than 200 different models produced by Honda from 1947 to 1992, from the very first Honda model, the 1947 A-type, to the 1992 NR750 and CBR900RR Fireblade, all displayed over two floors. As well as the classic Hondas on display, there is a 100-metre Honda timeline display, providing a year-by-year history of Honda motorcycles. In addition, TV monitors show videos of past Honda factory tours and other interesting films. There is also a Honda Reading Room, where more than 200 model fact files are available to study. The David Silver Honda Collection is at Unit 14, Masterlord Industrial Estate, Station Road, Leiston, Suffolk, between Aldeburgh and Saxmundham. Admission is…

IN THE LATTER HALF THE 20TH CENTURY, BMW PRODUCED a whole host of magnificent machines, like the R69S, R90S R100RS and the R80G/S. These were the headline-grabbers, the rule-breakers, the front-of-the-catalogue range-toppers. As you passed the glitz and made your way through the brochure you came to the more sensible, more run-of-the-mill rides. This is where you found the R80ST. It never reached the dizzy heights of its peers and received a lot less fanfare. With the R80ST about to hit 40 years old, we think it’s time to give this forgotten gem its spot in the limelight. Back in the late 1970s to early 1980s, larger bikes were being used around Europe in trials, and BMWs were often seen in homemade, Frankenstein-form; some ridden by BMW workers. And so,…

YOU WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME. APPEARANCES can be deceptive. All that glitters is not gold... there are any number of old sayings and clichés to be used when something is purchased that looks good, but then turns out not to be quite as good as its appearance would have you believe. I had only been living at this address a short while and was still in the process of trying to get a tip into something like semblance of a home. Respite was in the form of my Hinckley Bonneville SE, which, having been used regularly, was in need of a wash and brush-up. So, there I was on the front drive, armed with bucket of hot water, shampoo, polish et al, minding my own business, neither knowing of…

THERE IS AN ADDED ENERGY IN A RESTORATION that comes once you are working with clean, painted or new parts. It makes the shed slightly less cold in the evening, and keeps you more efficient and working for a little longer. The only factor that brings it down is the constant need for One More Part... and the never-ending asking of: “Do I need a new bit or will the old one do?” This month I decided that the ‘Pig’ – my R100RT, my faithful, my rock – would be squeezed inside the shed instead of living under a tarpaulin in the garden. It starts easier, and this way I may get round to exploring the excess noise in the right-hand pot. But this gave me a space issue, so…