Classic Motorcycle Mechanics July 2017

HO ONDA CBX1000

70S

Aussie custom ridden A

Old meets new in this

SUPER SPECIAL!

BEST OF 1982 It’s turbo time!

80S

37

PAGES OF PRACTICAL ADVICE

July 2017 Issue 357

80S

SUZUKI RG500 SPECIAL

Stan Stephens on how to strip, bigbore and tune the sexy square four!

FIVE DECADES OF MODERN CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS INCLUDING: 00s: Honda CB1300 ridden, Triumph Speed Triple. 90s: Ducati 996 resto. 80s: Yamaha TZR250 race resto, Yamaha DT175 MX Resto, Suzuki RG250 resto. 70s: Programmable ignition, Honda 400/Four resto. 60s: Bridgestone 350 GTO. Also: Q&A – Your questions answered and your bikes and memories, inside!

July 2017 Issue 357 Publisher: Dan Savage, asavage@mortons.co.uk Contributors: Joe Dick, Kevin Larkins, Ralph Ferrand.

Art Editor: Justin Blackamore Picture Desk: Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield Production Editor: Dan Sharp Divisional advertising manager: Martin Freeman mfreeman@mortons.co.uk Tel: 01507 529538 Advertising: Robert Bee rbee@mortons.co.uk, Tel: 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 36 for offer): (12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £50.40. Export rates are also available – see page 36 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-7pm Saturday 8.30am-12:30pm 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: July 19, 2017 Advertising deadline: June 30, 2017 © 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

Election special!

Yup, like me – I bet you’re bored of those two words. For some reason, us Brits seem to have had our fill of going to the polls lately. If it wasn’t the Scottish Referendum in 2014, then the General Election in 2015, then the EU Referendum last summer… and now this: another General Election.

The good thing is that – by the time you read this – the result will be known. We can then (finally, hopefully) head in a direction that surely should see us as a nation…er, well. Who knows? With Brexit and the like, who can predict our future and what will happen to the economy? Still, here’s a shout out for the modern classic biking economy: it’s booming.

Steve Cooper

John Nutting

Big, bad Bob is the go-to boy when it comes to adverts in cmm. Email him at: rbee@mortons.co.uk

Despite a week or two off, he’s still handled a Z1000 special (page 38) GTO Buyer’s Guide (110) and ignition (86).

Our John recalls the best bikes of a tumultuous year: 1982 on page 46. What was your fave from this year?

Ad Contact

Stan Stephens

Gary ‘D’ Chapman Photographer

Not such a busy month! He’s only snapped the Z1000 special on page 38 this issue. Lazy git.

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

www.twitter.com/cmmmag

Robert Bee

Super Stan the Man gives us part one of his excellent RG400/500 Special (page 74): stripping, big-bore and tuning.

Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine?

Editor

BSimmonds@Mortons.co.uk

www.facebook.com/ClassicMechanics/

Tuning Legend

Independent publisher since 1885

Prices of late – even on the sort of tat that would sell for a few hundred quid five years back – are strong and getting stronger. Rough hounds, frames with a box of bits, even nonrunners now start at not far off a grand. And for bikes that are better than this the story is still the same – prices are getting stronger. It means we can buy more rubbish and justify it to our better halves. It’s better than money in the bank!

Engine Room

Kev Larkins

Master of MIRA Files

EMPLOYEE OF THE

Brave photographer MONTH! Welcome to our July ‘employee of the month!’ This issue, Kev Larkins braved the wet weather on the Saturday of the Endurance Legends event (page 26) and then got burnt by the sun on day two. He braved the drive in to the event on both days too as his chauffeur for the day (and assistant) likes to go a bit quick in their car. All we needed to do to keep Kev at the top of his game on both days was to give him a full English both mornings and a few of his fave tipple (Budweiser) in the evening.

Ralph Ferrand Biker’s Toolbox bloke

The DT175 gets its carb sorted (p92) and the 400/Four is finished (page 114).

Next month he sorts Blue-Spot calipers.

Scott Redmond Facebook Pharaoh!

The big man is in charge of our Facebook and Twitter feeds. Check out our videos on FB every Sunday.

Jeff Ware

Cliff Williams

Erik Hobo

Jeff joins CMM for the first time. G’day Jeff! Read his scribblings on a CBX1000 Special on page 30.

Cliff rides through Wales on his beloved Doris – a 2002 Triumph Speed Triple on the cusp of classic-dom. Page 56.

Meet the Dutchman with a love for Suzuki strokers: but will you like his latest on page 61?

Down Under Correspondent

Intrepid Reader

Reader/restorer

www.classicmechanics.com / 3

66

❙ WORKSHOP NEWS

68

❙ Q&A

70

New metal bits and old kit tested.

Mark Haycock and you with tips!

❙ YAMAHA TZR250

Charlie Oakman on part three of his resto-racer.

74

❙ SUZUKI RG400-500

82

❙ DUCATI 996

86

A Stan Stephens masterclass!

Jim Lindsay finally finishes his bella with an MOT pass!

❙ PROGRAMMABLE IGNITION

Steve Cooper on why it’s best to bring this modern innovation on board.

92

❙ YAMAHA DT175 MX

97

❙ YAMAHA RD350

Ralph Ferrand is on with part 10: the carb.

Scoop has a fettle and a fiddle.

Contents 06 08

ARCHIVE

12 18 20 22

NEWS

26

ENDURANCE LEGENDS

110 ❙ BRIDGESTONE 350 GTO

Steve Cooper on the tyre-maker’s masterpiece.

114 ❙ HONDA CB400 FOUR

Ralph Ferrand finishes this little beauty.

127 ❙ MAKE OR BREAK REVISITED!

30

Farewell, Nicky Hayden.

2003 HONDA CB1300 Quick Spin on a future classic? Oh yes!

News, views and what’s new.

CALENDAR

It’s July, so get the Kettle on!

FEEDBACK

You’ve got a lot to tell us!

36 38 46

Missed it? Check out what happened! It was epic!

HONDA CBX1000 SPECIAL

Aussie Jeff Ware on one very six-y special!

Subscribe and save cash!

1977 KAWASAKI Z1000

Steve Cooper rides a trick big Kwak and loves it.

BEST BIKES OF 1982

John Nutting takes us down memory lane.

56

2002 TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE

61

READER’S RESTORATION

SHOW US YOURS

Now with added nostalgia: ‘The Way We Were!’

SUBSCRIBE!

64

A reader’s ride through gorgeous Wales.

Dutchman Erik Hobo on his JPS RG250!

RETRO REBOOT

Honda should make this: a modern CB900F!

130 NEXT MONTH

Benelli’s Sei 750, Triumph’s retro Bonnies, VFR400 NC24 resto and RG500 rebuild.

How prices have changed over the last five years.

www.classicmechanics.com / 5

NICKY HAYDEN 1981-2017

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WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS

PHOTOS: BRIAN J NELSON

Nicky Hayden really showed his promise aboard the American Honda RVT RC51. By this time of his career the youngster already had a lifetime of racing behind him, on the dirt tracks of America, before heading onto the Tarmac. He won the AMA Supersport championship in 1999 with his privately-run Honda CBR600 before being promoted into the Superbike class. He would run in both classes, winning his first race at Road America in 2000.

From 2001 he concentrated solely on Superbikes and came third behind champion Mat Mladin and Eric Bostrom. By now Honda were keeping tabs on the youngster and he justified their faith by winning the AMA Superbike series on the Honda VTR in 2002, winning the Daytona 200 along the way.

For 2003 he was elevated to the elite – MotoGP with Honda, riding alongside Valentino Rossi. It proved to be a tough baptism, but – following on from Rossi’s departure to Yamaha – he spearheaded development of the RC212V and, in an epic year, took the title from Rossi at the final round at Valencia. This made Hayden the only rider to take a title from the Italian in the 990cc era. Into the 800cc era, Nicky’s competitiveness (if not his passion) was eroded somewhat, but on the Honda and later the Ducati he was always a threat to the podium. A move to World Superbike for 2016 saw him take a win in Malaysia.

As an American and World Champion and MotoGP race winner Nicky’s name will always be mentioned alongside the greats. As a person and human being, even more so: many of those who worked with him confirm that he was untouched by ego or stardom.

Ride on Nicky. cmm

Remember him this way www.classicmechanics.com / 7

2003

CB130 00 It’s another jaunt down (recent) memory lanee for our corpulent editor. But maybe this time, he has a point?

R

WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PHOTOS: MORTONS ARCHIVE/JOE DICK

ight, it’s time for me to get my apologies/ excuses out of the way very early doors.

Firstly, you’ll see that this bike really is ‘only’ 14 years old. It’s not quite in that 15-year VJMC ruling that we here at CMM try to stick to.

For that I apologise. But look at it! It’s a real UJM, a universal Japanese motorcycle with pure, clean lines and naked as the day it was born (well, rolled off the production line). It’s what we would term a ‘coming classic’, something we feature now and again so that you can think ahead of what to tuck away for the future.

Second apology then… I love these bikes and had one from new for a year and did a ton of miles on it, so I will try and keep the following lot of huff objective, as much as a purely subjective Quick Spin can be.

When the CB1300 first came out in this form in 2003, Honda UK was expecting big things. Now, the bike had been around since 1998 back ‘home’ (see page 11 for the family tree) but not in this clean, classic form. As I approach the big CB1300, I’m struck by just how big it is – even compared to one of its illustrious forebears. It’s that big tank, that chunky 180-rear section and – well – I’m a big lad, so I generally shy away from wearing white. It makes me look bigger but the CB1300 is loud and proud.

That 1284cc lump looks good de-finned for this version, so you know this ain’t no air-cooled four.

Swing a leg over the wide seat, grab the wide bars, spread your knees around the (yeah, you’ve guessed it) tank and let’s get ready to rumble.

The big clocks are old-school cool. Okay, so there are some LCD touches here, with fuel-gauge, clock and odometer, but LCD was also seen on lots of 1980s bikes. The idiot lights and indicator lights though are pretty similar to your 1970s steed.

8 / classic motorcycle mechanics

We’ve said it’s big and wide and a it’s no lightweight – but at 224 kiloos it’s still a fair few kilos lighter than a CB90 00F and (with around 110bhp) anything beetween 10-15bhp more powerful too. I’m mentioning power and weight together here not for sportsbike-style s performance but the sheer balance of the big CB which is apparent as soon n as you hoike up the sidestand and releasee that light, hydraulic clutch.

Because, be it around town or down some twisties, the Honda CB chasssis engineers got the performance of the 1300 cocck-on. At slow speeds you don’t feel the bulk of thee CB1300 working against you, while at speed out o of town the Honda (understandably) ridees like a modern bike, despite the loooks.

I always remember never really being able to fault the rear-eend (Showas adjustable for rebou und and pre-load only) while the frontt wasn’t quite as good, but if I recall I simply upped the preload to not far off max and left it there… Same here tod day, really.

Aiding this composure that silky straight-four motor: it provides all the low w-down grunt that you could ever need but it doesn’t overpower what the chassis provides. With the CB B1300 you have handling and horses workingg together, with neither overdoing it. You don’t get tooo much of anything with the CB, unless of coursee it’s sheer presence.

Now, this isn’t the place too talk about rivals – I did ride them all (and ow wned some) back in the day – but in isolation the CB works very well indeed and you won’t want anythingg else… unless… well, unless you look at the Kawassaki ZRX1100/1200 with that Eddie Lawson paint and small fairing.

www.classicmechanics.com / 9

Still, I can speak from experience here (9500 miles in seven months, a 220-mile daily commute) and say that those clocks can deflect a fair amount of windblast, even if I did bottle it and fit a small fly-screen. And while we’re talking about the looks, in the classic Honda white/red she looks stunning.

I do remember some cool and butch black or silver offerings, too…

As I tip-toe around the leafy Northants roads it’s all starting to come back. You do get quite into the handling and start to throw the bike around a bit.

This example had 21k on the clocks and the only bugbear was the brakes. They look like the ones you see off the old CBR600 or Blade from the early 2000s and could well be. I recall them being better than this on the CB1300 and this was despite the

10 / classic motorcycle mechanics

If this doesn’t stir your emotions, then you have no soul.

This thing handles very well indeed.

fact that this bike had braided lines. Practicalitywise there’s plenty to love on the big CB: analogue clocks hide two LCD displays which hold two trips, time, date, ambient air temp, stopwatch and fuel gauge. Then there’s the impressive under-seat storage space of 12.4 litres which can hold plenty of stuff. With the CB1300, there’s also been space under the seat for U-locks, too. So, pretty practical for a big naked.

That’s the good news, what of the bad? Well, they were really quite thirsty and many owners re-jet via a Power Commander (although I remember around 145 miles on average to the fuel light) some owners reported vibration (I didn’t), some owners said ground clearance was an issue but the big thing was the finish. For a Honda it was typically good, but that dash of practicality meant you often rode it in all weathers, so it did need looking after.

Exposed engine parts – which were almost of a semi-polished finish – could suffer, as could fork legs, which always were a typical Honda issue from the mid-1990s on.

It’s probably fair to say that the ‘original’ 2003 UK CB1300 didn’t quite catch the imagination of the bike-buying public back in the day, which is a shame as it was clearly the best-handling bike in its class. I remember upping the power of mine by 15bhp with a full-system Akrapovic, adding some rear-sets and adding to the sound and attitude of the bike. It is ideas like that which fill my mind now when I prepare to hand the bike back to its owner: think of what a bike this could become.

Hell, it’s ‘just’ a Honda CB inline four, but I’ve loved my time aboard her and I know that – hidden just under the surface – is so much more! Maybe the next few years will be kinder to the unsung UJM – the Honda CB1300. I hope so as it’s a cracking bike, well worth a good look. cmm

1

2

SPECIFICATION

2003

CB1300 ENGINE TYPE

1284cc, liquid-cooled, 16-valve, inline four MAXIMUM POWER:

IN DETAIL: 1/ Brakes come from a similar-vintage FireBlade. They’re ‘okay’. 2/ Clocks are just lovely and have a number of features on them too. 3/ Rear-end has piggyback Showas and they work well.

Honda CB1300 family tree Our journey here may help you choose your ‘modern’ big-bore CB. First comes the Honda CB1000 ‘Project Big-1.’ Yes, it’s a daft name but thankfully it was soon dropped (it was an American brand of toilet cleaner) and re-badged the CB1000 Super Four. This 1993 machine used the CBR1000 motor and was a sweet-handling, grunty thing. Despite this, it failed to shift in big numbers in the UK before deletion at the end of 1997. Prices: well, you can now get a Big 1 for around £2000.

The CB1300 came along in Japan in 1998, using the motor from the V-Max-a-like Honda X4, which was popular there. CB1300 colours harked back to a golden era, aping schemes worn by bikes like the CBX1000 and CB900F. For 2003, the bike would get an update and finally be imported into the UK following its launch in Sicily early that year.

The bike was a 1284cc inline four with liquid cooling and fuel-injection. Frame was a good ol’ fashioned steel double cradle, albeit with good Showa suspension and Nissin brakes nabbed from the-then current Fireblade.

Decent ones now start at £3k.

An update came in 2005 when the bike was mildly re-engineered with slimmer side-panels to help those who are challenged in the inside leg department touch the ground. Honda also later released a scalloped seat which took around 30mm off the seat height. Engine timing and fuel-injection settings were also changed to improve low-down throttle ‘feel’, making it less lurchy. The big addition for 2005 was the inclusion of a new model, the half-faired SA, which brought more practicality to the range with a weatherstopping stylish bikini cowling.

In the UK, the later SA models aped the look and colour scheme of the original Honda CB1100RB of 1981 – the bike that started Honda’s ‘R-type’ family – with red frame and gold wheels. Colours have included black, silver, blue and the popular Honda racing white with red. Interesting fact: the CB1300’s project leader Hara-san had been with Honda since 1971, he therefore knew big naked bikes the first time round as well as that, he was project leader for the CB1000 Super Four/Project Big 1.

116bhp @ 7500rpm (claimed)

MAXIMUM TORQUE

86lb-ft @ 6000rpm (claimed) TRANSMISSION

5-speed

FINAL DRIVE

chain

FRAME

steel double cradle SUSPENSION

Front: 43mm tele escopic cartridg ge forks adjustable for pre-load only.

Rear: Twin Showa piggyback reservoir shocks adjustable for rebound and pre-load only.

BRAKES

Front: Twin 310mm discs, with Nissin four-piston calipers Rear: Single 245mm disc, 256mm disc, Nissin two-piston caliper TYRES

Front: 120/70-17 Rear: 180/55-17 SEAT HEIGHT

790mm

WHEELBASE

1515mm

DRY WEIGHT

224kg

FUEL CAPACITY

21 litres

3

www.classicmechanics.com / 11

& events

Retro Beemers blew us away!

BMW’s new R nineT Racer and Pure have been launched and this is what Benjamin J Kubas Cronin from our sister title Fast Bikes, had to say when he went along for a ride.

“I headed straight for the R nineT Racer because I think it looks very cool. True, I’ve never been a fan of the Boxer engine that powers it, but hopes are high. High, but dashed within a few hundred yards, and it’s all to do with the riding position. It’s simply too long, too low, and if it were more compact you’d feel like you had far more control over it.

“The bike comes with BMW’s basic Traction Control system (which can be upgraded) and that takes care of the big torque punch available at your right wrist when grip is at a premium.

Pure is... well, pure?!

The motor is a proper tractor of a lump, shovelling heaps of grunt at you. Being fair, the top-end isn’t too shabby although really you want to keep feeding it gears in its sweet spot.

“I stop and jump on the ‘Pure’ version, the bike I was expecting to not be at all bothered about. The Pure is essentially a blank platform for owners to customise: handy as I think it looks bland.

“The important part is how it feels to ride, and blow me if it didn’t surprise the hell out of me! After the Racer I wasn’t expecting much, but the more ‘normal’ chassis and riding position allows accurate and effective control over what it has to offer.

“Compared to the Racer, it’s a ballerina/gymnast performing on a comfy sofa. And the engine feels even more potent here, with the sideways crank making the bike pitch to the side while blipping it at a standstill, and then delivering a serious punch off the line. It also sounds great.

“The Pure is a terrific little bike; it just ain’t a looker and (apart from the banging soundtrack) so it’s a little anonymous. Yer pays yer money…”

■ We will be giving the 2017 retros a decent summer test (including the R nines) soon.

PHOTOS: DOUBLE RED

The looker of the two: but not comfy.

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The most useful gear we’ve found this month

THE HARDY WAXED JACKET Now, we quite like thiss as it’s a fairly-priced waxed jac cket which isn’t daftly price ed for those bearded Hipsters from Shoreditch. Instead this has a removable and washable liner (which is breathable) CE armour at the shoulders and elbows with space for an appropriate back protector.

Colours are olive or black and sizes small to 4XL. Go to: www.oxfordproducts.com

AIROH GP500 HELMET The Airoh GP500 come es directly from MotoGP races, tested and developed by the world’s best riders (it says here).

It’s a light, HPC (High Performance Composite) lid, with an n integral ventilation system and D-ring retention. A variety of colours and sizes existt and the price is £359.99. All GP500s are supplied complete with one Pinlock anti-fog device. www.bikeittrade.com

GSB G-350 HELMET If you’re not that flush, then try this lid at the other end of the price scale! This is a stylish full-face helmet which features a drop down sun visor, fully removable and washable lining and a quick release r visor system. The shell is ABS plastic and it comes in two shell sizes (XS-XXL) and many colourways too. Best of all it costs only £57.99. www.bikeittrade.co om