November 2018 Issue 373 Publisher: Dan Savage, asavage@mortons.co.uk Contributors: Kev Larkins, Joe Dick, Kris Jones, Alan Turner Art editor: Justin Blackamore Designers: Fran Lovely, Charlotte Turnbull Picture Desk: Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield Production editor: Dan Sharp Divisional advertising manager: Zoe Thurling zthurling@mortons.co.uk Tel: 01507 529412 Advertising: Robert Bee rbee@mortons.co.uk, Tel: 01507 529575 Subscription manager: Paul Deacon Circulation manager: Steven O’Hara Marketing manager: Charlotte Park Commercial director: Nigel Hole Editorial address: CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS MAGAZINE, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR Website: www.classicmechanics.com General enquiries and back issues: Tel: 01507 529529 24 hour answer phone help@classicmagazines.co.uk www.classicmagazines.co.uk Archivist: Jane Skayman jskayman@mortons.co.uk, 01507 529423 Subscription: Full subscription rates (but see page 40 for offer): (12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £51.60. Export rates are also available – see page 40 for more details. UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value Added Tax. Customer services: Tel: 01507 529529 Lines are open: Monday-Friday 8.30am-7pm Saturday 8.30am-12:30pm Distribution: Marketforce UK Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HU. Tel: 0203 787 9001 Subscription agents: CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS MAGAZINE, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR Printed: William Gibbons & Sons, Wolverhampton Published date: CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS MAGAZINE is published on the third Wednesday of every month Next issue: November 21, 2018 Advertising deadline: November 1, 2018 © Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher. ISSN 0959-0900 CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS magazine takes all responsible steps to ensure advice and technical tips are written by experienced and competent people. We also advise readers to seek further professional advice if they are unsure at any time. Anything technical written by the editor is exempt – he’s rubbish with spanners. CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS (USPS:729-550) is published monthly by Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ UK. USA subscriptions are $60 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. Periodical Postage is paid at Wisconsin Rapids, WI. Postmaster: Send address changes to CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS, Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. 715572-4595 chris@classicbikebooks.com
Loving the loyalty... or not? What is it that makes us bike-brand-loyal? Me: I’ve owned many varied and different machines, including Hondas, Yamahas, Suzukis, Aprilias and the like – not a Ducati – yet, but I’d love one. Maybe a 1990s 900SS or Superlight (oh the irony…). I have friends who (for one reason or another) would never – and I mean never – entertain the thought of a Honda, but they would buy any Suzuki, Yamaha or Kawasaki and that really confuses me. If you like Jap bikes, surely you like Jap bikes? Ahhh… Kawasaki. If there’s a manufacturer I feel some form of affinity to, it would be the Big K. All thanks to my uncle working at the local dealership (Dave Fox in Ramsgate) but I’d see what my uncle rode and press my nose to the glass of the dealership and dream. Yeah, I know you’ve heard all this before, but I don’t care.
Allen Millyard
Pip Higham
The man with more stamps in his passport than Royal Mail gives us the low-down on Suzuki’s GT250K!
You only get the FULL story of the RC374 in CMM and this month we look at how Allen makes those amazing exhausts.
How did we drill holes before we had small electric motors to help us? This and more besides is revealed by Pip…
Holiday 2018 presenter
Scott Redmond
Independent publisher since 1885
Ross Mowbray Little monkey…
We welcome Ross to our pages for the first time. He rides Honda’s new Monkey retro this month.
Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine? Why not Just Ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month?
www.twitter.com/cmmmag
Steve Cooper
In a new series this month, Breaking Bad, Scottie tells us what he’s splitting up and what he’s earning off it!
Member
Editor
BSimmonds@Mortons.co.uk
www.facebook.com/ClassicMechanics/
Breaker, breaker…
The Professional Publishers Association
It wasn’t an accident then that my first bike would be a KMX125, even if my first ‘field ride’ would be Suzuki’s X-1. Today I love the fact that – when I have some disposable – I can look at ‘modern’ Hinckley Triumphs from the very early 1990s, perhaps peruse that 900SS Ducati from 1991/1992 (or maybe an ST-2/4 from the end of that decade) all the various Japanese machine from the 1980s-on as well as the likes of Aprilia’s Milles and other early noughties machines… Yup, if there’s one thing we are blessed with at the moment in our chosen hobby it’s this: diversity.
Engineer extraordinaire!
Justin Blackamore Got his bike licence – at last!
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH!
Our big boy from Boston who makes this magazine look pretty (along with two lovely ladies) has finally passed his motorcycle test. We are – right now – looking at something suitable which falls within the CMM remit: perhaps a mid-1990s Honda CB500 or Kawasaki ER-5? What do you think the big fella needs? ZZ-R600? See page 127…
Driller killer…
Ralph Ferrand Big Zed lover
Our Ralph is here with project Z1325 and will be back next month with both the ‘special’ Zed as well as his Z1300.
Mark Haycock Awww he’s back…
Biking’s own ‘Gandalf of Guildford’ is back with his Honda CB750 K2 as well as Q&A. More from him next month too.
Jeff Ware
Martin Child
Robert Bee
Our favourite Aussie is back with the RG500 and beginning an engine build of Suzuki’s RGV250 VJ22…
Once more, our ‘Wild’ Child is sorting his GSX-R1000 K8/1100 Slabbie hybrid. It will be road-tested soon!
Big Bad Bob swings a bat around and claims to be an athlete: it’s only cricket… still, he can book a mean ad!
Two-stroke lover!
Cupid Stunt rider
Cricket dullard
www.classicmechanics.com / 3
Flame thrower!
6 / classic motorcycle mechanics
T
WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PHOTOS: MORTONS ARCHIVE
he Petronas FP1 saga is a delicious mystery tale that currently doesn’t have an ending… Back in 2001 Sauber Petronas wanted to go MotoGP racing. Realising that the four-stroke era was about to begin, they designed a threecylinder four-stroke motor that was even tested in Malaysia by CMM’s very own Niall Mackenzie. Then things ‘changed’. Instead, the motor would be housed in a homologated road-bike chassis and be raced in World Superbikes as part of ‘Foggy Petronas Racing’ headed up by none other than Carl Fogarty himself. With this being a new venture, a new bike, a big backer in the form of Petronas it was good news for WSB, especially as MotoGP was going four-stroke and manufacturers like Honda and Kawasaki were leaving the production-based series. Sadly, the change of rules from 900cc triples to 1000cc triples in 2003 didn’t help (the FP1 was an 899cc triple) so out on track it had a power disadvantage. The bike raced during the 2003-2006 seasons with best finishes of three podiums and two pole positions, thanks to riders such as Chris Walker, Troy Corser, James Haydon, Garry McCoy and Craig Jones. The results could be said to be a poor return on the alleged £30 million investment into the team, which – one former FP1 racer said: “Should have been spent on the bike, not the hospitality unit…”
Of course, to actually go racing they had to make road bikes: 150 to be exact and it’s here the story goes a bit strange… The bikes were to be real homologation specials – like a ‘Sports Production’ version of a Jap 750 sportster, say an RC30 or OW-01 – but it seems even they didn’t turn up. These were supposed to cost more than £20,000 with more austere versions being made at a later date. The race bikes were to be built by Suter, the famed Moto2/two-stroke replica company from Switzerland, headed up by former racer Eskil Suter, while the road bikes were to be built by another company in Essex. Furtive, half-hearted road-tests of the bikes were made in the main motorcycling newspaper of the time, but the bikes themselves were as scarce as hen’s teeth. In recent years it seems that around 130 road bikes were locked in a warehouse following confusion as to whether duties on the bikes had been paid. Either way it’s a sad end to the tale of the FP1: the race replica homologation special that wasn’t. cmm
FOGGY PETRONAS FP1 2003-2006
■ Want to get hold of pictures from Mortons Archive? Then head to: www.mortonsarchive.com www.classicmechanics.com / 7
cmm
Marketplace
New Katana on its way
Hot on the heels of the Kawasaki Z900RS’s success is this… WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PHOTOS: SUZUKI GB, KAR LEE
H
ere are the pictures many of us have been waiting decades to see: Suzuki’s new-for-2019 Katana. At the heart of the ‘2020 Katana’ is Suzuki’s legendary GSX-R1000 mill of 2005-2008 vintage. Yup, that’s the same 999cc motor that currently powers Suzuki’s GSX-S1000 and 1000F naked street bikes. Power from the liquid-cooled motor is quoted as being around the 150bhp mark at 10,000rpm. Suzuki says this motor (and not one from the latest GSX-R1000) is best for this fit thanks to its long-stroke layout for more torque and the fact that it’s proven to be eminently reliable. The motor is aided by a SET (Suzuki Exhaust Tuning) EXUP-style powervalve, Low RPM Assist – for smooth throttle control low-down in the rev-range and three-level traction control. This all sounds very familiar if you’re a GSX-S1000 or 1000F (half-faired) naked bike owner. So, is this just a tarted-up GSX-S1000F then? Yes, it looks that way. The frame and swingarm look identical, suspension front (43mm inverted Kayabas) and rear (monoshock) and Brembo Monoblock calipers too. The wheelbase is also the same at 1460mm and the seat height of the Kat is
8 / classic motorcycle mechanics
higher at 825 (up on the GSX’s 810mm) while that ‘hunched-on-the-front’ look from the 1000F is the same too – albeit the Kat looks like, well, a Kat: just a slightly fat one. Interestingly, the low-down snatchy feeling some complain about may well have been solved by adjustments to the motor as well as some throttle cable re-routing.
ABOVE: Based on the GSX-S model, the 2020 Katana will be a hoot on the road. BELOW: shame there’s no ‘real’ pillion seat...
www.classicmechanics.com
www.facebook.com/ClassicMechanics/
www.twitter.com/cmmmag
Front three-quarters gives more than a hint of the original ‘Kat’ look...
Now, we don’t blame Suzuki for going down this route at all, as – like Kawasaki’s Z900/Z900RS – it makes sense to ‘platform share’ between an existing model to make the basis of the new Katana on the cheap, so to speak. The looks are almost there: our only criticisms would be the base of the 1000F means the front-end of this latest Katana looks too fat and – in typical current fashion – there’s not much of a rear-end/pillion to plonk your better half on. We can live with the flashy (and new) LCD screen/dash, the LED lights, the single (not twin) shocks and the low-slung ‘rear fender’ number plate and indicators. That said the styling cues are pure Katana and the bike will be available on launch in one colour only – that’s right, the original silver. A range of upgrade parts will be available, so with the announced red pillion seat, red Brembo calipers, various carbon bits and smoked screen, you can bet your bottom yen that Yoshimura is already converting a GSX-S pipe to look more ‘traditional’. Price is yet to be announced but expect it to be around £11,000-£12,000 and – despite being called the 2020 Katana – it is a 2019 model and should be arriving in the UK in March/April of next year. Let us know what you think. cmm
...and yet front-on we can see the ‘fat face’ of the base model.
CMM’s Retro Rebooted Kat
A
year or so ago the talented soothsayer that is Kar Lee of our ‘Retro Reboot’ fame, actually predicted Kawasaki making a tourer version of its supercharged H2 as a GPZ1000RX Reboot. We think he’s even closer to the mark now with September issue’s rebooted Katana. But which is best? His or Suzuki’s? Kar based his Kat on an existing model too – this time the 2018 GSX-R1000. He would have been happy with less than the claimed 199bhp – maybe closer to 160-170
rather than the ‘old’ motor’s 150bhp at 10,000rpm. Meanwhile the 2018 GSX-R chassis was adapted to carry the legendary Katana bodywork. And here’s where Kar’s Kat purrs: we think that his is closer to the original. He said: “Unlike some concepts – more recently the GSX-S1000-based version shown at last year’s Tokyo show – I reckon the styling should remain more faithful to the original to make it as pure as can be. We’ve kept ours 95% as it was in 1981 for that perfect retro fusion of old and new.”
www.classicmechanics.com / 9
cmm
Stuff
The latest riding kit, top tools, tyres, retro clothing and more!
£1299.95 (jacket)
SIDI REX BOOT
From
£369.99
Sidi’s design team has created a new sport boot with a futuristic look and one which has been developed by Sidi’s many racers in MotoGP and superbike racing worldwide. It comes with an innovative new ‘closure system’ which allows a simple and quick fit via three steel cables (shin, mid and instep tensioners) which are adjustable using the new ‘Tecno-2 Push rotor.’ Sounds more like civil engineering to us, but they look cool. www.sidiselect.co.uk
DAINESE ANTARCTICA EXPLORER OUTFIT
This is top-end of top-end adventure kit! For 2019 Dainese’s Antarctica Explorer outfit has been rigorously updated for fit and performance. This is the result. Dainese claims “unprecedented lightness and comfort in a product with advanced ergonomics and an exceptional fit” along with the new patented Trixior material which ensures superior abrasion resistance: you also get a goose down jacket which is removable. We say: so they should for the price! Either way, we expect it to be lovely for that money. You’re effectively wearing a very good second-hand bike on yourself... www.dainese.com
£147.34 (set 7068)
£749.95 (trousers)
LASER LOW-PROFILE SOCKET SETS
These two new socket sets from Laser Tools are ideal when space is restricted and there is just not enough room to get a socket over the fastener. They both feature super-short sockets combined with the Laser Tools Go’thru design that lets you reach fixings that even conventional deep sockets cannot reach. The half inch drive low-profile dual-drive socket set (part number 7103) features 19 ultra-low-profile sockets that are hex-driven and fit in the low-profile 72-teeth ratchet. Socket sizes include: 8mm, 9mm, 10mm, 11mm, 12mm, 13mm, 14mm, 15mm, 16mm, 17mm, 18mm, 19mm, 20mm, 21mm, 22mm, 24mm, 27mm, 30mm and 32mm. The set also includes a quick-release half inch drive adaptor for standard sockets and two extension bars (125 & 250mm) with wobble-ends for increased versatility in difficult to access areas. A half inch drive universal joint is also included. The low-profile dual-drive socket set (part number 7068) features 13 super-short 3/8in drive sockets which feature the Go’thru design (8mm, 9mm, 10mm, 11mm, 12mm, 13mm, 14mm, 15mm, 16mm, 17mm, 19mm, 21mm and 22mm). A quick-release 3/8in drive adaptor, two 3/8in drive extension bars (75 and 150mm) plus a 3/8in drive universal joint are also included. www.lasertools.co.uk
£211.85
10 / classic motorcycle mechanics
(set 7103)
www.classicmechanics.com
www.facebook.com/ClassicMechanics/
www.twitter.com/cmmmag
SHOEI GT-AIR II
£449.99
KAWASAKI Z900RS T-SHIRT
£549.99
(plain)
This new lid (which comes out in March 2019) is an evolution of the GT-Air touring helmet. So, it’s a premium full-face helmet with an integral sun visor. The construction is of multicomposite fibre, comes in three different shell sizes (and sizes are XS, M, L, XL and XXL) and has a detachable washable liner. As you’d expect it’s vented to the max for a cool head and is prepped for the SENA SRL2 Bluetooth comms system. www.shoeiassured.co.uk
We love the fact that Kawasaki took more than just a few styling cues from the Z1 when creating the Z900-based Z900RS… this T-shirt celebrates that fact. It’s available in black only and sizes M to 3XL priced at 23 euros – that’s about £21. www.z900.us
(graphics)
£21
DEVIL HEATERS
These are a range of efficient turbofan propane gas fired heaters which are perfect for heating any garage, workshop or warehouse this winter. Many models in the range feature variable heat output control and all models are supplied with a regulator and gas hose. Dual voltage (110V/230V) models are also available and all models are built within a corrosion resistant stainless steel casing. With fuel safety cut out and a sturdy handle on top. www.machinemart.co.uk
From
£95.98
£32
RACING WITH KAWASAKI £14.99
MIKE THE BIKE – AGAIN Author Ted Macauley revisits the legendary event 40 years ago where Mike Hailwood came out of retirement to win the 1978 Isle of Man F1 TT in spectacular style. Macauley wasn’t just Mike’s thenmanager, but also a trusted friend, so this book (112 pages, 40 pictures) looks at the background behind the event that marked Mike out as a true legend of motorcycle racing. www.veloce.co.uk
THE INSIDE STORY
‘Lean, mean and lime green’, this is the complete story of the USA and Europe’s Kawasaki race effort. Recalling the time of Gary Nixon, Yvon Duhamel, Paul Smart and Mick Grant, it also covers the ‘red tank’ racers of the late 1960s, such as the 125cc championship winning year and machine of the late, great Dave Simmonds, as well as the twins that won 250 and 350cc titles for both Kork Ballington and Anton Mang and the racing variants of the mighty Z1. The book contains 344 pages and 100 illustrations. www.brgmultimedia.com www.classicmechanics.com / 11
ENDOFPREVI EW
I fy oul i k ewhaty ou’ v e r eads of ar ,whynot s ubs c r i be,ort r ya s i ngl ei s s uef r om:
www. c l as s i c magaz i nes . c o. uk