dr jfty d 5s by Derek Kolush

Egli-Enfield Ultimate Bullet built by the café racer master

BUY  SELL L  RIDE

Yama aha RD2 0 cks that Teenage kic orcycling saved moto

JUNE 2021

BSA Super Rocket B

LAST OFF L Great performance

Wonderful manners W

Hesketh V1000 Breakfast of champions! Aristocratic masterpiece // Who was Marusho? // Saabton

special // Hutch’s workshop tips // Morini Strada 31⁄2 // Yamaha AS1 restoration // Trident

100 56

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CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

Contents

006 From the archive The great Doug Hele sits astride his Norton outﬁt.

010 Egli-Enfield

Enﬁeld were offered this design for their single; what a shame they didn’t take it.

019 020 022

Next month

We look at Triumph Speed twin, a Harley Davidson Superglide, Norton singles and off-roading old bike fun.

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News

Things are starting to reopen... it’s starting to look a lot like summer…

026

Letters

028

Opinions

Bikes, bobbers and petrol – we need more pages for all your letters. Each month, we’ll chat to people from our world of old bikes. This month, it’s us!

JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

guide to: 032 Your BSA Super Rocket

Real World Rides: 068 Yamaha RD250

042 Saabton

077 Reader ads

We look at one of the best allrounders, BSA’s Super Rocket. It’s one of Oli’s favourites and is still a great buy. What do you get if you cross a featherbed frame with a Saab two-stroke? Made by a genius – it’s a great story and an amazing bike.

050

Triumph Trident – we have a go

Maria took her dad so they could both have a go on Triumph’s new Trident. What did they think?

Totty: 054 Posh Hesketh V1000

Oh, rather! Big, heavy and troublesome when new, Hesketh’s V1000 should make a regal way to ride – does it?

061 Who are Marusho? This could have made the Japanese manufacturers ‘the big ﬁve’. So what happened to Marusho?

This bike took the old world of British biking and threw it into the gutter. With its top speed and cheap price, it was the king of the teenagers. I fancy something different – what can I ﬁnd? Buy, buy, you know you want to…

088 Hutch’s workshop tips

Hutch looks at shims that later bikes use for valve clearances. It takes time, but isn’t as hard as you may think.

094 Oli’s Morini

Take on Moto Morini Strada, take it apart and leave it in sheds for years. Then expect it to go straight back together! Oli’s more realistic, we hope.

100 Steve’s Yamaha AS1

And now Steve has started a project with his Yamaha AS1. I wonder who will be on the road ﬁrst?

106 Frank Westworth

Frank buys an Aermacchi that thinks it’s a Harley. And thinks it cannot start.

Welcome

Greetings! Ever fancy a change?

s that a six-volt glimmer of light I see at the end of the last year’s dreadful tunnel? Wave your pullovers and petticoats above your head – it may well be! From all here at Classic Bike Guide, we hope you enjoy those first forays out; mind the hedgehogs and deer, and remember those car drivers are as rusty and blind as they ever were… It has been busy here in the workshop, trying to give everything a ‘birthday’ in preparation for ‘getting out there’. The Suzuki has had a carb and tank clean, the BMW ‘pig’ started first time from hibernation but needs fettling, the Benelli has gone to Maria’s Uncle Dee for some electrical gremlins to be banished, and the B31 needs a number of little jobs – none of which we’ve done. With cautious positivity, we should be getting in some miles as you read this. There’s also been some noisy and smokey neighbours starting up, too, with the Mid-Norfolk Railway testing, fixing and sorting. They’re like an old bike, just larger. And more expensive. And I would say more smokey, but I’ve just started the CZ. The past year has brought change. Some have had lives changed forever, some have

had it bad, most have just had to change their ways, and some have benefitted, but change has come to us all. Which led me to think about the bikes we ride. I’m not saying change, but ever thought of a different style of bike? Trying a different type opens up a whole new world. Used to a Commando? Try an off-road lightweight. Different, yes, less capable of long distances, definitely; but it’s light, easy to start (hopefully) and could open up a myriad of back lanes you didn’t know existed. Ride a Honda? How about falling for the charms of a Cossack or Ural? You’d be going from familiar mechanics with tight tolerances and easy parts supply for something more agricultural, some may say, but the roads you choose would be different and the owners I meet seem magnificent characters, so your whole experience could change. These examples are from the fantastic club magazines I’m lucky enough to get; the Bantam club’s Bantam Banter, and the Cossack club’s Horizontal View, which I always enjoy reading; and I’ve never owned a Bantam or a Russian twin. They feel like

they’re written by someone who’s wearing a smile, who knows they are among friends, and who enjoys their bikes. Something I found through being lucky to have a number of different machines is that I feel most in tune working on old BMWs. They seem to have been designed in a way my brain understands. Working on the R100, I find myself checking the manual for a torque setting, not looking it up. I understand boxers, I feel confident with them; whereas with the Norton, while I like it, I have to look everything up – none of it is automatic or intuitive to me. It’s not age: the ES2 design is from the ‘20s and so is the boxer – so maybe I just don’t like imperial nuts and bolts! And riding them are equally rewarding, in their own ways. Hear of a project or something different? Think about how it may add a little something to your life. Enjoy the mag this month and have fun out there. I’m off to blast the R100 frame and make some cables for the Norton. Matt Hull editor@classicbikeguide.com

CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

From our archive

JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

Brilliant, Thoughtful, Inspiring Doug Hele, seen in a promotional photo for Motor Cycling magazine on his Norton combination. It looks like winter if his attire is anything to go by. From the Featherbed frame and Manx Norton to Triumph’s greatest Grand Prix result and Hopwood’s BSA’s 250 racer, whenever there was a stand-out product coming from the British bike industry, this forward-thinking, openminded man would be heavily involved, constantly looking to improve, evolve and innovate.

CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

EGLI ENFIELD 624 CAFÉ RACER

From India via Switzerland Last year saw the demise of Enﬁeld’s pushrod single. Could this have been its ﬁnest incarnation? Words by Sir Alan of Cathcart Photo credit: Kel Edge Written September 1999, updated January 2021

rguably, Swiss performance guru Fritz Egli, today 84, invented the V twin Café Racer more than 50 years ago. He ran the gamut of two-wheeled excess, with a series of bikes he and his team constructed to the highest engineering standards in the converted hilltop lumber store south of Zurich, which comprises the Egli factory, powered by a variety of engines ranging in complexity from one to six cylinders. The 3000 or so hand-built motorcycles Egli created from 1968 up until his 2012 retirement, when he handed his business over to the Frei family who run it today, have included esoteric two-wheelers of every extreme. These range from the Vincent twins and singles that kicked off the café racer cult back in the 1960s through the dozen or so TZ750 Yamahas Fritz built for F750 racing in the mid-1970s. Also his Honda-engined racer, on which Messieurs Godier and Genoud won the 1972 FIM Endurance Championship before going on to emulate Egli’s design excellence under their own names, to a range of four-cylinder hyperbikes powered by hotrod Japanese engines inflated way beyond their original capacity, and

producing power considerably in excess of stock. And now, we’re looking at yet more of Fritz’s handmade hardware – the Egli Enfield Café Racer. The modern-day relic of Britain’s pushrod power, a living, breathing two-wheeled time warp delivered from Redditch to Switzerland via India, combines economical transportation for the subcontinent’s home market with retro chic to fuel the nostalgia boom abroad. Because in between his core business of supercharging big-bore V-Maxes or tuning up Hayabusas, Egli has made his way down memory lane by returning to the first bike he ever owned, carving out a successful business as Swiss importer since 1992 for the Royal Enfield Bullets built today in Chennai. However, predictably, the Enfields that Egli sold bore only a superficial resemblance to those sold in India. Before he delivered each motorcycle, Fritz added what he termed ‘Swiss Finish’; a process which entailed completely dismantling the engines and gearboxes, removing all the inherent glitches left in at manufacturing stage, then rebuilding them to much closer tolerances than they were originally constructed to. His efforts were appreciated not only by his steady stream of customers from all over

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JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

Left: Fritz Egli attempting to socially distance from Alan. Aged 65 when this photo was taken, Fritz is testmony to the adage: ‘Motorcycling keeps you feeling ﬁt and young at heart.’ Or maybe it’s the Swiss air. Above: The Egli frame in its glory. Fritz maintains it would have been a simpler frame to massproduce than the existing Bullet frame.

Central Europe, but also by Royal Enfield’s Indian owner, Eicher Corp., where he acted as engineering consultant for a couple of decades. However, it’s one thing to retro-engineer what passes for acceptability, if not exactly excellence, into a time-warped product of all our yesterdays, but quite another to combine the enhanced old with the best of new to create an up-to-date retro-style café racer in the mould of the Swingin’ Sixties. Yet that’s precisely what Fritz Egli tantalised his customers with exactly 25 years ago this year at the 1996 IFMA Cologne Show, when the prototype Egli Enfield Café Racer was displayed on his stand, consisting of a trademark Egli spine frame housing a tuned-up jumbo 624cc RE Bullet OHV motor. “I designed this bike for the Royal Enfield factory in India under my consultancy agreement with them, as the proposed basis for a new production model,” Fritz explained. “The frame is not only stronger and better-handling, but also in fact cheaper to manufacture than Enfield’s existing chassis, because their production processes are basically manual, so lend themselves ideally to this type of construction. I offered Madras (as it was known then!) the complete design, including the necessary jigs to manufacture it – but nothing has come of that. It’s a pity!” So, apart from a prototype with Egli’s 624cc version of the OHV engine in a stock Bullet frame, what might have been the next-generation Royal Enfield EVO Bullet existed only in hand-built Egli Café Racer guise, with a series of bikes ordered by customers all over the world, trickling out only when Fritz had had time to work on them. “This is absolutely not commercial,” he stressed, “because we can build a four-cylinder

“ I designed this bike for the Royal Enﬁeld factory in India under my consultancy agreement with them, as the proposed basis for a new production model.”

Suzuki or Kawasaki engined bike for almost the same price as an Enfield-powered single – construction costs are almost the same for the chassis, whether the bike has one cylinder or four! But I’m happy to build bikes like this for pleasure, as a reminder of my first Egli-Vincent 500cc Café Racers I used to race in hill-climbs (he was Swiss hill-climb champion in 1968 on just such a device), and to sell them at a price that covers my costs, no more.” Kick-starting the tuned Bullet engine into life rather than simply pressing a button was a technique made slightly more difficult by the fact that that bike had the higher-compression 8.9:1 version of the bigbore Egli Super Bullet engine. This had undergone the Swiss Finish procedure of the basic 22bhp 500 Bullet, which delivered 26bhp after Egli blueprinting: Swiss Finish entailed complete disassembly, and deburring of all castings to remove unwanted metal, the cylinder head flange machined to match the cylinder face, and thus remove the need for a head gasket; the valve seats machined concentric to their guides, and blended into combustion chamber hemisphere and ports; valves ground in and spring seats modified to the correct installed height; the rockers reground to lighten and correct; tappets adjusted properly; a new carb manifold fitted and the Indian-made carb overhauled, then fitted with a new Egli slide and needle; the ignition completely revamped; and the lubrication system modified and fitted with Egli’s high-output oil pump kit. Phew! But then above that, Super Bullet spec entailed stroking the stock 84x90mm engine to 105mm and boring it out 3mm to 624cc via a forged, full-skirt 87mm-bore piston made in Switzerland to Egli’s spec. This was a flat-deck type to give as much hemispheric shape to the combustion chamber as possible, said Fritz, who also offered a 670cc option, good for a little more torque but not a lot more power than the 47.5 bhp at 5100rpm delivered by the tuned 624cc engine – compared to the 22bhp of the stock 500cc Bullet motor as received from Chennai, as Madras had that year been rechristened as. To achieve this, Egli had done a comprehensive job on the Bullet cylinder head, which had been CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

“Keep the motor thumping away between 2500rpm and 4500rpm where it’s happiest and you are rewarded with effortless, torquey riding enjoyment...”

ported, flowed and fitted with lightened rockers plus a pronounced squish band, as well as having the valve seats cleaned up and modified to accept oversize 47mm inlet/43.5mm exhaust valves (fitted with Terry’s springs) to replace the stock 44mm/41mm duo. An alloy cylinder, still with a cast iron sleeve, saved 3kg over the stock item, and gained 1bhp just by better heat dissipation. This, plus aluminium pushrods, a 34mm Mikuni semi-flatslide carb (replacing the stock 28mm CV), a Boyer-Bransden electronic CDI, and a high-volume oil pump delivering 59% more flow than stock to the OHV dry-sump engine, all resulted in the Swiss-built Café Racer being endowed with more than twice as much power as the stock Royal Enfield 500 Bullet its engine was derived from, as well as a stumppulling 51ft-lb at 3500rpm. That was aided by Egli’s use of heavier 10 kilo crank flywheels, helping deliver a long-legged gait to the bike as well as meaty torque, though Fritz said careful attention to the main bearings was a must. “There’s not enough meat around the outer races – they always work loose,” he declared, “so we machine them in line with each other and fit steel bushes, as well as different bearings. We use the T4 type with extra clearance, and two extra balls for more load capacity, as well as a wider bearing on the timing side. “But we use the standard camshaft, which, after lots of experiments with BSA Goldie and Vincent cams, we found was the best solution. They knew what they were doing at Enfield’s Redditch factory back in 1954!” After I gave up trying to kick-start the Egli Enfield into life and adopt a well-practised run-and-bump starting technique honed during a career in Classic racing, the pushrod single rumbles into life with a satisfying echo from the evocative-sounding but well-silenced megaphone exhaust; another key to the

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performance. First thing I noticed at once compared to most of the other British singles I’d ever ridden – especially if non-dynamically balanced, like this one was – was how extremely smooth the engine was. It wasn’t as noisy mechanically as a stock Enfield, either, with none of the pushrod clatter or rocker rattle such engines invariably produce, especially when revved hard. The Egli-tuned motor both sounded and felt more like a modern design – so much so that you’d swear it had a balance shaft to iron out the vibes, which, of course, it didn’t. In fact, the reduced vibration came from the revised 53% balance factor Fritz adopted on the tuned Bullet engine, compared to the stock 500 Bullet’s theoretical 66% figure (but in reality 72%, as delivered from Madras, said Fritz). So even at peak revs of just over 5000rpm, the solidly-mounted big single motor didn’t shake at all unduly, and though it would run higher if you coaxed it up there via the light-action throttle, it started gasping for breath if you did. The Super Bullet motor pulled strongly off idle, from just 1500rpm, but keep the motor thumping away between 2500rpm and 4500rpm where it’s happiest and you are rewarded with effortless, torquey riding enjoyment that perfectly captures the essence of single-cylinder sports riding. The horsepower Egli has extracted from the pushrod engine is on a par with what a good original (not Supermono replica) Manx Norton or G50 Matchless makes in Classic racing today. It is the fact that the Super Bullet had enough torque to lift the side off the ski slope behind Fritz’s factory that you were most grateful for, because it disguised what was easily the bike’s worst feature – the original four-speed RE transmission, which I very soon decided was best employed only to get into top gear as soon as possible, then leave well alone! Thanks to a very low bottom gear ratio, the Café

Left: Never has an Enﬁeld Bullet looked so ‘right’. Above: Spine frame does add height to an already tall engine. Below: Could a model like this have changed Royal Enﬁeld’s future?

Racer pulled away from a stop sign with little clutch slip needed, which was just as well since the dry clutch hiding behind the cutaway side cover didn’t feel particularly strong and started to slip after a few full-bore getaways. But this was nothing compared to the stock Made In India gearbox, which was just awful, even after a two-hour Swiss Finish overhaul of the selector mechanism, including deburring and polishing all component parts, and fitting bronze layshaft bushes. Egli also raised the overall gearing a huge amount from stock to reflect the doubled-up power output: fitting a 21T gearbox sprocket instead of the stock 17T one and employing his own belt-drive primary conversion for a cleaner longlife action. The longer gearing makes the Egli Enfield good for a top speed of 109mph. Keeping up corner speed means heavy dependence on the bike’s suspension and handling, where Egli made his mark. The Enfield Café Racer isn’t the first street single that Fritz has concocted using his trademark nickel-plated spine frame design, constructed from mild steel (“not so sensitive to vibration as chrome-moly,” he claimed). The 50 Vincent Comet-engined bikes he built 50 years ago were the first, to be followed a decade later by small-volume Honda and Rotax-powered models in the 1980s, and it was on these that the Egli Enfield’s chassis design was based. This means a 1410mm wheelbase for a bike weighing 139kg dry, resulting in a balanced 50/50 weight distribution for the unfaired motorcycle and a bike that feels planted in turns, leastways on the smooth Swiss road surfaces it was designed for. There is excellent steering lock for tighter hairpins, where the tuned pushrod single’s spritely acceleration delivers a vigorous shove out of turns, accompanied by a harder edge to the sound of thunder issuing from the well-muffled exhaust as you reach the 3500rpm torque peak – this is Switzerland after all, so no open meggas! This is mainly due to the crisp initial pick-up delivered by the Mikuni flatslide carb, and

carburation’s pretty clean, with only an occasional spit back if you crank it hard open again from a closed throttle at low-ish revs. All this let me hustle the Egli Enfield pretty quickly along the kind of twisting mountain roads it was born to run on. Steering was quick and easy, though it felt there was quite a lot of trail for added stability, and the fully-adjustable 38mm Egli fork previously fitted to a generation of Fritz’s fours was more than capable of shrugging off any bumps or ripples in the road surface I’d encounter cranked hard over round a fast sweeper – the kind of turn the bike eats for breakfast. The Super Bullet was so light and agile in handling terms that it allowed you to relish the modernised

minimalism represented by the tuned Enfield – just as long as you didn’t have to worry about changing gear! The seat height seemed quite a lower than a stock Enfield, even though at 700 was in fact the same, but the reason was the hi set pulled-back footrests on the Café Racer cha which helped make it seem very sportbike, ve very together. Nice – especially as the only time any undue vibration through them was when I the engine really hard and approached the 600 mark on the Kröber tascho. But there really wa a lot of point in doing that, so just rev it low, an with the flow; that way you’ll be first to the cof and be sipping your espresso when your mates get there. Except now we have to call it a cappu I suppose... Nice too was the ride quality from the twinshock rear end, whose Koni dampers worked s well I honestly stopped to check if the bike did have a monoshock rear end! Well, as you can s the photos, it didn’t – but the semi-laydown Ko damping was really progressive for this kind of vintage rear suspension, and the few token bu discovered underlined this. Really, the Egli Enfield Café Racer was a look the future as well as a glance in the mirror at t , representing a modern, Swiss version of a traditional Swinging Sixties café racer using a then 70-yearold pushrod motor developed in the UK but made in India! The management of India’s Royal Enfield factory had already done well back then in terms of export earnings by fuelling the nostalgia boom in western markets, in delivering a time-warp product to those whose aim was to go slowly in style and make a strength out of simplicity. But there’s only so long you can do that successfully, and with the retro market showing signs of saturation, they needed to uprate their core export product while retaining its period

JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

charm. They did so by producing the new fuel-injected 500cc all-aluminium UCE/unit construction 500cc Bullet engine which debuted in 2009 and powers the Indian manufacturer’s models today. The UCE replaced the venerable Royal Enfield cast iron engine, which had the doubtful distinction of remaining in production essentially unchanged for longer than any other motorcycle engine design in history until it ceased production in 2008. Sadly, by then Fritz Egli was running down his business en route to retirement, so was never able to update his Egli-framed Café Racer by equipping it with the new UCE motor with an all-new (and hugely improved) five-speed transmission. It’s a pity that Royal Enfield CEO Siddhartha Lal didn’t see fit to bring that about – and at a more affordable price than Fritz Egli ever could, with Indian series production costs somewhat lower than handmade Swiss construction! But when you’re dealing with building over 800,000 motorcycles a year, worrying about producing a handful of high-end sports models is very low down on your list of priorities. Pity, though! Below left: Frita has a few bikes to choose from... Below right: Small suspension niggle aside, Alan thought this was a greathandling bike.

CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

Next month Who’s who || EDITOR || Matt Hull editor@classicbikeguide.com PUBLISHER || Tim Hartley thartley@mortons.co.uk ART EDITOR || Kelvin Clements SENIOR DESIGNER || Michael Baumber PRODUCTION EDITOR || Sarah Wilkinson GROUP ADVERTISING MANAGER || Sue Keily DIVISIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER || Tom Lee ADVERTISING || Kieron Deekens 01507 529413 kdeekens@mortons.co.uk ARCHIVE ENQUIRIES || Jane Skayman 01507 529423 jskayman@mortons.co.uk SALES AND DISTRIBUTION MANAGER || Carl Smith MARKETING MANAGER || Charlotte Park PUBLISHING DIRECTOR || Dan Savage COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR || Nigel Hole EDITORIAL ADDRESS || Mortons Media Group, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs, LN9 6JR WEBSITE || www.classicbikeguide.com GENERAL QUERIES AND BACK ISSUES || 01507 529529 24hr answerphone Email: help@classicmagazines.co.uk Web: www.classicmagazines.co.uk SUBSCRIPTION || Full subscription rates (but see page 20 for offer): (12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £54. Export rates are also available – see page 20 for more details. UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value Added Tax. DISTRIBUTION || Marketforce UK Ltd, 3rd Floor, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. 0330 390 6555 PRINTED BY || William Gibbons & Sons, Wolverhampton. ISSN No 0959-7123 ADVERT DEADLINE || June 10, 2021 NEXT ISSUE || June 30, 2021

For your entertainment, we will be featuring all, some or none of the following machines... || Triumph’s Speed Twin – was it their ﬁnest moment? || Harley Davidson || Velocette || Dirty Triumphs

While in the depths of their respective sheds, we have || BMW R100S || Moto Morini 350 Strada || Norton ES2 restoration

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Classic news IT’S ALL KICKING OFF IN KENT AND SUSSEX You could win a brand new Commando.

Norton comes up trumps for the NMM NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM has launched its summer raffle, and it has been backed by the resurgent Norton company. Museum director James Hewing stated: “Thanks must go to Norton Motorcycles, who have been extremely generous in donating a brand-new Norton Commando as first prize for our Special Summer 2021 Norton Raffle. The Commando 961 Classic is a blend of Norton’s iconic styling combined with modern components, cutting-edge engineering and expert craftsmanship. You now have the chance to win one hand-built Commando out of a limited series of 40, as well as two other exceptional Norton prizes in this amazing one-of-a-kind competition.” The other prizes are a new/old stock 1993 Norton Commander Rotary 588cc which has never been run or registered, showing 12 push miles, and a Norton Motorcycles HQ VIP private tour around the new Norton Motorcycles HQ in Solihull, with lunch for four. Norton Motorcycles Interim CEO John Russell said: “We are delighted to support the National Motorcycle Museum and help them raise the crucial funds needed to return to normal operations. “Their heritage collection includes a very significant part of our history, from racing victory to wartime efforts, and it’s important for the direction of Norton’s future, too.” The winner of the NMM winter raffle first prize of a new/old stock Triumph T140D was Ian Milford, of Perthshire. Tickets for the raffle cost £2 and can be purchased online by visiting www. thenmm.co.uk Also up for grabs is a Norton Commander Rotary.

JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

ELK PROMOTIONS, ORGANISERS of a range of shows and events for the discerning classic motorcyclist, have restarted their events calendar. The popular Romney Marsh ‘jumbles are now in their 30th year, and the Romney Marsh Jumble & Show has been extended to two days, on June 26-27, making it Elk Promotions’s first two-day jumble and show. The venue is at Hamstreet, near Ashford, Kent, TN26 2JD. On Sunday, July 25, the South of England Classic Motorcycle Show & Autojumble is being held at Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TL. Visitors will need to take Covid-19 measures when attending the events: observe social distancing, wear a face mask inside unless exempt, follow all one-way systems in place, and use the

A BSA Unit single owner in their natural habitat.

Test & Trace check-ins. The events are all-motorcycle and have been familyrun by enthusiasts since 1992. Always check www.elk-promotions.co.uk before travelling.

Breakfast and bikes at Sammy Miller’s THERE ARE THINGS in life that are better than a ride and a decent breakfast, but only a few. The Sammy Miller Museum Tuesday Breakfast Club is getting great turn-outs of riders, especially when the weather is good and everyone can keep dry and reasonably warm in the courtyard. A Full English at the Bashley Manor Tearooms, attached to the museum, costs £10. The museum proper has now

reopened with a new 10,000sq ft extension which has been closed due to lockdown for almost a year. Events coming up include the Despatch Riders Rally on May 29-31, and on Sunday, June 27, the museum hosts the Honda Owners Club (GB) Classic Show. There is an Italian Bike Ride-In on Sunday, July 4, and on Sunday, July 11, there is an event to mark Royal Enfield’s 120-year anniversary.

Breakfast in the New Forest, anyone?

SHININESS IN BUCKS A BIT LATER than usual, by a year, The Bucks British & Classic MCC present the 2021 Shiny Bike Night in July. There will be lots of prizes for classic bikes in a splendid public house in a lovely country setting, with good food, beer and music. Shiny Bike Night is at The Plough, at Cadsden, Princes Risborough, Bucks, on July 21 from 7pm. To find out more, contact Dermot at mrduke1@live co.uk or visit the website www.bbcmcc.freeuk.com

All that glitters at the Plough...

Road and trials legends head for Stafford TWELVE TIMES WORLD trials champion Dougie Lampkin MBE will appear alongside TT legend Phillip McCallen as guest of honour at the upcoming International Classic MotorCycle Show at Stafford County Showground on July 3-4. Fans at the event will hear stories from Dougie about being a member of the famous Lampkin clan, who have been a household name since the 1960s with their appearances on TV Grandstand Trophy on Saturday afternoons. Winning his very first trial at just nine years old, Dougie rapidly progressed to the British and world trials scenes with the help of his father and mentor, Martin. Dougie won his first world round at Houghton Towers in 1994 when he

won his first British title and finished sixth in the world title chase at his first attempt. In the same year he won the Scottish Six Days Trial for the first time and has since accumulated another 11 Scottish wins. To date he has accumulated an incredible 20 crowns, including two Spanish and six UK titles. His Isle of Man ride round the 37mile circuit on his rear wheel stood out as one of his greatest achievements. Doug will appear on stage throughout the weekend for live interviews and signing opportunities, and will make an appearance in the trials area too, alongside the much-loved ‘Owd Codgers club. Fans will be given the chance to win lunch with Dougie and Phillip McCallen

Stafford is coming, and we can’t wait.

Shed & Buried is back for more LOVE THEM OR hate them, Henry Cole’s TV shows are one of the few occasions you can see classic motorcycles on your screen. Henry and his sidekick Sam Lovegrove are back on television this month, searching for yet more automotive treasure lying dead in the nation’s sheds, outbuildings and garages. In 10 brand new 30-minute episodes, Henry and Sam travel across the country on their quest to find neglected motoring gems on two, three and four wheels, as well as automotive memorabilia, which they hope to “fix up and sell for a tidy profit”. The third series of Shed & Buried is on screen from June 8. You can binge-watch all 10 episodes on Discovery+ or watch the first two episodes on Quest (Freeview channel 12) at 9pm on June 8, followed by the rest of the series weekly in double bills. For more information, visit the Discovery+ website at www.discoveryplus.co.uk Henry and Sam dig out a BMW combo.

Trials wizard Dougie Lampkin.

on Saturday, July 3 in the VIP hospitality area of the event. This is an exciting opportunity to sit down with not one but two sporting heroes, and will be an experience to be remembered by the two lucky winners. Visitors to the show can expect to see the usual attractions that make Stafford a stand-out event. Motorcycle owners’ clubs will return with their impressive displays alongside a massive indoor and outdoor trade and autojumble section, the famous multi-million-pound Bonhams auction, and not forgetting the excitement in the Classic Racer GP Paddock, which can be heard across the showground. Tickets are on sale now at an early-bird price of £13 until June 28. Holders of tickets for cancelled events will be contacted to update their tickets so they can be used for this show. Visit www.classicbikeshows.com for further information.

CLEAN UP WITH ULTRASONICS remove dirt and grime, ULTRASONIC CLEANING making them ideal IS something talked for cleaning out jets of in hushed tones, and other parts with as though it were inaccessible drillings. some kind of alchemy. The tanks are fitted Once the preserve of with a flexible 0-80°C specialist restorers, temperature control, ultrasonic cleaners have been getting Sealey’s SCT03 cleaner. a timer setting which is fully adjustable from 1–99 cheaper in recent years, minutes, and there are clear LED but their origins and reliability can displays and an automatic memory be murky. Workshop equipment function that remembers what you specialists Sealey have moved into set things at last time. The cleaners the market with two new products; are made from stainless steel and one small 3l cleaner for hobbyists, have a mesh basket to keep smaller ideal for smaller parts and single components together. The bigger carburettors, and a larger 27l unit capable of cleaning items as large as unit is fitted with a drainage tap for easy emptying. As a launch bonus, banks of carbs and cylinder blocks. in their spring 2021 promotion you Both come equipped with a degas function to help improve the cleaning can find their SCT03 and SCT27 Ultrasonic Parts Cleaning Tanks at a process, and a special feature is the discounted price, but only until May soft cleaning mode, enabling the 31. The SCT03 is on offer at £189.95 cleaning of more fragile items. Using ultrasonic wave vibration, Sealey say (exc VAT) and SCT27 is £739.95 (exc VAT). You may find these cheaper the intense cleaning action of the from Sealey national or online microscopic bubbles can penetrate stockists. Visit www.sealey.co.uk the most inaccessible parts to

CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

Email || editor@classicbikeguide.com Write to || Classic Bike Guide, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, LN9 6LZ

Anything to say?

This month’s star letter wins... The writer of this month’s Star Letter wins a Duchinni Classic Leather Waistcoat worth £42.99. Made from natural milled leather with a textile lining and vintage style stud popper closure, the Duchinni Leather Waistcoat is a timeless classic. Find out more at www.thekeycollection.co.uk

Testing modern petrol I thought your recent feature about ethanol in petrol was very informative. I have been using the Esso super unleaded for the past few years and believe this is now the only ethanol-free standard pump fuel available, except in some areas mentioned in your article. Unless you test the fuel you put in your bike, you don’t know for sure if it contains ethanol, so this is how I have been testing the Esso fuel. Use a small plastic pipette to transfer a couple of teaspoons into a small clear glass bottle. Then add three or four drops of food colouring and shake. If the

fuel has no ethanol, the colouring will stay tay separate and form a layer below the petrol. If the fuel does have ethanol, even well below 5%, the food colour dissolves and the whole mix changes colour. I tested the BP super unleaded a few years ago and that contained ethanol. Paul Daws Thanks for that, Paul. Subsequent emails reveal Paul used this method from testing aviation fuel for alcohol, which froze at higher altitude – not good. Super unleaded seems the way to go – Matt.

Tiger in your tank Good to find that the Tiger 750 is finally getting respect, although I was surprised by Oli’s assertion that it vibrated less than the Bonneville. I have never ridden a Bonneville but if it vibrates more than my Tiger did (the front indicators would loosen and rotate on their stalks!), good luck in hanging onto your fillings, although the Tiger vibrated slightly less than Norton’s 961 two-wheeled jackhammer. My Tiger was one of those that ‘escaped’ from the lock-in, being bought new in July 1974 – with the quality of assembly perhaps being a valid excuse for the vibration, dodgy electrics (the kill switch was haunted!), the blowing head gasket (a chip to the lip of the barrel made it easy for combustion products to escape), and the leaking pushrod tubes! However, the bike could certainly handle better than a Honda 750 or the Suzuki GT750 I replaced it with after two years of valiantly (ahem!!) struggling against the bike’s problems. I seem to remember it being surprisingly quick up to about 70, at which point the vibration would really get going. And it was economical – pretty sure I could get 70mpg when cruising at 70mph. All in all, there was a really good bike under all of the quality problems; just a pity my mechanical skills were not quite up to resolving them all. Oh, and don’t forget to make sure the oil filler cap is screwed tightly back on – it can get very messy if you don’t!! David Moore

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STAR LETTER

BMW TIPS

Nice to see the old BMW coming along. Just a couple of points may be helpful and, more importantly, save a wad if money! The battery can be removed without taking the subframe off; it’s a bit of a ﬁddle tilting it backwards and it is tight. To me it looks like someone has botched it in the past and ﬁtted the

wrong bolts. Secondly, if the exhaust nuts are very tight and have not been off for a while, cut them through with a hacksaw blade and split them off. It sounds drastic but two new nuts are cheaper than the cost of thread repair to two heads. Chris Greenhalgh

Thanks Chris, you were right with the

exhausts. h t Another th reader said to remove the air ﬁlter housing to get the battery out. Thank you everyone! – Matt.

Hi Matt, Greetings from New Zealand. Nice BMW you’ve got there. I looked at an RS of the very same colour scheme a couple of years back in Christchurch NZ, but she was a bit too rough for my liking. Never seen the same colour scheme before or after again. Uli Cloesen Thanks Uli, and I’ve been reading your BMW café racers book recently. Still to ﬁnd out who painted them – Matt.

What have I bought? What have I gone and done recently, but bought myself a CB450K5 1972. Delivered on Tuesday, with an intact starter button I’m pleased to report and under 1000 miles on the clock, although I’m not sure that’s genuine. I’ve also gone and bought myself a XS650 special, not yet here with me. Well, it was either these or pre-pay my funeral, apparently (as advised by my ever-wise sister and hubby, and mother), so I choose these to add to my six Hondas. Who knows – I may yet have this sorted and on the road before the winter comes again and be able to get it to a bike night. Michael

Bobbers?

Getting fed up of seeing so many great bikes converted into ‘bobbers’, a lot which, has to be said, look ridiculous! In the ‘70s I remember many bikes being converted into choppers with competition for the longest forks. How many do you see today? Can’t recall seeing a homemade chopper for ages, probably because the new owners have had the sense to convert them back to what they originally started out as. I’m all for style and innovation, but I just wish bobbers would bob off and let’s enjoy our old bikes in their original clothing! Mark Pendlebury

Er – bobbers!

This will make you smile! Following my rant email about bobbers, a guy contacted me about an unﬁnished BMW R65 project. I thought I would go along and have a look. I turned up and was

shocked at what I saw. This guy had put so much work into this bike and I kinda liked it! Goes against everything I have ever done in motorcycle restoration, but it just looked great... so I bought it!

It was being built for a bike show but the build stalled 12 years ago. My plan is to ﬁnish it off now and get this 1979 mongrel on the road. What do you think? Mark CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

y Who do there? a think they

dispatch served as a ll u H tt a M abits on d his bad h e s s a p n e re rider, th overing mo structor, c in e ik b a rg s a es. Fo ets miles on bik n io ill m e n e fast than o mpts to rid e tt a o s , g everythin where he's remember to r e rd o in t make s bikes tha going. Love . Dislikes liars him smile.

Advance and retard Each month for two pages, we aim to bring you the views and opinions of the old bike scene from all corners of this merry, if cobweb-infested world we call motorbicycling. You may not agree; so don’t spit your cereal everywhere and keep your pantaloons on – it’s just opinion. This month, as it’s the ﬁrst one, it’s Oli’s and Matt’s turn.

hile deep in conversation about how to keep this magazine fresh and, more importantly, profitable, Oli said recently, “The reader’s don’t know anything about you.” One either seeks out the limelight or runs from it; Maria and I are the latter, mainly as our views seem out of touch nowadays, so this has proved tricky. So here’s what the village newsletter once wrote after a minor court appearance arising from a misunderstanding involving sugar beet, a servant’s lady-friend, a rabid peacock and what was reported by some witnesses as “a few too many pints of Old Mardle”. Since running away from a far-flung world that no longer exists years ago, Matt and Maria live deep in the unknown territory of Norfolkshire, in a derelict old railway station, keeping away from the drunken Station Master and sleeping under the benches in the waiting room next to the cat, named Pigeon. Despite living there for decades, they still have no idea what the signals mean, leading to aggravated ‘hooting’ from passing locos. The house is festooned with a racebike in the dining room, a Sunbeam and trials bike in the Messy room and a Triumph 3T in the kitchen. These are primarily in place for cats to sleep on and to scent washing of mineral oil. Oh, and there are two childrentypes, too, somewhere. I haven’t seen them since one brought me a rat they’d found under the Burrell steam

JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

roller; surely a child-safe environment. Maria and Matt make lashings of ginger beer, fight to keep Victorian values alive, and are regularly seen pretending to have a ‘real job’ (apparently that’s what real people do) by opening the level crossing: not for trains carrying tourists, produce and livestock to keep the economy thriving, but to annoy car drivers ‘who’ve just moved up to Norfolkshire for the clean air’. Norfolkshire is perfect for avoiding modern society – men who don’t wear socks, millennials who say the word ‘like’ with every other bloody breath, media professionals who start each sentence with ‘So’, and other people’s opinions in general. Which, naturally, are incorrect. It is also a wonderful backwater to ride old bikes, with myriads of quiet, narrow lanes strewn through tree-lined valleys, undulating enough to make you feel free yet not so hilly that first gear, a push and a prayer is needed on anything pre-war. Here, old bikes are just called ‘bikes’, as everything in Norfolkshire is old. Still believing the war is on, there are a few road signs to confuse the enemy. Or those unrelated. Same thing. I’d love to say our days are spent shooting and organising flower festivals, but it’s mainly pulling apart old bikes before the previous project is put together again. And riding old bikes. And looking at old bikes. And reading about them.

For bikes are many things. The slayers of financial differences, the bridges of political divide, painters of dreams, reducers of boredom, purveyors of smiles and keeper of shed time. They can excite like nothing this side of a rocket up the posterior can provide, just as easily as they can add pain and injury – but they do fit Norfolkshire living like a tailored shirt. Biking is all-encompassing, too. Buy a bike, ride it infrequently, and worry more about posting images of you and your steed at a coffee shop made from recycled asbestos and run by rehomed koala bears. Or, put together whatever bits you’ve found, then ride it around the world for some great cause until your knighthood is announced. Pay for a concours rebuild, or just bolt an old nail together in your kitchen despite lack of space, total lack of skills or experience. Then take to the local bike meet, where riders in their final decade happily mix with those in their second, and 1920s bikes rest next to machines 100 years newer (albeit sitting in said Veteran’s oil). All will be accepted, come race leathers or wax jacket, where we embrace a torrid burger and warm beer. Together. Old bikes give more than you think, if you let them. Don’t waste your life whining at the telebox or criticising the loss of any honesty in political life. Ride, fix, tinker – and enjoy what old bikes have to give. We do.

Who do the y think they a

re? Oli Hu lme is an exmecha motor nic (se postm mi-skil an, an le d) and d lives surrou in the nded b West C y book motor ountry cycles s and decrep . His ﬁ rst bik it moped e was . His s a Dutc kills in motor h clude cycles puttin and w g often o rds to in the gethe wrong r, order, upset and ting ow ners’ clubs.

The Rules of classic motorcycling Oli looks at the certain rules that apply to the purchase, maintenance, restoration, and even occasionally riding of a classic motorcycle. These include: BUYING A CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE Immediately after purchasing a classic motorcycle, you will instantly see what appears to be a better example of the same model being sold for less money, often in an unexpected location. This happened with my newly-acquired AJS. I bought it for what I considered to be a very reasonable price and was very happy for almost six hours. Then I spotted a Matchless G3 of the same vintage in smarter nick go under the hammer at a local auction house that usually just deals with worn-out farm equipment, old medals and brown wood furniture. It sold for £300 less than I’d paid for mine. OIL The oil you have in that can is not quite the recommended grade. If you ask online, and you should never do this, you will get 17 suggestions – all of them different and most probably wrong. The local bike shop doesn’t have the grade you do need. Halfords don’t have it either. See also: Spark Plugs. WIRING No matter how well a machine has been restored by the previous owner, somewhere there is going to be a blue crimp connector. Finding this will make you worry needlessly about the integrity of the whole bike. YOU HAVE THE WRONG SPANNER With machines of varying vintages, a good selection of spanners is essential. However, it is a given that the spanner you actually need is the one you put down somewhere and now you cannot find. Everyone knows about the lost 10mm socket, which is why I have about 20 of the things. However, it’s

pretty likely that what I can’t find is the appropriate ratchet or extension bar for the socket I’ve just selected. If you need a ¼-inch Whitworth, that’s the one that’s missing. The same goes for 7/16th AF. All three of these spanners are available if you do not need them. One of the more curious examples of this phenomenon is when you have both Italian and Japanese classics to work on. My Yamaha uses 8, 10 and 12mm nuts and bolts. Yet if you are working on a Japanese bike, all you can find are 11 and 13mm spanners. These are used on Italian bikes. Conversely, if I’m working on my Morini, there are 10mm spanners in abundance, also 7/16th and ½-inch AF. But 11 and 13mm? Forget it. See also: Allen keys. CAR PARK ENCOUNTERS If an old chap comes up to you in a supermarket car park, brace yourself. He used to own either a better example of whatever you are riding, or he had a “Vincent Gold Star”. More rarely, he has still got the Velocette Venom Clubman he bought in 1961, but he doesn’t ride it anymore. He doesn’t want to sell it. Or worse, he’s just sold it to a “friend” for £500. BUYING THE WRONG PART Autojumbles are very good for this. Always take a carrier bag. When you get home, you will find that this bag contains the following: the Viton ethanol-proof fuel pipe you bought is made out of liquorice and the bolts you carefully selected are a ¼ inch too long or too short. Or the wrong thread. Or both. The copper washers are metric, not imperial. And the manual is the one that didn’t include your model, while that side panel was only used for one year and it’s

not the one you need. Those fork gaiters? They seem to have been made out of rubber infused newspaper and will split the first time you use them in anger. It is important that this wrong part should have cost you less than £10, that the stallholder had the right part but you chose the wrong one, that the part is essential to get your bike running, and you cannot find a stockist with the right part anywhere. It’s a kind of Zen. BUYING PRODUCTS ONLINE When the part you have ordered doesn’t arrive in a fortnight, always contact the seller. They will blame the Post Office and ask you to wait a few more days, so you do, remembering the days of “please allow 28 days for delivery” and paying a fortune for COD. It still doesn’t turn up, so you contact the seller again. They agree to send a replacement. The following day the part arrives. Smugly, you decide that the seller never sent it out in the first place. Two days later another identical part arrives. You feel guilty about this, until you find out neither part fits. SPECIAL/SERVICE TOOLS Old British motorcycles always need special tools, be it the comb for setting the pushrods on a BSA, or a primary drive locking plate for a Triumph Trident. You try to buy the right tool. The specialist in the field has just sold the last one. He can’t get any more for six months. Japanese bikes don’t need special tools. Except for the job you are doing. SPRAY SHOP ETIQUETTE The spray shop has a three-month waiting list. Always.

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Parts Sp

pecialists While there are a number of companies that seem to specialise in every aspect of our two wheeled world, we have to remember that there are also a large number of companies that specialise in some very speciﬁc areas. Not only are these companies likely to have an expansive knowledge of their chosen subject, they’re also far more likely to stock the seemingly rare and unobtainable parts that can’t be found at the more generic dealers and suppliers The logic is clear – if you want a haircut, you don’t go to the supermarket. So, if you want a certain part for your classic motorcycle, then you approach the companies that deal in parts and expertise in those very models. And look what we have here – a number of specialists whose focus is on certain makes and models of classic motorcycle, just the job!

BSA Super Rocket Words by Oli ‘Morini will be going by summer’ Hulme Photography by Gary ‘Robert De Niro’ Chapman

JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

t was quite a stunner, the BSA Super Rocket glinting in the spring sunshine. Perfectly proportioned, classy as heck, and in astonishing condition for a motorcycle that had been turning its wheels for as long as I’ve been on the planet. I can only dream of being so well preserved. This 1961 A10 Super Rocket at Russell James Motorcycles had already been sold, to a reader of this very magazine no less, who kindly gave us permission to try it out before he came to collect it. Things were set for my first ever ride on a pre-unit BSA twin, on what was the first perfect day for motorcycling in 2021. Perhaps it was the quality of preparation, perhaps it was the circumstances, but I’m going to gush a bit about this one.

Before taking it to the road Russell gave me the low-down on what to expect; how to start it, how to handle the gearbox, and so forth. A little choke, a tickle of the carbs, and it started first kick, settling down to a full-throated rumble. I mounted the A10 as it ticked over and familiarised myself with the controls, which, to use the well-worn cliché, “fell readily to hand”. First gear engaged, I pottered out of the industrial estate into the sunshine and onto the Somerset Levels. It’s not often that you feel instantly comfortable on an old motorcycle, but the BSA was willing and ready to go from the off and, most importantly, felt completely assured, safe. The handling was near-perfect for bumbling through the narrow roads of the villages and came into its own in the countryside, despite the many potholes and gravel-strewn corners. It coped happily with the extreme undulations on a selection of lanes that were little more than strips of asphalt laid decades ago on permanently shifting peat marsh. The bike’s rideability shone through and the engine felt superbly smooth and responsive from the lowest of speeds, with a good spread of power. The Super Rocket’s solid, predictable chassis is a lovely thing. The gearbox was as smooth and as light in operation as the very best, with never a hint of a gear missed. The engine was no more mechanically noisy than the wind rustling through the trees, and completely oil-tight. It had been expertly set up, this Super Rocket. The forks soaked up the bumps, and at the

WHAT IS IT?

BSA’s last mainstream pre-unit twin.

GOOD POINTS?

The engine, the handling and the ride.

BAD POINTS?

The brakes wouldn’t be great in a town and it’s not quite as sporty as its rivals.

COST?

Project/ ‘That’ll never work’: £3000-£4000. Oily rag runner/ ‘My dad had one like that’: £4500-£6000. Concours/ ‘Use it? Not on those dirty roads’: £7000-£11,000.

CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

“The bike’s rideability shone through, the engine felt superbly smooth and responsive from the lowest of speeds, with a good spread of power. The Super Rocket’s solid, predictable chassis is a lovely thing.”

back end there was nothing you could describe as a bounce. The brakes of the period don’t have the greatest of reputations, but the simple set-up on the Super Rocket was more than capable of pulling a relatively heavy twin to a halt in anything other than emergency. I do admit that the roads were deserted and that there weren’t emergencies to deal with, so you may wish to take that with a large pinch of sodium chloride. Those deserted, straight roads across the Levels were an ideal opportunity to give it some beans, so I did. Getting up to more than acceptable speeds was performed with a relaxed air. It’s a lot less frenetic than a Triumph, certainly. It accelerated ‘un-fussily’ and reached the appropriate speed without a hint of stress or strain. And just like all good 1960s road tests would say, it went round corners on rails. The Super Rocket is perfectly poised, too. Photographing old motorcycles requires a lot of backand-forth riding which, in turn, requires a good deal of manhandling, paddling it back and forwards or carrying out tight, low-speed turns, all of which were achieved with ease and in comfort; albeit looking to passers-by like I was confused as to my destination. This example was registered in July 1961 according to the DVLA, and was made halfway through the production run. It’s obviously had a few modifications in the last 60 years. The mudguards, for instance, came from the US, but many period magazine articles and books, and many of the US adverts of the day, show that if this were a US-spec Super Rocket it would have twin clocks and a separate headlamp, rather than a nacelle. I contacted BSA expert and BSA Owners’ Club stalwart Brian Pollitt, whose knowledge

of all things piled-arms is positively encyclopaedic. He says: “I can tell you it has US-spec mudguards. The UK had painted mudguards and the US chromed ones like these. You will see there is very little of it below the numberplate compared to a UK spec one. The US ones are normally shorter as you can see if you compare with a picture of a UK one. “Sometimes US bikes also have high bars and smaller tanks, but not always. It was only the UK models that had the nacelle, while the US ones had the separate headlamp with clocks on a plate mounted on the fork top nuts. Engine number records show it was fitted in a bike despatched on October 6, 1959, as a Super

Rocket finished in red, and sent to Watson Cairns, the BSA-Triumph dealer in Leeds. “Of course, the engine may have been swapped at some time. All British models had a nacelle at this time. I can see there is no take-off for a rev counter at the front of the inner timing case, so no rev counter was fitted from standard. If it had a rev counter, there would be a bracket fitted to the right-hand fork top nut to mount it. It looks ugly, so most people didn’t bother.”

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Back in 1961, the Super Rocket might have struggled in the marketplace and, in this case, as a top-of-the-range machine, it was not unusual for it to hang around unsold. It was also up against the rakish charms of the Bonneville and the sporting pedigree of the 650 Nortons, which might explain why this Super Rocket was on the showroom floor for 18 months. Today, out there in the real world, I think I’d plump for a Super Rocket – sporty and classy, but useable

and comfy. It would be markedly cheaper than its rivals and would go some, too. It’s a great big comfy teddy bear, a solid and dependable chunk of alloy, steel and cast iron, and one of the nicest motorcycles I’ve ever ridden. Viceless, comfortable and charming, with sprightly performance. It came as a considerable surprise. It might not have Triumph and Norton’s glamour and poise, but as a good-looking, useable motorcycle, it’s top notch.

“All British models had a nacelle at this time. I can see there is no take-off for a rev counter at the front of the inner timing case, so no rev counter was ﬁtted from standard. If it had a rev counter, there would be a bracket ﬁtted to the right-hand fork top nut to mount it.”

A LITTLE HISTORY: FIVE YEARS AT THE TOP The BSA 650cc Super Rocket was launched in 1957, supplanting the Road Rocket, which was BSA’s flagship sports bike when launched in 1954. The Super Rocket was designed to take the wind from the sails of Triumph and Norton, who were sweeping the board in competition and cleaning up in the market for big fast twins; Triumph with their engine and Norton with the Featherbed frame. Sold as “Undoubtedly the world’s greatest motorcycle”, the BSA A10 Road Rocket was released to the world in 1954. It did a fine job of boosting BSA’s profile in the days when it was being sold alongside the old plunger-framed Flash. In 1957 the Super Rocket was announced for the next season. It had higher compression pistons, lumpier cams and uprated cycle parts. Cycle World in the USA tested the Super Rocket at 116mph. The Super Rocket produced 43bhp and had a compression ratio of 8.3:1. The cylinder head was a new alloy design and was an improved fitment, and the carburettor, a temperamental Amal TT carb on the Road Rocket, was soon a large-bore Amal Monobloc. The carb inlets were cast into the head, so there was no chance of adding an extra Amal, not that it needed one. Attempts to make twin carb A10s have been made, but they make little or no difference to the performance, only to the expense. There were bigger inlet valves, and the crankshaft was stiffened. This one-piece forging had a flywheel held in by three bolts, and there was a sludge trap. There was a new five-plate clutch with a strengthened drum, thicker big end shells and a new bronze timingside main bearing. New brakes were fitted to the model, similar to Triumph-type hubs, replacing the overstressed Ariel alloy drums used on the Road Rocket. BSA was justifiably proud of their frame and made a point about its construction in their advertising, stating: “All BSA Frames have a cradle frame which is self-contained and does not rely on the crankcase to give it strength. The engine is therefore relieved of all frame stresses and thus operates at a higher standard of mechanical efficiency.” Keeping the oil inside a Super Rocket is easier than with many British twins of the period, though

torquing down the head carefully and in sequence is advised. Setting up the ignition timing can be tricky, with the Lucas magneto providing its own challenges. The American models had a chrome rocket ornament on the front mudguard. It used the mounting holes that other markets used for the front numberplate. In a move that followed the fashion of the time, the twin clock and separate headlight of the Road Rocket were replaced by a speedometer mounted in a nacelle. The Road Rocket’s sporty, slender mudguards were replaced by deeper valanced items. For the 1960 model year, further attention was paid to the clutch, with four springs rather than six, and a new primary chaincase with a screwed plug you could unscrew to adjust the clutch springs by rotating the engine until each spring was visible. In 1961, the year this particular machine hit the road, the days of the BSA pre-unit twin were shuffling irrevocably to a close. The motorcycle market was shrinking as cheap cars became increasingly popular, and these issues were exacerbated by several other factors, including the shortage in supply of Lucas magnetos. In 1961 BSA had made no changes to the model, or indeed any of their twins. The A10 machines and their 500cc sibling A7s were ready to be axed in 1962 when the first A50 and A65 CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

“Power Egg” unit twins appeared, but the Super Rocket still got a few upgrades in 1962, including new brakes, new silencers, modifications to the gearing, while the compression was increased to a hefty 9.0:1. At the same time the Super Rocket’s place as brand flagship was replaced by the legendary Rocket Gold Star, with the result that many a Super Rocket was given RGS lookalike treatment by owners in the following years, sometimes by slotting a Super Rocket engine into a Goldstar frame or by adding Gold Star equipment to a 650. The Super Rocket managed to cling on well into 1963 before BSA finally discontinued it.

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY: TRANSATLANTIC The Super Rocket was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, with US publications even more fulsome in their praise for the 650 than the more reserved British. In September 1957 Cycle World called the Super Rocket – or “Super Road Rocket” as they named it – a “Missile with muscle”, and a “bomb”, a term used in a positive way, rather than the possibility of the bike exploding. “Its application to the new Super Road Rocket by BSA fits like a fuse in a blockbuster” they said. For Cycle World, the BSA engineer’s ability to read the US market was part of its appeal, and they expressed surprise that British riders would

appreciate it: “The Super Road Rocket combines its amazing power with good manners and is equally at home in congested traffic and wide-open spaces.” The Super Rocket’s ability to be sporting and practical was a bonus, and they loved its looks. The forks were a bit too soft for “cow-trailing” (gentle off-roading?) but they rated the suspension set-up on ordinary roads. The idea that anyone would take one of BSAs road-burners off-road shows just how much the world has changed. Their test Super Rocket wasn’t the model that ultimately appeared, and was fitted with twin clocks, a separate headlight and a TT carb

BSA SUPER ROCKET:

MANUFACTURED: 1957-1962 ENGINE: Air-cooled ohv twin BORE / STROKE: 70mm x 84mm CAPACITY: 646cc POWER: 43bhp @ 6000rpm LUBRICATION: Dry sump IGNITION: Magneto CARBURETTOR: Amal Monobloc TRANSMISSION: Chain GEARBOX: Four-speed foot change FRAME: Twin downtube duplex cradle FRONT SUSPENSION: Tele forks, hydraulic damping REAR SUSPENSION: Swinging arm Twin three way adjustable shocks FRONT BRAKE: 8in/203 sls drum REAR BRAKE: 7in/177mm sls drum TYRES: 3.25 x 19 Front 3.50x 19 Rear WHEELBASE: 56in/1422mm GROUND CLEARANCE: 6in/152mm SEAT HEIGHT: 30 in/762mm DRY WEIGHT: 418lb/190kg TOP SPEED: 113mph (est)

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like the Road Rocket. It had a slim two-gallon tank, marking it as a West Coast model. They rated the gearbox highly, as well as the quality of the chrome and the full chaincase, which was later ditched. “The BSA Super Road Rocket packs enough punch to hustle across the American continent and back in comfort, yet it is pleasantly docile in going-to work traffic. Its beauty spells pride of ownership and its performance will keep its owner happy for many years. The BSA firm’s skilful wedding of utility with enjoyment is bound to please.” In 1960, the Super Rocket was refined further, but in the UK, Motor Cycling came to very similar conclusions. The result of the development, they said, was “a full-blooded sports machine with docility and economy, which makes it entirely suitable for everyday use.” The newly-planned motorway network was the

BSA A10 SPECIALISTS

SRM Engineering srm-engineering.com Draganﬂy draganﬂy.co.uk The superb owners’ club bsaownersclub.co.uk

ideal place for the BSA, they said. “The Super Rocket has a near three-figure cruising speed, a performance to meet the autobahn ambitions of foreign touring enthusiasts, or those who buy motorcycles with an optimistic eye to the extension of motorway travel at home in the not-to-distant future”. They countered this with praise for three-figure fuel consumption at 30mph. The gears were good, the starting easy, and despite the highest compression ratio on the market, you didn’t need 100 octane, five-star petrol. The steering damper was described as “decorative” as the bike didn’t need it. Maintenance was simple, they claimed, though the claim that removing the tank to adjust the tappets takes “just a minute or two” might be considered a touch optimistic. They liked the clutch adjustment window, the optional full chaincase, the ease at which you could get at the contact breakers, and the quality of the tool kit. “Altogether this popular 650 has been considerably improved by patient development without the sacrifice of a single good feature,” they declared.

Thanks to Russell James, at Russell James Motorcycles in Edington, Somerset, and the Super Rocket’s new owner, who provided the machine for this shoot. Visit www.russelljames.co to see his current stock list

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CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

SAABatical One that got away A rain-lashed holiday is enough to drive any young man into a ﬂight of fantasy, but this particular ﬂight took off. Almost a half century later it landed as something totally unique. Phil Chester takes a look at a really special special!

Photographs by Robert Marshall

icture the scene. Summer1969. Honky Tonk Woman belts out the radio, still number one for the umpteenth week. The volume is up high to counteract the sound of yet another British summer downpour. The lad watches, amused as a couple make a dash to their car, heading somewhere to avoid the incessant rain. It is at this point that a seed is planted in his mind, a seed which would eventually germinate but lie dormant for several decades before once again bursting into life. The car was an early SAAB 93; the classic, bulbous, fast-back saloon with a threecylinder, transverse two stroke engine. An engine which would surely fit into a Featherbed frame... Robert Marshall lived in Nottinghamshire’s Trent Valley and, if nothing else, was patient. ‘Bob the Level’, as friends affectionately but sarcastically knew him, was also meticulous, fastidious and not a little skilled – for what you see here had probably never been done before, and therefore there was no template. He had to go it alone. He takes up the story. “It wasn’t actually until 1979 when I got started on the SAAB idea properly. I sold my blown-up Triumph engine but kept the Featherbed chassis. I got a tip-off from a local Saab

agent about an engine near Doncaster. The engine was a stock single carb unit in good condition, but the chap also had a hot triple-carbed unit, albeit in his car and seized. He huffed and puffed a bit but eventually I got both engines for £25. The hot engine had a seized centre piston, but it came apart easy enough and only needed a good hone to get it sorted.” Armed first with some plywood, then Perspex and finally Dural plate, Bob spent several very patient, testing months carving and cutting the engine plates. He fitted the engine centrally in the Norton frame, but the crank pinion was nowhere near the gearbox pinion on the existing close ratio Triumph gearbox; indeed, the mainshaft was 1.5in short. Bob contacted the Triumph Meriden factory and explained his predicament. The result of the conversation was a brand-new factory-made main shaft of the required length. “The bloke I spoke to was really helpful,” recalled Bob, “but the shaft wasn’t quite right and it eventually broke the gearbox. It transpired that while it was ground true, the heat treatment which followed it proceeded to bend the shaft by about 20 thou.” So, the SAAB engine came out and he returned to the well-trodden Triton path with a T140V engine.

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Thirty-five years later, in a virtual turning back of time, another rain-spoiled trip out once again had Bob thinking about the SAAB project. Why not? The engine was still stored up in the roof space, and the magnificent Rob North Trident standing proudly in the garage was proof enough –if it was ever needed – that while Bob’s patience had maintained its original equilibrium, his skills and craftsmanship had increased legion. Another Triton was purchased, stripped, and most parts other than the chassis were sold off. The original engine plates were still useable as templates at least, so the SAAB project began again in earnest. Bob spotted a dismantled Nourish gearbox, complete with an Quaife Mk1 close-ratio cluster, advertised in the classic press. It was expensive but he bought it. However, when he began to study form, he found the number of teeth on the pinions did not tally with that of a Mk1 Quaife. At a TR3OC gathering he discussed the mystery with Phil Pick, of Triple Cycles fame, and it transpired that Bob had inadvertently purchased a cluster akin to the proverbial rocking horse manure – a genuine

works Triumph Daytona extra close-ratio cluster, one of barely a handful manufactured for the prestigious American event. Keeping this rarity to one side, he purchased one of Pick’s stock five-speed Triumph clusters, converted to close ratio. Trawling a local autojumble on a typically bleak and windswept winter’s day, Bob stumbled across a longer than normal gearbox main shaft on a stall that looked remarkably like Triumph-ware. In fact, it had originated as part of a P&M dry clutch conversion kit. It was 14in long but, at £20, he reckoned it was worth taking a gamble. His hunch was right, but when fitted into the existing gearbox, it proved to be 15mm too long, so he hacksawed it in half, removed the offending extra length and pegged it back together as a template for a new shaft. Ellis Moore, of PME Engineering, manufactured the new shaft. “I took a lot of care to get the template absolutely right and even Ellis couldn’t tell it had been cut in two until he looked down the centre and saw the peg, which made his life easier.” The trials and tribulations of the engine itself could readily fill this magazine. On pulling apart the engine

“...and it transpired that Bob had inadvertently purchased a cluster akin to the proverbial rocking horse manure: a genuine works Triumph Daytona extra close-ratio cluster, one of barely a handful manufactured for the prestigious American event...”

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Above: Amal Mk2 concentrics worked best; after converted from four-stroke to two-stroke. Above right: Exhausts are half Kawasaki, half Marshall. Right: Finished gold anodised engine plates. Below: Bodywork is ﬁbreglass, tank aluminium, by TAB in Wales.

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after 35 years, he surprised himself. “I must have really oiled everything up well, because it came apart like a dream and it was still like brand new inside.” The stock engine uses a regular 120-degree crank with weighted flywheels, but the GT crank has full circle flywheels. There is an active racing community in the USA for these SAABs and as such, tuned components are readily available for the engines, albeit expensive. Bob took the plunge and ordered a GT crank from SAAB racing specialist Tom Donney, making the understandable assumption that with full circles flywheels, it would be a better balanced assembly. Eventually the rare GT crank arrived and was fitted. “It was shocking. It shook off the exhausts and broke a coil,” said Bob. “I had it dynamically rebalanced by Chris Appleby and it made it far, far

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better but here was still a really nasty period around 2500rpm. The full circle flywheels increased the primary compression in the cases too, and it whacked the top revs up 1000rpm to over 8000, but it was like a TZ700 – it was a missile but awful to ride.” Out it came and the standard crank was refitted. “The vibration simply disappeared. The stock crank is 6lb lighter too. SAAB have really got the porting right. I’ve got a booklet on how to liven the engine up even more, but when you think this engine was designed to haul a portly old saloon car, there’s no wonder it’s lively in a bike frame. It’s really clean, even at low revs: 3000rpm is about 50mph, 4000 is 70, 5000 is 90, 6000 is the ton, 7000rpm is about 120 and topping out at 8000 is around 150mph.” Originally, the engine had been fitted with three Solex carburettors, which worked well but seemingly

not aged well and, 35 years down the line, simply refused to do so again. So Bob bought a set of Chinesemade 34mm Keihin flat slides. These would start the engine easily and tick over like a dream, but then only run properly flat out. Reckoning they were too big, he bought three 32mm versions... which behaved just the same! With such a variety of needles available and therefore a lot of experimenting and expense involved, he gave up on them. He then tried to replicate the assembly found on his Rob North Trident but there was insufficient room, so he made a bespoke manifold to accommodate three 32mm Amal Mk 2 Concentrics. He already had a Spanishmade two-stroke Concentric, so approached Burlen Fuel Systems (AMAL) with a view to purchasing two more. Unfortunately Burlen do not make the two-stroke version anymore, just the four-stroke. However, over a period of mutual liaison, Bob converted two four-stroke versions to twostroke specification and not only do they work perfectly, but also, hung on rubbers purchased from a Doncaster scooter shop, they look the part, too. The existing engine plates served as good templates for further experimentation. “It was the Devil’s own job to get everything lined up perfectly” said Bob, which, considering his colossal patience threshold, must mean most ordinary mortals would have given up. “But now it’s as free as a bird. I’ve over-engineered all the stiffeners too; the whole thing would hold a V8.” The new plates are T6 aircraft quality Dural, and Bob polished out all the machining marks by hand, using 120 grade emery cloth and Scotchbrite cloth until he got a perfect satin finish, onto which Bob Carlyle, of Mansfield Anodising, finished in gold. Due to necessary length of the gearbox mainshaft, Bob made up a carrier for an outrigger bearing to support the shaft’s overhang which is fixed to the inner primary case. The next challenge was the primary belt and the final drive chain. Bob

sought a belt arrangement which would give the equivalent of a T140’s 29-58 ratio at the fixed 9in centre between the crank and the mainshaft. He spoke to Bob Newby, who studied his little black book and found the nearest he could achieve at that centre was pulley system of ratio 34-68 – physically bigger but the maths equate to the required ratio. Next up was a means of pumping the coolant around the engine and a means of generating power. A regular conversion from the traditional crank mounted alternator system is the small-but-powerful remote mounted generator often found on horticultural machinery, and Bob chose the Denso unit as fitted to many Kubota tractors. He turned to Leeds-based Fenner Drives, who duly appointed a Polish engineer lady “who explained to me that she was specifically dealing with my query. I thought ‘this is going to cost a fortune!’ She was brilliant, calculated all the ratios and speeds and the correct pulley, with keyless bush and V belt. It cost me 13 quid!” A pal found a superbly compact electric coolant pump, specifically designed for high flow racing situations. An Italian company called ARF33 Racing manufacture them, but are only available as negative earth. “So I went for a negative earth system,” said Bob. The radiator is Honda Hornet but looks perfect, and the Spal fan is governed by a sensor fitted into the cylinder head where the original temperature gauge used to be. CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

“I thought ‘this is going to cost a fortune!’ She was brilliant, calculated all the ratios and speeds and the correct pulley, with keyless bush and V belt. It only cost 13 quid!” The forks are Ceriani and hang in Rob North yokes, the rear hub is a bobbin type with integral cush drive from P and M, and the rear shocks are the obligatory Hagons. Bob chose to go with fibreglass cycle parts and bought the tank, seat and mudguard from Unity Equip (the dark blue photographs with SATIN on the tank). “He was told that the tank was ethanol proof.” Alas, it quickly proved to be anything but, and he commissioned an alloy version from TAB in Wales (the pale blue shots with SAATON on the tank). The discs are all 10in diameter, lightened by P and M and nipped by Lockheed twin piston calipers. “It’s essentially a P and M front end, as on my Rob North.” Those amazing expansion chambers are a mix of Kawasaki and Marshall, in that Bob made the header pipes and then grafted on the chambers. “With there being three, there’s an obvious lack of symmetry,” he said, “and I had problems getting them looking right. I tried this way and that but I just wasn’t happy with it. It was getting late and I was fed up of sitting on a cold floor balancing these pipes on bits of string and was about to call it a night when one rolled over in my hand. I took a look and thought, ‘Yes...that’s it’ – sorted!” The instrumentation is Koso RX2GP – as found on many top race bikes – and is electronic. Looking at the brochure, there are countless ways to arrange the pick-up sensor system. Bob has his mounted at the bottom of a fork. “Did I struggle with the rev counter; there are far too many options for connecting. It took me the best part of a year to finally get it right. “Connect it here and it would be too high; connect it there and it would be too low. Eventually I connected it to the positive side of the right-hand coil and got it dead right.” It was such patience and

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meticulous attention to detail that made anything Bob did stand out from the norm; you should see his garden! So, what does it sound like and what’s it like to ride? The nearest thing I could describe was a fullblown TZ750 from the period, yet perhaps a little deeper in note. Bob wouldn’t release the bike for me to ride until he was totally happy with it, and while the engine pulled like a four-stroke and apparently had neither a power band nor a rev ceiling, there developed a brief area of rough running between 2500 and 3000 revs which plagued Bob’s perfectionist nature. We arranged a day for the photoshoot but that had to be postponed due to a sudden family situation, and then the weather changed for the worse. During this time he tried countless ways and means to clean up this 500rpm glitch, eventually giving it up as a bad job and, in a fit of pique and frustration, removed the engine, to be replaced with a hot T140 Triumph lump. Most folk would have lived with it, but such is the nature of the man. So, the opportunity to sample this unique machine was lost but as one can imagine, the Triton project came together, as a fellow triple enthusiast commented, “in a manner by which all others are judged.” Sadly, soon afterwards, Bob’s health began to deteriorate, and he lost his battle with cancer in March 2019. He was 68. The small local church accommodated family and close friends at the funeral. Outside, the yard was akin to a football crowd, with motorcyclists and workmates gathered en masse to say goodbye to the man who set the standard – Bob the Level.

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Triumph took their new Trident on tour! We had a go... what did we think? Triumph have been the ﬁrst manufacturer out of the blocks come the country’s relaxation of restrictions, with a tour of their dealers to show off the new Trident 660. Maria, her dad and Oli went to have a go to see what they thought. Words Maria and Oli

Photography Matt and Triumph

Fancy a go?

he journalists may have had a ride and declared their love to the Triumph Trident, but they are flown out to test them in hot climes and are wined and dined, and anyway, journos never buy new bikes. So when the Triumph ‘Trident tour’ came up on Butch’s (Dad) radar, and, as he has done nothing but go on about the new Trident for months, I thought it only right to sign us up for a test ride. We turned up on a cold but dry Sunday morning to Lings Norfolk Triumph, in nearby Watton. As soon as we parked it was obvious where we needed to go with our paperwork. Once we were all checked in, our temperatures were taken and we

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were able to have a look at the bikes to see what we thought. It was all very slick. The Trident did look good, but also looked similar to many other new bikes. They were all presented nicely and cleaned (sanitised?) in between each group, and neither Dad, Matt, or I could agree on which colour scheme looked best – I’d like a brighter one as the colour choices all looked a little drab. There was a short safety briefing which included a run-down of the bike, its controls and what order we were going out in (there were six of us). I was the only lady rider on this time slot, which isn’t unusual, and the other riders made me feel comfortable and welcome. When

And what did Oli think?

asked if we had any questions, I asked if the pre-load was on minimum so I could ensure a good footing; I did not want to drop it at the first set of lights from over balancing! A couple of minutes later, no less than three men rushed out from the showroom to have a look and decided that it was already as low as it would go, so I had a perch to try it for size. I was looking for Dad to see what he thought but he was busy listening about the controls of the bike. One of the other test riders was keeping an eye on me, it seemed, and leaned over to say, ‘I think you’ll be fine with that’ – and that was all the confidence I needed to be happy to go out. The nerves had well and truly set in by this point. It has been quite some time since I’ve ridden a bike this big and tall –

and especially in front of all these people. Being female feels like all eyes are on you, but it also means you can get away with more than the men. After a wobble down the slope onto the road, we were off. My first thought in the first few hundred yards was that it felt like a big bike; it wasn’t the tank size or height, it just felt big bike, yet not too big. During the ride I found it was very comfortable and all 100 gears (I’m used to four) seemed to glide in nicely. It pulled well in a high gear at slow speed and the dash was very easy to read without having to move my head too far. I chose to go out last in the group, with Dad in front of me and the tail rider (from Triumph) behind. I felt very safe the whole time, I could see what Dad was doing and what was

Images of the new Triumph Trident 660 had intrigued me, so I signed up for the test day. I’ve been considering upgrading my little 401 Husqvarna for something a little more capable for longer rides, and the Triumph looked like it might be just the thing. In the flesh it was a vast improvement on the prototype images, with a tank that bears a little resemblance to the T140, and the bike lacks the plumber’s nightmare of pipes and wires and tubes that burden its main rival, the Yamaha MT-07. The front end of the Trident looks great, with everything neatly tucked away. All the paint schemes are spot-on and the build quality excellent. The back end I was less keen on. The exhaust is an ugly thing, and the rear wheel huggers – with one protecting the shock absorber and the other to hang the rear light and numberplate on at the back – leave a big gap and exposed tyre. Any pillion would, I suspect, get covered in crud in inclement conditions. A 660cc naked motorcycle should be usable two-up, and while the rider’s seat is big and comfy, the pillion gets a small perch. There are hidden handholds under the seat, but I couldn’t see any way of attaching anything to the bike apart from a small tail-pack. Without some guards, throw-over panniers would flop about. Switchgear was big and blocky, and I liked the self-cancelling indicators, which should be compulsory – for me at least. Unlike the Triumph twins, which seem a little low, the Trident did seem to fit me. Feet were flat on the floor. Start it up and sadly it doesn’t have an old-school triple’s off-beat bark, but it is a nicer noise than most modern twins or fours. The gearbox is as good as any modern bike, and the power take-up was decent rather than earth-shattering. The Trident is quite light and easy to chuck about, shrugging off road imperfections and gravel. It is rapid rather than fast. The grips sat at an odd angle for me, putting pressure on the wrists. Front brake is excellent, the rear brake felt a bit grabby, and I found the rear suspension a little rough. While the speedo is nice and clear, the rev counter display was hard to follow at a glance. The big problem for me was that the Trident lacked that indefinable thing: character. It was just a motorcycle that went well but was hard to engage with. It’s worth mentioning that almost everyone else on the ride loved the Trident with one exception; an older chap who didn’t think it was powerful enough. The Trident is a decent ride but not for me, even at its bargain price. I think I’d be more likely to spend my money on a used Triumph Street Cup or a V7 Guzzi. CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

coming up, and had the security of the tail rider behind me. We stopped at a mini roundabout at one point and I checked my mirror, and the tail rider gave me a thumbs-up which I reciprocated. When we all got back safe and sound, we had a chat and discussed what we thought. I heard only good things about this bike. I wanted to find the tail rider to thank him, but he found me first. He complimented both Dad and I on our smooth, relaxed riding. To hear someone I have never met before compliment my riding made my day, as I don’t feel the most confident rider at times. I found the Triumph Trident tour was very professional and very well organised, and all the staff were helpful, kind and welcoming.

And the bike? The Trident is a great bike at a competitive price and sounds good, too. Dad has been riding forever and currently has a 2019 Honda CB500. I ride the B31, my GS500, the Benelli off-road, and I have a Honda Grom (MSX125), so the Trident was big at first – but then I used to ride an ER-6f Kawasaki before having a break from bikes. Different experience levels, wants, and even sizes, yet we both got on well with the Trident. Dad preferred the power and the seat to his Honda, though he thought the Triumph suspension a little

Matt’s view We’re all different… …and we all feel, think, and want different things. Oli didn’t like the Trident and is willing to spend more on a Moto Guzzi. Yet Butch found it ticked most of his boxes, and he is just waiting to make sure. Maria got on well with it, but would rather spend her limited riding time on old bikes. This is why what Triumph has done – by getting out there and helping dealers to hold these roadshows – is so good. Booking a demo is a serious commitment and too far for some who are ‘just’ interested. But by inviting people to have a go with no pressure is bound to turn many more into sales. Well done, Triumph. The Trident is a great all-rounder, at a good price – give one a go.

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too firm for Norfolk roads. I admit I was concentrating more on where the riders in front were going and my riding, so the impressions of the bike are less. Despite this, I could deal with riding in a group, with strangers, on unfamiliar roads with no worries about the bike – a positive sign of a good bike. The roadshow was great. Now Dad would like to go out on a Trident on his own, on roads he knows, and at his pace. Then he can decide if it’s for him. I really liked it, but the old ones are still what I prefer.

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Hesketh Motorcycles The story of Hesketh Motorcycles is a twisting, turning example of how the British motorcycle trade could provide excellence in engineering and product. Yet, at the same time, also of how it really couldn’t… Words by Oli Photography from Mortons archive

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ith fanfare and much publicity, the first Hesketh V1000 was launched to the world’s press in April 1980, with the darling of the press, Mike Hailwood, demonstrating a prototype around the Hesketh family’s Easton Neston estate in Northamptonshire. It was actually a further year before potential customers were able to put down deposits on bikes, and while the V1000 looked stunning, press road tests revealed that some further development was in need – right at the time that customer interest was peaking. The further 12 months that were required for the finishing touches proved to be rather painful.

But we’re jumping into the story in the middle rather than at the start. The whole idea was one brought to fruition by Harvey Postlethwaite and Bubbles Horsley, who persuaded Lord Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, the third Baron Hesketh, to expand the small fortune he’d already spent on the Formula 1 team that bore his name, and lavish yet more cash on a motorcycle project. Sounding like characters from a PG Wodehouse novel, Bubbles Horsley (his first name was actually Anthony) was initially the driver of the team created by the 22-year old Lord Hesketh, being replaced by James Hunt. After both of the team’s Formula 2 cars were destroyed in crashes by Bubbles and Hunt, Hesketh

bought a March Formula 2 car for the remainder of the ’72 season, and then an ex-Surtees machine for the following year. That was written off by Hunt at the Grand Prix de Pau, in south-west France, at which point Hesketh justified, in a strange, twisted way, that Formula 1 would be no more expensive than F2, so moved up to the premier class! That kind of thinking is brave, particularly when the company was self-financed with no sponsorship, and is an interesting insight into how the Lord viewed cash flow... Further light is shed on the company finances by the fact that the F1 team would always celebrate the end of each race in style, regardless of results, with champagne flowing, using a Rolls Royce

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“Hesketh justified that Formula 1 would be no more expensive than F2, so moved up to the premier class! That kind of thinking is brave, particularly when the company was self-financed with no sponsorship, and is an interesting insight into how the Lord viewed cash flow...”

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Corniche and a Porsche Carrera as team transport, and emblazoning a ‘Sex – the breakfast of champions’ patch on Hunt’s racing suit. The entire team stayed in five-star accommodation for every race if Hesketh’s Southern Breeze, a 162ft yacht, wasn’t berthed nearby. The purchase of a March F1 car lead to March’s junior chassis engineer, Harvey ‘Doc’ Postlethwaite, being signed for the team – looking back, it does seem as though staff were signed up on the basis that they had extravagant names – and it was Postlethwaite who designed the Hesketh 308 chassis for the ’74 season, which won on its debut at Silverstone’s International Trophy that year with Hunt in the driving seat. While there were several 308 chassis sold for the following season, Hesketh were not successful enough – despite finishing fourth in the 1975 world championship – to be able to fund the racing any more without significant sponsorship. We regale the story of the Hesketh racing cars here simply to set the scene for the change in direction from ontrack four wheels to road-going two wheelers. Hesketh’s reasoning was that

the experience brought by the team’s car racing could be used in the development of a motorcycle, although the flamboyant way in which car racing was undertaken would prove to be a double-edged sword, in that it was both a hindrance and benefit as far as promotion or reputation was concerned. Development of the Hesketh motorcycle was undertaken on the Easton Neston estate, although initial engine work was undertaken by Weslake, who created the very first British-built bike with double overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. Strangely enough, given the racing background of the car, the motorcycle was never intended to be track-focussed – all the stranger thanks to the fact that Lord Hesketh had made suggestions of buying the then-struggling Norton in 1975 – but instead a gentleman’s conveyance, suitable for doing the Grand Tour. A sort of two-wheeled Aston Martin. While a certain amount of British V twin heritage was desired (after all, Broughs and Vincents were long-legged British sports tourers of the type that the project was set to be), the Hesketh had a powerplant more akin to the L twins

built by Ducati. By the spring of 1980, a prototype was up and running, and while the project was announced to the press, partners were being sourced to help with, and finance, the manufacturing. After none were gained, Lord Hesketh bit the bullet and formed Hesketh Motorcycles plc, commissioning a factory purpose-built in Daventry in 1982. The powerplant was a big lump, suspended from the nickel-plated Reynolds 531 tubed frame with mounts at the swinging arm pivot and front downtubes, and much like a contemporary Ducati Darmah in style – although at 244kg dry, a little porkier than its Italian competitor. With an oversquare 95mm bore and 70mm stroke, a displacement of 992cc is as close to a litre as to allow the V1000 name. It utilised a heavy one-piece cast crankshaft with iron cylinder sleeves in aluminium jackets and alloy cylinder heads. Using twin 36mm Dell’Orto carbs, electronic ignition supplied the spark, while Lucas made the alternator and starter motor, which took a while to spin the big lump up to a speed at which the ignition can decide exactly where top dead centre is and then supply correct timing.

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But the result was a healthy 86bhp at 6,500rpm, with 69ft-lb of torque at a lowly 5,000rpm. Bought-in componentry was of the highest standard available at the time, with twin Marzocchi shocks at the rear, billet yokes, 38mm Marzocchi forks, Brembo brakes, Astralite wheels, and Avon or Dunlop tyres depending on buyer’s preference. All-in weight was 230kg dry, with an equally hefty £4495 price tag. The V1000 was styled by John Mockett, the creator of the ‘Sprocket’ cartoons, who was also involved with various projects for Yamaha, such as the fairing for the Martini XS1100, and concept versions of the RD 250 and 350LC, as well as working for Team Roberts on John Kochinski’s 250 GP bike alongside Hesketh’s engineer and test rider, Mick Broom! In 1989 Mockett moved to a small concern in Leicestershire started by John Bloor, although he also did some design work for the rejuvenated Hesketh in more recent years. While the big Vee was always a noisy engine, more serious problems

included gearbox failures with the fivespeed box – little surprise when it was reportedly based upon an earlier Norton transmission. But there were also issues with overly high oil pressure (which could hit 130psi when only 60psi was needed!), an overheating rear cylinder, sticky clutches and rapid chain wear. Improvements were made and applied as a list of modifications, initially as the EN10 package, while Mick Broom went on to develop further updates to the improvements (as the EN11 and EN12 packages), all of which are discussed in an interesting paper by Mick, which can be found on the owners club website. While production had always intended to be quite low, this was further hindered by the level of warranty work needed on the bikes that had been sold, and this added to the financial issues that, after producing 139 bikes, forced the Daventry factory into receivership. Cagiva and Triumph showed interest in buying the brand but neither stumped up any cash, so Hesketh came under the

Hesleydon Ltd name, still run by Lord Hesketh, together with Bubbles Horsley and Peter Gaydon, back at his Easton Neston home. While V1000 production carried on, development continued with the fullyfaired Vampire model, although sales were slow... slow enough to bring an end to general manufacture. There had been some interest from Mocheck Ltd in Clapham, with a thought of moving production to London, but this failed and Lord Hesketh turned his thoughts to politics, working under Margaret Thatcher in the House of Lords and then as Chief Whip under John Major. Meanwhile, Mick Broom was still based on the Easton Neston estate, with Broom Development Engineering not only supplying EN10 packages to V1000 owners but also continuing development and production of complete machines, amounting to around a dozen motorcycles per year. This included 50 of the Vampire touring models, as well as developing the Vulcan and Vortan concept machines.

“While production had always intended to be quite low, this was further hindered by the level of warranty work needed on the bikes that had been sold, and this added to the ﬁnancial issues...”

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It should be noted that the development included redesigned parts; major items like the crankcases and cylinder heads, and some of the development parts available needn’t be fitted to the later engines. These engines can be recognised by their numbers on the crankcase. Daventry engines have the number stamped on top of the crankcase to the rear under the back carburettor, and started with 050 to about 217. The later Hesleydon engines have their number on the front left-hand engine frame lug, starting at BHV 1000xxx500 (the xxx is the frame number). The V1000 became a 1200cc from 2004, with alloy-rimmed spoked wheels, uprated brakes and fully adjustable suspension front and rear, but suggesting that this was still a production bike is stretching the truth, for very few were made before the brand name was sold in 2010. Mick Broom had vacated the premises at Easton Neston in 2006 when Lord Hesketh sold his family home due to financial reasons, moving to a unit at

Turweston Airfield near Silverstone for just four years, and while many of the issues that the V1000 was born with were resolved, it was, in essence, an Eighties bike being built 30 years too late, regardless of how well it performs in the role of grand tourer. The name has endured though, with Paul Sleeman buying it and becoming owner, designer and engineer of the new Hesketh, based in Kingswood, Surrey. The new bike is the Hesketh 24, powered by a tuned (by Harris Performance) 1917cc S&S X-Wedge engine. While only 24 of these were due to be made, the company also has the Sonnet (of 2100cc) and its supercharged Valiant SC sidekick. Meanwhile, Mick Broom has since distanced himself from the future of

Hesketh, and while he is still very much hands-on with the very active owners club in terms of keeping the iconic V twins on the road, his focus has moved from two wheels to two wings, and he is concentrating on lightweight private aircraft instead. In 1994 Lord Hesketh helped set up British Mediterranean Airways, taking the place of chairman until the airline was purchased by BMI in 2007. He then became an independent director of Air Astana, the national carrier of Kazakhstan (one has to ask, how and why?), and while he lost his seat in the House of Lords in 1999 after the reform reduced the number of seats, his political career seemed to take a backseat until 2011, when he became part of the UK Independence Party.

Hesketh Owners Club Founded shortly after the closure of the original Daventry factory, the club is very active with a regular magazine (The Sock), and has addressed the problems associated with the marque by sourcing spares and developing a strong relationship with Mick Broom. Most bikes are bought and sold through the club rather than dealers or auctions, and in doing so you’ll know exactly what mods the bike has (or hasn’t), and probably learn of its history too. Parts should be no issue, given that there were plans to make far more than actually got assembled. It was even possible to ﬁnd brand new frames only ﬁve years ago! They have a busy online forum and an annual rally, and can be seen at many shows, including Stafford. Find out more at www. heskethownersclub.org.uk

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Small Capacity Marushos

Our very own Mr Steve Cooper gives a marque review of this little-known Japanese motorcycle company and some of their smaller models.

s classic fans we are prone to lamenting the passing iconic braaikes of BSATriumph, Royal Enfield, AMC and NVT; their ultimate demises are both recognised and well documented. They are also still hugely popular. On the continent, firms such as Ossa & Bultaco, Adler & Zundapp, and NSU & Maico similarly still have faithful supporters, even though the firms no longer exist. Drill down a little deeper and the retrospective passion for smaller brands is still there, but they don’t always get much in the way of coverage. Think Ambassador or Dunelt, Monark or Itom – they all have their followers. However, the same cannot necessarily be said of the obsolete Japanese brands, at least here in Europe. The Big Four are obviously wellknown and, occasionally, the Bridgestone marque gets a mention but few know much beyond this fistful of marques. Since the beginning of Japanese motorcycling in 1899 when the Iizuka Trading Company imported the first motorised two-wheeler, there have been at least 140 registered manufacturers and quite possibly a few more. Acquisitions and mergers saw Kawasaki buying Meguro and Yamaha doing similar with Hosk, but there is one brand that refused to be absorbed or taken over. From 1948 through to 1967, the Marusho marque remained fiercely independent, making its singularly unique machines its own way ‘til the last. CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

THE BACKGROUND The Marusho founder, Masashi Ito, began his commercial working life with an apprenticeship to Soichiro Honda at the great man’s car repair business through part of the 1930s. Latterly, post-war Japan was badly in need of transport and Itoh, together with an older brother, swiftly set up a similar car repair business, making anything with four wheels and engine a viable piece of kit. A little later they would be making truck bodies for Nissan and Toyota. However, at the turn of the 1940s, Ito could see motorcycles were going to play an ever-growing part of the country’s remobilisation and decided to get a piece of the action. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, Itoh and his team initially ‘borrowed’ from German motorcycle engineering and rolled out a range of two-stroke singles that owed much to Zundapp. These ventures into the world of motorcycle manufacture were sold as Marusho motorcycles, which

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roughly translates into ‘wholesome and honest’ – qualities that would be embraced by a domestic market eager for personal transport. By the mid-1950s the Marusho Shokai Co. Ltd was doing quite well and with new models in the wings, decided to undertake some strategic rebranding. The name Lilac began to appear on the tanks of the firm’s products, with the public referring to them as Marusho Lilacs. Possibly a strange moniker for a motorcycle but, history suggests, Mrs Ito was potty about lilac blossom. In an act guaranteed to pacify a wife left at home alone for long hours, shrewd Masashi Ito renamed his products in her honour; clever or

what? The late 1950s and early 1960s were a frantic time for the firm as they sought to devise, develop and sell machines unlike anything else their homeland competitors could come up with. Nowadays they are most famous (or infamous, depending upon your viewpoint) for their large capacity BMW-esque flat twins, but for now we’ll have a look at some of their unusual and unique smaller machines.z

“In an act guaranteed to pacify a wife left PROGRESS at home alone for & SUCCESSES long hours, shrewd Bold or foolhardy, adventurous or Masashi Ito renamed naïve, creative his products in engineering or flawed genius? All and any her honour; clever could be applied to the or what?” bikes Marusho Shokai offered, but one thing the firm could never be accused of was being timid in either its ‘blue sky’ experimentation or the models it offered to the general public. Initially making just 30 bikes a month with 10 staff, the Hamamatsu firm utilised Toyota for its distribution. There were effectively few restraints on design, engine type, engine layout or capacity. Initially two-stroke singles held sway, swiftly followed by four-stroke singles with OHC (overhead cam) top ends. And just when its customers thought they knew which direction the firm was going, they’d change course completely; 90ccs strokers, OHV singles from 150-250ccs, seemed to be the norm but then, without warning, the firm would be offering 338cc flat-twin four-stroke with side valves. Oh, and of course, what was soon to be a Marusho/Lilac trademark; shaft drive to the rear wheel. Ito and his team weren’t so far away from Mr Honda’s maxim of producing viceless motorcycles, and Masashi Ito could see the kudos and marketing value of a final drive that was maintenance-free, clean and unique to the brand. Coming second to Yamaha’s all-new YA1 Akitombo (Red Dragonfly) in the 1955 Asama volcano race on a SY250 single (denoted as SYZ250 being a race machine) did the firm’s PR no harm whatsoever, and their bikes were soon known as ‘giant killers’. It wasn’t long before 8000 bikes a year were rolling out the door and as the 1950s closed, that figure would rise to more than 11000. The SY250s would prove to be something of a stalwart in the early years of the company, with a dependable push rod motor in a substantial frame. Telescopic forks were complimented by plunger suspension at the rear. The bike looked curiously like the BMW singles from some angles, which may very have been the SY’s inspiration, but the cylinder

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and head definitely weren’t the same castings or profile. The company was now a significant player within the JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) and was beginning to consider expanding into the lucrative American market. The Marusho Shokai Co. Ltd found a willing business partner stateside in the M-C Supply Co., and together they were soon offering a range of four-stroke twins from 125 through to 288ccs. There was also a tentative toe into the Australian market, and the thought here was this might prove to be key to expansion elsewhere. The Japanese manufacturers perceived the Australian mind-set as being akin to that of the Europeans – or at least the British – so here was an opportunity to get feedback from owners who weren’t on the other side of the world, yet had viewpoints not necessarily in line with the Japanese or American markets. Things looked set fair for Marusho Lilac sales but, as we shall see in another review of the firm (and its largest capacity flat twins), the fates had other ideas.

THE SUB 500 BIKES

Keen to distinguish itself from any of its JDM competitors, Marusho Shokai opted for an unusual engine layout that, together with the signature shaft drive, marked the firm’s motorcycles out as inimitable. Although still churning out the two and four-stroke singles that had established the Marusho Lilac brand, it was a range of singularly unique twins that spearheaded both domestic and American markets expansion. Ito and his designers hit on the idea of building an engine with the benefits of a twin but in a unique format; well, in Japan at least. It’s quite likely someone at the factory had seen in the flesh or on paper a Victoria Bergmeister. Launched

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in first half of the 1950s, the German bike ran a pair of transversely mounted cylinders pulled upwards into a narrow V. Expensive to produce and graced with a cogs-and-chains gearbox, the Bergmeister only ran for a few model years but it must have struck a chord with the Japanese engineers. By 1959 there were 125 and 250cc models sold as the CS-28 and LS-18 respectively, and just a few years later there would be four more variations on the same theme.

125S

cream and blue/grey, this was Marusho’s own take on the eighth-litre capacity bracket that would prove so popular for Japanese buyers. Built in the same vein as Honda’s contemporary CB92 Benly and latterly Yamaha’s YAS1, the CF-40 was touted as a sports machine. With its heavily finned and angled cylinder heads and characteristic styling, it certainly looked the part. Its designers had also pulled the barrels closer to the engine’s mid line by setting them at just 66 degrees between the pair. Both 125 models featured twin Mikuni carburettors, said to be made under license to Villiers by dint of the VM (Villiers/Mikuni) prefix.

“Japanese manufacturers perceived the Australian mind-set as being akin to that of the Europeans – or at least the British – so here was an opportunity to get feedback from owners.”

The C81/ C82 models featured 90-degree V twin engines and seem to have been offered as the general purpose, do anything, go anywhere baby twin of the range – not unlike the Honda C92/C95. Conventionally styled and functional, the bike appealed to anyone looking for a small commuter with a touch of class. The motor was oversquare at 44x41mm and was rated officially at just over 11bhp. Its organic and sleek lines even extended to the valve gear covers that were smooth alloy castings. An electric starter courtesy of dyna start was standard fitment, putting the C series well up there in terms of sophistication. If you wanted a small twin with looks, style and an implied sporting manner, then the CF-40 Lilac was the machine of choice. Still with shaft drive but painted in

250S

The LS series 250 would prove to be some of the longest-running models of the Marusho Lilac family. From 1959 to 1964 the LS models would receive subtle upgrades and tweaks as customer and dealer experiences were fed back to the factory. Opting for what would soon become the standard Japanese bore and stroke dimensions for 250s of every kind, the 54x54mm twin offered almost 19bhp at 7800rpm. Conscious that riders wanted performance, the 250 V twin was occasionally restyled and tweaked across the three iterations and seven-year lifespan. Similar thinking to the CF-40 125 marketing policy, the upgraded 250 was renamed LS38 models to distinguish the

‘sports’ 250 from their so-called ‘cooking’ model cousins. In place of the slightly staid and safe lines of the LS models, the MF38s were gently restyled with faux number boards in place of bulbous side panels, and gifted a strange little triangular storage box embossed with ‘Lilac’ on each side and mounted on the rear mudguard between the back of the rear light and pillion seat. Whether any retuning work was genuinely carried out on the MF38s is unclear but the sales brochures claim an extra two bhp over the LS18 engine. To further distinguish the MF series of twins from their origins, the factory applied a ‘Lancer’ decal to either number board, which only added to the confusion of whereby all 250 Marusho Lilacs ended up being described as Lancers. And in what may very well be a legal thing, the carburettors were now flagged up as Amal VM types!

BEYOND 250CC

Just as Honda would stretch its C72 250 to 305ccs and Yamaha would later follow suit by taking its YDS 250s to similar capacity for the YM series, so the Marusho Shokai Co. Ltd expanded its quarter-litre range. The LS38 and MF39 were analogues of the LS18 and MF38 taken out to 288ccs, marketed as 300s via an increase in piston stroke. The LS38 was specified as having 20bhp, with the higher end MF39 officially rated at 23.5bhp, but whether this was a real power gain was never independently verified. In a final throw of the dice for the larger V twins, a ‘full 350’ prototype was shown to the public in promotional material. Increasing bore and stroke, the 338cc engine was said to deliver some 28.4bhp, despite being now fitted with a single

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“The CF-40 was touted as a sports machine. With its heavily ﬁnned and angled cylinder heads and characteristic styling, it certainly looked the part.”

carburettor and bifurcated inlet. Only three were made and never officially sold; by now the firm was concentrating on the larger capacity flat twins.

HUBRIS & LATE ARRIVALS

Post-war Japanese motorcycles are often cited as other people’s ideas, copies, plagiarism, or downright theft and, it would appear, this extended to advertising with Marusho Lilac. There is a lovely tongue-in-cheek strap advert of a rider in brown leathers and red lid lying prone, Rollie Free and Vincent style, on a later Lancer sports model. A mixture of hubris and kitsch, the promotional flyer certainly tried to get the message across. Even when the future looked bleak, there was strong evidence of project planning and new designs. At the 1964 Tokyo Motor Show, Marusho showcased a pair of 125 and 160cc flat twins, aimed again at enthusiasts who wanted high performance from a small motorcycle. Each horizontal cylinder had its own carburettor and, crucially, overhead cams powered by shafts coming off the top of the crank. Presumably the valves were operated via a bevel gear arrangement, but few details were ever released. Sadly, productionised versions of these rather special little twins never materialised and nothing was ever heard of them again. Next time, we pay a visit to the Marusho Lilac back catalogue.

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YAMAHA

RD250

Words by Oli ‘My garage needs power’ Hulme Photos by Gary ‘Does my hair look good’ Chapman

amaha’s first foray into the world of two-stroke twins, the YD-1, used a design, erm, ‘borrowed’ shall we say, from the German company Adler and their MB250. That first Yamaha 250 two-stroke twin was launched in 1957, but by then Adler had begun moving on to make office equipment instead of motorcycles and probably didn’t care. Yamaha’s early naming system seems to lack any logic, being a cluster of letters and numbers, with the smaller the bike the bigger the number, except when it isn’t. The big change came with the RD250 (common legend states RD was for Race Developed), which was officially launched in December 1972 but did not arrive in the UK until 1974.

The Yamaha RD250A was the first production road bike to use reed valves to control the fuel being guzzled at a considerable rate, giving rise to the ‘torque induction’ stickers on the side panels of the second wave of models. The principle behind the system improved usable mid-range power without compromising overall performance. The very first home and US market RD250s came with a twinleading shoe drum front brake, inherited from the YDS-7, but European models were equipped from the start with a rather good, if vulnerable to road dirt, twin-piston caliper front disc. The engine’s bottom end was practically identical to the YDS-7, as was the frame, which had some minor changes around the upper frame rails. Early production models were supplied with what were five-speed gearboxes; which were swiftly replaced with a six-speed box.

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“There were teenagers in 1974 with the chance of buying a 93mph “Race Developed” and smartly equipped 250cc motorcycle for less than £450 – and they could stick L-plates on it, too”

So, there were teenagers in 1974 with the chance of buying a 93mph “Race Developed” and smartly equipped 250cc motorcycle for less than £450 – and they could stick L-plates on it, too. The RD250A remained in production until 1975 and was followed by the RD250B, which had revised cylinder heads and slightly different gear ratios. In 1976 the RD250C saw the end of the more respectable but rather staid rounded tanks and metallic paint schemes. The new look was a major and brash styling update which saw the introduction of Yamaha’s slab sided ‘coffin’ tank and speed block paint schemes, and the engine and cylinder block were fully blacked out. This new style RD was an instant hit, with buyers loving the striking looks. Unlike the rival 250s of Suzuki and Kawasaki, the RD looked up-to-date, and equipment like clocks and switchgear was excellent. The RD might have been a sports bike, but it could be pressed into service as a day-to-day commuter or loaded with camping gear to become a somewhat overstressed weekend tourer. The RD250D was a 250C with a new paint scheme, a disc brake at the back and alloy wheels. It was swiftly replaced by the RD250E which got electronic ignition, and this ended problems with fouled plugs that had bedevilled the earlier bikes. You would still get a blue haze of two-stroke smoke if you gave the throttle a handful, but that was part of the charm. There were more substantial forks and new floating caliper brakes featuring a single piston, as used on most of Yamaha’s bigger bikes. While the new caliper was more resistant to winter corrosion, it was not as powerful as those used on earlier models. The final RD250 was the 1979 F model, which was not vastly different to the E, apart from, strangely, being slightly slower. And that was the end of the air-cooled twin. The RD250F was replaced by the lighter and faster RD250LC, the performance of which bore more than some responsibility for the introduction of the 125cc

learner laws and a small boost in the sale of the potentially lethal Sidewinder leaning ‘sidecar’ (a loophole saw sidecar-equipped bikes allowed to be larger than 125cc for learners) to those who had not yet passed their test.

Here’s one we tried earlier

“You need to watch out for the front brake,” said Mark. “It’s a little bit fierce”. A few feet across the yard at Somerset Classics proved he wasn’t wrong. The RD’s brake was of the hitting-a-brick-wall variety, especially if you are used to a disc. All it took, though, was a bit of recalibration of the rider’s brain and right hand. Heave on it hard and yes, the front wheel would lock, but within a very short period I found that by modifying my grip to a lighter touch, things were easy to control. Treating an old motorcycle with little sensitivity is no bad thing. The Yamaha is not huge, and the centre of gravity is low, making for effortless handling. Saddle height is nicely universal, the footrests sit where you would like them, and the bars slightly upswept. This does stick you up in the wind. The seat is comfortable and narrow at the nose. It sounds like a two-stroke, obviously, with that combination of tearing newspaper and a clattering recycle bin full of beer cans at tickover, until throttle is applied and the ripping becomes a howl and the clattering stops. At first, I felt the power take-up on this ridiculously low miles US import was a little milder than expected but, like any two-stroke, you need to find out where the power bands are, and it will rev to 8000 without a blink of an eye once you learn how to get past 5000. It fair flies along once it gets rolling, flips in and out of corners, brakes when you need it to and picks

the power up almost instantly once hazards have been negotiated. This is not some overstressed and fragile rev-hungry monster though. It could quite easily propel you to 90mph but thanks to the reed valves there is some torque, allowing you to keep things rolling at lower speeds, in high winds or on uphill stretches. It will pootle along at low revs if you so desire. How many gears does it have? I really have no idea. US spec models had six-speed boxes from the start, but to my shame I failed to count them. All I can say is that there are plenty of them, and they all do their stuff and snick in and out unnoticed. Legal limit cruising is entirely possible. It might be a bit comfier at speed with UK rather than US bars. It excels on country roads, from twisty back lanes to old school trunk roads. Handling up to 60mph or so is great; it’s low and light, it doesn’t weave or feel unstable, and you can fling it through bends as quick as you like... faster than that might make you feel a bit more nervous until you set the suspension up for yourself. Despite being low, everything is well tucked in. Bits and pieces like switchgear and clocks are good for their time, but the lights and horn are pathetic. You wouldn’t have to worry about not getting where you wanted to go in a respectable time, and

1973 RD250

ENGINE: 247cc air-cooled two-stroke twin, piston/reed ported BORE/STROKE: 54 x 54mm COMPRESSION RATIO: 6.7:1 POWER: 30hp @ 7500rpm WHEELBASE: 1315mm/51.8in WEIGHT (Dry): 161kg/355lb BRAKES: Drum (F&R) TYRES: (F) 3.00 x 18 (R) 3.25 x 18 TOP SPEED: 92mph

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ENGINE AND FRAME NUMBERS

The RD used to get stolen a lot, and many ended up as track bikes. Check the numbers against the logbook carefully and look out for over-stamping. You don’t want someone realising the engine on your new bike was theirs 30 years ago and demanding it back. Frame: The RD frame was a cut above its rivals. Pull on the swing arm and check it over carefully. RD250s were very crashable, so you want to make sure everything is straight. Servicing and care: While your average two-stroke might need more looking after than a four-

stroke, they are easier to work on. The main service parts you will need are plugs and lubricants. Adjust the brakes and clutch, and check the gear oil level and the Autolube pump every 1500 miles. Officially you need to clean the plugs during the same period, but you might need to do it more frequently. Check points and timing, decoke the engine, and clean out the exhaust at 2000 miles; at 4000, clean and regrease the wheel bearings, replace the fork oil and inspect the generator brushes (Info: Clymer service manual).

ELECTRICS

Like most Japanese bikes of the ‘70s, if the regulator rectiﬁer hasn’t blown yet, it’s about to. Decent replacements for the later E and F models can be found from Electrex for £66. Pattern early units are also available. Points set-up is ﬁddly, wiring is generally good, original headlights are feeble, and a halogen or LED set-up will help. An old Cibie unit is properly period.

DRIVE TRAIN

The later RDs had the six-speed gearbox, which could be a little notchy and fragile. Regular oil changes will help. The primary drive was by helical gears, so there are no concerns about that department, and heavy duty DID chain and sprocket kits cost around £100 from Wemoto. Budget kits are around £50.

ENGINE

Any two-stroke is more likely to have been apart than a four-stroke, but there isn’t a lot to go wrong on an RD. Decoke the exhaust ports regularly and try to ﬁnd a bike in as standard a trim as you can. There may have been a lot of butchering along the way. Signs of lots of work should ring alarm bells. Keep an eye on the state of the lubrication system, which is all-important. RDs are thirsty beasts, but spares and replacements for the Mikuni carbs are available and relatively inexpensive. Try and ﬁnd a bike with the original airbox.

with decent reliability. It’s probably a bit thirsty. Certainly, that’s what the books all say, but my sadly all to brief ride wasn’t long enough to put this to the test. Matt raised an eyebrow at the idea of the RD250 being a Real World Ride, as might you, but it ticks all the boxes. What you will get for your money is the kind of bike some lust over, that goes like stink and handles, and is reliable and easy to look after. You could use it in modern traffic, with said traffic having trouble keeping up with you, not the other way round. And it probably won’t lose a penny in value, so what’s not to like? (Disclaimer: The value of your investment can go down as well as up, especially if you relive your youth by stuffing your investment into a hedge). An unmolested RD250 is a fine motorcycle. Fast and light and easy to start, a delight to ride, refined at low revs and a rip-snorting fun machine at the top end, the RD250 is a magic carpet ride through time, to mix a metaphor, and will take you back to the days when nothing mattered but having fun. Thanks to Somerset Classic Motorcycles for the loan of their glorious 10,000-mile RD250, which was still for sale as the magazine went to press, at £3995. Visit somersetclassicmotorcycles.co.uk

What we did to the RD

As a tool beloved of Britain’s 1970s youth, the RD250 got mucked about with a great deal by amateurish owners without much in the way of tools or expertise, while there was a willing of go-faster goodies of variable quality. If you kept the oil topped up in the Autolube tank and cleaned your plugs regularly there wasn’t a great deal to go wrong with the engine, and anyway, style was more important than substance. While the first round tank 250s were commonly fitted with ace bars, the coffin tanked versions would see the Sheene and Roberts wannabes ditch the higher bars for a set of flats. Concave halogen headlamps came from Cibie, replacing the feeble Japanese originals. Koni provided the shock absorbers of choice to replace the bouncy originals. Those with less cash to spend would fit Marzocchi and Girling offerings. Dunlop TT100 tyres and later the Avon Roadrunner replaced the less-than-sticky Japanese Dunlop and Bridgestone rubber, though to be fair you must wonder how much was our own lack of skill that saw riders hit the Tarmac rather than Japanese rubber chemistry, which was easier

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“An unmolested RD250 is ﬁne motorcycle. Fast and light and easy to start, a delight to ride, reﬁned at low revs and a rip-snorting fun machine at the top end, the RD250 is a magic carpet ride through time, to mix a metaphor, and will take you back to the days when nothing mattered but having fun.” INSTRUMENTS

Yamaha’s clocks are good and clear and mostly work. They don’t discolour like Suzuki clocks do. If they break, a refurb will be pricey.

PARTS PRICES:

(courtesy of Yambits/ Wemoto) Air Filter £21.99 Battery Motobatt £21.99 Brake Caliper Piston Kit £51.99 Brake Master Cylinder £99.99 Clutch Friction Plate Kit £35.99 Gasket Set Full £22.99 Regulator/Rectiﬁer £69.99 Brake Pads Front EBC Standard £17.44

OWNERS CLUB

Yamaha Aircooled RD Club www.aircooledrdclub.com

PAINT AND CHROME

Paint is surprisingly good and easy to reproduce on the coffin tank models, with the stick-on speed blocks readily available. Metal quality is average. The chrome is good and being a two stroke, the amount of unburnt two-stroke oil in the silencers stops them from rotting from the inside. RDs were frequently ﬁtted with budget “spannies”. You can’t get original pipes new, but both Higgspeed and Allspeed make new expansion chambers for around £650 to £700 a pair if you want to re-live your youth.

SPECIALISTS

Yambits yambits.co.uk Fowlers www.fowlers.co.uk

BRAKES

The first US RDs had the earlier front drum brake, which has three settings – on, off, and occasionally spongy. Take time to set the drum properly. The first front discs were a good twin piston item based on Yamaha’s racing gear, while the later floating caliper was the same as used across the rest of the range. Front calipers of both kinds are being reproduced and cost around £125, or full refurb kits are available (Wemoto). Rear calipers are almost the same as front calipers but have the bleed nipple in a different location to avoid fouling the brake line and are unobtainable.

HOW MUCH?

FORKS AND SHOCKS

Forks were a bit spindly until the E models. There were issues from new with the internal bushes. Rear shocks were a bit cheap and nasty when new, and the bike will beneﬁt from decent replacements. Ikons are the ones to lust after at around £350; Hagons will be £150 and if you want originality rather than roadholding, budget replicas cost between £50 and £70.

Early round tank models are the cheapest, with a tired one from £2000 and a good one £4000-plus. Coffin tank models were more popular, and as such have more value today because of the nostalgia factor. A useable late model will cost between £3500-£4500 while a concours example is now moving beyond £7000. Insurance: Fully comprehensive, garage stored, 50 y/o male with a clean licence and ﬁve years’ NCD living in a low crime area: £69 for bike-only cover (Devitt DA), £114 to include breakdown cover (MAG insurance).

ALSO CONSIDER: SUZUKI GT250

to blame. Exhausts were among the first things to be junked and replaced with expansion chambers from a range of manufacturers, some of whom knew what they were doing, while others were back street metal bashers whose products made the bikes noisier but no faster. One of the problems with these mods today is that nobody saved anything at the time. Exhaust pipes now worth hundreds of pounds to restorers will have been long ago bunged into a skip. You needed to know your way round an ignition system if you had a points model. There were two sets of contact breakers under a cover on the left-hand side of the crankshaft, which were not forgiving of a home mechanic’s lack of skill. Wouldbe tuners would also hack away at inlet ports with files, skim heads and muck about with ignition timing with variable results. Sticking a RD350/400 engine in an RD250 frame but retaining the 250 badges was a naughty mod used by bad boys and girls, the thinking being that the average police officer wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Cheap nose fairings were common, though few owners would bother with rear sets. Another craze was the glass fibre body kit. You could go into your local dealer, select your new bike and get a kit fitted from Mead Speed, Ian Dyson, or Flow Line Fabrications (FLF) among others, all added to your HP agreement. The Dyson and FLF kits were large glass fibre mouldings stuck on top of your tank and replaced the seat, along with a full race-type fairing. The bodywork could ruin the looks of your RD and many a purchaser wouldn’t realise that under the covers, the new tank their bike had arrived with would have been whipped off and replaced with a dented or scratched item from the stores.

Niggles

The RD wasn’t perfect and had several small issues you had to keep an eye on. Most problems came from the gearbox, which could be a little fragile – perhaps because they crammed too many gears in there. Like all bikes of the period, fork stanchions rusted badly if left out in the weather, and they were. Regulator/rectifiers could fail, and the ignition would not work if the battery was flat. Exhausts on the early models were strong,

JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

but later the E and F silencers could crack, stress fracture, and spit out their baffles. Tanks could rot out, and they were also prone to stress cracking above the cross brace on the rear mount. A balance pipe across the front of the tank caused its own problems and would commonly flood your shed with four-star if you were not very careful while taking it off. Some people have issues with fork bushes, as these were never serviceable when Yamaha made them.

Spares and supplies

Parts availability is good enough to bring RDs back to life from rusty oblivion. Barn finds which were once only good for spares can be restored. They were popular bikes, and at the same time a lot were shoved into the back of sheds when their owners moved on. A 250 was almost worthless for a few years when learner laws changed, so there is a reasonable quantity of used spares still waiting to be uncovered. Yamaha parts specialists Yambits are the first stop for those keeping these delightful twins rolling. They can supply brake hoses and rubber parts gaskets. They have had headlamp rims reproduced in the UK. Replacement seats are made in batches and are so popular they don’t even make it to the website before selling out, and they have a lot of special tools. Some parts, such as brake components, are interchangeable with other Yamaha models. C and D model brakes are the same as those used on TX and XS twins, while the E and F model equipment are identical to those used on Yamaha’s 750 triples and 650 US Customs. While the first C and D models are closely matched, they can differ between the UK and US models – so make sure you know where your RD was first sold. Electronic ignition kits for those who want to convert the early models use a different design for the US bikes. Pistons in a range of oversizes are available. Yambits offer a parts identifier service, where if you supply the frame and engine number, they can make sure you get the right parts for your bike, wherever it came from. Vintage Yamaha specialists Fowlers have a range of NOS original parts, mostly gaskets, nuts and bolts, seals etc, and a decent online database of parts listings.

The GT250 was also a two-stroke twin but lacked the quality of the RD. The early ram-air cooled bikes were clattery and had issues with the ﬁnish, while the GT250 A-C models were better built and didn’t have the ram-air set-up. The engine had nicer lines as a result. These GTs were more usable than the X7 that replaced them, and which was sold as the ﬁrst 100mph 250 – conveniently ignoring the Ducati Mach 1 that topped the ton 10 years earlier. Go for an A-C model, which will cost around £3500-£4000. Restored X7s are now passing £7000.

KAWASAKI KH250

The KH250 triple didn’t get much in the way of upgrades, staying largely the same throughout production. The triple engine is a beggar to keep running smoothly – Kawasaki sold them new with an under-seat box for spare spark plugs. The teen hooligan’s steed of choice, the KH had a reputation for evil handling, which was undeserved and only really applied to the 250s bigger brothers. Pay £4000-£7000.

DUCATI MACH 1

The ﬁrst 100mph 250, the Desmo single comes with eye-popping performance, Italian electrics, and a look cooler than Anita Ekberg soaked in a fountain. It’s terrifyingly fast, terrifyingly unreliable, handles superbly and if you aren’t exactly the right shape, will earn you terrifying chiropractor’s bills and extreme penury. Good runners start at £10k and keep going up.

CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

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BSA A10, 1950, earlier restoration, very nice bike, in black with chrome tank, totally original, runs very well, £6500. Tel. 01535 611181. West Yorkshire

AJS 16ms, 1957, green lane trim, new trials tyres, aluminium tank, chains, dynamo sound engine and gearbox, good condition, some history, reducing collection, £3150 Tel. 07768 561085 Devon

ARIEL Square Four, 1935, concours condition, documented restoration, full history know, all original numbers, £32,000 Tel. 07717 834262 Hampshire

BENELLI Tornado 650S, 1972, very original and good condition, contact for info and photos, £5150 Tel. Neil 07413 935748 Hants

BIANCHI MT61 1961, 318cc, rare ex Italian military, very nice original condition with all correct parts, Snorkel exhaust, 6 volt electrics etc, £4250 Tel. 07798 866071 Middx

BMW 1150 GSA 2002, 30,417 miles, excellent condition, no Servo or ABS, heated grips, Satnav, Touratech panniers and Givi top box, ready to tour, MoT, £4000 ovno Tel. 07708 466680 Scotland

BMW K100RS 63,000 miles, new clutch, water pump seals & front tyre, transmission lubed, all new oils and coolant, ready to ride, £1700 Tel.07850357692Northamptonshire

BMW R100RS 1989, 10 months MoT, BMW panniers, inner bags, tank bag, spares manual, bike too heavy for me, £3250 Tel. 02086 445568 Surrey

BMW R1100S 2000, vgc, 21,600 miles, second owner, comes with tank bag, rear luggage rack, centre stand, workshop manuals, service records, £3350 Tel. 01613 030518; 07518 518476 Cheshire

BMW R51/3 1952, good working, original, condition, matching numbers (526583), engine, gearbox, drive rebuilt in recent years, not registered but NOVA documents in order, £10,000 ono Tel. 07403 914102

BMW R65 1981, a lovingly restored Beamer which I have owned for nearly 21 years, all original, lovely ride, £2500 Tel. 01622 741904; 07896181588 Kent

BMW R90S 1975, 15,167 miles, Daytona Orange, original tool kit and pump, the engine is original and has not been worked on, £11,750 Tel. 01565 621274 Cheshire

BSA D14/4B, 1968, matching nos, current V5C, age related, URN good runner, good runner, new rebuilt wheels, some chrome a bit tired, £2800 ovno Tel. 01525 874358 Beds

BSA Rocket Gold Star, genuine 1963, bike modified & restored to ride, no expense spared with the modifications, Mikuni carburettor, electronic ignition, £20,000 ono Tel. 07713 229186 Shropshire

BSA 350 B31 1956 matching no’s, original and really beautiful condition, £3500 Tel. 07968 873733 Worcester

BSA A65L 1967, Spitfire Replica, Mk 3 engine, Mk 2 bodywork, runs, rides nicely, Boyer ignition, SRM upgraded oil pump, few spare, V5C, £4995 ono Tel. 07594 506435 Kent

BSA A7 1956, Shooting Star, honest, all metal and chrome in order, brand new carburettor and full rebuild by previous owner, easy starter Tel. 07403 776145 Staffs

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CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

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BSA B31 1950, a really good old bike, runs well, everything works, good condition, £4450 Tel. 01423 867213 North Yorks

BSA BANTAM D7, 1962, 175cc 2-stroke, good working order, off the road for a number of years, but frequently started up, recent new clutch, needs some cosmetic tidying, £1500 ono Tel. 07929 288434

CCM ENDURO 1990, road regd, 350cc, 2 stroke, Rotax engine, no 35 of only 50 built at Bolton from 1987, all refurbished, will need recommissioning, £2850 Tel. Chris 07484 136829 North Yorkshire

DRAG/SPRINT BIKE Vintage, John Clift frame now running Honda CBR400RR engine, full Nitros kit, air shifter, 4” slick etc, two spare engines other spares & tyres, poa Tel. 07702 083988 Somerset

HARLEY-DAVIDSON Ironhead Sportster XLS 1000cc, 1982, runs beautifully, starts first time, too heavy for me now, matching frame and engine numbers, £6200 ono Tel. 07932 566321 East Sussex

HARLEY-DAVIDSON Sportster 1200cc, one owner, 12,000 dry miles, many extras, serviced regularly, blue and chrome screen, carrier, £6000 Tel. 07964 721617 East Sussex

HARLEY-DAVIDSON Sportster XL1200, Custom, 2008, only 6250 miles from new, Stage 1 tuning though with a new std exhaust system for maximum engine flexibility, £6750 ovno Tel. 07850 789810

HARLEY-DAVIDSON Sprint H, 1965, 250cc, Aermacchi single cylinder four stroke engine, good condition, £4150 Tel. 07413 935748 Hants

HONDA Superdream, 1981, 250cc, 35,242 miles, MoT June 2021, tyres good, new chain, chrome and paintwork, very good, new indicators, £1550 Tel. 07903 292220 Co Durham

HONDA 400/4 1978, good condition, easy starter, new battery, clean carbs, tax exempt, 28,000 miles, on Sorn, £4995 Tel. 01603 412672 Norfolk

HONDA CB250N 1978, refurbed, CD available of work done, original mileage of 05967 miles, tax & MoT exempt, some spares, £1200 Tel. 07742 887421 West Midlands

HONDA CB400F2 metallic red, rides really well, fresh oil, new tyres, 33,000 miles, road tax and MoT exempt, 1977 R, £4750 Tel. 01723 372219 North Yorkshire

HONDA CB400T Dream, garaged 25 years, non running, unfinished project ideal for enthusiast with the time, know-how and interest to get it back on the road, collection only, £1750 Tel. Garry 07543 746993

HONDA FIRESTORM 1997, 40k, years MoT, new tyres, Renthal bars, manual cam chain tensioners, new battery, good condition, £1400 ono Tel. 07960 715045

INDIAN FOUR 1937, twin carbs, 300 bikes built only, perfect running condition, Swiss/American/German papers, £89,000 ono, poss p/x Tel. +4179 7975670. Email. jean-vincent. marcacci@bluewin.ch Switzerland

KAWASAKI Z1000 Ltd 1982, not been used for a couple of years will need light recommissioning soon to be MoT & tax free (2022), £3495 Tel. 07474 128407 Somerset

CLASSIC BIKE KAWASAKI ZZR600 E7, T reg, 1999, 20,081 miles, spares or repair, currently non runner, new parts include battery, air filter, spark plugs, starter solenoid, £950 ono Tel. 02086 444998 Surrey

MATCHLESS G12 1959, restored, 2006, in good condition, original registration, £4250 Tel. 01424 220772 East Sussex

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MATCHLESS G15CS 1967, clean tidy running bike, vgc, fitted with single carb conversion in line oil filter, electronic ignition, many new parts, V5C, £8500 may p/x Tel. 07876 704268 Norfolk

INSURANCE 0800 781 9291

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NORTON COMMANDO 850, Mk3 Interstate, reg 1978, one of last recorded on DVLA, all matching numbers, historic vehicle, owned for 32 years, low useage, £8500.Tel. 01254 854122. Lancashire

MOTO GUZZI Breva 750, 2008, vgc, 9450 miles, 12 months MoT, new battery, top box, mirrors, raised bar, engine bars good tyres, two keys, £3400 Tel. 01455 828366 Leics

NIMBUS 4 cylinders, 1937, original with original hand bill too, 42,350kms, 750cc, Swiss/Danish papers, very good running condition, £15,900 poss p/x Tel. +4179 7975670. Email. jean-vincent.marcacci@bluewin.ch

NORTON MK2A, 850cc, 1975, 31,698 miles only, mint condition, last owner 37 years, full history, all stainless fixings, on Sorn, £7950 ono Tel. 01883 348187 Surrey

NORTON 650SS 1963, fully restored, insurance value £7000, all MoTs, £6500 Tel. 01613 030518; 07518 518476 Cheshire

NORTON 961 Commando Sport, 2018 Anniversary Edition Number 27 of 50, 1600 miles, serviced by Norton, dual seat option, long and short pipes, £14,250 Tel. 01978 853689 Wrexham

RICKMAN METISSE (Wasp), 500 Triumph engine built 2004 never raced, £8750 or sensible offers Tel. 07884 098156 Suffolk

ROYAL ENFIELD Continental, 1964, rebuilt 2013, 5 speed gearbox, tax, MoT exempt, Smiths chronometric clocks, tank treated spare gearbox, £3300 Tel. 07930 257657

ROYAL ENFIELD 1959 Constellation, full rebuild with Hitchcock’s barrels and pistons, upgraded oil pump, new clutch, 12V Branden electrics, original Smith’s chrono, £8250 Tel. 07922 055100

ROYAL ENFIELD 2010 EFI Electra trials with full service history & a full years MoT, Alloy rims, Sump guard, fuel injection cover Tel. Steve 07754 708204 Norwich

ROYAL ENFIELD Bullet, 1958, 350cc, in great nick, goes well, fully documented with receipts and literature, spares included, £1850 ono Tel. 07740 195057. Email. daverickirk@btinternet.com Dorset

SUNBEAM S8 1956, good runner, Patina suits age, £5950 Tel. 07786 232232 Newcastle

SUZUKI RGV250 V22, 1994, £8000, excellent condition, MoT April 2022, 14,355 miles, full power UK model, Tel. Vic 07881 763462 Hertfordshire

TERROT OSSD, 1955, 250cc, for renovation or oily rag, have NOVA and original French docs, single seat, front wheel rebuilt, £900 Tel. 01892 833270 Kent

TRIUMPH Rigid 500cc, 1951, totally rebuilt to a very high standard, not matching numbers, £9450 ovno Email. fastbackt100@gmail.com North London/Middlesex

TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE 1965, owned for last 26 years, TLS brake, electronic ignition and charging, sensible modifications, non matching numbers, £6500 ovno Tel. 01793 853174 Wiltshire

TRIUMPH X75 Hurricane 1972, genuine unrestored bike with patina of age but in excellent overall condition, matching numbers, some history, 19,289 miles, £28,000 ono Tel. 02392 351075 Hampshire

JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

Reader adverts For Sale

BMW R100RT year 1988, colour blue, MoT, on Sorn, new battery, stainless steel exhausts, side panniers, in excellent condition, £4000. Tel. 07873 261439. Inverness, Scotland. BMW R80RT 1986 ‘D’ service history, for sale due to new bike purchase, good condition for year, red luggage, standard condition, starts and runs well approx 60,000 miles, useful classic, £1000 ovno. Tel. 07761 832507. Scotland. BSA FIREBIRD SCRAMBLER 1971, excellent condition, V5 in my name, currently Sorn, electronic ignition and new carbs fitted 3 years ago. Tel. 07517 473661. Worcestershire. CYCLEMASTER 32cc mounted in period Elswick gents bicycle, runs well, V5C and age related plate, tidy and original with nice vintage accessories like Brooks saddle, Smith’s speedo, bell, lights and tyre pump, photos available on request, a charming example of authentic looking 1950s moped, £1200 ono. Tel. 07952 721416. Hertfordshire. HARLEY-DAVIDSON 2005 FLS TFI Fat Boy, 1450cc, 17k miles, MoT April 2022, very good condition, £8795 ono p/x welcome. Tel. 07803 179340. East Sussex. HONDA CD200 maroon, 1982, in good condition as only done 16,167 miles, owner currently unable to ride, garaged in Witheridge, £1400. Tel. Ray 01884 860512. Devon. HONDA CD200T Benly, 1982, maroon with chrome mudguards, 16,167 miles, two owners, 12V model, manuals, photos available, £1300. Tel. Ray 01884 860512. Devon. INDIAN 101 SCOUT 1928, 750cc with an Indian sidecar, excellent condition, £30,000. Tel. 07798 866071. Middx. peterpaulmoore@hotmail.co.uk MOTO GUZZI Targa, 1991, 10,500 miles new electronic ignition, recommissioned by Made in Italy Stowmarket, MoT Nov 21, original paint and plastics, £3500. Tel. 07766 322558 after 5.30pm. Suffolk. MZ SAXON TOUR 1994, mileage 12,800, very good condition, but dry stored since 1994, two owners, seller no longer rides, £2000. Tel. 01227 768829. Kent. MZ SKORPION 1995, 5000 miles since engine rebuild, tuned engine, new rear tyre and battery, £1200. Tel. Rupert 07847 212906. Surrey. NORTON INTERPOL 2 Rotary, registered 1988 ex M.O.D. good standard condition but a bit tatty, unused several years, £3500. Also 1965 Royal Enfield 250cc Crusader goes well, not standard, requires work, £1800. Tel. 01132 874846. West Yorkshire. ROYAL ENFIELD Constellation 1959, recently fully restored, professionally rebuilt crank, magneto and respray in red, V5C and MoT, lots of new parts, fasteners etc, looks amazing, smooth runner, photos on request, £6250 ono. Tel. 07952 721416. Hertfordshire. ROYAL ENFIELD Continental GT535, 2014, becoming a rare bike now, excellent condition, MoT February 2022, 874 miles since new, £4250. Tel. 01787 461767. Essex. THREE EARLY 1950s Moto Parilla two stroke motorcycle project bikes, 1951 125cc Super Sport, with beautiful 22mm Dellorto horizontal carburettor, alloy petrol tank, very rare, £1300. 1954 150cc Turismo Lusso, £1200. 1953 125cc Turismo Speciale, £750, all require restoring, but are complete. Tel. Simon 01284 753974 or 07783 277629. Email. swhitnall93@gmail.com

Book your advert online now TRIUMPH DAYTONA 1996, superb original condition, red, full MoT, South African import, 32,000 miles, service history, handbook and service book, £2195. Tel. 07722 749635. London. TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD 2000, 25,370 miles, red/silver, excellent condition, well looked after motorcycle, 12 months MoT, reluctant sale £3950. Tel. 01530 460703. Leics. TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD 900, 2000, W reg, one owner 20 years, extras, genuine Triumph centre stand, rack cissy, chrome casings throughout, 9 months MoT, two keys, handbook, BRG Gold, excellent condition, £4450. Tel. 07791 936281. Kent TRIUMPH T120R, 1970 export completely restored no expense spared, immaculate condition, matching nos £11,300. Tel 01278 722614, mobile 07793 086905.

Parts For Sale

BENELLI 900, 750, 654, 500, 254, 250-2C, BMW, R/K, British, Japanese, Harley/Cagiva 250, Laverda 750, Morini MZ. Tel. 07833 906288. Essex. BSA C25 piston std, used but ok, also C25 cylinder head, £50. Amal 930 carburettor, £25. Amal float chamber straight type A1, £25. MZ 125/150 manual and generator offers. Tel. 01484 656196. Yorkshire. CERIANI ITALIAN FORKS 35mm for Drum brake wheel, bought in 1970s for project never used p/x for Norton Road Holder forks, short 7” type for navigator/ Dominator or sell. Tel. Peter 01484 656196. Yorkshire. DUNLOP ROAD MASTER TT100 4.25 85H 18, brand new, £70. Tel. 07742 522371. Wiltshire. HARLEY-DAVIDSON J model distributor, £150. 1920s headlamp brackets, £30. New downpipes, £50. Original fuel lines, £30. Fuel Cap, £20. New boxed KLG KA4 spark plugs, £30. Rudge 1937, 500cc rear brakeplate sprocket, £75. Tel. 07812 083713. Herts. KAWASAKI KH250 late 70s many spares including two frames, one rolling, two engines, carbs, cables no paperwork, £850 ono. Tel. 01516 484266. Merseyside. KAWASAKI ZXR400L registered 2001 on J plate, frame, swingarm and subframe, purchased as donor for race bike but never used, comes with V5 and HPI check (Oct 2019), in pretty good condition with no obvious signs of damage, just a bit of rust in places, £125. Also Kawasaki ZXR400H registered 1997 on H plate, frame for sale, again purchased as donor for race bike but never used, comes with V5 and HPI check (Oct 2019), in pretty good condition, no obvious signs of damage just a few spots of rust, £75. ZXR400 top & bottom yokes, front forks, although stanchions are pitted and the seals are shot and need replacing, comes with front discs, rear wheel with Pirelli Super Corsa 160/60/17, disc and rear shock which needs reconditioning. Also front wheel with 120/70/17 Pirelli Super Corsa, in good condition, £150, collection only. Tel. 07724 231968. Exeter. MATCHING PAIR of Wal Phillips fuel injectors that came off a Triumph T110 Sprinter and were then used on a Triumph Bonneville T120 road bike, been on my garage shelf for years, may split if enough enquiries. Tel. Gareth 07811 271702. Caerphilly. MV AGUSTA ENGINES two 1950s: 150cc engine good condition and complete 175cc engine missing right cover, £500. Tel. 07895 980587. Fife. NORTON JUBILEE 1963, complete bike, engine out, good mains big end, new rings needed, best offer. Tel. 02083 045132. Kent.

JUNE 2021 || CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE

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PROTECTIVE OVERCASTING crash bars to fit Honda CB750C, 1980, good condition, £35 ono. Tel. 07791 215104. Bath. TRIUMPH RIGID GEARBOX came off 6T Thunderbird, perfect ready to fit, bargain £280 p&p included, also front curved number plate Triumph £35 p&p at cost, 3TA, 5TA barrels, £40. Tel. 07743 642408. West Yorkshire. VELOCETTE VENOM one pair of Monroe rear shock absorbers in very good condition, no leaks, £50 + postage. Tel. 01613 030518; 07518 518475. Cheshire. WHEELS FOR SALE off R90s these are alloy wheels, £375 for the pair. Tel. 01565 621274. Cheshire. YAMAHA FRONT LEFT BRAKE CALIPER assembly, genuine Motorcycle, 4WM 2580U 01, fits Yamaha 1999-2003 XV1600 Road Star, XVZ1300 Royal Star Venture (plus others), brand new, boxed, never been used or fitted, £80. Tel. 02086 444998. Surrey. YAMAHA FRONT RIGHT BRAKE CALIPER assembly, genuine, Motorcycle, 4WM 2580T 01, fits Yamaha 1999-2003 XV1600 Road Star, XVZ1300 Royal Star Venture (plus others), brand new, boxed, never been used or fitted, £80. Tel. 02086 444998. Surrey.

Wanted CCM WANTED BSA or Rotax engine machine any condition or any large parts ie frame engine etc. Tel. 01529 413579. Lincs. CHOPPER WANTED in any condition, even just a frame or other custom parts British or Japanese engined, have cash and will travel. Tel. 07984 950257. Derbyshire. CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE wanted by genuine enthusiast anything considered in any condition good price paid. Tel. Trevor 07845 732328. Lancs. FRANCIS-BARNETT or James Barnett, anything with 2T engine, 1955/1957, anything considered for restoration. Tel. 01912 362169. North Tyneside. HARLEY-DAVIDSON Rapido 125, 1969, (Aermacchi) engine and most parts wanted, anything considered. Tel. 07899 995772. Sheffield. HONDA 400/4 1976 toolkit wanted, original factory fitted toolkit in correct bag please. Tel. 07960 447592. PUCH MAXI Cycle Masters, winged wheel, Honda mopeds wanted. Tel. 07790 168224. West Midlands. RETIRED ENGINEER looking for shed and dead Triumph 3T, 350cc, twin to resurrect, condition secondary to being complete. Tel. 07749 455322. Norfolk. RETIRED ENGINEER looking for a bike project, anything considered, running or not, road registered or ex race or Special, even damaged incomplete, I am willing to travel anywhere, need to keep my hands busy, also looking for a scrambler or Enduro bike project, will pay good cash on collection. Tel. 01613 350497 or 07931 557018. Lancs.

Fill in the coupon on page 77 SUZUKI DR400’S 1980, twin shock parts wanted, complete/incomplete, non runner/runner, project bike considered. Tel. 01305 826670. Dorset. SUZUKI TS250 1972-1976 parts wanted, Batt box clocks, mount exhaust guard, front guard any other parts, will travel. Tel. 07387 823690. Kent. SUZUKI TS250 1969/70 parts wanted, complete/incomplete, non runner/runner, project bike considered. Tel. 01305 826670. Dorset. SUZUKI TS400 1974/77 parts wanted, complete/incomplete, non runner/runner project bike considered. Tel. 01305 826670. Dorset. TRIUMPH T100 T110 rigid sprung hub model want pie crust hub, T110 8” type wheel, fit my rigid forks. Tel. 07396 270365. Sussex. TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD 1963 wanted. Tel. 01613 309814. Manchester. VINTAGE FLAT TANKER MOTORCYCLE 1925-29, 350/500cc, OHV/SV, oily rag condition, private buyer, buying to ride not resell. Tel. 07413 935748. Hants. WANTED FOR SQUIRE ST1 SIDECAR screen, Tonneau/cover/hood. Tel. 07913 032864. Yorkshire. Email. moorend4@hotmail.com WANTED YAMAHA YDS5 PARTS by private enthusiast, anything considered, even a complete bike! WHY? Tel. Richard 07769 715916. Lincs. YAMAHA RS200 WANTED prefer single seat model and an unrestored runner, consider CS5 or CS5E, will travel. Tel. Norman 07788 715163. Essex. YAMAHA WANTED XS650, SR500, TR1, XJ750, FZX750, FZ600 or older Virago, owned all previously and would like another, restoration project considered, have cash and will travel, other model classic Yamahas considered. Tel. 07984 950257. Derbyshire. YAMAHA YDS5 PARTS wanted, anything considered, even a complete bike! WHY? Tel. Richard 07769 715916. Lincs.

Miscellaneous CHERISHED VEHICLE REGISTRATION M12 BTN Mister, Brighton, Bolton, Burton, etc swap for Steib outfit prefer Triumph, BSA, fifties, sell £9995. Tel. Steve 07396 270365 evenings. Sussex. HAYNES MANUAL Ford Escort 1975, owners workshop manual, covers new Escort models 1975, 1100/1300/1600, hardback, very good condition, £17, collection SM1 3NE or can post (p&p extra) Tel. 02086 444998. Surrey. REGISTRATION NUMBER for sale W80 XJR on retention in my name, assignment fee is already paid, £200 ovno. Tel. 07523 326472. West Lancs. TRIUMPH TWINS 1946-1962 genuine Triumph replacement parts catalogues, 1946 models, 1951 models, 1953 models, 1959 models, £15 each book plus postage. Tel. 07884 353463. Gloucestershire. YAMAHA XS750 1977, full exhaust system. XS750 workshop manual, RD500LC workshop manual, RD250 350LC workshop manuals, Kawasaki KH250 manuals, Kawasaki KH250 complete gasket set, offers. Tel. 01274 596864. West Yorkshire.

Services ACCESSORIES

To advertise in Classic Bike Guide Kieron on 01507 529413

kdeekens@mortons.co.uk

DELIVERY

BRAKES

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ELECTRICAL ENAMELING AND POWDER COATING

ENGINEERING

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MAGNETOS

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NUMBER PLATES To advertise here plesase call Kieron on 01507 529413 or email kdeekens@mortons.co.uk

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CBG Workshop

Doing the shimmy again

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This month, Hutch reminds himself why he likes working on properly old bikes after rediscovering the delights of valve clearances with shims WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY HUTCH AND CHELLEY

hen I first started playing about with ‘older’ bikes, one of the arguments often given in their favour was that they were easier to work on and maintain. I soon learned this was not always true after my first Commando. The more modern, mostly Jap, bikes often needed less maintenance and certainly got exactly that, especially the budget bikes my mates and I tended to run. One job that was avoided like the plague was doing the valve clearances on bikes with bucket and shim adjustment. Many of these bikes and newer ones are now being seen as appreciating classics, having gone through the cheap speed/old hack stage and come out the other side. The job of checking the valve clearances on these bikes is no less a PITA (Pain In The Ass) than it was but now probably does need doing after years of possibly being ignored, fortunately it’s not a job that needs doing too often on bikes with shim adjustment valve clearance. Like most other jobs it pays to ‘RTFM’ (Read The Flippin’ Manual – Hutch – what are all these anacronyms? Are we in the forces?) first and then fight your way into the business part of the top end of the engine. It always amazes me how the heart of the bike is buried so deep and takes so long to get at on some bikes, leaving a large pile of bits on the workshop floor. Further disassembly is needed to get to the end of the crank to allow the engine to be indexed over. With the cam cover off and plugs removed, a good place to start is to visually inspect the cam lobes for wear;

1: Not as old as most bikes in the

workshop, but valve clearances with shim buckets takes time and practice

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2 no point in going any further if the cams are buggered (technical term for badly worn) and need replacing. I also like to take the opportunity to check the valve timing with reference to the manual. As the bike I was working on was an unknown quantity, I took the opportunity to slightly loosen and retorque the cam caps in sequence to their specified torque, 12Nm in this case, to try to make sure the valve clearance measurement is accurate and repeatable. Following the manual and using two sets of feeler gauges set at the clearance limits (0.17-0.25mm Inlet and 0.22-0.31mm Ex in this case) as go/no-go gauges, all the 16 valve clearances were inspected and any that were out of tolerance I measured

the actual gap with feelers; all the results were recorded as I went along. On this motor (Kawasaki) the shim was under the bucket, some other bikes are a little easier with the shim being on top; this means the cams have to come out to access the shims. Again, following the manual the cam chain tensioner assembly was removed, taking far more time than it should due to lack of access, then the cam caps were removed. The camshafts could then be lifted and using a magnet, the buckets and shims removed and placed safely, keeping them in order. Turning attention to the buckets (cam followers or tappets) and shims that had been removed, i.e. the ones where the clearances were out of spec; the thickness

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of the shims can be identified either by the number on the shim or, if not visible, using a micrometer. Once the fitted shim thicknesses are noted and knowing what the measured valve clearance for that valve was, the required new shim thickness to give an in spec clearance can be worked out. When doing this small calculation I always aim for mid tolerance; the inlet clearance should be 0.17 to 0.25mm so I aim for 0.21mm. In this case I needed six 2.85mm shims and could move the seventh, using a shim that was no longer needed. Once the new shims arrived they were sorted into their correct positions with the corresponding buckets and the old shims no longer required were moved away to

7 2: All this for valve clearances 3 : You need to know where you are 4: Checking cam cap torque 5 : Valve clearance with feelers 6: There's 16 to do! 7 : Homework? Must try harder, Hutch 8: Caps off those that need new shims 9: Some old ones can be used in others 10: Which ones need ordering?

8 9

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prevent confusion. The new shims and their buckets were refitted to the valves they were removed from in the engine, this is a fiddly job and I usually fit the shim to the top of the valve first with a dab of grease on my finger before fitting the bucket. With lots of reference to the manual, the cams were refitted and timed, the cam caps refitted and torqued down in sequence and finally the cam chain tensioner refitted which was as pleasant a job as removing it. Once all the above reassembly was completed it was time to recheck the valve clearances again, happily they were now all in spec, otherwise it’s start-again time. Now it was just a case of refitting the pile of parts removed to get to the cylinder head in the first case. Maybe my much younger self had a point about older bikes being easier to work on. 11: Check replacements with micrometer 12: Now to put it all back together again

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In some of those boxes is a Morini 350 Strada.

Asda jeans and baseball boots... official 1980s safety gear.

Morini i i Project Part one

A misty-eyed Oli decides to resurrect his young love from whence it has been resting. Will it be another Classic Bike Guide project, never to be ﬁnished?

WORDS, PHOTOGRAPHY AND KNACKERED ITALIAN DUST COLLECTOR BY OLI HULME

THE PROLOGUE

t was August 1986 and I was about to embark on a long love affair. Some two years previously, I had awoken to find that my XJ650 Yamaha had been stolen. I put in an insurance claim but didn’t hold out any hope of it ever paying out. After all, I hadn’t even bothered to put the steering lock on. But that sunny August morning a cheque popped through my letterbox. And the same day I saw a small ad in the local newspaper – “Moto Morini 350 Strada. MoT. £300.” A phone call was made and the seller visited. The Morini was five years old and had seven previous owners. The latest was a young student who’d just split up

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with her biker boyfriend, and had lost all enthusiasm for matters two-wheeled. The bike was a little dog-eared. All the chrome plate had fallen off, from the exhaust system to the headlamp brackets. The paint was a little tired, too, with bubbles of rust appearing around the petrol tank. Remember: five years old. No matter. I rode it 100 yards up the road, rode it back, gave the girl £300 and crobba-crobbed off into the evening sun with a huge grin on my face. I rode the Morini everywhere. It was a jewel, and there was hardly anything on the road at the time that could keep up on a country lane or B road. Many a rider of a big Japanese four came frightfully unstuck trying to keep up on the bends.

There’s nothing unnecessary on a Morini 350. You get a gorgeous lightweight engine that’s simple to work on, a brilliant frame and a good-sized petrol tank, and the rest is some of the best bits from the Italian industry. There are Grimeca brakes and wheels, Marzocchi (or Paoli) forks and shocks, and a passable electrical system. In fact, the only really duff bit on the bike was the starter motor, which I solved by the complicated technical procedure of undoing three bolts, pulling it off and shoving it in a box. I’d had her for six months when one night I woke with start at about 2am in my grubby bedsit, remembering that I hadn’t locked her up. I went outside and found she had been nicked. I frantically

There it is. I knew it was in there somewhere.

That’ll buff out.

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Boxes and boxes and boxes...

prowled the streets searching for my lovely bike but she was nowhere to be found. Eventually I gave up and reported the loss to the police, resigned to never seeing her again. The following morning a policeman knocked on my door. They’d found my bike. In Camborne, Cornwall. Two country boys had come to Bristol to look for work, spent a fortnight on the streets and then gave up, stealing my bike to get home on. I was convinced they had trashed it, but when I got to Camborne Police Station, she was in better condition than she had been when she had been stolen. The tank was full of petrol and the oil had been topped up, too. How civil. As recompense, I spent a blissful week in Cornwall in glorious sunshine hacking that little Morini round some of the most perfect biking roads in the country. On occasion I even hoped the two lads didn’t get too badly clobbered for nicking it.

Matt black. Always a good look.

That October, I was riding home from the Weston-super-Mare beach race when the Morini shattered a valve spring. Because of the design of the engine, with Heron head flat pistons and straight up and down valves, the valve did not bend on top of the piston. I even rode the bike 10 miles not realising I had a broken spring. I stripped her down for a muchneeded servicing, replaced as many of the rusty bits as I could afford, had the seat recovered, spent a fortune on a specialist paint job from Dream Machine, and fitted a pair of Tommaselli Gold Commander clip on handlebars. The Morini remained my regular daily ride-to-work transport until the mid1990s. Then I decided it was time to pull it apart again and do all the things I hadn’t done the first time. I set to with spanners and sockets, and by the time I’d finished I had three crates and cardboard boxes of

oily parts to clean, a frame, two wheels and an engine. Things went slightly askew at this point, with unexpected unemployment and extreme penury affecting my ability to purchase the expensive Italian parts I needed. The end result is that, 26 years later, the Morini sits in my garage, stored in a collection of crates and cardboard boxes.

RIGHT! LET’S GO TO WORK

Well, it’s not doing any good in there, is it? It’s time to get the Morini back together. A few bits have gone walkabout over the years – the front fork legs, for instance, were thrown out by a neighbour whose garage I was borrowing. As I was moving to a new house, I collected most of it up, but I left a few things in there to come back for the following day. She decided while I was gone that what was left was rubbish and lobbed it into a skip. She

2 3

1 1: Three quarters of a three and a half. 2: Several bits of unobtanium. 3: Lots of cleaning to be done. 4: Ducati parts on a Morini? The outrage.

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99% complete, as they say in the adverts.

told me she thought the stanchions were curtain rails. While these few parts are missing, over the intervening years I have picked up some bits. I have three quarters of an engine, a few cycle parts, the forks from a Ducati Pantah, and a grungy two-into-one exhaust system. I can’t find the front engine plates. One of the rocker covers is missing its tiny breather labyrinth and I can’t find the clutch cover either. The boxes are full of grubby parts. The frame and swingarm were painted back in 1997, but after being hauled around various homes and sheds for a decade and a half, the paint has been chipped and battered in the process. So that will need doing. I also repainted the tank in a rather ugly shade of black in a moment of madness, so that’s going to need a new paint job, as are the mudguards, and a decision will have to be made on that. The Strada was originally silver but I fancy making this a little special, and I have an idea for a paint scheme that isn’t red, but another classic Italian colour. I’m going to try and be methodical; something that doesn’t come easily. I’m going to take a box at a time, clean up and label everything, and store it properly. The engine(s) will need stripping, cleaning and checking over. I don’t know if the spare engine is off a Strada or a Sport, but I’ll need the pistons and barrels out of it, assuming they are within wear limits, as one of the originals was broken during

The bare bones, 1988.

the dismantling. I’ll need new small-end bushes, at least, too. The wiring is brittle and tired. You can get new looms from Italy for around £100. As the switchgear was always horrid, I’m thinking a C-Unit digital system from Café Racer Kits might be in order. I might even change the tank altogether. The Pantah forks are for Brembo, not Grimeca calipers, but I do still have the lower fork legs from the original Morini set. I should be able to make up a set that fits. Except the front disc looks shot. And so on… Working space is at something of a premium, so this is getting built in the dining room. It’s hard to work out in what order to do things, but I think I’ll address

the state of the frame and swing arm, then reattach the forks and shocks and wheels as a dry build, so I at least have something to look at. I have sent the frame, swing arm and stands off to Triple S Powder Coating in Bradford for a brand-new finish. I’ll strip the two engines, and start spending my money with Mdina Italia. Then, I’ll put the rebuilt engine back in, refurbish the carbs, have the exhaust ceramic coated, and start thinking about the electric system and a new seat and paint job. Piece of cake. Should be done by the end of June. Please note I didn’t say in which year. This could take a while.

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ALL THE BITS

I’m going to need parts. Not too many, with any luck, but those important things that wear out, like gudgeon pins and new circlips and a new cambelt. Unlike working on a British classic, there aren’t dozens of suppliers vying for your credit card details. If you are in the UK, then your first port of call for Morini spares is going to be Andrew Jones at Mdina Italia. Mdina Italia acquired the stock of Morini specialists North Leicester Motorcycles in 2019, and Andrew has been sorting out what there is ever since. Andrew suggested that the first thing to buy is an official Morini parts list, which will make it a lot easier to find what I need. I won’t need a manual as I still have the Harglo reprint from the early 1980s. Andrew says that most parts are available but finding a few bits could be tricky. These include the perforated heat shield for the rear pipe and some of the shims from the front forks. Some Sport parts are harder to find than Strada parts, such as Sport kickstarts and foot pegs – which does mean I may have to revise plans to upgrade the running gear to Sport spec. Carb spares and rubbers should be easy to find, while a modern ignition set up might be in order. If it needs a rebore, I might have to take it out to 375cc, as finding factory oversize pistons can be a challenge. Front sprockets are hard to find Should a garden gnome restore motorcycles?

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My cat, Waldo DR Dobbs, is unfazed by the beauty of my Tomas

elli Gold Commander clip-ons in 1989.

and so are tank rubbers, but cables and gaskets are available. Big end shells are available too, in various oversizes. Cosmetics like tank badges and the famous 3 ½ side panel badges can be bought off the shelf. If I have issues with the alternator, it will need rewinding as replacements are unobtainable. There aren’t many really obscure parts, but I’ll have to watch out for strange touches, such as the use of fine metric thread bolts to hold on the petrol tank. The other important thing to do was re-join the Morini Riders Club after a

30-year absence, partly for their technical support, but also because you get a 10 per cent discount from Andrew, which I have a feeling will more than pay for the membership fee with my second order. ■ Thanks to Andrew for his advice. Visit www. mdinaitalia.co.uk if in need of Morini (or Ducati, Moto Guzzi or Laverda) spares and order through the online shop rather than emailing requests if you want rapid service. ■ Thanks too to David and Matthew at Triple S Powder Coating, of which more next month. Contact them at triple-s.co.uk

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In the workshop with Cooper-san p and his

Yamaha AS1 S Many aspire to owning Yamaha’s seminal 125 sports twin, but few start from here! WORDS & IMAGES BY STEVE COOPER

Part one

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“D

o you want a Yamaha AS1 for £75?” This was my good friend Phil Denton, of stainless parts fame, on the other end of the

phone. “It’s been in a damp coal cellar for at least 30 years and possibly longer, so don’t expect too much from it. Oh, and it was taken apart some time during the 1980s after it went bang and never got rebuilt.” At the time I needed another project like a pirate needs woodworm in his bad leg, but even back some 12 years ago the legendary Yasie (YAS1) was something of a mythical beast. Okay, so I didn’t ‘need’ one of Yamaha’s seminal buzz bombs but, I had to admit – I wanted one. From memory I think the bike’s transportation from the Llanwrst area of North Wales to central Bedfordshire was just over a £100, but at sub-£200 all, in I told myself I had a bargain. Having no storage space at home, the terrible tiddler was dropped off at my mum’s place. She had an empty garage begging to be used for bike fettling, and it meant we’d see more of each other. I should add here that the grand old lady in question had been an ardent pillion passenger to my late dad before I arrived on the scene, and had followed speedway in the days of Split Waterman. Small, yet formidable, I still have memories of her berating young teenage fans on Silverstone’s Club Corner for booing Barry Sheene’s poor performance on a Yamaha – she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind or voice her opinion! So, when the 125 twin was literally dragged out of the van on seized wheels, complete with a serried collection of parts in boxes, she did pretty much what I expected. The look she gave her 50-something-year-old son was one you normally only see at Christmas – at a pantomime. You know the one, when Jack of beanstalk fame shows his mother the handful of beans he got in exchange for the cow. Mrs C Senior then shook her head, spun on her heel, and did what that generation always did in moments of crisis, family feuds or acts of supreme stupidity – she put the kettle on.

Taking stock of what I had did make me question the so-called wisdom of the acquisition but in its favour, the bike had a current logbook; in fact, that was probably its only overtly positive attribute, truth be told. Both guards were rotten but no surprise there because… “They all do that sir!” Japanese double-skinned mudguards and 1970s salt-encrusted roads were never easy bedfellows. The front one looked like it might be salvageable but wasn’t, and the rear was so bad it would have crumbled to dust if you sneezed loudly nearby. I’m almost too embarrassed to show any images of either – they really are as bad as they look, and you might very well be saying

it serves me right for buying the bike sight unseen! I’ll save the story of their replacement for Part Two, when we’ve collectively stopped reeling from the shock. Looking for positives (or rather hoping there were some), all the big lumps seemed to be there and judging by the two blue boxes of shrapnel, a lot of the little stuff looked to be present, if not necessarily correct. A period dealer’s emblem suggested the bike was originally sold by Gray’s of Chatham, further underlining that this was indeed a UK machine – not that it counted for much, to be honest. Another small crumb of comfort was that the V5 suggested the bike had matching numbers, which is allegedly something

Rear mudguard too far gone at back.

And at the front.

Seat base repairable – I think.

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Above and left: “It's all there, honestly!” Below: The original dealer badge is lovely.

THE FAMILY TREE

Steve looks so happy...

of a perceived bonus in classic Yamaha circles? Me? Oh, I would have preferred non-matching numbers and two decent guards but that was just me being naively and wildly optimistic, I guess. Plans and options had to be considered and/or formulated even if the Oriental, cosmetically compromised, £200 hell hound could be hidden in the garage until The End of Days. Was it a viable project? Could it be retrieved from the very edge of The Abyss? Was it ultimately

Bought unseen, you say?

destined to become just so much recycled metal to arise, phoenix-like, as white goods and soft drinks cans? Crucially, the main question seemed to be: was everything there? A summer evening’s exercise, laying out all the stuff on mater’s patio, seemed to suggest it might just be feasible, but whether it was worthwhile, practicable or realistic was anyone’s guess. I showed some of the images to an Irish work colleague who was into his classic vehicles, and

The YAS1 (or AS1 for short) is part of Yamaha’s second generation, twin cylinder, two stroke range. The first generation were the early YD and YDS 250 twins that sprouted from the latter half of the 1950s. Initially based heavily on the German MB200/MB250 Adlers, the bikes soon evolved their own character, and by the start of the 1960s they were going very much in a different direction to the high-end, Teutonic, gentleman’s motorcycle. As the 1960s ticked along, Yamaha was aware it needed to expand its product portfolio and offer both a wider range of twins and in capacity brackets below the initial quarter litre models that had brought them pretty much instant success. The year of 1965 saw the launch of the commuter/delivery AT90; a 90cc sporty twin with a pair of minuscule Mikuni round slide carburettors that enabled the bike to deliver 8bhp at a then staggering 8000rpm. Although a totally new model to the 250s, the AT still used the same basic architecture – a vertically split alloy crankcase with four ball race main bearings, helical gear primary drive – but with a four-speed gearbox and, crucially, Autolube oil injection, dispensing with the need for premix. Just one year later, the AT90 became the YL1 with almost 10bhp at 8500rpm. When fitted with the factory tuning kit (chrome-plated alloy barrels, high compression head, magneto ignition and raucous expansion chambers etc.), the YL1 was delivering close to 20bhp or 200 bhp/litre! The year 1967 saw the impending release of the YA S1/AS1 125cc twin. Now equipped with five gears, this one-eighth litre out-and-out sports twin changed the public’s perception of the Yamaha brand and almost overnight made every four-stroke 250 single obsolete, such was the performance from the 14bhp motor. At the same time, a 180cc version was launched and sold as the CS1 with electric start and almost 20bhp at the crank. Revised, refined, updated and honed, the 125 and 180 (soon bored out to 200) would remain on Yamaha’s sales list as first the AS/CS range, before morphing into the iconic RD125/200. The latter ran until 1980/81, but Yamaha eked a few more years from the design; combining the 125 chassis with smaller wheels and a single carburettored, non-reed valve motor to produce the RS200 commuter. With the last RS200s being punted out cheaply after the 125cc learner law, Yamaha managed to run the same basic design for almost 20 years, remarkable for what had started out as basic, 90cc, twin cylinder urban delivery bike.

“'Just needs a little buffing.”

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his response would latterly strike me as prophetic. “Sure, you might want a little Yamaha twin but if I were you I’d not be starting the restoration journey from there!” But what choice did I have? Necessity being the mother of invention or some such trite piece of advice, I hit upon the opening gambit of what would turn out to be another prolonged resurrection. I hesitate to call the process a restoration for reasons that will later become apparent. Embracing some tautologically advanced planning, I took the only reasonable and sensible steps any sane person could – I passed part of the problem onto someone else. My good friend Peter is a long-term exponent and rider of small Yamaha twins, and it seemed only right he should play a pivotal part in the AS1’s rebirth, especially as he reckoned, “They’re easy enough to do if you have all the parts.” Apparently, mudguards accepted, Yamaha’s AS twins weren’t too challenging. Of course, Peter strategically forgot to mention stuff like seat bases, silencers, down pipes and numerous other key items. Delving through the boxes of bits, I did indeed find what looked like sufficient parts to build the engine or, at least, the bottom half of it. Suitably packaged and notionally cleaned, the whole lot was handed over at an autojumble to a stunned Peter, who looked too shellshocked to argue. My excuse to him, and subliminally to myself, was that I am rubbish at three-dimensional puzzles (read engines) and would be much better gainfully occupied sorting out the chassis. As it turned out, Peter made a swifter job of the engine than I did with the rest of the wreck. The 1980s blow-up and subsequent strip-down by the former owner had done us a favour; because it was in a myriad of pieces, that meant nothing was seized or corrosion welded together among the innumerable parts I’d handed over. I, on the other hand, was trying to separate one large lump of chassis from another and failing miserably. However, I made strenuous efforts to find oversized pistons and for the barrels that very obviously needed a rebore, and told myself I was making significant, if not substantial, progress. Had I known how long the AS1’s rebirth would take, I might have sold the whole lot on as spares. With a viable motor, I took to the tools with renewed vigour in the vainglorious, narcissistic and pompous belief I could get the almost-rolling chassis

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Above: Yamaha was good at engineering... not so good at marketing. Below: Steve is convinced he can bring this back to its former glory. Good luck, buddy!

apart. I subsequently discovered Welsh coal cellars apparently have corrosive properties not unlike those of the Titanic’s chain locker. Despite liberal monthly hosings of

every penetrating fluid known to man, very little of the bike seemed keen on being separated from its neighbours. I sighed, crestfallen, and my mother put the kettle on. Again!

CLASSIC BIKE GUIDE || JUNE 2021

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Who do think th they ey are? Frank W e

stworth RealClas is the ed sic maga itor of zine, the series of la t e s publicat t in a lon ions tha g when he t began was bull in 1982 ie d in t the prev o produc iously ex ing The Jampot, cellent m & Match agazine less OC. o f t h He was e AJS of Class also fou ic Bike G nding ed u id itor e and has columnis returned t as a pe a nance. O sa has a my r someth sterious ing. He o b session obscure with ridin and elde g rly moto which he rcycles, does ve ry slowly …

Famous Last Words We’ve never had it so good. Official…

t is so easy – too easy – to take things for granted. And one of the many things I certainly take that way is the ready supply of spares parts for my motley assortment of increasingly elderly British motorcycles. One of the others is ready access to expertise – or, at least, access to folk who have some legitimate claim to be expert in some particular motorcycles. Both, of course, can be of variable value, depending. One of the several lockdown projects in The Shed has been a Norton Electra, for example. Remarkable machines and interesting in many ways. Stop sneering now! Strangely enough, sneering is what a surprising number of folk do whenever I reveal that I’ve been tinkering with an electric-start Norton which is neither a Commando nor a rotary. Maybe they do this because the words ‘Commando’ and ‘electric start’ are no longer much of a joke, as modern kit makes Commandos reliably self-motivating. Who knows? I’ve never been one to sneer at them, mainly because my own Mk3 Commando – excellently rebuilt by Norvil – was entirely reliable in the click-brumm stakes, as have been several others ridden by several pals. The Electra? The sneering continues, I’m afraid. Why some folk need to sneer has always been a minor mystery. Maybe it makes them feel good. If so, why? Norton’s less heavy twins surely do have their detractors, which is, of course, fine by me, not least because hopefully it will keep the prices – bikes and spares, both – in the realms of sanity until my

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own machine is totally dependable, fleet as the wind, and self-starting at the mere flick of a button. Before you sneer some more, the bike starts entirely reliably on its starter motor when warm. Less so from cold, but I have A Plan. This is to fit two beefy modern 12V batteries into the space Norton kindly provided for the paired 6V batteries required in 1963 to produce a 12V system. That’ll fix it. It’s all good fun. Easy spares availability, lots of knowledge and even more opinion. This is what we’re all familiar with; all part of the ongoing shared nuttiness of running an old bike. But it can be different. Very different… I have long been in awe of those seriously smart types who can successfully restore to running order some mysterious machine from the margins of motorcycling. I have a pal who resurrects Jawas, for example. Although I would, of course, never sneer at such obvious eccentricity, I do occasionally share with him my private doubts for his personal sanity. This is what friends are for. Possibly. But his strange mania is not a thing I have shared. Previously. Things change. This is the nature of things. If things no longer change, then we are all surely doomed. And so it was, gentle reader, that, gripped by some passion I cannot now remember, I leapt into the unknown and bought an Italian motorcycle. An old Italian motorcycle, that is. A few current bikes from that fine country have paraded around The Shed down the years,

but I have rarely bought an old one for myself. What is it? It’s an Aermacchi. It may suggest on its fuel tank that it is something different, but we are experts all and recognise an Aermacchi when we see one. Oh yes. You do not fool us, Mr Harley and Mr Davidson. I bought it out of curiosity, because it looks rather fine, and because it has an electric hoof; increasingly important in these declining days. That hoof was described by the private vendor as being ‘intermittent’. A fine word. A word to remember. It was intermittent only in the sense that it may have self-started a couple of times in the last century, but not since. But we classic bikers are stout chaps, are we not? We can cause a Norton Electra to start itself. How can a masslyproduced Aermacchi 350 single be any harder to motivate into self-motivation than an obscure Norton built by a dying company in its last days? Except. Except that there are few experts. And there are few spares; none at all for the electric trotter mechanism. Even in this globally-connected electronic age, I can find few folk who can tell me how to make my ’macchi start itself, and less still who can supply bits to help in this. It’s easy enough to kick up, but that is missing the point. The point is that we need to value, to treasure, the frankly remarkable range of spares and expertise easily available to fans of even the most obscure British machines. We have, really, never had it so good.