Table of contents for Issue 33 in Retrobike

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke flat twin; OHV, two per cylinder; 94 x 70.6mm for 980cc; wet sump; Omega pistons for 12.0:1 comp; 2 x Lectron carburettors; Schleicher camshaft; owner-built exhausts; cable-operated dry single-plate clutch; five-speed gearbox; shaft final drive; 90rwhp @ 8200rpm (measured) CHASSIS Twin-loop cradle chassis in tubular steel, gusseted; sub-frame ditched; Suzuki GSX-R750 forks, no front brake; BMW oil-head swingarm and diff; Hyperpro mono-shock; K100 wheels and rear brake BODYWORK Mystery fuel tank; owner-built seat in carbon-fibre; no-name mudguards MORE Follow ‘Skrunkwerks’ on Instagram and Facebook; http://skrunkwerks.com BEST Innovative, stylish and seriously fast; high standard of finish; fantastic sound NOT SO GREAT Only get to ride it once per year…

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke 90-degree V-twin; belt-driven SOHC, two valves per cylinder, desmodromic operation; 86 x 58mm for 675cc; 2 x 36mm Dell’Orto pumpers; 11.0:1 comp; Silent Hektik ignition; wet sump; owner-built headers, Commando mufflers; gear primary to multi-plate clutch and five-speed gearbox; chain final drive CHASSIS Twin-loop mainframe in tubular steel with custom engine mounting plates in stainless steel; TZR250 conventional forks, triple clamps and front brake rotor, R1 caliper, RD350B hub laced to 2.15 x 18in alloy rim; Commando swingarm, Ikon shocks, RD350B drum-brake hub laced to 3 x 18in alloy rim; Bridgestone Accolade tyres BODYWORK Replica Manx Norton alloy tank from TAB II; replica Manx seat unit; alloy mudguards; Smiths electronic chronometric instruments (yum!) SPECIAL THANKS Pittwaterjet Engineering, State Engineering, Frame Align, Motorcycle Weaponry (all Mona Vale, NSW);…

LIKE a lot of rural blokes, Matt Bonanno from Bathurst has been into postie bikes forever. “We used to race them around the paddock on methanol,” he says. “When we stopped racing, I had all these race bikes lying around so I decided to build some (custom) bikes to ride on the street.” Thirteen years later, Matt’s still hard at it and raising the bar at every opportunity. His latest build is Little Red, which he said cost around $8000 to put together. Capacity has been doubled to 220cc and the transmission converted to a manual clutch to handle the poke. The highly detailed engine also features a much larger carburettor and an oil cooler fed by braided lines. Zillion-spoke rims and an external springer fork are the main chassis…

THE Norton Commando 750 was unveiled at the 1967 Earls Court Motorcycle Show in London, with first models delivered in early 1968. It superseded the Atlas 750, the last Norton twin to be housed in a Featherbed chassis. Instead the Commando featured an all-new frame based around a huge circular backbone, with the engine, gearbox and swingarm assembly contained in a separate sub-frame which was joined to the mainframe via special shimmed ‘Isolastic’ rubber mounts. Its purpose was to isolate the rider from vibration, which had become a problem as engine capacity increased. The Atlas engine was lent forward from vertical, which gave the Commando a much more modern look. The original bodywork of what later became known as the Fastback was as radical as the chassis engineering, and the…

ELLASPEDE is a busy custom motorcycle workshop in West End in Brisbane, building everything from complete bikes to individual custom parts. They also know how to party and enjoy sharing the love. Dust Hustle kicked off in 2014 as Ellaspede’s take on Gary Inman’s Dirt Quake in the UK, where punters are given the opportunity to try out a proper dirt race track in a non-competitive environment, with special encouragement for those riding bikes ill-suited to the job. The one-day event at Mick Doohan Raceway was an instant success, prompting the Ellaspede team to add a second annual event on an outdoor scrambles track, initially at Biddaddaba and now at Queensland Moto Park in Coulson, which includes an overnight campout. Ellaspede was also involved in the inaugural Red Bull Day…

ENGINE Air- and oil-cooled four-stroke parallel twin with 360-degree crank; DOHC, four valves per cylinder; 90 x 68mm for 865cc; multi-point sequential fuel injection; 9.2:1 comp; Predator exhausts; gear primary drive to wet multi-plate clutch and five-speed gearbox; chain final drive; 68hp @ 7500rpm CHASSIS Twin-loop steel chassis with bolt-on down-tubes; 41mm Kayaba conventional forks with lowering kit, twin-sliding-piston caliper on 310mm rotor, laced 2.5 x 19in rim; twin-shock rear with shortened suspension, twin-piston caliper on 255mm rotor, laced 3.5 x 17in rim; Avon Trailrider tyres BODYWORK Paint by Michael Broholm BEST Distinctive practical custom built without reaching for a grinder or welder NOT SO GREAT Tight fit in the lift…

ENGINE TYPE Air-cooled SOHC four-stroke single POWER/TORQUE 21hp/20Nm CAPACITY 72 x 61.2mm for 249cc INDUCTION Fuel injection TRANSMISSION Five-speed, chain final drive CHASSIS Tubular-steel backbone style, engine stressed member UP FRONT Non-adjustable conventional forks; single disc with twin sliding piston caliper; 18-inch laced rim; ABS; 4.10 x 18in Yuanxing tyre DOWN BACK Twin piggyback shocks adjustable for ride height; single disc with single sliding piston calliper; ABS; 4.10 x 18in Yuanxing tyre SEAT HEIGHT 780mm DRY WEIGHT 130kg WHEELBASE 1510mm FUEL 12 litres; 3.4l/100km WARRANTY Two years PRICE $7950 plus on-road costs CONTACT muttmotorcycles.com.au…

WHAT became known as pre-unit construction was the common practice of manufacturing and mounting the engine and gearbox as separate units, joined by a primary drive contained in its own housing. It worked perfectly well — Norton stayed with it to the end — but had its quirks, not least primary chain adjustment. Triumph was among the first to house the engine and gearbox within common crankcases, resulting in a lighter, stronger and stiffer power plant. The style was dubbed ‘unit construction’, the earlier set-up by default then becoming ‘pre-unit’. In the case of the Bonneville, the 1963 upgrade brought with it other improvements. A new cylinder head was cast, clamped by an extra head bolt to handle higher compression, with deeper finning and splayed inlet manifolds to create the…

THE late 1970s was an exciting time, with new bikes released almost every week. But while the shift among the flagship and performance models was to the universal DOHC inline four, down in the middleweight division manufacturers were much less conservative. The CX500 (and later 650cc derivatives) is the perfect case in point, unlike any Honda before or since. Released in 1978, it featured a water-cooled 80-degree V-twin mounted with the crank inline with the wheels like a Guzzi or BMW, leading to the use of shaft drive. The heads were splayed 22 degrees, so that the fuel-friendly CV carbies wouldn’t get in the way of the riders’ shins and the headers were out in the breeze, clear of the radiator. This in turn meant Honda’s trademark overhead cam design…

ENGINE Air-cooled inline four-cylinder four-stroke; duplex chain-driven SOHC, two valves per cylinder; 75 x 66.6mm for 1177cc; 9.2:1 comp; Bosch coil/distributor ignition; 2 x twin-40mm-choke Weber DCOE carbies; wet sump; helical-gear primary drive to Ortlinghaus clutch and Hurth four-speed gearbox; duplex chain final drive CHASSIS Duplex cradle frame in tubular steel; 41.3mm Rickman conventional forks, 2 x 250mm twin-leading-shoe drum brakes laced to 19 x 1.85in Borrani alloy rim; alloy swingarm incorporating final-drive chain-case, twin Koni shocks, single 250mm twin-leading-shoe drum, 18 x 2.5in cast alloy wheel; Metzeler Lasertec tyres DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1410mm; 260kg with oil no fuel; fuel capacity 25 litres; top speed 213km/h SPECIAL THANKS Sammy Miller Museum, Hampshire, UK: www.sammymiller.co.uk BEST Ultimate big boy’s toy NOT SO GREAT Pricey!…

THE Goodwood Revival is held each September on the Goodwood Circuit in West Sussex, UK, located within the estate of the Duke of Richmond. It hosted motor racing from 1948 to 1966, when the owners chose to close the track rather than handicap it with chicanes, as demanded by the powers-that-be to cope with the rapidly increasing speed of contemporary race cars. After much lobbying, the track was reopened in 1998 by the current Duke of Richmond to host the three-day Goodwood Revival, with no chicanes but restricted to pre-1966 vehicles. It is mostly a car event, attracting the world’s finest historic race cars. There is only one motorcycle event, the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy for pre-1954 race bikes, held over two 16-lap races on consecutive days. It is a…

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke parallel twin with 360-degree crank; OHV, two per cylinder; 73 x 89mm for 745cc; 9:1 comp; dry sump; twin carburettors; electronic ignition; belt primary drive to dry clutch and four-speed gearbox; chain final drive CHASSIS Circular steel backbone with duplex cradle; modified seat loop; conventional forks with twin discs and four-spot calipers; braced swingarm with aftermarket shocks, drum brake BODYWORK Tank, seat and paint by Adam’s Custom Shop BEST Minimalist style; quality of workmanship NOT SO GREAT Might upset restorers…

Send Us Your Pics! Share your memories and lifestyle with millions of Retrobike readers by sending photos to retro@umco.com.au…

SKUNK Works is the official nickname of Lockheed Martin’s Advance Development Program established in 1943 and still going strong today. It is a place where small empowered teams think outside the box to create powerful engineering solutions, including a long line of ‘stealth’ fighter jets including the F-117 Nighthawk, F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning. Victorian motorcycle builder and racer Colin Will was also well-known for thinking outside the box and coming up with powerful solutions, this time on two wheels. He came up with the terms Skrunk and Skrunk Works to describe his own not inconsiderable efforts. He owned many innovative machines, most notably the famous Corish Norvin — a race bike built by Keith Corish in 1964 comprising a Vincent twin shoehorned into a Norton Featherbed frame, and raced…

PRIOR to WWII, almost all bikes had rigid rear ends. Most popular of early post-war attempts at rear suspension was the plunger style adopted by Norton, BSA, Ariel, BMW, Indian and many others. Its limitations were soon apparent, however, especially under racing conditions. Enter Belfast engineer Rex McCandless, who had modified his brother Cromie’s Triumph race bike with ‘swinging arm’ rear suspension controlled by dual springs with internal hydraulic dampers. In 1949, Norton contracted the brothers exclusively to develop a replacement frame for the factory’s plunger-equipped race bikes. The result comprised a twin-loop cradle mainframe with cross-braced headstock and swinging-arm rear suspension. Norton commissioned eight frames for its works OHC racers and was immediately rewarded at the 1950 Isle of Man TT, winning both the Senior and Junior TTs and…

FOLLOWING WWI, Belgian newspaper proprietor Jules de Thier and racing car driver Henri Langlois van Ophem designed a new racetrack in the mountainous Ardennes region in Belgium. Comprising public roads linking the hinterland villages of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot, Spa-Francorchamps hosted its first meeting in 1921 — for motorcycles, as it turned out, after an earlier car meeting was cancelled due to a lack of entries. Englishman Hubert Hassal won on a 500cc Norton. The cars soon got their act together, however with the inaugural Belgian Grand Prix in 1922 and the first 24 Hours of Francorchamps endurance race in 1924, both of which are still going. Racers of all persuasions were thrilled when the track was tarred in 1928. In 1949, the Belgian Motorcycle GP at Spa became part…

ENGINE Liquid-cooled four-stroke 80-degree V twin; OHV, four per cylinder; 78 x 52mm for 497cc; ported and flowed heads; polished and lightened crank, rods and rocker arms; 2 x 34mm Keihin CV carburettors with ram tubes; 10:1 comp; wet sump; Ignitech ignition; owner-built cooling system and exhaust; wet multi-plate clutch to five-speed gearbox and shaft final drive CHASSIS Tubular-steel mainframe with fabricated subframe; modified R1 Yamaha USD forks and four-spot brake calipers, 300mm wave rotors; widened and braced swingarm, modified R1 mono-shock, R1 caliper on 180mm wave rotor; owner-machined hubs laced to 17in alloy rims; Dunlop Mutant tyres, 120/70-17 and 160/60-17 BODYWORK Owner-modified fuel tank; fabricated seat unit incorporating Buell tail section; paint by Mark Walker in Renault Yellow BEST Perfect style, innovative engineering, high standard of finish NOT SO…

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke parallel twin; 360-degree crank; chain-driven SOHC, two valves per cylinder; 75 x 74mm for 653cc; 8.4:1 comp; 2 x 34mm Mikuni carburettors; custom-made two-into-one headers and single fishtail muffler; five-speed gearbox, chain final drive; around 50hp @ 7200rpm CHASSIS Much modified XS650 chassis converted to rigid, in tubular steel; four-inch-over DNA springer forks; laced alloy rims — 19in front, 18in rear — on XS650 hubs, with Shinko tyres; custom front brake calliper mount BODYWORK Sportster fuel tank; fake ‘bowling ball’ oil tank; custom seat; paint and graphics by Kustom Corner; trim by Lee Bros MORE Check out Smoked Garage’s all-new three-storey workshop, showroom, cafe and bar at 126 Wickham St, Fortitude Valley BEST Classic 1970s chopper style with quirky twist NOT SO GREAT Blending into a crowd…

IN ancient Norse mythology, Thor was the son of Odin and the hammer-wielding god of thunder, storms, strength and virility, and the god most responsible for protecting mankind. With an impeccable CV like that, it was no surprise that in 1962, Thor made his debut as a Marvel Comics superhero and founding member of the superhero team the Avengers, alongside the Wasp, Ant-Man, Iron Man and the Hulk, with Captain America signing up a few issues later. In 2011, Thor came in 14th on a list of the top 100 comic book superheroes of all time. The comic character inspired the 2011 Hollywood blockbuster Thor starring Aussie actor (and former Home and Away star) Chris Hemsworth, a role he has since reprised in a string of Avengers spin-offs, which in…

THE conversation at the pub got around to the longest rides we’d ever done on a bike, and I chipped in with a couple of mine. Both were over 1000km in a day, and as I thought back I realised that there was a theme behind those times when I rode a long way in one day. The theme’s first part was that I was on my own, so I could do as I damn-well pleased. There was no having to talk tired, reluctant mates into doing it. If I wanted to ride 1000km in a day, it was my choice and I’d do it on my own. The second part has prompted this Retrobike column: my longest rides have been to return home. If you really want to motivate…