Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2023 i Classic Bike

PAGE 52 Jim Moore A former Classic Bike deputy editor, Jim left in 2011, taking his Suzuki Katana with him, to edit Practical Sportsbikes magazine. Now he’s back contributing to CB, and he still owns that Katana as well as a range of Japanese two-strokes. PAGE 45 Mark Holmes Mark’s responsible for spelling, punctuation and deadline threats in Classic Bike, but when invited to Holland to look at Gileras, he jumped on his Moto Guzzi and went. Even though it was February. PAGE 76 Alan Seeley Another former staffer returning to Classic Bike from Practical Sportsbike magazine, Alan’s an obsessive bike fettler whose own collection includes Japanese, Italian and British machinery. How’s the Rob North Trident, Al?…

The bikes George Beale was given permission by Honda to build the RC174 replicas in 1998, and Honda also had sufficient faith and interest in the project to commission the first of the ten bikes for themselves. With no original drawings available, a complete original machine, owned by Japanese collector Terry Murayama, was shipped to Europe, dismantled, measured, drawn and copied. Making the various key components was entrusted to specialist engineers in Britain and Europe, with JPX in France undertaking the hugely complex engine build. Despite significant difficulties the first engine was on the dyno and running in late 2002. Will George be making any more replicas? “I’d been making replica race bikes for a while, and the Honda six is the most famous race bike ever, so before I…

LIGHTNING STRIKES A FAMILIAR CHORD This is my recently completed resto-mod 1970 A65 Lightning. A good friend of mine had a quick Lightning back in the ’70s; I had an A10, but loved the Lightning and, as you know, these bikes always stay in your heart. We always said we’d like to build nice versions of the bikes we had back then. This was completed during lockdown (although I worked through the entire thing) and now it’s time to get out and enjoy it . Tony Britten Just dragged home a sorry old wreck, finished a gleaming restoration or had the best ride of your life? Then we’d like to hear from you. Email your stories and pictures to classic.bike@ bauermedia.co.uk MY SUPER-RELIABLE Z750 HAS DONE 100k MILES Nice to…

The idea of famed hell-raiser Roger Marshall sharing a freezing farmhouse with a gobby Aussie headcase sounds like the result of an optimistic reality TV brainstorming session. But in 1981 it happened by accident, when future world 500GP champion Wayne Gardner had nowhere to live and Roger got volunteered to put him up. “I first met Wayne at a hotel in Daytona,” says Roger, sipping a pint of lager in the Lincolnshire pub just 200 yards from where he was brought up. “I’d got a ride for Moriwaki and one of the guys came up with this Aussie, my new team-mate. I went to shake his hand and he just looked me up and down, said ‘OK’ and walked off. Later on, he told me he thought: ‘Who’s this old…

INDIAN FOUR MODEL 439-M T his 1265cc four-cylinder Indian weighing 532lb (241kg) dry with a wheelbase of 61 inches should never have been anyone’s first choice to tackle America’s most gruelling of-froad enduro event with any chance of finishing – let alone winning it. Surely the bike would be too heavy and unwieldy to traverse the sandy trails, rocky paths, steep inclines and rutted tracks of Southern California’s gruelling 509-mile two-day Greenhorn Enduro marathon, run across the arid Mojave Desert to the summit of the 6800ft high (2073 metre) Greenhorn Mountain. But nobody told 30-year-old Max Bubeck this in 1947, when he tackled and won the arduous event aboard his Indian Four, beating a 120-bike field on bikes more suited to the conditions. The slightly-built 5ft 7in Bubeck had owned…

SINCE BUYING the 1959 Triumph 650 Thunderbird last year it’s taken over pole position in the garage from my usual daily, the 1968 650 Trophy. This seems to have created some ill feeling, because when I idly turned the Trophy’s twistgrip the other day the throttle stuck open. This commonly happens if the carb mounting nuts are overtightened, distorting the body – they haven’t been touched, but I loosened them anyway. It made no difference, so I decided the cable must need replacing. It’s never stuck before, but cables don’t last forever and this one certainly dates back to the last century; maybe with little recent use it had dried out. Or something. Well, although old, there was nothing wrong with the cable – the problem lay in the carb.…

Allen Jenkinson from Huddersfield got in touch to tell me about a neat trick his motorcycle engineer mate Paul Jackson pulled off on a Triumph T100 engine. Paul needed access to the crankshaft, but the customer, having maybe just resolved some persistent oil leaks, didn’t want the top end gaskets disturbed. Paul inverted the engine, removed the cylinder base nuts and lifted the bottom end clear with a chain hoist. After sorting the problem, he then reunited the two halves. Says Allen: “All he had to do to the top end was reset the tappets; how simple was that – and all single-handed. Others will have thought of it, but it was a new one on me...” Clever – I once had to do something similar, decoking a 1930 Matchless…

The bikes ridden and fettled by the Classic Bike team SURELY THIS 1997 Kawasaki ZX-7R is every bit as much a classic as my 1948 Matchless or 1981 Morini – and it’s certainly a lot better at dealing contemptuously with 2023 road traffic. Back in the day, they were pretty handy on race tracks, too. Chris Walker was runner-up in the British Superbike championship in 1998 and ’99 on a ZX-7R, though his might have been in better nick than this one. The Kawasaki comes from a time when Britain was enjoying peak sports bike. The 748cc, 106bhp four was produced from 1996 to 2002 and, working on Bike magazine in 1997, we tested one at 162 mph with an 11.4sec standing quarter. Fast then. And, 25 years later, a…

What’s so special? The clue is in the title. The first 7414 production CB750s all had sandcast crankcases. Die-cast cases were used for subsequent machines. Apparently, Honda bosses were unsure how popular the new model would be and were reluctant to commit to the expense of die-casting until they were convinced the bike would be a success. They needn’t have worried. In its first two years, around 50,000 CB750s were sold worldwide. If sandcasts are rare, then correct and original examples are even more so. In 1969, drive chain technology was challenged by the power and weight of the CB750 and many bikes suffered broken chains, which often destroyed the delicate sandcast crankcases. Many were replaced under warranty with die-cast cases. Engine numbers up to CB750E 1007414 are genuine sandcasts…

£1900 1938 New Imperial Model 23 ohv Spicers sale, March 25 Not a true vintage machine maybe, but a delightful slice of pre-war motorcycling history for a reasonably modest outlay all the same. New Imperial was just one of the British manufacturers to introduce a sub-150cc model to take advantage of the reduced rate of road tax offered from 1932 – and the 148cc Model 23 went on to become the company’s best-selling model, running from 1932 until New Imperial stopped making bikes in 1939. This example retains its original registration and looks to be in excellent order – though it is described as requiring recommissioning. It was sold with a small cache of spares, too. icersauctioneers.com £23,000 1987 Suzuki RG500 Gamma H&H NMM sale, March 29 Based on their…

Moto Guzzi Days Moto Guzzi will open the doors of its historic factory at Mandello del Lario, on the shores of Lake Como, on September 7-10 for their annual jamboree. It’s a chance to see the renovated museum, tour the production facility and enjoy Italian pork products with other Guzzi fetishisti. moto-guzzi-world/events/open-house-2023 Tramway Vincents Crich Tramway Museum will hold their Classic Motorcycle Day on July 2, in association with the Vincent Owners Club. All bikes over 25 years old are welcome to enter the show, which has multiple classes. Sounds like a pretty decent excuse to visit the Peak District to us... tramway.co.uk/whatson Ray Palmer passes Maidstone Motoliner founder Ray Palmer has passed away at the age of 80. He founded the business, now run by son Tommy, in 1987.…

5-6Squires Café – Northern Rockers Rumble Sherburn-in-Elmet, Leeds All the excuse you need for a ride out over the North Yorkshire Moors and rumble into Scarborough on Saturday. squires-cafe.co.uk 6 Rufforth Autojumble Rufforth Park, Rufforth, York rufforthautojumble.com 6-7 CRMC racing Pembrey Circuit Carmarthenshire The CRMC season gets into its swing with round two. crmc.co.uk 7 Spring Autojumble Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum, Bashley, New Milton, Hampshire Check out the jumble – and the excellent Miller museum. sammymiller.co.uk 7 25th Ripon Clubs and Classics Car and Bike Show Ripon Racecourse, North Yorkshire Horsepower of a different kind as bikes and cars mingle happily at the racecourse. greatbritishmotorshow.com 7 Romney Marsh Ride In Show and Bikejumble Hamstreet, near Ashford, Kent Pit your classic against the best of the…

TIME HAS BEEN kind to the T140. Yes, it was fundamentally just an attempt to extend the life of the Bonneville and Tiger without incurring excessive R&D costs. And yes, its production run spanned a tumultuous decade of strikes. But the T140 looks good, has 750cc of kick and – crucially – is a lot cheaper than its 650cc predecessors. The last time I rode a big Triumph twin was back in the ’70s, when I owned a ’67 Bonneville which I loved. Could I be tempted by this well-preserved 1973 T140V which belongs to T140 guru Andy Orton? With its wire wheels, fork gaiters, simplistic graphics and straightforward, uncluttered design, it looks pleasingly like a ’60s throwback. Only the front disc brake, wide handlebars and five-speed gearbox confirm it’s…

Gilera Museum Holland – the big picture As with many single-make museums, this one was borne out of a passion for the badge. The flame was ignited when driving/riding instructor and sidecar racer Jaap Schulz became entranced by the style and sound of a Saturno – the fabulous 500cc single the factory built from the late ’40s to late ’50s. His burgeoning collection soon outgrew the house he shared with wife Marlijna, a fellow bike nut who passengered with him in sidecar races. So the pair bought a place in Rijsenhout with a large outbuilding that they renovated to house the museum, which was opened in 2016. Cadet 50 This very rare machine, built from 1966-68, features a 38 x 42mm engine faired-in with scooter-inspired bodywork. The engine is the…

Clive Fletcher asks which plug lead is which on his magneto-ignition 1961 Bonneville. I don’t know what the original set-up was – I think the lead from the rear mag pick-up went to the left cylinder, but it can be timed either way so Clive’s may be different. To test, to try it one way, and if it doesn’t start try the other – but if it won’t start on either, you need to know you’re connected right. The magneto slip ring is a kind of distributor, a Bakelite spool with a brass section that fires the spark right and left as it spins. As the points break, the brass will be under one or other of the HT pick-ups; you just need to find which and connect that lead…

1 First, examine the slide for damage – these black marks were suspicious and had an almost tar-like look – readers have had problems with carbs gumming up due to sealer dissolving in the tank but there’s no sealer in my tank. In any case, cleaning off the stains with wire wool and spirit made no difference. 2 The slide looks fairly new – at least on the sides, the front and back are scored. Is it oval? Slides are delicate and easily distorted with rough handling – although that hasn’t happened here – and measuring revealed it’s not oval, apart from the expected slight wear front and back due to suction from the inlet. 3 First check is to remove the jet block. The slide passes over this centre…

A FEW FINISHING TOUCHES Clutch lever bracket With the clamp fully closed, the pattern clutch lever still moved round the ‘bar. Luckily, the brass bracket is easily faced down on the sander to give more free space to clamp up tight. Brake spring Not sure if this brake spring that pegs into a hole in the arm is original or not. Either way, it keeps jumping out, so I’ve swapped it for a later one that hooks securely round the arm instead. Loose screws The 350’s not a shaker, but rigid frames take a battering over bumps. I can’t tighten the screws harder or they’ll deform the mudguard. Nyloc nuts (or Loctite) are the answer to that problem. Gear change Not an issue with the 3T, but if the gearchange…

£999 1957 James Comet This inappropriately named Comet – it’s a 98cc two-speed – has no paperwork and has been unused for years, but the engine turns over, with compression and it looks pretty much complete. sbvclassics.com £875 1981 Suzuki TS185 In need of a little TLC and a few parts, but this imported TS actually runs and looks like a good basis for a classic green-laner. Or get it prepped for a sand racing season at Mablethorpe. 07427 282396 £475 1980 Honda CB250RS Described – very honestly – by the seller as a ‘daring project’ this little Honda nonetheless turns over and is UK registered. Low budget café racer, anyone? tradebikesdirect.co.uk £700 c 1960 Moto Guzzi Lodola Missing a few bits, but a decent starting point for…

£10,000-12,000 1975 Laverda 3C Many Laverda fans reckon that the 3C – which established Laverda’s reputation for sporting triples and was the machine from which the mighty Jota was derived – makes a better all round machine than the highly-strung Slater Brothers’ sportster. If you fall into that camp, this earlier (circa 2000) restoration is worth a look. The 80bhp dohc triple with its 180° crank should be no slouch – period road tests put the top speed at around 125mph – and this particular example looks to be in fine condition. It comes with a history file containing numerous receipts for work carried out and old M0Ts, along with a parts catalogue. £28,000-32,000 1998 Ducati 916 SP3 Ducati’s 916 is one of those bikes that was a classic the…

Bavarian beer fest Your 1973 issue reminded me – that was the year I rode my 1972 750cc Rickman Enfield to my pal’s house in Regensburg, Bavaria, where much beer was consumed. I set off home a week later at 7am, riding steadily and relatively uneventfully through Germany, Belgium and France – apart from a little incident on the autobahn, where I was flagged down by a German traffic cop. “Was ist das problem,” I asked, in my terrible German. “No problem, sir,” he replied in much better English. “I chust vanted to look at your beaudiful motorcycle.” And, having done so, he waved me on... I arrived home in north-west Kent 14 hours later. Why the rush? Well, despite my German mate introducing me to loads of very nice…

EVENT REPORT CLASSIC NEWS THIS MONTH IN’ 77 WHAT’S ON IN MAY YOUR LETTERS May 2023 Ed Spear, HL Yamaha 540 James Humphrey, Curtis Honda XR500 Luke Daniel, Maico 490 As ever, Red Marley played host to a fantastic collection of bikes – and this year the organisers upped the ante by adding two new classes: pre-74 classics and pre-81 twinshocks. The hillclimb sprint is in tournament format; riders drag-race, four at a time, up the freakishly steep Worcestershire hill, with a kicker (named the ‘pimple’) located just before the finish line. One of the most entertaining classic events on the calendar, this year’s hillclimb certainly did not disappoint. Launching off the ‘pimple’ in this all-action photograph, Ed Spear leads the pack on his late ’70s 540 HL Yamaha, followed…

Barry Sheene won this GP, and that year’s world championship – but amazingly there were another 27 Suzuki riders in the race. So can you spot the Yamahas? Front row, from pole, furthest from camera: Barry Sheene, Marco Luccinelli, Virginio Ferrari, Steve Baker, Michel Rougerie. Second row: Armando Toracca, Giacomo Agostini, Pat Hennen, Philippe Coulon. Third row: Gianfranco Bonera*, Christian Estrossi, Boet van Dulman, Tuevo Lansivouri*, Jack Findlay; Fourth row: Anton Mang, unknown, John Newbold. Fifth row: unknown, Graziano Rossi, unknown, Stu Avent, Alex George. Sixth row: Wil Hartog, John Williams, Steve Parrish, unknown, unknown. Seventh row: unknown, Jean-Philippe Orban, Mario Necchi. *We think…

APRIL’S CB was a great issue – even more so, as I haven’t seen a copy for some considerable while. The article on the Julian Soper Rob North Honda was of special interest, as I have raced against this bike on my Formula 750 Daytona Trident. I built my bike in the mid-’80s, and created it as a bike that could have been built in period (ie early ’70s). I wish Michael Rutter well on racing this true period machine. Now to the real purpose of my email. You have shown Jefferies reunited with his ‘72 F750 Daytona Trident in December 2021 a beautiful photograph on page 34/35 of the start of one of the match races at Mallory Park, captioned ‘April 22, 1974’. Are you sure of the date?…

Andy Orton’s workshop has a charming air of barely-contained chaos. It’s as if a disgruntled Machine Mart customer detonated an improvised explosive device in one of their smaller branches. Curious tools and interesting bits sprout all around me, but don’t be fooled by the mayhem – I’ve known Andy long enough to see dozens of phenomenally high quality restorations emerge from this modest space. Andy’s taste in bikes is eclectic; he’s owned an extraordinary variety of machinery since he began motorcycling in his teens. His restoration experience covers Triumphs, Nortons, BSAs, Ducatis, Royal Enfields, Sunbeams, Vincents, Harleys and Laverdas. When I had a nose around his storage facility, I saw a pre-war works Sunbeam, a Norton Inter and a gorgeous Commando desert sled. Like I said, eclectic. However, during the…

A fourthdecade. Having covered tens of thousands of miles aboard Yamaha’s original four-stroke sports bike since first buying one back in 1987, the Coventry-based engineer is now knee-deep into his third FJ restoration. “I lapped-in the valves and fitted the cams last night,” he announces, pointing at the hefty-looking air-cooled lump sitting on his garage bike bench. “It’s second time around for that one – Ipartially restored it a few years back. Now it’s getting a thorough refresh.” The bike is currently scattered around Andy’s garage in a thousand pieces. I’ve already clocked the boxes of finished and fettled parts waiting to be bolted back together, as well as a pair of period Neta silencers resting against Andy’s air compressor, and the unmistakable six-spoke wheels tucked away under the work…

IN 1943 MAX BUBECK began working with his friend Frank Chase on a ‘Chout’ – a large-cube Indian Chief motor in a smaller, lighter Scout frame. The speed of 135.58mph Max posted on this machine in June 1948 on the Rosamond Dry Lake north of LA stood until 2006 as the fastest unstreamlined side-valve Indian motorcycle. And for years it was the world’s fastest Indian – until a certain Kiwi took the honours on his streamlined machine in 1962. To achieve this speed with a 1210cc side-valve, Bubeck and Chase installed so-called Z-Metal Meehanite cast iron flywheels which accepted sustained high revs more readily. The engine was blueprinted, with the magneto breaker cam ground so both cylinders fired in perfect relation to one another. Bubeck reshaped the combustion chambers, polished…

TRIUMPH T120V Valve guide sizes Keith Livingstone was in touch a couple of years back about a mystery bent pushrod problem with his Triumph T120V. Reading the ‘How to...’ about fitting valve guides in the March issue, he thinks he may finally have identified the problem. Keith had fitted new guides, which he found to be a much tighter press fit than he’s used to, even after heating the cylinder head – but didn’t realise you have to ream them to size afterwards, never having needed to on other occasions. “Can you tell me what size reamer I’d need?” he asks. That could certainly be the problem, Keith! Any part that is subject to an interference fit is likely to be slightly crushed and thus become tighter. Nowadays, guides are…

DUCATI M900 Feeble Monster output Q We’ve all heard the jokes about Italian electrics, but my 1993 Ducati M900 Monster is really testing my sense of humour. I recently fitted a new battery and regulator/rectifier but when testing with a multimeter, I can’t see more than 13.8 volts when I rev the engine. The reading is 12.5v with the engine at idle. I’m not convinced that this output will be sufficient to keep the battery charged – especially in times when I’m riding with lights on. Steve Haughton, Ruislip A Your Ducati only has a two-wire single-phase alternator. Really, the bike could do with a three-phase alternator to keep up with its electrical needs. The charging system might struggle pootling around town with the lights on, but will be fine…

What’s the attraction? There’s just something about Kawasaki triples. It’s the combination of great looks and period glitz – surely they’re amongst the best looking of 70s bikes – combined with the visceral appeal, aural menace and scary reputation of an air-cooled three-cylinder two-stroke. If you cut your motorcycling teeth in the ’70s, it’s a fair bet that the sight and sound of a triple zipping hard through the gears in a light haze of blue smoke brings a smile to your face – even if you’ve never owned one. And, if you haven’t, maybe it’s time you did. Which is the obvious choice? The genesis of Kawasaki’s range of three-cylinder strokers is the 1968 H1 500. At a stroke (or two), it redefined performance parameters for 500cc machines. With…

Over the winter, things often get a little quiet on the sales front – and this one was no exception. I should be fretting about that, but it gave me and our Classic Superbikes engineer Gerry time to play about in the workshop. And that’s what we both love. This winter, we got into building specials. We’ve got our own take on a Norvin coming together – a Commando rolling chassis with a Vincent twin engine grafted in. The plan is to make it look as close to a factory build as possible. It’s not really meant to be for sale – it’s just something we wanted to do – but who knows? At some time in the future, it might appear on the website. We’re building a long-distance trials…

January’s Las Vegas sale isalways the biggest motorcycle sale on our calendar – but this year, I left Las Vegas shaking my head in disbelief at the very obvious strength of this hobby of ours. The sale set new world records and the pool of buyers was strong. The lead-off collection for this year, the Jim’s Forever Collection, was well received and achieved excellent results. The centrepieces were the Milwaukee-built lightweights from Harley-Davidson, some 30 in all, which sold for healthy hammer prices. The BMW Centennial Collection was of an extremely high quality, and the winning bid prices absolutely confirmed that. Off-road motorcycles – in all conditions – also continued their upward trajectory. A new world record was set for any motorcycle sold at auction anywhere, with the fabulous 1908…

THS IS A photo of my dad’s old Triumph Thunderbird – he bought it up in the Shetland Isles in 1965 and rode it for a year before selling it on. The picture shows my dad, Andrew Laurenson (on the bike) with my uncle George Anderson. The bike left the factory on December 20, 1952, and was later bought from Christie’s in Aberdeen by a Shetlands policeman, and my father purchased it from him in 1965. At the time, dad was just out of his marine engineering apprenticeship with Harland & Wolff in Glasgow. He used to tell me that when they went out on a Friday night to a dance hall, he would pull the spark plug leads on his bike so that nobody could steal it – but…