Table of contents for #28 SPRING 2017 in Retrobike

I LOVE this photo of clubman racer Phil Canning giving his Period 3 Vincent Black Lightning the berries at the track. No, it’s not one of the original 30 Black Lightnings built in the Stevenage factory just after WWII, but a replica built by Ken and Barry Horner in Victoria, running 12.5:1 compression on methanol to make around 90hp. So not priceless, just wickedly expensive, and Phil rides the wheels off it! Phil works hard for his coin as chief executive of a large company and spends it well, amassing an enviable collection of modern and classic motorcycles. This includes the 1940 Triumph Speed Twin featured on page 76. It is as meticulous a restoration as you’ll ever find of arguably the most collectable Triumph of all time, and represents…

COULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED FOUR OR FIVE YEARS AGO. THERE WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ENOUGH INTEREST” FLAT track racing was born in the USA, where it is still big news, but it’s also flourishing in Europe. This is especially the case at grassroots level, fuelled by events like Dirt Quake (Retrobike #25) which give punters a chance to have a lash in a not-too-serious environment. Hells Race at Lelystad Speedway in Holland is a full-on competitive event but also includes a Newbies class for folk wanting to try their luck and who own a suitably cool bike. Entries are at the organisers’ discretion, and must have their front brakes disabled and an ignition cut-off lanyard fitted. There is also a Rookie class for riders having their first taste of a purpose-built flat…

BACK in the heyday of snail mail, the Honda CT110 was the biggest-selling motorcycle in Australia, year after year, decade after decade, despite there being only one customer in the country for most of that time. The clutchless wonder was lightweight and cheap but boasted serious carrying capacity, which made it perfect for delivering mail. Australia Post bought them in their zillions. Even better, after approximately three years or 25,000km, they’d flog them at monthly auctions for the rest of us to enjoy. Amazingly, despite being around since 1980, it wasn’t until 2009 that local Honda dealers began selling road-going CT110s new to the public for the first time, until the model was discontinued in 2013. Along the way, postie bikes took on a cult following with a cottage industry…

“THERE MIGHT BE RULES, IT’S HARD TO SAY. IF THERE WERE, THEY WERE DISREGARDED” LITTLE bikes and big noise. The pristine lands of gentle New Zealand were about to be torn asunder as the Quake City Rumblers hosted Dirt Masters 2017. Mother Nature was lubed up and ready to receive a mega load of riders and their little bikes. This event lives up to the adage; it’s not what you’ve got, it’s how you use it. Dirt Masters is about bringing together all bikes and mopeds 150cc and under for a full day of races and stacks. There might be rules, it’s hard to say. Even if there were, they were often disregarded. In its fourth year, a private property on the outskirts of Christchurch began the transformation from a…

WHAT a charming little bike. I’ve been hanging for a ride on the relaunched V7 Guzzi for years but the planets never aligned, so I was especially chuffed to have one for a fortnight to get to know it well. My test bike was a new Series III Special, a stablemate to the stripped-back Stone and the sporty Racer, all of which share the same basic chassis and engine. Although to untrained eyes they look almost identical, changes from the Series II models are significant. The engine is still OHV and just two per cylinder, but has been redesigned from its lightened crankshaft up to its hemispherical combustion chambers, and looks much beefier with extra finning on the heads and redesigned rocker covers. It also has a new adjustable traction-control…

“THE RACE BIKE WAS STRIPPED OF ITS BODYWORK AND SET A NEW WORLD RECORD OF 136MPH” IN 1936, Harley-Davidson debuted an iconic game-changer to the world. The 61-cubic-inch (1000cc) E and EL solos were the first Harley-Davidson production models to feature overhead valves and a recirculating oil system. It was big news and the new bike became famous almost overnight for its speed, strength and style. Every OHV bigtwin Harley released since is a direct descendent. The intense competition between the US motorcycle manufacturers over the previous decades had seen battles fought on board tracks, dirt tracks, hill climbs and endurance races across the country. Speed was always the key and the faster a bike could go, the more success it enjoyed in the sales market. Harley-Davidson knew this all…

HERE is an interesting bike. At first glance it looks like a lightly modified early Ducati V-twin with a cool metal-finished tank and seat. Look closer and spot some serious brakes up front; look again for the single-shock rear and lowmounted side-by-side exhausts. And of course that duck egg green/blue frame. Where have we seen all that before? Leo Fleuren is a longtime Ducati dealer in the Netherlands who last year put his mind to building a special from spare parts he’d accumulated over decades to celebrate Ducati’s 90th anniversary. He’s a quirky guy who likes to follow his own muse, and enlisted the help of his mate Willy Poelen to turn his pile of parts into a functioning motorcycle. “When we undertake stuff like this, we do keep Ducati’s…

LIKE most hobby builders, Nick O’Kane doesn’t build the same custom motorcycle twice. But exceptions are what make the rule. After building a cafe racer from a Suzuki TL1000R a few years ago that ended up looking very much like this one, he entered it on completion in the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, California. He didn’t win any tinware, but he did receive an unsolicited offer to sell it that was too good to refuse. He took the cash on the spot but almost immediately regretted it. A rider as much as a custom bike builder, Nick put his energy (and some of the proceeds) into a hardridden Triumph Speed Triple streetfighter and later the carbon-fibre six-cylinder CBX1000 track bike that we featured last issue. His wife…

POTTED HISTORY LET’S see if you can spot the pattern here, people. Here is my motorcycle ownership history, in chronological order, by cylinder count: 1; 2; 2; 2; 1; 2; 1; 1; 2; 2. What’s yours? Now, this doesn’t mean that I have never ridden bikes with more than two cylinders. Working on Two Wheels and REVS through the 1980s I managed to ride long distances on a good number of threes, fours and even sixes (but no fives, and no eights either, come to think of it). But there is a bit of a conservative pattern there with me. I’m a twins and singles guy, even if I have had a lot of fun riding multis over the years. While I’m making lists of motorcycles I have owned, here’s…

RUSSELL Neuendorf was having not much luck searching for an R-series BMW restoration project when he placed a wanted ad on Gumtree mid last year. It elicited a response from Peter Butler, who was about to list an R75/5 that he had as a project but never got around to restoring. It was totally original, had done less than 27,000km and its history was known. Perfect. The bike was sold new from the BMW export delivery facility in Munich in May, 1973, to Tasmanian Kevin Whittaker, who then toured it extensively throughout Europe. Kevin later shipped it home but rode it rarely before selling it to his close friend Peter Butler in 1979. Peter then sold it to another mate, Brian Fitch, before buying it back in 2008. All the…

“IT WAS BUILT TO COMPLY WITH GERMANY’S MODIFIED VEHICLE GUIDELINES AND IS 100 PER CENT STREET LEGAL” IN just four years, Diamond Atelier has earned a worldwide reputation for innovative custom bikes. Although often based on BMW twins, most DA creations eschew old-school retro styling for a fresh, carte blanche approach. Many are spec-built, but the number of commissioned builds is on the rise. “Usually when people call to seek information about a potential project they would like to start with us, they like to talk first,” says DA’s Tom Konecny. “Often it’s about their ideas for the build, their motorcycling past, riding style and current bike inventory. I’ve heard this monologue countless times and only rarely does it lead to an order placement! “But every once in a while,…

DOUG Fraser is a toolmaker. His Emu Engineering workshop on the road to Phillip Island is packed with lathes, grinders, milling machines and related equipment, all the gear you need to build your own motorcycle. He is also somewhat smitten by vehicles Made in England. “I was brought up when the British motorcycle industry was flourishing,” says Doug. “I like the way their bikes were built, because as a toolmaker I can relate to the machinery used to make them. I think they’re fine products.” Doug is an especially big fan of the BSA Gold Star single, and owns several including a 500 with his own four-valve cylinder head. “I’ve also always liked BSA V-twins, even though they only built them from 1920 to 1938, and in spite of the…

“TRAFFIC is getting worse, public transport is a joke, yet we also boast some of the best riding roads in the country, if not the world,” Benny Selboskar from Smoked Garage in Fortitude Valley, Queensland, says. “So lots of people are going out and getting their licence and joining the motorcycle fraternity. “We’re seeing more and more people invest the extra money on their first bike and get it looking the way they want, because they know they’re gonna be on it for at least two years. And at the end of the two years, the re-sale value is gonna be pretty good, as the next batch of new riders will be in the same boat. “If you’ve just got your licence and you don’t want to throw a leg…

AT almost 2.6 metres long, 1.7 metres wide and weighing 335kg dry, the Ural Sahara is as imposing and impressive as any test bike that has ever graced my shed. Resplendent in custom khaki paint and optioned with jerrycan, shovel, driving and spot lights, protection bars, spare wheel and all the fruit, it is a genuine beast and conversation starter without equal. The twin-cylinder OHV engine looks like it came from a vintage BMW, apart from the absence of carburettors, and makes a vintagelike 41hp at 5500rpm. It also sounds like a vintage BMW, with the racket from the tappets louder than the well-muffled exhausts, none of which is a criticism. Like most classic vehicles, the Ural needs a few minutes to warm up before you select reverse to ease…