Classic Motorcycle Mechanics January 2020

PUCH M125 P 70s

Ridden!

HONDA CD18 185 Buyer guide

70s

BRIDGESTONE TYRES, S-DOC CHAIN KIT, WEISE VISION RAIN SUIT! IT!

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RETRO

Suzuki SV650

TOOL OF THE MONTH: TORQUE WRENCHES 00s: YAMAHA YZF-R1 5VY 90s: BMW R1100S, TRIUMPH CRK CAFÉ RACER, TRIUMPH SPRINT SPORT, YAMAHA YZF-R1 4XV 80s: YAMAHA RZV500R, KAWASAKI Z1300 70s: YAMAHA TX750. ALSO: ALLEN MILLYARD COLUMN Q&A: YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED AND YOUR BIKES AND MEMORIES!

UK off-sale date – 22/01/2020

FIVE DECADES OF MODERN CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS INCLUDING:

No.387 January 2020

£4.40

S Suzuki’s GSX1300R Hayabusa: 190mph from £2500!

January 2019 Issue 387 Publisher: Tim Hartley thartley@mortons.co.uk Publishing Director: Dan Savage asavage@mortons.co.uk Designers: Charlotte Fairman, Jake Sidebotham, Michael Baumber Picture desk: Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield Production Editor: Mike Cowton Divisional Advertising Manager: Zoe Thurling zthurling@mortons.co.uk Tel: 01507 529412 Advertising sales: 01507 529575 Subscription Manager: Paul Deacon Circulation Manager: Steven O’Hara Marketing Manager: Charlotte Park Commercial Director: Nigel Hole Editorial address: CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS MAGAZINE, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR Website: www.classicmechanics.com General enquiries and back issues: Tel: 01507 529529 24-hour answer phone help@classicmagazines.co.uk www.classicmagazines.co.uk Archivist: Jane Skayman jskayman@mortons.co.uk 01507 529423 Subscription: Full subscription rates (but see page 40 for offer): (12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £52.80. Export rates are also available – see page 40 for more details. UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value Added Tax. Customer services: Tel: 01507 529529 Lines are open: Monday-Friday 8.30am-5pm Distribution: Marketforce UK Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HU. Tel: 0203 787 9001 Subscription agents: CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS MAGAZINE, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR Printed: William Gibbons & Sons, Wolverhampton Published date: CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS MAGAZINE is published on the third Wednesday of every month Next issue: January 22, 2020 Advertising deadline: December 23, 2019 © Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher. ISSN 0959-0900 CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS magazine takes all responsible steps to ensure advice and technical tips are written by experienced and competent people. We also advise readers to seek further professional advice if they are unsure at any time. Anything technical written by the editor is exempt – he’s rubbish with spanners.

CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS (USPS:729-550) is published monthly

by Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ UK. USA subscriptions are $60 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. Periodical Postage is paid at Wisconsin Rapids, WI. Postmaster: Send address changes to CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS, Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. 715572-4595 chris@classicbikebooks.com

The Fast and the Furious!

We recall bikes from our past for many different reasons and there’s a lovely mixed bag in CMM this issue.

I was interested to see how John Nutting would get on with the Suzuki Hayabusa, which is our cover star. Y’see, I recall (as if only yesterday) my first ride on one. It was all white knuckles, dry mouth and an almost soiled seating position. Ah, those were the days!

Suzuki’s B120P (or Bloop) seems to have stirred up lots of love and interest from our Buyer’s Guide last month. Readers have recalled stories and rides, and our own Pip Higham decided to get one to restore to riding condition. See how he gets on from page 68.

For me, the stand-out is Rob Bean’s Triumph Sprint Sport. Many years ago I was ‘loaned’ one for the third week of my new job as reporter for the weekly bike paper. Thing was, while it was a great mile-muncher, one of the first jobs I had was to ride from the Midlands to Kent to

John Nutting

Pip Higham

Despite it looking like it could end up as a suppository, Scoop loved the lithe looks and performance of the Puch M125. He’s also back with a CD185 buyer’s guide.

Not only does Nutters give us the latest on his CRK project, he rides one of the fastest hyperbikes ever built, Suzuki’s Hayabusa, and is blown away by sheer speed.

Our Pip scatters Suzuki goodies far and wide this month: mainly over the M6, while coming back with a Bloop restore!

Getting into the groove!

Allen talks about the many shows he’s been to this year and ploughs on with recalling one of his show-stopping builds!

Independent publisher since 1885

Mark Haycock Taken with the TX…

Our resident Q&A man returns this month with the tale of his new machine – Yamaha’s TX750. What does he find?

Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine?

Why not Just Ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month?

www.twitter.com/cmmmag

Steve Cooper

Allen Millyard

The Professional Publishers Association

Editor

BSimmonds@Mortons.co.uk

www.facebook.com/ClassicMechanics/

Show-stopping star!

Member

witness filming of ‘Ridge Riders’, a TV show headed up by Nick Knowles, he of DIY SOS fame. I do remember suggesting to my boss that the hefty Sprint wouldn’t be the tool of choice (the guests included Tony ‘Baldrick’ Robinson and Paula Hamilton, a model) and they were riding the likes of Suzuki DRs and other more suited off-roaders.

Naturally, as soon as we went ‘off-road’ the Sprint and I went down in a heap. Picking the heavy beast off me, nice Nick commented that I was the supposed ‘expert’ from MCN, but was bizarrely the first to crash… Thanks for that.

Thankfully, I wasn’t to be the last that day!

Effin’ quick!

Scott Redmond

Litter lout…

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH!

Fare thee well!

For many a year Scottie has appeared in the pages of CMM, but not for much longer. We’ve still got stock of some of his bike breakers’ mutterings to bring you, but then that will be your lot!

He’s now full-time on the breaking side of things with Nitros Motorcycle Parts Ltd. Find them at: www.ebay. co.uk/str/nitrosmotorcyclepartsltd.

Ralph Ferrand Double helpings…

Ralph is not just on with the BMW R1100 S rebuild but – inspired by the wife’s clutch on her Z650 – he’s going for hydraulic actuation on his Z1300…

Paul Berryman

The artist formally known as…

PeeBee is returning with his self-penned pic and his self-destructing 5VY R1. When will he (or any of us) ever learn?

Jeff Ware

Lily Schiller

Niall Mackenzie

Jeff’s back this month with the engine strip of the RZ Yammy. Soon he will continue his Suzuki RM80X and be along with a strip of a reverse-cylinder TZR!

If you want to be enshrined in print alongside the best inspirational tests and future classics, as well as the best practical how-to guides – speak to our Lil’!

Spuds has just a couple of little jobs to finish with his 4XV, but he’s calling it done. Next month he begins his Project Yamaha YZR500… we kid you not!

Down Under dude!

Top ad lady!

Finally finished!

www.classicmechanics.com / 3

54

❙ Q&A

56

❙ BMW R1100 S

60

❙ KAWASAKI Z1300

Ralph Ferrand on this Teutonic twin, part three!

Ralph moves to a hydraulic clutch for his monster motor!

64

❙ ALLEN MILLYARD

68

❙ SUZUKI B120P

Allen on the joys of shows.

Pip Higham with trials and tribulations of this rebuild.

72

❙ YAMAHA TX750

76

❙ TOOL OF THE MONTH

78

❙ TRIUMPH CRK CAFÉ RACER

Mark Haycock with a new project.

Ralph on torque wrenches.

Nutters receives yet more goodies!

82

❙ YAMAHA YZF-R1

Paul Berryman once more on what’s going on with his motor.

86

❙ HONDA CD185

90

❙ TRIUMPH SPRINT SPORT

94

Contents

Mark Haycock with a page of tips.

Steve Cooper with our buyer’s guide!

Rob Bean buys a forgotten Trumpet!

❙ YAMAHA YZF-R1

Niall Mackenzie finishes his original 1998 machine.

108 ❙ YAMAHA RZV500R

Jeff Ware with part four: in the motor!

06 08

ARCHIVE

28

REX’S SPEED SHOP

34

PUCH M125

10

CMM STUFF

SUBSCRIBE!

NEWS

36

14 20

FEEDBACK

42

22

SHOW US YOURS

44

HONDA Z50R

52

26

The late, great Percy Tait.

CMM MARKETPLACE If you fancy a Ducati 916 or SP model, now is the time.

New kit, tools and tyres and stuff.

Events, news and what’s happening.

WIN Bridgestone tyres for our Star Letter.

WIN S-DOC chain cleaner!

Win Tamiya kit for ‘The Way We Were’.

Youngster Jack Watts is back!

John Nutting visits the home of speed…

Steve Cooper falls in love with a small, but perfectly formed machine.

Save cash! Get a T-shirt!

DIARY DATES

What’s happening out there in the new year?

SUZUKI GSX1300R HAYABUSA

Nutters throws a leg over a 190mph missile!

RETRO SPECTIVE

We salute Suzuki’s SV650 twin!

113 NEXT MONTH

Check out what’s in the February 2020 issue.

114

PIP HIGHAM

Pip sheds his load all over the M6!

www.classicmechanics.com / 5

Percy Tait: 1929-2019

6 / classic motorcycle mechanics

P

ercy Tait was more than just a journeyman motorcycle racer. He was a key figure in the old Triumph concern as a road tester and – on retiring from bike sport – became an award-winning sheep farmer.

Tait’s skills on two wheels were developed initially during his spell of National Service, when he became a member of the famed White Helmets motorcycle display team of the Royal Corps of Signals. Following this he joined Triumph, initially working in the factory itself before being encouraged to go racing. This he did, developing the firm’s range of three-cylinder machines, often racking up many thousands of miles in all weathers. Some say he must have clocked up more than a million miles on Triumphs over two decades.

His race career had many highs – including winning the 1969 Thruxton 500 endurance race, coming second at the same year's Belgian Grand Prix behind Giacomo Agostini and helping to develop Suzuki’s RG500 along with Barry Sheene in the mid-1970s. He would finally retire from racing after a crash at the 1976 Isle of Man TT. After his retirement, Tait set up a Suzuki dealership and became a champion sheep breeder, living on his Worcestershire farm. Percy Tait sadly passed away on November 17.

Percy Tait British legend

■ Want to get hold of pictures from Mortons Archive? Then head to: www.mortonsarchive.com www.classicmechanics.com / 7

cmm

News Ne

The sunny side of the classic world, with the VJMC’s Steve Cooper Lovely Dr Big!

Motorcycle Live

a classic success!

Motorcycle Live saw more than 104,000 visitors make the annual pilgrimage to the four halls containing 46 manufacturers.

Once more, for CMM readers, it was the many and varied classics that were the big draw over the nine-day event in November. Yet again, it was Suzuki that stole the show. They had a duo of Barry Sheene’s race bikes arrive from Australia specifically for the event, where Nigel Everett and former mechanic for Barry Sheene, Martyn Ogborne, set to work lovingly restoring them and firing them up over the event. The bikes were Barry’s last Grand Prix bike – a DAF Truckssponsored 1984 Harris-framed XR45 RG500 and a special XR23A 652cc big bore RG500 – raced in the Trans-Atlantic series and F1 Championship in 1979.

Suzuki’s stand also had a flavour of the past, thanks to the Team Classic Suzukis on display and two Suzuki DR800s from back in the day – Suzuki’s new V-Strom apes the classic ‘Dr Big’ and we love it, and with the motor being based on the TL1000S

Sheene's show shone!

V t i it’s it’ ttwice i the th classic… l i V-twin, Other eye-catching classics included Ducati UK’s 25th anniversary line-up of 916/998 models, Honda UK’s original CBR900RR FireBlade to mark the launch of the latest model, and a wide array of machines on the various stands, including some beautiful two-strokes from the 1970s through to the 1990s.

With classics and retros on the rise at this mainstream event (and we for one applaud this) you’ll want to pencil in the 2020 event in your diary.

Motorcycle Live will take place at the NEC, Birmingham, from November 21-29 – save the date!

CRK KIT PRICES! Last issue we reported on the launch of CRK’s (Café Racer Kits) new models.

We can now tell you that the kit for the Yamaha FZS600 (1998-2002) will cost £1800, while the new Triumph 955 ST kit (for the RS/ST Triple of 1998-2004) will cost around £1135 for the main elements. With shoddy examples of both machines being found for just a few hundred knicker, 14 / classic motorcycle mechanics

955 kit looks tasty!

these th both b th sound d like lik the th basis b i off some superb specials. For more information, go to: www.caferacerkits. co.uk.

Y

ou’ll have to excuse me, but I’m borrowing two rather well turned out phrases; the first from a comic genius and the second from a famous playwright, and the reason: advertising and suppliers to the classic motorcycle scene.

It all started off when a group of us were debating and arguing who was best for plating or painting and the discussion rapidly fell into two schools of thought. One side reckoned decent suppliers didn’t need to advertise their existence if their products were good, whilst the other group concluded that businesses needed exposure to ensure potential customers were aware they existed.

So roughly speaking, Group One was in effect the antithesis of Groucho Marx’s famous line: “I wouldn’t join a club that would have me as a member!” This means firms that need to advertise probably don’t have enough business so have to attract more via a presence in magazines and online. Quite possibly that argument is a simplistic one and probably doesn’t stand up well to close scrutiny. There are countless firms out there whose order books are continuously jam-packed and simply rarely, if ever, need to advertise. A perfect example of that is the chrome plater I use. He normally has a three- to four-month lead time and when you drop parts off they’re effectively in stasis until he finally gets to them. His work is top class, his costs reasonable and he’s only ever lost one bolt in all the years he’s been trading.

The spray shop I’ve found of late is similar, but their timelines are often elastic; they love their classics, but have to fit them in around the four-wheeled stuff that pays the overheads.

Group Two tended to be in favour of the Oscar Wilde school of thought: “There’s only one thing worse than being talked about and that’s not being talked about!” Or if you don’t advertise people who need your services may not know you exist or possibly think you’ve ceased trading. Without question, having a company identity or branding keeps you in the public eye. Firms that drop advertising as an unnecessary overhead in a recession tend to see an even bigger drop in business. Therefore you might argue that advertising might be vital for continued survival.

What’s not in question at all is that personal recommendation is often far more important than anything else when it comes to the specialised services fans of old bikes need; whether it’s a rewound alternator, a paint job, plating or specialised engineering input, word of mouth counts for a lot. If you have to travel 150 miles to drop off and collect paintwork, yes, it is money you could be spending elsewhere, but if that firm consistently turns out top-class work, surely it’s worth the effort? An old-time bike shop I used to use decades ago had a sign up by the till: ‘If you like what we do please tell your mate and if you don’t, please tell us!’ Never a truer word written, eh?

www.vjmc.com ❙ 01454 501310

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OOOOPS CORNER!

A rosette winner from the show.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted that our esteemed idiot (sorry, editor) promised the full results in the news pages in the CMM Stafford Show spread and then promptly… forgot, despite an extra page of news to fill. Daft old fool! Here you go.

Best in Show + £100.00 + Rosette 1969 American Eagle 350 – Mark Cowdry Machine of Most Technical Interest 1975 Suzuki 4-cylinder GT1000 – Phil Baldwin 3rd Pre 1960s Bike 1958 Laverda Sport Andy Laverton 2nd Pre 1960s Bike 1954 James Colonel David Turner 1st Pre 1960s Bike 1904 Rex Richard Lancaster 3rd 1960’s Bike 1969 Yamaha YR3 Tony Harmer 2nd 1960s Bike 1967 Suzuki K10P Andy Baldwin 1st 1960s Bike 1969 Bridgestone GTO Steve Thomas 3rd 1970s Bike 1973 Suzuki T500K Bill Millar 2nd 1970s Bike 1976 Yamaha RD400C Phillip Jones 18 / classic motorcycle mechanics

1st

1970s Bike e 1976 Yamaha RD400C Clifford Stuart 3rd 1980s Bike 1984 Laverda 1000RGA Sprint Allan Rollo 2nd 1980s Bike 1988 Honda NSR250 Damien Hide 1st 1980s Bike 1981 Suzuki GSX Katana John Martin Classic Racer – Best Grand Prix display Real Race Bikes – Kevin Main Classic Racer – Best Racing machine Cecotto Yamaha – Dean Want Best Ex TT Machine Clive Brown Manx G50 Steve Ledsham Best Trade Stand Amal Carburetters Best Trade Stand Exhibit 1972 Kawasaki Z1 – Z Power Best Japanese Bike 1968 Kawasaki Avenger Ann Cowdry Best British Bike 1966 Velocette Thruxton Martyn Carter

FOCUS ON REX’S SPEED SHOP

The magic of

Marcus

Rex’s Speed Shop in Sussex is a vital source of replacement ignition, generator and ignition systems for classic Japanese machines.

John Nutting talked to Marcus Rex WORDS: JOHN NUTTING PICS: GARY D CHAPMAN

www.classicmechanics.com / 29

MIRA FILES

44 / classic motorcycle mechanics

TH KING THE IS DEAD… WORDS: JOHN NUTTING PICS: GARY D CHAPMAN

After 20 years of speed record breaking, the GSX1300R Hayabusa was dropped from Suzuki’s UK line-up in 2019. John Nutting celebrates some of its achievements and rides a pristine example.

www.classicmechanics.com / 45

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#48

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