Table of contents for Issue 37 in Retrobike

Retro Specs

ENGINE Liquid-cooled four-stroke parallel-twin with 90/270-degree offset crankpins; SOHC, four valves per cylinder; 97.6 x 80mm for 1200cc; 11.0:1 comp; multipoint sequential EFI; UMC custom exhaust; ‘assist’-style clutch to six-speed gearbox and chain final drive; 96hp @ 6750rpm CHASSIS Tubular steel cradle frame with twin-sided aluminium swingarm; 43mm Showa USD forks, 2 x four-piston Brembo monobloc calipers on 310mm floating Brembo rotors; 2 x Ohlins piggyback shocks, single two-piston Nissin caliper on 220mm rotor; Kineo wire-spoked wheels (drool) BODYWORK Custom seat unit and headlight cowl by Untitled Motorcycles; Motogadget speedo; paint by Image Design Custom BEST Striking custom that goes, stops and handles like a bought one NOT SO GREAT Exhausts will attract plod…

BUMBLEBEE

MARK Haywood is a lifelong motorcyclist with a broad interest in makes and models. He is a spray painter by trade and has had a hand in a zillion local motorcycle restorations. He is also a keen motorcycle sportsman as an active member of Logan River Moto Trials Club. All of these things combined to produce the custom Yamaha RZ-1 you see here. “The Trials season had finished up for summer and it was too hot to ride,” Mark says. “I needed a little project that would stop me being bored. I’m not the sort of person to sit around doing nothing. I have a low boredom threshold! I have restored quite a few dirt bikes in the past and I am always doing resto paintwork on bikes for other…

SPIT AND POLISH

LOCATED in rural Wisconsin, Retrospeed is a bespoke motorcycle workshop focused on restoring and repairing vintage Japanese and European motorcycles. It’s good at it too, with its restos being accepted for the prestigious Radnor Hunt Concours d’Elegance and earning several covers on US classic magazines. Owner Brady Ingelse established his business in 2006 by welcoming projects and repairs that other motorcycle workshops shied away from, a policy that holds true today. Retrospeed is one of the few shops left that is trained to service motorcycles from the 1950s to the 80s, he says. So when a customer, Dan, lobbed in with a busted 1971 Norton Commando that had seen better days, Brady’s team was up for it. “We specialise in concours restorations of Japanese and European motorcycles,” Brady told Bike…

Cawte IN THE ACT

RED Cawte does have a first name, “but only my mother knows it”, he says. He hails from Queensland, but his fame has spread across the country on the back of his giant-killing Redax Laverda race bikes. Red has had a love affair with the feisty Italian marque that spans more than 40 years but the lifetime liaison was consummated almost by accident. In a past life, Red did an apprenticeship in fitting and turning, which took him to New Zealand where his introduction to a Laverda took place. “I worked in NZ for a year and it was a Laverda 750 SF2,” explains Red. “I tuned it for the owner as he could not find any bike shops in Dunedin that would do it for him. “REDAX LAVERDA STARTED…

CATALOGUE CUSTOMS

WITH all the talk about the new-model Harley Softails with their revolutionary chassis engineering, bargains abound among the early girls, ideal if you’re looking for a platform for a city-based custom as a gift for your dad. Roland Sands paid $5000 for a 2003 FXST Softail in rugged condition but with a stock TwinCam 88 motor. “It’s a 100th Anniversary model that someone had stolen and ridden through the desert, so it was all beat up and dirty,” says Roland. “When I picked it up, it had so much dirt and s**t on it, it was a real train wreck. That’s why we called her Dusty to start with. I figured maybe it was crashed a couple of times after it had been stolen, but after dusting off the grime,…

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke single; SOHC, two valves per cylinder; 90 x 84mm for 530cc; 7.5:1 comp; SC14 supercharger, H-D Ultima Super E carburettor; Rex’s Speed Shop ignition; custom exhaust; beefed-up clutch to five-speed gearbox; chain final drive CHASSIS Single-downtube twin-cradle frame in tubular steel; XS1100 forks, 4LS drum brake on laced 18in Borrani rim; much-modified TT350 aluminium swingarm with two gas shocks, 2LS rear drum on laced 18in Borrani rim; Pirelli Sport Demon tyres BODYWORK Polished stainless-steel tank, headlight cowl, tail section and seat base by owner SPECIAL THANKS My family for supporting my hobby; Duncan for his CNC router; Kevin Sams for his fabricating shop; Uppo for random bike bits; Brad LeBrocque for the photos; Dave Witheridge (Withatrim Upholstery) for the seat trim BEST As tough as they come…

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled inline two-stroke triple; piston port induction; 71 x 63mm for 748cc; 3 x 30mm Mikuni carburettors; 7.0:1 comp; capacitive discharge ignition; wet clutch to five-speed gearbox and chain final drive; 74hp @ 6800rpm CHASSIS Twin-cradle frame in tubular steel, with welded seat sub-frame; 36mm telescopic forks with single-piston sliding caliper on 275mm rotor on laced 19in rim; twin-shock swingarm with single-leading-shoe drum on laced 18in rim DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1410mm; dry weight 192kg; fuel capacity 17 litres BEST Appearance, performance, quality of finish NOT SO GREAT Likes a drink…

MIX & MATCH

IF you’ve been following Retrobike’s coverage of the Ellaspede Dust Hustle over the last couple of years, you’ll be familiar with Dwayne Amore, or at least with his alter egos like Batman or Evel Knievel. And who can forget the dude riding the chopper with the crazy extended forks? That was Dwayne. He’s a regular at the Dust Hustle and tells of the first one in which he was one of the few to dress up. His Batman costume and Bat-Scooter were the catalyst for the enthusiastic fancy dress that is now universal for Dust Hustle riders. Away from the track, Dwayne is a big fan of single-cylinder street trackers and not a bit precious about brands. His stable includes a Honda and a Yamaha and now his most recent…

Matchless GERMAN

HOREX was Germany’s leading motorcycle manufacturer for almost 50 years either side of WW2, and was in many ways comparable to Britain’s older Matchless marque in terms of product and marketplace positioning, as well as in its road-racing involvement. But, curiously, it’s little known outside Germany — despite its products being exported to as many as 65 different countries during the 1950s, though not including the UK. And that’s also despite its wide range of models having an undeniably British air about them in terms of design and styling. Located in Bad Homburg, north of Frankfurt, Horex was founded in 1923 by Fritz Kleeman, 22, whose father Friedrich owned the Rex glassware company, a manufacturer of preservative jars. Friedrich was also the main shareholder in nearby engine manufacturer Motorenfabrik Oberursel,…

Golden TOUCH

UNTITLED Motorcycles is a thoroughly modern custom bike workshop, born and bred on social media but focused on design and backed with the technical skills to punch out more than 100 bikes so far from their modest premises in north London and more recently their new digs in California. “I do this because I love it,” says UMC’s main man Adam Kay. “I’ve always loved motorcycles. I don’t know why as my family has no interest in them to the point that they really don’t like them. I just remember watching the first Mad Max film and wanting to ride all the bikes. “A few years ago I bought a BMW from Rex Martin, who was running Victory Motorcycles in Kentish Town. I asked him to help me rebuild it…

The ugly DUCKLING

ONE of the great things about Ducati is that it builds a lot of different bikes around a relatively limited number of engines. Not all the bikes are winners, but the engines are always full of character and real-world performance, especially the air-cooled belt-driven big twins from 1989 on. Bargains abound. The early carburetted 900s were gems, the later fuel-injected 1000s even better. “GIADA AND NICO HAVE CREATED A GREAT-LOOKING CUSTOM BIKE FROM THE UGLIEST DUCATI EVER BUILT” “The idea was to have a very rideable motorcycle without an extreme riding position,” says Giada Rigolli, co-founder and director of Nico Dragoni Motociclette in northern Italy, of his latest build. A comfortable cafe racer? Is there such a thing? Giada, his partner Nico and their client figured an early Multistrada would…

Retro Specs

ENGINE Liquid-cooled two-stroke parallel twin; reed valve induction; 56.4 x 50mm for 249cc; 6.4:1 comp; 2 x 26mm Mikuni; CDI ignition; gear primary drive to wet multi-plate clutch and six-speed gearbox; chain final drive; 44hp @ 9500rpm (stock/Japan; more now!) CHASSIS Trellis-style mainframe in tubular steel; fabricated subframe; conventional telescopic forks with fabricated upper clamp, upgraded springs and fork brace; fabricated extended swingarm with relocated upper mount for YSS remote-reservoir monoshock; 17-inch three-spoke wheels; twin four-piston Brembo calipers on 300mm Sunstar floating rotors front, single twin-piston Brembo caliper on 220mm rotor rear BODYWORK Tank reshaped to fit highly-modified Honda RC250 Tyga seat kit; hidden oil tank; custom paint and KR graphics by owner SPECIAL THANKS John Tate from John Tate Automotive for the blasting and welding; Simon Tate from Simca…

TWIN PEAKS

THE Norton culture was all about single-cylinder motorcycles but the market was demanding twins when the factory hired Bert Hopwood from Triumph as Chief Designer in 1947. Hopwood had been closely involved with Triumph’s earlier Speed Twin, even if Triumph CEO Edward Turner took all the credit. Hopwood’s brief was to design a new Norton 500cc twin and he relished the opportunity to fix what he saw were the Triumph’s drawbacks, specifically overheating and rattling, and generally build a better bike. Hopwood’s new cylinder head was cutting edge technology for the time, with shallow hemispherical combustion chambers and valves set at a low included angle of 58 degrees (the Triumph was 90 degrees). The rocker boxes and finning atop the head were designed so that cooling air would flow between…

BRACKSY GETS LUCKY

THE opportunity to ride one of Red’s lovely ladies came about at the OzBEARS round at Hidden Valley outside of Darwin (NT). When offers such as this are presented, I grasp them like a pillion on a grab-rail. On start-up a lovely raw vibration rattles through me as it sits idling. The first thing to take note of is the gear lever on the right-hand side. Lucky it wasn’t race shift! Accelerating out onto the track for the long run to the first turn, the next feature is the triple-cylinder engine. I love triples as they have the torque of a twin and the top-end rush of a four-cylinder. Combine those features with 1145cc, un-doctored-by-electronic-rider aids, and the 38mm Mikuni RS flat-slides that feed the cylinders and you soon realise…

WHO’S ROLAND SANDS?

ROLAND Sands, 44, is the son of Perry Sands, who founded US manufacturer of high-end custom wheels and brakes, Performance Machine (PM) in 1970. Roland grew up in the PM factory, starting work there at age 14 sweeping floors, before learning the skills of machining, sanding, polishing and product development, en route to becoming the company’s Director of R&D. This meant conceiving new designs for wheels and stuff, while at the same time running his own AMA National road race team, which came about after his parents gifted him a one-day class at the California Superbike School for his 18th birthday. “The moment I hit the racetrack, I knew that was where I belonged. My dad was, like, ‘Listen, I’m busy — I’ve got a business to run which gives…

Widow MAKER

KAWASAKI had such great success with its ballistic 500cc two-stroke triple, the Mach III H1 released in 1969, that it was only a matter of time before it backed it up with a 750cc version. The only surprise was that it took them so long, but the iconic Mach IV H2 was worth the wait when it rocketed into showrooms and onto racetracks three years later. Boasting 74hp at 6800rpm, a dry weight of 192kg and a top speed of 120mph, the new Kawasaki had the measure of all the established 750s from Honda, Triumph, Ducati et al, yet was much more than an oversized 500. Whereas the H1 was a peaky, flighty thing, the H2 had torque aplenty at all revs as well as an explosive top end. It…

TIME CAPSULE

THE Goodwood Revival, held each September at the Goodwood circuit in West Sussex within the estate of the Duke of Richmond, is mostly a car event for four-wheelers built before 1966, and to be fair, attracts the world’s best racing and sports cars of the era. But apart from the odd V12 Ferrari, we only had eyes for the bikes. Motorcycles get just one event — the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy — conducted over two 16-lap legs on consecutive days. Despite this or because of this, we’re not too sure, it attracts the cream of Europe’s classic race bikes and a who’s who of racers, not least some 14 Isle of Man TT winners, plus multiple Superbike world champion Troy Corser and 31-time Moto GP race winner Dani Pedrosa. Two…

2 min

KTM HISTORY

MANY of us think of KTM as the new kid on the block, but the business was formed as a mechanical workshop by Hans Trunkenpolz in Mattoghofen, Austria, in 1934. It was called Kraftfahrzeuge Trunkenpolz Mattighofen (KTM) and built its first bike — the KTM R100, powered by a 98cc Rotax two-stroke — in 1951. Racer and businessman Ernst Kronreif bought into the business in 1953, prompting a name change to Kronreif Trunkenpolz Mattoghofen and financing full production of the R100 and development of a 125. The factory also got into racing at about the same time, with success coming swiftly in the form of the Austrian 125cc national championship in 1954 and gold in the International Six-Day Trial in 1956. Ernst Kronreif died in 1960 and Hans Trunkenpolz two…

BIRTH OF THE XS650

IN 1933 — in the depths of the Depression, but just as Hitler came to power — Horex introduced its first two twin-cylinder models, the 598cc S6 and 796cc S8 parallel-twins, each with a single overhead camshaft driven by a chain running up the right side of the cylinders. The design was dusted off in 1950 to create the Imperator, initially as a 500cc racer and later as a 400cc street bike. These were also SOHC but now with the cam chain located between the cylinders. Sound familiar? In a story not a million miles from Indian Enfield and the W1 Kawasaki, Japanese company Hosk was producing Imperators under licence, and continued to do so after Horex went belly-up in 1958. About this time, Hosk was bought by Showa, which…

ON ANY SUNDAY Social Pages

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THRUXTON HISTORY

THE first Triumph Thruxtons were a limited run of souped-up Bonneville 650s homologated by the old Meriden factory from 1965 to race in production-class events in the UK. They were named after the Thruxton circuit in Hampshire, a former WWII airfield and one of the fastest race tracks in the UK. Fast-forward nearly 40 years and the name was revived for a sporty version of the new look 790cc Triumph Bonneville, with a larger 865cc engine (later extended across the Bonneville range) to match the rear-sets and clip-ons. A fantastic bike in its own right, the new ‘900’ Thruxton attracted customisers by the busload and a deserved cult following. For those of us who believe the pistons in English parallel-twins should rise and fall together, it will always hold a…

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke 90-degree V-twin; SOHC, two valves per cylinder, desmodromic actuation; 94 x 71.5mm for 992cc; 10:1 comp; wet sump; Marelli fuel injection, 45mm throttle body; gear primary drive to dry STM slipper clutch and six-speed gearbox; chain final drive; 92hp @ 8000rpm CHASSIS Tubular-steel trellis mainframe with modified seat sub-frame; fully-adjustable 43mm Öhlins forks with 2 x 320mm semi-floating rotors and four-piston calipers; progressive linkage Öhlins monoshock; 17-inch wheels, 3.5-inch front, 5.5-inch rear BODYWORK Tank, seat and headlight shroud by Nico Dragoni Motociclette DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1462mm; dry weight 196kg (stock) BEST Winding roads, track days, shows NOT SO GREAT Nothing! This one’s a keeper…

Old bikes rule

THE Australian Historic Road Racing Championships moves around the country each year, giving local state-based historic race organisations the chance to run one of the two biggest historic meetings each year. It lacks the international interest of the Island Classic in January, but always attracts a strong showing of Aussie bikes. “COLLIE IS NOW THE LONGEST AND WIDEST SEALED RACING CIRCUIT IN ALL OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA” It’s also a chance for locals who can’t afford to compete interstate to have a crack at a national title, and maybe even enjoy a bit of local track advantage. Not so much this time round, however, with the AHRRC held on what was almost a new track. After meetings at Broadford in Victoria, Wakefield Park in NSW (Sound of Thunder, Retrobike #29), Symmons…

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke parallel-twin with 360-degree crankpins; OHV, two per cylinder; 9:1 comp (stock); single 34mm Mikuni carburettor; electronic ignition; wet sump; belt drive to four-speed gearbox; chain final drive CHASSIS Twin-loop cradle chassis in tubular steel; modified seat sub-frame; 34.5mm Roadholder forks with Lansdowne damper kit, twin-leading-shoe drum brake laced to 19in Excel alloy rim; braced steel swingarm with Ohlins shocks, single-leading-shoe drum brake lace to 19in Excel alloy rim BODYWORK Polished alloy fuel tank, seat unit and mudguards by Evan Wilcox; oil tank located within fuel tank MORE www.retrospeed.net BEST Looks great, goes great, handles great NOT SO GREAT Starting that high-comp motor will sort the men from the boys…

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled 180-degree inline four-stroke triple; DOHC, two valves per cylinder; 81 x 74mm for 1145cc (#63); 81.5 x 74mm for 1160cc (#86); 11.8:1 comp (#63); 3 x 38mm Mikuni RS flat-slides; wet clutch to five-speed gearbox and chain final drive; 134hp @ 9000rpm (#86) CHASSIS Chrome-moly custom chassis from Scorch Cycles; 43mm Multistrada forks with Racetech internals, 320mm Brembo rotors with four-piston calipers; MP Suspension mono-shock, 245mm rotor with twin-piston caliper; 17in three spoke Marchesini mags (3.5in front, 5in rear) with Pirelli Diablo superbike slicks DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1530mm; weight 177kg (wet, no fuel), seat height 710mm; top speed 250km/h (Hidden Valley) BEST Nearly 60kg lighter and 50 per cent more powerful than a stock Laverda 1000 Jota! Lots to like! NOT SO GREAT Befriend a mechanic…

Blown Away

CUSTOM bikes by definition are hand-made realisations of a builder’s creative vision, even if most fit within well-established genres. In theory, no two should ever be alike, although many are. And then there’s Luke Crampton’s supercharged XT500 Yamaha. “IT PRODUCES 30PSI BOOST WHEN ACCELERATING AND 6PSI AT IDLE” “My father raced bikes in the 1950s; I like building radical vehicles and going fast,” says Luke, of Cessnock workshop Crampton Customs. “I have owned XT500s since I was 13 years old and wanted to build a 1950s-style café racer with power. Supercharging makes easy power and is different. I like the challenge of using different shapes, materials and products to manufacture components, like the tank, seat, cowl and the supercharger setup.” Let’s start with the one bit on this bike that…

WHO’S ON FIRST?

IN 1973, leading US magazine Cycle conducted a ‘superbike’ comparison test comprising a Honda 750 Four, Ducati GT750, Harley Sportster 1000, Kawasaki Z1-900 and H2 750, Triumph Trident 750 and Norton Commando 750. The tests would cover acceleration (quarter mile elapsed time and terminal speed), braking performance (stopping distance from 100km/h) and cornering, measured by lap times of Orange County International Raceway near Los Angeles. All the bikes would also get a run on a chassis dyno before being stripped in the Cycle workshop to confirm they were in standard trim. First up was the braking test, which the H2 won ahead of its 900cc sibling with the Norton third. Then came laps of the race circuit, where the H2 and Z1 tied for first, ahead of the Trident (the…

PURISTS’ PARADISE

THE Goodwood racing circuit, like so many others in the UK, was a former WWII airfield, although in this case located within the grounds of the Duke of Richmond. It hosted motor racing from 1948 to 1966, at which point the racing authorities demanded chicanes be built to slow down the cars which were getting quicker by the year. The Duke refused to sully his track and it lay dormant for more than 30 years until, after extensive lobbying, it was reopened in 1998, still without chicanes but restricted to pre-1966 vehicles. The three-day Goodwood Revival was established and has grown to be one of the most significant historic race meetings on the global calendar. Attendance is capped at 50,000 spectators for each of the three days.…

Retro Specs

ENGINE Liquid-cooled four-stroke single; SOHC, four valves; 102 x 80mm for 654cc; 11.8:1 comp; Keihin EFI; digital ignition; slipper clutch to six-speed gearbox; chain final drive; 64hp CHASSIS Chromoly steel trellis frame, with modified (lowered) seat sub-frame; 48mm White Power USD forks, adjustable for everything, single four-piston Brembo radial caliper on 320mm rotor, 3.5 x 17in forged aluminium Marchesini wheel; WP mono-shock, adjustable for everything, Brembo caliper on 240mm rotor, 4.5 x 17in forged aluminium Marchesini wheel; Heidenau tyres BODYWORK Honda FT500 fuel tank; modified Harley XR750 seat unit; custom side-covers and rattle-can paint job by owner BEST Ultimate urban weapon; distinctive style NOT SO GREAT Not much at this price…

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled pushrod OHV single-cylinder four-stroke with twin exhaust ports; 69 x 91.5mm for 342cc; 6.8:1 comp; 26mm Bing 2/26/23 carburettor; 6V, coil ignition; dry sump; duplex chain primary drive to wet clutch and four-speed gearbox; enclosed chain final drive; 19hp @ 6250rpm CHASSIS Tubular-steel open-cradle frame with engine as semi-stressed member; 35mm oil-damped telescopic fork (!); plunger-style rear suspension; 160mm SLS drums front and rear, laced to 19in rims (WM2 front, WM3 rear); Continental tyres DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1365mm; dry weight 141kg; fuel capacity 18 litres; seat height 760mm; top speed 128km/h SPECIAL THANKS Sammy Miller Museum, New Milton, Hampshire, UK; www.sammymiller.co.uk;home of the world’s biggest collection of rare and exotic race bikes, and loads of cool street bikes like this one BEST Handsome and capable classic NOT SO GREAT…

Retro STYLE

MERLIN HOLDEN JACKET • Italian inspired neo-retro styling cues • Premium full grain 1.3–1.4mm grade AAA cowhide leather • Subtle dark blue contrast chest block, stripes and trim finishes • Removable 100g thermal gilet liner with leather detailing • SW® Level 2 armour pre-fitted to shoulder and elbows (removable) • Level 1 CE certified back protector pre-fitted (removable) • YKK® zippers used throughout in a black finish with pullers • 3D mesh lining for improved breathability and air circulation • Black Merlin branded snap studs • Short YKK® jacket to jean connecting zip $499.00, www.merlinbikegear.com.au WOMEN’S ASPENDALE JACKET Dark chocolate wax cotton outer fabric. Quilted panels at front and back yoke. Shaped rear waistband for added coverage. Antique silver hardware. Fully lined inner protective layer Protective liner material: DuPont™ Kevlar®…

2 min

BIKE SPOTTING

YOU have heard of Trainspotters? Well, I’m a Bikespotter. Can’t help myself. I’m always on the case if there’s a bike going by, in a movie, in a photo, parked on the street. They’re like a magnet. I’ve got to check it out. My bikespotting used to drive my girl nuts, but after a few decades together she’s used to it now (in that she still hates it but it isn’t grounds for a divorce). Yesterday evening a loud bike came up our street and parked nearby. My girl said, “That idiot on his Harley is back again.” And I replied, “That’s not that Harley, that’s a small parallel-twin, probably that Kawasaki 250 the fat kid rides.” I had to go check. Yep, it was the Kwacka. Like so many…