Classic Motorcycle Mechanics October 2016 preview

70s

90s

E

70s

Stars of

On Any r

Ducati 748 SP 90s

Ridden and rated!

October 2016 Issue 348

FIVE DECADES OF MODERN CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS Including 90s: Ducati 996 belt change. 80s: Ducati 888 wheel crack check ❘ Hydroforming an SDR exhaust ❘ Project Yamaha FZ600 races ❘ Stan Stephens Proddy 250LC tuning and RD500LC tr ubleshooter. 70s: Yamaha DT175 restoration. 60s: Metal badge restoration. Retro: Honda CB1100 ❘ Metisse marvel tested

Contents

64 ❙ WORKSHOP NEWS

New metal tools and reviews.

66 ❙ Q&A

Mark Haycock with more tips.

68 ❙ PROJECT DUCATI 888

Mark Forsyth on the importance of strong wheels!

73 ❙ YAMAHA FZS600 FAZER

Andy Bolas on this ‘coming classic’ middleweight naked.

74 ❙ TUNING THE RD250LC

Stan Stephens goes back in time.

78 ❙ BADGE RESTORATION Steve Cooper restores metal badges.

82 ❙ RD500LC WOES

Stan again on what can go wrong.

84 ❙ DUCATI 996

Jim Lindsay changes the belts on his Bologna bullet.

88 ❙ EXHAUST HYDROFORMING Pip Higham makes his own SDR200 exhaust!

06 08

ARCHIVE

13

NEWS

18 20 22

CALENDAR

92 ❙ YAMAHA DT175

26

98 ❙ TIMING TALES

32

Ralph Ferrand buys another little restoration. Class!

Mark Haycock with part two.

110 ❙ YAMAHA FZS600 FAZER More facts on this fun future classic.

Schwantz’s first superbike.

1997 DUCATI 748 SP CMM new boy Al Fagan on the mini 916.

More from Bonhams, and the CMM Stafford Show!

October is looking packed!

FEEDBACK

Your views heard.

SHOW US YOURS

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

READER’S RIDE

Steve Mort swaps a frantic R1 for a retro Honda CB1100.

ON ANY SUNDAY

The stars of the film are at Stafford! Here’s the story.

36

SUBSCRIBE!

38

1977 YAMAHA FS1-E

46

1971 SUZUKI T350

52

METISSE SPECIAL

60

RETRO REBOOT

62

SAVE! SAVE! SAVE!

Dear all: we need you to subscribe!

Niall Mackenzie pops out for a bag of chips. And a sausage, and a pickled egg.

Our Scoop on the pretty Suzuki two-stroke.

John Nutting rides a rarity but can we afford it?

Sixteener Special the Honda SS50 reimagined!

Yes! If you want to save on your subscription come here!

130 NEXT MONTH

Suzuki’s big-money GSXR750F resto ridden!

114 ❙ YAMAHA FZ600 RACER Spike finally races Nancy.

126 ❙ FUN WITH FREE ADS

Scott Redmond gives us tips on how to root out a bargain.

www.classicmechanics.com / 5

& events

Brexit and classics With the tumultuous decision of 52% of us in the EU Referendum to leave the European Union, we thought that we’d ask an expert about the state of the classic marketplace post-Brexit.

Paul Jayson of The Motorcycle Broker has been in the motorcycle industry since the Eighties and has some ideas as to how things are panning out. He says: “It is early days but one familiar pattern is emerging. I have been in the industry since 1988, so when interest rates went rocketing and property crashed, I started exporting to mainland Europe in those pre-internet days. What has been happening since June 24 is that I have sold a lot of really, super-clean, original and unrestored machines.

There is also a high demand for high-end classic motorcycles, such as Brough, Indian, MV Agusta and Vincent. Decent sand-cast Honda CB750s are £30,000+ and CBXs have properly hit £15,000+ now. Why? When currencies are devalued investors run to tangible assets.

Smart investors understand that more currency will be printed which devalues their cash reserves. So a tangible asset, such as classic motorcycles, classic cars, art, gold and silver are in limited suppl T ere man

can’t print any more of them.”

Paul says that only ready-forinvestment machines are doing well. Those that are not restored or not good condition and original are not fairing so well. “Or if they are,” he adds, “they are very inexpensive. I haven’t seen a motorcycle actually sell or reach its reserve on eBay for many months. eBay was a bloodbath for investment-grade classic motorcycles, but until the last few months old crap that needs a fortune spending on it has sold on eBay for more than an immaculate classic motorcycle needing nothing doing to it.

“Investors do not scour eBay for their classics and I have not bought a classic motorcycle from their in five years, and for good reason: it’s where people sell their old crap, or lovingly disguised old crap. This is just my, and many other professionals’, opinion and has been learnt by bitter and costly experience.”

We’d agree with that. For many of us who can’t afford the core older classics fetching daft sums, eBay remains a useful place to buy and sell and the prices of relatively inexpensive (£1000£6000) modern classics have been creeping up. Playing the investment game isn’t the of e rich: we c n all

least) off of a good investment bike. So what’s happening at the top-end of the market, post-Brexit vote? “I am being contacted by foreign buyers seeking investment-grade classic motorcycles only,” explains Paul.

“They don’t want anything requiring work. The UK investors I know with such motorcycles are not interested in selling and are happier to hold on to their machines, as they would rather hold on to such assets rather than swap them for cash, which is being devalued. They bought these machines as a five to ten year investment and they are being held in very strong hands.”

With the modern world being better connected than ever with the internet, the market for such machines is bigger than it’s ever been, with people communicating, buying and selling from sometimes thousands of miles away from each other. Paul adds: “The weakness of the pound is also pushing prices up as most investment grade classic motorcycles are imported. The weak pound has forced up prices and customers are willing to pay extra to acquire the investment classic they want. Expect classic motorcycle prices to harden up even m the years to come.”

■ ww

hemotorcycleb Paul Jayson.

Dates sorted!

The Classic Bike Trackdays Endurance Legends event at Donington Park has had its dates confirmed for 2017.

The weekend of May 6-7 promises to be a very special one in the classic event calendar so put it in your diary right now. Both Classic Motorcycle Mechanics and Classic Racer are backing the event, which promises to be a corker!

The main event is set to be a FourHour Classic race with teams from around the world, including a few that will have some famous names.

The Lansdowne Classic has also been confirmed as one of the big support races, with more still to be announced so stay tuned for further details as they become available.

As well as the racing and along with free practice and qualifying sessions, you will have the chance to go out on track as Classic Bike Trackdays will have slots for track action, as well as a number of parades – including a TL1000S 20th anniversary parade.

Then in the evening prepare to be entertained by a choice selection of the finest live music; you can even camp out too!

■ www.classicbike trackdays.com

12 / classic motorcycle mechanics

can joy in our pages, so you ride re with fellow readers. nd r y .co.uk or mail to bsimmonds@mortons es s yo g. Let us know ss at the front of the ma ea ot e and after e done it and send befor u’v yo d an ’ve rtie. can. Do get in touch. Be ots i

We’ve teamed up with The Hobby Company www.hobbyco.net which distributes Tamiya plastic motorcycle kits in the UK to give our favourite restoration one of its amazing motorcycles in miniature. So, send in your pictures of your bikes and you could win the chance to indulge in a miniature motorcycle restoration of your own. Remember to send your name and address on each submission so we know where to post the kit.

KIT WINNER

Jim Tracey’s Tracey s collect collection on u may like to see my current e back to bikes three years ear absence. The 1998 ave had since last its calipers rebuilt, es, and master e has 68k miles ve had

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mechanics

about selling it for years, as it was in storage and eventually he relented this year. I have rebuilt the front forks and refreshed the brakes, fitted a double bubble screen, and with a service it sailed through its MoT. It’s in rather nice condition.

I have owned the 1991 Honda RC36 VFR750FL for just a few week Since I l the B500 een lo ra je nd I ef

see a GSX750EF only to discover the owner in the middle of selling it to another guy when I arrived.

As I have always wanted a VFR, and had drooled over a red single sided swingarm model when newly introduced at Victor Devine’s in Glasgow 25 years ago, I thought to myself “I wonder if that VFR on Gumtree is still available?”

Twenty- our hours later it’s in my garage. od condition, but needs the akes refreshed so that’s the restoration.

NOSTALGIA

WORDS: BERTIE SIMMONDS PHOTOS: COURTESY BRUCE BROWN & MORTONS ARCHIVE

Motorcycles and McQueen – could any motorcycle film be cooler than this? Forty-five years on, we look back at On Any Sunday ahead of the legends arriving at the CMM show this October.

F

orty-five years ago the film On Any Sunday was released and today it’s as ‘must-watch’ a flick as ever.

The premise behind On Any Sunday is simple: on any Sunday around the world, you’ll find someone racing a motorcycle in one discipline or another.

Film-maker Bruce Brown did just that, getting under the skin of the subject with a documentary style that shows both the beauty of motorcycle racing and the toughness of the competitors.

In the course of 1970, Bruce shot more than 150 hours of film over disciplines as diverse as dirt-track, road-racing, desert racing, motocross, trials, hill-climbing and ice racing and Brown – with his laconic Californian drawl – narrates the entire film, saying it like it is and sometimes saying nothing to let his amazing footage tell the story for itself.

The film loosely follows two main characters – AMA champ Mert Lawwill, FIM-gold-medal winner Malcolm Smith and there’s also a bit-part for Hollywood legend Steve McQueen. Others are included, such as Dave Aldana, Don Emde, Gene Romero, Dave Castro, Dick ‘Bugsy’ Mann, Frank Gillespe, Cal Rayborn and many others, covering all disciplines of the sport. If you head to the 23rd Carole Nash Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show over the weekend of October 15-16, you’ll have the opportunity to meet some of the legends who took part in the film: Mert Lawwill, Dave Aldana, Don Emde and Gene Romero!

32 / classic motorcycle mechanics

ABOVE: Bruce had to pay riders to wear the ‘head-cam’. Little wonder!

From the opening credits where a bunch of kids race ‘bicycle motocross’ to the slow-mo shots of a Harley XR750 going sideways at 100mph, to the aerial shots of a desert race and the head-camera shots where you really get a feel for the speed and closeness of dirt-track racing or off-road, no film has ever come close to recreating the sheer excitement of racing on two wheels.

Bruce Brown was born in San Francisco, California in 1937 and grew up on the beaches, becoming a bit of a surf dude. With a keen interest in still and motion photography, he made his name in the 1960s with a series of surfing films, the most popular being the 1964 flick The Endless Summer, a documentary released in 1966 that followed a group of surfers chasing the best waves in California. Bruce says: “I’d made surfing films, but I’d never made a film about anything else. I came into biking late in my life but when I did I met people who I admired very much, so pretty soon I figured that it would be fun to try something different and make a movie about these people. I went to Ascot Park and saw these guys ride. They were going faster than I thought. I saw a big crash and the race was red flagged. I figured this guy was dead but he got straight back up. I went to the pits afterward and expected to see big guys with square jaws and muscles, but it amazed me it was these small little guys and I admired

CLASSIC RIDE

SUZUKI

T350 50 Is Suzuki’s Rebel really just an over-bored Hustler?

Scoop provides an insight.

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mechanics

I

WORDS: STEVE COOPER PHOTOS: JOE DICK

t’s strange how certain motorcycle models seem to highlight or chart your biking experiences. For me Suzuki’s oft overlooked T350 has always been one of the coolest machines of the period but for very different reasons.

But until today I’ve never had the opportunity to ride one. Back in the day, following the agreed part exchange value of my Mobylette moped I was racked with uncertainty about whether to go for the Suzuki GT250K or the Yamaha RD200. Both sat in the windows of Clarkes of St Albans. Both looked stunning but it was a well-used T350 Rebel in the back of the shop that really grabbed my eye. Candy Pearl Orange and white with loads of chrome it stopped me dead in my tracks; it was so damn cool.

Well, until the old man pushed me towards the counter and told me to make a decision. In the end our very own John Nutting’s review of the RD won the day and the T350 was forgotten in the euphoria of my first proper motorcycle.

Fast forward a few years and our local pack of ne’er-do-wells are at our favourite haunt when this French fella pulls up on a blue T350 and starts chatting. He’d ridden from central France to the UK for his annual break and wanted to meet English riders. Wearing a pudding basin lid, tinted goggles, neckerchief and tailored leather jacket he oozed cool chic. This was confirmed by the fact that the local

mechanics

The Shed...

New tools for sale, old tools and kit rated.

You’re in The Shed.

Updated ignitions from REX X Our chums from Rex’s Speed Shop say they’ve for something for us all.

They said: “We’ve spruced up and improved our Kawasaki H1/H2 replacement ignition module! For several years we offered a simple ‘all-in-one, black-box’ replacement for the four unit Kawasaki ‘Solid State Magneto’ assembly.

“While the electronics were spot-on, bringing modern, reliable ignition to 1970s machines, the mounting system was sadly lacking.

The new version features a corrosion-resistant, highly-polished stainless steel mounting bracket and a redesigned all-in-one CDi unit. The leads are now all marked for left,

right and centre cylinders and the correct black three-way connector.

This bespoke ignition assembly is a very smart looking piece of kit, with a well proven track record (even if we do say so ourselves!). In addition, we have had made some very high quality HT coils that correctly fit the bikes. The complete CDi unit with stainless steel bracket is £175.

“The black box can still be purchased on its own at £150 and the bracket is available separately at £35. The HT coils are £29.95 each or £77.50 in a set of three. Prices include VAT but postage is extra.”

■ For more go to: www.rexs-speedshop.com

Ooh! Lovely drawers!

Laser Tools have just introduced their Tool Control range, where essential tools are provided in a compact tool tray designed to fit neatly into the tool chest or roll cab drawer, it says here.

Sets include the four-piece Circlip Plier kit (part number 6593), the four-piece Plier kit (part number 6594) and the three-piece Plier and Wrench set (part number 6599). These are tools that any

64 / classic motorcycle mechanics

professional technician will use frequently, so they should be very popular and more are being added to the range regularly.

Available now from your local Laser Tools supplier, typically prices are 6593: £75.70; 6594: £88.26; 6599: £76.20 (all prices plus VAT), but remember to check for the best prices and special offers.

■ More details from www.lasertools.co.uk

SPECIFICATION

A

FZS600 YEARS AVAILABLE

1998-2000

MAJOR CHANGES

Colour changes, s model released in 2000 alongside standard model with two tone paint, twin trip meters, more padding to the seat, slightly lower rear pegs and new grab rail.

PRICE NEW

£4950

VALUES NOW

£500-£2200 VERDICT

A great all-rounder and fun bike only let down by poor build quality: grab an early one while you can!

FOR: Brill, fun bike and great value for money at the moment anyway!

AGAINST: A lot of rough ones out there, take your time and get a good one, you won’t regret it.

I

t is 1998 and Yamaha has set Fazers to stun (s ry couldn’t resist) and unleashed its new middleweight naked on the unsuspecting public.

Like most naked middleweights of the time, the Fazer was a real parts bin special as it featured the same calipers used on the R1 (single piece Sumitomo also known as ‘blue spots’) and a retuned for torque motor from the company’s Thundercat supersport offering.

The Cat’s engine was also modified externally for the Fazer to make it look as though it was air-cooled which added to the retro look of the now naked motor. The rest of the bike was your typical naked Jap machine. The frame was a steel perimeter with cool rubber stops for the tank, so it looked the retro part, and right-way-up forks and a box-section swinger didn’t hint at the performance lurking underneath the quirky looks.

I remember those looks well, because at the time I was in the market for a new bike and the Fazer won me over in a way the Hornet and Bandit 1200 I was looking at never did. Being the first four-stroke I’d ever owned at the time it seemed a little dull while running it in. This all changed when I had hit the 600 mile mark and I could use the motor to the end of its rev-range. Suddenly this humble little bike turned into a great laugh. Talk about being greater than the sum of its parts!

Okay so it’s a budget all-rounder (good pillion, mirrors, tank range) but this is a bike that will scratch, tour and commute. Getting a good one is tricky, as Yamaha’s build quality wasn’t the best, so

ASK ANDY CMM contributor Andy Bolas has owned hundreds of bikes new and old and he knows what to source, buy and collect for the future. Listen to him! while there are lots of bikes about you will have to take your time to find a really good example as they suffer terribly from corrosion and owner neglect.

The good news is still price: I recently sold my 1999 bike which was about as good an example as you could wish to find (with just 3000 miles on it) for £2000. My 1998 bike only cost me £1400 and is also a very good example but I had to look at so many before I found either of them.

I would say that – today – if you paid anything over £2200 for one it would have to be absolutely stunning! Finding a standard one isn’t too difficult either, although some will have end-cans or bits to make the bike more suitable to the owner, such as top-boxes, heated grips or crash bars. Prices of the better bikes will get stronger, so do some research (Scoop’s in-depth Buyer’s Guide is on page 110) get a good one and enjoy! cmm www.classicmechanics.com / 73

1

Two-stroke timing!

Tune in to part two of Mr Haycock’s series of features on motorcycle timing: this month, a two-stroke.

L

ast time we looked at what ignition timing is about, and why it is necessary to arrange for spark advance, and now I am moving on to look at how to set it up on a two-stroke engine.

Before I start I should point out that this engine is perhaps a little removed from the type we would normally deal with, but it is the only two-stroke I currently have and we are just looking at basic principles so here goes!

The quantity of spark advance can be expressed in two ways. Normally, it is shown as a number of degrees of crankshaft rotation before top dead centre (BTDC) but often on two-strokes it is instead as a linear measurement of piston position BTDC. This sounds easier to measure than degrees but that is not so I am afraid, and unfortunately many high performance two-strokes are particularly sensitive to the timing so it does have to be exactly right. Worse, the manufacturers’ 98 / classic motorcycle mechanics

timing marks found on some old engines are not very reliable.

My engine is not very sensitive! In fact, the official instruction is simply to set the contact breaker points gap with a feeler gauge, set the timing in the middle of the range available… and that is it. Yes, very simple but on my engine it did not work.

I could tell this because the engine was trying to force the kickstart up as I was starting (well attempting to start) the engine. This is a sign that the timing is too advanced.

The actual setting for the timing is 1.6mm BTDC, and a little thought will enable you to come to the conclusion that this is not going to be measured with a steel rule. I suppose you might be able to use the depth gauge on the end of a Vernier (or digital) caliper after removing the spark plug but there is a more accurate way. We need to use a clock gauge – properly called a dial test indicator (Photo 1) which has a spring loaded plunger operating a needle which

rotates round a dial somewhat like a clock.

This will allow you to measure down to 0.01mm with reasonable accuracy. These used to be quite expensive precision instruments but I have seen that now they can be found for next to nothing – less than a fiver, making it a bit of a bargain.

You will need to hold the gauge vertically in the cylinder, in line with the piston’s movement and fortunately most two-strokes have the plug in the middle of the cylinder head, pointing vertically down. If you feel like a little challenge, you can make something to hold the gauge in the correct place from an old spark plug. You grind off the side electrode and bash out the ceramic insulator (with eye protection I should add), then drill out the plug body such that the gauge is held by it when you screw the assembly in place.

If you don’t feel like playing around like that, you can buy a ready-made tool instead for less than twenty quid.

Unfortunately, my test engine is not fitted with a vertically-mounted spark plug

Shaking her down at Mallory Park.

WORDS: MIKE ‘SPIKE’ EDWARDS PHOTOS: RUSSELL LEE (SPORTS-PICS.UK), PETE WILEMAN

Project Yamaha FZ600 ‘Nancy’ part 7

Shaking down Nancy!

So, she finally turns her wheels in anger. What could possibly go wrong, Spike?

A

s the age-old saying goes ‘perfect preparation prevents p… err, pathetically poor performance’ and if the last 34 years of racing has taught me anything it’s that it’s very easy to make a tit of yourself if you don’t test and work things out before you go race.

The expectation of riding Nancy had grown enormously, so as a treat I ordered up some new tyres from Avon.

I was invited to the opening of Alf’s Motorcycles’ new showroom in Worthing and on the way decided to swing by Mallory Park for some shakedown laps.

Mark from No Limits track days has been following the Nancy project and was generous enough to agree to her doing a couple of sessions on their track day.

Queuing up in the advanced group waiting to go out surrounded by bigger, more modern tackle Nancy looked and felt like a tiny wee thing. Out on track I settled down and completed the first session 114 / classic motorcycle mechanics

without much drama. The power was smooth with no power steps or flat spots, the brakes bedded in and worked well, changing gear was occasionally difficult with a double lift required on the down shifts (race pattern, you see?) but the handling was the biggest issue.

Tip in was good and powering out of the corners she worked well, however midcorner as I picked up the throttle the front wheel would judder, shaking the whole front-end. It seemed like the forks were locking up. Gareth had put in so much time and research to get them right, but I could tell something was wrong. Back in the paddock I could feel some ‘stick-sion’ in the forks. I took the fork tops off and took out the springs to allow me to move the suspension through its stroke to feel where it was sticking. After some fiddling around loosening the front spindle, this didn’t help but when I undid the mudguard brace and retightened it felt much better. The gear change was a simple issue of filing a small groove in the

footrest bracket to give the shifting rod bolt some more clearance. Next session on track I knew I had cured the handling problem. Tipping into Gerard’s and picking up the throttle she was almost perfect – job done. Nancy was soon back in the van and off to Alf’s.

Paul Firth and I had booked a track day at Croft the week before our first CRMC race event there, so it would be the last chance to get Nancy fettled for her debut race. To be honest, there wasn’t much to do, so I turned some laps on her, readjusted the gear lever and then helped Paul to get a few issues with his bike ‘Myrtle’ sorted. The two sessions on track illustrated that I could really do with a tweak to the forks as they were still a little soft on the compression side, so off we went back to see Gareth at Reactive Suspension. He really has been a tremendous help putting up with my constant demands and really helped with being able to implement my on-track feedback. The track days at Mallory and

s d a free MORTONS

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T

a , u in n selling , l

he small ads, it’s one of things that’s hardly changed in this digital world that we live in.

There was a time when they were king, but like video killing the radio star, the internet is now our first port of call when we get a biking itch we want to scratch.

But hold your horses, there’s still life yet in the old classified.

Every month we print a rake of your private adverts in CMM, and every month we flick through them to see what machines and parts are lurking at the end of our fingertips. In another life I was an ad rep on a weekly motorcycling newspaper of some repute.

With us getting a hold of the newspaper way before the general public, it was amazing how (ahem) some dealers were willing to throw a few bob our way to supply them with the paper 24-hours or more prior: the early bird and all that.

It was a similar ‘naughty’ sensation when Bertie sent me the free ads to this issue, way before you

ABOVE: Early model VFRs are still easy meat for peanuts.

Check out page 121 and you’ll see three available from £500.

Bargain!

.

got to see them. I’m not saying I’m like I was back then, but the feeling of ‘getting them before you see them even if some have seen light of day before was them’ interesting. I can speak for CMM when I say we’re proud of our free ads section, so here’s a pick of ads that caught my eye while I had a cuppa and a Belgian bun.

Now, advert writing is a dying art, some adverts leave you with more questions than answers, yes I know it’s impossible to cram every detail in to a handful of words but the very basics of an advert require a price and a phone number.

If you’re biking on a budget here’s a bona fide bargain that I spotted: a Honda VFR750F-K. It’s a 1989 model and looks pretty standard. The seller informs us that it’s had a few quid lavished on it recently, including new chain and sprockets. It’s even still sporting its seat hump. The seller hints that he’s reducing his VFR collection: this could be a thinly-veiled way of disguising he’s a trader? www.classicmechanics.com / 127