Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2023 i Classic Bike

JANUARY 2023 ISSUE #516 This bound volume published in 1973, containing every issue of Motorcycle News, induces three sensations – two of them before you even start reading. First, there’s the twinge in your back that’s a result of just picking it up – it weighs a ton. Second, there is a sneeze-inducing tickle of the nostrils caused by the dust as you open the pages. Third, when you start to digest the contents, comes an overwhelming wave of nostalgia, with stories of a youthful Barry Sheene, classified ads for £295 BSA Gold Stars, club trials reports from Devon and Dumfries, road tests of Honda CB500s, massive crowds at Mallory Park, mopeds, Centurion crash helmets, sidecar cross and COD spares services (or make Postal Orders payable to...). It really was…

A huge hoard of multi-make classic British restoration projects and parts has been brought to the UK from America by Hitchcocks Motorcycles. The Royal Enfield specialist has landed five sea containers packed with everything from complete machines to new, boxed Smiths speedometers. Some complete or near-complete bikes are already on sale, with all duties paid and NOVA paperwork done, but most are restoration projects that, along with the 50 tonnes of parts, will take time to sort and catalogue. “It’s a nice little find,” Alan Hitchcock says – and that’s something of an understatement. Rows of project bikes ‘needing attention’ and stacks of parts were bought from Iota Products in the mid-western state of Michigan, while a batch of Royal Enfields, some Indian-badged, came separately from a US customer’s collection.…

The story about Phil Read (CB December) was a nice way to remember him. I know some people didn’t take to Phil, but I always liked him; I first saw him race at Mallory Park in 1960 and he was always a really smooth and stylish rider. I was watching the Junior TT at Windy Corner in 1972 when he was riding the MV 350 as a one-off, and he broke down there. When I got to him and asked him if he was OK, the first thing he said was: “Have you got a cigarette?” I went off to get him a tab, and when I got back the chain was off the bike. ‘Bloody chain’s broken,’ he says. Twenty years later I saw him at a bike show…

King’ Kenny Roberts came of age in September 1973, when he wrapped up his first American Grand National championship, which combined road racing with dirt-track (short track, mile and TT, which included motocross-style jumps). The title was his first major success with Yamaha, which eventually led to a hat-trick of 500cc world titles from 1978 to 1980. But it could all have been so different... “When I signed with Yamaha, I told them I didn’t want to road race – I just want to do dirt track. They said: ‘Nah, you’ve got to do both’. My first expert year, 1972, I led the championship, but the bikes kept breaking. So before ’73 I walked into Yamaha and said: ‘I won’t race for you guys for less than 30,000 bucks’. And…

SEND YOUR PROBLEMS TO classicbike.workshop@bauermedia.co.uk 1 Will’s crank measures within tolerance – obut felt to loose with new repro shells. New old-stock orginals were loose, too – but maybe less so. Imagination? Let’s find out... 2 Plastigauge is thin, waxy, crushable rods that can be fitted inside the bearing. After tightening to full torque, clearance is revealed by the degree of ‘squash’. 3 Assemble the conrod carefully so as not to disturb the ’gauge, making sure you can access the big end nuts – you can’t move the rod or the ’guage will smear. 4 Comparing the width of the crushed ’gauge to the card supplied indicates that the clearance with the repro shells fitted is 2.5 thou – on a new engine it’s 1-1.5. 5 The NOS shell (on…

There was an interesting comment on my website (rickparkington. co.uk) from ‘Martin’, who says that while working on a mate’s Triumph T140 recently, he needed a flasher relay, new old stock price £40. Noticing that the number was the same as a Hillman Imp, he found one for £15. Likewise a new old stock T140 rear light lens was £80, but he picked one up for a CZ 250 (I’d forgotten this, but Martin’s right – they’re identical) for a tenner from a breaker. Martin’s points reminded me that car autojumbles can be fruitful; not only do the jumblers rarely recognise bike parts that come their way, but from the 1920s to the 1970s, the same parts that suffered from exposure on bikes were sometimes fitted to cars, where they…

PROJECT Triumph Thunderbird Rick’s helping his mate Will live his unit 650 dream with an ex-Police Force barn-find resto Can it really be under three years since Will’s 500cc Tiger engine was laid out on this bench? (CB, March 2020) That was Will’s first Triumph and his first engine rebuild, guided by Pete from Britsteel Classics in Dover. He’s achieved so much with that bike since then, it feels like decades ago... This time, it’s a six-fifty motor, from his recent-bargain, ex-Herts Police 1964 Thunderbird project. We’d already stripped the engine to check there were no mega-horrors, so now it’s time for a closer look to see what we need for the rebuild. Despite having been owned by a bike-wrecking maniac sometime in the past, it’s actually the Police workshop…

1998 Ducati 900SS £6500 One of the last of the carburated models, in superb condition. Carbon front guard, K&N filters and tinted screen, new cambelts. madeinitalymotorcycles.com 1994 Ducati 750SS £3995 Originally registered in the Channel Islands, fitted with carbon silencers/Nitron shock. Adamsons Cars, Northwich, 01606 852727 1995 Ducati 600SS £3495 If outright speed isn’t what you’re after, a 600SS might fit the bill for less cash. This low mileage, fully serviced 600 is worth a look. mandsmotorcycles.co.uk 1994 Ducati 600SS £3999 Just two owners from new and a UK-supplied bike. Engine rebuilt in 1998 and serviced with new belts less than 1500 miles ago. classicbikeimports.co.uk…

The British might still be coming – but not in the numbers they were a few years ago. That’s the story with the early consignments to American auction house Mecum’s mammoth Las Vegas sale this January. As CB went to press, British-manufactured bikes made up less than 130 of the 1000-plus machines entered for the five-day extravaganza, While it’s true that American bikes have always provided a large slice of the pie at Mecum’s main bike sale of the year, the rise in the numbers of Japanese classics consigned is striking. The relative dearth of British bikes contrasts with just one of the nine major collections in the sale. The Jim’s Forever Collection comprises over 90 Harley- Davidsons, ranging from a bewildering selection of the company’s DKW-based two-strokes, right up…

REVIEW SOLD FOR £42,750 It’s been coming for a while, but ’modern’ classics stole the limelight at Silverstone Auctions’ final motorcycle sale of the year at the NEC Classic Motor Show in November. Leading the way was what is believed to be a world record-breaking sale price for a 1995 Ducati 916 SP2, which sailed way over its estimate of £25,000-30,000 to make £42,750. One of just 401 built, it was a superb two-owner bike with only 2200 miles on the clock and had been kept in a heated garage since 2016. Another Ducati, an ’as-new’ 2006 999R which made £29,250, further underlined the strength of the emerging classic market. Traditional classics also had their moments. A gorgeous 1967 Triumph TR6C – aSalon Privé concours winner – sold for an…

PAGE 30 Mat Oxley Mat was just getting interested in bike racing in 1973, started racing himself in ’79 and won a TT in 1985. He has been reporting from the Grand Prix paddock for 30 years, but is fascinated by racing’s glorious (and sometimes gruesome) past. PAGE 36 Mick Duckworth In 1973 Mick was living in Brighton and riding a BSA Bantam while building a Clubman’s BSA 350 Gold Star that he bought in bits for thirty quid. He joined the Classic Bike staff in 1983, and has been a crucial part of the team since. PAGE 50 Mark Williams Mark was at the 1973 launch of the BMW R90/S (sporting an impressive Zapata moustache) to make an insightful report for Bike magazine. 50 years later, he reflects on…

Red dot returns The Lucas ‘Red Dot’ ammeter, as fitted to various British models from 1936-67, is now available again from electrical specialist Paul Goff. It comes as six-volt, 8AH, but can be adapted for use on 12-volt dynamo-equipped bikes too. It costs £49.95. More at norbsa02.freeuk.com or call Paul on 01494 868218 Buy British (while you can) Cooper Avon tyres, now a subsidiary of Goodyear, are to close their factory at Melksham at the end of 2023 and move production overseas. The company blames a ‘challenging business environment’. They have been making tyres in Wiltshire since 1904 and 350 jobs will be lost. It’s currently the last tyre factory operating in the UK. Al’s new Ducati book Classic Bike contributor Alan Cathcart’s new book, Ducati Superbike 1988-2001, covers the…

1973 YAMAHA RD350 A 350? Who wanted a 350? When the RD350 and its 250cc stablemate first hit UK roads for mid-summer 1973, every British rider who passed their test wanted to jump on as big a bike as possible – as soon as possible. But that was about to change. These new Yamahas kicked sand in the big boys’ faces and set a whole new trend – the hooligan motorcycle. Light, lean and packing feisty two-stroke twins with Yamaha’s race-bred reed-valve induction, they stuck two fingers up to the established aspirational machines like Bonnies and CB750s. They were the blueprint for the thousands of future RDs that would become the favoured tool of tearaways everywhere. I’m about to have a go on Steve Palmer’s 1973 RD350 – and I’m…

RICK’S PATCH Solving the problems of the classic world I often talk about Sunbeams – they’re among my favourite makes, but a conversation this month raised a general point that affects old bikes in general and owners’ clubs in particular. A mate of mine makes parts for the Marston Sunbeam Club and Register spares scheme. “It’s a great club,” he told me. “Membership is growing steadily and they’re really proactive about growing the scheme to stock the parts people need to keep the bikes on the road.” WHO IS RICK? Rick Parkington has been riding and fixing classic bikes for decades. He lives and fettles in a fully tooled up shed in his back garden. That’s good. I’ve heard much dissent about clubs becoming businesses. It’s tricky; clubs exist to…

SEND YOUR PROBLEMS TO classicbike.workshop@bauermedia.co.uk Michael Kelly is struggling to check crankshaft end-float on his BSA D1 Bantam engine rebuild because the new bearings fit too tightly on the shaft to slide the crank sideways. He wrote to ask whether it would be possible to ease out the bore of the bearings. This is a problem, but I wouldn’t alter the fit of the bearings – they need to be a good fit on the shaft to avoid flex at the big-end that could potentially lead to breakage. The best way to overcome the problem is to use the old bearings as ‘shimming dummies’. Check that they’re identical width to the new ones – they should be – and if they’re not already loose on the shafts, you can open…

David Pugh says mention of greases (November Fixes) reminded him of his days in the Merchant Navy, where Copaslip grease was only used in high-temperature static situations such as fuel injectors. He tells me that ‘Molyslip (with added Molybdenum Disulfide) was sloshed on everything else until we found that the reduced friction made it too easy to shear cylinder head studs!’ David adds that: ‘Good old lithium grease was the choice for general applications like nuts ’n’ bolts’. This makes sense. Back when I had hair, I soon learned that Brylcreem offered inadequate support for the type of 1950s pompadour I admired. The same applies to mechanical greases – you need the right stuff for the right application, and that needs thinking about. I’ve heard that torque settings are dependent…

FOR SALE £11,995 Once hailed as the future of motorcycling, rotary-engined bikes certainly offer a lot of benefits in theory. Smooth, compact, light and able to produce a lot of power from limited displacement – why do we not see more of them? The truth of it is, that we never did. Only a few manufacturers made it to market with production rotaries. The 1974 Hercules W-2000 was the first rotary motorcycle and, while DKW and Van Veen also joined the rotary party, Suzuki were the only one of the Japanese 'Big Four' to release such a machine. Later, of course, Norton would refine the concept with their, lighter, more powerful twin-rotor design – but the fact is, rotaries remain a rare sight on the roads today. Suzuki weren't far…

AUCTION EXPERT GREG ARNOLD MANAGER OF MOTORCYCLES, MECUM AUCTIONS I tall started in 1988, with littlemore than a few helpers around president and founder Dana Mecum’s dining room table. Now Mecum employs more than 200 people on sale days, has the longest, continuous single-family ownership in the US auction business – but still retains its close-knit, family atmosphere. Since 2014, when we took a stake in Mid America Motorcycles, we have hosted the world’s largest motorcycle sale annually in Las Vegas in January. Live auction styles in the USA and the UK are very different. The US style originated during our Civil War in the 1860s, when the property of fallen soldiers was disposed of on the spot to the highest bidder. These battlefield sales, conducted by an officer, had…

SOLD FOR £1550 If you were after a unit-construction BSA project, there was only one place to be in November – HJ Pugh Auctions’ sale room in Ledbury. Their November sale saw a selection of 55 unit twins and singles in various stages of repair, ranging from a 1969 Hornet minus most tinware, carbs and any documentation, which sold for £1400, to a largely complete but tatty 1971 B50 that made £2800 and a 1965 A65 Lightning at £3600. All 55 sold. Plenty of BSA project hunters out there, clearly The first 50 or so lots were all Small Heath machines, but the rest of the sale was pretty diverse. Among the rest of the 312 lots were a lovely restored 1950 Harley-Davidson WLA (£17,200) and an immaculate 1967 Triumph…

BE THERE January RECOMMENDS The brave and foolhardy have been racing bikes on Mablethorpe beach for over 50 years. There were fears this winter series was extinct, with the enforced Covid lay-off coinciding with the long-standing and original organisers reaching both their 50th anniversary milestone and infirmity, all combining to end this wonderful, but anomalous series. Fortunately, for fans of grassroots motorsport, new organisers stepped up and racing continues on Lincolnshire’s coast. Mablethorpe sand racers really are a different breed. The conditions they choose to race in are both corrosive and frigid, two adjectives ill-equipped to stir the enthusiasm of many motorcycle riders. There are classes for competition machines and modified road bikes. The former includes methanol-burning grasstrackers, the latter range from small capacity Japanese trailies, Triumph, Harley and Japanese twins,…

For 1973 Triumph added five millimetres to the cylinder bore size of the Bonneville to give a 747cc engine capacity. There were other engine changes, too – an extra cylinder head stud, shorter conrods and a triplex primary chain. The most notable change to the chassis was the fitting of a Lockheed disc brake, though at this stage only on the front wheel. And it was still right-foot shift. When Motorcycle News tested the bike in their February 14 issue, they weren’t impressed: ‘From being a leader of its old 650cc class it has taken its place among bigger rivals as a rather unexceptional machine.’ During and after the sit-in at Meriden, development of the T140 continued, and the buying public were far more enthused about the bike than MCN.…

In May 1973 Jarno Saarinen was on his way to winning the 500cc world championship for the first time – and few doubted he would go on to cement his reputation as one of motorcycle racing’s all-time greats. In fact, by then Saarinen had already changed the sport, teaching ‘King’ Kenny Roberts to hang off his motorcycle to improve his lap times, a technique that became universal. If the Finn had lived longer, Grand Prix racing might have been very different for the rest of the 1970s. Yamaha would probably never have signed Giacomo Agostini and Barry Sheene would’ve had a harder time winning the 500cc World Championship with Suzuki. Of course, we will never know for sure, because Saarinen was tragically killed in an horrific accident during the 250cc…

AS BOUGHT FATE, OR CHANCE? Sometimes you need a bit of both to kickstart a project like this. And for Newmarket two-stroke fan Steve Palmer that’s what set him on course for this stunning restoration of a landmark Yamaha twin. His first love is Kawasaki triples (he still owns two H2s), but he caught the RD bug when he bought a RD350B project on eBay after a night in the pub. “You know how it is,” Steve smiles. “The bike was actually in Denmark but, even with delivery, it only cost me just over £1000. It had an A engine and wasn’t a matching numbers bike, so I decided to build it as a race-rep/café racer. I joined the Air-Cooled RD owners club to get advice on the forum as…

The appearance of BMW’s flash new flagship R90/S at the end of 1973 was met with incredulity amongst the biking public, the industry and journalists like me. It wasn’t the appearance of a dinky nose fairing and tail piece, or the sultry smoked grey paint (the orange one didn’t appear until the ’75 model), the twin disc brakes or the claim of 120mph-plus performance that raised eyebrows (though the bike was setting trends or keeping up with them in respect of all those things). The thing that had us baffled was the price: £1799. See, at the time, other marques’ range-toppers were nothing like that kind of money. Honda’s CB750 would set you back £849, while the recently launched Kawasaki Z1 – itself the cause of much jaw dropping –…

Will Hewson’s Mobylette is losing the spark of life. Although it still starts from cold, it stalls easily when hot and will not restart until it’s cooled down again. Will says: ‘It’s very simple – points, condenser and some kind of generator coil – so I guess it’s probably coil or condenser. But how to check?’ HT coils deteriorate over time – age and damp cause corrosion of the copper and the fine windings can break – but with luck they can soldier on well past their time. Condensers, though, are generally shorter-lived and failure can cause this type of trouble. Since they’re also cheap and easily changed, I’d try a new condenser first. Checking resistance on HT coils, you want around 4000 ohms from the HT lead connection to…

Tony Melo hasn’t been in touch for a while, but it looks like he’s been racking up questions. Here’s the first from his list: ‘How much play is acceptable on a BSA or Ariel single – both up-and-down and sideways. I have one with no up-and-down, but some sideways movement.’ This question complements the business of Will’s Triumph big ends in this month’s ‘How To’. Most single-cylinder engines, British and Japanese, use roller big-end bearings. These are completely different to a plain shell-type bearing, which has a wide contact area that should never physically touch the shaft. Plain bearings rely completely upon oil pressure creating a protective cushion of oil. Rollers contact both inner and outer bearing races, the oil simply lubricating them to keep rolling – but each roller…

Coincidentally, since I mentioned getting some pannier keys cut last month, my mate Raymond Albeson has gone and lost the keys for his recently-acquired Kawasaki Z200. He tried contacting Kawasaki Motors UK, but they don’t keep records of key numbers. ‘Any idea where I can find the lock number?’ he asks. ‘There’s ignition, seat, steering and tank cap locks – and where can I get a genuine key?’ Well, hopefully none of the locks on Raymond’s bike have been changed and they all use the same key. As I recall, the key numbers were often stamped on all locks – but obviously in a position where it couldn’t be seen when locked. That puts the seat and tank cap out for a start. The steering lock on the Z200 is…

AUCTIONSB UYING SELLING ANALYSIS FOR SALE £4995 Of course you want a Ducati V-twin, but prices for the 1970s models have gone stratospheric, while the prospect of rebuilding one of their exquisite but idiosyncratic bevel-drive and desmodromic engines is intimidating. So later bikes with belt-driven overhead cams look increasingly tempting. Ducati’s 1990-1998 Supersports (SS) range look like they’ve achieved classic status to my eyes. Produced in 585cc, 748cc and 904cc versions, it’s the 900SS that’s most desirable, but the 600SS and 750SS models are worth a look if you can find one in good condition at the right price. All share a similar steel trellis frame and two-valve V-twin engine that delivers on character, if not on outright performance. But a 900SS is good for over 130mph, and the 600…

AUCTION EXPERT RAY WALLER COMET CLASSICS When I retired, my mate Martin(pictured on the right above, with the other member of the Comet crew, Mike Brewer centre) and I decided to buy a few motorcycles. Well, after buying one too many, we thought it would be a good idea to start a small business. So here we are, ten years later with anything between 30 and 40 bikes in stock at any one time and countless customers returning to us. We favour a no-pressure sales technique as we both believe owning motorcycles should be about riding them and having fun. With that in mind, we decided to tackle a motorcycle expedition before we got too old. Eight old guys and one youngster set off to the Kerala region of Southern…

It’s still early days for consignments to Silverstone Auctions’ sale at the Devitt MCN London Motorcycle Show this February. But if you’re after a first-year Commando to ride and enjoy, this 1968 model has to be worth a look. Non-matching numbers it might be, but it’s a very tidy, earlier restoration with an engine rebuilt by John Findlay and features some practical updates including Boyer electronic ignition, stainless steel wheels and a single carb conversion. What’s more, the estimate of £5000-6000 suggests it may provide a relatively affordable route into Fastback Commando ownership. Another earlier restoration – a1955 BSA A10 Golden Flash – looks like it should got for sensible money, too. It’s being offered for sale with no reserve by its restorer who’s owned it since 1968. The plunger-framed…