Retro Classic Bike Enthusiast Autumn 2014

retroandclassicbike.com.au

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WITH JEFF WARE

G’d G’day, I’m penning this editorial just 12-hours after returning home with the wife and kids from the 2014 Island Classic. I’m still grinning and buzzing. The best way to describe the weekend is, well, bloody tops! I can’t think of a better way to spend Australia Day – watching the Aussies beat the Kiwis and Poms in a proper sport that doesn’t involve balls outside of the body! From a professional point of view it was a lot of hard work as there was just so much material available and so many people to chat to and meet. However, I did manage to sneak away in the hire car and watch a few races on the hill at MG, the best being the final International Challenge where Gilesy proved to the world why he truly is a legendary rider – after the race Jeremy McWilliams said, “In my whole career, I don’t think I’ve ridden harder than I did in that last race. I was trying to get away, but when I saw Gilesy beating his chest on the grid I knew it was going to be game on,” while TT hero John McGuinness admitted, “I underestimated how fast the racing is around here, doing 37s on bikes that are 30 years old,” he said. “I was crunching my plums in that last race trying to keep up, and it was mega enjoyable tough racing for sure”. The atmosphere was incredible and the crowd numbers huge – it seemed as big as last year’s MotoGP. With the outside of the circuit open to cars and bikes, enthusiastic spectators could easily travel from turn to turn to take it all in with thousands of classic bikes being ridden around the paddocks adding to the atmosphere. The spectators were also allowed into the pits and infield, which really made this a special event – the riders and machines were

right there for the public to enjoy and the top riders were seen chatting happily to the public all day long over the weekend. That laid back atmosphere was so enjoyable, it was like a giant shed beers full of mates – like-minded retro and classic motorcycle enthusiasts all gathered together for a weekend of intense racing and socialising. I met plenty of readers, all of whom praised our mag, and I saw lots of great bikes for future features. On Monday, Steve Brouggy gave me a spot at one of his fantastic Phillip Island Ride Days and I tested all three Trevor Birrell Racing Katanas, #99 of our own Steve Martin plus the #19 winning bike of Shawn Giles and the fastest bike of the weekend, the #24 bike of WSSTK Champion Brendan Roberts. Mind blowing, believe me, and you can read about it in an issue soon. The weekend proved that the classic bike scenee continues to boom as we all age – and refuse to grow up!

 Next issue we will will have a full feature on the Barry Sheene Festival Of Speed and the Penrite Broadford Bike Bonanza!  Jeff Ware

“That laid back atmosphere was so enjoyable, it was like a giant shed beers full of mates – like-minded retro and classic motorcycle enthusiasts all gathered together g for a weekend of intense racing”…

Subscriptions, Merchandise & back issues 1300 303 414 or retroandclassicbike.com.au, general enquiries Universal Magazines 1300 303 414 editorial enquiries (02) 4341 0666 EDITOR  Jeff Ware [email protected] EDITORIAL ASSISTANT  Heather Ware STAFF JOURNALIST  Kris Hodgson DESIGNER  Phillip Jorge FOUNDING PUBLISHER Jeff Ware CONTRIBUTORS Graeme Crosby, Mick Withers, Steve Martin, Tony Wilding, Craig Stevenson, Pail Bailey, James Walker, Richard Collins, Owen Stuart, Shaun Roe, Damian Kingsbury, Sir Alan Cathcart, Jeffry Zani, Russ Murray ADVERTISING  Rosemary Wood [email protected] UNIVERSAL

MAGAZINES CHAIRMAN/CEO  Prema Perera PUBLISHER   Janice Williams CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER  Vicky Mahadeva ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Emma Perera ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Karen Day CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Mark Darton CREATIVE DIRECTOR  Kate Podger EDITORIAL PRODUCTION MANAGER Anastasia Casey PRINT PRODUCTION MANAGER   Lilian Ohanessian PREPRESS MANAGER   Ivan Fitz-Gerald SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER  Chelsea Peters

Circulation enquiries to our Sydney head office (02) 9805 0399. RCBE014 is published by Universal Magazines, Unit 5, 6-8 Byfield Street, North Ryde, NSW 2113. Phone: (02) 9805 0399, Fax: (02) 9805 0714. Melbourne office, Level 1, 150 Albert Road, South Melbourne, Vic 3205. Phone: (03) 9694 6444, Fax: (03) 9699 7890. Printed by Webstar, Sydney, and distributed by Network Services. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publishers. The publishers believe all the information supplied in this book to be correct at the time of printing. They are not, however, in a position to make a guarantee to this effect and accept no liability in the event of any information proving inaccurate. Prices, addresses and phone numbers were, after investigation and to the best of our knowledge and belief, up-to-date at the time of printing, but the shifting sands of time may change them in some cases. It is not possible for the publishers to ensure that advertisements which appear in this publication comply with the Trade Practices Act, 1974. The responsibility must therefore be on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisements for publication. While every endeavour has been made to ensure complete accuracy, the publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. *Recommended retail price. ISSN 1449 - 8626 Copyright © Universal Magazines. ACN 003 609 103. www.universalmagazines.com.au. www.universalmagazines.com.au. Please pass on or recycle this magazine. ISSUE #14 RCBE

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CONTENTS CONT ENTS ISSUE #14

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 READER SERVICES

 STAFF BIKES

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Industry News Club Listing What’s On Tyre Guide

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Mick’s GPz1100 Richard’s Lambretta & Ducati Jeff’s GSX-R750F

FEATURES  BIKES

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30 38 54 56

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Reader’s Rides 1970s: MV Agusta 350 1980s: Yamaha RD350 ‘R’ LC Reader's Own: RG500 Vintage Racer: Kawasaki H1R Racer

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Peterborough Motorcycle Museum My Shop, Surfside Motorcycles Rob Lannucci History of the Kawasaki Z1300 The Phillip Island Classic

72 90  91 92  98

 HOME BIKE MECHANICS

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 REGULARS

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Editorial Croz

Letters I remember… GPz750T Reader Resto: Triumph T100R Walker Poppa Shaw Bailey Ol’ Biker

74 78 79

Toolbox Retro Garage Parts Rescue: Fork service Buyer’s Guide: Suzuki RG500 Buyer’s Guide: Yamaha RZV500

CROZ

THE REAL DEAL E

ver since I had got divorced many ye years ago and had to sell my GS1000 racer, I have wanted to own another one. Not to go racing but merely to look at it. Suzuki had given me a factory XR69 back at the end of 1980 in appreciation of winning the 1980 World championship for them. Despite hanging onto it for many years it finally went to a local collector who has done a great job of carefully looking after it. It’s always been available for me to use at any time but after 34 years I feel its just too fragile now to be run in anger preferring to let it age gracefully in its retirement. Over the last few years and with the resurgence in popularity of post classic racing a few private builders have began creating so called replicas of these classic Japanese racers from the early ‘80s. With modern engineering practices it has become much easier to re-produce parts and to replicate these machines without blowing the budget – too much! I posted on Facebook a few images of my Suzuki old racer a while back and was surprised at the activity it created. It became obvious from the general comments that the XR69

was an extremely successful and popular bike. I was proud to have been the rider all those years ago. I also read with interest the comments about other projects claiming to be replicas of the Suzuki XR69. Opinions were very divided with both sides having some merit. The real question for me is how can a painted up look-a-like constitute being regarded as a replica when it has different size wheels, forks, chassis etc… It just doesn’t seem right that a modernised or stylised interpretation should in fact be referred to as an XR69. In the true sense of the word ‘replica’, words such as clone, copy, reproduction, facsimile, even carbon-copy all point to the exact re-production of a piece of perhaps what could now be called art. Given that there are bikes being produced now under the guise of replicas of the Suzuki’s GS1000 racer, it’s my belief elief that they are taking a liberty by using the term XR69. The underlying truth is they are simply living off the legend g that once was.

My thinking is that perhaps the builders should be using a word or phrase like ‘stylised XR69’ or ‘XR69 influenced’ to describe their creations and that would be more appropriate. From the other side of the fence it’s also great that people have the freedom to create and build post classic bikes. These are much more powerful and perform better with the use of more modern components like 17in wheels to fully extend an old but basically sound design. In a strange sense I am quite pleased that the XR69 has created such interest in post classic racing. I may not be too kosher with all the labels but I certainly recognise and welcome anything that provides opportunity, creativity and freedom of choice. It would however be nice to see some Honda’s out there as well!  Nigel Everett Everett from the UK has now produced the first of a small run of what I would call a replication or as close as possible to a true copy of the 1980 XR69. Using an existing complete machine, (one of two sprint models still in existence) Suzuki collector Steve Wheatman Wheaatman allowed Nigel to copy the bike completely. compleetely. The chassis, running gear, hubs and co cowlings owlings etc… are all done without compromise compromise. e.

WITH GRAEME CROSBY  CROSBY  PHOTOGRAPHY: MICK ROBINSON

The chassis was contracted out to Harris to build with instructions to preserve every minor detail of the original frame and not to take short cuts on production techniques. The forks and clamps have been meticulously re-manufactured from billet material as were the factory ones. It helped that some original drawings from the era were available to keep everything exact. Nigel has re-manufactured new magnesium brake calipers which were standard items on the ‘81 version replacing the single acting calipers in use during the early ‘80s. The original specifications have been retained with the use of the 18in Dymag wheels and the use of the two valve engine including a close ratio gear set and Yoshimura internals. Recalling how often the engines were pulled apart years ago required a re-think on the ignition unit. The original had become unobtainable so an electronic system is used, one that can be depowered if required when it rains. So from a safety, maintenance and reliability point it made sense, eliminating the need to be inside the engine every time it is run. I doubt that it would be any faster or have any more power than the original racer as that would suggest or indicate a major departure to the use of more modern components. But suffice to say over 120hp is a handful for anyone even by today’s standards. In any case if you wanted a more competitive classic classic race race

machine capable of 150hp I would be going for one of the look-a-likes.  Now that that the first one one has been been completed completed and is in the hands of a very prominent Kiwi, who has promised to showcase it at the Isle of Man later in the year. I had to put my hand up and offer assistance and the knowledge he needs to get around the course safely – it’s big call but its all about having respect.

“The real question for f  me is i  how h can a painted up look-a-like constitute being regarded as a replica..?” IT MADE A “WEE-TINKLE”

I got a call a few months back from a client friend who was looking to buy an early model Suzuki GT750 J model “Waterbucket” for his collection. He had fancied owning one for some time. A few calls around and a bit of investigative work revealed a nice example in fairly good order for a little under $11,000 was available. I contacted my client to give him the news and low down on the bike only to be told he had found a cheaper one at $5,500 the day earlier that “needed a little w work!” but was happy to spend a few more dolla dollars on making it nice. A few days later th the phone rang and it was my friend Stewart wan wanting to bring his new purchase around on a trailer for me to check out a couple of small ““technical issues”. According to Stewa Stewart he had bought his GT750J doing the dea deal and electing not to test ride the bike assuming it was OK. He recalls his first ride once he got it home, “Croz, I know I should have given it a test ride at the time but it looked looked loo ked OK and and I took took a chance. “At home I fitted a new battery and it started OK so off I went. we we I had a little trouble selecting selecting gears gears and it w was surging quite a bit but once I was in top gear it smoothed out but was still surging quite a lot. “It wasn’t the th nicest of rides, it wasn’t handling al all that well but having owned tw two-strokes before I figured it just needed n a bit of a clear out in the engine department. S So o I gave g it “some whellie”. It cough coughed and spluttered a lot, causi causing a huge smoke screen out the th back then it kind of slowe slowed down a bit, so I gave it some more throttle for a short time be before it heaved as the back wheel whe locked up completely. I recall it m making a ‘Wee-tinkle!’ So, Croz Croz can you you have h a look?”

The engine wouldn’t turn over and on further inspection I found it had an exhaust pipe full of small broken piston bits and what was left of the conrod was almost unrecognizable. It looked like it had been tied in a figure eight knot. We pulled the engine apart to find it had indeed suffered a catastrophic failure which explained the ‘Wee-tinkle’, a real understatement but after all Stewart was Scottish and his explanation of what constituted a “Wee tinkle” still has me in hysterics… Unfortunately the crankcases had also been split and the gear selection problem was easily explained by the fact first gear only had four teeth remaining instead of the required 13 or so. Plus the main shaft bearing had collapsed and inside it looked like a used concrete mixer. Further inspection revealed the chassis had been repaired where the footrests attach – obviously snapped off at some time. Plus the steering stops had broken off but the best clue to it having been in an accident was when the bike was put onto the main-stand and both wheels still remained in contact with the road surface! Sure enough hidden away under the fork gaiters were a pair of very corroded and bent fork stanchions that could have snapped of at any moment. The top aluminum steering clamp had been ‘gas welded’ to repair a broken off side piece. The repairs started and with the chassis repaired, the fitting of new steering clamps, forks stanchions, rims and spokes, tyres, brakes, and so on, plus a fully reconditioned engine virtually nothing of the original bike remains. The bill is now close to $14,000 not including Stuart’s initial spend of $5,500. Test rides are for a reason and if you are not familiar with a particular bike, find someone who is, believe me it’s the cheaper option. Croz

ISSUE #14 RCBE

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NEWS &EVENTS >>

All the gossip and news from the retro and classic scene...

WE TEST THE TBR KATANAS

In December we headed to SurfSide Motorcycle Garage’s Anniversary and Café opening event in Brookvale, where everyone was having an absolutely stonking time! Most of the street front was packed out with a variety of motorcycles, old and new, as well as some classic cars and threewheelers and sidecars. Between live music, the café and BBQ it was going off, with a variety of stunning classic

bikes on display throughout the café and workshop, p, with everyone mixing xing it up, admiring the variety ety of of bikes bike ikes on on display, from those belonging to the shop to the offerings turning up every minute. It’s great to see such strong support for a local workshop and just proves that amazing service, expertise and passion really is what people are looking for. If you need some work

d done, one, o orr just jus just want want somewhere to head for a ride and a bite to eat then give SurfSide Motorcycle Garage a good go. You can call them on (02) 9905 4755, fi nd them at www. surfside.net.au or on Facebook if you want to keep up with all the latest – www. www.facebook.com/ facebook.com/ SurfsideCustomsClassics.

Our esteemed Editor Jeff was lucky enough to test ride all three TBR Katanas recently, with a feature coming up in issue #15. The bikes (Steve Martin #99, Shawn Giles - #19, Brendan Roberts #24) may look similar but are very different machines. One  thing they th ey have in common  though is that they t hey are all incredibly fast! We also have a great feature on Cameron Donald’s XR69 and a tasty Seeley Norton. Stay tuned!

PENRITE OIL BACKS THE BONANZA! AUSSIES WIN! Australia has retained the International Trophy for the teams’ event at the 2014 International Island Classic at Phillip Island over the Australia Day weekend. But the victory wasn’t without a fight, with Australia having to work up a sweat against great rival UK to keep its unblemished record in the International Challenge intact. Australia eventually finished  the event on 692 points, ahead of the United Kingdom (617), New Zealand (367) and America (341). The Tahbilk International Challenge wrapped up in the most stunning circumstances when South Australian Brendan Roberts (Suzuki Katana) pipped UK star Jeremy McWilliams (Harris F1) by 0.004 seconds in a photo finish to claim second spot behind multiple Australian superbike champion Shawn Giles (Katana) in race four. See pages 64-71 for a full report. 8

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2014 heralds a new era for the Broadford Bike Bonanza as Penrite Oil has signed on as the official naming rights sponsor. The event will become known as the Penrite Oil Bonanza and will pay tribute to the historical Castrol Six Hour and BP Sunraysia Desert Rally eras. “The Penrite Oil Bonanza is such a unique event on the historic motorcycling calendar. It’s a chance for bike enthusiasts to catch up with old friends and a showcase of some pretty interesting bikes that spend most of the year in people’s garages.” White said. Penrite is an iconic, Australian owned and manufactured brand who has backed motorsport events and teams since it joined the market in 1926. General Manager, Toby Dymond says, “Penrite prides itself on its involvement in motorsport and the affiliation with the Bonanza will allow us to highlight a specific range of products that suit the specialist bikes which turn up at the event.” The Penrite Oil Bonanza is held over Easter weekend on 19 and 20 April 2014. Full report next issue!

 ite, RCBE, and k eep up k ss te, Join our Facebook   thhe  tess, news and behind t  uppda te larr u witithh regula ! es! es u s iss is n e e  tw w  bee t ip b ossip  go scenes g

JOEY DUNLOP TRIBUTE FOR CLASSIC TT The 2014 Classic TT Races, part of the fortnight-long Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling, will pay tribute to Joey Dunlop and will have an ‘eighties’ theme running throughout the event.  Entitled ‘Joey Dunlop - Road Racing Legend’, the Classic TT weekend will celebrate the career of Joey Dunlop, not just at the TT, but also during the F1 World Championship days as well as his career in Ireland, with the 1980’s a particular focus when Joey was at the height of his career.  Big hair, shoulder pads, ripped jeans and neon clothes are expected to be the order of the day with the fancy dress themed Paddock Carnival at the Grandstand on Friday 22nd August, while the paddock will turn back the clock and echo to everything from grunge to Madonna. There will also be a parade lap sponsored by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company featuring  Joey’s 26 biggest biggest career career rivals, rivals, with appropriate representatives when a rider is unavailable. This will include some of his leading fellow competitors from the 1980’s F1 World Championship days as well as his earliest rivals from the Irish Road Racing scene not to mention his many TT rivals.  The Classic TT weekend will again feature two race days on Saturday 23rd and Monday 25th August with this year’s programme again including Formula 1 and 2 machines, a 350cc Race and the 500cc Race. It will also feature the

hugely popular VMCC’s Festival of  Jurby on Sunday Sunday 24th August. August.  Trevor Hussey, Head of Motorsport, Isle of Man Government Department of Economic Development believes that the Classic TT is changing the perception of Classic Racing. He commented:  “This gives us the opportunity to pay tribute to one of the greatest names in the TT’s long history and we are really keen to develop an appropriate celebration of Joey Dunlop’s racing career as his name is synonymous with the TT Races.”  John Watt, Commercial Director, Isle of Man Steam Packet Company commented:  “We are delighted to be supporting the 2014 Joey Dunlop Road Racing Legend Parade celebrating one of the greatest names in road racing history and are looking forward to working with the Department of Economic Development on building on the success of the inaugural Classic TT and the Festival of Motorcycling as a whole.” In other news, Charlie Williams, one of the greatest TT competitors of all time, is set to make a sensational racing comeback to the TT Mountain Course at the 2014 Classic TT presented by Bennetts, 30 years on from his last TT Race. The nine-time TT winner will contest the Bennetts 500cc Classic TT in a three-man team that will also include Classic racing legend Bill Swallow and John Leigh Pemberton.

Grab yourself a copy of Japanese Classic Motorcycle Guide, brought  to you by us and featuring a yearby-year guide to the Japanese Big Four’s bikes that made history from  the ‘50s through to the ‘90s. A whole section is dedicated  to the Best Investments, with particular note made to road offerings, off-road options as well as some of the most collectable racebikes, including the rarest and most expensive. There’s even got a feature on some of the worst lemons of the era! Plus a feature on Kawasaki’s Z900 including the inside story on development, including insight from

designer Norimasa ‘Ken’ Tada on his input. Available for $8.95 in all good newsagents.

ISSUE #14 RCBE

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FEATURE

PETERBOROUGH PETERBO ROUGH MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM

PETERBOROUGH MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM A museum full of iconic European motorcycles from racing’s hayday and only three hours from Adelaide to boot! WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY:

A

DOC ROBINSON

s you enter this museum, in your mind you can imagine that you hear the roar of racing motorcycles from days gone by, smell the hot rubber of hard ridden tyres and the pungent odour of methanol, pick up the chatter from the pits, some of it positive and laced with happy expletives, while colourful cursing drifts across from teams having mechanical problems. You see this is a motorcycle museum with a difference as owner Ian Spooner is a committed enthusiast of racing motorcycles from last century. And what a collection he has, a collection that includes a 1968 Ossa Wildfire racebike from Spain, a 1921 Yvels racer from France, a 50cc Maserati 50/T2/SS and many more. There’s a Malanca, an Italian marque that achieved considerable popularity in Europe during the ‘60s and early ‘70s with a range of lithe, stripped back 50 and 125cc motorcycles. 10

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Some of these motorcycles were campaigned when the company contested the road racing World Championships – alb eit unsuccessfully. There’s a 1963 Flandria, which while little known Down Under was one of the biggest motorcycle, moped and bicycle companies close to Bruges in Belgium, a Guilietta Super Sport 50cc from 1965 – the year the company became the seventh largest motorcycle manufacturer in Italy and a 1964 Benelli. It sounds quaint nowadays in this era of MotoGP and superbikes but three Benellis were entered in the historic first 50cc TT in the Isle of Man in 1962. Many of today’s motorcyclists may not know the brand but for many years Motobecane was France’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and the museum’s 1977 125cc bike is a nice example of their product, just four years prior to the company's bankruptcy.

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“Other marques to whet the aficionado’s appetite include Husqvarna, Bultaco, Montessa, Aeromacchi, Laverda, James and Moto Guzzi…”

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FEATURE PETERBO PETERBOROUGH ROUGH MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM

But while the museum’s focus could be described as racing motorcycles, there is a lot more to see and admire. On display here is a 1977 750cc Honda Automatic, otherwise known as the Hondamatic, which was a slug to ride and never achieved success in the marketplace but is an interesting vehicle to peruse nevertheless. A 1972 Gitane Testi on display comes from an amalgamation of the French company Gitane that translates as “gypsy woman” and the Italian manufacturer Testi that was achieved in 1969. Other marques to whet the motorcycle aficionado’s appetite include Husqvarna, Bultaco, Montessa, Aeromacchi, Laverda, James and Moto Guzzi. The thinking reader will have noticed that I haven’t mentioned much in the ways of British and American motorcycles and that is because you can see them in any old motorcycling museum and Ian has, wisely in my opinion, pretty well stayed away from them. In fact his only concession to the grand old man of Yank bikes is 12

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a 1968 Harley-Davidson golf buggy which he has managed to get road registered as a utility. With motorcycles from 12 countries on display and with quite a few of them being very rare marques and models, the museum is well worth a visit. Peterborough is in South Australia’s mid-north about three hours driving time from Adelaide. For anybody travelling across Australia from east to west, or making the journey from Adelaide to Darwin, Peterborough is but a short detour and one well worth taking. Located at the former historic Baptist church in Kitchener Street, the admission is a modest $5.00 and the museum is open most days. I’ve enjoyed several visits and been treated very hospitably by hosts Ian and Belinda. You can find the museum on the web (www.pbmcm.com) or you can contact Ian on 0432 873 660. If you are a motorcycle enthusiast of any persuasion I highly recommend a visit to this wonderful facility! RCBE

TOOLB TOOL BOX >> Stuff for old bikes…

               >                > THE BIG BANG OF BATTERY CHARGERS

               >                > RARE PARTS

The Sinergex Nitro series are advanced, digitally controlled automatic battery chargers. Compact in size, the chargers are constructed from ultra tough ABS plastic, are splash and dust proof to IP65 standard and suitable for batteries from one to 150 amp-hour capacity (depending on model) in almost any environment. The charger will assess the condition of your battery and then provide the optimum charge in four stages. The  Nitro also has the abili ability ty to recov recover er severely se verely discharged batteries with soft start technology. The Sinergex Nitro is packed with features for safe use including no spark technology, push button selectable programming, temperature compensation, automatic protection, audible warning alarms and quick-connect DC cables. www.linkint.com.au or (07) 3382 5000.

Moto Italia at Emu Plains, NSW, have a huge range of genuine and aftermarket spares for Guzzi, Aprilia and Ducati motorcycles and can COD anywhere in Australia. Check out their website motoitalia.com.au or call Dave Ward on 0432 441 985.

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LOUNGE TIME The Old Mechanic by

Peter J. Uren is one man’s look into his time as a mechanic, putting on an apprentice, and working on restoring a British classic. The 1959 Norton ES2 is a focal point not just for the journey of a bike restoration, but also the great experiences that came out of it – which can be applied to life anywhere. If you enjoy old bikes, a down to earth perspective and want some motivation, or maybe even a bit of guidance for your own project, then pick up a copy of The Old Mechanic. You won’t be disappointed! Available from all good bookshops or contact Peter at theoldmechanic.net.

  >   >

SCARAB CALIPER PISTONS

For people wanting to keep their old Ducati or MV 100 per cent original, Road and Race have just received another batch of Scarab caliper pistons – CNC’d and hard anodised to suit, $70 a pair. Seals kits also to suit are available from $50, with pads $40 per caliper. Or if you want to get the cam timing on your old Ducati bevel single or twin spot on, they also have offset cam keys in 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 degree increments for $25. roadandrace.com.au.

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               >                > XTECH T HANDLE TOOLS

This XTech T Handle set is made of high quality chrome vanadium steel with easy grip, rubber coated handles. Sizes range from 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, 13mm, 14mm, 17mm and 19mm. The Mini T Handle set is also made from high quality chrome vanadium steel in sizes 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, 13mm and 14mm. The T Handle allen key set provides a sure grip and increases turning power. It includes a steel organiser stand with mounting holes. Sizes consist of 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 4mm, 4.5mm, 5mm, 5.5mm, 6mm, 8mm and 10mm. Available from www. cassons.com.au or (02) 9684 1210.

NO MORE SPONGY OLD BRAKES

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Hel brake lines are made here in Australia and are available to fit most retro bikes from the '70s right through to modern machines. If you ride a bike from the retro era, chances are you need new brake lines. Hel lines are fully ADR compliant, feature stainless steel banjos and banjo bolts, and come in a wide range of colours. They are made on demand so any customising required is no problem. Call on (07) 3869 3016. From $240.90 RRP.

ROTOR ACTION

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 NG Brake Disc manufacture brake rotors for 22 different motorcycle manufacturers including MV Augusta. Now available in Australia, you can have OEM quality discs at a fraction of the price of a genuine part. Available for all types of motorcycle and ATV’s in standard fixed, wave pattern, fully floating and oversize kits. Floating rotors are fully rebuildable. Contact kenma.com.au.

MOTUL CHAIN PACK

  >   >

Motul is proud to announce the release of their Chain Maintenance Packs. Available for both Road and Off-Road options, the convenient packs are the ideal gifts. The Motul Chain Packs contain either one can of Motul Chain Lube Road or Off-Road, plus a can of Motul Chain Clean and a handy chain cleaning brush.  Normally  Norma lly all these items would retail for over $55, but Motul have bund bundled led them in to a convenient pack for only $39.95 RRP. These packs are available now from your local Motul stockist in Australia. Motul Motorcycle products are imported and distributed in Australia by Link International. For more information on the range of Motul products visit linkint.com.au or like them on Facebook www.facebook.com/MotulAU. ISSUE #14 RCBE

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LETTERS

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To have your say in RCBE  and   and a chance at winning one of our stubby by holders, fire off an email to [email protected].

SHED THERAPY I

HOLY SMOKE!

RE your article on the RD350LC. The RD LCs came out in blue and white and red and white, but I think you will find that in Australia at least! All the 350s were blue and white and the 250s red and white then in the second edition still 350s blue and white and 250s red but the stripes were different to the first model. A lot of 350s ended up with the red and white livery to get the cheaper rego (in NSW at least) as the checking didn’t go much further than the badging on the side covers! As I had both a 250 and 350, parts including barrels and pistons were on occasion changed over! All parts fitting on both bikes. Yes the 350 was a much easier bike to live with and low down power was very good for a two-stroke. Also the very original GSX1100s came out with a 19L tank. I know the one in the poster is not original but this is the larger 23 or 24L tank, I think, which was introduced very early. Most people, as I did junked the 19L tanks as the range was just useless. Although the smaller tanks looked much better, in my opinion. Alan, Email.

Thanks for your great editorial in issue #13,  Jeff. I thi  Jeff. think nk like like-mi -minde nded d clas classic sic mo motor torcyc cycle le enthusiasts would all relate to the Shed Therapy sentiment. Spending time working on bikes is a fantastic way to relax and get away from it all. Throw in a few cold beers and good mates and you have got it made. I have a similar set-up with my bike mates only they all come to my shed almost every night and leave when my beer runs out. Luckily I home brew! Mal, Email. G’day Mal, I have to agree with you there. By the way I like the home brew idea. I’ll have to look into that one… – Ed. SHED THERAPY II

Your editorial in issue #13, Shed Therapy, Therapy, was so true. Us motorcycle enthusiasts seem to

bump into each other everywhere, from work to neighbours, friends of friends or even on public transport. I’ve been reading RCBE RCBE on  on a train and had a bloke strike up a convo with me about his CB900 Bol’Dor and how he reads Retro Retro.. At first I wondered why this guy was staring at me! By the way, I’d love some stickers – a few for the bike and one for the bumper bar on the car. That’s another thing I notice, if you have bike stickers on your car you still get the nod! Peter, Email. G’day Peter, Thanks for the email. Yep we all seem to be connected in some way, must be the thrills and the speed. Stickers are on the  way.. Anyone  way Anyone wanti wanting ng sticke stickers rs can can email email us their address and we will pop some in the  post – Ed.

THE REAL DEAL

Thanks for a fabulous article on the ex Dennis Neill CB1100R. What a machine and it is great to see that the owner has retained that originality of the bike. What a work of art and such a famous bike. A lot of your readers, myself included, will no doubt have fond memories of this bike and seeing Dennis at full noise at Bathurst before that crash that ended his career and stopped him heading to Europe. What a stunning bike that is and great photos too. Mick, Email.

G’day Alan, Thanks for the email and pointing that out. Yes I remember the good old days of G’day Mick, swapping 350 barrels over on my RZ250 on Thanks for the note. Yes it certainly is a special bike. It’s for sale. If only I had the money! the L plates – Ed.  – Ed. 16

RCBE ISSUE #14

PHILLIP ISLAND CLASSIC

I just returned home from the best weekend of racing in my life. The Island Classic was fantastic. Great weather once the Friday showers cleared, huge crowds of like-minded classic fans and lots of beer. Throw in legends like  John McGui McGuinnes nness, s, Shawn Shawn Giles, Giles, Stev Stevee Martin, Martin,  Jeremy  Jere my McWill McWilliams iams,, Cameron Cameron Donald Donald and the rest and you have a great weekend. I met them all and got autographs and photos with them, which is a real highlight for me. The only complaint I have is that it was near impossible to get something to eat or drink. The café in the pit area was usually a 45-minute wait and the one outside was no better. Like many of the spectators, I headed into town each day to buy a takeaway lunch, it was faster! Maybe next year there can be extra food kiosks set up. The best this was I could ride my bike around the entire perimeter of the track and watch from wherever I liked. I took my van for shelter but also took my ER185 for cruising around on, all I had to do was pull it out of the van. This is the proper Aussie way to run a race meeting and is a heap better than MotoGP! I’m still buzzing… Les, Email. G’day Les, I’ve got to admit that I also think the event is the best on the racing calendar. I had an absolute ball and I can’t wait for 2014 – Ed.

>> SLAB AFFECT My wife bought me a copy of issue #11 of your magazine and within two weeks I’ve bought a NZ new 1985 GSX-R750F in need of a restoration restorat ion to return it back to original condition. I’ve always wanted an 85 model and your article detailing your restoration estoration G’day G’d ay Rog Roger Roger, er so far convinced me I needed to buy one. Great news and good luck! I’ve Do you know of anyone in New almost finished my resto and I can’t Zealand who could return a frame back to  wait to ride the bike. It’s been an anodised finish? The previous owner a three year job but worth every of my bike has part polished and painted  minute and d ollar . In regards to y our the frame.  frame restora tion, I’d try Anodisi ng Appreciate any advice. Industries NZ (anodising.co.nz), Roger, Email  check out their website – Ed.

YZR500 FAN

Wow! Mick Costin can have my money any day, if only I had some! I’m currently restoring a CBX250. Exciting? Not really but it was cheap and is getting close to retro. It is a 1987 model and cost me $1000.00. I also have a new CBR250 that I use for commuting. The CBX is cool because it was for the Australian and SA market, although seven units were exported to NZ, the bike was never in the USA or Canada. It is still made in Brazil according to Wikipedia, so I will chase some parts over there. It needs a respray and new decals, plus a set of new tyres. The rest I will do myself including a cam chain and tensioner, chain and sprockets, steering head bearings and fork seals. Lots of spray can touch-up too. I will send you photos when the bike is finished. Brett, Email.

G’day Brett,  What a c ool resto . I al ways liked the look of the little CBX and wondered what it  would be like t o put a hot motor in one, a cam, flatslide, big bore kit and an exhaust system! Love to see the images once she’s done – Ed.

JAP BIKE SHOW

I’ve been drooling over the images in your article of the Jap Bike Show and it has me inspired. I’ve been off bikes for a decade now, my last bike was a CBX 6 that I sold in 2003. I think I need another one. I’ve looked at all of the new bikes and don’t like any of them, the CBs have completely lost the original look and I can’t see any of the heritage there that I remember from when I first saw the first model. So anyway thanks for the inspiration and hopefully next year I will have a bike to display at the Jap Bike Show! Vern, Email. G’day Vern, Great to hear and if you do let us know! –  Ed. ISSUE #14 RCBE

17

READER'SRIDES READER'S RIDES

>>

Want to see your retro pride and joy on these pages? Share your bike with us, email [email protected]  >   > 

>> WALTER, 1990 KAWASAKI

COL, 1980 GSX1100, 1981 KATANA, GSX1100 STREETFIGHTER, CB400F I have subscribed to your mag for the last couple of years and thought it might be time to send in some pics of a few in the stable. The blue GSX1100 (1980) is fully restored, with 1166 kit, cams, Tingate pipe and rare 19L tank. The silver Katana (1981) has the same engine mods as the GSX1100 and is the bike featured in the Shannon’s Insurance ads.  Justt finished  Jus finished the yellow yellow GSX Stree Streetfigh tfighter ter,, with 12in out of the rear subframe, a 7in round headlight and lots more. The Orange Honda CB400f is a first model edition, and had a nut and bolt resto about 12 months ago. There’s also a restored G5 100 Kawasaki, Royal Enfield Bullet, as new 1994 Honda Fireblade Urban Tiger, with the current resto being a Honda 900 Bol’Dor keeping me sane and near the beer fridge.

KR1S 250 Thanks for all the interesting information that you keep putting in the magazine, always a pleasure to take a break from life and enjoy some time out with your mag. Your magazine has also been a great help with the rebuild of my 1990 Kawasaki KR1S 250 which has not been going well. Just looking through, at all the other bikes that your readers have restored gets me motivated again. It looks like I’m going to need all the motivation I can get too, this restoration thing is addictive. The next project on the bench is a 1988 Kawasaki KDX200 and after that one, it will be my second KR1S which I’ll do as a track bike to go with my Suzuki RGV250 track bike. Down the track I will be looking to complete the ‘90s two-stroke collection with a Honda  NSR250  NSR 250 and and a Yamah Yamahaa TZR250. TZR250. Than Thanks ks again again for a great magazine. Sometimes getting the motivation can be the biggest challenge, but being part of a great community really helps.

Nice collection, keep us up to date as you  progress with your ongoing projects!  >   > 

TONY, GSX-R 7/11 STREETFIGHTER I spoke with you at the Sydney Motorcycle show about my GSX-R7/11 Streetfighter, which you mentioned was published in one of your editions of Reader’s Rides. Can you please find out which edition it was in, below is a picture of the bike.

   >    >

LUKE, ZZR1100, FZ750, ZX-636, R6, R1, 929 FIREBLADE, 954 FIREBLADE Here are my bikes parked out front of my home on the Gold Coast. I’ve got a 1998 Kawasaki ZZR1100, 1985 Yamaha all original FZ750, 2005 ZX636 Special, Yamaha R6, 2005 Yamaha R1, 2001 Honda 929 Fireblade and my 2003 954 Fireblade. Quite the eclectic collection you have there! Must be a fair bit of washing and  polishing to get done… 18

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ISSUE #14

Hey Tony, Tony, we certainly did have your amazing GSX-R7/11 in Reader’s Rides a few issues ago (issue #11) but since you’ve reminded us we’ll put it in again, and we’ll be in touch, we’re still interested in doing a full feature!

  >> MICHAEL, 3 X HONDA CB200S, 1972 HONDA CB350/4



Here are some pics of a few of the Honda café racers that I’ve built as a hobby. There are some of my three CB200s, and a 1972 CB350/4. All bikes were bought as basket cases and have had frame up rebuilds. The light green CB200 had an engine rebuild and new just about everything. The maroon CB200 had the frame sandblasted and painted in 2pk black, with café racer seat and maroon tank (Peugeot colour), 2pk charcoal rims, new shocks and forks, and the rebuilt engine was a good runner once I serviced it. The dark green CB200 is a 1975 model. Again it has had 2pk black on the frame, 2pk deep metallic dark green paint with black side covers, a suspension rebuild, 2pk charcoal rims, black shell small headlight, a complete rewire, new switch blocks, fibreglass seat, drag bars, gold chain and cocktail shaker mufflers. The blue 1972 CB350/4 is a sweet little bike albeit slow and heavy. It received 2pk black on the frame, I fitted a new 400/4 tank and side covers as they look better and got them painted in a ice blue colour from a 2000 model Toyota Camry with a black pinstripe and Norton style Honda decals. It also received an engine top-end rebuild, rebuilt carbies, 2pk silver rims, four-intoone MAC exhaust, mini-gauges, suspension rebuild, brake rebuild, café racer seat. All work except the painting was done by me at home for all the builds. I build these as a hobby and ride them for a couple of months before selling them on and looking for the next project. It’s nice to keep these old bikes on the road for people to enjoy. I hope you like them Jeff and cant wait to see your GSX-R750 slabbie finished. Awesome collection and great to see them not only restored but also moving on to lucky new owners to keep the process going. going. Lots of progress on the GSX-R750 this issue and hopefully it’ll be on the road soon!

<< JO, 1988 HARRIS MATCHLESS This is my daily ride that Jay and the boys from Sydney Motorcycle Wreckers helped me with. A big thank you for your patience and perseverance guys! Nice bike, and the guys at Sydney Motorcycle Wreckers are top blokes! ISSUE #14 RCBE

19

ONSHOW

Capturing Classic Culture

To be part of On Show, email [email protected] with the subject On Show

20

RCBE ISSUE #14

LOADS MORE BIKES ON OUR WEBSITE facebook.com/pages/Antique-Motorcy facebook.com/pa ges/Antique-Motorcycles/2449897 cles/244989728911480 28911480

WEBSITE upda updated ted daily 

MOB: 0418 340 055

www.antiquemotorcycle.com.au

TRIUMPH T100 1956, T100 1956, Very nice restored “ally” tiger fresh out of a private collection. S66. TA477148. $22,000

PH: (03) 9583 9922 1 Grange Road, Cheltenham VIC 3192

HARLEY-DAVIDSON FL 1948, FL 1948, Fully restored to new condition with breaking in miles only. Ready to win trophies in shows or in the Great Race. S72. TA477177. $45,500

INDIAN CHIEF 1946, CHIEF 1946, Beautiful bike fully restored with added chrome, gorgeous candy red paint and high bars. Ready to enjoy. S74. TA477183. $42,000

KAWASAKI H2 A  1973,  1973, Ultra rare H2A with 7673 genuine miles. Freshly repainted in its original Candytone Purple colour. Be very quick! H2F25631. TA456635. $22,500

HARLEY-DAVIDSON WLA  1942,  1942, The bike that won the war. Civilianized, Great Race eligible. 42WLA20176. TA405360. $22,000

MV AGUSTA 350B ELECTRONICA  1971, Beautiful classic from M.V’s golden years when they ruled the GP circuits. Unrestored, low mileage original. Australian delivered. MV2130440. TA394029. $23,500

NORTON 18 1938, 18 1938, Beautiful pre-war girder fork OHV Norton with a great patina. S67. TA477168. $16,500

SUZUKI GSX-R750 1985, GSX-R750  1985, This bike changed the perception of what a sports bike should be upon its release in 1985. Well looked after original including the exhaust, comes with both seats, two factory keys, tools, etc.. GR75A104974. TA468820.

SUZUKI RG400 1985, RG400 1985, Stunning original low mileage square four classic. Exciting user friendly retro ride. S80. TA488653. $12,500

HONDA CB750K  1977,  1977, The very last of the classic SOHC Hondas. Extremely low miles, invest and enjoy at the same time. CB750K2713483. TA479507. $8,500

TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE T140V Silver Jubilee 1977, Jubilee  1977, The best of the oil-in-frame Bonnevilles. This was the motorcycle that was made to celebrate Queen Elizabeth the Second’s silver Jubilee. With very limited production, these collector’s items are fast becoming hard to find. T140VXP80636. TA468827. $16,000

$8,500

TRIUMPH T150 1970, T150 1970, Classic early drum brake triple, one of the coolest sounding motorcycles ever made. Just arrived, be quick! T150TDE00810. TA479513. $8,500

SurfSide Motorcycle Garage “Run by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts!”

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY: When we heard that SurfSide Motorcycle Garage was having an event to celebrate opening their classic café and one year anniversary, we decided we needed to swing by and check everything out!  Needless to say we weren’t disappointed, with the Garage’s supporters parking out most of the street with a variety of old, new and very cool motorcycles, as well as a few classic cars and three wheelers in the mix. 22

RCBE

ISSUE #14

KRIS HODGSON

The atmosphere was amazing, with live music, great food, perfect weather and a crowd of enthusiastic motorcyclists. The new café is a stunning classic themed milkshake baresque establishment, with lovingly restored motorcycles on display, including an amazing Kawasaki in a wall display. Trevor Love is the resident expert at SurfSide, with almost 40-years experience in the motorcycling world, starting at

Keith Turner Motorcycles, before moving to Sydney. Trevor has worked with the Action Suzuki race team, Matich Racing, as head mechanic and race team engineer for Aaron Slight and Rob Doran, along with many other places in between. He is now one of the owners of SurfSide Motorcycle Garage, as well as the manager and workshop head, with rumours of a historic race team in the works as well!

SurfSide provides servicing, restoration, repairs and is even planning on providing bike storage in the future. Taking pride in providing for all motorcycles, SurfSide specialises in older and classic bikes, with a great spares network to support them and have experience in every engine configuration you can think of. Whether you need your bike serviced, fully restored, or just repaired after a spill or failure,

S  U   G A  R F  S  I   4 2  R A G  D E  M   E   O T  O  N S W W i n  nb    o  ou   r  R C     n  P h o  , A  A u  u  ne    Y  C   s t   R  R d , ne    :  tr    a  L E   r   W e  n  a   :   B r  ( 0  ia  0  l i  a    b   (  b 

2  si  o o  2 1 0  o  i t  ok    v  E m  s  t e  k   a  e   :  9   2  : w  )  9  a i l  l e  e  w w  9 0 5 4  0  l:  :  T r  w  7 5 8  e v  e  ur    f  v@    s .s u  f   s s    i d  ur  u    f  de    f s  si  i d    e  d   . .n e t  t . a  a   n  n e t  t. a u  u  Q: HOW LONG HAS THE E

S  T  

A F   Y e   p ... F  :  f o  or  b u  r   m   m   b  ut     n  n o t  o r e  e  . e n  ... t  no    u  ug    h  , s  s o  o l   l o  o o  ok    i  ng  n   

BUSINESS BEEN GOING? G? A:

A little over a year.

Q: DID YOU START THE E

BUSINESS?

Yes, along with two business ess partners (silent until you get them talking about motorcycles!).  John is a Harley nut. nut. Rob is, well, just a bike lover of all sorts. A:

Q: WAS IT DIFFICULT TO

START THE BUSINESS?

A: Yep! I have raced speed speedway peedway

solos, roadraced as a sidecar passenger as well as driver. I also piloted a speedway outfit for a couple coup co uple le of ye year years. arss I ev even en tr trie tried ied d my hand at four wheels for a while… Because of the nature of our present business, I am currently on the lookout for a classic sidecar to form our own race team. Bring it on! Old farts in sidecars... could be dangerous...

A: As with all new ventures, it

wasn’t without its dramas. The biggest one being the selection of our logo...

Q: WHAT MACHINERY

DO YOU HAVE IN THE WORKSHOP?

MiG, TiG, lathe, drill press. All sorts of fix-it bits for any task required and if we don’t have it, we will build it.... A:

Q: WHAT IS YOUR

BACKGROUND:

I served my apprenticeship for Keith Turner Motorcycles in  New Zealand in the motorcycling heydays of the early ‘70s. Keith Turner was second to Agostini in the world champs in 1971. We were the Benelli importers for the North Island. We also sold Suzuki, Norton, and Triumph. I couldn’t have asked for a better learning platform as a mechanic. I moved to Australia in 1979 and worked for Action Suzuki as mechanic and race mechanic for several Castrol 6 Hours. I also worked for Matich Racing as race mechanic when we were Pirelli’s world test team. I taught at TAFE for a couple of years, had my own workshop in the ‘90s and various other forays away from the trade, but always came back to it... And tada, here I am again... A:

SurfSide can help you out, and are also happy to work with you. If you want to do some of the work yourself, they’ll happily split the work up so you can do the parts you feel confident doing (to save money or just for that hands-on approach), while they’ll handle the rest. Give them a call and see what they can do for you, you won’t be disappointed and they are proud to say they cater for all bikes!

Q: HAVE YOU ALWAYS

HAD AN INTEREST IN BIKES?

Q: WHAT’S THE MOST ST

INTERESTING PIECE OF WORK YOU’VE DONE?

Mmmm. Where do I start... there could be the turbocharged flying brick, the supercharged Harley trike, the groundup resto of Benelli 750 Sei, the Yamaha XV750 Street Scrambler, the resurrection of Wayne Gardner’s 1982 Castrol 6 Hour winning bike... The list is endless and it’s all interesting to us.... A:

Q: WHAT’S THE BEST Q: WHAT’S UNIQUE

ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS?

BUSINESS DECISION YOU’VE EVER MADE?

A: Our business (as far as we

A:

know) is the only restoration/ custom/service centre in Sydney that will work on virtually anything. Ariel square fours, a Honda CT110, Harley-Davidson VLD, Suzuki Katana, BMW R51/3, Moto Guzzi T3, Benelli 750 Sei, just to mention a few... The bikes I mention are all in our hands at the present time... We are enthusiasts catering to the enthusiast with a love of any motorcycle. No problem is a problem... We also have our (world famous in Australia) Surfside Motor Cafe catering to the hungry and thirsty public. Motoring or otherwise. We are also the only workshop in Sydney that is open seven days a week...

Going into business with the partners I have... Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY

REGRETS?

F*ck yeh... I should have married a rich woman who could keep me in the luxury I deserve... A:

Q: WHAT ARE YOUR

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?

More of the same... Expand our club activities, including rides from the shop. Our retro style dinner will host club nights, ride in motorcycle movie nights (another first for Sydney), music nights, bike shows (Italian Day, Motorcycles from the European Continent Day, Pommie Day, American Day and so on), I thi nk you get the picture. RCBE A:

ISSUE #14 RCBE

23

FEATURE TEAM OBSOLETE OBSOLETE

Rob Iannucci quickly discovered the world of riding race bikes wasn’t for him but owning them and was another matter altogether… WORDS & IMAGES: JEFFREY ZANI

R light. The race begins. In a few seconds ed light. The engines scream. Green

the ‘the wild bunch’ reaches the first corner on the Bridgehampton Raceway, in New  Jersey,  Jers ey, USA. “I was riding my BSA A 75R ‘triple’ for the first time. A fourth wave start did little to handicap me. By turn three I was ahead 24

RCBE ISSUE #14

of half the pack,” explains Iannucci. “Then a little birdie on my shoulder whispered in my ear that ‘you can win this race’… Bad move, a couple of corners later I crashed.” That’s the turning point of Rob Iannucci’s story on his motorcycle life. Lying on the ground with a lot of pain in his shoulder and a broken bike beside him, he realised that racing wasn’t for him… “So I quit and I started to collect racebikes.”

It was 1977. In just a short period Iannucci founded Team Obsolete and in nearly 35 years has participated at least 1500 races with 50 different riders and 80 motorcycles – most of which are parked in his garage in Brooklyn, New York. Right in what’s Team Obsolete’s headquarters. “Now we don’t race anymore, we only take part in parades all around the world,” the charismatic American says.

“I saw a scheme of the engine in an old motorcycle magazine and was stunned. It is the finest ever made. In my opinion the perfect racing bike is a combination of art and mechanics. That motorcycle had it all.” That was a few years before his final race. “There I was, very much a novice rider, whose previous experience was limited to a modestly powered Matchless G50. “After a multi-year search I had recently acquired Dick Mann’s BSA, the howling Formula 750 machine that he had raced to a 1971 Daytona victory and the 1971 AMA Grand National Championship. Back at that time it wasn’t expensive at all, I only paid a few thousand dollars for it.” That’s a lot less than how much Lannucci

spent for his most famous motorcycles – over 10 racing MV Agustas he bought from the Cascina Costa’s racing department in 1986 during one of the most famous deals of the classic motorcycle world. With that move he became the owner of several engineering masterpieces, among which a special place is reserved for the three-cylinder that led Giacomo Agostini to several world titles. “That’s one of the best racing bikes ever,” Lannucci says, “You can pull out the engine from the frame in 10 minutes, and take apart the gearbox in five minutes. With the Honda prototypes, at that time, it took them six hours to do it.” The threecylinder is a great bike indeed, ridden by a great champion.

BELOW: Rob and Team Obsolete don’t race anymore. They take part in parades and displays and help source rare parts. The Team Obsolete collection is one of the rarest in the world.

The 1977 crash was able to show him his limits, but not to send him away from motorcycles. From ‘on the bike’ he shortly switched to ‘in the pits’, giving a chance to other riders. The best of them? “Dave Roper” – Iannucci answers, “He won the 1984 Senior Historic TT with one of our bikes, which was a great feeling. “He’s intelligent, smooth, and he respects the equipment. Of course… he’s also fast.” It was a Matchless G50 that Roper rode when he won the Isle of Man race. That motorcycle has a special place in Iannucci’s heart, more than the other bikes here. ISSUE #14 RCBE

25

FEATURE TEAM OBSOLETE OBSOLETE

In 30-years Team Obsolete has competed in 1500 races with 50 different riders and at least 80 varieties of motorcycle! Matchless and MV Agusta are not the only bikes in Lannucci’s garage either, taking a look around, you can admire the AJS with which Rod Coleman won the 1954 Junior TT, Jim Read’s six-cylinder Honda RC165, plenty of BSA twins and triples, Harley-Davidsons and factory Benelli. Among them, also, the 1967  Norton Comman do t hat Lannuc Lannucci ci r ode in his first real motorcycle experience. “During the late ‘60s, after I spent two and a half years in Barbados with the American Peace Corp, I decided to go to  Jamai ca, where I spent s pent six months riding on the street that circles the island. “They had a lot of English bikes there, 26

RCBE ISSUE #14

because in that period the island was a British colony, so there were plenty. “At the end of a ride, after hours and hours on the bike, we’d stop in the first bar for the proper recovery, a bottle of rum”. After Lannucci got back to the US, he moved to New York and started a career as a lawyer. During the week he worked in his office and in spare time his thoughts were only for motorcycles. Over the years he has organised the first classic bike road races in the US and gave people a chance to see the most important racing motorcycles ever in action. The prestige and number of races increased together with the level and reputation of the bikes, something that’s not

ABOVE: THe collection is literally priceless. The Dick Mann BSA Formula 750 1970/1971 AMA winning machine and 10 racing MV Agustas including Agostini bikes, rumoured to be the one of the biggest classic bike deals in history.

very common among collectors, most of who will hardly ever say yes when it comes to racing their bikes for real. Lannucci, instead, shows an original nonchalance, “These prototypes are made to stay on a circuit,” he explains, “It’s the only place where they’re alive.” But what if the rider crashes and destroys the bike I ask? “Well, if you can’t handle the crashing, you shouldn’t be racing. It’s like not making love to your girlfriend because she’s too pretty.” Lannucci adds. The fun goes on only when the sound is loud and the speed is high. Let the green light go. Here comes the show. Thank you, Rob. RCBE

RHC is a one-stop-shop for motorcycle fork restoration. RHC can overhaul, service forks. Replacement springs. Rechrome rusted, worn, stone-chipped fork stanchions. Arrange for powdercoating, polishing or decorative chroming of lower fork sliders and triple clamps.

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Got a shed you want to share with likeminded shed hermits? Email hermits? Email your contact details to inbox@retroand [email protected] classicbike.com.au

CB900 Bol'Dor XV750 Custom CB750 K2

CB750 K4

Apprentice!

T ool b  bo oar d

Shed Secrets Q: NAME:

Q: IS IT COMPLETE?

A: ERIN

A:  Never!

Q: AGE:

41

Q: MOST USED ITEM?

A: Socket set.

A: Absolutely... Custom playlist playing

Q: CURRENT BIKES:

A: CB750 K2

Q: FAVOURITE TOOL?

CB750 K4 CB900 Bol D’or F2 Yamaha XV750

A: My Dad!

Q: POSTERS?

A:  Jen Hawkins, my bikes, cars

Q: FIRST SHED:

Q: AND YOUR CURRENT SHED?

on the iPhone. Led Zeppelin, ACDC, Daft Punk, Cold Chisel, I’ve got some diverse music choices...

Q: MOST PRIZED ITEM?

A: My car and bikes. A: Dad’s carport.

Q: TUNES?

Q: TINKERER OR PROCRASTINATOR?

Q: BEER TRAGIC?

A: Tinkerer Tinkerer...I ...I hate procrastinating.

A: Corona or nothing...

Q: WHAT ARE YOU

Q: NEXT ON THE LIST?

WORKING ON NOW?

A: More pegboard and maybe a second hand

A: Finishing the CB900 for the Retro shoot!

kitchen for the cupboards and shelving.

A: Double garage attached to my house,

although I built a 12 X 9 shed in WA that my mother-in-law took over... but that’s another story...

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RCBE ISSUE #14

I remember… GPz750 Turbo The turbo era was one of the most exciting in sportsbike history and the GPz750 was the most successful of the lot… MEMORIES: DAVID LAMBERT

THE FIRST TIME

I’d been working as a rigger and I was cashed up. It was Spring 1983 and I was very close to buying a new bike when I spied the new 1984 release all-new Kawasaki GPz900R. I decided that was the bike for me and I started stashing some cash under the mattress and I mean that literally! Most new bikes were around five grand back then. From memory the GPz900R ended up coming in at just over $5k on the road. I was obsessed by beer, women and the GPz900 and I was 24-years-old. Then something distracted me… the GPz750T. WOULD YOU

Do it all again? Like I say, I still have the bike and I would never sell it. I’ve had plenty of Kawasaki’s since, GPz1000RX, ZZR1100s, ZX-9R, now a Ninja 1000. It’s a sickness. I have green blood… WHAT ARE THE CHANCES

Pretty high, my first love is still with me, all I have to do is grab the keys and open the garage door. I even have the riding gear!

WHAT MADE IT SPECIAL

It was turbocharged, fuel injected, just as fast as the 900R and a few hundred bucks cheaper. Plus it was seriously cool – I mean, turbocharged and stylish and light, while all of the other turbo bikes were complete failures! I read all the magazines with the info on the bike and I waited. As soon as I could I headed to thee big big smoke and hit the Kawasaki dealership ership up and bought one on the spot. No riding riding no questions, nothing… The salesman sman thought he was tripping! I was in heaven and I boughtt all all new riding gear – all black. I thought ought I was Night Rider! I took delivery a few weeks later ter after returning from working away ay out out at at Moomba in the Simpson Desert. I’ve still got the bike and it’s perfect. 78,000km of pure reliability and I’ll I’ll never never sell it…

CLASSIC MV CLASSIC  MV AGUSTA 350 350 IPOTESI

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RCBE ISSUE #14

WORDS & IMAGES: CRAIG STEVENSON

You probably recall Rob’s MV 750 America from issue #12, well here is his next instalment!

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eaders familiar with the pages of RCBE will recall Rob Rossi’s exceptional 750 America, the journey involved in obtaining it as well as his passion for the machine and the MV Agusta brand. His devotion doesn’t end with the brand however. His fixation with MVs began with seeing Giacomo Agostini ride in the Australian Grand Prix at Oran Park when he was just a boy. The experience was etched deep into Rob’s soul and ultimately provided the driving force behind this brilliant 350 MV he has dubbed “Tributo Ago”, as a tribute to the legendary 15-times world champion and his idol. In 1998 Rob was on a tight budget and craving a project bike, particularly an MV MV,, so on ANZAC Day the same year he purchased this 1976 350 MV Ipotesi for $1,800 from Victoria. The Ipotesi was first launched in 1975 with a ‘direct’ link to its 350 Grand Prix racing pedigree and to help boost MVs mid capacity sales. The little 350 was no slouch either with 20 plus horsepower and a claimed top speed of 170km/h. At the time it looked pure cafe racer with its angular lines, low set ‘bars and alloy wheels but the bike Rob bought looked nothing like the original. It had been crashed and was a wreck in seriously dilapidated condition to say the least. Nevertheless he was intent on restoring the machine back to its original condition and set about tracking down parts.

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 TIINI S T GIACOMO AGO

ipss orld C hampi onship  Wo  th 15  W  Wi th  Wi h 5 00cc  th  wiin s in b o t  x rac e  w a nd 12 2 Gra nd Pr i x  ving is a l i vi i n i  ti  t s o g  Ag  A o m o c a i G s e s s las la c and 350 cc ime  ti  t t  t u p e h ic s s las  Cla  C d n  th he 2 013 Isla  t t lege nd. A t R ossi’s b o  Ro  R r e  ve  v o e  ye  y e g n i n r e c i s d a o cas t  to a side  t he  th e a nd  t ine ach in  ma he  m  th  diiscu ss t o Ag o” and  d  to u t ibu  Trrib “ T his n  on le o le i m s  a h ith  wit  ft w  ft le o h  wh  w , ob  Ro  th R  wii th  t w ec t  je pro j ank.  ta he t  th ure on  t  tu na t ign dial a nd a s ig

ISSUE #14 RCBE

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CLASSIC MV CLASSIC  MV AGUSTA 350 350 IPOTESI

Keeping in mind this was before the advent of internet and sourcing items was via the old fashioned method of writing a letter (remember them?), the task soon proved a difficult and frustrating one. “Sometimes it would take up to 12 weeks to receive a negative response and it was back to the drawing board” explained Rob. The delays took their toll and with a young family taking priority, there were lengthy periods, sometimes of up to two to three years when the project stood still. Eventually, circa 2008 or 2009 all the necessary parts were on hand but Rob was now having second thoughts about the rebuild, “I started to get the idea of creating a Tribute bike, not a race replica but a replica as tribute to the bikes that Giacomo Agostini raced and of course to the man himself. “The original plan was scuppered in favour of this idea and another direction

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R O WONDE  TO  WRECK T

uild. Alread y  bu tial re b i ts in i ti  teesi during  ts  waas  b w  hee Ipo t  T h  haa t Ro b  w h  t w  tiill no t u t s t  t bu  he par t b  kiing t he loo k  ter. l y a f te  tee y l tima t u ti

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1.  Stock Ceriani telescopic hydraulic forks. 1. Stock 2. The 2.  The custom duck tail and seat had to be fitted specially via modification to the sub-frame. 3 & 6. Agostini’s 6.  Agostini’s signature, matched by one on the classic helmet. 4. The Tributo Ago theme proudly displayed. 5. The 5.  The original tank is replaced with a more angular offering. 7. 7. Ago’s  Ago’s traditional livery and number. 32

RCBE ISSUE #14

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CLASSIC MV CLASSIC  MV AGUSTA 350 350 IPOTESI

“They linked up with both Arturo and his son Giovanni Magni, collecting their parts and shipping them back with the 125 Sport...” was taken”. This not only put the project back but created a whole new set of tasks not least of which would be the need to source other race or race replica parts to achieve the new goal. For parts such as the fairing, seat and exhaust Rob contacted Giovanni Magni in Varese, Italy and filled him in on the project. Giovanni (the son of legendary MV Agusta racing director Arturo Magni) was keen on the idea but after a while it was obvious things were moving too slowly. As fate would have it, Rob made a trip to Germany in November 2010 with his son Christian to pick up a MV 125 Sport he had purchased. While on the journey they made a detour to Varese and the MV Factory where they were

personally greeted by Giovanni Castiglioni before heading onto the MV Museum at Sammarate. Here they linked up with both Arturo and his son Giovanni Magni where they collected their parts and shipped them back with the 125 Sport, arriving in Australia, February 2011.

With everything again on hand Rob set about once again stripping and rebuilding the Ipotesi. Aside from the engine sporting a 400cc big bore kit including pistons and rings installed by the previous owner Rob has kept the engine stock and original apart from a PowerDynamo ignition unit replacing the original Dansi that had been lost. Front and rear brakes are original Scarab units with twin discs up front and single on the rear. There are original Ceriani forks up front and race replica Ceriani shocks on the rear with fresh paint. The different duck tail for the seat required some modification to the rear frame. By using timber as a dummy and with trial and error he was able to fabricate a new shape in the frame that would accept the different unit and the fit is excellent. There were many little mods and repairs that had to be made including the headlight cover and electrics but Rob tackled them one by one ultimately getting the jobs done.

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OW NER P ROF IL E NAME: Rob Rossi AGE: 51 HOW  W L LONG HAV E Y OU BEEN INT O BIK ES?  35

y ear s

W HAT  T O OT HER BIK ES H  HA AV E Y OU OW NED? 

In t he past  t –  – D DT  Y   Y amaha 175 & Suzuki K at ana, e  ev  v er y  y ot   ot her  bike t hat  t II’v e p  puur chased I st ill ow n. W HAT  T O OT HER BIK ES W OULD Y OU L  LIK  IK E T O OW N? 

I hav e my  ey   ey e on anot her  couple of  MV   MV A Agust as –  – II w on’t name th theem as I lik ikee t o sur pr ise! W HAT  T IINT EREST S DO Y OU HAV E OT HER T HAN MOT ORC Y  YC   L C   ING? 

Foot ball ( soccer ), ), Cooking ( At ten tended cookin ingg s  scchool in T  in  T haila lannd), W ine ines, W or ld ld T r  r av el

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RCBE ISSUE #14

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CLASSIC MV CLASSIC  MV AGUSTA 350 350 IPOTESI

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SP EC IAL T HA NK S

1 & 5. Levers 5.  Levers and pegs are wrapped for grip and protection. 2. 2. The  The tank and petrol cap are lovingly finished. 3. 3. Major  Major rewiring behind the front fairing went on. 4 & 6. The 6. The triple disc brake system was uncommon for this size bike at the time. 7. 7. 32mm  32mm Dell’Orto carburettors. 8. The 8.  The Scarab rear master-cylinder.9. master-cylinder.9. Mozzi  Mozzi Victor front master-cylind master-cylinder. er.

The build was progressing at a steady rate when news arrived in September 2012 the Giacomo Agostini would appear as special guest at the 20th Island Classic at Phillip Island. With still plenty to do Rob upped the pace in order to have the bike completed for the occasion and also, “to hopefully have the bike signed and get Ago’s view of the project.” Original ‘70s decals were sourced and Dutchy from Dutchy’s Motorcycle Spray painting chose and applied the stock MV Agusta GP racing and the finished “Tribute” colour to the fairing, finned battery cover and 36

RCBE ISSUE #14

other areas and the result is brilliant. Burning the midnight oil in a big way they ultimately completed the bike at 2am on the day they were meant to leave for the Island. The bike and Rob with family in tow made it to the Island where racing legend Giacomo Agostini took an earnest interest in Rob’s creation and was amazed at the story behind its build. He gladly posed for photos on the machine and also signed the tank (among other items). This moment is something Rob will never forget and to hear him describe the moment is like listening to an excited kid. He even had a spin on the parade lap in P2 with Ago circulating in P1. The engine, still needing some work was completed by John at Motociclo with final tuning by Justin at Trooper Lu’s Garage and the bikes’ first official ride took place on ANZAC Day, April 25, 2013 which is precisely 15 years from the day he picked it up as a wreck.

• My  y sson Chr ist ian, a 1s t y  t  y ear  appr ent ice at  t T  T r  ro   oper  r LLu’s Gar age f or  r h his help and suppor  t dur ing t he t d many  y h hour s put t  ti ng t he bike t oget h er , pulling it  t a apar t a t and r ebuilding it  t u unt il it  t w  w as per f  fe  ct . • T r  ro   oper  r LLu’s Gar age & Mot o ciclo f or  t aking t he same car  e w it h t he pr o j  je ect  t hat  t II did and get t  ti ng t he bike r unning out st andingly  y w  w ell. • Dut chy  y f  f r  ro   m Dut chy ’s Mot or  cy le Spr ay  P aint ing f or  r t  t he endless hour s in ar r  ra  nging f abr icat ion w or k, choosing t he per f  f ect  t ‘‘t r  ri but e colour ’ and n ev er  losing his pat ience w  it h my  y e ev er  demanding ex act ing st andar ds. • Giacomo Agost ini f or  r h his per sonal int er est  t iin t he bike w hen p r esent ed t o him at  t P  P hilip Island 2013 at  t t  t he 20t h Anniv er sar y I y Island Classic and t aking t he t ime t o aut ogr ap h it  t a and ex t  te  nd a f ew  w k kind w or ds.

Rob is justifiably proud of his creation and has lost count of the hours put into it, which is not surprising after 15 years of sourcing parts, building it, stripping it and then building it again. Despite the delays, time, problems and dollars invested he believes it’s been “100 per cent worth it and I wouldn’t change a single detail.” “Except the possibility of adding Gremica race replica drum brakes and a set of Borrani spoke wheels,” he adds… Hmmm, I have a feeling the “Tributo Ago” may not be quite finished just yet. Awesome work and a fitting tribute Rob. RCBE

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SPECIFICATIONS PRODUCTION

1975 - 1977 ENGINE

Air-cooled, twin-cylinder, four-stroke, 400cc big bore kit, dual 32mm Dell’Orto carbs CLAIMED POWER

34hp@7900rpm WEIGHT

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160kg CHASSIS

Single beam tubular steel frame, modified sub-frame SUSPENSION & BRAKES

Ceriani telescopic hydraulic forks, Ceriani hydraulic shocks, dual 230mm front rotors, single 230mm rear rotor, WHEELS

Alloy wheels, (F) 2.75 x 18, (R) 3.25 x 18 TOP SPEED

170km/h

1. Race replica Ceriani shocks spring the rear end. 2. 1. Race 2. A  A single contoured pipe on each side was settled upon. 3. 3. Stock  Stock instruments are still in good condition. 4. 4. The  The original controls have been cleaned up but show their age, adding character. 5. 5. Paint  Paint matched venting.

ISSUE #14 RCBE

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RETRO RIDE YAMAHA RIDE YAMAHA RD350 RD350 LC

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY:

CRAIG STEVENSON

This painstakingly restored RD350 ‘R’ LC was Alan’s way of commemorating 50 years of Yamaha GP racing and 30 years since the RDs first appeared.

M

mmmm. That sweet aroma of oil and petrol blended, cooked and expelled into the atmosphere via intricately crafted chambers and crackling, tiny exhaust cans. The sound and smell is unique and casts me back to teenage years walking pit garages or cheering riders on at a racetrack and makes the hairs on my neck stand on end. They were once the way of the world and, with their minimum weight and high power output the performance, kings of both road and track. Various manufacturers threw their hat into the two-stroke ring at some point but without doubt one of the best built with perhaps the longest production run of them all was Yamaha’s all conquering RD. With a variety of cylinder configurations and capacities from 250cc through to 400cc it captured a massive and dedicated, almost cult-like, following. When a piece of engineering leaves such a mark on history it seems a pitiful waste to let it simply fade away. Surely there’s more to be gained by piecing together the best of what remains available and with determination and ingenuity give it a new lease on life. Alan Smith certainly thinks along those lines and set about creating one of the coolest RDs you’ll find. In this instance a rare and unique 350R LC (‘Elsie’).

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ISSUE #14 RCBE

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RETRO RIDE YAMAHA RIDE YAMAHA RD350 RD350 LC

“Scouting for a replacement in 2011 Alan came across an ex-racebike, then a rolling chassis and finally a 350 engine from eBay...” Alan regretted selling the RD350 he invested a lot of time and cash into after buying it new in 1981 and eventually the fix needed to salve his addiction became unbearable and in 2010 made up his mind to find a replacement. With ‘Elsie’ having been around for 30 years and Yamaha coming up to its 50th year in GP racing, the decision was made to build his very own anniversary special. Oh and what’s more it had to be a rather rare ‘R’ version.

It would be as close to period as possible, using all available original parts with the twist in the tail being a single seat unit that had to look as though it had been factory built. Scouting for a replacement in 2011 Alan came across an ex-racebike, then a rolling chassis and finally a 350 engine from eBay. With three separate bikes there was a good supply of parts and most of what was required to create this 1982 RD350R LC. Their condition though was poor and he was well aware that nearly everything would require

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some degree of refurbishing or replacing. Undertaking a restoration of this magnitude on your own is complex and like most would put Alan on a steep learning curve with some serious challenges along the way. Regardless he set about stripping the engine with the intention of making mods for practical purposes as a preference over performance. Every bearing, seal, bush and retaining nut was replaced with new old stock (NOS) parts. The inlet manifold received a new pattern intake with a larger diameter crossover to accommodate a boost bottle sourced from Legend Motorcycles in the UK. Porting was matched visually by Alan and he installed a 6mm spacer moving the reed cage backwards for better flow to the lower intake port. Greg Ball engineering increased the standard 64mm x 54mm bore x stroke to 66mm x 54mm dimensions. Pro X little ends, connecting rods, pistons and rings were inserted for combustion duties while the standard head was re-sealed with a copper gasket. The two-stroke oil pump was removed so

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1. Machined billet alloy crankcase covers look a treat.2. 1. Machined treat. 2. LMC  LMC hoses are a great aftermarket alternative. 3. 3. DG  DG exhaust and expansion chambers. 4. 4. 1983  1983 LC2 RZ calipers with stainless steel pistons. 5. 5. The  The spark plug and LMC hose visible under the tank. 40

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OWNER PROFILE NAME/NICKNAME: Al

Bundy

LOCALITY: Sydney AGE:  52 HAVE LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INTO BIKES?

As long as I can remember. I had older cousins with bikes as well as uncles who rode and what kid isn’t into bikes. WHAT OTHER BIKES HAVE YOU OWNED?

Suzuki TC 120, Yamaha TY 250 A, RD 250S A-B, Suzuki GT250, GSX 1100, 3x Yamaha RD350LCs, RD250LC, 1987 RZ250/350 WHAT OTHER BIKES WOULD YOU LIKE TO OWN?

Any old race or sportbikes especially two-strokes, ‘80s and older. WHAT INTERESTS DO YOU HAVE OTHER THAN MOTORCYCLING?

Mainly solo sports like rock climbing, whitewater kayaking, anything that presents a personal challenge. I’m also into prospecting for gold and gemstones.

ISSUE #14 RCBE

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RETRO RIDE YAMAHA RIDE YAMAHA RD350 RD350 LC

the engine revs on premix 98 PULP and the block was finished off with very tasty machined billet alloy crankcase covers replacing the original plastic units, while the six-speed shifter and drive system were left standard. Fuel arrives through stock Mikuni 26mm carbies that received an ultra sonic bath for a clean before a complete rebuild with new components. Alan replaced the stock airbox with Unifilters and cleverly fitted a small brace to stop the carburettors shaking on the inlet rubbers thus preventing any flat spots. Spent gas exits via an aftermarket DG exhaust and expansion chambers. 42

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After selecting a frame from those available, it was stripped by blasting with ilmenite – once quite commonly used as an abrasive medium. The bare frame was etch primed and deciding on a shade of blue created by himself, Alan set about spraying the frame with Chemtec acrylic that was thoughtfully and carefully mixed and matched by the guys at Jim Bisset Auto. Learning as he went the frame was completed only to discover the paint would crack and peel during his attempt to re-assemble the RD. He reluctantly dismantled what had been assembled explained, “After talking to a couple of spray painters I found I wasn’t

mixing enough thinners in and had the air pressure to high. The second time the paint came out perfectly though.” The chassis received a further upgrade with tapered roller bearings replacing the original ball races in the steering head and new needle roller bearings, pivot tube, shims, thrust washers and seals were installed in the swingarm. Handling was improved by adding his own spacers with pre-load springs to the Ohlins forks and matching the levels in the slightly different sized oil galleries with an extra 20ml of 30W oil to help beef things up. The rear is a stock 4LO-01 shock with uprated spring. Braking duties up front are courtesy of

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“Recalling the Dunlop K181s Alan ran on his old RD he shod the rims  with Dunlop TT100 GPs…” 02

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1983 LC2 RZ calipers sporting stainless steel pistons, bleed nipples and pad pins (made by Something Elsie in the UK) with ‘NOS’ EBC sintered pads gripping the stock discs. The master cylinder was fully rebuilt, reconditioned and pumps vital fluid via Goodridge stainless braided lines. The rear is an old school standard drum, with Ferrodo pads, new pull arm, spring and adjuster. Wheels are painted and polished 1.85 x 18 originals with new bearings, and recalling the Dunlop K181s Alan ran on his old RD he shod the rims with Dunlop TT100 GP 90/90 x 18 for the front and a 110/90 x 18 on the rear.

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1.  The Yamaha symbols on the cases are a great addition.2. 1. The addition. 2. Stock  Stock radiator and radiator guard. 3. The master-cylinder has been rebuilt and now benefits from Goodridge stainless braided lines.4. lines.4. Tarrozi rearset above the expansion chamber.5. chamber. 5. Stainless  Stainless steel luggage hooks. ISSUE #14 RCBE

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RETRO RIDE YAMAHA RIDE YAMAHA RD350 RD350 LC

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Addressing the bodywork Alan had to sort a seriously damaged fuel tank. After removing more than half an inch of filler he discovered it was rusted out along the lower seams with an abundance of dents and rust inside. He removed the internal rust by shaking gravel around inside starting with blue metal and gradually reducing the size of the gravel with the final shake accompanied by a little CLR cleaner. Dents were flattened with a hammer and the seams repaired with his fibre/epoxy mix (excluding araldite) requiring less than a spoonful of filler to finish the outside. Internally it was more CLR, then a little phosphoric acid, a good flush, then bicarbonate, another water flush, a wash with acetone, compressed air to dry and then finally thoroughly coated with Kreem tank liner. It’s labour intensive but the finished tank looks brilliant. Alan gave the painting serious thought and consideration before picking up the spray gun, “My first Elsie special was painted a mid blue with black cut outs and black side and tail stripes bordered with gold pin stripes and I nearly painted this one the same, but after deciding to remove a lot of the black from the engine and then going with the white wheels

I chose the light blue which is similar to the lighter stripe on the standard 350. “I also used to like some of the French TZs of the day painted in sort of powder blue, which is also the reason I painted the Yamaha style speed block racing stripe.” The few decals used are black with the white diligently painted in the background and the ‘R’ that didn’t appear on the production models is Alan’s own work. The bike was almost complete and Alan turned his attention to the last remaining piece of the puzzle, the solo seat unit he had dreamed of. RDs were never released with such an item so

he would have to design and create one himself. Using a spare frame as a template and remaining true to design cues of the period he painstakingly created, shaped and moulded a one-piece seat unit in fibreglass that looks as though it was manufactured by Yamaha themselves. He finished it off with a 10mm piece of race foam and covered it with 5mm of quality yoga mat. Justifiably proud of the result he tried attaching it to the RD only to discover it didn’t fit. The frame he had painstakingly painted and used to assemble his pride and joy had not been jigged properly and was too wide at the rear. Rather than slug through the

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“Using a spare frame as a template he painstakingly created, shaped and moulded a one-piece seat unit in fibreglass…” 02

1. The headlight mounting brackets also hold the 1. The indicators. 2. 2. One-off  One-off handmade fibreglass single seat unit. 3. 3. The  The engine has been bored 2mm and received a new pattern inlet manifold intake, Pro X – little ends, connecting rods, pistons and rings. 4. Dual 4.  Dual stock 26mm Mikuni slide/needle carbs and boost bottle. 5. 5. Alan  Alan has his own specially made plaques adorning the bike.

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RETRO RIDE YAMAHA RIDE YAMAHA RD350 RD350 LC

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Liquid-cooled, two-stroke, parallel twincylinder, 356.4cc, 66 x 54mm bore x stroke, two 26mm Mikuni slide/needle carbs, Unifilters, new pattern inlet manifold intake and boost bottle, Pro X – little ends, connecting rods, pistons and rings, copper head gasket, billet-alloy crankcase covers, DG exhaust and expansion chambers CLAIMED POWER:

49hp@8700rpm on premix 98 PULP TOP SPEED:

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178km/h WET WEIGHT:

149kg CHASSIS & BODYWORK:

1. Tomaselli ‘bars frame the stock instruments. 2. 1. Tomaselli 2. Unifilters  Unifilters have also been fitted alongside the 26mm carbs. 3. 3. Posh  Posh . 4. 4. Rewired  Rewired and bare alloy switchblocks look great with all the other polished and alloy components on the ‘bars. 5. 5. Alan’s  Alan’s custom plaques make another appearance. 6. The 6.  The seat comprises 10mm of race foam, covered with 5mm of yoga matting. 7. 7. A  A tank breather tube keeps petrol flowing.

process of creating such a one-off item again, risking a further chance of error he stripped the template frame, spray painted it and rebuilt Elsie for a third time on the replacement chassis. Alan admits, “I rebuilt everything with brand new parts and replaced every nut, bolt and screw with stainless of different grades to suit the application” and his attention to detail is astonishing and extends to the many smaller trick features including, Tarrozi rearsets, adjustable Tomaselli ‘bars, adjustable steering damper, repro headlights, Posh alloy indicators, the rewired and bare alloy switchblocks with new stickers and rebuilt instruments with new top cover that help finish this RD so spectacularly. 46

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Alan believes over 1500 hours and around $6,000 has been invested and can’t put a value on ‘Elsie’. He admits that even complete it will never be finished as he finds more upgrades such as larger diameter ’83 LC2 forks and improved paint but there’s no doubting the immense satisfaction he’s received from ‘Elsie’. “I still find it hard to believe that I have this bike. I can still remember talking to my mates about getting back into bikes and what I would like to own. Now I have it and I can’t stop smiling. I wouldn’t do anything different with this bike but I have three more waiting for me. It’s just deciding which one to do next. Although I might not find time now because I’ll be riding my Elsie every chance I get.” Long live strokers! Ring-a-ding-dinnggg! RCBE

1982 RD350 LC tubular mild steel, double front downtubes frame, rebuilt swingarm and steering head, Tarrozi rearsets, Tomaselli ‘bars, adjustable steering damper, repro headlights, Posh alloy indicators, rewired and bare alloy switchblocks, oneoff handmade fibreglass single seat unit, all paintwork by Alan SUSPENSION:

 Front: Ohlins forks with custom spacers for the pre-load springs, Rear: Stock 4LO-01 cantilever shock with uprated spring BRAKES:

Front: Dual stock 267mm rotors, 1983 LC2 RZ calipers with stainless steel pistons, bleed nipples and pad pins, EBC sintered pads, Rear: Stock drum brake, Ferrodo pads WHEELS & TYRES:

Stock 1.85 x 18in, Dunlop TT100 GP (F) 90/90x18, (R) 110/90x18

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SPECIAL THANKS

A few people that I’d like to thank for their help and experience are Steve at Caringbah Motorcycles, Sydney City Motorcycles, Harly at R&B Imports, Greg Ball Engineering, Legend Motorcycles, Geoff Series, Greg Northcote and the 27 Megahertz Crew that spurred me on when they weren’t bagging me out.

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KAWASAKI Z1300 SIX RETRO RIDE RIDEKAWASAKI

WORDS: KRIS HODGSON

PHOTOGRAPHY: OTOGRAPHY:

TONY WILDING

KING OF THE

ROAD Kawasaki’s six-cylinder nder Z1300 was to last over 10 years in various forms, with a cult like following that continues to this day…

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ix-cylinder motorcycles are a rarity, a concept which despite a cult following from a more theoretical perspective has failed to become mainstream. Unlike liquid-cooling and four-strokes the mighty six cylinder has remained a visionary but generally unrealised dream, with plenty of manufacturers taking a stab, including Honda’s CBX1000, as well as such names as MV Agusta, Laverda and Benelli as well. Of course the longest running production run of the traditional six-cylinder concept was Kawasaki’s Z1300. 0. First unveiled at the Koln Show in September 1978, before the press were ablee to get their hands on them in November off the same year, at Malta for the Europeans and at Death valley, California for the Americans – the Z1300 was to wow both the press, motorcyclists and governments. Such was the hype surrounding the motorcycle, that legislation to limit power output on production motorcycles became a fear, while a short lived agreement between manufacturers was entered into to head off disaster.

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RETRO RIDEKAWASAKI RIDEKAWASAKI Z1300 SIX

1. Air shocks were implemented in later models 1. Air to improve handling and absorbtion.2. absorbtion. 2. Six  Six headers is a majestic sight. 3. 3. Front  Front disc brakes may sound impressive but their ability to pull 300kg plus a rider to a stop were questionable. 4 & 5. Even 5. Even water-cooled the engine is massively wide. 6. 6. Crash  Crash cages provide some protection to the engine in case of a drop. 7. 7. Shaft  Shaft drive was ideal for getting all that power to the ground. 8. A 8.  A six-cylinders note is unique, further helped by the six-into-two exhausts. 9. 9. High  High kms are a testament to the bikes reliability.

The Z1300 was certainly an imposing sing machine in practically every respect, starting starting from the impressive six headers which ch snaked back into two mufflers, mounted on either either side side of the bike, while dual 260mm front rotors rotors with dual-piston calipers made an attempt tempt to provide adequate stopping power. The liquid-cooled 1286cc, transverse verse six-cylinder engine featured doublee overhead

cams and two-valves per cylinder, with the additional expense of four-valves per cylinder being rumoured as an unnecessary expense for minimal gain! Power was an extremely impressive 120hp@8000rpm, with 116Nm of torque available even lower in the rev range, while power was delivered to the rear wheel via a shaft drive system.

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“Power was an extremely impressive 120hp@8000rpm, with 116Nm of torque available even lower in the rev range...” The bike was even capable of quarter mile times in the 11s region – which was an impressive feat for a stock bike of the day. While water-cooling helped reduce engine size, the massive engine was still an issue and the crankcases crankcases extended extended a fair fair distance, while space to fit a carburettor for each cylinder proved a hurdle, with three twin-choke constant vacuum carburettors being the end result. Equally impressive was the Z1300’s weight, which was reported at 297kg – dry! In In fact fact apparently Kawasaki originally planned to create a 1200cc six-cylinder, only to increase the capacity for additional power in order to offset the weight issue and at the news that HarleyDavidson would be creating a 1340cc engine. In 1979 the Z1300 Z1300 first first became became available available to the public and the tractable, super smooth

engine lent itself to sports touring where more limited ground clearance, poor braking performance and heavy low speed handling had less of an impact. It wasn’t to be a fairy-tale story however, with the original model having it’s share of  of issues, including the sump capacity having to be increased for the 1980 model, from four and a half litres, to six litres due to crank issues, with some original owners finding oil starvation at the crank causing massive, sometimes catastrophic failures. America also got a faired touring version in 1980, which traded off the bike’s impressive looks for the fairing, top box and panniers… Each to their own…

In 1981 the rear suspension package was improved with the addition of gas shocks, while an updated electronic ignition was also added. Engine and airfilter covers were also chromed from 1981. 1982 and 1983 would only see relatively minor changes, before the big move in 1984. Early owners of the Z1300 had complained of various problems, most noticeably the oil system issues that were solved by the larger sump, but also including poor mileage or fuel consumption. The engine was considered reliable, needing only valve clearance shim work every 10,000 miles or so, while the carburettors required more frequent balancing in order to ensure performance and fuel consumption were at their best. 1984 was to see the big change however, with the implementation of ‘Digital Fuel Injection’ for the Z1300, or ZG1300 ZG1300 as it also also now known. This had the unintended,

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RETRO RIDEKAWASAKI RIDEKAWASAKI Z1300 SIX

although obviously not unwelcome result of increasing the bike’s power output by a further 10hp, as well as moving peak torque higher into the rev range. There were also slight changes to the engine cases, while the badges were updated to reflect the addition of DFI.

The Z1300 would continue to sell from 1984 through to 1989 in almost unchanged form – albeit with different colours and minor details for each year, although sales fell greatly and by 1986 the bike’s future became bleak. Available until 1989, there are reports of dealers having stock of the Z1300 until 1993, with the six-cylinder cult following obviously not developing until more recent times! At the end of the day this mighty machine left a noticeable mark on the motorcycling world, with a magnificent engine capable of propelling the bike and rider to speeds in excess of 145mph (233km/h) and an overall package that left it often described as the ‘King of the road’ at the time. It is worth noting, that in America the Z1300 was also known as the ‘car without doors’, particularly with the touring specific ‘Voyager’ models made available to the American public. 25,000 models were sold over the 11 years of production, with the bike’s popularity

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1. The Z1300’s design was angular even by the days 1. The standards. 2 & 5. The 5. The paint scheme on this Z1300 is stunning. 3. 3. The  The engine and crank width becomes very obvious from this angle. 4. 4. Good  Good vision through the stock mirrors. 6. 6. The  The dash is simple and easy to read. 7. 7. Fuel  Fuel injection (DFI) added 10hp to the bike’s already impressive output.8 output. 8 & 9. The 9. The stock controls are quite complicated and have been said to go up in smoke in wet weather.

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proving particularly strong in America where the mantra of ‘bigger is better’ has always applied most strongly. Exactly what perspective the bike is seen in, in these modern times is somewhat of a toss-up between those owners who had the bike back in it’s heyday, but no longer, and recall problems such as poor suspension including failing fork seals and shock mounting issues, headstock bearing issues, poor brakes, and other varying issues.

Even with all these issues in mind both old and new owners remember the bike fondly and as a great motorcycle, with plenty of dakka, an easy-access design approach and the notable historical providence of being a six-cylinder, making owners part of a very exclusive club! After all if you’ve ever been to a classic bike meet or show, you’ll know people instantly recognise, identify and crowd around six-cylinders, although sadly Honda’s offerings are far more common than the mighty Z1300.

We can only hope that the increase in interest and restorations of the Z1300 that we’ve seen may cause the balance to fall back in its favour, with more gracing our classic motorcycle shows and meets! Not to mention the pages of RCBE! RCBE SPECIFICATIONS ENGINE:

Liquid-cooled, DOHC, four-stroke, transverse sixcylinder, two-valves per cylinder, 1286cc, 62 x 71mm bore x stroke, 9.9:1 compression, DFI, shaft final drive, six-into-two exhaust CLAIMED POWER:

130hp@8000rpm DRY WEIGHT:

297kg CHASSIS:

Doube cradle frame SUSPENSION:

Telescopic forks, dual preload adjustable air shocks BRAKES:

Dual 260mm rotors, two piston calipers, single 250mm rotor, single-piston caliper TOP SPEED:

145mph [233km/h]

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READER’SOWN

You need to own one of these at som some me stage in yourr life. Darren Steen has owned this screamer since he was justt 22 years old… … Lucky bugger…

P PROFILE E

I’v I’ve been riding ing since I was 14, so at least 18 years. ears. My first bikes we were all Suzuki uki dirt bikes and m mini bikes. Then I had a Suzuki R RM250, then n the road bike bu bug bit me. I had to stick with Su Suzuki, of course, ourse, so I bought an immaculate ate RG250. It was an ’83 HB Replica model, th the awesome-looking e-looking ones with h yellow ll paint, red seat, eat, HB graphics and white wheels [Stop making ng me drool – Ed]. I rode that around for ages butt just had to have an RG500. Then I saw this one ne in the Trading Post and snatched it. In the meantime I built a nice GSX-R1000, which was my main bike bike until until recently. recently. 54

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1. Low 1.  Low Low ori original iginal miles. 2. 2. That  That GP replica frame fra ame that set the world on fire in n 1985. 3. 3. Four  Four Four flatslides and rotary rotarry disc disc valve valve induction. induction. 4. Aircraft 4. Aircraf 4.  Aircraf  Aircraft ft style fuel cap. 5. Original immacula immaculate ate bodywork. 6. 6. Upper  Upper Upper rear pipes look se seriously eriously cool. 7. 7. Four FourFourpiston calipers, an anti-dive. nti-dive. 8. 8.   Six-speed.

THE THE BIKE BIKE

I bought the bike for only $2000! It was as is today – original and immaculate. I rode it home and parked it in the garage… For 10 years! I’ve ridden it a little bit, but not much. A few trips here and there, to the bike shop or petrol station – that’s it… Unfortunately I’ve sold it, though, and it’ll be shipped off to Alaska soon to its new owner.

I kept it original for all those years then decided to build a GP replica. It was only after I sold the bike that I heard about Mick Costin, who built that awesome YZR500 replica. I’d always wanted to own an RG500, so I’m glad I did. PARTS BIN

 Not much. much. I kept kept it clean clean,, polished polished and WD40ed it, plus ran it every now and then. The screen and the colour of the wheels are the only two things that aren’t original on the bike. END RESULT

10 years of detailing and very little use means that this is one rare puppy… WHAT IT COST

Originally? $2000... Since then? Nothing…  RCBE RCBE

SPECIFICATIONS

1985 RG500 Engine type: Water-cooled type: Water-cooled 498cc two-stroke square-four Power: 95hp@9500rpm Power: 95hp@9500rpm Torque: Torque: 71Nm@8000rpm  71Nm@8000rpm 71Nm@8000rpm Overall Length: 2100mm Length: 2100mm Overall Width: 695mm Width: 695mm Overall Height: 1185mm Seat Height: 770mm Wheelbase: 1425 mm Ground Clearance: 120mm Dry Weight: 156kg Weight: 156kg SUZUKI RG500

In March, 1983, Suzuki released the RG250 Gamma, the first member of the RG family. The following year, Suzuki introduced the largest member – the RG500 – and, in 1985, a 400cc version for the domestic Japanese market. It was built for the highly competitive 400cc class in Japan. The RG500 Gamma and Yamaha RZ500 race replicas were the closest you could get a real GP machine back in the mid 1980s. The RG copied the racer, with its four water-cooled cylinders arranged in a square, disc valves and all the latest two-stroke technology. The chassis was as advanced, with an aluminium box frame and full-floater rear suspension. A true legend was born and anyone with two-stroke in their blood has lusted over an RG500…

VINTAGE RACER

KAWASAKI KAWA SAKI H1R

THE KAWASAKI

H1R RACER Ginger Molloy’s milestone motorcycle changed the face of racing and gave Agostini a run for his money… WORDS:

ALAN CATHCART

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ronic, really. Alone out of the four Japanese manufacturers, Kawasaki firmly turned their backs on two-stroke GP racing for almost two decades, in favour of exclusively concentrating their race efforts on the four-strokes they sell for the street. Yet is was the Green Meanies who were responsible for building the most significant motorcycle in the history of the 500GP class, which ushered in the modern era of race development when it made its debut on the world stage over 40 years ago – the three-cylinder 500cc two-stroke known as the Kawasaki H1R. Honda’s withdrawal from GP racing at the end of 1967 had left the 50cc and 125cc GP classes firmly under the control of their two-stroke rivals, while the FIM’s short-sighted ban on more than two cylinders would shortly do the same for the 250s, after Benelli’s swansong world title in 1969, courtesy of Kel Carruthers.

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KEL EDGE

The 350 class was already awash with Yamaha two-strokes as the favoured mount of all but riders of the Italian multi-cylinder works racers, leaving just the blue riband 500cc category as the final fortress of fourstroke domination. But only because the Japanese hadn’t got round to developing a bike for it... yet – in 1970, however, they did.

THE H1R ARRIVES

Kawasaki had already stunned the world by launching the first large-capacity two-stroke streetbike of the modern era, and the 500cc Mach III was just amazing – a true hooligan bike, the first headbanger’s hotrod. Of course, it swiftly ended up on the racetracks of the world, where it gained further street cred by being immediately competitive and surprisingly reliable, as well as numbingly fast by the four-stroke standards by the day – enough so, for example, to spring an upset victory in the 1969 Le Mans 1000km race, and to come within an ace of winning the Bol D’Or 24-hour marathon, finishing second, third and fourth after yielding the lead to the winning 750 Honda only in the final hours.

For a company whose greatest success on the track until then had been to win the World 125GP title with Dave Simmons riding their rotary-valve parallel-twin that same year, it was a short but inevitable step to develop the full-on 500GP production racer that the Mach III seemed destined to sire, and in doing so, Kawasaki altered the face of Grand Prix racing forever. Unless your name was Giacomo Agostini, and you were able to parade to a series of unchallenged GP victories and world titles aboard Count Agusta’s MV four-stroke triples, if you raced in the 500cc GP class up until the end of the 1969, you had to be satisfied with riding a Matchless G50 or Manx Norton based British single that was at least 40 mph slower than the MV, MV, but had the benefit of being cheaper to run and easier to maintain than the Italian Paton and Linto twins which were the privateer’s only other option. You did have a choice of racing a nominally overbored 350 two-stroke, so the first time a two-stroke ever finished on the rostrum

of a 500GP was when New Zealander Ginger Molloy took his 360 Bultaco single to third place in the ‘69 Spanish GP at Jarama – out of just seven finishers! Two-strokes weren’t an option – yet. But a year later they were and Molloy, an experienced member of the Continental Circus who was his own mechanic and knew better than most how to prepare a fickle, seizure-prone two-stroke racer of the era and to make it reliable as well as ride it properly, was the man who proved it. All by finishing second to Agostini’s MV in the 500cc World Championship in the debut season of the bike that would change the GP world forever, Kawasaki’s H1R. Closely based on the Mach III roadster, the 40 or so H1R road racers that Kawasaki built in total all followed the same basic architecture, with three separately-cast air-cooled cylinders with a single exhaust port and five transfers, mounted transversely in line on a crankcase identical to the Mach III’s and fed by a trio of Mikuni VM35SC carbs, which most owners bored out to 36mm. The piston-port engine ran on 20:1 premix fuel, but an additional oil tank in the seat supplied

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VINTAGE RACER KAWA KAWASAKI SAKI H1R

additional lubrication via Kawasaki’s trademark injector system mounted on the right end of the crankshaft, feeding the main bearings, big ends and, via the oilways drilled in the stock H1R rods, the needle roller small end bearings. This was undoubtedly one reason why the H1R swiftly gained a reputation for near-bullet proof reliability in private hands, once owners educated on four-stroke singles had mastered the critical skills of setting the carb jetting on a two-stroke correctly, only broken cylinder studs were a perennial problem.

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Forged two-ring pistons 20 grams lighter than the Mach III equivalents were fitted to the 60 x 58.8mm engine, whose five-speed close-ratio gearbox used a dry clutch mounted behind the oil injectors, while the Mach III’s electronic ignition was replaced by a battery and three coils for the racer. However, most owners like Molloy fitted a Kröber transistorised system which saved weight by junking the battery and other hardware, as well as preventing misfires caused by any slight movement in the crank bearings upsetting the points timing.

Delivering 75bhp at 9000rpm in stock form, more than 30bhp more than a Manx Norton or Seeley G50 which weighed more dry than the 135kg Kawasaki, the H1R’s big handicap was its very high fuel consumption, around 16mpg or 18L/100km. Scare stories about 11mpg thirst which arose when the bike made its debut at Daytona in March 1970 came about through confusing Imperial and American gallons! But, even so, the fuel load needed to satisfy this thirst in the days when FIM rules stipulated that GP races must be at least one hour in length, was a real penalty. This was true not only in terms of weight and lost time making pit stops to refuel (as all H1R riders had to do as a matter of course in GP racing, even once the oil tank in the seat had been converted to a secondary fuel tank, and a new oil container mounted above the gearbox where the battery used to be) but also because a bike which already featured some compromises in its chassis design didn’t handle any better with 30 litres or so of fuel aboard! The width of the three-cylinder engine meant that it had to be mounted very high in the duplex frame (essentially a lightweight copy of a Norton Featherbed chassis) in order to gain acceptable ground clearance even on the skinny triangular race tyres of the day – the crankshaft was located no less than three inches (75mm) above the centreline drawn between the wheel axles. Sticking 22 litres of petrol in the standard fuel tank, then adding another 8.5 litres in the tail, must have made the Kawasaki a real handful in the early laps of a GP race – or after a fuel stop! Stopping the bike must also have posed a real problem, which the 280mm four leadingshoe drum front brake (with its substantial gyroscopic effect on the handling), proved ill-equipped to do. In fact most owners fitted a lighter, more effective 250mm Fontana 4LS brake during 1970, and by the following season disc brakes (usually sourced from the Honda CB500/750 parts bin) were commonplace. The H1R made a winning debut at Daytona in March 1970, when the first customers took delivery of their bikes and one of them, Texan Rusty Bradley, won the 100-mile Junior race on his machine. In the Daytona 200 – for which the H1R was eligible under the new F750 rules, thanks to its Mach III roadster ancestry, Ginger Molloy finished seventh on his new 500 against all the 750s, best private owner and best non-American with a completely standard bike that had been uncrated and assembled only days before, but which was still trapped at 159.83 mph on the bankings. Back in Europe, Molloy’s H1R began to pay its way at the non-championship internationals, which were vital to a privateer’s race budget, with third at Cervia in Italy, and fifth amid the snow and ice of Austria’s Salzburgring. Similar weather was in store for the first GP of the season at the Nurburgring, in which Ginger played safe and rode his 360 Bultaco to third place behind Ago’s MV and the URS four.

“H1R was far from being a billion-lire works GP racer, it could be bought for just 1,500 GBP from your friendly local Kawasaki dealer....” In the French GP at Le Mans two weeks later, he gave Kawasaki its first 500GP rostrum finish with a superb second place behind Agostini, after being last away at the push start. It was a classic debut which served notice that the times, they were a-changin’. The H1R was only fractionally slower than the MV on both acceleration and top speed, yet far from being a billion-lire works GP racer, it could be bought for just 1,500 GBP from your friendly local Kawasaki dealer. Two obligatory pit stops necessitated by the Kawa’s thirst, as well as a slight but annoying misfire, had let Ago off the hook at Le Mans, but for the next GP on the Opatija street circuit in Yugoslavia, Ginger converted the seat tank to fuel and mounted a small cylindrical oil tank in front of the rear mudguard. The adverse effect on raking of this extra load was underlined when he rammed Pagani’s works Linto at a hairpin, then was blinded by fuel spraying into his open face helmet from the breather pipe – seventh under the circumstances was a bonus. Opting to miss the TT, he raced instead at the non-title Yugo race at Skopjaloka, and scored the Kawasaki’s first race victory, setting a new lap record in the process. Fitting a wider WM3 rear rim – the H1R was definitely under-tyred in stock form – with 3.00 and 3.25 front and rear tyres respectively, both on WM2 x 18 inch wheels, he headed for the Dutch TT at Assen hoping to give the MV a close run for victory, on a circuit where he had twice finished second in the Dutch GP, on the same day.

But it was not to be. The Kawasaki wouldn’t rev properly at Assen, pulling only 8000rpm instead of its peak 8800 revs (and 9500rpm redline), and the misfire was still there. Ginger still finished fourth but the next two GPs in Belgium and East Germany were a disaster, with retirements in both races – the crankshaft needed attention. Unable to obtain original spare parts, he fitted a reconditioned crank with home-made crankpins and German Durkopf cages, which lasted longer than the Japanese rollers in the six-bearing crank. Together with the Kröber ignition now fitted, this transformed the Kawasaki into a fast and reliable machine, which actually allowed him to lead the Finnish GP at Imatra at half-distance, before Agostini overtook him. Second place there was followed by another in the Ulster GP, when again the Kawasaki privateer led the works MV, only to have to stop for fuel, allowing Ago to win by just under two minutes. Sixth at Monza in the Italian GP was a disappointment – even if no less than seven Kawasakis finished in the first ten, behind the inevitable pair of MVs, thanks to a power loss caused by overheating from the alloy casing round the generator, which Ginger now ventilated, as well as taking a file to the cylinder ports. His handiwork paid off, with third place in the non-title race at Imola the next weekend, then victories in similar races in Austria and Yugoslavia. The H1R was paying for itself!

To round off a season that could hardly have been more successful, Molloy rode the Kawasaki to another second place, his fourth of the season, in the Spanish GP in Barcelona. This result must have given him extra satisfaction because of his long connection with the Catalan capital as a semi-works Bultaco rider, as much as for the second place in the World 500GP Championship that it clinched for him. It was the first time a two-stroke had ever finished in the top three of the 500GP world title chase.

SETTLING IN AUSTRALIA

This detailed resume of the debut season of Molloy’s milestone motorcycle is of special significance for the simple reason more than 40 years on, the very same bike is alive and well and racing in Australia in completely original form, thanks to the son of the man who acquired the bike from Molloy in 1972. Brendan May and his brother Brad took the 500GP world championship runner-up H1R over from their dad Kevin in 1983, ten years after he’d bought it from Ginger Molloy. The Kiwi had spent ‘71 racing in the USA, then returned down under to finish second on the bike in the Australian TT at Bathurst where the Kawasaki was clocked at an incredible 172mph down the Conrod Straight, running 13000rpm on its tallest gearing without damage! That was Ginger’s racing swansong – he rebuilt the bike and sold it to the ISSUE #14 RCBE

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“Brendan’s H1R is essentially exactly the same as when Ginger Molloy last rode it...” May family, before retiring from racing to his  NZ homeland homeland (though (though just to show show ‘once a racer, always etc.’, he then became an active competitor in historic events!). Brendan May used the bike to progress through C-grade novice racing, before running out of pistons and breaking the skirt off the centre cylinder, leading him to park it and move on to a modern 250 Yamaha. But the galloping growth of Post-Classic racing Down Under encouraged him to dig it out of retirement, re-sleeve the cylinder and persuade the Wiseco importer to source him some pistons. In 1994, the H1R took to the racetrack for the first time in eight years with resounding success. First Brendan rode it to the a pair of 500cc race wins in the Island Classic at Philip Island, then he repeated the success in the 500cc race at the Australian Post-Classic championships at the Eastern Creek GP circuit later in the year, since when the Kawasaki has been a regular visitor to Victory Lane Down Under. To find a period racer of any kind in such original, authentic condition, yet still capable of winning races is a rare event but all the more so when it’s one of the early customer GP two-strokes, which for some reason seem to have been modified more than the equivalent Manx Norton or CR Honda. But Brendan’s H1R is essentially exactly the same as when Ginger Molloy last rode it, complete with the H1R-A power-up kit made available for 1971, with different exhausts from the crossover type originally fitted to save bulk. Together with altered port timing and other minor modes, this bumped power output up to 80bhp at 9500rpm, but Molloy had already had the Bultaco factory spend a day re-porting each cylinder, says Brendan, so the exhausts were the main improvement on his bike. The H1R-A also had crank mods which saw roller bearings with a brass cage fitting on one side but with Yamaha rods fitted and special crankpins with smaller Yamaha needle roller bearings which don’t generate so much heat – lasting longer. THE H1R AT PHILLIP ISLAND

Apart from the inevitable broken cylinder studs and assorted clutch problems, Brendan says the bike has been very reliable during the time he’s raced it, thanks to the modern race pistons and Bel-Ray oil, as well as conservative jetting. Still, it didn’t persuade me not to leave my clutch hand on the lever at all times when I rode it, though – just in case! 60

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That’s when I wasn’t holding on tight to stop getting left behind when the power suddenly came on strongly, because make no mistake, riding this bike is an acquired skill which 15 laps of Phillip Island saw me only partially trained in. The first trick is to start it – the clutch action is very stiff, so it’s quite hard to catch the engine as it fires and a real knack is needed to match throttle opening to engine speed, making the push-start GPs of the era a bit of a challenge that presumably came with practice. Even once you’ve got it fired up (OK, I admit it, I had to get Brendan to start it for me!), getting it off the mark is hard, too – more practice needed AC! The problem was that a career of test riding modern GP two-strokes had left me unprepared for the degree of brutality it was necessary to inflict on the Kawasaki’s clutch in order to wind the revs up high and made the motor sing. Forget about today’s pussy-bikes with their mile-wide powerbands and more gradual delivery obtained by electronic trickery like powervalves and traction control, this is a bike from the days when a clutch lever was

Riding is a mixture of keeping the revs high enough, while ensuring the bike is upright when transitioning back onto the power.

your passport to race-winning horsepower, delivered right now rather than later. There was no power at all below 7000rpm on the Molloy Kawasaki with its H1R-A pipes, and to make it really motor you have to get it revving at 8000 rpm or higher. When the tacho needle hits that mark on the dial, you better be holding on tight, suddenly, the Kawa will lunge forward as the power comes in strong and if you happen to be cranked over at the time, exiting one of Phillip Island’s slower turns, be prepared for the rear Avon tyre to go walkies, chopping across the tarmac as it scrabbles for grip and your heart-rate goes ballistic. If you happened to have inflicted this excitement on yourself by clutching the engine out of a slow turn, it seems doubly daft. That’s when you learn to pick the Kawasaki upright before you gas it hard or clutch it – and try not to let the revs fall out of the powerband, ever. Since the engine is redlined at ten grand and you have only a five-speed ‘box to play with, this is easier said than done – but a pit stop for advice brought reassurance from Brendan. “The 10000rpm redline is only for the standard H1R,” he said, “whereas this uprated engine has less power low down but is safe to quite a bit higher. Just let it go!” OK, boss, I did and now I can believe that amazing 172mph Bathurst trap speed, because it carburates best at high revs and changing up at 10500-plus allows

1. Three 35mm Mikuni VM35SC carbs provide fuel to the air-cooled transverse in-line three-cylinder engine.2. 1. Three engine.2. The  The frame is loosely based on a Norton Featherbed chassis and mounts the engine high to ensure ground clearance.3. clearance.3. Tubular  Tubular steel duplex cradle frame and swingarm helped contribute to the bike’s superlight weight. 4. 4. The  The dry multiplate clutch has to be really brutally used to get the most out of the bike.5. bike.5. The  The H1R’s fuel consumption required a large tank, plus a secondary tank, while the low bars didn’t provide much leverage.6. leverage.6. Honda  Honda front disc brakes were meant to improve braking but Molloy regretted the conversion.7. conversion. 7. Koni shocks replaced the stock offerings, raising ride height and increasing ground clearance.

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VINTAGE RACER KAWA KAWASAKI SAKI H1R

“The Kawasaki is extremely quick by any standards, and especially those of 1970...”

you to keep above the magic eight-grand barrier, and the Kawasaki is extremely quick by any standards, and especially those of 1970. I mean, seriously fast – swapping a Manx Norton for this must have been like flying Concorde after a turbo-prop. The future beckoned, and it was named Kawasaki. The riding position reminded me more of a 125 than a 500, with a skinny upper fairing and steeply dropped bars that didn’t give much leverage for muscling the H1R round turns, but presumably help present a relatively slim profile as well as encouraging you to tuck well away behind the low screen. The bottom part of the fairing is relatively bulbous, thanks to the wide crank and bulky exhausts, but it doesn’t ground easily and the handling is actually pretty good even over bumps, within the context of its time. The high centre of gravity made it awkward in slow turns, where it tipped into corners rather suddenly in spite of the kicked-out head angle and the bulk of the big fuel tank made it

meaty and butch to ride. It skipped about over bumps – like the one on the inside of Lukey Heights at Phillip Island – but any period twin-shock bike will do this, and the Kawasaki seemed relatively controllable, at least with the light fuel load I was riding with. Brendan was unable to get the original Kawasaki shocks rebuilt, so had fitted Konis which are probably more compliant as well as being 10mm longer, thus increasing rear ride height by that amount. This might account for the fact that the H1R didn’t have the ass-down feel that most period two-strokes of the 1970s have, as well as for its good ground clearance, but it didn’t cure the noticeable power understeer that was the main feature of the bike’s handling. It pushed the front wheel and headed for the hills each time I got hard on the pipe in the middle of a turn and needed a good tug to pull it back on line. The fact that the front WM2 rim was surely over-tyred with the 110/80-18 Bridgestone fitted mightn’t

have helped, especially with the rather flimsy forks which were pretty hopeless at coping with bumps cranked over on the power, chattering the front tyre quite dramatically. The answer? Either hold on tight and grip that big fuel tank with your elbows and knees while keeping the throttle wound on, or else plot a smoother course and try to keep the bike more upright entering a turn, braking hard before you peel off into it, then accelerating hard into the apex like you do in a racing car. Late braking, early acceleration and a short transition time are the keys to riding a bike like this fast and the potent engine rewards that approach.  Just make make sure sure you brake brake hard hard into into the peeloff point, with the clutch in and changing down two or three gears at a time – bottom is very low, and I couldn’t grab it till the last moment just as I was ready to get on the gas again. Taking MG or Siberia was all a question of timing, that and judgement. The stainless steel Honda CB500 discs Ginger Molloy fitted to the bike had just as little bite as the ones on my XR750-TT Harley road racer I owned at the time, which is why I fitted a Fontana drum to it. The discs may be lighter than the heavy drum brake but they don’t make the bike stop so well and Ginger regretted making the swap, says Brendan. I know why! But I’m sure Ginger didn’t regret racing the Kawasaki, or becoming the man who ushered the modern era of machine development into the Grand Prix arena. Thanks to Brendan and Brad May, a valuable piece of two-wheeled history can be seen in action today, still preserved almost exactly as it was when it gave Ago a wake-up call more than four decades ago. History lives again! RCBE SPECIFICATIONS ENGINE:

Air-cooled, transverse in-line three-cylinder, piston-port, two-stroke, with separate oil injection to 120-degree crankshaft, 60 x 58.8mm bore x stroke, 498cc, three 35mm Mikuni VM35SC carbs, Kröber CDI, 5-speed, dry multiplate clutch, H1R-A power-up kit exhausts CLAIMED POWER:

82bhp@9500rpm WEIGHT:

135kg CHASSIS:

Tubular steel duplex cradle, tubular steel swingarm, Wheelbase: 1360mm SUSPENSION:

35mm Kawasaki telescopic forks, dual Koni shocks BRAKES:

Dual 260mm Honda stainless steel rotors, two-piston Honda calipers, 230mm rear twin leading-shoe drum brake WHEELS & TYRES:

Borrani wire-spoked rims, (F) 110/80-18 Bridgestone Spitfire on WM2/1.85in, (R) 130/70-18 Avon AM23 on WM3/2.15in TOP SPEED:

172mph [276.8km/h] (Bathurst 1973) SPECIAL THANKS:

Owners, Brendan and Brad May.

Road and Race  Motor  Motorcycles cycles Parts and Accessories for Traditional and Modern Racers

Road and Race Motorcycle Engineering 

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Classics, Customs, Cafe Racers, Restorations and Soon a Classic Cafe. All manner of mechanical and electrical services required by the motorcycling enthusiast. (02) 9905 4755 I [email protected]

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FEATURE ISLAND CLASSIC CLASSIC

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RCBE ISSUE #14

CO LVIN WORDS: RUSSELL COLVIN

PHOTOGRAPHY: RUSSELL COLVIN, HEATHER WAR E

ic… … nd Classic land Isla onal Is tio terrnati Inte he In  th his year at t  th in t ain aga iwiis ag  Kiw gged the Poms and K log  flo We f

F

or the last weekend in January the penguins, koalas and kangaroos have to take a back seat as the centre stage belongs to the high-speed leather brigade who embark on Australia’s largest historic motorcycle race event and the third largest motorcycling event on the Australian calendar behind the MotoGP and World Superbike events. That’s right it’s the Tahbilk International Island Classic! In its 21st year running, the Island Classic once again lived up to expectation for both racers and the fans that made the annual pilgrimage to the seaside circuit. Each year this event draws more bikes and competitors; 2014 saw over 450 bikes/ sidecars entered and 343 riders! Where else would you see a turn out like this? This event has everything for everyone.  Not only is there there kick arse action action on track across all 10 classes thoughout the whole weekend, but off track it’s almost if not more exciting! Things such as free pit access where the fans got to rub shoulders with some of the best riders in the world and check out some serious bike porn in the pits too. Not only is bike porn in the pits, it’s also in the parking area as well, where fans gets to park their pre 1990 non-competition motorcycle pride and joy close to the pit area and turn it into a ‘showroom like parking lot’. And then on the Sunday afternoon they even get to do a demonstration lap in the Shannons Parade Lap show as well. This year there were 95 bikes taking to the track and what a sight it was to watch. A welcome return in 2014 was

trade alley in the back of the paddock where you could even buy some official 2014 Island Classic merchandise and so on. Another big-ticket item was the Saturday night welcome dinner which was once again held in the expo area. 670 people enjoyed the night, with a few glasses of Tahbilk wines of course and some great food while listing to Sir Alan Cathcart interviewing all the main players including UK’s new star recruitment, John McGuiness. Even Retro & Classic Bike contributor Alan Cathcart thinks this event is amazing! Cathcart said, “I have been coming to the Island Classic on and off for the past 10 years. It’s been fantastic to see how it has grown. Having the International Challenge was a brilliant idea. The whole event is a great success and I enjoy it”. In regards to the International Teams Challenge, If you’re wondering what that is all

teams. They brought an army of their best riders such as ex 250/500cc GP star Jeremy McWilliams, Gary Johnson, Mike ‘Spike’ Edwards who has competed in some of the most famous races such as the Spa-24Hour, Bol’Dor 24Hr, Suzuka-8hr, Macau-GP just to name a few. At the eleventh hour, Irishman Ryan Farquhar was called in to replace Steve Brogan because of family commitments. But the biggest name to make the headline act was without a doubt, the man from Morecambe, Lancashire, 41-year old John McGuinness. The 26-race victor at the Isle of Man TT and an accomplished endurance racer was glad to be on Australia soil. But when he asked what it was going to be like to race his IOM TT rival Cam Donald, this is what he had to say about it - “It’s going to be hard to deal with Cam around here that’s for sure.” “He passed me yesterday and showed me who was the

The Pom’s, Yanks and Kiwis brought an army of their best riders to do battle against the Aussie legends... about, well, in simple terms it is a is fiercely contested weekend which sees Australia V the Yanks V the Kiwis and V the Poms, all going hammer and tongs to score top points to win for their country. And for individual honours, riders were all battling it out to win the Ken Wootton memorial trophy and the everfamous Karen ‘Nurse’ Wootton’s homemade chocolate brownies. 2014 saw UK’s best line up of riders that were ready to rock and roll and go toe-totoe with the Aussie riders and the other two

‘boss’ around Phillip Island. But we will slowly catch up and hopefully towards the end of the weekend we won’t be a million miles away. But the likes of Shawn Giles, Steve Martin and Robbie Phillis are super fast around here. Even Brendan Roberts. I have experience racing against him in BSB Superstock and he is lighting fast as well. I have a load of respect for all of these guys”. For a man like McGuinness who raced around the world’s greatest tracks like the North West 200, Macau Grand Prix and the

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1. Racing was ultra competitive in all classes. 2. 1. Racing 2. Ryan  Ryan Taylor dominated on the GPz900in P6 1300. 3. Dean Oughtred on the winning CR750. 4. 4. Racing  Racing was intense on Sunday.

McGuinness leads Edwards at Honda corner. The two raced hard all weekend long and are hoping to be back for more in 2015.

Cameron Donald leads Shawn Giles and Brendan Roberts. The #89 XR69 and Cameron were seriously fast all before the XR went pop in the final. 66

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Isle of Man TT and so on, what is it like to come down under and race at this iconic race track? “The track is simply amazing! It’s a real old school type of track, just so fast and following. The track is like Monza, Spa, Daytona, it’s one of the circuits on the world scene that you want to do. I was just so excited to come”! The English team may have had their strongest line up of riders, but quite frankly the Aussie team did not give a rat’s arse who they brought out. Because Australia had their own army of riders. Riders such as the 1999 Australian Superbike and 2009 World Endurance champion Steve Martin, Martin’s teammate Shawn Giles. ‘Mr Superbike’ Robbie Phillis, Tasmania’s Malcolm ‘Wally’ Campbell, Current Australian Superbike racer Beau Beaton, Brendan Roberts and another IOM TT legend, Cam Donald just to name a few. On track action, well it started off with an Aussie blitz from Donald. From the word go he was the early pace setter in qualifying one and looked like he was going to be the man to catch for the whole weekend. Donald steered his Manta Engineering Suzuki XR69 to a 1m38.368 in the 15-minute opening qualifying session, just 0.403s faster than countryman Beau Beaton on the K.H. Equipment/Austart Air Starters Irving Vincent. “Today went pretty good,” said Donald. “We have been chipping away with the same motorcycle for the last few years now, and every year we seem to improve it. It’s great to go P1, but it’s still early days as there is a lot more racing to go yet. But I’m thrilled to go P1,” added the likeable Victorian rider. In qualifying two however it was McWilliams (Team Winfield) who got the upper hand snaring pole position over Donald by .017sec! Giles rounded out the three bike front row. McWilliams kept his form going in the two opening races on Saturday beating Donald who played second fiddle to him in both races. Race two was nothing short of a bell ringer! McWilliams, Donald, Giles and Roberts all battled it out for the whole six laps, and at the end of the race the time difference was just .272 between the four riders! “The Island Classic is an event where we really try are arses off way too much than we really should.” said a delighted McWilliams after race two. “What should be a fun event, everyone takes it so seriously. We’re all turning up with better machinery and better tyres every year, and the lap times are really impressive. Everyone wants to win it because it’s a prestige event.” “That race just proved it then as there was nothing in it between us. I can’t remember the last time we started a weekend off so well like this. The event means a lot, because Phillip Island is so special to me”. Race three belonged to Donald as he led from start to finish but it was not made easy as Giles gave chase the whole way. Giles’s team-mate, Roberts finished third while

Michael Dibbs leads the leads the pack out of Siberia on the Rex Wolfended Wolfended Harris Honda.

1. Mark Bracks interviews Shawn Giles after his 1. Mark victory in the final. 2. 2. John  John McGuinness, Anthony Hamilton, Steve Martin. 3. 3. The  The pits were open to the public all weekend. 4. 4. Massive  Massive crowds made the event atmosphere one to remember.

McWilliams had to settle for fourth as he was suffering with his bike cutting out down the main straight on the first two laps which cost him any chance of victory. With this result it set the stage for an epic battle for the final race of the weekend. Donald was just one slender point ahead of McWilliams with Giles just three points off Donald. It was game on for the last race! In the most stunning outcomes, Roberts pipped McWilliams by the smallest of margins, just .004sec to claim second spot behind Giles in race four. The result meant that both Giles and McWilliams finished the International Challenge races on 155-points apiece, and were subsequently declared joint winners – the first time it’s happened since the International Challenge began in 2005. Giles and McWilliams now ‘share’ the Ken Wootton Trophy as the highest individual point scorers in the International Challenge. “This is just fantastic,” said Giles who described the weekend like a WSBK because everyone was pushing that hard. “The start of the weekend I was struggling a bit, because we had two wet sessions and I didn’t go out and went into qualifying and was a bit behind. So I really had to try hard to get close to the front. Full credit to the TBR/D&D/ Springwood Suzuki team. They have built

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awesome bikes for many years now. To have three bikes up there just shows how good the team is. Brendan rode unreal for his first ever time at the Island Classic, it’s no easy task at all. As I said full credit to the team, they have all worked hard, they’re all a bunch of mates and that is what makes it so good to race for the team. “I had to put everything on the line in that last race. I had my bike wobbling all over the place because I was trying so hard but I’m over the moon to come away with a win in the final race. I still take my hat off to Ken because when I retired from Australian

Superbikes he told me I had to come and race at the Island Classic and now I’m hooked forever. I wish Ken was here to see it”. McWilliams was wrapped well and said “Just so many emotions. Nobody knew which way it was going to go. We all come here for our own reasons. To come back for such a prestige event and pick up the Ken Wootton memorial trophy again is very special. Shawn beat me last year by one point and I beat him the year before by one point and this year we tied. You could not have written the script. I’m seriously blown away with ISSUE #14 RCBE

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Race three belonged to Cameron Donald as he led from start to finish.

Shawn Giles rode the wheels off his TBR Katana and the win he took in the final race will go down in history. It was an epic battle. 1. Steve Tozer, the veteren A grader, came second in P6 New Era 750 on a 400!2. 1. Steve 400! 2. Mal  Mal Campbel and son Scott had some epic battles over the weekend. 3. 3. The  The start of Race 1. 4. 4. Huge  Huge fields in all classes including 125s. 5. 5. Nothing  Nothing like a grid full of air-cooled superbikes to get the blood flowing.6. flowing. 6. Keith  Keith Campbell leads the 350 Classic field. 7. 7. Glenn  Glenn Hindle was his usual fast self and dominated 350 Post Classic. 8. 8. Roger  Roger Ward, Peter Attwood and Leigh Corbett all RD mounted.9. mounted. 9. Dave  Dave Johnson was blindingly fast and won 500 Post Classic. 10. 10. American  American Jimmi Mac was wrapped.

just how big this event is! I’m really looking forward to next year that’s for sure, I just can’t wait to get back here”! Third place went to Roberts with a 6-4-3-2 result while Beaton was fourth with a 4-6-7-4. Rounding out the top five was McGuinness on the Harris F1 after he strung a 7-8-8-7 result. A pretty impressive result seeing McGuinness did not even sit on the bike till the Thursday at the Island Classic! McGuinness once again was wrapped about the weekend and told Retro & Classic Bike Enthusiast it was a purely amazing weekend! “I’ve said it a million times all weekend. It’s been a thrill, it’s been fun, it’s been unbelievable competitive, it’s been friendly,” said McGuinness. “I probably underestimated just how fast we were going to go. The bikes are just ridiculous. It’s been great to ride with these boys, I know Brendan from BSB, I know Steve. But I have never ridden with the likes of Giles, Wally Campbell or Robbie Phillis and so on so it’s nice to have raced against

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new people who are so fast. I think even if I did 30-days testing before the event I don’t think I would have ran with those leading Aussie’s, they were special. And hats off to  Jeremy [McWilliams} he did a solid job.  “The organisers here at Phillip Island have done a really great job. I’ll come back next year for sure and give it another whirl,” added McGuinness.  Mike Edwards, also piloting a Harris F1 finished in sixth place with an 8-9-9-6. Seventh place went to T-Rex Racing’s Michael Dibb on the 1982 Honda Harris 1150cc machine. In race four it was just pure bad luck for Donald when his bike expired on the opening lap. “It vibrated and then went pop,” said the 36-year old. “It’s been an up and down weekend, actually up all weekend. Practice went well, qualifying went well, two seconds and a win, fantastic weekend! It was a shame to end the weekend on a sour note with a mechanical problem, but that’s racing. We have to look at the positives; it’s been a great fun weekend. Last year we were second overall and we won the Phil Irving Trophy, but this year we won an International race with a few seconds, it’s a shame we could not put the icing on the cake, but will save it till next year.” When Donald was asked would he be back in 2015 he replied with “We have to. We haven’t won it yet.” Donald still finished in eighth place overall by virtue of his impressive form with a 2-2-1 result.  Ninth place place went to Gary Johnson Johnson while while rounding out the top 10 was the 1999 Australian Superbike and 2009 World Endurance champion, Steve Martin on his TBR/D&D/QBE Insurance Suzuki Katana. “All in all, I’m actually happy,” said Martin. “Last year was a terrible year for me because I only finished two races. But this year I managed to finish three races and I equalled my best time and I have not been on the bike much, so I’m pretty happy with that. Of course I wish I was a bit further up the front, so I’ll have to try and rectify that for next year.” 05

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1. Jeff was wrapped to meet John McGuinness. 2. 1. Jeff 2. Huge  Huge number of competitors for the rider’s briefing. 3. The 3.  The spectators were flooding through the gates all three days.4. days.4. Sir  Sir Alan Cathcart was on hand doing interviews and hosting the Saturday night Gala Dinner.

McWilliams on the Harris Yamaha ahead of Donald and the pack into MG corner. Jeremy was the fastest of the Poms.

Steve Martin was the fastest of the Pirelli shod riders all weekend, consistantly in the 1:39s on the TBR QBE Katana.

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FEATURE ISLAND CLASSIC CLASSIC

As Australia celebrated Australia Day on Sunday the 26th of  January it was quite fitting that Australia retained the International Trophy for the teams challenge award winning it with 692 points on the board from the United Kingdom on 617. New Zealand was third with 367 and America in fourth with 341 points. The final word should go to the circuit’s Managing Director, Fergus Cameron. “It’s been a fantastic weekend. The Island Classic took another step forward this year. It was always going to be hard to follow on from last year when Giacomo Agostini came out. But the International Challenge and the other entire racing certainly served it up. The level of competition is a whole lot fiercer. To have  John McGuinness out here this year has been great, he has already told me that he will be back again next year for sure. This event is magnetic. People who want to get involved want to stay involved. And believe me the Americans will come back next year a whole lot stronger as well.” Roll on the 2015 Island Classic! RCBE

250 Class Podium.

Unlimited Forgotten group A Era Podium.

Sidecar Forgotten Era Podium.

125 Forgotten Era Podium.

125 New Era Podium.

250 Post Classic Podium.

250 Forgotten Era Podium.

350 Classic Podium.

125 Post Classic Podium.

250 New Era Podium.

Sidecar Post Classic Podium.

Sidecar New Era Podium.

500 Post Classic Podium.

500 Classic Podium.

350 Post Classic Podium.

Rex Wolfenden and Fergus Cameron.

350 Forgotten Era Podium.

Period 6 1300 Class Podium.

Unlimited Classic Podium.

Sidecar Classic Podium.

McWilliams and Giles.

Unlimited Post Classic Podium.

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RCBE ISSUE #14

RESULTS: TAHBILK INTERNATIONAL

250 POST CLASSIC

CHALLENGE FINAL POINTS

1 2 3 4

Australia United Kingdom New Zealand America

692 617 367 341

TAHBILK INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

=1 =1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Shawn Giles, Australia, Jeremy McWilliams, UK Brendan Roberts, Australia, Beau Beaton, Australia, John McGuinness, UK, Mike Edwards, UK, Michael Dibb, Australia, Cameron Donald, Australia, Gary Johnson, UK, Steve Martin, Australia,

155 155 149 143 134 132 137 118 108 105

SUPPORT CLASSES 125 FORGOTTEN ERA

1 2 3 4

Stephen KAIRL (NSW) Simon OLIVER (NSW) Lindsay McKAY (NSW) Terry MORRIS (VIC)

100 64 44 20

125 NEW ERA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Robert DAY (SA) Justin HALL (NSW) Anthony MARSDEN (NSW) Tait COGHILL (VIC) Shane BINIONS (QLD) Shane WILCOX (NSW) Andrew COGHILL (VIC) Ryan TAYLOR (VIC) Karina SUNK (VIC) Brian DONOVAN (WA)

85 83 74 64 60 54 53 50 46 46

125 POST CLASSIC

1 2

Graeme LAWRENCE (QLD) Brian McGRATH (QLD)

97 25

250 CLASSIC

1 2 3 4 5 6

Murray SEABROOK (TAS) Jonathan HOUSTON (NSW) John IMRIE (NSW) Bruce MEREDITH (VIC) Mick JONES (NSW) Graeme OSBORNE (QLD)

100 88 80 64 63 54

250 FORGOTTEN ERA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Grant BOXHALL (TAS) Stephen KAIRL (NSW) Sean KELLY (SA) Michael DOBSON (TAS) Roger WARD (NSW) Robin WILLIAMS (SA) Craig LAWSON (SA) Stephen WARD (NSW) James MORRIS (NSW) Rex DELL (QLD)

94 82 68 62 54 54 50 50 46 45

250 NEW ERA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Simon DICKSON (QLD) Jeff DUKE (QLD) Kieran McGEOWN (QLD) Gary DICKSON (QLD) Keith BRADDOCK (VIC) Ken LOCKART (VIC) Michael CARLSEN (QLD) Michael WEBB (QLD) Campbell TURPIE (VIC) Jason ALLEN (QLD)

100 88 74 73 59 52 51 50 48 40

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Murray SEABROOK (TAS) Eirik NIELSEN (USA) Gavin COSWAY (VIC) John SIMMS (NSW) Mike MURRAY (NSW) John IMRIE (NSW) Jon MUNNS (USA) Denise TALABACH (USA) Phil BRISTOW (NSW) Darrell BAILEY (VIC)

100 82 66 64 63 56 54 46 37 37

350 CLASSIC

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Rod TINGATE (VIC) Philip PATON (NSW) Levi DAY (SA) Neil MAY (NSW) Bruce MARSTON (QLD) Darrell BAILEY (VIC) David ROPER (USA) Keith CAMPBELL (VIC) Phillip HITCHCOCK (NSW) Richard GRANT (NSW)

91 78 75 72 61 56 38 33 28 25

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

750 NEW ERA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

91 87 74 68 60 50 48 42 40 37

Scott CAMPBELL (TAS) Steve TOZER (VIC) Tim PODT (VIC) Malcolm CAMPBELL (TAS) Jack TWISSE (WA) Steve ANDERSON (NSW) Simon DICKSON (QLD) Scott EMANUELSSON (VIC) John McKENZIE (NSW) Alan JOHNSTON (NSW)

100 82 68 66 60 58 52 49 48 40

CLASSIC SIDECARS

350 FORGOTTEN ERA

Glenn HINDLE (NSW) Lachlan HILL (VIC) Phil DAVENPORT (UK) Stephen KAIRL (NSW) David OGDEN (NZ) Paul GIBSON (VIC) Andrew McLAREN (NZ) Alan JOHNSTON (NSW) Grant BOXHALL (TAS) Murray SEABROOK (TAS)

56 49 42 39 35 34 34 29

PERIOD 6 FORMULA

1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

David WOOLSEY (NSW) Chris PICKETT (NSW) Tom BRAMICH (VIC) Allan MURRAY (NSW) Dave KAVNEY (QLD) Russell FORREST (NZ) Martin PEARSON (VIC) John KELSEY (NSW)

2 3 4 5

Bruce MARSTON / Graham MARSTON (QLD) Bryce DAVIES / Brett GILBERT (NSW) Victor VASSELLA / Cameron ROCK (NSW) Theodore TALABACH / Denise TALABACH (USA) William HARGRAVE / Annie TREGGER (WA)

100 86

54 20

KEN WOOTON

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Glenn HINDLE (NSW) Murray SEABROOK (TAS) Russell FAIRBAIRN (NSW) Timothy TILGHMAN (USA) Keith CAMPBELL (VIC) Nick MILLER (WA) Richard MIDGLEY (USA) Bob DEMETRIUS (USA) Eirik NIELSEN (USA) Tony LOGAN (WA)

100 84 82 74 62 56 55 51 49 43

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Shawn GILES (NSW) Jeremy McWILLIAMS (UK) Brendan ROBERTS (SA) Beau BEATON (VIC) John McGUINNESS (UK) Mike EDWARDS (UK) Michael DIBB (VIC) Cameron DONALD (VIC) Gary JOHNSON (UK) Steve MARTIN (VIC)

155 155 149 143 134 132 127 118 108 105

FORGOTTEN ERA SIDECARS

1

500 CLASSIC

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Jack WRIGHT (SA) Darren TROTTER (SA) Bob ROSENTHAL (VIC) Rennie SCAYSBROOK (NSW) Matt BURTON (NSW) Bruce MARSTON (QLD) Dan GLEESON (SA) Tony GLAZEBROOK (QLD) Alex KENNEDY (WA) Guy BROWN (VIC)

100 78 78 74 57 51 45 43 41 38

Mitchell MULLIGAN (NSW) David OGDEN (NZ) David ROPER (USA) Grant BOXHALL (TAS) Mick DAMON (TAS) Bob GARNER (NSW) David NICHOLSON (VIC) Trevor TAYLOR (NZ) Andrew McLAREN (NZ) Lindsay RUSSELL (NSW)

3 4 5 6 7

500 FORGOTTEN ERA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2

72 69 60 54 42 41 36 32 31 30

8 9

1

75 62

Wade BOYD / Christine BLUNCK (USA)

2

John CLANCY / Chrissie CLANCY (VIC) Tim CAMPBELL / Bryan FITZGERALD (VIC)

72 64 61 58 57 54 47 37

UNLIMITED CLASSIC

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

David WOOLSEY (NSW) Victor VASSELLA (NSW) Tony GLAZEBROOK (QLD) Matt BURTON (NSW) Craig HEMSWORTH (VIC) Joe AHERN (SA) Leigh CORBETT (VIC) Barry ANGUS (NSW) David WEATHERHEAD (VIC) Laurie TURNBULL (NSW)

97 76 69 60 57 47 42 41 38 38

UNLIMITED FORGOTTEN

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Scott WEBSTER (VIC) Laurie FYFFE (NSW) Mick MOLONEY (VIC) Stuart LOLY (VIC) Glenn HINDLE (NSW) Dave WOOLAMS (UK) Wayne NICHOLSON (VIC) Albert TEHENNEPE (VIC) Peter BOOTH (TAS) Damien KAVNEY (QLD)

100 80 72 61 58 55 41 39 39 38

UNLIMITED FORGOTTEN ERA MINOR CLASS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Bernie LEEN (VIC) Mark McVEIGH (QLD) Richard EASTON (NSW) Mark JOHNSTON (VIC) Roger QUINLAN (NSW) Travis REID (WA) Tony LOGAN (WA) Neville GRANT (VIC) Roger ARNOLD (VIC) Stephen LEEMBRUGGEN (NSW)

91 72 56 56 53 51 50 49 48 44

78 PERIOD 6 1300CC

78 75 64 32 27 14 12

100

POST-CLASSIC SIDECARS

500 POST CLASSIC

David JOHNSON (SA) Bob MARRINER (NSW)

91

NEW ERA SIDECARS

1 1 2

Bruce COLLINS / Peter DEANGELIS (VIC) Ian GARDNER / Kevin BURNS (VIC) Edward POUCHER / Bronson POUCHER (NSW) Doug CHIVAS / Mathew McKINNON (NSW) Geoff IRWIN / Eric MORRISON (VIC) Peter SELKE / Lionel CORNWELL (NSW) John BLAYMIRES / Charles BILBY (NZ) Richard HIRST / Ryan MUNNS (NSW) Corey FORDE / vv Wayne BOSERIO (NSW)

Peter CHEESEMAN / Sean CHEESEMAN (VIC) 4 Bob DEMETRIUS / Christina DIVIGARD (USA) 5 Lindsay DONAI / Christine MENZIES (QLD) 6 Kevin WEBB / Tony KEOGH (WA) 7 Ray SMITH / Ron GARDNER (VIC) 8 Calvin MERLO / Colin MAGNAY (VIC) 9 Brian CARROLL / Eve STEIN (USA) 10 Ralph BRIOTTI BRIOTTI / Nichola CADDY (WA)

ERA PREMIER CLASS

62

PERPETUAL TROPHY 350 POST CLASSIC

3

86 75

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Ryan TAYLOR (VIC) Alex PICKETT (NSW) Hayden SCORRINGE (NZ) Wayne FORREST (VIC) Duncan COUTTS (NZ) Simon John RICHARDS (NZ) Rick JOHNSON (VIC) Murray GARLAN (NSW) Lech BUDNIAK (NSW) Stephen LEEMBRUGGEN (NSW)

100 88 68 63 60 60 54 51 48 44

UNLIMITED POST CLASSIC

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Dean OUGHTRED (VIC) David JOHNSON (SA) Simon COOK (SA) Kelton CHEESEMAN (VIC) Corey FORDE (NSW) Nick MILLER (WA) Brian FILO (USA) Steve WOOD (NSW) Darren TINDALE (QLD) John DONAI (QLD) ISSUE #14 RCBE

95 87 82 76 64 56 50 45 42 38 71

TRIUMPH T100R David’s stunning T100R is a real custom classic, with no expense spared in the restoration process... or David fond memories of his 1960 Triumph T100A, which he both raced and used on the street between 1968 and 1973 in UK, was enough to spawn a new project, recreating that original bike. His original 1960 T100A had received it’s fair share of customisation, including being converted to twin points and frame mods to the swingarm spindle end brackets – setting the theme for this new creation, as less of a restoration and more of a custom classic. These projects always start somewhere and David was lucky enough to find a basket case 1967 T100T with a wrecked engine, while a 1973 T100R engine would replace the wrecked unit – both sourced from eBay.

F

72

RCBE ISSUE #14

The T100R engine was meant to have been rebuilt, but David had his reservations, and a full strip was on the cards just to make sure nothing came back to haunt him later.  Just as as well well too, as upon upon disassem disassembly bly he discovered a variety of problems, such as the new main bearings being rusty, while the cams were timed 180° out of spec and the crank pinion spacer washer was on back to front. With the engine apart the cases were soda blasted as well as the carbies, bringing them up to as new condition. The engine, gearbox and carbies were then reassembled, with new main bearings, polished and balanced rods, painted barrels and a blocked off tacho drive with an electric version being used instead.

The frame and swingarm were enamelled, with a set of factory Norton ‘short’ Roadholder forks in the original alloy triple-trees and custom made to order YSS rear shocks, all assembled into a rolling chassis. The rims are 18in Akront alloy with butted stainless spokes with a Honda 350 rear brake with Grimeca 4L/S front drum brake. David set up the Grimeca front brake with the shoes set to come on progressively with lever pressure, one at a time, giving greater control and a feel more akin to more modern disc brakes. He also made stainless steel adjuster rods rod end bearings to replace the primitive clevis joints of the original items.

WORDS: KRIS HODGSON PHOT PHOTOGRAPHY: OGRAPHY: DAVID JONES

Both the barrels and the rear brake plate were painted with a VHT light gold header paint, which looks amazing and is a very subtle effect that really stands out among all the polished alloy! With all the work carried out by David, he also took to the carbon-fibre, with a one-off home made oil tank, front mudguard and Dunstall style seat being created for the project. Of special significance and note is also the fuel tank, made from a mould taken straight from a Daytona winning bike in the US and ordered from Brett who operates Glass From the Past in the States.

Further showing off his skills David finished his chain guard in carbon-fibre, with professional results. With the bike running a few issues cropped up, including not running well, with the 626/26mm Mk1 concentric carbs replaced by a set of Wassel 900 series 28mm carbies, and running 170 main jets, #3 slides, 105 needle jets at 36 degrees timing advance with TriSpark ignition and NGK BR9EIX plugs. David also created his own gear change setup, using Ducati Monster and Cagiva Mito parts, while he cut and modified the kickstart and nickel plated it to fit around the gear change mechanism. Oil pressure was also an issue, with an incorrect oil pressure relief valve spring identified as the culprit and soon fixed with a new spring. The bike was also wet sumping at higher speeds, blowing oil out of the rocker box breather and after much head scratching, assembly, disassembly, reassembly and hair pulling, the oil scavange pipe was checked, only to find the end was closed, greatly reducing it’s ability to scavenge oil, meaning at higher revs it was quickly

overcome and unable to function properly. Running a BNR dry racing clutch with dry belt also meant that oil leaking from the gearbox was causing issues, necessitating modification to the gearbox output shaft, with a seal housing on the clutch shaft preventing the leak and safeguarding the clutch and belt. Special thanks go to Paul Borger who provided his lathe for use, as well as helping out by doing the TiG welding, to Albert Lord for producing intricate parts on his lathe and to Ron Stock from the US for the stainless shim washers, as well as for all the good advice and support from everyone! On the end result David could only say, “The bike rides like a dream, starts first kick every time and has had no further issues!” “There’s nothing I’d do differently, I had 40 years to think this one through…” When we asked about time and money invested in the project, David admitted, “I have receipts for parts and raw material alone for $26,000 and Shannons insured it for $30,000. “From start to finish it took 12 months and it’s the most satisfying thing I've ever done.” RCBE

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

1. The frame freshly coated in enamel. 2. 1. The 2. The  The custom front engine mounts are visible. 3. 3. The  The engine, headers, exhaust and swingarm fitted to the frame.4. frame. 4. The original 26mm carbs were later replaced with Wassel 28mm offerings.5 offerings. 5 & 6. The 6.  The hand made carbon-fibre oil tank and mockup. 7. 7. A  A custom rear 45T sprocket was made. 8 & 9. The 9.  The engine came up a treat with gold lettering and barrels. 10. 10. The  The engine cases, carbies and hubs were all soda blasted.11. blasted.11. Norton Roadholder forks and Grimeca 4L/S drum brake.12. brake. 12. The  The stainless steel adjuster rods. 13. 13. The  The modified kickstart and modified gear change from a Ducati Monster and Cagiva Mito. 14. 14. The  The gold painted brake plate. 15. 15. Custom  Custom built YSS shocks. 16. 16. Show  Show N Shine awards. ISSUE #14 RCBE

73

Fork Service Replacing fork seals, bushes, dust caps and oil can be done at home if you have some mechanical skills and the right tools… ay back in the dreamtime when I first

W started riding motorcycles, they all

had conventional fork legs with the lower leg surrounding the fork tube. Back then you’d rock up to the local bike shop and grab a set of seals off the shelf. There were only about a dozen different seals to suit the majority of bikes. The importance of keeping the oil inside the fork legs is now much greater than it was with the old Honda Four. Modern forks are made with much more exacting tolerances and rely heavily on the integrity of seals. That improvement in materials and technology allowed the introduction of upside-down forks. Determining whether your bike needs new fork seals is a very simple procedure. Squat beside the front-end and check out the inner leg. Doesn’t matter if your bike has conventional or upside-down legs, you’re looking for oil or tide lines on the shiny bits. If you can see oil, it’s time to head off to your local dealer (or a specialist like Jim from Zenodamper), to order a new pair of fork seals and dust covers. Before you even think about ripping your front-end apart – stop. Take the time to read your workshop manual and make sure that you understand exactly what’s involved in changing the fork seals on your bike. The aim of this article is to share information that may not be included in the factory manual. If you overlook something, it’s not our fault. 74

RCBE ISSUE #14

While out and about nd chasing up fork seals and ou dust seals, make sure you grab enough fork oil of the correct grade for your ur bike's forks. Changing fork seals is a reasonably straightforwardd job on most bikes but of course there are models that require special tools beyond the reach of the rest rest bt of us. If you honestly doubt your abilities at joining Part A with Part B, utilise thee services of an expert, likee Jim from Zenodamper. h seem too cheap h Be wary of fork seals that to be true and are being sold on eBay. Walk through the front door of your local dealer and order the original parts. You can’t go wrong. The reason that I’ve mentioned replacing dust seals at the same time as the fork seals is due to the fact that their job is to wipe the surface of the fork leg and protect the fork seals. They cop a hard time and are subjected to road grit, water and bugs. Fork seals are designed to contain the fork oil within the fork legs. Protect them and they’ll last a lot longer. If you’ve got all of the seals and fork oil together in one place, it’s time to have another caffeine break while you re-read the right section in the workshop manual. The first thing you need to work out

h the h hell h ll you’re ’ going to lift l f your   is how bike’s front-end off the ground and keep it supported solidly while you remove the front wheel and both fork legs. The rafters in your shed or carport may offer a solid attachment points for ratchet straps or a block and tackle. If your bike has provision for a paddock stand, use it in conjunction with the overhead sling. Be creative and safety minded. The jack out of a car boot and a couple of besser blocks has also been known to work well as a way of getting the front wheel off the ground in relative safety. With the front-end elevated and supported, grab a notebook, pen and vernier calipers. Measure and record how much fork leg sits

WITHERS & JEFF WARE WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY: MICK WITHERS

THE PROCESS

1

With conventional forks such as these early CBR600 forks start by using a rattle gun to loosen the bottom bolt before removing spring.

4

Once all the parts are washed and ready to assemble fit the lower bush then inner tube, upper bush, washer and seal (use glad wrap to protect).

7

Pour in the specified amount and type of oil minues around 40ml, which will be used to set the air gap.

10

Fit the fork cap/preload adjuster to the damping rod along with any spacers as per your workshop manual instructions.

2

Once the bolt is loose, remove the top cap and spring, our the oil out, then remove the bottom bolt and washer completely by hand.

5

Use a proper fork and bush seal slide installer if possible. If not, PVC pipe and a rubber mallet. Don't use a screwdriver and hammer!

8

Bleed the oil into the cartridge slowly by drawing it through its stroke three or four times.

11

Hand tighten with preload set to softest to help compress the spring. Use grease on the thread.

3

Remove the dust cap and circlips then snatch the inner tube from the outer, removing the seal and bushes. Assemble in reverse, hand tighten.

6

Once the seal is in place, fit the washer and the inner circlip followed by the dust cap.

9

Use a vernier or steel rule to set the oil level/air gap. If you overfill, use a syringe to draw oil out. Once the gap is set you can assemble the rest.

12

Job done, final cap tightening done once the forks are in the bike.

ISSUE #14 RCBE

75

above the top of the upper triple-clamp. If you have preload adjustors protruding through the fork caps, measure and record them, too. Count the clicks on compression and rebound adjustors. Use a digital camera or the camera in your mobile to record every square inch of your bike’s front-end. It may sound trivial but pay close attention to how wiring and control cables are routed. Make sure you’ve cut up enough old t-shirts to use as rags and have a few litres of kerosene on hand. Pour the kero in a 10-litre bucket and start cleaning your

now-dismantled forks. Bottle brushes are good for cleaning inside empty round things like fork legs. Stand the clean bits on the clean rags so they can drain and remain clean. When you’ve finished cleaning you can fit the new fork seals according to the good workshop manual. One thing they probably won’t mention is to lightly coat your new seals and the fork leg with Vaseline before introducing them for the first time. Don’t try and ram it in dry – that’ll only end in tears. Laugh all you want,

Vaseline is a good lubricant. As you finish reassembling each fork leg, fill it with the correct quantity of the right grade of fork oil. If you want to be a bit more accurate walk into the chemist and ask for a 60ml flushing syringe. The main thing is to make sure both fork legs are as close to identical as possible. Depending on what bike you’ve got, changing fork seals can be knocked over in a couple of hours or it could take all day. Be patient, take your time and you’ll be right – Mick Withers. RCBE

THE PROCESS

4 76

Remove the dust seal, circlip and washer before you attempt to separate the outer tubes!

RCBE ISSUE #14

1

Inverted forks are no more complex than conventional cartridge forks, they just look different. Remove and wipe down for dissassembly.

5

Snatch the inner and outer apart in a slide hammer technique. These should come apart reasonably easily.

2

Loosen lower bolt with a rattle gun if you can't crack it with a ratchet without turning the entire cartridge inside the inner tube.

3

The inner assembly on these YZR forks, like many, can be removed as a unit but will require stripping, cleaning and bleeding on assembly.

6

Assemble as per reverse, using plastic to protect the seal on installation. Due to the greater volume of oil, more cartridge bleeding is required.

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BUYER’SGUIDE >>

For two-stroke nuts there is no greater road bike than the mighty RG500…

YEAR: 1985 MAKE: SUZUKI MODEL: RG500 Alloy frame

Powerful 260mm four-pot brakes

Liquid cooled square-four engine

16in front wheel

>> THE COST OF LIVING

NEW PRICE: $5,795 + ORC C 5,000 USED PRICE: $10,000 – $25,000

from ’78 and ’79 and has four water-cooled cylinders that were arranged in a square above the two crankshafts and the pistons were set at 180° to each other so that they fire in opposite pairs. The engine had disc valve induction and was fed by four 28mm flat slide Mikuni carburetors located on the outside of each cylinder. At the time 95 horsepower was an astonishing figure, especially from a super-light 500, it enabled the bike to reach a top speed of 225km/h.

>> GOOD AND BAD  BAD POINTS:

Brittle seals and possible rusting on main bearings and big-ends, weak gearbox, 16in tyre choice could be limiting and high price may put the bike out of reach.  GOOD POINTS:

Blistering performance, good brakes/handling and ultimate bragging rights.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

>> SPECIFICATIONS 1985 RG500 COLOURS:

Blue/White, Red/Black CLAIMED POWER:

95hp[70.8kW]@9000rpm CLAIMED TORQUE:

53.1ft-lbs[72Nm]@9000rpm DRY WEIGHT:

154kg FUEL CAPACITY:

17L CHASSIS:

Double cradle alloy SUSPENSION:

38mm telescopic, air adjustable with adjustable preload and anti-dive FRONT BRAKES:

270mm dual rotors with four-piston calipers. 78

RCBE

ISSUE #14

There is no denying that riding a large capacity two-stroke is just about as exciting as it gets when it comes to motorcycling and probably none more so than the RG500. The bike was super-light at only 175kg wet – that’s 22kg lighter than the GSX-R750 – and had an all-alloy frame that cradled the square-four two-stroke engine. engine. The bike also had full floater rear monoshock suspension and an alloy swingarm – couple that to a small 16in front wheel and you had yourself a very fast steering bike with razor sharp handling (for its day). The engine was almost an exact copy of Barry Sheene’s World Championship winning engine

A problem is if the bike sits for a few years, the crank seals become brittle and even rust can form on the main bearings and little ends – this is due to the two inlet ports always being open allowing moisture to enter. The cassette gearbox is a bit weak with second gear being the culprit – if this fails it can destroy the box and put a hole in the engine cases so make sure the box has been modified with undercut gears. If the engine needs a full rebuild, expect to pay around $6000 for the pleasure.

>>

The middle of the ’80s was an exciting time for big strokers…

YEAR: 1984-1986 MAKE: YAMAHA MODEL: RZV500 196kg made the RZV porky Hand welded alloy frame

499cc V4 two-stroke, YPVS, reed valve induction

Mikuni VM26SS carburettors

>>> THE COST OF LIVING

NEW PRICE: $4,800 + ORC USED PRICE: $5,000 - $20,000 RZ500s are getting harder to come by these ddays bbut a good d alternative l is an importedd  Japanese RZV500, RZV50 0, the alloy all oy framed Japanese Jap anese domestic mode – which is more readily available with low kilometres and will set you back around $8000 - $12,000. The RZV500R features upgrades not found on the RZ500N such as the hand welded alloy frame, braided brake lines, air assisted forks with rebound adjustment, cast alloy brake and gear levers, alloy clip-ons and graphics. The entire package weighed in at 9.1kg less than the steel framed model. But sadly for the Japanese, the RZV was restricted to an underwhelming 64hp thanks to restricting the internal diameter of the exhaust pipes and with jetting. This is an easy fix… Aside from the above changes the RZV500R is mechanicallyy the same as the RZ500N we received mechanicall here. The 50-degree V4 twin crankshaft two-stroke engine was seriously trick in its day but also overly complicated. The GP YZR500 featured rotary disc induction like the successful RG500 Suzuki but Yamaha chose to go with reed valve induction and a YPVS powervalve system to broaden the powerband of the RZ500. The lower pair are fed through the crankcase reed and the upper pair via the cylinders. The Mikuni round side carburettors are mounted on 90º manifolds on the sides of the engine behind the fairings and have complex cabling and airbox shape.

The lower expansion chambers exit normally, under d the h engine but b the h rear cylinder l d pipes are complex and cross over each other to achieve tuned length then exit under the tail unit. The dual crankshafts are geared directly to the clutch and there is a counter-balancer counter-balancer driven off the front crank. The gearbox in the RZ500 is a sixspeed close-ratio unit with cassette-style removable gearbox and unusually the outer main bearings and a separate troichoid oil pump lubricates the gearbox. Two-stroke oil is injected via Yamaha’s Autolube system. Chassis-wise the RZ500 is also complex. The forks on the RZV are air assisted with hydraulic anti-dive and prone to fork seal leaks. The rear shock is horizontally placed under the engine and uses the lower crankcases as a mounting point. Front wheel is a tiny 16in and rear a huge 18in. This is because the under seat area is occupied by the YPVS servomotor, battery and rear exhausts. RCBE

>>> GOOD AND BAD  BAD POINTS:

Bike doesn’t like to sit for long periods unused, 16in-tyre choice could be limiting, handling is not the best, high restoration costs and it eats fuel.  GOOD POINTS:

Fun two-stroke performance, reasonable brakes and true race replica looks.

>> SPECIFICATIONS 1984 – 1986 YAMAHA RZV500 COLOURS:

Red/White ENGINE:

499cc liquid-cooled 50-degree V4 two-stroke CLAIMED POWER:

90hp(64hp Japan RZV)[64kW]@9500rpm CLAIMED TORQUE:

50ft-lbs[65Nm]@8500rpm DRY WEIGHT:

196kg FUEL CAPACITY:

22L CHASSIS:

Hand welded aluminium frame SUSPENSION:

37mm telescopic forks with anti-dive, rear preload and rebound adjustable underslung monoshock FRONT BRAKES:

Dual 267mm rotors with twin-piston callipers.

ISSUE #14

RCBE

79

MICK

MAKE:

Suzuki

MODEL: 

Hayabusa

 YEAR::   YEAR

2001

SPECIAL THANKS l

Ken Collin 

l

K&N Filters

l

Motoaus.com

l

EK Chain 

l

Cyanide

l

 AFAM

Racing 

Sprockets

l

Sydney Dyno

l

Lucas Oils

l

Denso spark plugs

TOP: Tether kill switch replaces clutch master cylinder clamp. BOTTOM: Green bits are the original plug for the sidestand kill switch plugged into the new connectors for the tether killswitch.

Ken Collin launching The Short Bus at Sydney Dragway.

The Short Bus takes Mick on a ride to near-insanity. here are days when all of

T your best-laid plans unroll perfectly and everything just happens exactly as predicted and planned for. Then there’s reality. Last issue I mentioned the list of outings planned for The Short Bus, my K1 Hayabusa. We made it to two of them. And then the fun started. But let me rewind to where we left off last issue. Mapping out mods before I even had my hands on the K1 was easy. Many of my mates own Busas and I’d watched and listened to their experiences. The first decision to be made was that The Short Bus had to be registered. I don’t own a trailer and have no intention of buying

APE clutch slave cylinder support bracket locks everything up tight.

80

RCBE ISSUE #14

one. This K1 had to be able to be ridden to the dragstrip, raced and ridden home. With that in mind, I explored my options and it is now registered. There were a few other mods that I wanted to do before taking the K1 on track. Luckily, I had to travel to Brisbane a fortnight before Ken was delivering the complete bike. Carrying out the first few mods was easy as the tank and bodywork were already removed allowing easy access to run cables and wiring. A very common Busa mod is to fit a throttle tube from either a Yamaha R1 or R6. The R1 option offers a 1/5 or 72˚ from idle to full throttle, and the R6 option is shorter with a 1/6 or 60˚ travel. If this was a race-only bike, the shorter

R6 option would be fine but for a street-ridden bike, the almost on-off throttle is just too touchy for my liking. Also, work is needed on the inside of the throttle housing for clearance as well as on the cable adjusters. I’m lazy so I opted for the R1 tube and ordered that as well as a matching grip for the left-hand side. All up they cost less than $50 including freight. Fitting was easy and took bugger-all time. Although they’re not compulsory for bikes running slower that 9.50 on the quarter mile, I really like lanyard kill switches. If bike and rider become separated, the tipover switch won’t kill proceedings until the bike’s laying on it’s side whereas the lanyard switch kills power instantly.

HOOKED: MICK WITHERS PROOF: GRANT & MW

Dragway, Ken fitted all of the freshly Having fitted quite a few over painted panels and sent me pics so I the years, I like plug and play. could see how good it looked. Shayne from Cyanide Racing The race meeting went sour carries products from various with The Short Bus not running suppliers including Schnitz Racing happily during qualifying so we who offer the Easy Mount Tether parked it. Our initial diagnosis Kill Switch that I used. was that the fuel pump probably This is a real plug and play needed replacing. While waiting deal with the lanyard assembly for the eBay replacement to arrive, replacing the clamp on either the brake or clutch master cylinder and I grabbed a second-hand complete K8 fuel pump assembly from a mate the other end plugging into the and fitted it so I could race at Bike sidestand kill switch. I chose to fit  Night four four days later later.. By adding adding an it on the left as that’s the side that extra earth wire and ignoring the the sidestand kill switch is on. flashing FI light, we were ready. Two bolts, unplug one plug After an embarrassing moment connection and plug each of the two halves into the two other plugs. when I stalled while launching in front of an assembled group of 40  Job done done,, and no need need to pull pull or 50 attendees at the very first switchblocks apart and solder wires Introduction to Drag Bike Racing before insulating them. Less than given by Australian Drag Bike ten minutes’ work and under $100. School, I ran a 12 second pass and Also on the left hand side is the parked the bike until later when my clutch slave cylinder. When you start adding extra stress to the clutch red face had subsided. As I was warming The Short Bus by replacing or disarming the stock before going back out for another back torque limiter, adding stiffer run, Terry Jackson pointed out springs or generally abusing the the coolant leaking out onto the clutch beyond normal, you need to ground. A quick look at where add a clutch slave cylinder support it seemed to be leaking from was bracket. Unsupported, the heavier enough reason for me to park it and load on the clutch pushrod and get it freighted home by Dave from slave cylinder tends to become a Servin’ It Up. weak spot and cracked crank case As I had disturbed the water covers are the result. APE make a perfectly fine support pump while fitting the clutch slave cylinder support bracket, I assumed bracket that completely eliminates that the o-rings were leaking and this flex. Most only use two went ahead and ordered them. After mounting points whereas the APE pulling the pump out, replacing jobbie uses four including two on the o-rings and putting it all back the water pump. Fitting was quick, together,, I filled the coolant system simple and straight-forward. I added together a washer between each bolt and the with fresh coolant and burped it while checking for leaks. bracket. The added security and Everything seemed to be right peace of mind offered by this bracket so I topped the overflow bottle up is well worth the $60. to the full mark and watched as Ken pulled out his two spare coolant appeared under the bike. A Busa four-into-one exhausts and close look showed that the bloody offered me the choice between a overflow bottle had hardened and Boz Brothers or a Brock’s Short Meg. Without a spare set of exhaust cracked in a spot that allowed coolant to leak out when it was gaskets, I elected not to fit my new more than halfway between the Brock’s Short Meg until later. cold and hot marks… That was all the parts I had with Terry Jackson had kindly given me so that was it for that weekend. me an overflow bottle along with Before loading the bike in the a radiator and box of spare hoses. trailer for the trip to Sydney for Two screws and connect one hose, Round Seven of the NSW Drag leak fixed. Never assume… RCBE Racing Championships at Sydney

You can see the trail of green running out of the cracked overflow bottle. This was after hours of work and waiting for o-rings to arrive.

Correct torque on the water pump and clutch slave cylinder bolts makes all the difference.

INGREDIENTS Part  Yamaha R1 grip/throttle

Part number 4YR-26240-02-00

Supplier Yamaha dealer

 Yamaha R1 Grip Schnitz Easy Mount Tether

4YR-26241-02-00 SZ-136

Yamaha dealer Cyanide Racing 

 APE Clutch Support Bracket CCS1300

Cyanide Racing 

ISSUE #14 RCBE

81

“The perfect distraction… without wasting a drop of paint…”

RICHARD

MAKE:

Procrastination!

MODEL:

Who knows!

I my 900 Supersport not looking

 YEAR:  

Finished?

like any other, even down to making some bits myself, like the tail eliminator, the brackets for the high mount carbon-fibre cans, heavy duty slave headlight wiring to actually have a headlight that works, sidelights and much more. even Lauren Vickers loves my bike! The Lambretta resto reached the stage where I was daunted by the last bits to be done, as they were challenging my patience as a DIY restorer and I had been procrastinating. So kidding myself about lack of progress on the Lambretta, I found a distraction to make me feel that I was doing somethingg constructiv somethin constructive! e! I have thought for years about doing a custom “tricolore” (Italian for three colours) paint job on the Duc. These pictures show the original colour and the current carbon-fibre fairings. Being into photographyy and computers, but photograph

SPECIAL THANKS 

GIMP – The GNU Image Manipulation Program



Restolad on YouTube for videos on dolly and slapper techniques.



Stewart McNabb for the rapid shipment of the hard to find (in Oz) shrinking disk. www.metalmantools.com.au



Chappy and Todd for more dolly and slapper gear gear..

82

RCBE

ISSUE #14

have always had a thing about

not enough to justify the money for a commercial photo editing program, I did some internet searching and discovered a free image manipulation program called GIMP. So with GIMP downloaded, a voluntary donation made, I spent a bit of time on YouTube watching basic tutorials. The basic concept is layers, where each shape you want to manipulate is put in its own layer. The program has a range of selection tools for outlining the shape you want to then create a new layer with that shape. Think of it like you had a paper image of your bike and put some transparent paper over it then traced all the shapes then cut each out with scissors. Each cut out shape is akin to a layer and you can colour that shape however you want. When you put the shape on top of the photo, you have the new coloured shape masking the original bike colour. For example, with the red, white and green tail section, I ‘traced’

it then created a new layer and ‘painted’ it white. Now working on this new layer, I traced where I wanted the red, created a new layer and painted the shape red. Then repeated for the green. This is where layers come into their own, as you can quickly change the order of the layers to show or hide them. For the tail section the bottom layer is the original image, then next layer up is the white masking the original tail. Then the red and green layers are put on top of the white. The order does not matter with these as the shapes are separated by the white. The cool thing here is that you can try all different shapes to test the design. For example I had quite a few different red and green shapes, then at the click of a button could show or hide the different layers to compare them. This was particularly useful for the headlight fairing where I tested having all sorts of stripes on the front as in the pictures, to finally see how it would look, in striped clown’s trousers! All in all, GIMP was the perfect distraction from the Lambretta to settle on the final pictures, without wasting a drop of paint, where the final picture is pretty close to the paint waiting in the shed.

BEER & FAGS: RICHARD COLLINS CCTV EVIDENCE: RICHARD COLLINS & JPM PHOTOGRAPHICS

“Technical procrastination, if there is such a thing, has slowed progress on the Lambretta...” Technical procrastination, if there is such a thing, has slowed progress on the Lambretta. It is so bad I dream about it. The “problem” has a few aspects. The high build primer is well past its top coat time limit, some complex parts will be astoundin astoundingly gly difficult to sand, the primer is astoundingly hard and finally it has excellent protection against corrosion. So the dilemma has been deciding whether to sand parts for repriming or strip and start over with a more conventional primer. Many beers have been consumed while changing my mind a hundred times! To make it look less daunting all the white parts have been packed away leaving only the parts needing more preparation and painting.

The alloy parts that were damaged with the wire wheel have been sanded with wet and dry paper and copious water to get rid of the orange peel and smooth the surfaces so there are no indents over the scratches. The complex shaped parts, like the wheel hubs will be stripped chemically and reprimed, but not until all other parts are ready for priming and painting. The relatively simple shaped steel parts have been sanded with a orbital sander and where necessary defects and repair welds filled with Top Stop Gold filler. This is a super hard, two part polyester fine filler that can be wet or dry sanded after about twenty minutes. Now enthused with doing work, I stupidly used the

fill on a 35°C day and it became unworkable after about a minute, hence the excess fill in the pics and lots of extra work sanding. Paint planning is paramount when doing so many parts at once to avoid wastage. I make a check list of the order in which things have to be done, times each process has to be left, then print it out in big letters so I can reference it quickly. I also write the start time of each process on the check list to make sure I don’t paint too soon between coats. Parts planning is also important, by making sure every part has a place to hang after each painting step. I hang every part first up, so I know it has a place. The frame is bulky and cannot be lifted/touched by hand, so I have rigged up a pulley

system and a rollable stand so it can be moved in and out of the spray area. After a bit more surface preparation it should be time to fire up the spray gun in earnest. The wiring has been butchered, even though the terminals pull out of the junction box easily. Fortunately modern bullet terminals are exactly the right size. The wires seem to be in good condition, so most will be reused, length allowing. The lighting runs on six volts and even though the headlight bulb is only 25 Watts, that is about four amps through thin wires, so plenty of voltage drop and poor lighting. The lighting wires will be upgraded to reduce losses, then later with a 12V conversion with a higher wattage bulb to give lower losses and better lighting. RCBE

ON THE JOB

1

5

The original primer is well based its top coat time limit and needs sanding or stripping.

Top Stop Gold filler was used to repair defects and is a two part polyester filler.

2

6

I packed away everything except the wire wheel damaged components.

On a hot day the filler dried in minutes creating extra sanding work due to overfill.

3

7

These alloy parts were sanded with wet and dry to remove orange peel and ensure a good finish.

Planning how to hang and handle parts is important! Here is the pulley for the frame.

4

8

An orbital sander was used on the simple shaped steel parts where possible.

Butchered wiring is in need of repair and some uprated wiring for the lights.

ISSUE #14 RCBE

83

JEFF

MAKE:

Suzuki

MODEL:   GSX-R750F  YEAR: 

1985

SPECIAL THANKS 

ZENODAMPER SUSPENSION 



KENMA

 VENHILL  VCM

CYCLE SEATS



PIRELLI



BIKECRAFT



MOTOGRAFIX 



BEER

"I've finally made some huge steps forward on the GSX-R750F and by the time you read this I’ll be donning the Levi’s and leather jacket and heading up the local twisties…" ometimes things come together perfectly just at the end when you think a project is getting too hard. This happened to me in the New Year when I finally had all of the parts I needed to start assembly of my beloved Slabbie. Five solid days and nights in the shed and the result is a bike that is 90 per cent complete and ready to go! The main hold up was suspension and once I got forks and a shock I could get the bike off the jack and pavers it was on and put the exhaust system back on and get the bike running. I also got the bodywork back from BikeCraft and am seriously impressed with the job. The fairings and tanks were in a shocking state and came back looking better than brand new OEM units.

S

84

RCBE ISSUE #14

First job was to tidy up and restore the original wiring loom. Sounds like a big job but actually I got it done in an eight-hour day. Using new loom wrap, plenty of heat shrink and black electrical tape I first went over the loom and cleaned the connections with contact cleaner then WD40. Any broken wires were repaired and new connectors and terminals fitted where required. I then fitted the loom in the original location. Once that was done it was repeat above for each individual electrical component – dash, battery terminals, starter solenoid, alternator, fuse box, ignition switch, ignition system, lights and switches – all had the original wiring repaired and or tidied up nicely. It all fitted and it all worked so I was happy with that job.

With the wiring loom fitted Tim Holland and I could start fitting all of the running gear and chassis parts. Some were prepainted and stored and some were to be cleaned as we went. Every single part was washed in the kero tub, blown off with compressed air and hours and hours were spent on the wire wheel in the bench drill, brushing new life into as many original fasters as possible. Anything alloy was also given the once-over. Parts that were painted from the factory got the same treatment and bare alloy parts remained as per original finish. Footpegs, levers and pivot points were thoroughly cleaned then regreased. The steering head got new bearings and fresh paint on the triple-clamps while the swingarm

FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS: CYLINDERS: JEFF WARE

The modified R6 shock was a bit tricky to fit but and the battery box had to be modified. I still have the original shock in a box for future use.

I was really happy with the way the wheels came up. I fitted new bearings and the painted sprocket/rotor and the new Pirellis too.

My favourite tool, wire wheel on the bench drill. Here I am burnishing the steering stem collar. The drill has been spinning for months now!

I soaked the swingarm in kero for weeks, then degreased, then spent a day with the wire wheel and Autosol polishing it up to new again.

The oil cooler came up a treat with a few good coates of heat proof paint. It was covered in dead bugs and muck. I gurnied it using CT18 first.

Once the shock and battery box were fitted I mounted the wiring in the original position. Here I used an old toolkit bag to protect connections.

The engine came up well with a detail and has no oil leaks. It runs like a dream and starts first crank. I've flushed a few oil changes through it to clean it out, using cheap oil for a few starts then filling it with good stuff.

Zenodamper made this shock for me from an R6 shock. The lower mount had to be machined 6mm narrower to fit the original linkages.

Old with the new. My Hayabusa next to my Slabbie. A bit of Suzuki motivation helps get the job done. The Anderson Stands racing stands have been invaluable and are the best quality stands I've ever used. ISSUE #14 RCBE

85

I dropped and cracked my taillight while showing it to Richard and bragging how rare it was! A repair with resin and red nail polish fixed it.

The GSX-R750F only runs one steering head bearing preloading collar, so careful adjustment is required. This takes an experienced feel.

luckily already had near new bearings and seals so once the 30-years of chain oil and gunk was scrubbed and polished off the swingarm, the lot was fitted up with new grease and clean re-packed bearings. The shock, a modified R6 shock, had the rose joint machined down 2mm to fit and once the battery box was slightly modified to clear the canister, it went straight in. I still have the original shock stored under the bench. The forks have Eibach springs, emulators and 20W Silkolene oil in them along with new OEM seals, bushes and dust caps. The inner tubes are cleaned up original items, one from this bike and one from a set of forks I bought from eBay USA. 86

RCBE ISSUE #14

Steering head bearings greased up as the freshly painted triple-clamp goes in. This is where it really starts to look like a bike again...

The rotors look good with the carriers resprayed in black. I cleaned up and re-used the original brake rotor bolts and torqued to specification.

With the freshly painted top clamp, bars, brackets and the renovated wiring loom fitted it all started to look like a real bike again.

Tim sprayed any parts that were originally painted silver, while parts that were raw or polished alloy were finished as per OEM finish.

I burnished then resprayed the rear wheel draw blocks so they look like new again, and the axle got a refurbish while I was at it.

Routing the wiring diagram in the correct OEM position took a good day of hard work but eventually it fell into place, literally!

We had to make one good set out of the two but I did it on the cheap thanks to Zeno. As the right-hand fork lower was from the next model, the axle diameter is 2mm larger so I had a mate, Chappy, machine up a new spacer from stainless steel. The rotors then went back onto the rims with the original bolts cleaned up to look like new. Once the calipers are rebuilt (next job), the wheels can go back in. The next job was to fit all of the repainted bracketry – anything black had been rubbed back and resprayed, some of it re-welded and straightened too. The top fairing/headlight mount bracket, the rear tailing/ sub-frame secondary bracket, the pillion grab rail and bracket,

tank mounting brackets and a few other bits all got refitted with new fasteners, all stainless steel. Next was the counter sprocket, clutch pushrod and outer cover, which needed a serious clean up after decades of chain gunk. The gearlever cleaned up brilliantly but took Tim a fair amount of elbow grease. Same with the rearsets, pegs, rear brake lever and pillion pegs. Once all together, we hooked up a battery and drained the carbs, fired the bike up and it flooded, so we drained the carbs again and the bike was purring like a kitten. I ran it for 35-minutes with a fan blowing on the oil cooler and then dumped the oil, filling it with a good quality 15W/40 as it is an older

Once the tank was on and the seat, the bike started to look the goods.

This is when I first started the bike. After flooding a few times it fired up and ran perfectly. I was stoked!

The swingarm came up looking really good and there is no twist in it. The swingarm bearings are re-greased and all shafts polished and lubed.

engine. I’ve since ran the bike every day for 15-minutes as it had been sitting for up to 10-years. I’m very happy with the progress and I’m well within my budget. Next I need to fit the wheels, chain, rebuild the calipers and master-cylinders and fit the fairings. The only parts I need now are OEM gear and brake lever toe rubbers, brake pads, OEM grips, fairing fasteners, numberplate light cover and chainguard. So close! RCBE

I found this complete headlight in the USA for $50.00 and spent a day rebuilding it and polishing it up. Came up like new.

The fork lowers are being tidied up and the bars need OEM grips. I'm also looking for an OEM chain guard and gearlever/brake lever toe rubbers. Looking good though! ISSUE #14 RCBE

87

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WITH JIMMI WALKER

FUNKY MOPEDS, FRANTIC FANTICS uring my formative years, way back in the ‘70s, before the interwar, mobile phones and speed cameras, a law existed in the UK, restricting spotty 16-year-olds to ride 50cc motorcycles as long as they were equipped with bicycle pedals that actually worked. The various manufacturers of these motorcycling minnows came up with ingenious methods of making this happen while still appealing to the emerging motorcyclist in us acne prone teenagers. I personally went for Yamaha’s excellent version of their little FS-1 [FS-1E for the UK market] a 49cc with a blistering four hp and a top speed of anywhere between 45 and 70mph depending on who you talked to and which plane it had been dropped out of. However this article is not about the  Japanese  Japa nese offer offerings ings which which were were altog altogether ether very successful but their Italian counterparts, one off which was probably the worst design ever to come out of any factory of any kind. I am of course referring to Fantic’s 50cc Chopper – for those of you not familiar with this lawnmower powered Easy Rider replica,

D

believe me when I say you’re all the better for the lack of experience. A mate of mine back home, for reasons known only to him, bought one of these machines brand new. He arrived at our local haunt – the servo up the road – and was greeted with a range of reactions going from disbelief to uneducated respect.  A quick look around the bike revealed that it indeed had pedals which, unless you were a double jointed gorilla, were totally useless. I managed to get a ride on this beast and it was a full 14ft long chopper in the classic ‘70s California style, with a six-foot sissy

bar and 12in-over front telescopic forks, plus a weird hippy paint job over the measly six-litre fuel tank. So trying to get this thing going with only four hp at your disposal was a feat in itself. Plus the added embarrassment factor of a bike looking like this and sounding like a demented bumblebee was a bit too much for me so I gave it back. Later on I had the misfortune of working on the very same bike and a longer period of possession revealed that this bike had no redeeming features. It was painfully slow and had all the handling characteristics characterist ics of a shopping trolley with a

“You didn’t even have enough poke to escape the crowds of people taking the piss…” bu buggered wheel. And it cost as much as, if not m more than the competitio competition. n. Don’t get me wrong, Fantic produced so ssome good small bikes, including The C Caballero to name one but they got this one m monumentally wrong. I mean you didn’t even have enough poke to eescape the crowds of people taking the piss… T The last straw for me was getting rounded up by a double-decker bus… Few who bought them d didn’t live to regret it soon after. In conclusion then is it a viable concept f  for a resto? Well yes and no. I’ve seen one f  fetch $5k on eBay but I wouldn’t advise rriding the damn thing. There are a lot of aftermarket parts available available f  for these bikes including its bigger brother the 1 125cc and quite a few people are starting to sshow interest in them, mainly because of rose ttinted specs in my opinion... I can only say… “Should’ve gone to sspec savers…” So my faithful, until next time, when I’ll be rroasting another Italian but in an American u uniform... RCBE

WITH TOM ‘POPPA’ SHAW

This Sporty life N

othing exceeds the vanity of my existence but for the folly of my pursuits. I wept when I came into this world and just about every day since has told me why. When one sets out on a ‘project’, it should be carefully planned prior to commencement. I had bought a bike that, upon any glancing inspection, would have obviously required a complete rebuild. Mistake number one. That this motorbike was perhaps one of Milwaukee’s least fabulous achievements did not help. Sportsters, especially early, ironengine ones, are notoriously fickle and anything built when Harley-Davidson was owned by bowling alley proprietor AMF (Adios MoFo) was fairly disastrous. This 1976 XLH was built smack in the middle of AMF’s ownership. Mistake number two. In 1976, US law required all motorcycles to be standardised with a left hand gear change, Harley-Davidson Harley-David son decided to set up some linkages from the conventional right side change to the rear of the unit engine and gearbox, run a shaft to the other side and then attach a gear lever that extended all the way forward to end at the point a normal gear level would conclude. They only had this hopeless set up for two years and mine was one of them. But, flogged out through years of abuse (mistake number three), wasn’t really the problem. The problem was that the bike had been abused to within an inch of its life and then ‘rebuilt’ by someone with significantly more enthusiasm than skill or taste. That it had been painted with a house brush gave lie to the mechanical sympathies sympathies that lay somewhat deeper (mistake number four). Oh, and this was one of those Sportster engines that, not being sufficient to be made of iron, heavy and unsophisticated, also relied on a series of shims to ensure that everything within the engine cases was properly aligned. It wasn’t. That would be mistake number five. The bike came apart okay. That is always the easy part, what came next, not so much. This revealed not just that everything was worn out but that bits of it were broken. Mistake number six... These were welded up and the frame stripped and painted.

There were a number of lucky breaks along the way, the main one being Geoff at Ace Motorcycles. Geoff would take turns working on the bike, talking about the finer points of rifles, loading cartridges and shooting things, working on other bikes, shooting more things, and so on. Geoff has a mechanical dexterity that defies my limited logic. He rebuilt the engine, shimmed up the shimming and, bit by laborious bit, the bike came back together. More or less a year after starting, the end result is better than it has any right to be and answered a question I didn’t even know I’d been asking. So now I have this nice shiny brand new 1976 motorcycle in the shed. I also have an empty bank account. That’s it, I decided. No more projects for me. Done and dusted. Then my mate The Professor got a call from his mate Jonno saying that yet another mate, Dommie, was clearing out his shed and had two old motorbikes and did I want them? Thanks, but no thanks. Mistake number seven. My shed is full and I’m broke. My past is troubled, my present full of difficulties and my prospects look bleak too terrible.

A week later I was loading them up. A 1971 Moto Guzzi V7 Special with low kms and a 1955 Ariel Red Hunter with a barrel off and the head bereft of valves. You can see this one coming.  Jonno  Jonn o and Dom Dommie mie owne owned d the V7 togeth together er in the early days when Dom was poor. From each according to his ability, goes the philosophy of the Anarchist Faction of the Lemmings Motorcycle Club, to each according to his need for a motorcycle (I’d say it was the motto, but that is ‘Death Before Courtesy’). My old and best riding buddy ‘Lectric Larry had been bikeless for a while, so I suggested the V7 to him. His beady little eyes narrowed to slits, revealing piss-holes in the snow. As with Jonno and Dom, we now own the V7 half each. Then Geoff rings up, somewhat troubled and offended that I hadn’t visited for a while. He says, “So when are you bringing up that Ariel?” Okay, it’s not going to be a resto and it’s not going to be a rebuild. We’re just going to get this one going. I swear this to myself. Mistake number eight! And then it comes back to me – not all disasters are a complete waste, they can always be used as a bad example. RCBE

“The bike had been ‘rebuilt’ by someone with significantly more enthusiasm than skill or taste...”

BAILEY

WITH PAUL BAILEY

BARN FRESH SERVICING i everyone and welcome back to

H& Classic Bike Enthusiast.

Retro

Last issue we started to look at that barnfind bike and if we could or should restore it to its former glory or try and keep it exactly as it is – albeit trying to get it up and running, with safety as one of the first things that must be considered. I touched base last issue on going over the bike to see what was perhaps needed to get the bike up and running. The big question here today is how far do we go to achieve this and how much do we ignore or leave to chance further down the track? For me the answer is easy, I do whatever I need to do to make sure the motorcycle is mechanically sound and safe for me or any other person to ride. Sure there are limits and expectations with that. A ‘20s motorcycle, with only a rear drum brake, simply by design is nowhere near as safe as a ‘40s motorcycle with front and rear drum brakes, but doesn’t compare to an ‘80s motorcycle with front and rear disc brakes. The braking is relative to the year and model, but you must always do the best you can to make sure the brakes work the best that they can. For example more modern linings are available today that will help with the braking efficiency of the bike. Make sure all linkages are the best that they can be, with no free play in bushings or fittings so that the mechanical efficiency is as high as you can get it. Ok, on to the decision of what parts of the motorcycle do we pull down and inspect and how do we do this. Safety – obviously brakes have to be looked at, also wheel and steering head bearings must be checked. The electrical system will either be Magneto, which was very common in the ‘20s and ‘30s or generator electrics which need to be sorted to make sure that they will operate properly all the time and not leave you stuck in the middle of the Harbour Bridge with no spark – very embarrassing. The engine and gear box also needs to be trouble free and operate properly for the period, by this I mean very early motorcycle gear boxes used sliding gears, this meant that there was always going to be some crunching and grinding of 92

RCBE ISSUE #14

gears when selecting as compared to later synchronized gear boxes. The earlier you go with a motorcycle, the more you will find that they were very fragile creatures with very short service intervals because of the high wear rates of certain parts, so the need to know what will be safe and last as to what will wear quickly must be judged and decided upon as well.

The six face socket gives a perfect fit over the correct size nut or bolt head and there will be far less damage (if any) caused to the part you are trying to undo, it will also limit the chances of burring the nut or bolt and limit the chances of affecting the patina of the part (rust or paint) which is a vital rule in barn fresh restos. Yes I agree, sometimes you just can’t help

“Right, you have made up your mind that the wheels and brakes need to be serviced. Now how do you get them off and apart without damaging the parts?” There are ways to improve certain parts of the engine to give better life but I’ll touch on this next issue in more depth. Right, you have made up your mind that the wheels and brakes need to be serviced.  Now how do you get them off and apart without damaging the parts. Remember with a barn fresh resto we don’t want to destroy any of the patina of the original nuts, bolts washers or surfaces of parts we are fiddling with. Start by obtaining a socket set of the right make or build, ie imperial or metric but, get a set that has only the six faces in the sockets – not the typical 12 pointed socket.

but damage a nut or bolt or it may already be that badly burred that you have to take other action to get it undone so as to complete the service. But that’s why when we decide to undertake one of these types of restos – we resolve ourselves to attend every swap meet and know every guy that is involved in these bikes so that we can call on them and get that original replacement nut or bolt that we just destroyed. It's all just part of the challenge of this kind of project. Remember, take things slow and steady and always have the right tool for the job. See you next issue. RCBE

Customised limited edition. Feel the pleasure of riding a classic bike with this tyres pattern and functional features. These are high performance tyres with a superb balance of traditional pattern and advanced tyre technology. Ideal for the rider seeking a combination of vintage looks for a classic bike and high grip performance.

SIZE LIST: In fields of tyre size, index of “TT” and “TL” “TL” shows as follows. TT: Tube Tyre. TL: Tubeless Type. FRONT

REAR

TYRE SIZE

REC.RIM(in) MEAS.RIM(in) OD(mm) TW(mm)

TYRE SIZE

3.50H18 90/90-18M/C 90/90-18M/C 3.50H19

56H TT 51 P TT 51H TT 57H TT

4.00H18 64H TT 2.15 110/90-18M/C 61H TT 2.50

2.15 1.85 2.15 2.15

1.85-2.50 1.85-2.15 1.85-2.50 2.15-2.50

651 619 620 672

104 88 91 103

FRONT

TYRE SIZE

2.15-2.50 2.15-2.75

675 657

117 113

REAR

REC.RIM(in) MEAS.RIM(in) OD(mm) TW(mm)

100/90-18M/C 56H TT 2.50 100/90-19M/C 57H TT 2.50

REC.RIM(in) MEAS.RIM(in) OD(mm) TW(mm)

2.15-2.75 2.15-2.75

644 670

109 109

TYRE SIZE

REC.RIM(in) MEAS.RIM(in) OD(mm) TW(mm)

130/80-18M/C 66H TT 3.00 For Kawasaki W650

2.50-3.50

664

134

www.wrp.net.au

Vintage  Japanese Motorcycle Club Like your bikes Classic and Oriental? Join the Vintage  Japanese Motorcycle Motorcycle Club – one of the fastestfastestgrowing bike clubs in Australia! Australia! If you have a Japanese bike that’s 15 years old or  more, the VJMC is the club cl ub to join. The VJMC is a national club with more than 20 regional groups active in major cities and regional centres. The club runs weekend rides, social events, displays, swap meets, technical technical sessions and other activities. Benefits of membership include: • Regular activities with other VJMC members in your area • Quarterly, full-colour online magazine • Subsidised attendance at the annual National Rally  • Eligibility for historic registration or club permit schemes operating in most states For membership forms or more information, visit our website....

www.vjmc.org.au The VJMC – fostering the preservation, restoration, riding and enjoyment of ownership of classic Japanese motorcycles.

CLUBCONTACTS [email protected] with  with your details and we >> If you think your club needs to be here email [email protected]

Join Up! BSA OWNERS CLUB OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

A ADLER OWNERS CLUB

Restoration advice and information. adlermotorcycles.com. (07) 4638 3670 AJS & MATCHLESS OWNERS CLUB INC

Spares scheme, machine dating, technical advice. downunderjampot.com. (03) 9786 4063 ANNANDALE LEICHHARDT CLUB

Contact the Secretary, PO Box 380, Plympton SA 5038. BUELL RIDERS CLUB AUSTRALIA INC

Dedicated to all Buell riders. 0409 142 707 or 0431 141 610

DUCATI OWNERS CLUB OF NSW

0409 421 594 DUCATI OWNERS CLUB NORTH COAST

docnc.org.au. docnc.org .au. (02) 6658 3182

E EARLY AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE CLUB

1966 and older. PO Box 18, Tuart Hill WA 6939. (08) 9295 4360

G C

Promoting road racing sidecars and solos, modern and post classic. (02) 9804 0551

CAIRNS MOTORCYCLE RESTORERS CLUB INC

ANTIQUE MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF AUSTRALIA INC

CB1100R OWNERS CLUB

PO Box 6560, Cairns QLD 4870. (07) 4055 8802

GRIFFITH CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB

Contact Brian (Hoppy) Hampel: 0409 624 716

H

Caters for all motorcycles made prior to Dec 31st, 1930. (03) 5428 1297

A club for all owners of this classic mega bike. 0418 387 583 or (02) 4351 2303

HASTINGS VALLEY MOTORCYCLE CLUB

AUSTRALIAN ARIEL REGISTER INC

CBX-6 OWNERS CLUB OF AUSTRALIA INC

HIGHLANDS CLASSIC AND ENTHUSIASTS MCC

Member’s quarterly magazine. australian-ariel-register.com. (02) 6242 0495

(02) 4284 1438. cbx6.com.au

AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC MOTORCLUB

(02) 4390 0554 or (02) 4363 1058

Motorcycles over 30 years old that can be registered on the NSW Historic vehicle registration system. (02) 4757 2664

CENTRAL COAST VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE CLUB

CENTRAL COAST CLASSIC MCC

PO Box 5444, Port Macquarie NSW PO Box 693, Moss Vale 2577. highlandsclassicmcc.com.au. HISTORICAL MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF QLD INC

historicmotorcycle.org.au. HISTORIC MOTORCYCLE RACING REGISTER OF SA

AUSTRALIAN NOSTALGIA RACERS

Welcomes those interested in the use and restoration of motorcycles 30 years and older. (02) 4396 7187

Fun and fast drag racing for pushrod-engined motorcycles. (02) 4982 3322

CLASSIC & ENTHUSIASTS MCC

hmrav.org. (03) hmrav.org.  (03) 5968 9395

Historic plates for bikes over 30 years old. cemcc.org.au. (02) 9801 1971

HONDA CB750 (FOUR)

B

(08) 8384 5284 HISTORIC MOTORCYCLE RACING ASSOCIATION OF VIC

Caters for all SOHC models from 1968-1978. hondacb750.com.au. hondacb750 .com.au. (03) 5182 5704.

BAROSSA VALLEY CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB INC

CLASSIC & ENTHUSIASTS MCC – ALBURY/WODONGA

Share your interest in preserving and riding classic motorcycles. bvmcc.org PO Box 490, Nuriootpa, SA 5355.

CLASSIC & ENTHUSIASTS MCC – ILLAWARRA

INDIAN HARLEY CLUB (BUNBURY) INC

(02) 4228 5338

ihcvintagemotorcycles.asn.au. ihcvintagemoto rcycles.asn.au. (08) 9792 4996

(02) 6553 6223. ozbearsracing.com

CLASSIC ITALIAN MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

INDIAN MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF AUSTRALIA INC

BENDIGO HISTORIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB INC

Regular club runs, rallies and motorcycle swap meets. (03) 5441 4473

Italian motorcycles from makes no longer in production or 30 years old. cimaa.asn.au. 0404 cimaa.asn.au.  0404 873 034

BEST FEET FORWARD GROUP

CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF VICTORIA INC

PO Box 324, Inverell NSW 2360. (02) 6722 2729

25 and older bikes. classicbike.com.au. (03) classicbike.com.au.  (03) 9593 2710

IRON INDIAN RIDERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

(02) 6026 2281

I

BEARS AUSTRALIA

Any feet forward machines including scooters. Contact Ken Butler (03) 5678 2245. BMW AIRHEADS

For BMW air-cooled twin owners. Contact Radz 0439 770 170 BRITISH MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF AUSTRALIA

Anyone with an interest in British motorcycles, new or old. 0414 830 880 BRITISH MOTORCYCLE CLUB TASMANIA INC

Promoting restoration, preservation and riding of British bikes – all ages. britishmotorcycleclubtas.com BRITISH SINGLES MOTORCYCLE CLUB INC QLD

0403 212 545 or (07) 3263 6640 BRITISH TWO-STROKE CLUB OF AUSTRALIA INC

(03) 5967 3518 or (03) 9435 7824

CLASSIC OWNERS MOTORCYCLE CLUB INC SA

Membership enquiries: PO Box 642, Plympton SA 5038. CLASSIC SCRAMBLE CLUB INC

Catering for 60s to pre-1975 scramble machines. 0422 299 003 or 0417 515 220 COALFIELDS CLASSIC AND ENTHUSIAST MCC

PO Box 1015, Ashwood 3147. 0418 690 065 INVERELL MOTORCYCLE RESTORERS CLUB INC

For all Indians 1901-2014. Four major rallies a year. Call Phil (03) 9499 6428 (During business hours) ironindian.com.au.

K KATANA OWNERS CLUB OF VICTORIA

(03) 9803 0494.

Contact Gary: (02) 4938 7352

KAWASAKI Z OWNERS CLUB NSW

COFFS HARBOUR AND DISTRICT MOTORCYCLE RESTORERS

Open to Z900-Z1000 and all other Z series bikes. (02) 4626 4933 or (02) 9517 2663

PO Box 4248, Coffs Harbour Jetty 2450. (02) 6653 4532 CLUB LAVERDA QUEENSLAND

Laverda ownership isn’t mandatory. (07) 3205 7151

KAWASAKI Z OWNERS CLUB VICTORIA

zowners.com.au. 0418 zowners.com.au.  0418 175 143.

M

BSA OWNERS ASSOCIATION INC

PO Box 2400, Oakleigh, 3166 or bsa.asn.au BSAMCC OF NSW INC

0407 708 925, Fax 4958 4563 94

RCBE

ISSUE #14

D

MACQUARIE TOWNS MOTORCYCLE RESTORATION & PRESERVATION CLUB

DRY LAKES RACERS AUSTRALIA

MOTO GUZZI CLUB OF QLD

Contact Cled Davies: (03) 5443 3432 or 0419 581 854

PO Box 1159, Fortitude Valley Queensland 4006.

will include your club in our contacts…

MOTO GUZZI CLUB OF VICTORIA

THE 59 CLUB AUSTRALIA INC

motoguzziclubvic.asn.au. motoguzziclub vic.asn.au. (03) 9528 6989

the59club.org.au. National: 0416 838 565, QLD: 0410 574 127, WA: 0415 622 585, VIC: 0418 207 794.

MOTORCYCLING NEW MOTORCYCLING  NEW SOUTH WALES

(02) 9635 9177. motorcycling.com.au MOTORCYCLE RACING CLUB OF NSW

For all road racing riders and officials, classics and moderns. (02) 9603 4892

THE CENTRAL COAST CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB INC

(02) 4396 4647 OR (02) 4385 8512 THE HISTORIC COMPETITION MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF WA

N NATURELAND CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB

naturelandclassicmotorcycleclub.org.au. naturelandclassicmotorcyc leclub.org.au. 0416 200 023

PO Box 568, South Perth Pe rth WA 6951. historicracing.asn.au THE NEWCASTLE VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE CLUB INC

All machines 30 years of age or older. THE VETERAN AND VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF SA

NEWCASTLE CLASSIC MCC INC

PO Box 134, Boolaroo NSW 2284. NORTHERN DISTRICTS DUCATI OWNERS CLUB

vvmccsa.org.au.. 0409 514 213 vvmccsa.org.au THE VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF VICTORIA INC

(02) 4973 3378

For motorcycles manufactured prior to Dec 31st 1942. 0417 558 214

NORTHERN CLASSIC VINTAGE AND VETERAN MCC

TOWNSVILLE RESTORED MCC INC

ncvv.org.au. 0419480 336

PO Box 1016, Aitkenvale QLD 4814. (07) 4779 7495 or (07) 4773 4332

NORTHERN RIVERS CLASSIC MCC

(02) 6689 5366 or (02) 6629 1051 NORTON MOTORCYCLES CLUB SA INC

nortornownersclubsa.org nortornown ersclubsa.org.au. .au. (08) 8380 5240 NORTON OWNERS CLUB OF VICTORIA VICTORIA INC

victoria.nortonownersclub.org. (03)  (03) 9569 7762

TWEED HEADS HEADS MOTORCYCLE ENTHUSIASTS CLUB INC

thmcec.com.  0400 871 699

V VELOCETTE OWNERS CLUB

(02) 9651 1793

P PANARAMA PANA RAMA MCC VETERAN AND VINTAGE GROUP

0404 089 015 PORT MACQUARIE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLES CLUB INC

(02) 6582 6878 or 0419 485 493 POST CLASSIC RACING ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION

postclassicracing.com.au

Q QUEENSLAND EARLY EARLY MOTORCYCLE SPORTS CLUB

qemsc.com.au. (07) qemsc.com.au.  (07) 5498 8675

R ROAD RACE ASSOCIATION OF TOWNSVILLE

0422 248 607 or 0409 499 526 ROYAL ENFIELD ENFIELD CLUB OF AUSTRALIA

recoainc.com.

S SCOTT OWNERS CLUB INC

Australian section of the th e UK parent club. scottownersclub.org. SHOALHAVEN SHOALHAV EN CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB

Family orientated club for classic and modern machines. 4443 8501 or 4421 8810. SOUTH GRAFTON EX-SERVICES MCC

(02) 6649 3382 STEVENS REGISTER

thesetevensproject.co.uk. (02) thesetevensproject.co.uk.  (02) 9600 9894.

T TAREE & DISTRICTS CLASSIC & VINTAGE MCC

(02) 6556 5288

VETERAN AND HISTORIC MCC LTD

PO Box 366, Kellyville 2155. (02) 9621 5604 or (02) 8883 0390 VETERAN SPEEDWAY RIDER’S ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

vsra.homestead.com. (02) vsra.homestead.com.  (02) 9587 7367 VINCENT HRD OWNERS CLUB VICTORIA SECTION INC

PO Box 79, Monbulk Victoria 3793. (03) 9752 0803 VINTAGE JAPANESE MOTORCYCLE CLUB

For enthusiasts of older Japanese bikes. (02) 4873 1852. 1852. vjmc.org.au VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF AUSTRALIA (NSW) INC.

For machines up to 1947. to  1947. vmccnsw.org.au. (02) 9624 1262. VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE CLUB TASMANIA

PO Box 110, Lindisfarne Tasmania 7015. (03) 6272 1976 or (03) 6248 1538 VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF WA INC

vmccwa.com. (08) 9298 8953

Y YAMAHA SR 500 CLUB 500  CLUB INC

(03) 9331 3178. sr500club.org YAMAHA XJR

The Aussie XJR riders club. http:/groups.yahoo.com/g http:/grou ps.yahoo.com/group/aussie roup/aussiexjrridersclub/  xjrridersclub/  YAMAHA XS-650 CLUB OF AUSTRALIA

0409 384 790. xs650.org.au YORK PENINSULA VINTAGE, VETERAN AND CLASSIC MC INC

(08) 8852 1834 (08) 8837 3226

ISSUE #14

RCBE

95

WHAT'SON >> Is your club holding a rally, concourse, swap meet, special event or fundraiser?

Let us know and we’ll endeavour to add it here. Email us at [email protected] with the subject What’s On? MOTO EXPO MELBOURNE 2014

www.troybaylissevents.com Nov 28-30

Melbourne Showgrounds

HMCCQ EVENTS

www.historicmotorcycle.org.au

POST CLASSIC RACING ASSOCIATION

2014 HISTORIC WINTON

2014 RACE CALENDER

www.historicwinton.org Cars and bikes.

www.pcra.com.au April 6 May 3 July 19 Aug 9 Aug 30-31

Rnd 2 - Eastern Creek (South) Rnd 3 - Eastern Creek (North) Rnd 4 - Eastern Creek (Full) Rnd 5 - Eastern Creek (Full) Rnd 6 - Wakefield Park

HISTORIC MOTORCYCLE RACING ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA

www.hmrav.org April 11 April 12-13

MV Practice day Vic. Historic Road Race Championship HMRAV Come and Try Day MV Historic RR Practise day Southern Classic HMRAV Come and Try Day

July 27 Nov 7 Nov 8-9 Dec 7

14TH ANNUAL PINK RIBBON MOTORCYCLE RIDE

www.pinkribbonride.com TBA

TBA

2014 HONDA BROADFORD BIKE BONANZA

www.ma.org.au Easter, 2014 96

RCBE

State Motorcycle Complex

ISSUE #14

May 24-25

Winton Motor Raceway, VIC

April 4-11 April 13 April 18-21 April 18-21 April 18-21 May 3-4 May 10-11 May 24-25 June 2 June 7-8 June 14-15 June 21-22 June 28-29 July 6 July 12-13 July 26-27 Aug 9-10 Aug 13 Aug 24 Aug 31 Sept 6-7 Sept 12-14 Sept 20-21 Sept 27-28 Sept 27-28 Oct 12 Oct 18-19 Oct 25-26 Dec 7

50th VMCC of VIC Rally, Hamilton Haigslea Swap Burnett Rally, Burnett Area All Indian Rally Harley & Indian Rally, Mt Morgan Bunya Rally, Kingaroy Girder Fork Rally, Brisbane Ray Owens Bike Show Poker Run, Gympie Pre-31 Rally, Toowoomba Capricorn Rally, Biloela Teams Trial, Brisbane Pine Rivers Swap Sidecar Circus, Pine Rivers Gold Miners Rlly Frostbite Rally Days of Glory Rally Stinkwheel Test & Tune Homage Day CenturianRally,, Tarampa CenturianRally Toowoomba Rally, Murpheys Ck Gerry Rasmussen Test & Tune MAD Rally Denis Brett Memorial Rally Mostly Ariel Rally Phil Irving Concourse Sunshine Rally Gatton Swap Brisbane Area Christmas Party

RETR0TYRE GUIDE >>

Buying new tyres for your classic or retro bike can be a pain so we’ve made the job a bit easier by forming this list of what’s available in Australia in the less common sizes…

New rubber for old wheels METZELER

 AVON

 AV45 Azaro-ST  AV55 Storm 2 Ultra  AM41 Venom-X    AV59 VP2 Sport  AM26 Road  A  Roadrider

front rear front rear front rear

front

front & rear

Racing Classic Racing Clas Roadrunner AM18 Racing Classic Roadrunner AM20 Racing Classic AM22 Racing Classic AM22 Racing Classic Roadrunner F2 Racing Classic Roadrunner GP Racing Classic Speedmaster Racing Classic Universal

110/80-19, 120/ 80-16, 130/70-16 150/80-16, 140/80-17 110/80-18, 120/ 70-18 150/70-18, 160/60-18 100/90-18, 100/ 90-19, 110/90-19 140/90-16, 150/80-16, 160/80-16, 150/70-18 130/70-16 100/90-16, 110/ 90-16, 120/80-16, 100/90-18, 110/80-18, 110/90-18, 90/90-18, 90/90-19, 100/90-19 120/80-16, 150/80-16 120/80-17, 120/90-17, 130/70-17, 130/80-17, 130/90-17, 140/70-17, 140/80-17, 150/70-17, 100/90-18, 110/80-18, 110/90-18, 120/80-18, 120/90-18, 130/70-18, 130/80-18, 140/70-18, 150/70-18, 4.00-18, 100/90-19, 3.25-19 120/80-18, 100/90-19 90/90-18, 90/90-19 110/80-18, 110/80-18 130/80-17, 130/70-18, 130/60-18 90/90-18, 90/90-19 3.50-19 3.00-20, 3.00-21 80/90-18, 80/90-18

Roadtec Z6 Interact ME Z4 Lasertec

rear

ME22 rear universal Perfect ME 77

Block K Block C

Pilot ACTIV

rear

ContiRoadAttack 2 CR (Classic Race)

front rear

120/80-16, 110/70-17, 110/80-17, 90/90-18, 100/90-18, 110/80-18, 110/90-18, 100/90-19, 3.25-19, 3.00-21, 90/90-21 130/90-16, 130/70-17, 130/80-17 130/90-17, 140/70-17, 140/80-17 110/90-18, 120/90-18, 4.00-18 130/70-18, 130/80-18, 150/70-18 110/90 R 18, 110/80 ZR 18 130/80 R 18, 150/65 R 18

front rear front

rear

Commander

front rear

Pilot Sporty

front rear

DUNLOP

Roadsmart GPRA-10

GPR100 GT301 K70 GT501

TT900

TT100

universal 110/80ZR18, 120/70ZR18, 150/70ZR18, 160/60ZR18 110/70R17, 110/80ZR18, 130/70ZR16, 140/60R17, 140/60R18, 150/60R18, 150/70ZR18 130/70ZR16, 140/60R18, 150/60R18, 100/80-16, 100/90-19, 130/80-16, 130/80-18 3.25-19, 3.50-19, 4.00-18 100/80-17, 100/80-18, 100/90-16, 100/90-18, 100/90-19, 110/80-18, 110/90-16, 110/90-18 120/80-16, 120/80-18 120/90-18, 130/70-18, 130/90-16, 140/70-18, 150/70-18, 150/80-16, 90/90-18 100/80-17,100/90 -18, 100/90-18, 120/80-17, 140/70-18, 90/80-17, 90/90-18 100/90-19, 110/90-18, 130/80-18, 3.00-18, 3.50-18, 4.00-18, 80/90H18, 90/90-18

FIRESTONE

M62

universal

M54

universal

110/80-18, 120/70 ZR 18. 160/60-18 100/90-18, 100/90-19, 110/80-18, 110/90-18, 120/80-16, 3.25-19, 90/90-18. 120/90-18, 130/70-17, 130/70-18, 130/80-17, 130/80-18, 130/90-17, 140/70-17, 4.00-18 100/90-18, 100/90-19, 110/90-19. 130/90-16, 140/90-16, 140/90-15, 150/80-16 100/80-16, 100/80-17, 90/80-17, 90/90-16. 120/80-16, 120/80-16, 130/70-17, 130/80-17. 100/90-18, 2.75-18, 60/90-17, 70/90-17, 90/90-18 2.25-17, 2.50-17, 2.75-17, 2.75-18, 3.00-17, 3.00-18 110/90-16, 2.25-17, 2.50-17, 2.50-18, 2.75-17, 2.75-18, 3.00-18, 3.25-16, 3.25-18, 4.00-18, 90/80-16

PIRELLI

 Angel Sports Demon

front

rear

City Demon

front

rear 3.25-16, 5.00-16, 3.50-18, 4.00-18, 4.50-18, 3.25-19, 4.00-19

120/70 ZR 18, 110/80 ZR 18 160/60 ZR 18 120/70 ZR 18, 110/80 ZR 18 160/60 ZR 18 110/80-18, 120/80-16, 100/90-16, 100/90-18, 100/90-19, 100/90-18, 110/90-16, 110/90-18, 110/90-19, 110/90-18, 90/90-18, 90/90-21, 3.25-19, 3.50-19. 130/70-17, 130/70-18, 140/70-17, 120/80-18, 130/80-17, 130/80-18, 150/80-16, 110/90-18, 120/90-18, 130/90-16, 130/90-17, 4.00-18 60/100-17, 2.75-18. 80/100-14, 90/90-18. 90/90-18, 2.50-17, 2.75-17,2.75-18, 3.00-17, 3.00-18, 3.25-18, 3.50-18 90/100-18, 110/90-16, 3.50-18, 3.50-19. 110/90-16, 110/90-18, 120/90-16, 130/90-15, 130/90-16, 140/90-15, 3.50-18, 4.00-18, 4.10-18, 4.60-16 4.00-18 2.50-16, 2.75-16, 3.00-19, 3.25-16, 3.25-19, 3.50-16

MICHELIN

Pilot Road 2

front

front rear

CONTINENTAL

ContiGo!

front rear front rear

110/80-18, 160/ 60-18, 150/70-17 110/70–16, 120/70–16, 110/80–18, 120/80–16, 100/90–16, 100/90–18, 100/90–19, 110/90–16, 110/90–18, 90/90-17. 130/70-16, 130/70–17, 130/70–18, 140/70–15, 140/70–17, 140/70–18, 150/70–16, 100/80–18, 110/80–18, 120/80–18, 130/80-17, 130/80–18, 150/80-16, 110/90–18, 120/90–18, 130/90–16 130/90-17 80/100 –18, 90/100–18, 90/90–18, 90/90–19, 2.25–17, 2.50–17, 2.50–18, 2.75–17, 2.75–18, 3.00–17, 3.00–18, 3.25–16. 100/90–18, 120/90–16, 130/90–15, 130/90–16, 90/90–18, 2.50–17, 2.75–17, 2.75–18, 3.00–17, 3.00–18, 3.25–18, 3.50–16, 3.50–18, 4.00-18

Insurance for Bike Enthusiasts CALL 13 46 46 FOR A QUOTE | SHANNONS.COM.AU

2014 HONDA RJAYS NSW CLUBMAN ROAD RACE

CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Come join us! Classes for all bikes! New racers welcome throughout the season! February 1/2 - Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek NSW  August 2 - Wakeeld Park, Goulburn NSW  August 3 - 4 hour Endurance Race, Wakeeld Park, Goulburn NSW September 6/7 - State Motorcycle Sports Complex, Broadford VIC November 8/9 - Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek NSW

 www.stgeorgemcc.com  www .stgeorgemcc.com I [email protected]

ALW ALWAYS THE BEST DISPL AY OF CLASSIC BRITISH BIKES IN AUSTRALIA A SELECTION OF OUR CLASSIC MOTORCYCLES

1975 NORTON 850 COMMANDO MK3 ELECTRIC START

1971 BSA B50SS GOLD STAR

1991 HARLEY-DAVIDSON 1340 TOUR GLIDE

This model rarely appears for sale these days and this totally original example will make a nice addition to any collection. Vin.# B50SS.KG01417 $7,950

This motorcycle is in lovely condition and runs and hides very nicely. Registered in Victoria, the ultimate touring machine. Reg.# CJC $11,950

1977 HONDA CB750K 

1979 HONDA CBX 1000

1977 HONDA GL1000 GOLD WING

This is an immaculate and low mileage example of t his very popular classic motorcycle. Vin.# CB750K-2816620 $8,950

 A beautiful example of this first year model of Honda’s superbike. Finished in gleaming silver and fitted with a Kerker exhaust system. Vin.# CB1-2009218 $14,950

1973 KAWASAKI H1 500

1974 KAWASAKI H2 750

Here we have a beautiful matching number example of this very sought after motorcycle. Vin.# 327487 $17,950

This is a beautiful looking motorcycle t hat will turn heads everywhere and performance to match. Vin.# H1F-10238 $12,950

1972 KAWASAKI S2 350

This is an original machine that runs and rides well. Hold on tight with one of these, an awesome machine to ride. Vin.# H2F-44210 $14,950

1977 SUZUKI GS750

This motorcycle is in immaculate original condition with very low mileage and just stunning. Very hard to find like this. Vin. # S2F-12527 $10,950

1973 YAMAHA XS650

This motorcycle is like new and has done only 4000 miles from new. One of the best early four cylinder motorcycles. Vin.# GS750-31601 $9,950

1945 NORTON 16H 500 MILITARY 

This is an immaculate example of this great classic motorcycle. Very hard to find these early models in such beautiful original condition. Vin.# S650-211672 $8,950

Here we have an immaculate example of this WW2 motorcycle. The 16H is virtually bullet proof and is still running perfectly after 70 or more years of r eliable service. Vin.# 94556 $11,950

 A very nice example of this great motorcycle. This machine runs very sweetly and is low mileage. Vin.# GL1-13014683 $8,950

1981 KAWASAKI LTD 750

What a great looking motorcycle, one of Kawasaki’s factory built bobber style machines. This bike is low mileage and immaculate and great value. Vin.# 024645 $7,950

1958 LAMBRETTA LD125

 A beautiful restored example of this great Lambretta model. Vin.# 545946 $9,950

1968 NORTON 750 COMMANDO FASTBACK 

 A stunning example of this first year model. This motorcycle is immaculate with matching numbers. Be very quick for this, we very rarely get home of this model. Vin.# 127919 $18,950

WE HAVE HAVE BANK FINANCE AV AVAILABLE AILABL E ON ALL OUR BIKES

CLASSIC STYLE AUSTRALIA 34 PENINSULA BLVD, SEAFORD, VIC 3198

PH (03) 9773 5500 FAX (03) 9773 5533 [email protected] www.classicstyle.com.au www.classicstyle.c om.au Email: [email protected]