Classic Motorcycle Mechanics ( PDFDrive )

FREE BARRYSHEENE ssuumpmpleermof ‘ AUGUST 2016 ISSUE 346 Benelli 2C ridd CMM rides Suzuki’s special brew! Knowledge: Project: Skills: Fit your own £100 Hound Vibration plug inserts Honda VFR750F suppression PROJECT BIKES HONDA CB125T ❙ YAMAHA TX500 ❙ YAMAHA FZ600 RACER ❙ DUCATI 888 RACER ❙ CLASSIFIEDS BUYING A CLASSIC



August 2016 We’ve never had it so good… Issue 346 As I tap the keyboard it seems Great Britain It seems that we should be glad we weren’t! Publisher: Steve Rose, is in turmoil. The referendum has left political And as for spare parts, things are getting better [email protected] parties leaderless and set friend against friend all the time with the big manufacturers realising Contributors: Joe Dick, Kevin Larkins, when it comes to the big question of whether that we spend a lot of money keeping our we should be in or out of Europe… Meanwhile, classics on the road. Andy Westlake. in more important news, I reckon we’ve never Art Editor: Justin Blackamore had it so good. And that’s not all. Head to page 32 and you’ll Picture Desk: Paul Fincham, see the future is bright when it comes to the Why? Have a quick look at our news pages. restoration of classic two-wheelers. We spoke Jonathan Schofield Our brethren in the classic car world are to Jack Watts, a 13-year-old who is intent on Divisional advertising manager: bemoaning the fact that they’re finding it hard making the restoration of classic mopeds and to get some parts for their modern classics. motorcycles his life as well as his hobby. How Martin Freeman Add into the fact that there are thousands of cool is that? If anything, this shows that the [email protected] modern classic cars sitting idle thanks to future of modern classic motorcycling – be it 2009’s scrappage scheme and you’ll see the restoration or riding of them – has never Tel: 01507 529538 what I’m hinting at. been so rosy. Advertising: Sam Dearie, Lynsey Young Back in the day the Motor Cycle Industry editor [email protected], Association bemoaned the fact that our Tel: 01507 529583 industry wasn’t offered the same deal. [email protected] www.facebook.com/ClassicMechanics/ www.twitter.com/cmmmag 01507 529575 Bertie Simmonds John Nutting Mark Forsyth Subscription manager: Paul Deacon Circulation manager: Steven O’Hara Back on track… Café crème! Rapid (old) Racer Marketing manager: Charlotte Park [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] I now know exactly what I’m going to Nutters has style… check out the CRK Mark’s quest to rebuild his booming Publishing director: Dan Savage do with both my projects and have Café Racer kit bikes he rode, built from V-twin racer begins with a look at the Commercial director: Nigel Hole even set a deadline for them! Triumph’s Herculean Hinckley triples! restoration of the motor. Associate director: Malc Wheeler Steve Cooper Niall Mackenzie Ralph Ferrand Editorial address: Older/nicer stuff editor Cub leader! Tiddler take three Morton Wa Horncastle [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Lincolnshire LN9 6JR Scoop enjoys a Benelli 2C this month As soon as he finished his RD400F, Niall Ralph’s still buried in CB125T tiddler and tells us how to suppress vibration. knew what he wanted to take on next: guts and tells us how to sort the head Website: www.classicmechanics.com And he’s done a Z900 buyer’s guide! a Honda C70. this month. General enquiries and back issues: Tel: 01507 529529 24 hour answer Andy Bolas Jack Watts Scott Redmond www.classicmagazines.co.uk VJMC Youngster Child prodigy Social Media Queen Archivist: Jane Skayman [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] s ayman mor ons.co.u , Our man Bolas is back with the basics 13-year-old from Norfolk tells us in this In three months Scottie has fired our this month as he gives us the low- issue how he salvaged and sorted a Facebook page from 5000 likes to more rates (but see page 34 for offers): down on how to sort out your fluids! moped legend. Respect! than 16,500 and counting! (12 months 12 issues, inc post and Mark Haycock Chris Moss Lynsey Young – .. – The Q&A King Future star? Super Skippy! [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] details. UK subscriptions are zero-rated Mark answers your questions once No, not Mossy, the machine he Quick Come on people! If you advertise with or t e purposes o a ue e ax. more this month and tells us how he Spins for us. Have you even heard of us you will get to speak to this lovely Customer services: sorted his fuel cap issues on his TX500. an Aprilia Futura? lady! Although she’s actually a Kiwi! Lines are o en: Monday-Friday 8.30am-7pm www.classicmechanics.com / 3 . -: Distribution: COMAG, Tavistock Road, ,. Tel: 01895 433600 Subscription agents: CLASSIC MAGAZINE, Media Centre, Morton Wolverhampton Published date: CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS Wednesda of ever month Next issue: August 17, 2016 Advertising deadline: , . reserved. No part of this publication ma be re roduced or transmitted in any orm or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher. ISSN 0959-0900 CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS magazine takes all responsible steps to ensure advice and technical tips are written by experienced and competent people. We also advise readers to seek further professional advice if they are unsure at any time. Anything technical written by the editor is exempt – he’s rubbish with spanners. CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS (USPS:729-550) is published monthly by Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ UK. USA subscriptions are $60 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. Periodical Postage is paid at Wisconsin Rapids, WI. Postmaster: Send address changes to CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS, Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. 715- 572-4595 [email protected] Independent publisher since 1885 Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine? Why not Just Ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month?



64 ❙ WORKSHOP NEWS Contents New bits and pieces out there. 06 ARCHIVE 34 SUBSCRIBE! 66 ❙ Q&A 08 Mark Haycock with more tips. What happened when four- Dear all: we need you 13 strokes tackled two-strokes. to subscribe! 68 ❙ BASIC MAINTENANCE 18 Andy Bolas on changing fluids, 20 2001 APRILIA 38 1974 SUZUKI GT750L coolant etc. 22 RST1000 FUTURA 26 Steve Cooper on a core 72 ❙ YAMAHA TX500 32 Mossy mounts a quirky classic. Mark Haycock sorts his fuel caps. Italian sports-tourer. 74 ❙ HONDA C70 NEWS 46 BEAMISH SUZUKI Niall Mackenzie on his latest project in CMM! Why we have it better than the John Matthews restores a trial classic car world. Or do we? iron. Feet ooop! 78 ❙ YAMAHA TZ250 S James Whitham on sorting his CALENDAR 52 CRK TRIUMPH CAFÉ racer’s motor. 60 RACERS Lots happening in the month 63 80 ❙ HONDA VFR750 F-R of August. John Nutting on the beautiful Bertie’s £100 Hound comes to a CRK Hinckley kit bikes. crossroads. FEEDBACK RETRO REBOOT 88 ❙ DUCATI 888 Lots of your lovely letters. Mark Forsyth on the engine What if Yamaha built am rebuild of his rare racer. SHOW US YOURS FZ750 for today? 92 ❙ HONDA CB125T With added nostalgia! Check SAVE! SAVE! SAVE! Ralph Ferrand’s part three on this out ‘The way we were!’ tiddler twin. Yes! If you want to save on BENELLI 2C your subscription come here! 98 ❙ PLUG INSERTS Pip Higham on replacing plug Steve Cooper rides this 130 NEXT MONTH threads, the best way. beautiful Italian machine. Like old Ducatis or Yamaha’s FJ1100? Then tune in! 110 ❙ KAWASAKI Z900 YOUNG GUN Scoop on why this could be better than a Z1. 13-year-old Jack Watts shows our future is in good hands. 114 ❙ YAMAHA FZ600 RACER ‘Spike’ Edwards on Project Nancy. 127 ❙ CLASSIC CLASS… What is it about the 900 class that makes it special? www.c assicmechanics.com / 5

/ mechanics

Cbeudrifoeullsows down on the winner. Sure, this was in the days of depleted grids, but in his autobiography entitled PHOTOS: DON MORLEY WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS Rocket Men, Ron says: “The high point of 1991 for me was being in the British Grand Prix. In truth, the What on Earth is a Ducati F1 twin doing on-track organisers let me ride the Norton as they knew I had with the quirky Elf 500 two-stroke Grand Prix bike? no chance of winning. It was also hard to calculate the cc of the rotary engine because it hadn’t got Well, the late 1980s/early 1990s threw up a cylinders, so it was allowed in as a 500cc two- few times where a four-stroke would take on a cylinder. The reception from the crowd was the best two-stroke – well before 2002 when 500cc strokers I’d ever had. Everywhere I went on the Norton I was were battling the new 990cc four-strokes as the asked for my autograph far more than when I’d been MotoGP era dawned. Freddie Spencer’s team-mate. Twelfth was highly respectable considering what I was riding, but the CMM contributor and legendary photographer Don noise was deafening. For the first time in my life I Morley saw our features on the Ducati 888 and its could hear the crowd as I went around the track. forebears and sent us a number of shots of Marco That was an incredible sensation.” cmm Lucchinelli on the F1-derived machine. Don, who was on the GP trail for many years, said: “Lucky practiced for the Nations ‘Italian’ GP at Monza back in 1987 and did so under two different numbers.” Hence we can show you this shot of him alongside our own Ron Haslam on the number 9 Elf Honda 500. Marco didn’t race but the 22 finishers included Wayne Gardner as the winner, Rob McElnea on a Yamaha just ahead of Ron himself. This wasn’t the last time strange four-strokes were battling against the two-strokes. In 1991 two riders took the rotary four-stroke Nortons to battle against the 500s. Steve Spray took a Roton to 15th place in the Australian Grand Prix of that year, while Rocket Ron went better still at the British Grand Prix at Donington Park taking 12th position just one lap mechanics

8 / classic motorcycle mechanics

Mossy is surprised that the fanciable Futura didn’t sell well, making it a rare modern classic. WORDS: CHRIS MOSS PHOTOS: MIKE WESTON As a journo you prefer to think any bike you personally rate and recommend should then go on to succeed. When it doesn’t, you begin to question your judgement – even though there can be plenty of reasons for a good bike not to sell well. That was definitely the case with Aprilia's Futura sports-tourer. My first ride on one at its launch in 2001 had me tap my keyboard with very positive comments. It looked good, rode well, felt really comfy, and wasn’t a VFR! The optimism became more pronounced not long later when I pitched the big Italian V-twin against its closest rivals and it put on a bloody good show. That’ll keep Aprilia dealers’ tills ringing, thought I. With that opinion shared by fellow hacks, the Futura’s future seemed bright. A decade and half later, following another outing on the Aprilia, I’m still a bit mystified why it wasn’t a hit. As it turns out though, the lack of sales wasn’t down the performance of the bike at all. The earlier 1999 RSV Mille sportsbike may have done well, proving Aprilia could build a popular big bike. But the idea of clocking up big miles on the Futura sports tourer wasn’t something many seemed too keen on. It was a bit too pricey, not everyone rated its angular styling, and dealer back up fell short. With its designer, Pierluigi Marconi, heading off to Benelli just a year after the bike went on sale, the bike’s development stagnated. Perhaps he’d seen the light. Not long after he departed, Aprilia started running out of cash, so though the Futura benefited from minor upgrades in 2003 (and was renamed the Futura RS Touring), the plug was pulled on its production at the end of that year. It was never really given enough time to become a hit. The sales failure makes them a very rare sight on the roads today. If you want to stand out, then the Futura can guarantee exclusively. There’s also a lot of other good stuff it can be relied on to provide. www.classicmechanics.com / 9

It’s obvious one such plus point, and not Future by name and Aiding speed along the backroads I tried it on was something you’d automatically associate with an nature. the Aprilia’s excellent steering. The whole bike has a Italian bike, is its ability to take you far and wide. As light and fairly flickable feel, but the way the front soon as I’d nestled into place on the Futura, I found More ‘sports’ than end can be turned in confidently is really the relative positions of contact points for hands, tourer. encouraging. You really know where you are with feet and bum were set agreeably. Allied to a things, making faster rides feel really confident. generously sized fairing, and a sizeable seat, I Those four-pot Brembos help with the belief too. looked forward to going on a long and comfortable Given their age, and just how much the braking run. Firing up the 60° V-twin instantly added to the performance has come along in recent years, the enthusiasm. There’s a hell of a lot of pipework to stoppers are still pretty impressive. I’d wager the keep the Futura exhaust gases clean and quiet, but calipers have benefited from being regularly cleaned the distinctive growl from the system’s underseat and serviced. can is still raucous enough to please your lugholes. A fairly light clutch and slick box lets you snick into first without too much mechanical racket, and serves as a reminder that the Aprilia was viewed by many as an Italian bike with as much of a sorted feel as a Japanese machine. Having to adjust the mirrors perfectly to compensate for their limited rearward view shows there’s still a bit to go though. It’s clear the 25,000-mile example I had a run on has been cherished since day one, and rode really nicely. Even now both forks and shock are pretty plush in feel, but the comfort comes without too much compromise to control. Even when you’re pushing on a bit, there’s no wallowing or weaving. Instead each end gives a lovely balance of support and isolates you from the rigours of today’s knackered roads. To be honest, the suspension felt so composed I was surprised to see the rear shock was the original, though I do suspect the forks have probably been serviced or possibly reworked. 10 / classic motorcycle mechanics

SPECIFICATION Ap20r0i1lia I bought one of those ENGINE TYPE 998cc, liquid-cooled, DOHC, Alex Smith, 62, bought his doing around a 1000 miles a guy to look after the 2002 Futura in 2011. He’s done year, so I flogged it and packed maintenance for me. When I 8-valve, 60° V-twin 19,000 miles on it since. biking in for a while. Then I first got it, I kept overfilling the MAXIMUM POWER came across the Futura. engine as I kept thinking it 113bhp @ 9250rpm “No doubt about it, my needed more oil. It’s quite MAXIMUM TORQUE Futura is a pleasure-only bike, “A mate had had it for a tricky to check the level and all 71lb-ft @ 7000rpm and I only use it for special couple of years, and was just the oil I’d add would just get occasions. When they first too busy to ride it. I toyed with blown back into the airbox. TRANSMISSION came out I had an RSV Mille the idea of taking it off his 6-speed which I loved. I fancied the hands for a while, but when I “A local lad put me in the idea of a Futura, but my did, I knew I’d made the right picture and has done all the FINAL DRIVE sportsbike days weren’t over decision. It just feels like a servicing ever since. He’s fitted Chain so it didn’t appeal quite really comfy, toned down Mille some braided lines, a FRAME enough. Then when I did get a to me. I like the punchy motor, Scottoiler and a Power bit more sensible I ended up and that it’s not too fast. Commander. It’s made the bike Aluminium twin spar buying a soddin’ VFR800! The much nicer to ride and look SUSPENSION Honda worked well, but hell “The handling’s good after. It only comes out when it was dull. enough, and better still, I can the sun shines and I don’t Front: 43mm inverted still walk after I’ve done a think I’ll ever sell it. I’ve never telescopic forks, adjustable “I felt too embarrassed to couple of hundred miles on it. seen another one on the road admit I owned the thing. I got The seat is super plush. I’m since I bought it.” preload and rebound to the point where I was only quite lucky to have found a damping Rear: rising-rate monoshock, adjustable preload and rebound damping BRAKES Front: twin 298mm discs with four piston calipers Rear: 255mm disc, twin-piston caliper TYRES Front: 120/70-17 Rear: 180/55-17 SEAT HEIGHT 830mm WHEELBASE 1435mm DRY WEIGHT 210kg FUEL CAPACITY 20.5 litres Testing everything the chassis can offer is an doubting the RST still has plenty of appeal as far as Capable and comfy: excellent motor. Essentially a retuned version of the riding’s concerned. In that respect the bike scores don’t bother hanging 60° V-twin lump that first made its name in the well, and given it wasn’t a hit in its day, has the real off like an ape, mind. acclaimed RSV Mille, it’s both fast and flexible. It bonus of rarity value. The Futura is the last sports- delivers substantial thrust as soon as you open the tourer to leave the Italian firm’s factory doors, which throttle, even if the gear you’re in is a bit high. There is a shame, as a quick look on eBay shows you can can be a sharpness to the delivery at times, but all pick them up for as little as £1500-£2000. cmm in all you’d have to describe the engine as friendly. Hang onto the revs a bit more and urgency picks up at 5000rpm, and then from 7000rpm on the motor pulls impressively strongly. In saying that, the speed increase is linear and in keeping with the generally refined nature of the bike. The expected comfort is delivered too. The big fairing and screen do indeed offer ample wind protection, and the seat is as kind on your posterior as it looks. However, here’s the Futura’s Marmite point. Though the sports tourer’s dynamic ability is undoubtedly worthy of praise, much more open to interpretation is the way it looks. A number of new bikes that have looked ahead of their time have strangely not fared too well aesthetically as the years have rolled by. Key candidates are those with very angular outlines like the 2005 Triumph Daytona 650 and, of course this Aprilia. The Futura still pleases my eyes but several others were quick to point out how dated it looked. Whatever your view, there’s no www.classicmechanics.com / 11



& events WMRAOEIMSNEEORYT!O Cars awaiting the crusher from the scrappage scheme. Our old friends at Wemoto are at it We’ve never had it so good! again. Last year, through the sale of Many of us share a passion for all things retro and to keep their machines on the road – something its Festival of Jurby classic – be they on two or four wheels – so it’s we’ve been doing for years. T-shirts, Wemoto interesting and sad to hear news from the four- raised more than wheeled classic scene. But it goes deeper than that, as the manufacturers £10,000 for the themselves seem hell-bent on pushing new vehicles MGP Supporters’ It seems that there is a shortage of parts for some (even retro-remakes of old classics) rather than Club to assist in modern classic cars from the 1980s through to the supporting the machinery that made them famous in funding its life-saving 1990s and all because manufacturers fail to support the first place. Compare that attitude to Suzuki, helicopter ambulance the enthusiasts and owners’ clubs. In the modern which has embraced the whole retro parts scene on the Isle of Man. classic car press we’ve read that owners of such thanks to their Vintage Parts Programme. Yamaha German classics as Volkswagen and Audi (especially also still sell parts for its classic machines, while a This year, Wemoto the sought-after Quattros) have to use salvage yards number of specialists such as Yambits and David wants to raise more! Silver Spares ensure parts for Yamaha and Hondas. The firm’s 2016 No crusher for this. T-shirt design sports Now add into the mix the Government-sponsored the Triumph T100GP scrappage scheme. In 2009 the Government spent ridden by Ernie Lyons £300 million to get us into new cars to help in his famous 1946 stimulate the economy. Old cars were swapped for Manx Grand Prix win. £1000 against a new car purchase. The result now is It’s endorsed and that 4000 cars were scrapped but many are still signed by John stored on disused airfields, awaiting the crusher and McGuinness and a number are modern classics that could be restored. other racing legends, Little wonder more than 33,250 (at the time of and is available to writing) classic car fans have signed a petition asking buy from www. the current government to rescind the crushing order wemoto.com. All on classic status cars. Imagine an airfield with a profits raised will go tenth of that number of classic bikes awaiting the to the Manx Grand crusher. It doesn’t bear thinking about… Prix Supporters’ Club to help fund the vital Z1 immortalised. Again. helicopter ambulance which is used during There’s no getting away from pages with 100 illustrations, practice weeks and the legendary draw of the Kawasaki Z1 is out now and race days at the Isle of Man. In the event of an incident, it provides an essential rescue service, which is able to access otherwise hard to reach parts of the TT course in a matter of minutes, complete with medical staff and equipment. The 2016 T-shirts are available now for just £10. www.classicmechanics.com / 13

& events Final Edition W-series The sunny side of the classic world, with the VJMC’s Steve Cooper Kawasaki has announced the end of resplendent in its remarkable Candy the iconic W-series of four-stroke Brown and Candy Sunset Orange Years ago I car vertical twin motorcycles more than 50 paint scheme. shared with years since they first appeared. an annoying The W800 with its authentic retro colleague who The W800 ‘Final Edition’ marks the look and feel is considered by many to could always say end of an era and a limited number be a modern day classic. The clean the wrong thing will be available for 2016/2017. The and simple lines of the beautifully at the wrong time. He had first model of the W-series emerged sculpted air-cooled four-stroke vertical an overriding ability to from the Kawasaki factory in Akashi, twin air-cooled motor beautifully ape state the blindingly obvious Japan, in the mid-1960s. Suitably the first W1 which Kawasaki launched at the precise point in time christened the W800 ‘Final Edition’, in 1966. Kawasaki launched the retro when you really didn’t the last model of the line is W800 in 2001, following on from the need his input. How he’d W650 of 1998. Sadly, due to Euro retained his own teeth emissions laws, the W800 has to die. and a straight nose was Corporate planning director for anyone’s guess. Two decades Kawasaki Motors Europe, Morihiro on one of pearls of wisdom now Ikoma, said: “It’s never easy to say seems worryingly apposite – goodbye to an old friend, especially procrastination is the thief of one as iconic as the W800. Paying time. Just six words yet homage to the W-series with this Final they’re packed with Edition is a truly fitting end to a long wisdom even if you don’t and successful line of machines.” want to take it on board. Suzuki clothing range is launched It’s so damn easy putting off jobs when it comes to classic motorcycles. After all they’re old bikes, Suzuki has a fine following in they’ve been about for years, and you’re in no rush classic circles and they are now so what’s the reason to get all het up? It’s simply starting to cash in on this with an the fact that they have been about for years that excellent new range of modern and means you, I and our mates need to digitus retro clothing. extractum. Just how much longer do you think that you’ll be able to buy oversized pistons for a Kit comes in the form of hoodies, Kawasaki A7, how many more sets of OEM CBX6 T-shirts and additions to its popular head gaskets are there out there, will anyone ever make replica tanks for early Gixxers? See what I mean? The longer any of us chews the fat about obtaining vital spares the less chance there is of fixing that bike. Please re-analyse that opening statement. The same goes for jobs such as maintenance, service, repair or restoration. All but a few gung ho individuals hit the buffers sometimes. A project or repair stalls because we’re either awaiting spares, tools, a manual, a mate’s help or, occasionally inspiration. When the moment does come you may very well have subconsciously convinced yourself the job is beyond you, it’ll be fraught with problems or some vital widget is still missing. And once again the longer you leave it the harder it is to get back on track. Sitting there debating the job with yourself robs you of both the ability to carry out the task and the time to actually get it sorted. We’re all of us pretty much afflicted at some point and the key is getting the job into proportion in your head. Last year I’d convinced myself sorting out the RD350’s hydraulics would be a nightmare. In reality and assisted by the correct tools it was an easy morning’s work. Now that same mind-set needs to be applied to my long running Suzuki Stinger restoration…. Dear sir, please rush me some gumption and inspiration! www.vjmc.com ❙ 01324 410519 14 / classic motorcycle mechanics



Memories are made of this, that and the other, says Pip Higham… According to that internet, degree, like the Whether he needs this lot is open to debate... what defines us is how camshaft conundrum well we rise after we fall. on my Six, how to Gloves from P Read. They cried ‘enough!’ Personally I think that’s a load pass the four cams of tosh. It feels like just a cosy through the ends of again, we’ll see. On was rubbish anyway). platitude that makes some the inner heads and my big bench is a But I keep a few people feel good about thence to the outer fairly potent (about because, well, I’m not themselves. I once fell heads through a 200bhp) drag bike, it actually sure, I just (jumped actually) off a canal fresh air gap of about has submerged pumps and a like them around. I’ve got a bridge – I didn’t rise well after 10mm without incurring a digital engine management few bits of riding kit too, gave that little experiment, in fact I lube-nami that would be system and a ‘lost motion’ away most of the helmets I just lay there for a bit thinking visible from Wigan? I hit upon gear selector and hundreds of wore back in the day, my Bell what a complete tw*t I was. the solution (which was, like other tricks up its sleeve. ‘Suicide Slit’ among others, In fact I’ve fallen quite a few all the best solutions, dead There are a few boxes with old long gone. But I’ve still got an times, out of a perfectly simple) while I was doing a magazines in, ranging from a M1 Bell that I lost temporarily serviceable plane, off the edge spot of flagging on my drive. 1968 copy of Motorcycle when the bag containing it of a 30ft snow bank on the I can also see some parts, Mechanics full of pictures of and the rest of my kit, Cresta Run, closely followed either fitted to a bike, or Jawas for £120 brand new, to leathers, boots, gloves, the by 50kg of skeletal toboggan, possibly just sitting there the February and June 1977 lot, fell out of my pickup in even fell (jumped again) off a waiting for their moment to issues of Cycle with the story the middle of Anglesey on the substantial piece of granite shine: there’s a lovely Dell of Cook Neilson and Phil way back from the TT, a bod with a couple of old nylon Orto SSi float chamber, that Schilling entering the fray in picked up the bag and gave sheets strapped to my back in might go on a 250 Ducati I’m an attempt to take on the chase, I think he caught me Turkey. Can’t say I felt in the process of ‘dry factory teams at Daytona with up about Llandudno, what a particularly proud or re- building’. I’d considered their home brewed ‘Old Blue’ nice chap. So the thing, or defined after any of the above, fitting it onto a 125 but, V-twin Ducati. I acknowledge things that define me are just just pleased to survive and although it’s extremely nice, it that within these covers there ‘aides memoire’. They jog then say ‘where can I get a just strikes me that it’s too big is an excellent mix of something deep in the grey cold ‘un?’ for the tiny 125. We’ll see. technical and journalistic mursh between my ears, could And there’s an offset expertise, but if you ever get be good, could be bad, but But if I step into my shed crankpin, one of a pair I had the chance, read Cook and those experiences and, more (it’s not a f***in’ ‘Man Cave’) made a while back to Phil’s Great Adventure: importantly, the people who I get a nice feeling usually. de-stroke a small crank to get Beyond Racer Road, The shared those times are what I’m among friends. Okay, the capacity below 100cc California Hot Rod it’s a define me, speaking of people they’re inanimate objects, but while still retaining a masterpiece. There are the I’ve just opened a box with a they have a significant part to reasonable bore diameter thus inevitable boxes containing pair of gloves in, given to me play in the ‘who’, or possibly allowing decent (but still tiny) broken bits, amulets to the when I was sponsored (in a the ‘what’ I am. They make sized valves. I don’t know of Gods of Speed, a snapped small way) by Phil Read. Phil me think, which is good, I anyone else who has done cam and valves with heads at actually came to watch at The have to consider jobs that this, which isn’t surprising jaunty angles, some with no Pod in about 1979. I can need to be done, or possibly because it is, categorically, a heads at all. Of course these remember him asking me jobs that have been done, jobs daft venture from any angle bits are useless, they’re paper about my startline technique; that have tested my patience at all, but I’ll give it a go and weights, they need to be float I think I said: “Just close my and determination to the nth tested (ancient Merchant eyes, hang on, pop the clutch Navy test: throw it in the sea, and hope for a happy ending.” Two past their sell-by date lids! if it floats, it’s okay, if not it Some things never change. 16 / classic motorcycle mechanics

www.classicmechanics.com / 17

see you there! August Popham perfection! August 14 If you want an action-packed a Spitfire flypast – although this family fun day this August then is subject to weather. Any bike look no further than the Popham over 30 years old gets a free entry Motorcycle Megameet and Bike pass provided the owner sends us Jumble event on August 14. a self-addressed envelope.” Organiser Dick Richardson says Groups attending the show the event came about following a include the AJS owners’ club, the Ducati event, the Megameet is VJMC, Vincent OC, the now in its 10th year. He says: Motorcycle Action Group and “Many years ago we had a Ducati many more, as well as many Megameet at Popham and traders on the countless following its success I decided to autojumble stands. have a bash at a classic bike gathering and try to make it very Popham airfield has been informal. Over the umpteen years ‘motorcycle friendly’ for many since, we have succeeded in this years, hosting a number of bike quest and I think all those who events over countless decades. visit our show will tell you it’s one They even welcome bikers of the best on the calendar! year-round (well, except for Christmas Eve and Christmas “We have all facilities including Day, but that’s not bad eh? those for disabled people, so that’s food, a bar, toilets plus the Popham Airfield is at Coxford Class of 58 Rock and Roll band! Down, Winchester in Hampshire For 2016, we have been promised SO21 3BD. For more go to: www.popham-airfield.co.uk 4 LE Velo Lancs & S Lakes, Warwickshire, CV37 8LL 20 Scorton Giant Auto/Bike Burnsall Meet. 01772 782516. www.bulldogbash.co.uk Jumble, 12-14 Bexhill MotoFest, North Yorkshire Events Centre 6 Rufforth Autojumble. De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill DL10 6EJ www.rufforthautojumble.com on Sea, East Sussex TN40 1DP. 21 Ace Cafe London Ladies Day, 7 ’Normous Newark, www.bexhillmotofest.com Bring What Ya Run Newark Showground, Notts NG24 13-14 Driffield Steam www.ace-cafe-london.com 2NY. www.newarkautojumble.co.uk & Vintage Rally. The Showground, Driffield, 21 Kenley Autojumble The 7 British Two Stroke Club. YO25 9DN. Portcullis Club, The Belvoir Run, The Lime Kiln, www.driffieldvintagerally.co.uk Kenley Airfield, CR3 5FX: Cropwell Bishop, Notts. Contact: 14 Brackley Festival of www.facebook.com/ 0116 275 0532. Motorcycling, KenleyAutojumble Northants NN13 7AB 7 Garstang Autojumble, www.brackleyfestival 21 Festival of Bikes. Hamilton House Farm, on A586, ofmotorcycling.co.uk. Cheltenham Racecourse PR3 0TB www.garstang 14 36th Lancs Classic Car and www.TheCustomShow.com autojumbles.co.uk Motorcycle Show. www.classicshows.org 21 Oliver’s Mount Hill Climbs, 7 Ace Cafe London. 14 Ace Cafe London VMCC 70th www.oliversmountracing.com Suzuki GS 40th Anniversary. Anniversary & Classic Bike www.ace-cafe-london.com Day www.ace-cafe-london.com 21 Tewkesbury Classic Vehicle 17 SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF Festival, 9-14 VMCC Essex Camping. CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE Tewkesbury School, GL20 8DF: www.vmcc-essex.co.uk MECHANICS www.tewkesburycvf.org 10 Bike Night, 21 Festival of Bikes, Plough Inn, Town Street, Cheltenham Racecourse, Evesham Retford, Notts DN22 0BT. Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 4SH 11-14 The Bulldog Bash – Long www.TheCustomshow.com Marston Airfield, Stratford-upon-Avon, 18 / classic motorcycle mechanics

www.classicmechanics.com / 19

Post to Mechanics, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ or email your pictures to [email protected] WIN a Scottoiler bike care pack Every month we’re giving away a Scottoiler Bike Care Pack to the writer of the best submitted letter we receive. The pack contains two litres of Scottoiler FS365; giving you the ultimate in summer and winter corrosion protection. Simply get in touch by sending emails to: [email protected] or post your letters to the normal address, giving contact details just in case you are that lucky winner. **Prize winner****** “I just can’t help myself!” This is my 1977 Yamaha FS1-E. I found this bike for sale in Lincolnshire. It has had two previous owners from the same family, father Chris' happy days! and son. The father encouraged his son to sell the bike as the shed it was kept in was Super SS125! leaking. The bike was last doing the rounds in 1985, still in original condition. After loading I really enjoyed reading your the bike into my partner’s Citroen Picasso, I feature on Scoop’s project found when I got it home after putting fresh Honda SS125 last year. I petrol in the spark plug hole after a few kicks couldn’t resist sending in a it fired up! My best mate Shayne said: “What a photo of my own SS125 which proud moment!” Since purchase I’ve I owned for a short while when commenced a slow restoration, a recommission I lived in Bristol in 1984/85. using only genuine Yamaha parts from the UK The bike was one of two and Holland. The engine has been kept advertised in the local rag for standard and (as from new) the piston remains £100 each. The one I bought original. The FS1-E is now my pride and joy Careful, it’s catching! was painted in dark blue and silver, and from what I even more so as it’s a rare model with last of remember was pretty standard. unrestricted version with Autolube. The bad news now is I’ve just purchased a Yamaha It went well, and I bravely RD350LC, X-reg UK bike, another ongoing rode it up to Coventry one project. Hopefully both will be restored and on weekend to see an old friend show in the near future. What can I say? Being who was at Warwick University. a qualified Yamaha-trained mechanic, I just That’s where we took a few can’t help myself. photos messing about on the bikes. The Honda got me there David Stephen and back in one piece, although I remember a few Bertie says: “I’m not going to admonish Lovely Fizzy, Dave! bits had vibrated off by the you on that one David. We’re all hooked and time I got back to Bristol! I have the bug! Enjoy!” didn't keep the bike for long as I didn’t have a garage, or any still less the dreadful CZ Cool wheelie! Reg pops one up! money, but it wasn’t long singles and twins! They were before I was back on two crap then and still are, but life Hey Bertie, Canadian wheels. I now have a garage is about variety and enjoying subscriber here! You posted a full of RD200s in various our bikes – as long as we love pic of my streetfighter in your stages of rebuild which one ’em that’s what matters! Keep mag a month or two ago! How day I may write a feature on up the excellent work! cool! Thanks! Here is a pic of for your brilliant mag. Please a CR125 from 1973. I bought keep publishing the letters for Chris Cluff it as a 14-year-old and it came and against plastic rockets and in three boxes. Me and a the like. We all have our likes Bertie says: “Get neighbourhood dirt biking and dislikes, and as a scribbling on your RD200 buddy put it together. We had two-stroke fan from the article Chris. And you’re right, to do a Helicoil head stud 1970s, I fail to see how we can’t all agree but what thing to it and replace a shift anyone can get excited about spins our respective cranks is fork. We put in new rings and bikes like the Honda 400 what keeps this hobby going!” we rode the sh*t out of it. automatic, or Superdream, and 20 / classic motorcycle mechanics

SUBSCRIBE TODAY SHARE YOUR PROJECT WITH THE WORLD! SEE PAGE 34-35 FOR DETAILS Here’s a pic. They were It’s not just Stan… scanned by friend who took them so they are 11 meg! Sh*t, don’t know why! This goes out to Stan Stephens. Stan, on seeing your efforts in a recent issue where you Reg Penner show us what horrors lurk within some of the Bertie says: “Reg, that’s bikes you pull apart to make better, I thought I a superb shot mate! Loving could share some of my grief with you too! I the wheelie!” have attached a selection of bodges that I have encountered over the years, these of course are Spotlight on the not the worse ones, but the ones I remembered 850 please! to take a photo of, so please use what you wish! I would like to see the GS850 And Stan, keep up the good work, your articles range added to the Suzuki are like a breath of fresh air: you tell it like it is ‘Spotlight Range’ as part of – no bragging or posing – straight to the point the Vintage Parts Programme. with warts and all! I also go with the GS1000, but I do think that the 850 is Neale Didcock very underrated. Mine is a Bertie says: “Nice one Neale: some GS850 GX, from 1981 humdingers there!” although it was first registered 1983 I guess it was sitting in a crate or unloved at the back of a shop. I purchased it in 1986. It has 40,000 miles and apart from stainless-steel brake hoses, a Motad 4-into-1 and stainless pannier carrier and back rack which I designed and made myself it is totally original. Pete Wood find yourself sharing a cabin remembers tuning it. He Ahead of its time and with a stranger) appears should as it was his first AR revolutionary in many ways, Bertie says: “Pete, she’s nowadays to be very he’d done and that it got the CX surely made a greater a beaut. It’s nice to see such a expensive. Project Malaga: if I locked in a room when he was impact than the CBX in 1978. long-running relationship.” were to fly to southern Spain, having an extension built in Water-cooling, tubeless tyres, purchase a trail bike to explore his Sevenoaks workshop, electric ignition, 80-90mph Sergio Leones spaghetti which delayed me collecting it cruising, comfort, smoothness western heartland and for a while and I was gutted… and economy, plus a great consequently return to When he tuned it the bike it exhaust note. England on it, what had a Micron on it instead. paperwork/problems/B.S. Those were the days! All of that in a mass market would I need to go through to bike in 1978 at a bargain cross the channel? PS: As I Tim Davies price! I own a similar age BMW RT which in 1978 would GS850 rocks! have no friends, would there Bertie says: “Ahhh Tim. have sold for more than double be any other off road novices We know you’ve not always the cost of the CX. I also own interested in joining me? If so been a Kawasaki man but that two CXs and I know which is Please come with me! please email me at is a lovely 125!” the more advanced machine I currently keep two Yamaha [email protected] and at a bargain price too. XT600s: one a 1991 model Don’t forget, in 1978 we all and the other a 2003 model. I Simon Smith thought it had great brakes, a brilliant headlight and decent rode an XLR250 around the Bertie says: “Can’t say I road manners but the Picos de Europa mountains know the B.S. you’d need to journalists could not accept its twenty-odd years ago – it was go through. Personally, I’d hop unique style. Nevertheless, the excellent, check out this trail. on one of the XTs and go do it. public proved them wrong as This trail trip Anyone want to join wasn’t it Britain’s biggest began via a Simon?” Pokey AR125... seller at the time? ferry from Portsmouth to My rapid CX greatness! Sounds like a success to Bilbao. The AR125! Recalling Chris Moss’ main me. I’ve had one of my CXs for price of myself Hey Bertie, look at test on the CX500 some time 24 years and hope to be still and the bike – this old beauty: a back, asking if it’s an absolute riding it in another 24 years, if a berth and a proper fast AR125 classic… don’t dither Chris, it I’m lucky to last that long! bike (a berth is which used to do is! Great feature but that just a berth and over a ton courtesy of age-old conservatism in the Andrew Lindley you will most a Stan Stephens UK just prevented Chris likely, at least if tune. If you speak to making a total commitment. Bertie says: “Right on, a solo traveller, Stan, ask him if he He will when he buys one! Andrew! Glad you love the Enjoy some trails! humble CX500!” www.classicmechanics.com / 21

yo eY s ascnhpadynrosir.dusDe’tavooet btrgdhseeoeimtwnjofieirnmtyohintotionftnaeuodnolclfusdoh@twr.hspmeeBraneeomgadrredttaibsoege,enr..ssfsLo.o.erceytoou.auusnkdckoanarnoftmwerail Wwpcpeyrwmihel’ocavfsauwtasoetnurtvot.ictrosnohrceeearouaoascmtmtrmwbiyooiootcbefneeetilyyneodakrooscdrennufcuousidoyypnr.tlwnogcoabwmlureedeiawkritdiittnkenohirwhoiisewtaeanThssatrnsmuihenioc.nrodenhtieRnnote.yHehdiSapeoomeioostaoufut,eUbcsirrtcsmhtbiKesebotybsnuuahmtuoedmlteCdoebrgiakstomtnwioziomvTtriiyi.ensacsnopsemygouitancouhirldnynreeay ot a e ’v and ots if Mick Thomas’ Kawasaki Z900 Hybrid Hi Berti ght I’d send some pics it: the frame was modified and of m 0 Hybrid that I built over the strengthened by Racefit, then altered as it’s something a little further by a mate Jim King to make the rent. It started out life as a Z900 engine fit. I then had it powder-coated that had already been butchered chrome and painted candy green over d stood in a shed for 12 years, so I it to give the finish you see here. It ued it and fitted a 1200 Bandit then went back to Racefit to have a engine and electrics along the way. one-off titanium Legend system fitted. h h ls took forever to It came together quite well. Thanks to but they were worth Fastladpictures for these shots! KIT WINNER / mechanics

Colin Jay’s 1977 Yamaha YB100 Hello from South Australia! In Septem er l supervisor at the local rubbish tip asking if I was i nn orange Yamaha 100 that a guy was about to throw rap l pile. Stupid question, of course I was. A price was arranged (two bottles of red wine) and t dropped the bike at the tip supervisor’s home. A few days later I picked up a 1977 Yamaha YB100 in surprisingly good original condition, just missing the left-hand switch block/clutch lever assembly. It had a ratty seat and enjoyed a whole heap of ‘patina’, (well, more like rust and corrosion). Even the wife thought it was a good deal along with being a cute little bike. Once home, a quick check showed that the engine turned over, but sounded quite dry, and that mice had made a nest in the frame backbone and chewed the wiring loom to pieces. Lifting the head and cylinder revealed a very dry bore, but the bottom-end was still well oiled and in good condition. After a quick de-coke, the bore nest, and the engine then ran okay. te was oiled and the cylinder and head refitted. A quick bodge of the the bike was stripped and cleaned an wiring and spark was present, so some fuel was added and the engine the mudguards treated with rust conve started after about half a dozen kicks. It didn’t run all that well, and I general patina will remain and I don’t noticed that there was not much coming out of the end of the exhaust. more to improve the cosmetic appearanc . ne Pulling the baffle out I found that it was blocked with an old wasps’ wiring loom was sourced out of South-Ea sia, replacement seat and left-hand t h b assembly. New chain and sprocke s ar from my local Yamaha dealer, and h m few other small parts from Yambi . ll p recommissioning was about $50 .i fitted with a number plate, and I h deta ls previous registration, an identity/sto il had to be carried out before I cou d r if road use. The police officer who carrie c told me that it had last been registered in . So after some 30 years, it is now back on the ro nd proving a blast to ride, however t is g n while to get used to the ‘upsi top, down-for-up gear shift pa Steve Howarth’s Yamaha TZR125 I have been restoring this bike for about which is a TZR-based special five years now, so I thought you might want with a YZF-R125 front and to see what can be achieved and feature it rear-end grafted on in Kenny in the next issue. I went for something a bit Roberts style yellow and black different, the tank and forks were replaced, paintwork. I will send some as the old ones were shot, new side panels pictures when that’s finished! purchased, frame and swingarm shot- blasted and powder-coated in red (the purists might not like it), the engine was inspected, cleaned and painted in high- temperature matt black paint, Giannelli exhaust, full working powervalve fitted. It’s been painted by myself, so it’s not perfect but it’s okay for now. Still, it’s a real head-turner and gets comments wherever it goes. I am just starting my next project mechanics

John Gough’s Yamaha Chappy dp a da a aint ,m m r in h s w tmare t ions ne lacin it me I m t nd, a fr i ey bik . king f ii was just a blip and I’ve now taken y da g ownership of a 1978 model BMW R80/7 arne l e . for resto into a scrambler! Its xt c il i t l Fi colour l l! I’ve had many CBR600s and ZX-9Rs over rst rest i the years but restoring things long since nd it spurr tt neglected is much more fun than just bits (I’ve al tt polishing a new bike. Graham Garner’s collection g! My nd Tony racer. I (Gra - ow yo at bikes we which I’m s li , hav /11 str ghter, a 225, an MZ 2 , a pair izzys, an (which is go r 50 an YB100 café one day soo ) a o g ot e t gs. / mechanics

The way we were…Send us to me at ybosuimr nmoosntadlsg@icmsonratposnso.fcoyo.uukboarcvkiainouthrevidbaryanwtitFhacyeobuor osktepeadg!eE.iCth’merosne!nd www.facebook.com/ClassicMechanics/ www.twitter.com/cmmmag John Hannaford bought his Yamaha YR5 in July 1973, and in 1974 was he was a travelling marshal with the British Formula Racing Club. John also took to the grid with his Yamaha: “I had my first race in October 1974. Since then I’ve raced and used the bike on the road. I set about a restoration a while ago, and have now started racing the bike again. My first race win was in 1975. Also in 1975 I did the Manx, though a puncture ended one race and lack of fuel brought the other race to an early end. “I put it back on the road in 1978. In 1979 I parked the bike up and it didn’t move for 36 years. In 2015 I restored the bike, the engine was rebuilt too: other than repainting the swingarm all paintwork is original. I now race with the CRMC.” John Kettlewell: Keith Taylor bought his Chris Schafer from the i “I bought this Honda first Suzuki GT380 new in USA bought his Honda mechanics NS400R when it was six 1975. Those memories live CBX1000 new in 1979. months old: it was on the on with him: he’s just He shared this Polaroid D plate. I borrowed £2200 bought a 1978 model. with us: “In 1984 I did a from Barclays to buy it. “Fuel consumption is better cross-country trip from Fuel consumption was these days, probably Ohio to Los Angeles, I wa steep, handling was sharp. because I ride it a bit slower going to the Olympics to After two years I stupidly than I did back in the day!” spectate. This photo a swapped it for an MG on a stop, we were o Metro Turbo. I’d love Bonneville Salt Fl another one, but prices are Chris still owns getting too high for me, so bike today. I’m restoring a Kawasaki GPz750R1 instead.” Roger Lovell supplied so I li n x ic Were’. Roger spills the beans thi ro t e ovell archives: “It’s 1 I r rk my V350S. Th b he bike s I I ld t e ike se . w b ke!

CLASSIC Italy’s resp was better didn’t take WORDS: STEVE COOPER PHOTOS: GARY ‘D’ CHAPMAN Back in the 60s and 70s fashion was a strange and worrying concept morphing from psychedelia to glam and then through to punk. The Japanese stylists either aped Europeans during the early 60s, went their own way as the 70s dawned or became a little bland as the decade petered out. Meanwhile in Italy things were a little different; style was everything and often commercially more important than reliability or practicality. We may not appreciate the fact now but the Italians pretty much invented the concept of designer labels and we’re not just talking clothes here either. Our bike in camera is a not so much a fashion victim as a fashionista for the various factories supplying the Italian motorcycle industry. A stroll around our loaned Benelli 2C reads like a who’s who of Latin engineering; Brembo disc front brake, Grimeca rear drum, Marzocchi/Paoli forks, Sebac rear shocks, Silentium exhausts, Ducati Electronica ignition, Veglia clocks… the list goes on and on. And even if the likes of the instruments came with a certain reputation for vague and erratic behaviour there was also a certain cachet to names that has been somehow absent from the last of the British bikes and especially the final 250s. No one ever got into a froth of excitement over a Smiths Industries speedo or a Lucas alternator. For many Brits in the 1970s there was an aura of mystique and desirability about Italian motorcycles even if the press of the day were often less than charitable about Italian electrics or finish. Four decades on the Benelli is still on its original loom which works fine, ditto the quirky switch gear. Who is laughing now Joe Lucas? So if the basics proved to be more durable what was the 2C’s unique selling point? Answer – looks. Very little in the 250cc bracket of the period has the graceful lines of a Benelli 2C. The way the tank and its paintwork sweep gracefully down to the seat nose is an aesthetic work of art. And check out the seat and its lines as it subtly rises towards the rear. Who else but an Italian stylist would have done that? And those asymmetric side panels; in isolation they might 26 / classic motorcycle mechanics

mechanics

CLASSIC RIDE “Rasping would be the wrong description of what is an overtly mechanical exhaust note. There’s a unique edge to the sound of the Benelli!” SPECIFICATION look odd and gawky but on the bike the lines work established shall we throw a leg over the bike perfectly; it’s that styling thing again. And my own and see what it’s like? ENGINE TYPE personal favourite the subtle vertical louvres Air-cooled, two-stroke, punched into the panel’s leading edges: or how The first impression is one of small proportions piston ported, parallel twin about those indicators? They may be mass produced and although physically bigger than say a Fantic but the designer ensured each and every single one or Malaguti moped of the period there’s an BORE AND STROKE looked like it had been lovingly hand fashioned by analogous strange minimalist feel to the bike. The 56 x 47mm an artisan. And although the bike runs something of gorgeous tank is narrow, the seat similarly so, yet a minimalist look there are odd quirks every so not uncomfortably hard. The reach to the bars is CLAIMED HORSEPOWER often. The rear shocks run small shrouds which look just right; arms are not stretched or cramped, 39bhp @ 6800rpm almost out of context and check out what’s possibly wrist angles just right… someone thought this the most ostentatious rear chain guard ever fitted to out rather well. MAXIMUM TORQUE a 70s 250! Where the Japanese took a clinically 18.8lb-ft @ 6500rpm clean approach to styling a bike the Italians did Riding TRANSMISSION TYPE (and still do) it with spontaneous passion, verve, 5-speed, chain final drive boldness and a large measure of la dolce vita! The foot pegs are crucially an inch or so back from COMPRESSION RATIO where they might be on an equivalent Japanese 10.3:1 (uncorrected) You might, therefore, well argue that Italian bike; again this has been thought out from a rider’s motorcycles are a near perfect example of form over perspective. Starting the bike from cold is aided by CARBURETION function and to a point you could very well be an electronic ignition system which aims to fire the 2 x 26mm Dell’Orto VHB correct. The corporate desire to get the looks right premix better than a points system. The ignition above everything else is probably key, but handling switch is archaically still placed in front and under TYRES is also a vital feature of Italian bikes and here the tank but it’s on the right hand side which is a 3.00-18 (F), 3.25-18 (R) Benelli had a huge heritage to draw on. Both pre new one on me. A fuel tap each side needs to be and postwar the small family-owned business raced switched on and then if the engine has any heat in FUEL CAPACITY at the very top level. Paw through the race results it it’ll fire first or second kick. The same can be 3.2 gallons (14 litres) of the late 60s and early 70s and you’ll find a achieved from cold but only if you can get the right surprising number of podium finishes for the firm. hand choke flicked to on. Both Dell’Orto have their DRY WEIGHT Kel Carruthers, later doyen of Yamaha and mentor enrichment device mounted on the left of the carb 138kg (304lb) of Kenny Roberts, had spectacular success with top; access to the left carb is fine but the right one WHEELBASE Benelli. Know that the great Jarno Sarrinen also had is a faff requiring the removal of your glove. In a bid 1310mm (51.6in) works rides and you begin to see the facts behind to save costs the earlier bar mounted choke lever OVERALL LENGTH the reputation. So with provenance and good looks was dropped in favour of this irksome set-up. In just 1950mm (76.7in) a few sentences we’ve uncovered two foibles that OVERALL WIDTH 780mm (30.7in) OVERALL HEIGHT 1060mm (40.7in) 28 / classic motorcycle mechanics

123 IN DETAIL: 1/ Silentiums aren’t necessarily quiet. 2/ Idiot lights designed by, well, idiots, obviously. 3/ An awful lot of history behind that name. 4/ Wasp-waisted Latin Lothario. 5/ Italian take on stroker twins works beautifully. 45 The 2C’s lineage immediately differentiate the bike from its Oriental peers; premix and choke access but why? An oil The 2C had a good long life for a bike sold into a highly competitive pump and link rod would have put the Benelli up market. Launched at Milan in 1971, it was on the company’s books for there with the best. almost two decades. Throughout that period it was marketed under three brand names; Benelli, MotoBi and Moto Guzzi. The piston-ported motor catches almost instantly and it’s substantially and significantly quieter than The former pair were effectively both in-house as Motobi and Benelli anything Japanese of the same period. Alloy barrels had been inextricably linked via familial ties since the late 1940s. The with chrome plated bores makes for tighter Moto Guzzi connection came around in circa 1973 when Alessandro De tolerances and the difference is remarkable. Those Tomaso bought up large slices of the Italian car and motorcycle Silentium silencers emit a unique sound that may industries. The notion behind Guzzi selling a 250 stroker was that it still be two-stroke in origin but it’s Italian at the gave the name some much needed kudos at entry level and hopefully same time. Rasping would be the wrong description fostered brand loyalty. Initially equipped with points the two-stroke of what is an overtly mechanical exhaust note; twin moved to electronic ignition in 1974 several years ahead of the there’s a unique edge to it. The gear lever is on the Japanese manufacturers adopting the same set up. left. Benelli was looking to lure both home and overseas riders away from Japanese machinery and Perversely it took until the same year for Benelli to drop the costly made the move to swap gear and brake pedals over Grimeca twin leading show front brake in favour of the cheaper at the design stage with a view to a broader market. Brembo disc; all the equivalent Japanese competition had featured One down and four up in the conventional pattern disc brakes upon introduction. Similarly and arguably archaically alloy it may be but the gearbox is subtly different from barrels were only introduced in 1976. Such apparently odd decisions anything else I’ve ridden. No false neutrals, no did little to garner favour from a trends and fashion conscious youth missed gears but once again an overtly mechanical in the face of continual year-on-year upgrades by the Japanese. And feel to the shift that’s direct and precise. My only just to show how apparently random and belligerent Italian factories gripe is the gear lever’s positioning which felt at could be the near identical Moto Guzzi TS could be ordered with odds with my boots but I’m betting five minutes on either Brembo disc or Grimeca TLS front anchors pretty much the tools would sort it out perfectly. throughout its production life. This may very well be a blatantly Italian take on a The final version came in the form of the MotoBi café racer; with a two-stroke twin but the truth is the way power is top half fairing mounted on the forks, lower panels on the down tubes, made is pretty much universal. There’s some go a tank/side panel cover and tail piece. All this and alloy wheels sadly below four grand which is easily accessible for failed to increase the bike’s popularity. In the face of increasing low-speed town work but things start to pick up sophisticated Oriental machines the 2C became ever more a grand further on and by the time the needle of marginalised. The amazing 250 and 254 Quattros were supposed to be the next big thing but high price and customer reluctance to commit meant the 2C and its sisters kept on smoking away until 1986/87. www.classicmechanics.com / 29

The 2C’s foibles By and large the Benelli 2C is a robust little chap with issues and concerns no less or greater than those of its peers. Ring and little end wear are probably the most likely issues followed by bore wear on the earlier iron barrelled models. Perhaps the most likely problem now will be someone absent mindedly running the bike without the mandatory oil mixed in with the petrol; big end failure is pretty much assured. On any alloy barrelled 2C that has sat around it’s worth checking the hard chrome plating of the bores. Damp storage can induce the plating to flake off the alloy resulting in costly replating. There have been one or two issues of the rotor spinning on the end of the crank causing random timing and wear to the crank end taper. Other than that the bike is a sound piece of kit with style and handling aplenty. Back in the day the bike was very successfully used for racing on the continent and for a bike running 10% less capacity than its rivals gave a good account of itself. Readily tuneable many turned out an honest 40 horses and to this day performance parts are still available. Straight cut primary gears, expansion chambers, single ring pistons, capacity upgrades to a full 250, modern racing ignitions… the list just goes on and on. Back in the day it was found the chrome plated alloy barrels were actually worse for heat dissipation than the older iron barrels; weight penalties were better than seized engines etc. The pinnacle of 2C racing has to be the full fat, bored and stroked, 250 Italian Formula 3 REC water cooled version which offered 46bhp at 11,500rpm which just goes to show Benelli’s answer to the Oriental hordes was a seriously well designed and engineered piece of kit. ■ am / mechanics

www.classicmechanics.com / 31

READER’S RESTORATION Child’s play WORDS:KBXEibRdToIsExSteIMhsMe,OsNrceDiSgladPhIsCatSs?y: iJscAW,CKmriWtoAonTiTtsgSo!arclClyMcPllMeayrmSesteateotitrosanttisho,eni.Pfuatdusreanodf Don’t worry about the economy, Brexit, the crash of the pound or which direction your chosen political party is going in, our future is safe. 16-year-old’s loins in the way that an RD50 LC While many of us may look down our noses sniffily The future is bright, at the next generation coming along: a generation the future is orange! would, but you only had to see the front-mounted bred in a digital age, there is much to be thankful basket to realise where this machine was aimed. for and proof of this is Jack Watts. The lad did well! Simple to operate and use, the Honda Express did Jack is just 13, but he’s already completed his what it did without fuss for a generation of first restoration and he’s a CMM subscriber. strict nurses, shift workers and the like. Now he’s raring to get going on his second fter all, back in the day not many of us could restoration. With a dad who raced bikes fford a second car. The Express soldiered on competitively and a brother racing off-road, i the Honda range until 1984 in the UK. you’d kinda expect it, wouldn’t you? Jack Jack says: “I’m an avid eBay/website says: “My dad, Neil, stopped racing 10 years rawler of vintage items and started to look ago. He raced a Honda CBR600, I ut for any old mopeds. In the end, I saw the remember him saying it was a 1998 bike. NC50 on Gumtree. I just thought it was quite After that he had Suzuki GSX-Rs, he had a uirky looking. I preferred the looks rather K1, but then my brother Ryan started racing han scooters with all the bodywork. I don’t in motocross so my dad stopped. My brother ike ’em, I like to see the bare bones of a bike is 19, so he’s a bit older than me, but I’ve so I liked the look of the Honda Express.” already decided racing is not for me, I would The bare bones needed some work though, rather be a mechanic and a restorer of old as Jack recalls: “We picked the bike up from classic bikes!” London, which was a bit of a slog from Clearly then, Jack has got his love of two Sandringham where we live. A lot of the bike wheels from his family. So let’s not sneer at was there, but the basket was a bit rotten! It his choice of first restoration: the Honda was fairly rough around the edges and it was NC50 Express was a stalwart of the Honda a pale blue colour. It had been fairly abused range for a few years. It first saw light of day and used as a field bike.” in 1977. It was a simple air-cooled two-stroke With dad overseeing the project it was single of 49cc. It was never going to stir a time to get to work. “We removed the engine 32 / classic motorcycle mechanics

12 3 THE BUILD: 1/ The colour wasn’t inspiring. 2/ Major parts finished. 3/ It took hours to get the bolts like this. from the frame and disconnected the electrics first,” RIGHT: simple clocks. says Jack. “Then we took the wheels out and I stripped them apart and cleaned them myself. RIGHT: head got After that we rattle-canned the hubs the correct heat-resistant paint. period silver and sent the wheels and spokes away BELOW: an original for chroming. When the wheels came back they were Honda orange was rebuilt by a helpful chap called Barry from Halfords. chosen. Jack did a top We took all the metal parts to the local sand-blasters job with all the parts! and then to the painters. “Dad and I didn’t like the pale blue colour that the bike was originally painted in, so after researching the possible colours for that model and year we chose period Honda orange! We picked this colour with help from the local paint shop. I re-used wherever I could, which meant me meticulously taking all the rust off the heads and threads of the bolts with a wire wheel in a drill! The thing that took the time was when we were waiting to get stuff back from the chromers and painters. Apart from that we did it all ourselves. In fact, I did most of it myself. “My dad put the new piston in as he’s handy that way, but I was there taking notes for next time, we also repainted the head and the barrel with heatproof paint. When all the bits where back we rebuilt the bike in the Christmas break: the hardest part of the rebuild was the electrics because they run through the frame and you have to poke them through certain holes, but it is in perfect working order now!” Jack admits to liking his 1970s and 1980s mopeds but he also has a 1990 Honda SH50 in red that he bought recently. “It’s only got 25 genuine miles on it,” says Jack. “I’m really hoping this moped will also be a classic one day like the NC50.” But what of the future for Jack? We’d say it’s as bright as the NC’s paintwork. “I have the bug and will go onto bigger bikes! I’m trying to get a KH250 and an RD250 would be nice, too. Again it would be part of the Watts collection! I will be a bike rider, but not sure I will ride my classics all the time. I like the feeling you get starting with something shabby and making it nice. That’s the real kick I get out of it… that and hearing it start up for the first time!” Top lad, Jack! You’ll go far mate. cmm www.classicmechanics.com / 33

S&AgVetEit £fi£rs£t s Subscription rates SIX MONTHLY: ONE YEAR: Direct debit Credit card UK £20 £42 For overseas rates visit: www.classicmagazines.co.uk/cmmdps Why subscribe?
Save over 20% off the cover price
Get every issue straight to your door
Never miss an issue of Classic Motorcycle Mechanics “Subscribe and you get your CMM before anyone else! And we promise the magazine will get bigger and better in 2016! So join us for the ride!” Bertie Simmonds, editor 2ETOASSYUWBSACYRSIBE 1 Online at: www.classicmagazines.co.uk/cmmdps 2 Call: 01507 529529 and quote CMMDPS

20%OSAVVEER off the cover price





/ mechanics

SBPERCEIWAL It may be as 70s as flares but Suzuki’s Kettle is still a stunner. WORDS: STEVE COOPER PHOTOS: JOE DICK It’s a wet and dark March night in 1974 when my obsession begins. Sitting at a road junction trying to get to my night school class the traffic light has frozen on red. Streams of cars crawl over the crossroads for ages. Normally I’d be tempted to run a red on my RD200. I don’t really want to rush to another tedious liberal studies lecture but I do want to share a coffee in the refectory with fellow student Julie before the 90 minutes of boredom begins. I’ve taken a shine to her. But suddenly Julie is the last thing on my mind; a gold, white and green GT750K pulls up beside me and the rider nods. Potential date versus a starship? Sorry Julie, it’s no contest. Kettles aren’t exactly common yet and to see one is something special. For perhaps the only time in my riding life to date a red light is a positive result. I’m in love, besotted, smitten, bowled over, dumb struck; the bike is just so much sexier in reality than it is on the grubby newsprint pages of the weekly bike rags. Chrome, candy, alloy, pipes, silencers and then that exhaust note… pure, pure magic. In all honesty if Julie had walked past in knee length boots, hot pants and little else I doubt I’d have even noticed her! Thus began a lifelong love affair with Suzuki’s GT750 and especially the earlier models. There really is something rather special about those initial models that just gets me every single time, but until now I’ve never had the opportunity to ride a Kettle of any description. So when Suzuki stalwart Gary Cobb contacted me regarding his mate Nick Ray’s exquisite L model it was a done deal. Gary is a Kettle man through and through so I knew the bike would be bang on the money and being an L model it’s also an intriguing crossover with anomalies galore. As an L model our test bike runs CV carbs, for the first time replacing the previous slide carbs that were said to be responsible for poorer fuel consumption. Both owner Nick Ray and arch mechanic and Kettle guru Gary Cobb tell me our bike in camera has the later barrels with revised mechanics

12 3 Subjective styling IN DETAIL: 1/ Glam rock paint and loads of chrome: lovely! 2/ Seventies cutting edge If ever a modern classic was unequivocally of its time then it has high-tech. 3/ Nothing else came close to this to be Suzuki’s incomparable GT750 and especially the earlier back in the day. models. The J models in candy shades of Yellow Ochre, Lavender and Jackal Blue (turquoise in the real world) came as a culture porting that deliver more power which makes you shock to many a school boy who pressed his snotty nose against wonder whether the CV carbs were actually fitted in the dealer’s shop front back in the day. an attempt to claw some mpg back? It’s said Suzuki was criticised in some markets for the styling of the Strange colour choices that were actually quite restrained for J and K models and therefore the subsequent L the period. The subsequent K model went all out to impress in model was given a lighter look. either gold or blue with acres of counterpoint pinstriping, almost as if the Hamamatsu factory needed to offload it fast. Our L model The side-on profile was lighter and less Sixties. test bike in flamboyant Flake Orange didn’t really tone the concept Suzuki also abandoned the unique black ended down much although the Flake Blue option was arguably a little silencers which had split opinion since 1972. more restrained. Yet by 1975 the Kettle was beginning to look just Although the back end of the three-into-four system a little less demonstrative and a little less kitsch. was revised, the front end wasn’t. Suzuki still stuck with the linked down pipes that were claimed to The M model, in Jewel Grey Metallic, Candy Gypsy Red or Candy boost torque. These would disappear on the M model Gold had a more mature look to it with simpler graphics even if with increased efforts to get more top-end power out power was actually up and the ride had a bit more pep to it. The ’76 of the 750. As an aside, some very late L models GT750A in Maui Blue Metallic or Flake Orange marked an overt shift also have the linked system missing; certain period to a more undemonstrative look yet the bike’s appeal failed to dent dealers claim that power outputs aside Suzuki was sales figures; although a heavy bike it remained like nothing else embarrassed by the oily black stains and leaks that out there now that the rival H2C Kawasaki was no more. the system seemed prone to. Before we start looking at the bike from a riding perspective it’s worth The final iteration of the ubiquitous Water Buffalo wore a mentioning the gearbox on the L which is the same corporate look as per its replacement the GS750. Minus bright as the J/K examples. From the M onwards new ratios paint in discreet red or blue the ’77 750B was almost a quiet were fitted but the L model still runs the original apology for the peacocks that had preceded it. With black gear set as used in the final prototypes. side-panels, headlamp bowl and a simple blade front guard, the Kettle’s glory days had passed. Get up close and personal with a Kettle and its size is the first thing that hits you. Suzuki was out to / mechanics make a statement which was that they were not about to be playing second fiddle to Honda when it came to flagship models. Everything is larger than life and on a grand scale here; even the thermostat looks like it’s there to shout “hey look at me, I’m water-cooled!” Commonplace now, but back then it was beyond cutting edge. Nick Ray’s flake orange is as 70s as it gets, yet compared to the previous J and K colour schemes it’s nearly restrained. Almost but not quite; it’s a little more Roxy Music and a little less T-Rex. Loosely controlled kitsch is probably about right. This is a bike with its roots in the dying days of the 1960s when there were no limits, anything was possible and man had gone to the moon. Even the sales brochure of the period emphasised the flamboyance of the bike. If you get a chance, look one up on the web; the female part of the duo has a black and green kimono style trouser suit on with flairs the size of a small country, while her fella sports hip-hugging beige slacks, matching cravat and a white sweater with red chequer pattern. Subtle it ain’t but then neither was the period! Bright plating abounds wherever there’s an opportunity to drop it in and to a large degree the L model sets the pattern for all subsequent models. Headlight brackets previously painted as per the panel work

are now chrome. The matt black end caps which had In terms of bragging width there’s a generator on one end of the crank been a model identifier are gone; one piece chrome rights the GT750 had and three sets of points on the other but mercifully pipes are now the order of the day. Ditto the the lot. no starter motor, which thankfully lives behind the chain-guard; it’s slimmed down and morphed from barrels. Perhaps not too surprisingly the sales of black to chrome. And check out the side-panel/ aftermarket crash bars for GT750s back in the day airbox combo which has had a radical makeover. The were said to be quite robust! Even the clock housing previously swooping panels with their faux intake has changed to somehow look larger and more grilles and implied air induction curves have gone ostentatious. Previously it was just a speedo and and in their place are simpler panels with guess tacho with a water temperature gauge tack on the what? Yes… more chrome! Just like Honda who had top. Now it has a style all of its very own with a set tweaked the CB750/4 from 1969 to keep it current of idiot lights in their own housing and an electronic Suzuki was doing the same. digital gear indicator. This last feature is lauded as being of a new and exciting age of scientific know Size is everything and if it can be viably plated, how; the white heat of technology, the age of space painted or polished the chances were it will be, bling travel etc. In reality the bike is a brave late 1960s is king, we can make kitsch our bitch, don’t moan blueprint carved out of metal just as the decade add more chrome etc. Even if the painted radiator changes. Essentially its roots are in one era and its shrouds from the J model have been dropped along eyes and aspirations are on an entirely one. with the chrome versions used on the subsequent K the alloy rad still stands out like little else along with The ride its naked alloy on display for all to see. And the width of that engine is still impressive four decades Suzuki took no chances when designing the bike’s on. It is simply immense, but then we are looking at centrestand which would resist all but the most one and half T500 Cobras nailed together here determined attempts to knock the bike over complete with a water jacket. And to add to the sideways; it certainly is a broad and robust www.classicmechanics.com / 41

4 567 IN DETAIL: creation. In profile the Kettle looks to have a low there. The GT750 was the very essence of a 4/ Four into three does seat height yet once you’re in the saddle it actually luxurious grand tourer back then and even now if go, rather nicely as it feel the opposite. you made the necessary adjustments and happens. concessions it would still fulfil that role with 5/ Acres of chrome Perhaps perversely with both feet on the deck the commensurate ease. On the rash assumption that and candy paint. bike’s mass seems blissfully much lower than European garages still stocked two-stroke oil, this is 6/ The first Japanese expected and thereby less threatening, so I’m a bike that’d still take you all across the continent. bike to run twin discs? beginning to feel a little less intimidated. With just a The straight arm reach to the bars feels both 7/ There was and brief press of the button the engine kicks in and oh, instinctive and correct, that broad seat is superbly never has been that exhaust note. Rich, mellifluous, perplexingly comfortable, supporting all of your backside not just anything like it. staccato and obviously inspiring… it’s these plus so part of it; yes this is very obviously a distance much more and finally I’m in charge of it. There’s machine not a scratcher’s bike. SPECIFICATION absolutely no doubt this bike was built to impress from the moment a would-be owner sat on one. The Of course the bike was never intended to be ENGINE TYPE temperature gauge immediately grabs your attention blatted around English B-roads like we’re doing Liquid-cooled, two-stroke, and, back then, if you’d been the sort of person who today; its natural home was supposed to be the wide liked a slice of swank or a bowl of braggadocio this open roads of the USA where long term comfort and piston ported, triple would have been the machine of choice. We accept ease of use mattered more. Perhaps Suzuki’s BORE AND STROKE liquid-cooling as the norm now but back then this research genuinely led them to target the bike was genuine, serious, incontrovertible, high-end specifically for the long straight roads of The New 70 x 64mm technology for the aspirant common man. World rather than the metalled farm tracks of The CLAIMED HORSEPOWER Old World? After all that’s where the bulk of the As we’re waiting for the motor to get some heat sales lay. In some ways it could be argued that 65bhp @ 6500rpm into it I notice the mirrors shimmying and the clocks Suzuki beat Honda to the title of ultimate tourer by MAXIMUM TORQUE moving, which initially wrong foots me totally. I had almost five years, with little revision the Kettle would 51.7lb-ft @ 5500rpm assumed that a 120 degree triple would be smooth have made a fine alternative to the Gold Wing if the TRANSMISSION TYPE as silk but obviously the reciprocating masses oil crisis of the 70s hadn’t (sic) poisoned the well. 5-speed, chain final drive involved transmit their vibrations somewhere. The COMPRESSION RATIO laws of harmonics have been massaged such that The GT750 has consistently and wrongly been the big triple gets the worst of its shakes out of its compared against Kawasaki’s H2 which to my mind 6.7:1 system at low speeds where it’ll have the minimum at least is simply wrong. Different target markets, CARBURETION impact on the rider. We are led to believe that different mindsets and different end games really 3x 32 mm Mikuni CV type engines such as these have near perfect primary mean any comparison is ultimately weighted by the balance but of course this so much flim-flam. preconceptions in the test rider’s mind. For me at TYRES Suzuki’s engineers were under no such illusions, least Nick Ray’s Kettle is a more considered 3.25-19 (F), 4.00-18 (R) which is why the motor mates to the frame via approach to the concept of a three-cylinder two- substantial anti-vibration rubbers. stroke 750. Sure it weighs more than an H2 but it FUEL CAPACITY doesn’t seek to scare me with its road manners 3.7 gallons (17 litres) So it’s into gear and finally I get to ride my own either. The back end stays where I want it to be and personal dream and it’s impressive from the off. The that in and of itself is supremely reassuring. Trust DRY WEIGHT J to L models are the examples closest to the me on this as I’ve ridden both bikes within a few 230kg (507lb) original design brief and, yes, the bike does run weeks of each other. Within the context of early 70s WHEELBASE pretty much like a three-cylinder T500: bags of bikes the Suzuki’s handling is unequivocally better 1470mm (57.8in) grunt, lashings of syrupy torque and a hugely easy than just okay and my only criticism would be that OVERALL LENGTH going nature. I can see just how this bike and its the front end can get a little bouncy on the wrong 2125mm (87.2in) predecessors must have impressed back in the day; surfaces. Apparently it’s a well-known and OVERALL WIDTH there simply was nothing, but nothing, like this out 865mm (34in) OVERALL HEIGHT 1125mm (44.3in) 42 / classic motorcycle mechanics

It’s my bike by Nick Ray I have been riding for just I quickly put the word out Nick Ray and his lovely bike. removed the extender over 40 years and during via the Kettle club and sold brackets the American that time I have probably my bike. worthwhile for help and market fits to the indicators. been without a bike for 16 advice on mechanical I have been told the L model months. I have always So I was now the proud issues and even Gary was one of the shortest favoured the 1970s-style owner of a candy orange Cobb’s spares supply. production runs and some bikes and although I have GT750L which I was of the odd items fitted to had more modern bikes they surprised to find was almost I have had no issues with this model are getting hard seem to lack the character a 100% original. The L model the bike and it’s been very to source such as the airbox of the classics. About six has a few small trim details reliable, just requiring chrome covers which attach years ago I had seven peculiar to that model such routine service items. It differently to the ones on months off work and was as the flat curves on the attracts a lot of attention as the later models. unable to ride or drive so radiator bar and the pins on the orange seems to be a started to trawl the internet the front calipers and the rarer colour than the blue. My advice is get one while for another Japanese combination of the earlier This bike is a US import you can. They are one of the classic. I found a local J/K gearbox with the later originally from Wisconsin, best 750s of the Seventies. classic importer at CV carbs. This creates a very exported in 2012 so I have Honest, they really are. Stockbridge and bought a torquey engine with a lot of left the red reflectors on the very tidy 1975 M model in grunt idea for cruising. rear indicators although I gypsy red. I continued to visit the dealer and soon It’s not as fast as the later found a Blue 1974 L model. models but it’s such a The red one had to go as I different riding experience. preferred the styling of the It doesn’t handle or stop like earlier model with the a new bike but a bit of white metal-flake paintwork. All knuckle riding lets you know was well for about a year you’re still alive. when I visited a company to get some vapour blasting The front suspension is a done on a pair of T500 heads bit bouncy but I have been and spotted the orange advised heavier fork oil GT750. It belonged to the should cure this but it company owner who said he doesn’t handle too bad needed to thin his collection considering it has the so was considering a sale. original rear shocks. Most parts are quite easy to obtain and joining the local Kettle club was very “ ll sto ” mechanics

recognised foible of the earlier models especially Instantly recognisable allied to strong torque is truly captivating. Suzuki that can now be largely overcome. The fitment of and truly unique; did little if anything to the shape of the Kettle’s modern progressively wound fork springs and/or worth savouring every cylinder head throughout its life. If you check out emulator systems means the front end remains time you see one. the cylinder head it’s almost devoid of anything we’d period in appearance but behaves much more like a recognise as a squish band and the outer plugs enter modern suspension system. Grand Tourer in every the combustion chamber at an angle. Both features possible way. are targeted at something other than all out power. But back to the positives and the road: I’m grinning like the village idiot and having the time of Many vintage and veteran engine designers knew my life here. The exhaust note has a bewitching the potential was there to make viable large capacity drone to it. That three-into-four pipework was two-strokes yet almost without exception most regularly mocked back in the day as being headline struggled to do so. Perhaps Alfred Angas Scott was grabbing stylistic affectation. Okay that may very one of the very few who achieved success with his well have been the intention but it also just sounds legendary water cooled twins? Long after this delicious. The gearbox (which I have no issues with) visionary genius died the company bearing his name can often be ignored and the bike ridden simply on went on to make a handful of water cooled triples the throttle; the torque is so readily accessible. In designed to be ridden as long distance tourers. oh so many ways the earlier GT750s are the true Perhaps the GT750 is what they might have pinnacle of the earliest two-stroke designer’s become? Okay, the later Kettle models kicked out aspirations. The inherent simplicity of the engine more power but until I’ve ridden both examples back to back I’ll reserve judgement. If anyone has both a K and an A or B model please contact Bertie and we’ll tee up a comparative test. So finally I’ve sampled an early Kettle after 40 plus years but was it worth the wait? Has the bike aged better or worse than Julie? Well both she and I have put on a few pounds over the years and although the GT750 hasn’t it was always a wide bride. If you accept that the bike was never intended to be a sports motorcycle then I’d say it is still true to its original aims. In the same year as the GT750’s launch Rod Stewart & The Faces hit number one with You Wear it Well and the line, “a little out of time but that’s all right,” sums up the Kettle ridden in 2016 perfectly today. cmm 44 / classic motorcycle mechanics

W E’R E B A C K PAR TS S U ZU K IG EN UIN E Parts for Classic, Post Spa M A IL O R D ER Classic, Modern, Greys, O R CO LLECT Parallels and Imports res D irect L td Spa res D irect Ltd 861 H a rrow Roa d ,Lon d on N W 1 0 5N H www.classicmechanics.com / 45

WORDS AND PHOTOS: JOHN MATTHEWS / mechanics

READER’S RESTORATION When I was 12 years old, I used to ride The bikes looked gorgeous and they caught on, on the back of Brian Adshead’s Ossa promoted by Whitlock and Trials ace Brian Fowler, 250 Trials bike. Every weekend I would selling 1200 in a trice. The second-generation were sit on a makeshift seat made of foam rubber and a resplendent like wasps in yellow and black, and carrier bag from my dad’s butchers, bungeed onto mine was one of them. However my bike, XCX, was the rear mudguard. not so resplendent, with knackered old paint and a There were no footpegs. I put my feet on Brian’s nasty dent in the tank. I liked it because it displayed pegs and he put his feet on top of my steel-capped British ingenuity, entrepreneurship and design. It Dunlop wellies. We would ride anywhere. At this point was like a flicker of the almost dead British bike (in the late Seventies) the industry. In the Seventies moors over Milnrow, Ogden it seemed the Japs still and Denshaw were open to needed the Brits. all. The fences, barbed I rode the bike a few wire and thick gates that times but had nowhere to block our way today did store it, so left it at my not exist. friend’s farm where I The most memorable of stripped it with a view to these exploits were in restoring it. It did not take deep snow. So when it long to pull to bits, and in snowed thigh-deep a few bits it stayed for a long years ago, I longed to ride time, like many bikes in the drifts and re-live my before and many more to exciting youth. I had come, gathering dust, some savings, so went to unloved, rotting. Only a local second-hand bike when I moved house a sales guy in Delph, couple of years later did Saddleworth. There were Start, start you heartless bugger! my friend Geoff Potts spot old BSAs lined up but I the boxes in my garage. wanted something immediate for my fix: “I want a Geoff had restored dozens of bikes over the trials bike and I want to leave with it now. I want to years. “What’s that?” he asked. “Oh, that’s a ride in this snow which won’t last.” This comment Beamish 250, black engine job, 1979,” I told him, was a mistake if I wanted to haggle. The bloke which was answered by: “Let’s put it back together had a couple – a restored Bultaco Enduro and John, let’s rebuild it!” I had no idea what I had let an old Suzuki. myself in for… Long winters in the Pennines can be depressing Fires first time! and when Geoff proposed getting to work on the We tried starting the Bultaco, smart in new paint Beamish, I grabbed the chance to do something and stickers, but the starter was on the wrong side with my free nights. With a log burner installed in and it would not go. I asked him to get the Suzuki my new garage, a brand-new set of tools from out, which was hidden behind a pile of old tyres, Machine Mart, new drill, socket sets, you name it I rusty rims and petrol tanks. It kick-started first time bought it, Wintry Wednesday nights became more so I asked how much: £1200 was the answer which challenging than usual. We now had an important seemed a bit steep for what looked like a wreck, so I job to do. And Geoff and I started a long and offered him £800. ‘It’s not mine – the owner will not rewarding friendship. We would get together once or take anything less than £1200,’ said the salesmen: twice a week, sometimes more with his awful rock they know all the lines. channel on the radio, sipping bottled conditioned Minutes later I am riding down back lanes in deep ale by the fire or the occasional exotic Czech pilsner. drifts of snow, flying over the handlebars, it was just This became what it was really about, in essence, like the old days. When I got back, sore and spending time with a good friend with a few beers. exhausted, I decided to check the oil. There was The bike restoration took its course over much hardly anything there – I had been so close to banter and laughter. And also over much frustration destroying that reliable old engine, which rattled and sheer force. like a bag of rusty nails. I would also find out later why it rattled. Boxing clever! I bought the Suzuki not just to go in the snow, but Sifting through the boxes of stuff, it was obvious all because it was an unusual Suzuki. It was a Beamish the rubber components were perished. “If you do a Suzuki, a British Suzuki. In the 1970s when Suzuki trial in a deep river or Todmorden Bog, these are brought out their Exacta Trials bike, to sell into the going to leak,” Geoff said. The airbox was cracked on-fire market, fuelled by TV shows like Kickstart, and would not keep water out of the engine. I the bike rode poorly and flopped. Suzuki was left checked various Beamish machines for sale on eBay, with thousands of bikes worth no more than scrap. emailing anyone I could find to see if they had any So Brighton entrepreneur Graham Beamish, owner parts. It was a waste of time for me: all anyone of Beamish Motors, spotted an opportunity and wanted to do is sell you their whole bike (…er, bought the lot for peanuts. He scrapped the frames that’s why they put them on eBay, John. Bertie). One and rebuilt the bikes with a specially designed guy told me to check the Beamish Owners website Whitlock frame, a ‘Whitehawk’, made from Renold’s and here I found our saviour: Beamish Jim, the Chrome plated tubing. owner of the website that is the club. If you own www.classicmechanics.com / 47

1 2 3 a Beamish you automatically become a member, so I THE BUILD: basically!) Starting painting some way from the was a member! 1/ Bare bones ready component, you move quickly over it and spray for rebuild. past it. This avoids any running but it does take Jim was having some replica airboxes made. 2/ Careful boxing more coats. I was impressed, I could now spray They were expensive but if this bike was ever of parts tells you properly from a can. going up a real river, then the airbox (no matter the where they need cost) was an essential purchase. “Yes please Jim,” to go next. Hanging all the parts off the garage ceiling with I told him, “now what else do you have?” It turned 3/ Clean and crisp: old wire coat hangers, I sprayed everything at least out Jim had pretty much everything we were ever but not for long! five times, micron thin. “Did you use that undercoat going to need, either now or some time soon. New This was going we got?” Geoff asked. So I rubbed everything down rubbers, gear levers, footpegs. What he didn’t have to be ridden. once more and started again as I clearly had not. was the gear-changer we needed – he told me they I wanted everything to be right, as good or better are like rocking horse poop, but he found one “She was so than when it was new. Your character comes out sooner or later. reliable and when you do a bike up, and I learnt how much of never missed a a fussy git I could be. Geoff split the engine, and the big-end bearings beat. I was sad were worn, hence the rattling. We took photos of to see her go The swingarm was stiff, making the back-end of everything on view in the engine before splitting so as I’d put so the bike rigid because the needle bearings had that we could see more easily how to put it back much work rusted solid. They were mounted in a rubber bush together. The gear changer mechanism looked tricky into her. She’d but we could not get them to budge. I made sure and the photo of this would pay dividends later. given me a there were fire extinguishers in the room for the A mate of Geoff’s (Graham) with a special tool winter hobby!” operation and it would be best to do this job outside promised to replace the big ends for £40 cash if we on a dry day: we almost burned the garage down got the parts, which we bought from Crooks Suzuki burning them out with a blowtorch. Hammering the over the phone. Along with a full gasket kit, head new bearings back I learnt the expensive way why stock bearings, wheel bearings and swingarm you don’t hammer in swingarm bearings and bushes. bearings and a pile of other stuff. I was amazed that They break! So I ordered some more and Alwyn a lot of what we needed were stock items, quite pressed them in properly at his engineering works incredible for something 37 years old. The bills went for £20 cash. People always like a bit of cash… up and up. I was surrounded by cans of all sorts, paint, brake cleaner, WD-40. Something must be Once everything had been cleaned, polished, happening as we were spending lots of money. painted and lacquered, which took about six weeks, one or two evenings a week, XCX was ready to be I spent £100 on stainless steel nuts and bolts and assembled. The tank had arrived beautifully hand set about replacing as many as possible, throwing the old rusty ones in the recycling. Venhill made us some brand-new ‘copy’ brake and clutch cables for £90, keeping the others for spares having soaked them in oil. I bought a smart new gold effect Renold chain and sprocket set for £70 and sent the tank off to a company advertising on the Beamish Owners site to be restored and the seat re-covered. Having cleaned everything in steaming water, Gunk and Muc-Off, I started the tedious job of rubbing down all the black metal parts with wire wool, then wet and dry ready for respraying. My friend Alwyn, who restores old sports cars, taught me how to use a spray can, heating it up first in a sink of hot water for a smoother finish (it thins it, 48 / classic motorcycle mechanics

4 56 4/ Bits ready to get sorted. 5/ Engine before blasting. 6/ Motor was sorted and electrics siliconed. 7/ Little end and main crank bearings were replaced. 8/ Frame needed a weld on the inside. 78 painted with a sticker I found of a Union Jack with 9/ Exhaust was a whacking £600, by far the biggest expense, ‘Beamish’ prominent, clearly labelling the bike as stripped and half the cost of the original bike. However when ‘British’. The forks went on first, newly painted silver repainted. we finished the bike, they looked fantastic. It was with some original stickers, then the swingarm, then a good move, the spokes – all shiny – were the the engine. She went back together in a couple of jewels in the crown. nights but I was not entirely happy with the finish. As a thank you, Geoff, who had done most of the She looked fantastic and I knew she was fantastic hard work and whose expertise I had relied on, got underneath too, everything as good as it could be. to ride her on the very first trial as a restored bike We did not re-chrome the frame as I wanted to be in Holmfirth. “Rides like brand new John – fantastic able to drop the bike on rocks in a trial and not bike!” Our job was complete. Geoff introduced me worry about scratching it, and anyway the frame was to Twin Shock Trials and I entered XCX the following in good condition. But the thing I was not happy season. After a few attempts I was coming fourth with was the wheels. They were dull, rusty and place in the beginners’ class. I decided to enter the oxidised in spite of my best efforts. So we pulled next level so Geoff and I bought a new project for them off and sent them to Hagon’s for a full rebuild, the next winter. I reluctantly put XCX up for sale and steel spokes and hub restoration. This set me back she sold in less than a week. 9 I’d paid over £2500 to buy and fix her up and she sold for just short of £2000. I’d done five trials competitions over a year and spent most of a dreary winter working on it: great entertainment with an end result to be proud of, plus a bike that rode like new. That experience had cost me £500. I could live with that. The new owner Andy was delighted and I encouraged him to take up competition too as she was a perfect beginner’s bike; so reliable and never missing a beat. I was sad to see her go as we had put a lot of work into her. But you can’t ride two trials bikes at a time and also letting go of stuff is good for you. But best of all, I now had a satisfying winter hobby. I was looking forward to doing it all again with a different machine. Just before XCX left the garage, I took delivery of a 1979 Fantic 250 MX Trials, bought from Jim who supplied most of the Beamish parts. It looked rough when it came out of the van. “Needs a bit of work that John,” said Geoff when he saw it. “What are you doing next Wednesday?” cmm www.classicmechanics.com / 49

50 / classic motorcycle mechanics