RCBE#23 WINTER 2016 by Retrobike Official

retrobike retrobike 2 CLASSIC NOT PLASTIC

2015 BMW R NINE T

(Both incl. GST)

ISSUE 23 WINTER 2016

AUS $14.95* NZ $15.99

TWIN-BARREL SHOTGUN

GLEMSECK SPRINTS

CB400/CB750 CAFE RACERS

SHEENE FESTIVAL

DUCATI 750 IMOLA

SPEED WEEK 2016

DAREDEVIL HARLEYS

CLASH Classic Style. 59. 'HWDLOHG URFNHU VW\OH ZLWK VKRUW\ VQDS FROODU offset zipper and front zip pockets - â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Airborneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; KDQG Â¿QLVKHG ZDVKHG DQG RLOHG ZD[HG WRS JUDLQ cowhide (.9mm-1.1mm thickness) - Aggressive ULGLQJ Â¿W ZLWK URWDWHG SUH FXUYHG VOHHYHV GURSSHG back length and relaxed collar opening - Armour UHDG\ VKRXOGHU HOERZ DQG EDFN SURWHFWRU SRFNHWV Color: Steel - Sizes: S - 3XL

BARFLY Last call Âµ$LUERUQHÂ¶ +DQG Â¿QLVKHG ZDVKHG DQG RLOHG waxed top grain cowhide (0.9mm - 1.1mm thickQHVV DQG SHUIRUDWHG *RDW VNLQ 5HOD[HG ULGLQJ Â¿W ZLWK URWDWHG SUH FXUYHG VOHHYHV VWUDLJKW ERWWRP $UPRXU UHDG\ VKRXOGHU HOERZ DQG EDFN SURWHFWRU SRFNHWV &RORUV %ODFN 7REDFFR 6L]HV 6 ;/

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BARFLY PERF Summer barhopper Main body and arm perforated leather version RI RXU %DUÃ&#x20AC;\ MDFNHW .HHS FRRO RQ WKRVH VXPPHU ULGHV Âµ$LUERUQHÂ¶ +DQG Â¿QLVKHG ZDVKHG and oiled/waxed top grain cowhide (0.9mm - 1.1mm thickness) and perforated Goat skin &RORUV %ODFN 7REDFFR - Sizes: S - 3XL

RONIN Masterless Samurai, Vagabond warrior. Detailed vintage cafÃ© style - â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Airborneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hand Â¿QLVKHG ZDVKHG DQG RLOHG ZD[HG WRS JUDLQ cowhide (.9m-1.1mm thickness) - Aggressive ULGLQJ Â¿W ZLWK URWDWHG SUH FXUYHG VOHHYHV dropped back length and relaxed collar opening $UPRXU UHDG\ VKRXOGHU HOERZ DQG EDFN SURWHFWRU pockets - Color: Steel - Sizes: S - 3XL

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EDITORIAL DR DESMO

G'DAY WITH GEOFF SEDDON

LAN Cathcart recalls in his feature story on Paul Smart’s 1972 Imola 750 Ducati how unfashionable bigbore Italian bikes once were. Apart from the MV Agusta 750 — widely respected as the two-wheeled equivalent of a Ferrari and priced accordingly — Italian bikes were long regarded with suspicion and the people who bought them as eccentric. The 1971 GT750 Ducati was weirder than most, on account of its unique 90-degree V-twin engine mounted with one cylinder almost horizontal and the other just off vertical, and further distinguished by its bevel gear-driven, single overhead camshafts. The world had never seen anything like it! Glacial steering and dubious reliability didn’t help, but luckily the world hadn’t heard anything like it either and owners persevered. Forty five years later, Ducati is one of the biggest brands on the planet but they all still sound much the same, every model powered by a 90-degree V-twin in the same configuration. The bloke who designed the GT750 was Fabio Taglioni, who joined Ducati as chief engineer in 1954. His brief was to raise Ducati’s racing profile, which he did with the 100cc Marianna in 1955 and then the 125 Desmo which won the Swedish GP on debut in 1956. This was Taglioni’s first design to include a desmodromic valve train where the valves were closed mechanically, rather than by springs. The system allowed higher revs and more aggressive cam profiles, and was later introduced on the company’s road models, all of which were singles prior to 1971.

As its name suggests, the GT750 was a grand tourer and was ﬁtted with conventional valve springs and puny 30mm Amal carburettors to make around 50hp. Less than a year later, Taglioni built a batch of GTs ﬁtted with desmodromic heads and 40mm dell’Orto pumpers to have a red-hot go at his local round of the Formula 750 world championship. The Ducatis dominated the

“Few engineers made such a longlasting contribution to motorcycling as Fabio Taglioni” race, ﬁnishing one-two, and a production version, the 750 Super Sport, followed in 1974 and the 900SS in 1976. The latter’s 220km/h

This issue is dedicated to the memory of Ian Crapp EDITOR Geoff Seddon DESIGNER Michael Ohanesian VALUED CONTRIBUTORS Paul Bailey, Alan Cathcart, Ben Chan, Simon Davidson, Dante Dizon, Tom Fritz, Stuart Garrard, Johnny Douglas Hamilton, Justin Holmes, Daniel Linnet, Jamie McIlwraith, Kyoichi Nakamura, Motor Rausch, Kenny Smith, James Walker, Thomas Wielecki, Steven Wyman-Blackburn COVER Thomas Wielecki ADVERTISING MANAGER Fi Collins SUBS 1300 303 414 or www.universalmagazines.com.au

top speed made it the fastest production motorcycle on Earth, taking the crown from the Z1 Kawasaki and before that the Vincent Black Shadow. Taglioni later designed the Pantah, released in 1979 as a 500. An all new design, the most obvious change was to replace the bevel cam gears with a toothed belt, after which the earlier engines became known as bevel-drives. The new engines were cheaper to manufacture and much easier to maintain, which brought the marque to a wider audience and sales soared. Notable descendants include the F1 750 in 1985, the relaunched 900SS in 1989 and Benjie Flipperboi's wild Velocita d'Epoca on p30. Fabio Taglioni retired in 1989 and died in 2001, aged 80. Few engineers have made such a signiﬁcant and long-lasting contribution to motorcycling, for which Ducati tragics like me and Sir Al will be forever grateful.

UNIVERSAL MAGAZINES CHAIRMAN/CEO Prema Perera PUBLISHER Janice Williams CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Vicky Mahadeva ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Emma Perera ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Karen Day FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION MANAGER James Perera CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Mark Darton CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kate Podger EDITORIAL & PRODUCTION MANAGER Anastasia Casey MARKETING & ACQUISITIONS MANAGER Chelsea Peters

Circulation enquiries to our Sydney head office (02) 9805 0399. Retrobike 22 is published by Universal Magazines, Unit 5, 6-8 Byﬁeld Street, North Ryde NSW 2113. Phone: (02) 9805 0399, Fax: (02) 9805 0714. Melbourne office, Level 1, 150 Albert Road, South Melbourne Vic 3205. Phone: (03) 9694 6444, Fax: (03) 9699 7890. Printed by KHL Printing Co Pte Ltd, Singapore, and distributed by Gordon and Gotch This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publishers. The publishers believe all the information supplied in this book to be correct at the time of printing. They are not, however, in a position to make a guarantee to this effect and accept no liability in the event of any information proving inaccurate. Prices, addresses and phone numbers were, after investigation and to the best of our knowledge and belief, up-to-date at the time of printing, but the shifting sands of time may change them in some cases. It is not possible for the publishers to ensure that advertisements which appear in this publication comply with the Trade Practices Act, 1974. The responsibility must therefore be on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisements for publication. While every endeavour has been made to ensure complete accuracy, the publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. *Recommended retail price. ISSN 1838-644X Copyright © Universal Magazines MMXVI. ACN 003 609 103. www.universalmagazines.com.au Please pass on or recycle this magazine.

ISSUE #23

retrobike

CONTENTS

So custom bikes are all show and no go, huh?

BMW R NINE T GASOLINE MOTOR CO — 2015 PHOTO BY THOMAS WIELECKI

FEATURE BIKES 08

BENJIE FLIPPERBOI — 1996 DUCATI 900SS/SP PHOTO BY BEN CHAN & DANTE DIZON

2SHOT BMW R NINE T

From Sydney, a radical raw-boned cafe racer that goes as hard as it looks. And we’ve got the photos to prove it!

HONDA CB400 FOUR

A cheap swap-meet CB400 gets a full-size makeover ﬁt for an NRL superstar. Built in Brisbane, no prizes for guessing its colour or who he plays for

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CB750 CAFE RACER

From Byron Bay via Scotland, a stylish take on Honda’s twin-cam CB750F by motocross champ Billy MacKenzie

VINTAGE SPEED 900SS

A Californian custom shop turns a mid-90s Ducati 900 Supersport into an early-60s British cafe racer ... except this one stops on a dime and doesn't leak oil! Even the weather was fooled

DUCATI IMOLA 750

This is it, sports fans, the actual bike that Paul Smart rode to victory at Imola in 1972, and Alan Cathcart got to test it

REGULARS

05 80 82 84 86 92 94 98

OTHER STUFF 22

G’DAY McILWRAITH BAILEY WALKER RETRO STYLE TANGLES’ WORKSHOP ON ANY SUNDAY FEEDBACK

SPEED WEEK, 2016

All the classic motorcycle action from the DLRA land speed races on Lake Gairdner in South Australia

THE ART OF TOM FRITZ

We don’t know much about art but we know what we like! An impressionist look at a golden era

BARRY SHEENE FESTIVAL

Sydney Motor Sport Park hosts a long weekend of post-classic racing with some very special guests

LEAPING HARLEYS

How a nice boy from Junee found himself jumping over helicopters on a pair of XR750 Harley-Davidsons

GLEMSECK SPRINTS

40,000 cafe racer fans descend on a disused GP track for a weekend of wild 1/8th-mile drag racing

THE NORTON MAN

Col Graham has been riding bikes for 60 years, and Nortons for more than 50. He’s got a few too

ISSUE #23

retrobike

Cafe Racers

2015 BMW R NINE T

TWIN-BARREL SHOTGUN From downtown Sydney, a fresh approach to a modern classic WORDS GEOFF SEDDON PHOTOGRAPHY THOMAS WIELECKI

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retrobike

Cafe Racers

2015 BMW R NINE T

HIS is the third BMW R nineT we’ve featured in just seven issues of the relaunched Retrobike, not what you’d expect for a model that didn’t exist before 2014. It’s as if BMW purposebuilt a brand new bike as a platform for customising in the modern retro style, which is of course exactly what they did. The R nineT was loosely based on the Concept Ninety show bike, Roland Sands’ 2013 reinterpretation of the iconic 1973 BMW R 90 S, so it was always oﬀ to a good start.

The bolt-on seat sub-frame, independent of the main chassis, is easily replaceable with a custom unit fabricated in a more aggressive style. The electrics were thoughtfully split between lighting and all the rest, should anyone wish to relocate stoplight and blinkers. Even what was once a mount for the rear guard on the GS-sourced diﬀ makes a convenient mount for a low-mounted numberplate assembly, should that be the customer’s want. People soon got the hint. “This particular example was brought to

us in the winter of 2015 by a longstanding exemplary customer with as much style as money,” says Jason Gasoline of Gasoline Motor Co in inner-city Sydney, “and became one of our most ongoing and precise builds to date. The owner previously had a new limited-edition Triumph Thruxton Ace which we were in the middle of turning into his ﬁrst custom motorcycle. There were times when he’d take it out for a ride on a Sunday, and one of those Sundays a tourist in a van went through a red light and T-boned him. It wrote

“IT EVENTUATED INTO A BEHEMOTH OF A BUILD THAT TOOK ALMOST A YEAR TO COMPLETE”

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BMW Concept 90 TO celebrate BMW’s 90th year of motorcycle production, and the 40th anniversary of the hallowed R 90 S, BMW Motorrad Design teamed up with Roland Sands Design in 2013 to produce the Concept 90 show bike. We weren’t to know it at the time, but the Concept 90 was built around a prototype of the R nineT chassis which went on sale the following year, so any similarities were entirely intentional. “BMW motorcycles stand for perfection and function,” Motorrad Design Head of Vehicle

Design, Ola Stenegard, said at its launch. “That is what we have worked hard to achieve and something we are very proud of. But we want more than that. With the Concept 90, we want to show how reduced and pure an emotional BMW can be.” It was the deﬁnitive show bike of 2013 that not only launched a popular new model, it also introduced Roland Sands to a mainstream motorcycle audience, and neither he nor BMW have looked back since. ISSUE #23

retrobike

Cafe Racers

2015 BMW R NINE T

oﬀ the Triumph and put him in hospital with a broken hip. He was still in a wheelchair when he brought us the BMW. “So we started on building the R nineT as his ‘second shot’ at a custom bike, which is reﬂected in the bike’s name, ‘2SHOT’” Jason says they started by tailoring the riding position to the owner’s height and preferred stance with custom rear-set footpegs and aftermarket clip-ons, and determining where the seat would sit. With those parameters set, “our team got stuck into the design of the whole project from the wheels up, conjuring multiple preliminary concepts, whilst looking to various sources in the past, present and future,” Jason says. “It eventuated into a behemoth of a build that took almost a year to complete.”

The secret to the R nineT’s success is that you can build a distinctive one-off custom without in any way affecting the exhilarating blend of engine performance, steering, handling and brakes on offer. The only performance mods on 2SHOT are to free up the induction and exhaust, while changes to the chassis and running gear are cosmetic; even the seat sub-frame is (almost) stock. The upside-down forks were originally finished in metallic gold but have been anodised black. “Following on the blacked-out theme, some additional components were sourced from the likes of Roland Sands Design,” Jason says, “including one of their signature engine breast plates which is unobscured in clear sight by a custom relocated oil cooler. We

“THE SOLUTION WAS TO GO BACK TO THE SOURCE — ROLAND SANDS’ CONCEPT 90 SHOW BIKE”

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also fitted a couple of RSD valve covers which more or less ends the list of purpose-built bolt-on modifications. All the rest are oneof-a-kind fabrications skilfully carried out by master craftsmen and women,” including the one-off exhaust custom-built by Gasoline’s Sean Taylor. The bike’s most distinctive feature is its bodywork, comprising a much-modified standard tank with a custom fairing, front guard and seat unit all hand-formed from flat sheets of aircraft-grade 6061 aluminium alloy. Jason and the owner were keen to distance 2SHOT from Deus’s just-released Heinrich Maneuver (Retrobike #20), which was also based on an R nineT. The solution was to go back to the source — Roland Sands’ original Concept 90 show bike — for design inspiration and then to finish it like none before. The main differences between the Concept 90 and production R nineT are in the shape of the fuel tank and the Concept 90’s small bikini fairing. 2SHOT retains the stock tank, albeit smoothed of badges and swage lines which required splitting the tank in two,

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retrobike

Cafe Racers

2015 BMW R NINE T

Retro Specs ENGINE Air-cooled 180-degree four-stroke twin; DOHC, four valves per cylinder; 103 x 73mm for 1170cc; 12.0:1 comp; fuel injected; RSD breast plate and rocker covers; custom exhaust by Gasoline; dry clutch, six-speed gearbox, shaft final drive; 110hp @ 7750rpm (stock) CHASSIS Stock R nineT, comprising tubular steel trellis frame and bolt-on seat sub-frame; 46mm non-adjustable USD forks, anodised black, with 2 x 320mm rotors with Brembo four-spot calipers on a laced 17in rim; monoshock rear, adjustable for preload and damping, with single 265mm rotor and twinpiston Brembo caliper on a 17in laced rim BODYWORK Fairing, mudguard and seat unit by Motorretro, hand-beaten from alloy sheets; highly-modified stock tank, also by Motorretro; headlight by owner; bar-end front blinkers; Rizoma fluid caps; black leather seat; LED rear lighting strip WEBSITE www.gasoline.com.au IN A NUTSHELL A finely-crafted custom that goes as good as it looks

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which is a big job on a fuel-injected bike. The fairing is longer than that of the R 90 S or Concept 90, instead evoking the style of an early SS Ducati or Dunstall Norton, with its front radius determined by the curvature of a stylish headlight sourced by the owner, and the lengths of its sides by the location of the fuel tank. Such is the way with bespoke builds, where a lattice wire frame is first fashioned by hand and fixed to the bike to provide a 3D image of what the actual bodywork might look like. That’s why the fairing and seat fit so well with everything else, because you can tinker with it until it’s perfect and then set about building the real thing. An extra subtle touch is Jason’s suggestion of a raised horizontal ‘shark tail’ line across the back of the seat unit. Jason commissioned Vaughan Ryan and Georgio Rimi of coach builders Motorretro in western Sydney to bring 2SHOT to life. They were the team behind the Deus bike and also Vaughan’s CBX1000 cafe racer that we featured in issue #21. If there was any

problem with the bodywork, it was only that Georgio and Vaughan typically restore rare birds to concours condition, and the owner here was adamant on a rough industrial unfinished look, even suggesting at one stage that Motorretro drag the finished bodywork behind the shop ute to rough it up some more! He was only half-joking, although he did allow, for contrast, a narrow GT stripe of smoothed metal running the entire length of the bike, another great subtle touch. Gasoline then attended to the finishing touches, including bar-end blinkers, oneoff fuel cap, Rizoma fluid cavity covers and keyless ignition. The bodywork was sprayed in several layers of specially-formulated mattefinish clear coat, which not only prevents oxidisation but is smooth to the touch. There’s no doubt about it, 2SHOT is a standout custom that, as we went to press, was due to debut at Throttle Roll where I’m sure it made a big impact. But its real beauty lies in how it goes, as our photos attest. Show no mercy, this one was built to ride.

CNXNPUPSSBEBVT

Street Fighters

1975 HONDA CB400F

little big bike A small-bore Honda is resized for an NRL superstar WORDS JUSTIN HOLMES PHOTOGRAPHY KENNY SMITH

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retrobike

Street Fighters

1975 HONDA CB400F

HIS little Honda came to me as an impulse buy from the Mudgeeraba Swap. After a bit of haggling, I handed over $350 and it was mine. It was reasonably stock other than the rattlecanned tank with bashed-in knee wells. The motor had been pulled out with the top end dismantled, but it was all there. I got it back to my shop (PopBang Classics on the Gold Coast), stuck it up on the mezzanine and forgot about it until a couple of big burly fellas came in wanting me to build a couple of bikes for them. They didn’t have licences yet nor bikes to start with, so they asked what I had. The answer was not much — a CX500 in a million pieces and this 1975 CB400F. They argued over who got what and it turned out the big burly fella who chose the CB was none other than NRL superstar and all-round legend Nate Myles! Obviously the little 400 four isn’t the biggest bike around, so the plan was to make it larger

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overall but still keep the original proportions. The rear of the frame was cut off from the backbone and swingarm mounts back. A raised floating seat section with monoshock mount was then fabbed up to replace it. The swingarm was extended 50mm and bracing added for the shock which is from a late-model Triumph of some sort. I then found a really nice Ducati Monster front end that had perfect dimensions for this project. The neck of the frame had to be dropped about 20mm lower so the Ducati top clamp could sit closer to the tank. The bodywork is a modified version of a fibreglass cafe racer kit my workshop makes for CB400Fs with a three-inch longer tank and solo seat. On this tank I added knee wells, scallops to allow clearance for the front end and a flush-mount pop-up cap. I also separated and extended the seat section. Carbon-fibre strips were added down the backbone of it all for strength and aesthetics. Once this was all mocked up with

a set of clip-ons, the aggressive stance was starting to appear. Nate came in to try it out for size. I have to admit, I was a little scared it was still going to be too small, especially when he stood next to it. But once he sat on it, the Honda fitted him like a glove and I felt a bit more at ease. Then I had to think about moving this man along at a reasonable pace. The motor was fully rebuilt with a Yoshimura-style big-bore kit, Dyna ignition, reconditioned carburettors with K&N filters and lots of new internals. I custom-made the exhaust out of stainless, including the mufflers. Each side is made out of 22 pieces welded together. It gives it a nice mean superbike sound but it doesn’t pierce your eardrums. It sounds a lot bigger than it is. To keep it sticking to the road, a 17 x 5-inch rear rim was polished up and laced to the original hub. The front wheel however, was a little more complex, and soon became my favourite part of the bike. It’s a twin

“THE PLAN WAS TO MAKE IT LARGER OVERALL BUT STILL KEEP THE ORIGINAL PROPORTIONS” Pint-Sized Pocket Rocket THE Honda CB400F was introduced in 1975, replacing the conservatively-styled CB350F which went on sale in 1972. The extra capacity was achieved from a 4mm larger bore which took capacity from 347 to 408cc. The power increase was more modest — from 34hp @ 10,000rpm to 37hp @ 8500rpm — but the big news was the sweet-shifting six-speed gearbox, the ﬁrst ever ﬁtted to a production Honda.

All new European-inﬂuenced Super Sport styling was on the money, including swoopy four-into-one headers and a single muffler in place of the 350’s quartet. With a wet weight approaching 180kg, it wasn’t overwhelmed with power but instead earned a deserved reputation as a great handling bike for its day. It was one of those bikes the magazine journos loved but not the public, who preferred the larger 550 and 750cc versions, and production ceased in 1977. GS ISSUE #23

retrobike

Street Fighters

1975 HONDA CB400F

“THE FRONT WHEEL WAS COMPLEX BUT BECAME MY FAVOURITE PART OF THE BIKE”

Retro Specs ENGINE Air-cooled, four-stroke, in-line four; chain driven SOHC, two valves per cylinder; 51 x 50mm for 408cc (stock); 9.4:1 comp (stock); 4 x 20mm Mikuni carbs; wet clutch, six-speed gearbox; chain ﬁnal drive; 37hp @ 8500rpm (stock) CHASSIS Single down-tube, tubular-steel main chassis; custom sub-frame; Ducati Monster forks with CBX550 inboard ventilated discs, custom-laced to 18 x 3.5in Excel rim; CB400F swingarm lengthened and converted to monoshock; drum brake, laced 17 x 5in rear rim; all fabrication by PopBang Classics BODYWORK Custom tank and seat by PopBang Classics; custom maroon paint and graphics WEBSITE www.popbangclassics.com.au IN A WORD Queenslander!

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ventilated inboard disc brake hub from a Honda CBX550. I fully rebuilt it and smoothed the outer plates of any unwanted excess. As this hub was originally mounted to a Comstar alloy wheel, I had to CADdesign two rings to bolt onto the hub, to which I could then attach the spokes. I had the rings cut by water-jet, then machined the taper and countersunk the spoke holes. It was then laced to an Excel 18 x 3.5inch rim with stainless spokes. Both rims were wrapped in Pirelli Angel GT tyres. Now it was time to add all the fancy bits. It’s running a four-inch GPS speedo/tacho from SpeedHut in the US. It was sunk into the seven-inch headlight that’s mounted on custom stainless brackets and wrapped with a one-oﬀ stainless grill. Other customised or hand-made parts include hydraulic brake and clutch master cylinders with hidden reservoirs; ﬂush-mount handlebar switches; CAD-designed foot controls with polished linkages; etched logo on a stainless-steel

points cover; keyless ignition; custom taillight; seat trimmed by Hotel & Club Decor in Burleigh; hidden Antigravity battery; and wiring run through the frame with electrics under the seat in a flush-mount box. There’s probably heaps more I’ve forgotten. I was given strict orders that the bike had to be maroon! So I found a deep burgundy to keep it classic but threw in a little modern flair with some layers of graphics on the side, including Nate’s State of Origin number and the Honda wings. The real carbon-fibre on top was outlined in off-white and cleared. The motor, brake plates and master cylinders were all painted a custom mix of pewter and satin to mix it up a bit. The frame was totally smoothed over and coated in gloss two-pack black. It was a huge project. At the beginning I had convinced Nate that we’d end up with a 1970s-styled street fighter and I think that's what we have. The bike now resides with Nate in Sydney, and hopefully there's another project down the track.

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Competition

SPEED WEEK 2016

COMP

LAK E GAIRD NER

Lake Gairdner is a magical place, and Speed Week is a special event WORDS GEOFF SEDDON | PHOTOS SIMON DAVIDSON

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2 0 16

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Competition

SPEED WEEK 2016

HIS was my third trip to Lake Gairdner, the enormous 160km-long dry salt lake in the South Australian outback, for Speed Week; five days of flat-chat land speed racing in one of the most isolated and spectacular places on Earth. My first experience was in 2003 when, as editor of Street Machine, I was invited to race Norm Hardinge’s 1934 Ford. I managed to get in my 125mph qualifying pass before Norm’s co-driver Wayne Belot blew it up at just over 190mph to bring my salt-racing career to an early close. I’d never even sat in a hot rod before so it was an unforgettable experience. I went back in 2006 to support my mate

Pete Dean (Riders Like Us, issue #21), who was racing his 1978 Ducati 900SS together with his son Luke on a 1998 model. Bike numbers had jumped from 11 three years earlier to 40 following the release of The World's Fastest Indian in 2005, although we were still outnumbered by more than 60 cars. I returned in 2016, again to cheer on Pete who had decided to have another crack, this time on his 2007 Ducati 1098. It was a diﬀerent event. Due to ever more stringent safety regulations, many of them unique to land speed racing, car numbers had contracted to just 30 although the quality was high, with half going faster than

200mph and Lionel West running a record 271mph (437km/h) in a VR Commodore. By comparison, bikes require few mods to compete — the most common being a wrist lanyard to cut the ignition should you part company with your bike — and they are much easier to transport. This year some 90 bikes took part, split roughly between late models and early girls. Many riders cited Burt Munro as the reason they were there. Triumphs were popular, from pre-unit 650 Thunderbirds running 120mph in the pre-’56 vintage classes to Ross Osbourne’s distributor-backed 2008 Thruxton stealing Sir Alan Cathcart’s long-standing record of

Ready Reckoner With the sport’s roots in the US, salt racers talk in miles per hour, never kilometres. Here’s how fast they’re really going: 100mph: 120mph: 140mph: 160mph:

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161km/h 193km/h 224km/h 257km/h

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180mph: 200mph: 220mph: 240mph:

290km/h 322km/h 354km/h 386km/h

“THIS YEAR SOME 90 BIKES TOOK PART, SPLIT ROUGHLY BETWEEN LATE MODELS AND EARLY GIRLS”

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SPEED VEEWEEK TWO 2016 RV1 Classic Competition Racers

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“STUART HOOPER'S 1959 VELOCETTE RAN 193MPH, THE WORLD'S FASTEST SINGLE-CYLINDER ANYTHING” 153mph and 70-year-old Alan Blackwood running 170mph on his 1999 Sprint. HarleyDavidsons were everywhere and faster than expected, especially drag racer Corey Buttigieg going 175mph on a Road Glide (!) and James Bragg 160mph on a Sportster. All the Japanese brands were well represented, especially Suzuki. There were two Ducatis, one Hyosung and one vintage Jawa. The only Nortons I saw were on t-shirts. Weapons of choice for the fast crowd were turbocharged Hayabusas, with Grant Schlien once again the fastest at 229mph. Former GP racer Kevin Magee was another to run

200mph (on an aspirated ‘Busa) as test rider for Team BlindSpeed, Ben Felten’s audacious attempt to set in 2017 a new speed record for riding blindfolded, which currently stands at 165mph. Ben is blind but had his ﬁrst taste of the salt when he and Magoo went for a 130mph shakedown run, communicating via UHF radios, after racing had concluded. Fastest of the women was Kim Krebs running 214mph on a turbocharged GSX-R750 ahead of Rebecca Robinson, 169mph on a VMAX. Youngest rider was 13-year-old Nat Gaghan on a 30-year-old 650 Suzuki, who set a new class record of 119mph.

Most radical ride was Chris Fraser’s replica of Kenny Robert’s infamous TZ750-powered ﬂat-tracker, a bike so overpowered that Roberts successfully campaigned to have it banned. With Chris’s son Cec in the saddle, it edged its way up to a best of 135mph, the two mindful of seizing what is today an irreplaceable engine. Peter Birthisel was back on Australia’s Fastest Indian, a non-streamlined 1926 eight-valve Altoona replica that ran 158mph on debut last year. This year it nipped up a piston early on, so lucky he had a spare bike, another Lindsay Urquhart special that he

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Competition

SPEED WEEK 2016

“IN PERFECT CONDITIONS, HEWITT'S VINCENT EVENTUALLY TOPPED OUT AT A THUNDEROUS 185MPH” normally circuit races and which ran 128mph. Russell Lowe ran 169mph to claim Australia’s Fastest MV Agusta and Pete Dean 167mph for Australia’s Fastest Ducati, ahead of John Flintoﬀ who posted an amazing 147mph on his air-cooled, two-valve 900SS. Brian Fullard was another to take home bragging rights by hitting 121mph on his unfaired TT500 Yamaha, having set the streamlined record last year at 126mph. Big things were expected of the two classic big guns, Malcolm Hewett on his 1950 Vincent Rapide and Stuart Hooper on the World’s Fastest Velocette. Mal from Roxby Downs has been racing his Vincent since 2000 when he ran 121mph in streetbike form. His personal best was 166mph set last year in a purpose-built low-slung chassis 28

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housing what is now a 1300cc motor making 110hp naturally aspirated. For 2016, he added his own streamlining, raised the gearing and matched that speed on his ﬁrst run but at 1000 less revs, so a new record was on the cards. In perfect conditions, he took his time and multiple runs to eventually top out at a thunderous 185mph late in the week, the fastest speed a nonboosted petrol-powered Vincent has ever gone, anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, Stuart’s crew were on the start line feeding hot oil to his supercharged 1959 Velocette, a machine so highly developed it would self-destruct if started on cold oil. He has been continuously developing his Velo since ﬁrst competing in 2009 when he ran 131mph. Stuart later travelled from

his Sunshine Coast home to Bonneville where he posted a two-way average of 147mph to take Burt Munro’s long-standing Velocette world record of 138mph, before supercharging the engine to run 171mph and then 183mph back in Australia. He smashed it with a 188mph pass on the Wednesday and then 193mph to claim World’s Fastest SingleCylinder Anything. Salt racing is nothing if not a long-term sport, rewarding those with patience and singular determination. Getting there is a challenge and lord knows it’s a difficult place to hold a race meeting. Given the lake is a national park and significant indigenous place, it’s amazing that we are even allowed on it in the first place, so full credit to Dry Lakes Racers Australia for negotiating its way through all that and running a flawless meeting. My mate Pete seems to have caught a dose of salt fever, with vague plans afoot to purpose-build a dedicated Ducati-powered racebike and go a whole lot faster, so it looks like I’ll be back again next year too. The DLRA has an excellent website at www.dlra.org.au if you’d like to join us.

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Cafe Racers

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ISSUE #23

1996 DUCATI 900SS/SP

Velocita dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Epoca is a genre-setting blend of modern Italian performance and traditional British style WORDS GEOFF SEDDON PHOTOGRAPHY BEN CHAN & DANTE DIZON

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Cafe Racers

1996 DUCATI 900SS/SP

ENJIE Flipperboi has been building custom bikes for 10 years from his premises in Corona, California, better known worldwide as the home of Fender guitars. His business, BCR Designs (for Benjie’s Cafe Racer), was an early adopter of the scrambler and tracker styles but soon everyone was doing it and donor bikes were getting hard to ﬁnd. It was time to play a diﬀerent tune. “We love working on Hondas and Yamahas from the 1970s but an increase in demand has caused the price of these bikes to rise greatly since we started the business,” Benjie says. “And scramblers and trackers have gained popularity to the extent that even big-time manufacturers have cashed in on the hype with factory models in these styles.” For much less money than an old CB750, Benjie jumped out of his comfort zone and sourced a neglected ’96-model Ducati 900SS but it took some time for the muse to strike.

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It was a Sport Production model to boot, a limited-edition performance special available only in North America, but it presented poorly. “It had an insipidly boring white paint job but at least the bike was running and running well,” he says. “The motor was strong so the only drawback was its lack of visual appeal.” It sat unloved for well over a year before inspiration finally came knocking on the workshop door. “We ventured back to our stylistic roots of old school, British cafe racers. They first appeared in the 1950s with racing in mind, so a 1990s sportsbike built to factory race specifications was a perfect place for us to start.” The Ducati was stripped to its frame, engine, suspension and wheels, and the seat sub-frame removed and replaced with a stainless-steel sub-frame of BCR’s own design for an aggressive, attack-mode look. Attention then turned to the single most important item that would make or break the style.

“THE ENGINE IS A HOTTIE, WITH RACE CAMS, PORTED AND POLISHED HEADS, A PAIR OF 41MM KEIHIN FLAT-SLIDES AND A BARNETT CLUTCH” “The aluminium gas tank was shaped with old British race bikes in mind, and we added an oil temperature gauge in the vein of early Nortons and a stainless-steel tank strap with a wristwatch-style latch for additional detail,” Benjie says. “We used a ﬂush twist gas cap for which we machined a ﬂange surrounded by stainless bolts. We decided we didn’t want to have the tank shape follow the forward section of the trellis frame [as the stock tank did, and most custom tanks do] so we widened the

front of the tank to cover it.” It was a good move, the one that turned a 1990s Ducati into a 1950s British cafe racer. Subtle black and gold scallops were added to the tank’s leading edge and, in a decidedly modern touch, the tank incorporates a rest pad in its centre which contains a handy hidden pocket for the rider’s mobile phone. Next job was to fabricate a model of the seat unit out of metal, from which a mould was made to lay up the ﬁnished unit in carbon-ﬁbre. “We shaped the seat ISSUE #23

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Cafe Racers

1996 DUCATI 900SS/SP

to be as short and simple as possible, with our only concern being to make it wide enough in the tail to match the factory rear wheel.” Seat and tank pad upholstery is a combination of alcantara (synthetic suede) in the centre with cowhide sides. The front mudguard is also handshaped from aluminium on stainless-steel brackets, with a raised plate in its centre which references the pedestrian-slicer number-plates once common in England. The rear hugger is likewise hand-built from aluminium, as is a second ﬂat guard under the seat from which hangs a single tiny taillight. The British theme extends to the headlight, a custom-fabricated unit mounted low relative

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“IT LOOKS OLD BUT HAS THE POWER, BRAKES AND HANDLING TO RUN WITH ANYTHING” to the top triple clamp and which incorporates the original 900SS tachometer within its shell, in the style of speedometers on early Triumphs. The headlight itself and its ﬁxing rim is from a CB750. Clip-ons are BCR’s own, running stock Ducati controls and master cylinders for the front brakes and clutch. The rider’s footpegs would normally

hang from the now-removed seat subframe, necessitating custom mounts. In another nod to the past, the rear-set gear linkage was canned, replaced with a simple lever ﬁtted to the input shaft facing rearwards and operating in a reverse one-up, ﬁve-down pattern; very cool and exactly what everyone used to do back in the day.

Cafe Racers

1996 DUCATI 900SS/SP

“WE NAMED IT VELOCITA D’EPOCA, WHICH MEANS ‘VINTAGE SPEED’ IN ITALIAN” Retro Specs ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke 90-degree V-twin; SOHC, two valves per cylinder, desmodromic actuation; 92 x 68mm for 904cc; 2 x 41mm Keihin flat-slide carburettors; electronic ignition; BCR exhaust; gear primary to Barnett dry clutch and six-speed gearbox; chain final drive CHASSIS Trellis-style tube main chassis; seat sub-frame removed and replaced with BCR custom unit UP FRONT Three-way adjustable, 41mm Showa USD forks; 2 x 320mm Brembo rotors with four-piston calipers; 3.5 x 17in threespoke alloy wheel, Pirelli 120/70 tyre DOWN BACK Aluminium cantilever swingarm with adjustable Ohlins monoshock; single 245mm rotor with twin-piston caliper; 5.5 x 17in threespoke alloy wheel, Pirelli 170/60 tyre BODYWORK Tank, headlight and mudguards hand-shaped in aluminium; carbon-fibre seat unit; all by BCR Design DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1410mm; dry weight 183kg (stock) IN A WORD Fantastico! 36

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The engine is a hottie, with race cams, ported and polished heads, a pair of 41mm Keihin flat-slide carburettors, programmable ignition and a Barnett dry clutch. The exhaust is a stainlesssteel one-off with sectioned header pipes flowing into hand-formed mufflers, all done in-house. “We shaped the whole thing to resemble two snakes from Medusa’s head slithering past the rider’s leg,” Benjie says. Apart from that, the bike is pretty much stock, which on the SP model extends to an aluminium swingarm and upgraded suspension. Forks are 41mm upsidedown Showas adjustable for rebound and compression damping, and spring preload, while the rear monoshock is a similarly-adjustable Ohlins. “Instead of using more iconic wire spoke rims, we decided to keep the original alloy wheels to save some weight,” he says. Along with the frame and upper fork

sections, the wheels were powder-coated gloss black and fitted with Pirelli tyres. The front wheel also comes standard with a pair of 320mm front rotors gripped by Brembo four-piston calipers, as good as brakes were in 1996 and infinitely better than the old Pommy rubbish. Amazingly, for a bike that looks so much like an old classic, it has the power, brakes and handling to run on the road with just about anything. “We named the bike Velocita d’Epoca,” Benjie says, “which translated from Italian means ‘vintage speed’. We couldn’t think of a more fitting name for a late-90s Ducati sports bike converted to the style of a 1950s British cafe racer.” As the longtime owner of a 900SS and more recently a silver-tanked Norton Commando, I can think of only one better name. I love bikes that handle well and look cool, so I’d like to call it mine. But Velocita d’Epoca will do for now.

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Culture

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ISSUE #23

THE ART OF TOM FRITZ

Picture Perfect Tom Fritz captures moments in time with oils on canvas WORDS STEVEN WYMAN-BLACKBURN & GEOFF SEDDON PAINTINGS TOM FRITZ ISSUE #23

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Culture THE ART OF TOM FRITZ

BOY stares longingly at his father’s Cushman Eagle scooter. Dad can be heard in the garage cutting a sturdy wooden square from half-inch plywood, which he then magically attaches to the rear of the scooter. The boy is soon plopped upon it and within moments they’re oﬀ ! The boy’s arms cling to his father’s waist as the wind buﬀets their faces, unhindered by fairings, windshields or even helmets. “I can still feel the splinters from the edge of the plywood,” Tom Fritz says. The brief moment proved pivotal, not just as an initiation into motorcycles but also the inspiration that sparked Tom’s philosophy to his art. Born and raised in San Fernando, Tom Fritz’s vivid recollections of the motorcycle and automotive cultures that were prevalent in Southern California during the 1960s and

70s have established him as one of America’s leading automotive artists. His paintings are a celebration of those memories, a fondness for times passed and a sensitive interpretation of the emotion and beauty of power. “There’s a charm to it,” Tom says. “We look back in bewilderment. They didn’t cover their heads with two inches of foam, ﬁbreglass and plastic. All they knew was if they put a leather cap on their heads, at least their hair wouldn’t ﬂap in their eyes.” The absence of safety gear in his paintings of boardtrack racers make them almost haunting. “Man, they were tough,” he says. “But it’s all evolutionary. Twenty years from now, we’ll look back and go, ‘Hey, we were so tough, because (just like the boardtrackers) we didn’t know any better either. It’s like, ‘I used to ride my 750 with no fairing! How did I do those trips without one?’”

“THE OLD BIKE'S BEEN HANDLED WITH CARE, REFLECTING THE OWNER'S PRIDE AND MECHANICAL ABILITY”

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Culture THE ART OF TOM FRITZ

“THE HISTORICAL ACCURACY OF THE BIKES MAKE THEM TIMELESS” Tom’s won a zillion art awards and his work can be found hanging in private and public collections around the world, including the Smithsonian Institute, the NHRA Museum and the corporate oﬃces of General Motors, Ford, Harley-Davidson and Red Bull. More recently, his art adorned a commemorative stamp set for the US Postal 42

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Service and also the poster for the 2014 movie, On Any Sunday; The Next Chapter. While the mood, or that captured moment, is what draws you into his paintings, the historical accuracy of the bikes and cars, including their scale, is what makes them especially timeless. To this end, Tom is a sucker for bike shows

ﬁlled with what he calls “old iron”, where he’s drawn to unrestored examples. It’s only bikes with resonance, machines with a story behind every scratch and dent, that capture his attention. He then measures the bike’s actual dimensions, takes a few photographs and talks to the owner to uncover its history. The 1945 UL Harley in the foreground of his painting Jack’s is a case in point. “It’s set after the war, late 40s, early 50s,” Tom says. “You can tell that the bike has been handled with care. It reﬂects the owner’s pride and his mechanical capabilities.” Similarly, his painting of Kenny Roberts winning the 1975 Indy Mile on the TZ750 dirt-track racer captures the power and speed of a bike so brutal Roberts later demanded it be banned from competition. He calls the painting So Woefully Underpaid after Roberts quipped at the end of the race, “They don’t pay me enough to ride that thing.” Tom’s style is rooted in impressionism, conveyed through an impasto of lightlyapplied butter oil paints. There’s is a dichotomy in the art world, where the artist must choose between replicating photographs or retaining a painting’s quality by keeping it, well, a painting. Tom goes for the latter. “I’m not trying to make a Polaroid photograph,” he says, although his

work might be viewed as an interpretation of one. Instead, he has the ability to construct his paintings as his imagination sees them, adding or subtracting elements to achieve a cohesive whole, all the while imbibing his work with that special ﬂicker of reality. We just think his stuﬀ ’s cool. You can check out more of Tom’s handiwork on his website, www.fritzart.com, or Facebook page.

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Cafe Racers

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X-AXIS HONDA CB750F

R O A D S

Motocrosss legend Billy Mac gets a taste for the tar WORDS RDS GEOFF SEDDON OHNNY DOUGLAS D UGLAS HAMILTON DO PHOTOS JOHNNY ISSUE #23

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Cafe Racers

X-AXIS HONDA CB750F

ILLY MacKenzie is the most famous British motocross racer of the modern era, national champion in 2007 and 2008 and winner of many international FIM Grand Prix. The flying Scot moved to Australia in 2010, where he contested the Australian MX Nationals for five years, finishing runner-up that year and third in 2011, 2013 and 2014. During this time, he started dabbling in custom bike building at his home in Byron Bay, NSW. He then returned to the UK in 2015 to race some selected events and support his mate and former TT legend Keith Amor in his return to national road racing, with Keith Keith’s brother Guy on the tools. “I had already built two CX500s here in Byron,” yron,” Billy says, “and k knew I could do a lot better. I learned loads from those builds l and nd wanted to do something with a finer finish. Hookie Co had just released their CB750 and I fell in love with it. I knew then I wanted to t do a CB750. “I was wa visiting the UK and had Keith’s full TT T race workshop to experiment with. Th There was no better time to flex my creative skills so I went for it. The bike was built over the course of the road-racing tour.

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It ended up taking about eight months in between travelling and preparing for the races each weekend.” Nico Mueller’s Hookie Co is based in Dresden and is to Germany what Deus ex Machina is to Australia, a builder of innovative custom bikes and an emerging lifestyle brand. Billy sourced a non-running ’82 model CB750 on Gumtree and set out to follow suit. As with most modern customs, the secret is in what you take oﬀ the bike rather than in what you add. Pick a theme and stick to it, then ﬁnish it meticulously down to the smallest detail. First job was to pull it to bits, which Billy did while trying to stay out of Keith and Guy’s way. The frame was detabbed of its battery and side-cover mounts, and the seat subframe removed from just rear of the shock mounts, replaced with just enough tubing to support the minimalist solo seat. “The tail section was designed, measured and mocked-up by me, then cut and welded by my friend Kenny,” Billy says. “The seat was fabricated from a mouldable plastic base and high-density foam shaved and shaped by me. You have to get the tail right, it makes the bike.”

“WITH ACCESS TO A FULL RACE WORKSHOP, THERE WAS NO BETTER TIME TO FLEX MY CREATIVE SKILLS”

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Cafe Racers

X-AXIS HONDA CB750F

Here’s what Billy started with

Billy had enrolled in a graphic design course after leaving school but it conflicted with his early racing career and he didn’t pursue it. So he’s had an interest in design for years which was always reflected in his helmets and racing livery. Finally, he says, he now has the chance to go further with it. The fuel tank graphic was designed by Billy and Andrew Ferguson, with guidance on colour from Monki Diamond. The headlight and clip-ons are from Dime City Cycles and the instruments are Motogadget. With no room under the tiny seat cowl, a small battery was eventually located under the swing arm where the original centre-stand bolted on. The Honda’s frame and running gear are otherwise stock, including swingarm, wheels and brakes, although the triple clamps have been dropped over the fork tubes to lower the front to get the tank-seat line level. “I thought about chopping the forks and making them fit snug and tight,” he says, “but I liked the way the chrome tubes stood up on the Hookie build.” Rear shocks are reconditioned original units powder-coated black, with Keith Amor 48

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“THE CB750 WAS A BEAUTIFUL BIKE TO WORK ON; I’D DEFINITELY DO ANOTHER” Call the DOHC THE CB750F was the long overdue replacement in 1979 for the ﬁrstgeneration SOHC Honda 750 Four, with which it had almost nothing in common. Capacity was up from 736 to 748cc on square 62 x 62mm dimensions, but the big news was twice as many cams and valves, and a jump in power from 68hp at 8500rpm to 79hp at 9000rpm. Even better it was housed in an all-new chassis offering unheard-of cornering clearance for an in-line transverse four, upgraded suspension and twin front discs. Along with the 1978 GS1000

Suzuki, the CB750F was acknowledged as one of the ﬁrst Japanese bikes to handle as well as contemporary European models. It was a handsome bike and sold by the shipload, even if it lived in the shadow of its almost identical big brother, the CB900F Bol d’Or, which made 95hp at 9500rpm but was the same physical size and weighed no more than the 750. Once cheap and plentiful, both models have been embraced by the custom fraternity and prices of good examples are starting to rise.

CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE RESTORATIONS ALWAYS THE BEST DISPLAY OF CLASSIC MOTORCYCLES IN AUSTRALIA A SELECTION OF OUR CURRENT STOCK

1955 BSA B33 500

1947 TERROT 125 FOUR STROKE SINGLE

This is a beautiful motorcycle that has been restored in the style of a gold star and is a third of the price. VIN # BB33.6314 $10,950

1960 BSA A 10 GOLD FLASH 650

This French made little motorcycle runs very well and would make a rare and interesting addition to any collection. VIN # 291279 $6,950

1980 SUZUKI GS 1100L

This is a good strong running bike and is great value for money. VIN # DA10.13023 $9,950

1970 MOTO GUZZI 750 AMBASSADOR

24,000 miles. This has been stored for a while and is a perfect bike for an easy clean up restoration. VIN # GS1100LT0700368 $4,950

1954 ARIEL VB600

Great running bike that has done 28,000 miles. VIN # 15772 $10,950

1952 PANTHER 350

Very rare swing arm model in lovely running condition ready to ride on the next club outing. VIN # 679 $9,950

BULTACO 350 ALPINA

A sweet running example that is ready to ride and enjoy. These are hard to find. VIN # 1937 $9,950

1958 TRIUMPH 200 TIGER CUB

Here we have a great value classic trials bike. VIN # B9900271 $2,950

1937 BSA B23 350 TOURER

This is a tidy running bike that would benefit from a fresh coat of paint. VIN # T20-37630 $4,950

This is a great running little bike with that pre-war girder fork look that is so sought after. Be quick for this. VIN # HB23.366 $8,950

1971 DUCATI 160 MONZA This motorcycle runs well and is perfect for an interesting cafe racer basis. Be quick for this one! VIN # DM160-25821 $??????

1981 HONDA CB900F This bike has been in storage for a good clean up and get go. We very rarely see these. Great potential with this bike. VIN # JH2SC0104CM107538 $4,950

1975 HONDA CB750 FOUR SUPER SPORT This bike has Thruxton Ace handlebars fitted to give the cafe racer look. A good looking bike, ideal for a quick tidy up. This is great value. VIN # CB750F-2000263 $5,950

1973 SUZUKI RV90 A great fun machine with the big tyres. Be quick for this! VIN # RV90-58878 $3,500

TRIUMPH T160 TRIDENT 750 This bike is perfect for an easy restoration. We rarely get hold of cheap T160â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so be quick for this one. VIN # T160.XK00617 $7,950

WE HAVE BANK FINANCE AVAILABLE ON ALL OUR BIKES

CLASSIC STYLE AUSTRALIA 34 PENINSULA BLVD, SEAFORD, VIC 3198

PH (03) 9773 5500 FAX (03) 9773 5533 www.classicstyle.com.au Email: classicstyle7@gmail.com

Cafe Racers

X-AXIS HONDA CB750F

attending to the suspension set-up. White-letter tyres are Firestone Champion Deluxe, de rigueur on bikes of this style, with the high-sidewall look accentuated by blacked-out Comstar rims. “The tyres are perfect for me, more natural. I have the same ones on my CX500 and I like the movement you get on the road. But I need to get some track time on some slicks before I go fast.” The DOHC, 16-valve engine was rebuilt by Guy Amor under Billy’s watchful gaze, with Guy and Keith attending to the cylinder head and tuning the stock carburettors and ignition. “It was a pretty seamless build,” Billy says. The primary drive, clutch, gearbox and final drive are also stock. “I ran out of time to make a custom exhaust, so it still has the headers it came with, but with the muffler sawn in half. At first I didn’t like it but it started to grow on me and it’s often the first thing people comment on.” Billy admits to initially being more into design than the mechanical side of things. He is quick to acknowledge the help of Keith and Guy, who were always close at hand for the tricky stuff, and Billy proved to be a willing student. After years of training

and competition at such a senior level, it was therapeutic to just put some music on and tinker away in the shed as he watched the idea in his head slowly morph into the X-Axis Honda you see here. “The CB750 was a beautiful bike to work on and I would definitely do another,” he says. “There is always something you can do differently, I’d maybe put a CBR600 front end on it next time and different tyres.” Amazingly, this is only Billy Mac’s second road bike, not counting the CX500s which are ongoing projects. “I was gifted a Ninja 600 from Kawasaki UK after winning my first British Championship,” he says. “I’ve never really owned many bikes, but each year I had the newest motocross model to race.” Now that his tastes have switched to the tar, he’s developed a deep connection for the older girls. It’s all about soul and freedom, he reckons. And great design. So what’s next? “There are a lot of cool ideas and opportunities coming at me so anything is possible,” he says. “The bikes are great to work on but my mind is going into overdrive with all the ideas design-related, so it’s really nice to combine both at the moment. I’m feeling a lot of energy from it.”

“IT’S IMPORTANT TO GET THE TAIL RIGHT, IT MAKES THE BIKE”

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Retro Specs ENGINE Air-cooled in-line four-stroke four; chain-driven DOHC, 16 valves; 62 x 62mm for 748cc; 4 x 30mm Keihin carburettors; electronic ignition; 9.1:1 comp; ﬁve-speed gearbox, chain ﬁnal drive; 79hp @ 9000rpm CHASSIS Twin-loop tubular-steel frame with custom seat sub-frame; 35mm telescopic forks, 2 x 280mm rotors with twin-piston calipers on 19-inch Comstar wheel; twinshock rear, single 297mm rotor with twinpiston caliper on 18-inch Comstar wheel DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1515mm; fuel capacity 20 litres; dry weight 233kg WEBSITE www.x-axis.co SPECIAL THANKS Keith Amor for his tools and workshop; Guy Amor for mechanical advice; Andrew Ferguson for design BEST FOR Heading down a new path

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www.blackbirdmotorcyclewear.com.au

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Legends

BARRY SHEENE FESTIVAL OF SPEED

Motorcycle racers pay tribute to the late, great Barry Sheene WORDS & PHOTOS GEOFF SEDDON

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Legends

BARRY SHEENE FESTIVAL OF SPEED

T’S BEEN 31 years since Freddie Spencer won both the 250cc and 500cc World Championships in the same season, riding for Honda. The two classes were as different then as MotoGP and Moto2 today, requiring very different styles but equally demanding, and there was little time between races. It took a consummate professional to pull off something like that and nothing has changed. Special guest of the Post Classic Racing Association of NSW at their premiere annual event, the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed at Sydney Motor Sport Park, Fast Freddie spent most of the weekend in the pits, wearing his race leathers and posing for photos alongside a genuine RS500 imported especially for the occasion. It’s not often people like us have the opportunity to get up close and personal with a legend of Spencer’s stature — or a real live GP bike, for that matter — and he never seemed to tire of it, always quick with a smile, a handshake and an accommodating word.

“IT’S NOT OFTEN PEOPLE LIKE US HAVE THE CHANCE TO GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH A LEGEND LIKE FREDDIE SPENCER” Barry Sheene was also a good bloke and dual 500cc World Champion, in 1976 and 1977 riding for Suzuki. (Spencer also won in 1983.) Bazza became as famous in Australia as he was in England after moving here in the late 1980s following his retirement from racing — he thought Queensland’s weather would

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be kinder to his chronic accident-induced arthritis. He had charisma in spades and became a popular motor sport commentator on TV, covering both bikes and the V8s. He died in 2003 from cancer, aged just 51. But for that, he’d be here too, just another GP legend hanging out with his mates in the

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Legends

BARRY SHEENE FESTIVAL OF SPEED

pits and sharing his passion for all things motorcycling with anyone who’d listen. Kevin Schwantz was instead flying the flag for Suzuki, riding a 1994 version of the RG500 XR84 on which he won the 1993 500cc World Championship. Kevin’s another affable American who enjoys regular time down under, but still has a bit more of the racing fire in his belly than Freddie, who prefers his road bikes these days and had earlier gone for a run with a bunch of Sydney cafe racers. Imagine that! When the two participated in some parade laps with other GP heroes, Schwantz let Spencer lead for most laps but made sure the Suzuki was first past the chequered flag; it’s in his DNA. He later reappeared with his proper race face on aboard a MacIntosh Manx Norton,

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overcoming a poor start to tear his way through a quality ﬁeld to win with his ears pinned all the way back, just like in the old days. Kawasaki was represented by South African Kork Ballington, who won both the 250cc and 350cc World Championships in 1978 and again in 1979. He was a close friend of Barry Sheene and also later emigrated to Australia. For the GP parade laps, he rode the late Gregg Hansford’s KR250, a pairing that Kork had actually lined up against back in the day. Long retired from racing and mindful of the bike’s signiﬁcance and worth, Kork took it easy but assures us he still enjoys regular road riding on his 1969 500cc Kawasaki H1. Other famous Barry buddies included Steve Parrish — Sheene’s Suzuki 500GP

team-mate in 1977, who finished fifth in the championship — and Chris Vermuelen, whom Sheene mentored and assisted in getting his first rides in Britain on the way to Chris winning the World Supersport Championship for Honda in 2003. Chris later raced World Superbikes for Honda, winning four races in his debut year, before switching to MotoGP for Suzuki, where he won the French GP in 2007. Joining in the fun on the parade laps were former 250GP racer Jeremy McWilliams, local GP legend Kevin Magee and everyone’s favourite Kiwi, former F1 World Champion Graeme Crosby. Hansford’s former teammate Murray Sayle rounded out the grid on another of the 02 bikes.

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Lifestyle

BARRY SHEENE FESTIVAL OF SPEED

It’s not all about the stars, of course. Access to the pits is open, subject to taking due care with often valuable and rare racebikes. No-one’s racing for sheep stations and the atmosphere is relaxed and friendly for the most part, with a story in every garage. The BSFOS is centred around three days of classic and post-classic racing, with a tight schedule of four and six-lap sprints jam-packed with full grids. Post-classic bikes are divided into four broad groups. The ﬁrst is Period 4 for bikes from 1963 to 1972; this was the original post-classic cut-oﬀ and typically includes air-cooled Japanese two-strokes, CB750 Hondas, XS650s, Norton twins and pushrod Triumphs. Period 5 (Forgotten Era) covers bikes through to 1982 and includes liquidcooled two-strokes, Honda Bol d’Ors, Kawasaki 900/1000s and bevel-drive Ducatis. Period 6 (New Era) takes us through to 1990 — think GSX-R slabbies, Pantahs and early FZR1000s — and Pre Modern to 1995. These were the fastest racers of the weekend on their ZXRs, 851s and Fireblades, to the casual eye as fast as anything. 58

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“KEVIN SCHWANTZ REAPPEARED ON A MANX NORTON WITH HIS PROPER RACE FACE ON” Three-wheelers also came out to play with a 10-lap round of the Australian Sidecar Championship included in the program. I sometimes cringe when I watch sidecar racing, it just looks so dangerous, but I can never take my eyes oﬀ it. As always, the range of machinery in a single race is astonishing, and I’m sure I’ll never forget the sound of the Horner Bros 1600cc Vincent bellowing down the straight. Unbelievable. There were also a bunch of traders and other stalls behind the pits to peruse, and even a large air-conditioned bar and bistro operated by the Australian Racing Drivers Club, who operate the track. Camping is

available at the top of the straight for those who want to make a weekend of it. Freddie Spencer attended last year’s BSFOS and said it was a lot more fun than his previous visit to Eastern Creek in 1993, when he crashed heavily on lap 19 of the 500GP race won by Schwantz. Kevin returned in 1994 to ﬁnish fourth, then ﬁfth in 1995 before retiring. 1993 was the only time Australia was ever kind to Schwantz in his racing years but he says these days he always has trouble leaving the place, especially after events like this one. To all in the PCRA, bravo on a great event and a wonderful tribute to Barry Sheene. Here’s hoping it only gets bigger.

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Heroes

LAWRENCE LEGEND

LAWRENCE OF JUNEE How a clean-cut country boy became Australia’s most famous daredevil WORDS GEOFF SEDDON PHOTOS DANIEL LINNET/LINNET FOTO

AWRENCE Ryan is a 45-year-old professional motorcycle daredevil from Junee in the central west of NSW. He first appeared on my radar more than 15 years ago, as Lawrence Legend tunnelling fire, smashing into cars and jumping anything that wasn’t moving as part of the night-time entertainment at the Summernats Car Festival. My favourite stunt was in 2003 when, instead of jumping his bike over a bunch of buses, he jumped a double-decker bus over 18 bikes! “Twenty-two bikes were lined up but I landed on some,” he says. It was hilarious and terrifying all at the same time. He jumped 38 bikes the next year and 45 the year after that. For Lawrence, it’s all about the show. Evel Knievel is obviously his inspiration, especially now that he has upgraded his bikes to a pair of roaring XR750s. What he does is a lot easier on a big dirt bike but it looks and sounds a whole lot more spectacular on a Harley-Davidson. “I was three when I told my dad I wanted to be a stuntman,” Lawrence says. “By 10, I was into serious self-guided practice,” firstly on a dragster-style pushbike and later a BMX, making his own ramps from bricks, paint tins 60

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and scrap wood and using TV shows like That’s Incredible for inspiration. He also developed an early interest in pyrotechnics, pulling apart shotgun shells for gunpowder. He got his ﬁrst motorbike, a 1965 Suzuki 100, at 14 and set about jumping his mum’s Corolla in the back paddock. “My mates were gobsmacked that I was dumb enough to do it,” he says. “On Monday, everyone at school was talking about it.” Some old motocross bikes followed before he bought an unlikely mount to launch his professional career; a CB360 road bike. He ﬁgured Evel rode big heavy Harleys so he’d ride a big heavy Honda, on which he jumped 10 cars at the 1989 Junee Show while still in his teens, followed by 15 cars in Wagga. He already had his trademark leathers, under which he wore a collar and tie. “There has to be a degree of showmanship and I wanted something with a bit of class,” he says. “It made people look twice.” He also adopted his new moniker at the same time. “Lawrence Legend was one of several options, including Lawrence Dare. But lots of famous people, from Mickey Mouse to Marilyn Munroe, had alliteration in their names, so I went with Legend. That was

before the popularity of the phrase, ’You’re a legend’, otherwise I wouldn’t have chosen it. It was just a name.” Lawrence made his first appearance at Summernats in 1996, jumping a CR250 over 12 trucks to take the late Dale Buggins’ Australian record, and then 15 trucks on a CR500 in 1999 to go one better than Evel Knievel. His shows also typically included Walls and Tunnels of Fire, and lots of cars rolling and crashing into each other. “There’s more risk involved in car stunts,” he says. “There’s all that metal, you could get trapped and there is potential for fire. With a bike, you can fall off and separate from any related danger, even if there’s not much to protect you if it doesn’t go well. “A lot of it is showmanship, the illusion of making something a lot more dangerous than it actually is. What people perceive as dangerous and what actually is dangerous are quite different. Often people are less impressed by the seriously dangerous stunts than by stunts that are dramatic but very safe. “The Wall of Fire is one of the lamest things I do — you’re not there long enough to get burnt — but people think it’s awesome. People have

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Heroes

LAWRENCE LEGEND

“MY MATES WERE GOBSMACKED I WAS DUMB ENOUGH TO DO IT. EVERYONE AT SCHOOL WAS TALKING ABOUT IT” been killed attempting the Tunnel of Fire but jump a silly old double-decker bus over a row of motorcycles and it gets magazine spreads and news reports all over the world. It was quirky rather than dangerous but people thought it was the best thing they’d ever seen. “It changed my thinking about chasing difficult records. I needed to jump over unconventional and unlikely things, that’s what the public, Guinness World Records and TV producers want to see.” And so Lawrence found himself jumping over houses, pubs and public buildings. For a Canadian TV show, he jumped 11 cars blindfolded, then soared over an ultra-light aircraft flying low between two ramps. “On the first attempt, the plane was too early but I made the jump safely,” he says. “On the second jump I was too early. The third jump 62

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was spot on and we did one more to get the shots they needed.” Meanwhile, Lawrence’s bread and butter continued to be regional shows, which he preferred to Summernats because the crowds were less drunk and more engaged. “That was our lifestyle for many years,” he says. “Most weekends Dad and I would load up the station wagon and away we’d go. I’ve been to hundreds of showgrounds, from Broken Hill to Darwin, Perth to Rockhampton; I’ve kept all the programs and itineraries. When we went to Brewarrina, an Aboriginal town in north-western NSW, we got the best reception ever and sold more souvenirs that we did at any of the Royal Shows. “Daredevils can’t fake it like in the movies. It’s as real as it gets. When you watch it live, your heart starts to race, you start to worry for the rider, you’re not sure what the outcome will be. You can see the distance between two ramps, the length of the tunnel, and know that someone has to actually do that. You’re excited because you’ve invested your time and emotion to be part of it.”

Amazingly, Lawrence has had relatively few injuries, with the worst happening in 2003 when he was least expecting it. “I was preparing for a segment on the TV show Rove Live,” he says. “I’d just jumped a bike over a bus as a preview for a later live cross, when I was to jump a car over two double-decker buses. Heading back to the shed, I did a wheelie, flipped it backwards and snapped my femur two inches from my hip joint. I can do wheelstands blindfolded, standing up, side-saddle and one-handed and have no idea how I fell off. It messed me up pretty good.” Lawrence switched to cars and became expert at driving on two wheels, leading to a gig with the Toyota V6 Hi-Lux Heroes and numerous Guinness record attempts, including one in China. He eventually returned to bikes on a pair of rare XR750s. One he calls Thunder. The other is Lightning. Entertainers need to reinvent themselves, he reckons. “I first got people’s attention jumping a big heavy road bike. Now I grab their attention jumping Harleys and there are plenty of Harley riders to come and watch.

XR750s are nice-looking bikes and the loud deep rumble gets the crowds excited but they are hard to jump because they were made for dirt-track racing, not flying,” a factor not lost on appreciative crowds. First off the rank was jumping a helicopter with rotors spinning, after which he jumped a locomotive lengthways at the Junee Rhythm & Rail Festival in March. The big V-twin was misfiring on early speed runs, then came good on the launch run, too good in fact and he overshot the loco by some margin, landing heavily on the ramp and coming a gutser. “Evel Knievel once said he was the best stunt rider at taking off, just not the best at landing,” Lawrence says through five broken ribs. “I may have to start using his line. “I also love the quote from Hunter S Thompson: ‘Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming, wow, what a ride!’ “That’s how life should be lived.” ISSUE #23

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Classic Racers

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1972 DUCATI 750 IMOLA

N U M E R O

UNO

This is the bike that started the Ducati legend PAROLE ALAN CATHCART FOTOGRAFIE KYOICHI NAKAMURA

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Classic Racers

1972 DUCATI 750 IMOLA

FTER winning 14 World Superbike titles in 26 years, and now once again competitive in MotoGP, Ducati’s standing in top-level motorcycle racing is something we take for granted. But before 1972, the Bologna factory, then owned by the Italian government, had zero big-bike credibility, known instead as a producer of small-capacity singles. Paul Smart’s Imola 200 race victory on April 23, 1972 — on a desmo-equipped version of the just-released GT750 roadbike — changed all that. By winning the ﬁrst major Formula 750 200-miler held outside the USA, the British rider not only put Ducati on the map, he also kick-started a benchmark of 90-degree desmo V-twins that has never been broken, all the way through to Chaz Davies’ 2016 SBK Panigale R. The win was a big deal for Ducati. They were conﬁdent of success and had already constructed a glass-sided bus, into which they loaded Smart’s bike and that of secondplaced Bruno Spaggiari to do a lap of nearby Bologna that night, with the riders on the

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“IT WAS THE FIRST TIME DUCATI HAD WON ANYTHING BIG SINCE THE 125 GPS IN THE LATE 1950S” roof. “You’d have thought it was the Pope,” Paul Smart recalls, “there were so many fanatical supporters celebrating Ducati’s victory! It was the ﬁrst time they’d won anything really big for a decade and a half, ever since the 125 GPs in the late 50s, and it certainly put Ducati on the map in terms of big bikes.” Today it’s hard to imagine how, back in the early 1970s, Italian bikes were so unfashionable. Those of us outside Italy who admired them were considered eccentric, and actually buying one was certiﬁable. Smart’s Imola victory, and later Mike Hailwood’s historic 1978 TT comeback on a 900SS, changed all that in a way that nothing Moto Guzzi, Gilera, Laverda or

Benelli accomplished ever did. Here was a factory racebike that won the Big Ones, yet was almost the same as what you and I could (and did) buy for the street. That was Ducati’s unique appeal, and 44 years later, remains the essence of the marque. Paul Smart was given his Imola-winning bike by a grateful management and he still owns it in unrestored, completely original form. As such, it has a value beyond measure, and as a genuine act of trust and friendship, Paul allowed me to ride it for 30 laps on full throttle around Brands Hatch, site of its lastever race victory in August, 1972. Out on the Brands short circuit, it was a trip down memory lane, and I immediately appreciated the ﬁne engineering that Ducati’s late design guru, Fabio Taglioni, invested in producing this engine. The vibration-free V-twin pulls irresistibly from low down, with waves of torque on tap from as low as 3000rpm. It doesn’t really clean out until just above 4000 rpm, however, after which it runs strong and hard to the 8500rpm redline. The close-ratio ﬁve-speed gearbox has a

ABOVE CENTRE Paul Smart was one of the ﬁrst racers to adopt the knee-out style, chased here by local hero Bruno Spaggiari at Imola

ABOVE Note one pipe high, the other low: Imola was a mostly left-hand track, a fact not lost on Ducati designer Fabio Taglioni (below)

Get Smart PAUL Smart was an experienced international racer when his wife Maggie accepted on his behalf an invitation to race an untried new Formula 750 Ducati at the 1972 Imola 200, after her brother Barry Sheene had knocked it back. Early testing at the Modena circuit suggested Bazza was right. “The bikes were fitted with skinny TT100s and huge steering dampers they didn’t need — with a 60-inch wheelbase they wouldn’t go around corners anyway,” Paul says. “They felt pretty awful, even after I’d persuaded them to fit racing tyres. There was loads of torque but it seemed to be firing every other lamppost. But it was a totally deceptive bike. After 10 laps, I came past the pits and all the mechanics were hugging each other like I’d won a race. I’d just broken Ago’s outright lap record.”

At Imola, Smart and team-mate Bruno Spaggiari qualified fastest, ahead of Agostini on the works 750cc MV Agusta. “Being Italy, Ago started, then they dropped the flag for the rest of us! The MV was very fast but weaved like mad — Ago was a hero to hold on to it — but the Ducati was steady as a rock and on the fifth lap I just swept effortlessly past him. After that it was obvious either Bruno or I would win.” They finished one-two, with Smart ahead by four seconds. The team riders had earlier agreed to pool their substantial winnings but not the ultimate prize. “Ducati boss Fredmano Spairani had said, ‘Whichever one of you wins the race will keep his bike, of course!’ and he was as good as his word.” ISSUE #23

retrobike

Classic Racers

1972 DUCATI 750 IMOLA

LEFT Smart was given the Imola racebike by a grateful factory and raced it in England. Here he's about to pounce on Peter Williams' JPS Norton ABOVE That's a younger Sir Al (centre, with hair) with Reno Leoni doing the talking and Fabio Taglioni also listening in

clean sharp one-up right-foot gear-change but doesn’t tolerate clutchless shifts. One reason might be the lack of ﬂywheel on the motor; there’s notably less crank inertia than on my own 750SS. The engine picks up speed more quickly, and has an eager appetite for revs, further aided by the absence of a generator for the total-loss ignition system. At racing speeds the engine pick-up out of turns is outstanding by the standards of any era, aided by the accelerator jets ﬁtted to the 40mm Dell’Orto carburettors. These were revolutionary for 1972, and are undoubtedly a factor in the Ducati’s impressive acceleration

on a bike that weighs 178kg plus fuel. Yet with the long 1520mm wheelbase, there’s no risk of waving the front wheel in the air hard on the gas, even with 84rwhp at 8800rpm. If the Ducati’s engine behaviour brought the memories ﬂooding back, the way it steered and handled round Brands did it even more so. This was the track I did most of my early racing on, aboard my 750SS which was the later customer version of the Imola racer. One thing felt diﬀerent: the works machine’s steering is even heavier and more ponderous than my own bike! One reason is the short rear shocks, the other the

leading-axle forks which kick everything out even further. Ducatis have always been super-stable handlers, bikes on which you seek out fast, bumpy corners where you know the opposition will be struggling. But this is too much of a good thing on the Smart bike, which you really have to muscle around such a twisty circuit. Mind you, it pays oﬀ. Back in the day, I always looked forward to Bottom Bend, sweeping downhill hard on the throttle to pick up many yards on rivals mounted on shorter-wheelbase J-bikes that would leap around and shake their heads trying to keep

ABOVE Here it is, sports fans, the revered beveldrive round-case desmodromic V-twin penned by Taglioni (right), who also designed the later belt-drive engines LEFT Alan Cathcart on his own 750SS (the production version of the Imola winner) at Brands Hatch in 1975 68

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Retro Specs ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke 90-degree V-twin; two valves per cylinder, SOHC, desmodromic actuation; 80 x 74.4mm for 749cc; 10:1 comp; 2 x 40mm Dell’Orto pumpers; dual coil, total loss ignition; straight-cut primary gears to wet clutch and ﬁve-speed gearbox; chain ﬁnal drive CHASSIS Tubular steel open cradle with engine as stressed member; 40mm leading-axle Marzocchi telescopic forks, 18in laced Borrani rim, 2 x 278mm Brembo rotors with twin-piston AP-Lockheed calipers; tubular steel swingarm with Ceriani shocks, 18in laced Borrani rim, 230mm Brembo rotor with twin-piston AP-Lockheed caliper DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1520mm; weight 178kg (oil, no fuel) PERFORMANCE 84rwhp @ 8800rpm; top speed 272km/h (Imola, 1972) VERDICT The most desirable, collectable and valuable Ducati on Earth

“IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE HOW, IN THE EARLY 1970S, ITALIAN BIKES WERE SO UNFASHIONABLE” up. The Smart Ducati is no exception, despite the traditional front end chatter of the stiff Marzocchi forks. Hard on the gas down the next short straight, then some hard work is needed to brake for Clearways while flicking from side to side, before hanging off the bike to keep it as upright as possible to avoid grounding the exhaust on the next right-hander. The header already has a flat in it that Paul admits to bashing back in 1972, to make life easier on tighter British tracks after the mainly lefthanded Imola circuit. Riding round Brands today on modern tyres takes a lot of care to

avoid grounding, especially with the short rear shocks initially set too soft. Apart from that, provided you’re prepared to work at making it steer, the Ducati has no vices for a bike of this era, even with this much power on tap. Equally remarkable is the bike’s untouched, as-raced condition. Check out the fat throttle grip, laced with strands of rubber cut from an inner tube, a trademark of each of Paul Smart’s bikes after he crashed in Ireland and lost some degree of movement in his throttle hand. It’s the same grip he used at Imola, same as the primitive ignition

switch behind the rider’s right leg, the ﬂapvalve on the engine breather pipe, the Imola scrutineering tag on the fork leg and the clear strip left in the ﬁbreglass tank to quickly check the fuel level. Thank goodness Paul Smart has never felt the desire to restore the bike which carried him to his most famous victory, for it’s taken more than 40 years to get like this, complete with faded red Ducati lettering on the candysilver fairing. More than any other bike I’ve ridden, this is history on two wheels, the start of a story that’s still being written.

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Lifestyle

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GLEMSECK 101

A disused GP track is reborn as the site of Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest outdoor motorcycle festival WORDS GEOFF SEDDON PHOTOS MOTOR RAUSCH

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Lifestyle

GLEMSECK 101

LEMSECK 101 is a weekend motorcycle festival held annually at the old Solitude racetrack adjacent to the city of Leonberg near Stuttgart, where the German Grand Prix was held up until the mid-1960s. Based around a custom bike show featuring Europe’s top builders, and wild heads-up 1/8th-mile drag racing on what was once the main straight, Glemseck 101 has blossomed in just 10 years from an informal competition hosted by the local pub into the continent’s biggest outdoor motorcycling festival, attracting over 40,000 spectators each autumn.

It is essentially a cafe racing event, albeit with a broad interpretation of what that constitutes. So long as it is in the spirit, if you like, most older bikes are eligible, although it’s the wilder customs that attract the most attention, many of them based on twin-cylinder BMWs as you’d expect. There is also a strong contingent of British bikes, from BSAs, Nortons and pushrod Triumphs through to modern Bonnevilles and Thruxtons. Of the Italians, Moto Guzzi was the most popular with a smattering of Laverdas, while what the Ducatisti lacked in numbers they made up for with impact. All

the Japanese brands were well represented, as was Harley-Davidson and Buell. New bikes are allowed only if they are special, such as the H2R ridden by Kawasaki test rider Francesca Gasperi who match-raced our own Troy Corser on a new, $130,000 Lotus C-01! The boy sure gets around! He also won, of course. The main event is the International Sprint, won by Thomas Thoring on a TR-1 Yamaha — a very popular model in Europe and what we’d call an XV1000 — ahead of Sylvain Berberon on a GSX1200 Suzuki. Steﬀen Wittig was too good on his ancient BMW R 50/2 in

“IT IS ESSENTIALLY A CAFE RACING EVENT, ALBEIT WITH A BROAD INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THAT MEANS”

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Lifestyle

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GLEMSECK 101

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the Cafe Racer Sprint, with Wolfgang Hahn on an XS650 and Sven Buchheister on an R 75/6 taking the minor placings. Other classes covered everything from BMW R nineTs through to big-bore old-school Japanese muscle bikes and 50cc tiddlers, the fastest of which was Alex Lutz on a Sachs. There’s even a class for rigid-framed bobbers won by the unlikely-named Rolf Stocker on a 1200 Buell, as well as an international teams competition with Germany ﬁnishing ahead of France.

It’s drag racing at its purest; no handicaps, a pretty girl dropping the ﬂag to start each race and the winner advancing to the next round while the loser packs his or her kit for next year. The track is narrow and lined with spectators up close and personal, with safety requirements presumably at their minimum, especially for the riders. No nanny state bullshit here, the event is co-sponsored by the City of Leonberg with Mayor Bernhard Schuler its patron. We didn’t hear of any big

bingles nor clashes between the various subcultures that make the Euro custom scene so exciting. Indeed, the event is renowned for its relaxed vibe. Notable custom houses participating in the races and adjacent bike show included El Solitario and Valtoron (Spain), Plan B (Italy), Wrenchmonkees (Denmark), Lucky Cat Garage (France), Young Guns Speed Shop (Switzerland) and JvB-Moto (Germany). The big manufacturers are

“THE TRACK IS NARROW AND LINED WITH SPECTATORS; THERE’S NO NANNY STATE RUBBISH HERE”

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Lifestyle

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GLEMSECK 101

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also taking an interest, with Triumph sponsoring a new grandstand alongside the straight. Yamaha are also right behind it with their ‘Yard Build’ program which encourages dealers to build customs from selected Yamaha models, enticing Winston Yeh from Taiwan to compete on an XJR1300 and Shun Miyazawa from Japan on an XSR700. Glemseck is also famous for its live music, with the focus on techno beats but also including appearances from Ray Collins

Hot Tub, Carolina and her Rhythm Rockers and our favourites, the Booze Bombs, whose name at least sounds like our kind of band. Some purists consider that the event has now become too big, too commercialised and moving away from its grassroots. The trade stall and sponsorship side of it is admittedly big business, but the organisers seem to be doing the right thing by most who come and, unbelievably, it’s still free to attend. It’s not hard to see why it is so successful, just look at the photos. People street racing

souped-up motorcycles, performing to a big crowd and having a crazy good time. It’s like Summernats on two wheels, a mind-blowing culmination of everything that’s good about our modiﬁed bike culture all jammed into one long, smoke-ﬁlled weekend. Europe and Japan are the two big centres of cool things custom, but in Tokyo their shows are mostly static. Not so the Glemseck sprints. In all my life, I’ve never had the slightest urge to visit Germany but somehow that’s now found its way onto on my bucket list.

That’s Troy Corser on the Lotus C-01 about to race Francesca Gasperi on the new H2R

ISSUE #23

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2015 BMW R NINE T

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ISSUE 23 WINTER 2016

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TWIN-BARREL SHOTGUN

GLEMSECK SPRINTS

CB400/CB750 CAFE RACERS

SHEENE FESTIVAL

DUCATI 750 IMOLA

SPEED WEEK 2016

DAREDEVIL HARLEYS

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CLASSIC NOT PLASTIC

THE RACE OF GENTLEMEN

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ENFIELDS IN NEPAL

BROUGH SUPERIOR

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TESTING TIMES THE FLYING W

McIlwraith WITH JAMIE McILWRAITH

CRASH TEST DUMMY Y MATE described it as a ‘Flying W’, which I suppose is as good a description as any, but I wasn’t really in any position to tell if he was right or wrong, because I was the one doing the flying at the time. Now, what in the hell is a ‘Flying W’, you ask? Well, it’s what a person looks like (viewed from behind) when he is literally flying through the air, having just been launched off his motorcycle by its front wheel plunging into an almighty great pothole. It’s most spectacular if you’re also going too fast – arms flaying, legs splaying, body tumbling – but the ‘Flying W’ is never pretty to witness. Especially the landing. Should you ever see a ‘Flying W’ in action, avert your eyes when it gets to the landing phase. It’s agony to watch, my mate says. Now, let me set the scene a little bit more painfully, because I want to discuss pain for a moment. My own physical pain can come later, but first up, let’s dwell on the pain of knowing I’d blown it, big time. The bike whose front wheel landed in the pothole was a brand new BMW R100RS, the topof-the-line flagship Beemer with the full fairing and big price tag. Yes, it was fully insured, but it was also BMW Australia’s test bike, and magazine management was not going to be happy with me. I was in deep doo-doo. I was an insurance risk. I could hear them saying, “Let him just test scooters from now on.” Admittedly, I wasn’t thinking much about that sort of stuff, because I was concussed, dazed and confused. My mate had a terrible

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time convincing me that I wasn’t OK and that, no, I couldn’t get back on the Beemer and continue on into Jindabyne, which was 15km of more dirt road ahead of us. My mate patiently helped me to realise that I lacked basic equipment for riding a bike, such as a left shoulder which was kind of hanging oﬀ me like a bird’s busted wing. Once he got me sorted, he used various belts and an ocky strap to keep my arms in place, and we rode to Jindabyne. The ‘ambulance’ was not anyone’s ﬁrst choice: it was our other test bike, a Moto Guzzi Le Mans. Not a great pillion mount at any time, but it was the only ambo available.

“I could hear them saying, ‘Let him just test scooters from now on’” From the time we arrived in Jindabyne my luck improved. Most importantly, the doctor was ‘in’. We pulled into the first servo we spotted, the owner took one look at me and rang the doctor straight away. Doc came down, loaded me into his car, and bingo! He had X-ray equipment. In the winter he had to deal with broken ski bunny limbs and so Jindabyne is a good spot to break some bones, if that’s your thing. In his surgery he confirmed the dislocated shoulder and three breaks in my collarbone, as well as lots of bark missing off my legs, hands and all the rest.

The worst thing that then happened was that he cut off my best Fred Gassit T-shirt without even asking! Just whipped out the scissors and off it came. Snip, tear, gone! However, the best thing that happened occurred just a minute before that when Doc gave me a hit of morphine. Now, I’m no druggie and I fully expected to go through life without needles of morphine ever getting near my arm, but I can tell you it was wonderful to go from full searing agony to essentially being pain-free and calm in less than 60 seconds. I think I slept like a baby in the motel that night (you know, waking up every few hours and screaming) but I can’t really remember. The next morning the doctor came down, whipped out his magic syringe and said, “This is your last jab, Jamie. From now on you’re on painkiller pills.” Now, I could have begged and pleaded for him for just one more hit, but I wasn’t yet a junkie after just two jabs. And though the pills weren’t a patch on the real deal, they worked OK. More pain relief came. All the time I was in la-la land, my mate was busy organising a truck to pick up the Beemer and take it back to Sydney. He’d broken the news to our editor about me writing it off, but he was cool about it. That’s because one of the test drivers from a car magazine in our stable had expensively stuffed a Lamborghini into a dirt bank that same weekend. I might have been temporarily hooked on drugs, but I was off the hook.

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SHED THERAPY LESSONS IN LIFE

Bailey WITH PAUL BAILEY

THE POWER OF BIKES

AST week I celebrated my 58th birthday. Bloody hell!! Where has the time gone? So many years and so many memories and time just seems to be getting shorter. Actually, at the moment I want the years to go very fast. Now that sounds wrong, doesn’t it? But there is an ulterior motive for me. In 2013 I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, or AML. It put me in hospital for eight months straight and I had to have multiple rounds of the nastiest bloody chemotherapy that you could imagine. 24 hours a day for seven days the shit was pumped into me. Then I had to try and recover, get back to some sort of blood normality and then they would hit me up again! Four times I had this done, not happy Jan! So now that I’m in remission and need five years of good health, clear from the dreaded blood cancer, I actually want the years to fly by, at least up until the end of 2018 when they will declare me fit and healthy. Now, that all sounds doom and gloom but it isn’t. I’m very well at the moment, back to my old fighting weight of 102kg, training hard and feeling full of life. All is good. So what does my dilemma have to do with motorcycles? Therapy! Motorcycles and riding have been part of my everyday life since I was born. Dad was a rider and a racer back in the

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day, he still had bikes when I came along, so from the moment I left hospital and arrived home there was a motorcycle in the shed that I could be sat on and that I could dribble over. Fifty eight years later, I’m still sitting on motorcycles and still dribbling over them. The tradition has been passed down to my son and daughter; they are both keen motorcyclists and both were sat on my bikes when they came home from hospital. Seven weeks ago I became a grandfather, and six weeks ago my ﬁrst grandchild sat on his dad’s motorcycle and dribbled over it too.

“58 years later, I’m still sitting on motorcycles and still dribbling over them” Surviving something like AML, knowing that you might die at any time through the lengthy treatment, changes your life forever – not in the great way that family does, but it does change you. How it changes you varies from person to person. For many people, family becomes the new focus of life; the appreciation of family is all too real, whereas before treatment it was sometimes taken for granted.

As a motorcyclist, and as motorcyclists, we have a great advantage over others that get seriously ill, whether we have a family or not. Our deep love of riding gives us an edge over the other ill people, even if we don’t realise it at the time. We have that strong and ever-present Holy Grail to cling to and think about and fantasise over – to get well enough to once again go out to our sheds, sit on our motorcycles and dribble over them. Eventually we’ll get it out of the shed and go for a ride, but to just simply be able to sit on that bike and be with that bike is I believe one of the strongest forms of positive reinforcement for someone that is so ill. It was for me. It was one of the things I thought about the most while I was ﬁghting cancer in hospital. The vision of one day getting out of there and ﬁnally being able to be with my bikes and be able to go for a ride got me through the ordeal. Being a motorcycle family, three generations now, everyone knew what I wanted and how much a part of my life motorcycles are. They all understood. They all know what it is to ride a motorcycle and what it does for us; how it lifts our spirits and gives us happiness and optimism, how it gives us freedom from our daily troubles and how it can make us feel so complete and free.

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FIGHTING WORDS APRIL FOOLS

WA L K E R WITH JIMMI WALKER

STREET FIGHTING MAN

OU may or may not know that I am a member of a bunch of delinquents known as the Aussie Streetfighters, and once a year we have an annual get-together in Walcha, NSW that we call the April Fools Run. To elaborate on the streetfighter scene, imagine if you will that punk rock and motorcycling had an illegitimate child; then that’s us. The bikes are in the main hot-rodded sports bikes of all eras, mostly stripped of their plastic and made to look as mean as possible, go as hard as possible and generally do stuff the manufacturers never ever thought of. I was keen to make this year’s grogfest, my only problem was that I was temporarily sans bike. “No problem at all,” said my good mate Stu from Gunnedah. “I can lend you a bike.” And get me a bike he did, a DRZ400 Suzuki fitted with wet-weather race tyres. We made quite the pair, a mad middle-aged six-foot Scot aboard a motarded 400 chasing some crazy diminutive nutter aboard a Yamaha 800 triple through some of NSW’s choicest mountain twisties. Yeebloody-har! And that was just to get to the pub. Shortly afterwards a turbocharged and heavily-modded Yamaha MT-09 crafted by none other that Ben Shaw of Extreme Creations in Sydney rumbled in, accompanied by a nice ’fightered VFR800, a

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stripped custom-painted R1, you get the picture. Another of our number bravely piloted an aging Honda ST1100, resplendent in bright purple paint, all the way from the Gold Coast. So that was half the contingent present and accounted for, and suddenly it was time to hit the bar. After a night of too many beers, dodgy chinese food, endless country and western music and not enough sleep, we took oﬀ next morning on a spirited ride down the Oxley Highway to Port Macquarie on the coast to sample the seafood, meet the latecomers from north of the border and compare rides. Our

“In 20 years time, anything that turns petrol into fun will be taboo and boredom will kill us all” numbers bolstered, we then enjoyed an equally spirited run back up the famed mountain road to our digs in Walcha – without once breaking the prescribed speed limit, of course! – for even more beer and bullshit. It was great to catch up with all these guys and girls again, so many great bikes and stories.

Although the numbers have thinned out a bit from previous years, there’s still plenty of life in the scene and I reckon I’ll make it next year for sure, only I’ll have my trusty Speed Triple back on the road by then. Not that I was ungrateful for the little Suzy, which was a heap of fun, but if some is good, more is always better! Now I know that most of the bikes we ride are a bit modern and plastic-like by Retro standards, but we do have for instance a big Kat with a GSX1400 lump shoehorned into it, a couple of GSX1100s with gas-flowed innards and big-bore kits, a 1975 Kawasaki Z1000 with GPz running gear, a couple of Bimotas, the odd Harris-framed Honda and at least one V-twin Spondon. There are all sorts of streetfighters in our midst from humble beginners’ bikes to firebreathing 350hp monsters, and lots more where they came from with plenty in the build. In 20 years, if I last that long, I know there will still be some old cranky Jock dusting off his ancient Triumph, getting ready to annoy the neighbours and piss off the local gendarmes. Everybody else will be riding silent electric bikes by then because V8 cars and turbo bikes will be illegal. Anything that turns petrol into fun will be taboo and boredom will kill us all. But until then, there’s always the TT. Have fun, keep it upright and extend the middle digit to society’s beige masses.

Damien Birch Tel. (03) 9758-0476

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STUFF WE LIKE

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STYLE NOMAD JACKET

J.O HELMET THE Shoei J.O helmet combines style and safety, with an integrated visor adjustable to three positions to fit different profiles perfectly. Ultra-compact and super light, the J.O features a small, low, snug fit, fully removable interior liner and weighs in at less than a kilogram. Available in sizes XS to XXL. Solid colours $499; graphics $599 mcleodaccessories.com.au

NEW from Segura, the Nomad jacket is a combination of leather and textile. With a ﬁxed mesh liner and a removable thermo winter lining, the Nomad is suitable for year-round use. It is CE approved with soft CE protectors in the shoulders and elbows, and a pocket for optional CE back protector. Sizes small to 3XL. $599.95 ﬁceda.com.au

XSR ULTRASUEDE SEAT & SEAT COWL

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YAMAHA have plenty of bolt-on bits available for your new XSR. Start with the Ultrasuede Seat. Resistant to stains and discolouration, it feels as good as it looks. If you are looking to give your XSR some cafe racer styling then the Aluminium Seat Cowl is just what you need. Available in matt grey or blue and includes graphics. Seat $393.25; cowl $576.40 yshop.yamaha-motor.com.au

THIS handsome handmade wallet is designed to take up minimal space in your pocket, carrying only the essentials with room for ﬁve cards including ID for the window pocket and ample space for cash. Constructed from Nu-buck leather, the Marshall wallet will age gracefully with daily use. $79 jackstillman.com.au

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RACEY JEANS THE Racey women’s jeans by Drayko are a stretch skinny-leg ﬁt that offers protection and comfort without compromising on style. If you want protective jeans that look just like regular fashion jeans then it’s time to get Racey! Sizes 6 to 18. $299 dragginjeans.net

STYLEMASTER HAT AKUBRA doesn’t just make hats for down on the farm. Proudly Australian made, the Stylemaster will ensure you look just as dapper off the bike as you do on it. $170.00 akubra.com.au

MISSION GLOVES WE are massive Roland Sands Design fans and the Mission gloves don’t disappoint. Constructed from top grain cowhide with reinforced and padded palm, padded knuckles, pre-curved ergonomic ﬁt and perforated venting, we score the Mission gloves a 10. Sizes small to 2XL. $99.95 monzaimports.com.au

MAD-13 ROLL-TOP DUFFEL THERE is plenty of space for all the essentials in the uniquely designed Mad-13 Duffel from Jack Stillman. Roll the top or ﬁll it right up and use the unique four-fold top to give you an extra 10 litres when you need it (25 litres in total). Taking inspiration from a 1940s Norwegian army backpack, this bag oozes retro styling while still being supremely practical. $189 jackstillman.com.au

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RIDERS LIKE US COL GRAHAM

ALLADIN'S CAVE RESTORING ENGLISH MOTORCYCLES IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH â&#x20AC;&#x201D; WORDS & PHOTOS GEOFF SEDDON

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OL Graham is a stalwart of the NSW Central Coast classic bike community and an acknowledged expert on all things Norton, especially the long line of hearty twins from the 500cc Model 7 right through to the Commando 850. He also has a thing for BSAs and big Honda touring bikes.

What was your first bike? “A CZ 175. I bought it in 1956 when I was 16 years and nine months old. I went for my licence on it and they failed me. I had to ride around the block and the cop said, you shouldn’t be here so quick, you should have been back days later! But he gave it to me anyway. “The next bike I had was a Gold Flash, a BSA 650. Then I had a BSA Road Rocket 650 and then I had a Norton Atlas for quite some years.” You didn’t keep it? “No, I got rid of it when we moved up here. Then my wife said when I finished the extension, I should get another bike and I bought the red Atlas.” And you’ve still got that one? “I’ve had it 40 years.” I bet you’ve had lots of adventures together. “It dropped a connecting rod out the bottom on the Old Road, that was an adventure! It came out the back and jammed the gearbox and I nearly came off. The boys made the rod into a trophy for me.”

What is it about Nortons? “I just like riding them. I got my ﬁrst one in 1964 and they went like anything. They’ll always beat a 750 Honda.” You like other bikes too. “I bought a BSA Golden Flash, then once I retired I started to restore and collect them; the Commando, Road Rocket, Matchless G80, 1958 Norton Dominator 99, the silver Atlas. And a 1925 Douglas, just to have one. I was going to go halves with my son Steve but it ended up being his. It just lives here.” I can also see a Norton ES2 and a ’64 Dominator 88 SS. “The SS is an ex-police bike. Have a look, there’s an extra P in the numbers.”

“I like riding Nortons. I got my ﬁrst one in 1964 and they went like anything” No Triumphs? “I had one, an ex-police Saint, but I just sold it. A mate wanted a bike and didn’t have much money so I sold it to him for what I paid for it.” You were lucky to go shopping before prices went nuts and then of course you had to restore them. Were you in the trade? “I was a truck driver. You always had to have

a bit of mechanical knowledge to get yourself out of trouble.” The earlier stuff is getting harder to find. ”My son was selling one of his bikes and I said don’t sell the Dominator, sell the Commando, you can always get another one of those.” Are there still bargains to be had? “A bloke passed away in Grafton but his bikes were in storage down here. The family asked me to tell them what they were worth. They said there was another bike in Grafton, they didn’t know what it was, but a fella had offered them $1000. I said we’d double it without even looking at it. Turns out it was a BSA Rocket 3 and this bloke got it for a grand.” Do you have a favourite? “The red Atlas. And the silver one goes pretty good too.” Atlases have Featherbed frames. Do they vibrate more than Commandos? “All Pommy bikes vibrate. When you do the Isolastics on a Commando, you have to tighten them up then back off half a turn. If you don’t do that, the book says the engine will vibrate more but the bike will handle better.” Yes, or loosen them off to get rid of the vibration and have it handle like a Vincent. What else have you got? Is that a modern bike under the tarp? “When I turned 60, I was sick of work so I hired a ISSUE #23

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bloke to drive my truck and decided I was going for a ride. I bought a Honda ST1100 and rode it to Townsville. Then I rode it around Australia in 2004, towing a cheap trailer behind as we didn’t know where we’d be stopping. We did 18,000km in seven weeks because my mate could only get eight weeks oﬀ work.”

“I rode around Australia in 2004. We did 18,000 kilometres in seven weeks” Then there’s the BSA Bantam. “It’s a ’48 and normally out of sight, been a project for 30 years.” And the little Honda? “It’s a CB250, I got it with 4000 miles on the clock. Some bloke on a Harley told me I wouldn’t keep up but it’s a good little thing, it’ll do about 80 miles an hour.” And the one on the bench? “A 1950 Norton Model 7, a bloke asked me to ﬁx it for him. He reckons it was going but I have my doubts.” It’s got plunger rear suspension, what’s that like? “Don’t go there.” Like the Triumph sprung hub? “They were worse.” Where do you get all the parts you need? “I used to deal with Domi Racer in America. When they closed, RGM Motors in the UK bought all their early Norton stuﬀ.” 90

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A lot of builders say the internet has made restorations so much easier these days, as you can just go online and search for parts all over the world. “I can’t use a computer.” But surely someone in the house can? “No.” So you don’t own a computer? “We’ve got one, but it’s in the cupboard. If I need something, I just ring up RGM on the telephone.” How very old school, dealing with human beings. You enjoy the social side of the club scene too. “I’m in the Central Coast Classic Motorcycle Club and was on the committee for years; they recently made me a life member. They’re a nice mob of blokes.” How big is the club? “130 members, but half don’t turn up. We have a new rule that you have to do four club runs a year to get your historic plates, just to keep the social side of it going.” Do you do all the work on the bikes yourself? “I get the heads done and rebores, I don’t do that. A friend of mine does the paint, but the other stuﬀ I do here.” Why do you do it? “I’m 75 years old, I might as well do something. Working on bikes keeps you active. Sit inside reading a book all day and you’ll go mad. I have my breakfast in the morning and then I’m straight out here in the shed.”

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TANGLES' WORKSHOP THREESOMES

The Horner brothers' Vincent is the closest thing you'll find to sex on wheels

ONE ON THE SIDE Tangles tries his hand at swinging WORDS STUART GARRARD & PHOTOS GEOFF SEDDON

ITTING in the workshop, my mind drifts back to my motorcycle heritage. I’m a third-generation enthusiast. My grandfather rode a 1924 Douglas, my father rode AJS and Coventry-Eagle and my first bike was a 125cc James. My father also had a love for watching speedway bike racing. He did this with his mates in the 1930s, sheltering under their leather jackets for protection from rocks and dirt as the bikes drifted past. Dad took me to the Sydney Showground Speedway in the early 60s. What a thrill, and I distinctly remember that my lasting memory was that I wanted to be a sidecar passenger. As fate would have it, Old Racing Mate invited me to his club’s ‘Sidecar Come & Have A Go Day’. The Annandale-Leichhardt Motor Cycle Club hold this event every so often, and this year it was to be at the Marulan Driver Training Centre. Speedway, no, but at last a chance to experience a lifelong dream. I accepted on the spot. The day finally arrives, with blue skies overhead as I head off on the Honda for the 60km run to the track. I arrive early and Old Racing Mate is there to welcome me. He

retrobike

ISSUE #23

already has his outfit off the trailer and the place is starting to buzz. The usual official and bureaucratic processes are carried out before the first of the bikes fires up at nine o’clock. The adrenaline is pumping and I’m not the only excited person there by a long shot. I pull on my borrowed set of racing leathers, grab my helmet and gloves and head for the starting line where a couple of great ladies, experts in the art of hanging out of a sidecar, give us a quick general rundown. They then introduce us to the bikes as they are all so different but fall within one of two broad classes; old and new, or front exit and rear exit. Only six bikes are allowed on the track at a time, three laps per run, and the riders were told to take it easy, sure! As this is a workshop column, time for some technical stuff. The old bikes race in various historic classes. Veteran and Vintage are for bikes built up to 1945. Classic bikes cover 1946 to 1962 and Post Classic 1963 to1972. Forgotten Era is from 1973 to 1982 and New Era 1983 to 1990. Today however, all the older girls are Post Classic and feature engines from Triumph,

“Talk about the most fun you can have kneeling down!” BMW and several SOHC 750cc Honda Fours, which made me feel right at home. Post Classic sidecars are able to run engines up to 1300cc, and can also use methanol for more power, but are restricted to wheels no larger than 13 inches in diameter and six inches in width. New bikes are restricted to 1000cc for Formula 1 and 600cc for Formula 2 and run pump unleaded petrol. The sidecar design can be a ‘short’, where the engine is placed in front of the rider, or ‘long’ bike where the engine is behind the rider.

The common denominator is that all engines must be derived from a motorcycle. I also mentioned front exit and rear exit designs. Looking at the photos you will see that old sidecars can be accessed from the left-hand side and the rear, whereas passengers can only enter new sidecars from the rear. I quickly find being a passenger in the two types of bikes is quite different. Even though the old bikes are a little slower, being a passenger is more difficult. To hang out the left-hand side, you have to contort your body around the wheel arch and find handles to hang on to. Sounds fairly simple, but when you’re hurtling around a track it’s not so easy. The old bikes are also quite open and you have to be careful not to jam the rider’s left leg or kneel on the gear linkage. With the new bikes you basically move from side to side, although finding that handgrip somewhere over on the

right fairing can be interesting. My first turn comes and it’s a new bike; a quick briefing and we are away. Well, talk about the most fun you can have kneeling down! By the end of the first lap my heart is beating at 200 and I’m out of breath. I survive the three laps and the rider is smiling so I guess I did okay. I have a breather then tee-up Old Racing Mate’s Post Classic Honda for my next run. Yep, old bikes are hard work. We complete three fantastic laps, even if I don’t quite get that contortion thing exactly right. The day warms up and my rests between runs become longer but my enthusiasm grows. By the end of the day I will have had five runs, three in old bikes and two in new bikes. I improve with each run, the last being my most memorable with Trevor Love in his Post Classic BMW. The bike is powered by an air-cooled R65 boxer twin and sounds a real

treat as it motors around the circuit. Trevor takes beautiful lines through the corners, and I actually get way out to the left with my shoulder almost scraping. I even nail that mongrel quick double left-then-right at the end of the circuit. Eureka! While most participants preferred the new bikes, my love for all things retro made the older gems my ﬁrst choice. I dump my leathers to check out the action in the pits with teams changing wheel bearings, tuning carbies and chasing electrical faults. Conversation is easy. The meeting runs like clockwork and I’m told its success exceeded expectations. The time comes for my departure. I crank up the CB750, bid farewell and prepare for a quick run home up the Hume. Exhausted but still on a high, it’s back to the workshop and the real world.

Sydney Authorised Dealer of

GT CONTINENTAL 95-97 Princes Highway St Peters NSW 2044

V7 RACER I

T: (02) 9557 7234 F: (02) 9557 7302 E: info@motociclo.com.au

www.motociclo.com.au

Also: Lewis Leathers, Stagg Leather, Halcyon Goggles, Ace café merch, Rossi Boots, White Silk Scarves etc and MORE! ISSUE #23

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LIFE'S A BIKE

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ISSUE #23

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ISSUE #23

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READERLAND OPINION PAGES

SALTY TALE

MUSICA VIVA

WORK IN PROGESS STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN #1

FATHER & SON RESTORING a 1967 Triumph Tiger 90 has brought many pleasures, none more so than working on it with my son, who left home at 18. When I started the project I had energy and passion, but that only lasted so long and it was grinding to a halt. My son, now 30, realised this and now comes around every Wednesday night to share a beer, throw some steaks on the BBQ and get stuck into the bike. We have diﬀerent ideas regarding old vs modern bikes and this is where your magazine comes into play. We both loved The Tempest last issue and it will probably be the foundation of our ﬁrst ‘retro’ build. Love the mag, it’s a great read and a wealth of information. Glynn Williams

Revue Classic and Café Racer in France – except they’ve been doing it much longer. Good job, mate! Alan Cathcart

SALTY TALE I SNAPPED this pic of Seddo preparing his retro bike on Lake Gairdner during Speed Week. I don’t think he got a record. Matt Taylor

BACK-END BLUES

THAT MV Agusta in the last issue was better than perfect. Alex Marlow

WITH the exception of Ducati, and possibly a few others I’m not aware of, why do manufacturers of modern-day chain-driven motorbikes make it such a dirty task to remove the rear wheel? My 1956 Matchless had a drop-out rear wheel which left the chain drive and brake drum in situ; it was just a matter of undoing one long spindle bolt, removing a spacer ring and pulling the back wheel out of the cush-drive in the brake drum. The rear section of the mudguard also hinged up to make it easy. Barry Blackman

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN #1

MECHANICAL FAILURE

VIV CANINI’S article on Nepal leapt out at me from the magazine racks at Sydney Airport, en route from India to NZ after another adventure on our Enﬁeld Bullet that we store in Delhi and on which we’ve rattled up 20,000km all over the Indian Himalayas. I also have a Desert Storm at home and have had the Enﬁeld disease for almost 30 years. Go Viv! Inspired! Steve the Sparky

SAD to say, an overdose of custom bikes has made your magazine disappointing to me. When I first took out a subscription, I was hoping it would become an Australian version of UK mag Classic Motorcycle Mechanics, with real road tests of classic bikes, technical articles and other good reading. All is not lost however as my 16-year-old grandson enjoys it after I’ve taken five minutes to flick through it. He’ll be sad to see my subscription come to an end. Peter Douglas

MUSICA VIVA

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN #2 LOVED the quality and variety in the last issue, especially the travel story on Nepal. Epic! Alastair Rich 98

retrobike

ISSUE #23

WORK IN PROGRESS HERE is a picture of my work-in-progress 2005 ST3. The bike builder is Theo from Bike Therapy in Brisvegas. We are looking for a suitable tank – although I like the tough look of the ST3 tank – and maybe an Arrow exhaust. What do you think? Wayne Henry

SMOKY BOTTOM END LOVING the mag and enjoying the whole retro thing. New bikes are becoming boring and electronic, leaving plenty of room to restore and/or modify old bikes. Maybe it’s just an old bloke thing, but I didn’t like Wayne Flynn’s reference last issue to blowing smoke up your arse. Not good at all. He must have taken it up recently. Harpo

WIN RAZZO JEANS! To encourage your feedback, we’ll pick one letter (Glynn Williams this issue) to win a pair of Drayko Razzo riding jeans, valued at $289! Protection comes from a combination of Dyneema and Kevlar fibres behind the aged denim exterior: check out all the details at the

HIGH PRAISE

www.dragginjeans.net website. Write to retro@

RETROBIKE #22 is surely your best yet, and not because I had three stories in it! It bears valid comparison with Eurotitles like Moto

universalmagazines.com.au or to our page

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Jacket Harvey 76 Art. 5424

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