Publisher: Steve Rose, srose@mortons.co.uk Group production editor: Tim Hartley Contributors: Joe Dick, Don Morley, Kar Lee, Paul Bryant Art Editor: Justin Blackamore Reprographics: Simon Duncan Divisional advertising manager: Sandra Fisher, sfisher@mortons.co.uk Advertising: Andy Catton, Sam Dearie acatton@mortons.co.uk sdearie@mortons.co.uk Tel: 01507 524004 Subscription manager: Paul Deacon Circulation manager: Steven O’Hara Marketing manager: Charlotte Park Production manager: Craig Lamb Publishing director: Dan Savage Commercial director: Nigel Hole Associate director: Malc Wheeler Managing director: Brian Hill 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 32 for offer): (12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £49.20. Export rates are also available – see page 32 for more details. UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value Added Tax. Distribution: COMAG, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QE. Tel: 01895 433600 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: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 Advertising deadline: Friday, September 27, 2013 © 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
Memories made in metal Welcome to your ‘restored’ Classic Motorcycle Mechanics. Like most things in life, sometimes even magazines start to look tired, old or just in need of a bit of a spruce up and that was the case with CMM. While giving the ol’ girl a lick of paint, we’ve also listened to what you want to see in your magazine and we hope that we’ve delivered. We hope to get more reader involvement in the magazine
Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine? Why not Just Ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month?
ds Bertie Simmon Editor
Hello from the CMM team... Bertie Simmonds
Jon Bentman
Scott Redmond
bertie@classicmechanics.com This month... ... to actually ‘start’ my project bike? How do you all do it?
editorial@classicmechanics.com This month... JB got a month off so we gave his job to someone called Mackenzie.
editorial@classicmechanics.com This month... He’s been out and about meeting, greeting and autojumbling!
Steve Cooper
Mark Haycock
John Nutting
editorial@classicmechanics.com This month... Scoop has been curing carb ills this month. Good man!
editorial@classicmechanics.com This month... Q&A is back thanks to this ‘Merlin’ of the mechanic world.
editorial@classicmechanics.com This month... The old smoothie has been enjoying a couple of kettles!
Stan Stephens
Mark Williams
Niall Mackenzie
editorial@classicmechanics.com This month... He is! Once more Stan tells us what he could do with an LC.
editorial@classicmechanics.com This month... He begins a new series: serious or jokey, ask him.
editorial@classicmechanics.com This month... He rides his own restored RD350LC. And loves it...
Don Morley
Steve Parrish
Andy Catton
editorial@classicmechanics.com This month... Don’s magic liberally coats many of our pages this month.
editorial@classicmechanics.com This month... Stavros gets a shock when he buys suspension!
editorial@classicmechanics.com This month... Check out the revamped services guide and classified section.
Where can I find the time...
Older/nicer stuff editor
Independent publisher since 1885
from you in the form of Reader’s Rides and yes, Q&A is back! Another thing that had a lick of paint recently is Niall Mackenzie’s Yamaha RD350LC. These bikes for many summed up a wonderful youth and Niall missed the thrill that LC ownership gave him (he sold two!) Read his test from page 46 about why this one’s a keeper.
Lord of the LC
Ledgendary photographer
Road test editor
The Q&A King
Ask Uncle Mark
Our man at the BBC
80s and 90s editor
Master of Mira
Stand-in road test ed!
Ad sales guru
www.classicmechanics.com / 3
Contents
08 ARCHIVE
Rocket Ron on a Speed Triple and a cheating admission.
10
QUICK SPIN – TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE Chris Moss joins CMM and rides a 1990s legend.
14 NEWS
Events, products, news and your favourite columnists too…
20
CALENDAR
22
FEEDBACK
What’s on in the month of October. Your letters, emails, texts, praise and insults.
24 28 READER’S RIDE
SHOW US YOURS
All your own work, in all its glory. Scottie goes for a slice of cake – copy him to win a prize.
32
YAMAHA YDS6
41 1977 46 YAMAHA RD350LC A great year remembered.
Niall Mackenzie rides his restored Elsie.
54 62 64
HONDA CB900F READER’S SPECIAL
A beautiful take on Honda’s fab four.
78
❙ WORKSHOP NEWS
80
❙ ENGINE ASSESSING
84
❙ FIX YOUR CARBS
88
❙ YAMAHA FZ750
BROKEN HEARTS
Scott Redmond on where bits from broken bikes end up. And for how much.
Pip Higham, products and parts. Part two, from Mark Haycock. How to strip and clean by Steve Cooper.
SUPERSTOCK
Steve Parrish and his bid to build an FZ.
92
❙ SUZUKI GSX-R7/11
96
❙ STAN STEPHENS
MIRA Files from John Nutting.
112
❙ SUZUKI GSX-R750F
A modern take on the Fizzie from Retro Reboot.
128
❙ Q&A
130
❙ KAWASAKI KR250
WELCOME TO THE JUMBLE
Scottie shows how clearing the garage can generate wad.
68 SUZUKI GT750 74 YAMAHA FS-1E
Steve Cooper rides a sorted Sixties machine.
Scott Redmond builds a bike on the cheap.
Stan looks at the best LC he ever built.
Slabside buyer’s guide.
It’s back, it’s bad, it’s better than nowt.
Super quick Kwak Showstopper.
Here’s what would get kids back on bikes (along with easier to understand licence laws). A popsicle purple Fizzie for the modern age, with aftermarket flyscreen and spannies. See more on page 74.
www.classicmechanics.com / 5
IT K A ! IY ER M NN TA WI
We want to see YOUR pride and joy in our pages, so you can share what you ride and restore with fellow readers. Do send in hi-res shots, emailed, preferably, to bsimmonds @mortons.co.uk or mail in some photos to the address at the front of the mag. Let us know what you’ve done and how you’ve done it and send us before and after shots if you can. Do get in touch. Bertie
Terry Tomlin’s Honda XBR500 Here are before and after shots of my 1987 Honda XBR500. Bought as a rough, rusty (albeit running) wreck just over a year ago, I intended to restore it to an acceptable standard to use as an everyday machine. However, I live in a small terraced house with no rear access other than through the house itself, so the bike was stripped down and carried through in pieces. The colour was not to my taste (too dark), so after preparing the various parts,
We’ve teamed up with The Hobby Company www.hobbyco.net which distributes Tamiya plastic motorcycle kits in the UK to give our favourite restoration one of its amazing motorcycles in miniature. So, send in your pictures of your bikes and you could win the chance to indulge in a miniature motorcycle restoration of your own. Remember to send your name and address on each submission so we know where to post the kit.
24 / classic motorcycle mechanics
they were sprayed Ford pepper red from cans found in my shed and then lacquered. The exhaust was stripped and redone with heat-resistant paint. The frame was sprayed with a black plastic coating, as were the fork lowers. The forks were stripped and rebuilt, with gaiters added. The brakes were also overhauled and braided hoses used. I recovered the seat myself, using a heat gun to get rid of any creases. I had to source the seat cowl and some other bits and pieces from Germany. Eight weeks after starting work, the bike passed its MoT with no advisories. Since then it has been my main transport, and has been trouble free. Having had many new bikes since 1968, this is my first attempt at any sort of restoration. What I find astonishing is the reliability of this Honda considering it stood outside under just a cover nine years before I bought it and it is 26 years old.
Steve Le Billon’s Honda CBR900RR Fireblade A couple of months ago I started buying your mag in New Zealand as I liked the bikes your magazine covers. It got me interested in 1990s bikes as I have just had to give up dirt riding due to an injury. A couple of weeks ago I was rained off work and checked the internet for bikes and there was a 92 Honda FireBlade 48,000km all original apart from end can; the deal was done for $5000, £2500 in old money! What a machine – light and fast for a fraction of the cost of a new bike. One thing that hasn’t been said is that early 90s bikes offer cheap speed which will still go up in value which is a bonus. Thanks for the inspiration.
Alan Pritchard’s GS550 Special Greetings from New Zealand. I just wanted to share my recently completed Suzuki GS550 special. It is a 1978 Suzuki GS550E, bought as a non running semi basket case; it certainly needed love! The original intention was to clean up and get it running for a runabout, but then the project got under way and snowballed into a major operation. I’m sure many builders know what this is like. So, nine months later, this is how it turned out. The frame is modified and de-tabbed, forks lowered internally by 50mm, Suzuki SV650 calipers and master cylinder with Venhill lines, rebuilt top end with fresh pistons and rings, Dyna S electronic ignition, Dyna coils, Supertrapp exhaust muffler, K&N filters, YSS rear shocks, Renthal road ultra low bars, rebuilt spoked wheels from 1977 GS550, modified GSX-R1100 rearsets, Bates head and tail-lamps, modified LED indicators, new electrics, battery hidden under seat, kick-start only (starter motor removed), custom fabricated seat, chainguard, number plate bracket, headlight bracket plus lots of other one-off engineering. Engine is painted, other parts powder coated and polished, and it was rewired by my good friend Paul. It took a few attempts to get the fuelling correct, but now it rides and handles the twisties of the Nelson region beautifully, it’s a pleasure to ride and
sounds great without being offensive. It’s been called all sorts, labelled in a few pigeon holes, but my intention was just to make it special, so that’s what it is. I work for City Motorcycles (soon to be called The Pacific Motorcycle Co) in Nelson, New Zealand, which is now specialising in building specials, cafe racers, trackers etc. as well as over 20 classic Triumph and BSA restorations, but this was one out of my home stable, which I have called ‘Stray Dog Moto’!
Adam Clarke’s 1974 Suzuki GT550 I sent you some pictures last year of my Suzuki GT550 from 1974 that was an ongoing restoration project. Back in October I decided to go for it big time, so I took all the parts off, took the engine out, powder-coated the frame, got new wheels, tyres, piston and rings and little ends. It had all new cables, switches and I spent about another £1500 on doing it up (don’t tell the wife!) I am now very pleased with the end result and I hope you all enjoy the pictures. www.classicmechanics.com / 25
Words: Niall MackeNzie Photos: Joe Dick
There’s something just so right about an LC and that is as true now as it was 33 years ago. Race legend Niall Mackenzie gives us his personal take on the RD350LC that he restored.
L
et me start by coming straight out and saying that I’m not going to bore you all stupid here with a potted history of the Yamaha rd350LC. Better men (well, better journalists) than me have charted the history of this iconic piece of Japanese engineering, but I’ll give you a very brief low-down followed by a much more personal one. Back in 1980 Yamaha really changed the biking world with both the RD250 and RD350LCs. The 250 could be ridden by learners and the little LC was a true ton-up legend for fledgling riders everywhere.
And then there was the 350LC. Here was a bike that just seemed to click with a whole generation of bikers – me included – and regular updates kept it near the front of the pack until the late 1980s. In 1983 Yamaha unveiled the ‘Powervalve’, with more power, poise and the Yamaha Power Valve System which upped torque and made the bike even more useable on street and track. Later generations of LC would improve on these original models still further, but these two generations of machine were truly
46 / classic motorcycle mechanics
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54 / classic motorcycle mechanics
WORDS: SCOTT REDMOND PHOTOS: JOE DICK
Reader’s Special
The CB900F was a bit of a slowburn bike back in the day, but this one’s smoking hot.
H
onda’s CB900F is the perfect example of a classic that’s often overlooked through no fault of its own. Sandwiched into a top-heavy Honda range when it was new, despite its RCB racer heritage, it never really set the world on fire. The CBX1000 arriving at the same time did little to help its cause being the new kid on the block. Chuck in Suzuki’s dominant GS1000 and Kawasaki getting all angular with the Z1R and the CB900Fs birth was complicated. The original bikes were handsome enough, they were also technically superior to the competition, with their 16 valve heads they made the Suzukis and Kawasakis suddenly look rather old fashioned in the engineering stakes. There may lie the problem though: motorcyclists are often slow to embrace landmark advances in technology. Sure enough the gremlins of a new engine design started to appear and the Zed and GS riders started to scoff and knock the knocking CB900F. Despite the problems though the CB900F has won over many riders and racers alike. Last year’s Spa Biker’s Classic was even won by a CB900F based bike; a timely reminder to a crazy classic world dominated by big Kawasakis and Suzukis that there is another manufacturer able to supply the basis for a race bike or street special. Steve Derry first owned a CB900F over 10 years ago and his biking CV also contains plenty of two-stroke bikes such as Suzuki’s RGV and a Kawasaki KR1-S, both still desirable bikes these days. Therefore, when he set out to buy a bike after having not had one for a few years you’d have thought the stinkwheels might have been where his search started? Wrong. Steve explains: “I loved my 250s but the bike that taught me more about riding and respecting a bike was my old CB900F. You had to ride it, you had to respect it. Where on a sports 250 you could barrel in to a corner and know you’d always get around it okay, on the Honda you had to think about your entry, line it up and get it stopped. That was always the biggest problem on my old one. Only when you’d done all that could you concentrate on opening it up and exiting the corner. So, my old CB900F taught me more about riding than any bike I’ve ever owned.” The search for a CB900F started in June 2012 and it didn’t take long to find a bike. He plucked it from eBay and after a 300 mile round trip to fetch it Steve finally had a project bike. Although it needed lots of www.classicmechanics.com / 55
CDI/SEATS
Going to a YZF spares collector: £50 He hoards YZF bits, apparently.
SEAT COWL
Went on eBay for: £40 I know not where.
Breaking up isn’t hard to do
FRAME
Polished, sold to another breaker: £50 The bones… picked.
Ever wondered where bits of a broken bike go? Just how many living, breathing bikes are kept going by the breaking of just one machine? Our own resident Womble, Scott Redmond shows how he makes good use of the things that he finds…
L
ike vultures people circle when I mention I’m breaking a bike. The first to the feast I dub the cherry pickers. They want the gems, the tasteful extras or the hard to find parts that usually aren’t salvageable from crashed bikes, that type of stuff. I don’t just break crashed bikes, perfectly good bikes make great breakers. This unloved YZF750 is a perfect example. Years ago you’d have to wait a week for an advert to appear in the comic. Nowadays I can list a picture on Facebook the moment I collect the bike. Sometimes even before I’ve even seen it myself. The miracle of mobile phones and built-in cameras is a result for me and those of my persuasion. Within minutes of posting a picture on my wall the cherry pickers arrive, but where do the parts go and for how much? With the whole bike itself bought for £750 let’s see. Within a few days well over half of the YZF is sold. I’ve helped a few mates with some free bits and I’ve even had 100 or so miles out of the fuel. I never was a big YZF fan anyway, but you can see that from the £750 I bought the bike for, I’ve made £590 over my initial outlay and done a few mates some favours. More importantly, I’ve kept other bikes alive and helped make a few specials come to life. Just call me Dr Frankenstein. More power, Igor! cmm
62 / classic motorcycle mechanics
YOSHIMURA SILENCER AND FUEL PUMP
Going to a YZF750: £75 I sold the Yoshi can at mates rates to a regular customer. The balance sheet is now intact, the rest of the bike now owes me nowt, all this without placing a single advert anywhere, well, other than a Facebook shout.
2
FOOTPEGS FRONT (1) AND REAR (2) ENDS
Going to a TRX850 track day bike: £300 This is classic TRX850 upgrade kit. It always amazes me, other than being once trendy upside-down forks, there’s practically zero adjustment on them and in my opinion a pointless upgrade, but they say the customer is always right, so £300 later I’ve got more room in the garage and am only £50 shy of my outlay.
The pair went for: £25 To a Spondon special builder.
TOP YOKE KIT BARS AND CLOCKS (3)
Sold to YZF man with a bad back: £115 Why pay a chiropractor?
FUEL/TANK Going into my car, tank went for: £95
The tank on the YZF was brimming, so that went in my car. Always siphon the python, chaps.
CLUTCH MASTER CYLINDER
Going to a GSX-R7/11: £25 After the cherry pickers come the bread and butter buyers, raking over what’s left behind, an hydraulic clutch master cylinder is next up to go on a GSXR7/11.
3
K&N FILTER
Sold at autojumble: £10 See elsewhere in this issue for my autojumble adventures.
CARBS
Going to a track day YZF owner: £95 Some parts make a premium if they come from a running bike. You’d prefer a set of carbs with fresh fuel in ‘em to some that have been laying in a damp breakers’ yard for a year or so!
1
COILS
Going to, er, didn’t ask: £25 a pair with leads Okay by now my mind was more on the next bike, but I think you’ve got the picture.
BATTERY
Going to a ZXR750H1: £0 The battery is given to a friend who’s trying to rescue a ZXR750H1 he’s found cheap. But it comes back to me, as it’s flat!
ÖHLINS SHOCK/ENGINE
Going to Yamaha FZ750: £350 This was the first part to be spoken for: no surprises there, but to be fair he also wanted the engine and a few other grots. This leads to a virtual haggle, but within five minutes a deal is done and I’ve recouped almost half of my outlay for the whole bike.
RADIATOR
Going into a Steve Adams special: £40 (with fans and if it fits) A day before I headed to do a feature on a Steve Adams GSX1100 (to be seen in a future issue) he rings and asks for the YZF’s rad. The free fuel allows me to deliver, too.
DOWNPIPES
Going to a project builder: £25 And despite seized EXUP valves…
GOODRIDGE BRAKE LINES
Going to project build: £20 To same bloke as downpipe man: I like his style.
YZF-R1 CALIPERS
Going to Bertie’s project TDM850: £0! The next bit to go are the calipers, instead of the stock six pot calipers this YZF was fitted with funky R1 blue spot brakes. All it took was an email with a pic sent from my phone to rehome them. Proving even bike breakers have a heart I let them go to Bertie in return for no folding. Have I gone mad you ask? No, just spreading the love, I’ve had plenty of deals from him in the past and besides he’s me boss.
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retro YAMAHA FIZZIE P HOT OS : KA R L E E W ORDS : S C OT T R ED MO N D
74 / classic motorcycle mechanics
W ENGINE
It was too easy to fit a YB100 engine in the FS1-E’s frame, sure it went faster but it wasn’t really a Fizzy then. On our reboot the engine would have a cheeky 65cc big bore kit fitted and re-cut disc valve to crisp up acceleration and push the top speed up. The engine cover would be ditched and an AR80 carb complete with a K&N air filter would hang from the crankcases. The original airbox can stay as it helps to fill the empty space above the engine. We’ll ditch the four-speed gearbox of the UK version and use the five-speeder from a European model. An expansion pipe is the only option.
CHASSIS
The skinny Fizzy skeleton like frame can remain, but the cycle parts need modernising. The pedal gear can be dumped, a smart alloy swingarm will prop the back up and some piggy back shocks will earn street cred points down the chippy. Yes, especially if they are Ohlins. Didn’t Yamaha own them once? Forged wheels from an Aprilia RS125 or RS50 would look the danglies and the tiny Italian dish can give up its forks and radial front caliper also. Upside down is still the right way up for fashion conscious kiddies who may watch MotoGP, so inverted ain’t perverted.
BODYWORK
hat if Yamaha gave the Fizzy a real kick up the retro pants and morphed it into a modern-day machine? Could it help us regain the glory days of biking, when us teenagers salivated about two wheels in the same way that our kids do about the latest chat app? Yamaha did in fact raid the Fizzy bank back in the late 1980s with those horrid square tanked FS1-Es that were built in a shed in Brazil or somewhere, but if a job’s worth doing then get someone else to do it. CMM Reboot has this month got busy with the Fizzy and fed in all the credentials for a modern Fizzer and these are our findings. In this world of rev and go scooters, maybe the youth of today would be more interested in motorcycling if they could buy something with the iconic FS1-E’s DNA at its heart? This is the FS1-E for the iPad generation, hopefully a machine to kick-start moody teenagers into motorcycling.
There’s no need to provide any provisions for a passenger, so the seat unit can be a bit more racy looking, maybe something TZ inspired? The long tank can stay, we’ll use a DX version without the tank badge recesses, this will allow the choice of paint schemes to be flowing. Finish with a classic round headlamp with a neat flyscreen from the range of factory bolt-ons that will earn more than the bike sales. The speedo will look original but be full of microchip powered displays and gadgets for our nipper to fiddle with. Colours? Yammy speedblocks please, oh and popsicle purple.
THE
OR
IGIN
AL
What do you think? Could this save biking? Or are we talking tosh! And what do you want to see being part of the CMM Retro Reboot for the next issue? Drop us a mail at the normal address.
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