Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2024 i Classic Bike

Jim Moore Former editor of Practical Sportsbikes and multiple Honda V4 owner Jim loved the honesty and ‘build it to ride it’ ethos of Leo Tandoh’s fabulous VF1000R. Hard to belive it’s 39 years old. PAGE 24 Bob Dixon Long-time Classic Bike contributor Bob is a Laverda fetishist – he used to race the Breganze-built bikes and also owned one of the overlooked Zanè-era models that he writes about in this issue. PAGE 54 John Westlake John’s got the best job on the magazine, meeting extraordinary people and writing about them. Fair enough – he’s a great writer and story teller. This month he’s been with the amazing Arthur Browning. PAGE 32 Next month We’re trying to get two ex-GP racers together in the same place at the same time…

Desie Ploegmakers &Wattie Brown, Seeley AJS 7R Back in 2006, Wattie set the Classic 1000cc class lap record at Cookstown on a 920 Norton – and his time has yet to be beaten. He watched his first race in Ireland as a teenager at the 1971 Ulster Grand Prix (he can still remember the winners in all classes) and has been coming over from Scotland to race here for years. This is the 70-year-old’s 45th racing season, but the first time out with this bike. “It’s gone OK in practice, but it wants to tick over at 3000rpm, which is a problem. We’ve had the carburettor apart, so hopefully it’ll go OK in the race. The Hondas get out of corners quicker, so I’m hoping we can maintain a higher…

SEND YOUR PHOTOS TO let ters@classicbike.co.uk Triumph 5TA Messing about with motorbikes has been a hobby of mine for the last 60 years. I’m 75 years old and recently retired, so last year I was looking for another project. I ended up buying a 1962 Triumph 5TA from an old friend who’d had it stored in his garage for years. I thought I’d bought a complete bike that needed reassembling – but soon discovered many parts were missing. Scouring lots of local auto jumbles in winter was unsuccessful, so as I was eager to get my project started, I had to buy some new parts – handlebars, clutch and brake levers, wheels rims and tyres. I had the frame shot blasted and powder coated, and the wheels re-spoked. After that,…

Laverda’s zesty parallel twins were the company’s final throw of the dice and provide an intriguing epitaph to the marque’s history. Renowned at the time for their phenomenal handling, these technically-advanced machines represented everything that was good about Italian bikes – fast, stylish and with state-of-the-art brakes and suspension, they set a new benchmark for handling. But because they were tainted by Laverda’s latter day reputation for mechanical mayhem, they can now represent remarkable value for buyers. In a way, it’s a miracle they ever made it into production. Following the collapse of the old company in the late ’80s, the new Laverda operation began in 1993 with a factory in Zanè, (pronounced Zan-eh), six miles west of the old Breganze works. This followed the formation of Nuovo Moto Laverda,…

YOU’VE SEEN PICTURES of my workshop – nobody would call it tidy, but it’s not disorganised. When you have too little space, you can’t afford to waste it – but equally I hate wasting useful things, so any random boxes of stuff that come my way have to be sorted immediately. First I discard any rubbish, then separate things I’m keeping (putting them where they belong) from things to pass on – which I try to move on as fast as possible. That’s fine, but there’s always a dustpan full of leftovers – odd fibre washers, sawn-off bolts, chain links, nuts... all bound together with dead flies, swarf and sawdust. Bench sweepings; I could just tip the pan into the dustbin, but there’s some useful stuff in there. It’s…

Back in September 2021, I offered Jim Wood advice about his BMW R45/65 special, which wouldn’t pull over half throttle. My feeling was that maybe the electronic ignition wasn’t advancing fully. Getting bashed off his bike delayed Jim’s reply, but he’s just come back to say that although the ignition advanced fine, a mismatch of timing marks had led him to set it up 4mm retarded. Once that was sorted, the bike revved up fine. But he has another rev-related issue with his 1981 TR1 Yamaha. After building the bike from boxes, the only problem was a faulty ‘mixture control valve’ which plugs in to the front cylinder manifold. Jim thinks it richens the mixture for some reason, but unable to get a replacement he simply did away with it.…

What’s the attraction? Speed, sophistication and rarity. Both machines are well-engineered two-stroke twins with giant-killing performance. Both bikes were launched in 1967, and both easily top the ton. Their rotary-valve engines provide far more mid-range torque than their piston-ported competitors and they’re equipped with oil injection and five and six-speed gearboxes for the Avenger and 350GTR respectively. Overall, both machines were well ahead of the game in 1967 – and still mightily impressive today. Which is the obvious choice? Given that Kawasaki is probably more familiar as a motorcycle manufacturer, we’ll go with the Avenger. It was early 1968 before the first few made it to the UK and only around 120 bikes were ever officially imported. The engine delivers useful power from as little as 2000rpm, with real explosive…

Selling classic motorcycles for a living can be hard. Everyone’s finances are squeezed right now and it may be difficult to justify splashing out on what is essentially a toy. But buying them is even harder. And the secret of selling is in the buying. There a lot of sellers out there. And, at the moment, most sales enquiries I get are from people who have a bike they want to part exchange. So I have to do my best to come up with a deal that’s acceptable to the customer – both as a buyer and a seller. The buyer is relatively easy to deal with. They like a bike I’ve got, they know what it’s priced at and (in theory at least), they want to buy it. But…

Our Spring Stafford Sale on April 20/21 was a roaring success. Things do change – even in the classic bike world – but there are still plenty of buyers out there. The demographic of the classic bike enthusiast is changing, although the shift towards later Japanese and Italian classics wasn’t as evident at Stafford. Prices for some ‘traditional’ British classics have been levelling or dropping for quite some time now. When was the last time you saw a Gold Star sell for upwards of £15,000? But I think the increased affordability of these bikes will ultimately drive a new generation towards classic bike ownership. I’m looking forward to the day I can afford a T120TT, and I’m passing that interest down to my son. Certainly that seems to be happening…

THE MARCHES MOTO ITALIA is a charmingly low-key annual event which doesn’t try too hard to impress – and therein lies its appeal. It’s a refreshingly informal gathering of Italian bike enthusiasts who meet up each year with the loosest of itineraries. Show up any time after 10am at the Powis Arms, a small pub in the South Shropshire village of Lydbury North (population 695). Park up, stroll around and natter to like-minded souls. There’s always an eclectic selection of machines and people. Obviously it’s all about Italian bikes essentially – but everybody is welcome, whatever bike you ride; we’re an inclusive lot here in Shropshire. If you’ve never been to this part of the world, you’re in for a real treat. Why? Because it’s a vast area and hardly…

‘IF IT’D BEEN FULLY RESTORED, I’D BE FAR TOO PRECIOUS ABOUT IT... BUT I WANT TO BE ABLE TO ENJOY IT TO THE MAX’ The trouble with old bikes,” Leo Tandoh tells me, as we sup coffee in the bright April sunshine, “is that far too many of them don’t get used. They need to be ridden, not parked up or treated like trinkets.” Couldn’t have put it better ourselves. Leo’s 1985 Honda VF1000R is proof. Only days before we rock up to see him, Leo was on a trackday at Castle Combe, grinding his V4’s footpegs to dust – a sight even the late Soichiro Honda wouldn’t have been able to behold without raising a wry smile, we’re sure. Back in the mid-1980s, the VF1000R was Honda’s range-topping sports…

‘‘Is that a Bonneville?” “No, it’s a Daytona.” I haven’t even started the bike yet – and already someone is disappointed. Admittedly, these late models share so many Bonnie parts that it’s an easy mistake to make; but why is it that, like a kid playing Top Trumps, we only remember the biggest and fastest model? Why does every Triumph have to be a Bonneville and every Vincent a Black Shadow? I’m at the seaside, it’s a sunny morning and heading off round these coastal roads I’m perfectly happy to be riding a 500. If I had to trim my evaluation of this late-model Daytona down to just one word, it would be ‘fun’. It’s nimble and lively, with that same cheeky attitude you find on up-for-it 250s. These short-stroke…

650 Sport (1992) The original 668cc sports bike: alloy beam frame, White Power suspension, 40mm USD forks 650 Formula (1995) Special equipment version of the above, featuring hot cams and carbon exhausts Ghost Legend (1995) Cosmetic makeover of the 650 Ghost 650 Ghost (1995) Naked streetfighter featuring a steel trellis frame 650 Ghost Strike (1995) Basically a 650 Ghost, but with the aluminium spar frame and a bikini fairing 668 Sport (1996) Essentially a 650 Sport with minor cosmetic updates, 41mm forks and twin headlights 668 Diamante (1997) Sports bike fitted with the steel trellis Ghost frame and a half fairing. 1997 American market Diamantes were equipped with the beam frame 750 Diamante (1998) Steel trellis frame, half fairing 750 Ghost Strike (1998) Alloy beam frame, bikini…

Alan Seeley: Suzuki GSX1100 drag bike Alan and mate Gary built this beast as ‘Project £1000 Drag Bike’ for CB’s former sister magazine, Practical Sportsbikes. After a six-year development period, this is the first time it’s been used in anger for two years. Revs up at 6500, clutch in and eyes on the lights. Santa Pod’s finish-line gantry lies a quarter of a mile away, along the glistening prepped surface. Adrenaline sharpens the senses as the start tree sequences. They say if you see the green, you’ve already lost, but cut the lights too quick and it’s a red and a wasted run... It’s the inaugural round of the new Ultimate Street Bike series on April 7 – my first drag event in nearly two years – and the first…

£895 1990 Kawasaki GPX600 Has been off the road for several years, but looks quite tidy and complete. Starts and runs off a jump pack, so it shouldn’t require too much work to get back on the road. Connect Motorcycles 01536 219091 £995 1962 Francis Barnett Falcon Runs and rides, but unused for a while, so will need some recommissioning to get back on the road. Registered on a V5, tidy condition and comes with instruction book and brochure. 07760 220402 £995 1957 Liberia 125 Delightful French lightweight looks to be in pretty good condition, having been in a private collection. Turns over with good compression, but will require recommissioning. LMT Motorcycles 01536 216420 £895 1992 Yamaha XJ900 Hard to believe Yamaha’s shaft-drive tourer is more than 30 years old…

1986 Yamaha YSR80 SOLD FOR £4370 The late ’80s sports bike era spawned an array of miniature ‘replicas’, aimed primarily at the Japanese domestic market. Known colloquially as ‘Gag bikes’, the little road-legal clones of the big-bore sportsters – often tricked out with a host of aftermarket tuning parts and accessories – became highly sought-after and collectible worldwide and make serious money. This little Yamaha is a fine example of the genre. Styled after the FZ750, it features an 80cc two-stroke engine producing 8.7bhp – good enough for around 65mph. Mostly original and unrestored, the bike is said to be in good running order and the recorded 1741km on the odometer is believed to be genuine. 1967 Triumph T120TT SOLD FOR £10,925 Prices of Triumph twins may have softened a…

ESTIMATE £25,000-30,000 1925 Husqvarna Model 180 Charterhouse, June 6 Better known these days for its off-road machines, the Swedish Husqvarna concern stated producing motorcycles in 1903, and its road bikes were highly regarded. This 550cc side-valve machine features a V-twin engine and three-speed gearbox, both made in-house at the factory. Beautifully built and robust, the bike (also known as the ‘Solo Sportmodellen’) boasts Bosch magneto and generator as well as a hand oil pump for lubricating the final drive chain. Restored to a high standard by the vendor, it is an extremely rare vintage machine. With only a handful thought to survive worldwide, it would make an excellent mount for the Banbury Run. charterhouse-bikes.com ESTIMATE £55,000-60,000 1962 Honda CR93 Charterhouse, June 6 Honda’s beautiful CR93 racers are prized by collectors…

Gavan Duffy, Drixton Honda 450 “I was in a hedge,” says Gavan, deadpan, to explain the missing fairing and other damage to his Drixton Honda on Friday afternoon. “I went into Gortin Corner (at the end of the ¾-mile straight) and she tried to highside me, then thought better of it and put me into the bank on the right instead.” The result was red flags and the race was stopped. Gavan was unhurt, and although a flurry of activity in the paddock couldn’t get the Honda back together for racing on the Saturday, Gavan was out on his Suzuki T20 in the 250 race. Gavan’s the Chairman of Classic Bike Racing Club Ireland, and one of many riders who come up from the south to race the roads in…

As so many of us do, I suspect, I find myself going back over old bike magazine editions and finding something new. Long live print copy, as far as I’m concerned! They get regularly hoarded and shared about in my world – and if you are, for some reason, under the weather (as I have been recently) there is nothing like a Classic Bike mag as a visitor gift. This morning, chores done, I sat with my cuppa and paid close attention to the BMF Show bike park picture you ran in the April edition of Classic Bike. I was tickled to spot aBSA A10 (or 7?), a Harley Electra Glide and several FJ1200s, CBR1000s, jelly-mould 600s and VFRs. All bikes from my garage of the period, and with the…

The Bathurst district of New South Wales, 130 miles west of Sydney, has hosted motorcycle races at various venues since 1914, when the Australian Grand Prix was held at Yetholme. From 1931, Easter became the date for an annual motorcycle race meeting, initially held over a 7.23-mile (11.5km) public roads circuit which used part of the main road to Goulburn. In 1938, the Bathurst Easter race meeting moved just up the road to the now world-famous 3.87-mile (6.2km) Mount Panorama circuit, where it continued to be run until the final meeting in 2000. By this time, the circuit was deemed unsuitable for motorcycles following continued modifications to suit car racing (such as concrete walls), and the fact that the rugged terrain the track inhabited meant adding run-off areas was not…

TRITON Nagged by clutch drag After fitting a new Aerco seven-plate clutch to the ’71 Bonneville engine in his Triton, Mark Dillon is having gear crunching issues, both selecting first (despite freeing the plates beforehand) and sometimes even when changing down on the road, and asks for any set-up tips. Multiplate clutches tend to stick when left, because there’s quite a big oil-coated surface area. On most British bikes, if you pull the clutch and kick, the clutch will unstick rather than turn the engine, avoiding an engagement crunch. But Mark’s doing this, so there’s a lift problem. Being new, we can rule out overheated/ warped steel plates, so I’d say the likely options are: spring adjustment, pushrod adjustment or oil. Clutch springs on Triumphs and most Brit bikes are…

BMW R80G/S Idle not working Q The revs on my 1981 BMW R80G/S hang at 2000-2500rpm from idle, especially when hot. The previous owner rebuilt the Bing carbs with new seals, gaskets , etc and I set them up using a Twinmax carb balancer. There is no hesitation or flatspots and the air screw is one turn out – book says ¾ for this model, but it produces a lumpy idle. The problem is most noticeable when changing gear and makes a smooth change impossible. I’ve checked all the intakes and jubilee clips. The plugs are a lovely biscuit colour after a run, so the mixture looks good. It only does it for around five to 10 seconds then drops back to normal. All the linkages, cables and throttle linkages…

Obviously you replace the loom on a 50-year-old bike. But you also need to refurb the bits the loom plugs into – a process that often takes longer than building the loom. This tail light refurb is a good example. You’ll need: 11 amp thinwall cable and 3.2mm heat shrink (from Vehicle Wiring Products); some 0.5mm wall 4.5mm and 5mm PVC sleeving (from Hilltop Products); flux, solder, a 40-60W soldering iron, a mini file and a brass brush. The 11 amp cable is not often available with tracer colours any more, so you may have to stick with primary colours; the electrons don’t care. I extend the cables to the area under the seat, out of the weather. Connectors (to the loom) are up to you. VWP do Japanese bullets…

Mark Holmes: Moto Guzzi California Mark’s owned his ’75 T3 for nine years now, and during that time it has been his only bike, sometimes his only means of personal transport. During that time, they’ve amassed more miles than he can remember... By last autumn, there was a strong whiff of impending expense in the air. One of the Guzzi’s spark plugs made a break for freedom – the threads holding it in were clearly worn, and the fact that it coked up every 200-300 miles signalled something amiss in the state of the carburettor. So I dumped it in the garage for winter and waited for the motivation (and funds) for fixing it to arrive in the spring. This March, both of those attributes were in place, so I…

The Scott Sprint Special is the most sought-after and desirable of the Saltaire-built two-strokes, combining all the qualities that have earned Scott motorcycles a fiercely loyal and enduring following. Light, smooth, fast and fine handling, it is regarded by many Scott enthusiasts as the ultimate. All were built to customer order with a host of options for tank, wheels, forks and compression ratio. But genuine Sprint Specials were only built for the 1930 model year – though many later replicas were built. This one, being offered for sale by veteran and vintage specialists Verralls for £32,500, is not only a genuine 1930 model, but is even more ‘special’ than the average Sprint Special. It’s one of two bikes built by the factory for the 1930 Manx Grand Prix. Ridden by…

1974 MV Agusta 750S SOLD FOR £74,750 This exceptional MV was one of the highlights of Bonhams’ spring Stafford sale. Originally supplied to Germany, the bike has been in the UK since it was acquired by MV specialist Richard Boshier of PDQ Motorcycles in 1989. Restored to ‘as new’ condition by him in 1991, it has had just two further owners since then, and the vendor (a former secretary of the MV Agusta Owners Club UK) has owned it since 2012. Overhauled in 2019 by Chilton Moto Classics, it must be one of the best regularly-used 750S models in the UK. At £74,750 the MV was cheap compared to the 1938 Vincent Series A Rapide that fetched £228,850. The 1949 Vincent Black Lightning previewed in our April issue made £149,500.…

Back in the late 1970s/early ’80s, myself and afriend (Lawrence Hetherington) raced a Hillman Imp-engined sidecar outfit, mainly competing at Cadwell Park. We could match most Yamaha TZ 750s round the tight, twisty circuit – engines don’t make them go any faster round corners, of which Cadwell has plenty. We bought the bike from Steve Abbot after he went international; it was down on power against the TZs but cornered like a Scalextric and usually got us a top seven or eight finish, which meant we received a bit of prize money. If it was enough to cover the petrol there and back, with a Chinese in Doncaster and a couple of pints in The Little Bull in Middlestown, we’d had a good day. We were helped by a local…