Innholdsfortegnelse for September - October 2020 i Motorcycle Classics

Retro classics are a part of the motorcycle industry we've kept a close eye on since the founding of this magazine in the summer of 2005. Over the years we've featured new model profiles of many of the big hitters like the myriad iterations of the Triumph Bonnevilles, Scramblers, Thruxtons and more, along with Royal Enfield Bullets, Moto Guzzi V7s and a host of retro models from other manufacturers. Triumph started with just one model, the Bonneville, when their modern version debuted at the Munich Motorcyle Show in September of 2000. Today Triumph builds a whole line of retros, so many, in fact, that they form their own category: Modern Classics. Ten models fill out the list, some with even further trim levels and special versions. The Classics have been…

Contender: Kawasaki ZG1300 Voyager XIII (1984-1986) and ZG1200 Voyager XII (1986-1989) Two very different engines powered the Voyager through the 1980s: adapting the KZ1300 six-pot motor allowed the Green Guys to dip their toes in the luxury touring marker without the development costs of a new engine. But in spite of digital fuel injection and selectable engine modes (revolutionary stuff for 1984), the dated powerplant was dropped for 1986. A new 1,200cc 16-valve inline four carved 137 pounds off the Voyager’s heft while offering similar performance. Said Cycle Guide of the XII, “It possesses that elusive combination of agility and stability, and teams it with an engine that provides a smooth, strong unbroken flow of horsepower with every twist of the throttle.” CG also chose the ZG1200 as their touring…

Australia’s Troy Corser marked the 20th anniversary staging of the UK’s Goodwood Revival in 2018 by thundering to his debut victory in the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy event — the world’s most prestigious Historic road race, which that year catered for pre-1954 bikes up to 1,000cc. He did so together with Austrian teammate Herbert Schwab aboard the oldest bike in the race, a supercharged 1929 500cc BMW R57 Kompressor boxer twin owned and prepared by Herbert’s father Paul Schwab, 72, a retired Nissan dealer from near Salzburg, whose hobby for the past 50 years been restoring, tuning and racing vintage BMWs. “Troy is an extremely nice guy, who’s incredibly skilled as well as so cheerful, and good to have around,” said Paul. “How he rides the bike is just unbelievable…

“Let the Midnight Special shine a light on meLet the Midnight Special shine a light on meLet the Midnight Special shine a light on meLet the Midnight Special shine a ever loving light on me.” Traditional prison work song, recorded by Leadbelly, Creedence Clearwater Revival and others. The Midnight Special in this song was a train that rolled past a Southern prison at night, filling the dreams of the prisoners with thoughts of freedom and travel. The Midnight Special in this story is a limited edition motorcycle built by Yamaha in the early 1980s — at the time, a bike of which dreams were made. Two Midnight Specials, a 1980 and a 1981 machine, came to Dane Berens in one piece, but with their glow badly dimmed. With a lot…

Ubiquitous is a word that has become … well, ubiquitous. Defined as “seeming to be found everywhere,” the word is frequently misused. But it would be true to say that, in the British motorcycle industry, Villiers 2-strokes really were ubiquitous. Dozens of makers from Aberdale to Zenith used them to power mopeds, commuter bikes, sports bikes, trials and motocross machines, even racers and sidecar outfits. Just about every British bike builder except the majors (Ariel, BSA, Triumph, Matchless, Norton, Velocette, Vincent) made a Villiers-powered machine at some time. And while they were generally reliable by the standards of the day (even with minimal maintenance) they also had inherent problems — the flywheel magneto being one of them. Case in point: in the 1960s, back in the Old Country, my uncle…

9/5 Visit the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine, for the Vintage Motorcycle Festival and Antique Aeroplane Show. Entry fee is $18. The featured marque this year is all Japanese-manufactured motorcycles. On the web at owlshead.org 9/13 Visit the 38th Annual Battle of the Brits Motorcycle & Car Show and Swap Meet at Camp Dearborn in Milford, Michigan. This event regularly draws more than 200 bikes and 300 cars. Classic British, European and pre-1984 American bikes are invited to be a part of the show. Food and beverages will be available, along with on-site camping. On the web at metrotriumphriders.com 9/13 Visit the 37th Annual Italian Motorcycle Owners Club 2020 Rally in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, with the Tonti-framed Moto Guzzi LeMans as the featured bike. The show runs from 10 a.m. to…

What: Hearst Castle, 750 Hearst Castle Road, San Simeon, California, 93452, (800) 444-4445. Tickets start at $25 per adult, and they’re worth every penny. How to Get There: Find your way to the Pacific Coast Highway, head north from Los Angeles or south from San Francisco. Best Kept Secret: Nearby Cambria. Spend the night in a B&B or any of several hotels. The restaurants in Cambria are reasonably priced, and if there’s a bad one, we haven’t found it. Don’t Miss: The Hearst Castle movie in the Visitor Center. It’s good, and it provides a deeper perspective on William Randolph Hearst and his California castle. More Info: hearstcastle.org More Photos: exhaustnotes.us/Rides.html…

Honda’s Gold Wing was flying high in the 1980s. The second-generation GL1100 model became the first factory full-fairing Japanese tourer in Interstate and luxurious Aspencade versions. Sales were booming; and the made-in-Marysville, Ohio, Wing avoided Reagan-era import tariffs. It is doubtful designer Shoichiro Irimajiri anticipated his 1974 shaft drive flat-four would evolve into the luxury liner it later became. The first production GL1000 Gold Wing was a sporty naked bike, but with many automotive features, like belt-drive overhead cams and liquid cooling — the first Japanese 4-stroke to use either. It soon became clear that the GL was less successful as a sport bike, but was capable of comfortably eating up vast distances on fast roads. Before long, owners were fitting large fairings for weather protection — often the Windjammer…

Two motorcycle documentary films, above all others, are considered classics today. On Any Sunday probably registered first in your mind as one of those films, but if you weren’t part of the motorcycle scene during the early 1980s you may not be familiar with the other title, Take It To The Limit, produced and directed by expatriated Englishman Peter Starr. Starr’s film focuses on what could be described as motorcycle racing’s Golden Era — the mid-to-late 1970s. Limit’s opening scene features an aerial view of the late Dave Emde riding a 1978 Yamaha XS1100 at speed on California’s Highway 150 along the Casitas Pass. The speedometer needle registers 130-plus mph before the film cuts to Kenny Roberts gracefully road racing his Yamaha TZ750, then cuts back to Emde on the…

Australian two-time World Superbike champion Troy Corser, 48, has been a regular contender for a rostrum finish at the Goodwood Revival ever since he first raced there eight years ago, after his final season in World Superbike with the BMW factory team in 2011. As a continuation of that, he’s always raced BMWs in the Revival, but never as a genuine dry-weather victory hopeful. Here’s his take on finally breaking his Goodwood duck. AC: Troy, was it hard work riding the 1929 BMW to victory at Goodwood against bikes that were 25 years younger, and considerably better behaved? TC: It was different, that’s for sure! The BMW had lots of power, but obviously the hand gearshift was the hardest thing to get used to. It’s actually on the right hand…

Fifty years ago in the summer of 1970, a very strange motorcycle was increasingly often spotted in and around Bologna, Italy’s two-wheeled capital. It seemed an ingenious hybrid with a wide-angle V-twin engine set lengthways in the frame, with a distinctive horizontal front cylinder with finning running lengthways like an OHV Aermacchi. This had been converted to bevel-drive SOHC to match the rear one, which was obviously off a Ducati single, and the pair were mounted on a special common crankcase. The frame was apparently home-built, with the various ancillary components like the Fontana drum brake all off-the-shelf items. What could it be? Something special It was, evidently, to those who saw it, a cleverly constructed one-off special — for surely no motorcycle manufacturer could possibly consider building such a…

It was to be the motorcycle race to top all motorcycle races in America. The 1971 Champion Spark Plug Classic 250 was, according to sources at the time, the longest road race in AMA history, boasting the largest prize purse ever. It also was the 1971 season finale where the championship would be decided between BSA/Triumph teammates Dick “Bugs” Mann (BSA) and Gene Romero (Triumph), who also happened to be the defending champ. Another thing: The Champion Spark Plug Classic, in terms of spectator attendance, was a bust. A big bust, boasting way more vacant bleacher seats than spectators. That was a pity, because the 1971 Champion Spark Plug Classic gave race fans one of the closest finishes of all time. Here’s how it played out. The 250-mile race, held…

Commando revival Q: Hello, Keith, maybe you can help me. I bought an all original 1975 Norton 850 Commando from a woman whose husband had passed away. The bike has 2,750 miles and is a one-owner machine. It appears to be 100% original and was last inspected in 1995. I have cleaned it up, replaced the fluids and some gaskets, cleaned the carburetors and more. I did all the things that I thought should be done to a bike sitting for so long. It was in very good condition for its age, sitting in a dry garage with little heat. I cleaned the gas tank, put a new battery in it and it fired right up. All the lights work. That was a month ago. It idles great, but above…

CruzTOOLS Fitted neatly together in a roll-up portable pouch, CruzTOOLS’ RoadTech M3 Metric Tool Kit packs many tools that Japanese motorcycles, old and new, may require on the road. And it’s more complete than a typical stock tool kit, with combination wrenches from 8mm to 14mm, a proper adjustable wrench and vice grips, a spark-plug gap gauge, a pencil-type tire pressure gauge, threadlocker, a 1/4-inch drive ratchet and 8mm, 10mm and 12mm sockets, a 6-in-1 screwdriver, Allen wrenches and more. It’s not a complete kit for Hondas, lacking as it does 14mm and larger sockets and a beefier 3/8-inch drive ratchet, but with careful use this kit could get through most of the CL350 disassembly (see the whole story, Resurrection Road, page 46). Particularly handy was another CruzTOOLS piece, their…

Gold Wings from the 1980s aren’t too hard to find, but finding a really nice one is getting to be a bit more of a challenge. Ten years ago they were everywhere, but as they’ve become more and more affordable, it seems they’ve been treated with less care. We found two decent Aspencades in our search. The first was a 1984 with just over 70,000 miles on eBay, listed by R/J Performance in Ottumwa, Iowa, with a Buy It Now price of $2,495. The second is the bike you see here, which we found on Cycle Trader, listed by Mount Rushmore Motorsports in Rapid City, South Dakota. A 1985 model with just under 59,000 miles, it appears to wear its original paint. A few chrome bits like the brake pedal…

Captivated by the MV Agusta 750S America in the late 1970s, Rick Fuhry wrote a letter to Hatboro, Philadelphia-based distributor Cosmopolitan Motors Ltd. Rick admits he was simply dreaming about the motorcycle but was curious about price and availability. On November 20, 1978, Lawrence (Larry) Wise of Cosmopolitan sent Rick a reply. “All the MV’s have been sold,” Larry wrote. “However, one customer who purchased several was unable to pay for one MV and we can now offer it for sale.” For $5,000, Rick could have the last MV Agusta 750S America in its crate that Cosmopolitan had in stock. In the letter, Larry said the motorcycle would be sold to the first person to either wire the money or place a 10 percent deposit. “At the time, I knew…

Maybe few people know that in 1966, the instrumental group The Sandals created The Endless Summer surf movie theme song and threw it into an album stuffed with more surf songs as well as several cool bike instrumentals entitled, TR-6, Out Front, Good Greeves, and best of all, Scrambler. And so it was, while putting the finishing touches on the 1973 Honda CL350 Scrambler rebuild seen here, the album would spring into mind. As well it might have, because while living in New York City in 1981, I found the LP record in a thrift shop and bought it for something like $1.50 — a heavy hit at the time of 25-cent albums. I still have it somewhere, and it’s a perfect match for this Honda, scratched and weathered as…

Situated atop the Santa Lucia Mountains on the central California coast, Hearst Castle is one of the world’s great destinations on one of the world’s premier roads. Midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the Pacific Coast Highway, a visit to Hearst Castle is a bucket list road trip. You have to be wealthy to build your own castle, and the Hearst family was. George Hearst (William Randolph Hearst’s father) reached California during the 1849 Gold Rush. There was no gold for George, but he made the family fortune in silver. A good businessman and self-educated mining engineer, Hearst became a U.S. senator and fell into the newspaper business when he took the San Francisco Examiner as payment for a gambling debt. That paved a path for son William…

For cleanup, repair, and detailing needs we went with Pro Honda products all the way. Our first step was hooking up the OptiMate 3 Automatic 5 Stage Battery Charger to maintain the scrambler’s battery during the down weeks of repair. It’s true, Pro Honda gets the chargers from OptiMate, but what we liked about this one is that it’s said to detect and defer damaging sulfates (i.e., it helps save dead batteries) and also has numerous diodes that show whether the unit is desuphating, charging, testing or maintaining … or there’s trouble. In short, it provides a complete snapshot of battery condition at all times. Our most frequently used chemicals and sprays included Hondalube/Rust Penetrant, which crept into various fastener threads and interference fit areas, helping the ancient parts come…

How and why, exactly, did Ontario Motor Speedway — aka The Big O — fail? Several factors contributed to its demise, but in the end the fickle finger of fate primarily points to the root of all evil — money. In particular it was real estate money that helped bury the Big O. Ontario’s story originates after two similar attempts to put a state-of-the-art race track in Southern California failed. Undaunted, venture capitalist David Lockton organized his own consortium in the mid-1960s to finance and build what became OMS. His plan succeeded and the first race, the California 500 featuring Indy cars, was held September 6, 1970. That USAC-sanctioned race was earmarked as the “Indy 500 of the West.” Indeed, Lockton had it in mind to create a racing facility…