Indholdsfortegnelse for March/April 2022 i Motorcycle Classics

1964-1969 Triumph Mountain Cub It was Johnson Motors’ sales manager Don Brown who proposed that Triumph build a bike for the California market, with the Trials Cub’s wide-ratio gearbox and running gear, and the 1964 Sports Cub’s more powerful 14.5 horsepower engine. The result was the T20M Mountain Cub with Dunlop Trials tires, aluminum fenders and 7.5 inches of ground clearance. JoMo sold every one they could get! Cycle World tested a Triumph Mountain Cub in 1964, calling it the trail bike they’d been asking for, “A real motorcycle, slightly undersized, properly equipped and geared.” Though heavier than its Asian competitors, the Mountain Cub scored on comfort and hill climbing ability, pulling strong where the smaller Japanese bikes ran out of steam. The Triumph Tiger Cub range evolved in 1966…

With a machine like this 1947 FN Model 13, a good portion of the story is obviously going to be about the unique front fork. Owner Jim Balestrieri of Wisconsin’s Throttlestop Museum is, of course, intrigued by FN’s engineering. But he’s also just as pleased to know his rare-for-North America FN M13 was restored by 27-year old Donovon LeVan, lead technician at Retrospeed in Belgium, Wisconsin. “I always hear people saying younger people today don’t understand older technology and don’t have the drive to learn,” Jim says, and continues, “but it’s unwarranted to talk that way. There are exceptions who are trailblazers in the younger generation who are not all into electronics or the newest technology.” Take Donovon for example. He enjoys working on something from a bygone era and…

Francis Taillefumier’s first ever motorcycle was a Kawasaki KH 400 he bought from the French importer Xavier Maugendre (SIDEMM) who had come to buy champagne from his parents’ vineyard. Later he owned 500cc and 750cc versions of Kawasaki’s triples. At left is Francis (black leathers) at Spa Francorchamps with Mick Grant, who rode a water-cooled version of the H1R, called the H1RW, to victory at the 1975 Nort West 200 in Ireland and the 1975 Senior race at the Isle of Man TT. “Motorcycle racing has always been my passion and 18 years ago I looked for the H1R,” he says. “It is one of the most beautiful racing motorcycles and at the time it was challenging Giacomo Agostini with French riders.” His acquisition resulted in friendships developing with former…

The Norton Rotary story should have ended in 1992. With the company under administration, there was no money for further rotary development. Fortunately, one of the engineers behind the RCW588 race bike, Brian Crighton, couldn’t let the project die. After building a new race bike from a crashed Commander, Crighton continued development of the engine, using more durable materials like Nikasil, molybdenum, and silicon nitride on critical surfaces and the vital rotor seals. A closed gas-filled cooling system was used, combined with an exhaust venturi that drew cooling air through the rotors, rather than relying on the intake air. The result of this development work is the 2021 Crighton CR700W, a 694cc twin-rotor track bike with 220 horsepower at 10,500rpm. The CR700W uses a Spondon frame, Dymag wheels, and topquality…

Looking back at getting my 1988 Ducati Paso on the road, a big surprise was how much I didn’t have to do. A vintage Ducati sitting untouched for almost 20 years? What could go wrong? Everything, of course. Yet amazingly, the Paso really didn’t require any more than your average Honda to put back to road duty. The needed repairs were mostly routine, and included timing belts, front fork seals, front and rear brake master cylinders, rear wheel bearings, tires, drive chain, a new battery, spark plugs, air and oil filters, and oil. And lots of carb work. More on that later. I ordered parts as I could from known sources. Timing belts — along with invaluable tips — came from Steve Allen at bevelheaven.com, as did front and rear…

Niagara Falls has always been a bucket list destination for me, an itch I finally scratched this past October. Located 17 miles northwest of Buffalo, New York, Niagara Falls spans the Niagara River flowing from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. Niagara Falls was formed 10,000 years ago by glacial activity. Native Americans knew of Niagara Falls long before the Europeans; the first recorded European reference was in 1604 by Samuel Champlain. The Falls are spectacular, and we were pleasantly surprised at how nice we found Buffalo to be. Niagara Falls is the largest waterfall in the United States with more than 6 million cubic feet of descending water every minute (a rate regulated by an upstream weir that cuts the flow in half in the evening). Niagara Falls consists of…

Beyond actually promoting the race itself, a motorcycle race promoter’s main duty is to fill the bleachers with ticket-paying customers. You know, race fans. At that point the world of racing transcends into the world of marketing, such that the activity is nothing more than a business enterprise for the promoter and, generally speaking, a sports event for participants and fans. There’s another key point worth considering: Through the years race promoters have come and gone. Many have failed, while others, armed with marketing savvy, have earned decent livings in the business. Names such as J.C. Agajanian, Bill France, among others, relied on sound marketing principles — much of which they learned through trial and error — to fill bleachers with loyal fans. Among those stalwart promoters to invest in…

Kawasaki twins I don’t normally read my husband’s magazines but I do browse the photos and I was stopped dead in my tracks when I came across Alan Cathcart’s article, Klone With a K (January/February 2022). I recognized the iconic lines of the Kawasaki W650 instantly. About 11 years ago I decided I wanted something with a little more oomph than my Vespa 150. I have always been enamored with Triumph Bonnevilles, so when my sister sent me a link to a 2000 Kawasaki W650 I was pretty excited. I showed it to my husband and he said he wasn’t really interested. My response was, “Honey, it’s not for you, it’s for me!” That was the beginning of my love affair with Kawasaki W650s. The bike is everything Cathcart says…

“I wanted to make sure everything was 100%.” — Restorer Larry Cargill, explaining why the restoration took as long as it did. A CX650E is a very rare Honda, and the restoration of this one was a challenge. Larry Cargill, the owner and restorer, is a perfectionist, but even so, the four years that it took for the boxes of parts to morph into a motorcycle was a bit long for even him. Difficulties in finding parts for this unusual bike slowed the process, as did restoration work for Larry’s customers, and — kittens. This bike — which has the highest serial number that Larry has been able to find — is now complete and running, despite all the hurdles, in large part through help and parts supplied by the…

It was 2011. I was visiting a cousin in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. Knowing I was an old bike fan, her hubby Simon told me of a local friend who owned a unique Norton motorcycle. That was all he knew. I grabbed my Nikon and hurried over. In the driveway of a brick-built suburban home stood a blue motorcycle with a decal indicating that it had a rotary engine. But instead of the distinctive bulbous outline and generous cooling fins of Norton’s air-cooled rotary engine, I saw water hoses and a radiator. It was, I discovered, the fabled factory development hack “Ten-ten”. Serial number R1010 was the machine the Norton factory used to develop both its air-cooled and liquid-cooled rotary engines. Presumably, 1010 would have housed the aircooled twin-rotor engine…

Although beaten to the honor of creating America’s first four-cylinder motorcycle by the Pierce Four, introduced in 1909, Scottish-born brothers William G. and Thomas W. Henderson founded the Henderson Motorcycle Co. in Detroit, Michigan in 1911. Their aim was to manufacture a luxurious, reliable four-cylinder machine that was substantially better than anything else yet available in a U.S. marketplace then dominated by often primitive singles, and the more potent but still evolving V-twins. While Tom Henderson ran the company, brother Bill proved to be one of the finest engineers in the USA’s early days of motorcycle R&D, and the quality of his designs arguably outranked anything yet made by a European manufacturer — even Belgium’s FN company, which had invented the four-cylinder motorcycle in 1904. This resulted in the Henderson…

Motorcycle trials is a peculiar sport, having nothing to do with power and speed, just the dexterity of the person at the handlebars and the quality of the machine being ridden. It was popular in Great Britain over a 100 years ago, when people set up courses over terrain that motorcycles were not built to go over, like a field of broken rocks or a steep muddy incline. Requirements for success were an excellent sense of balance, and a rapport between man and machine — apologies for the sexist approach, but it is pleasantly alliterative, and I doubt that any woman signed up for the 1909 Scottish Six-Days Trials. Many women are competing in this sport today. Move forward 40 years, and in the aftermath of World War II Norton…

What: Niagara Falls State Park, 332 Prospect Street, Niagara Falls, New York 14303. (716) 278-1794. How to Get There: For the quick ticket in, from the east or west take I-90 toward Buffalo and follow the signs to Niagara Falls. For a better ride, meander the two-lane secondary roads in northwestern New York. Best Kept Secrets: Di Camillo’s Bakery in Niagara Falls (the broccoli pizza is amazing), and Buffalo, New York (the restaurants are superb). For a great place to stay, check out the InnBuffalo off Elmwood (a marvelous bed and breakfast). Don’t Miss: The Maid of the Mist tour to the base of the Falls. Avoid: The freeways (there are too many nice roads in this part of the world), and bad-mouthing the Buffalo Bills (these folks take their…

Around 1927, a group of motorcycle clubmen in Camberley, Surrey, England, decided they would organize an off-road motorcycle trial outside the approval of the sport’s ruling body, the Auto-Cycle Union. Until then, the goal of a motorcycle trial was to keep your feet up and stay upright: a prod on the ground from the rider’s boot earned penalties — just as it does in motorcycle trials to this day. The Camberley clubmen set up a course across the roughest ground they could find, but without the usual “observed” sections and all riders set off together. Although it wasn’t intended to be a race, the resulting melee was described by one observer as “a rare old scramble.” A new sport was born! Motocross proved especially popular in post-World War II Europe.…

By the time the 1950s played out, Great Britain’s Triumph Motorcycles had established itself among the top-selling brands in North America. Other leading marques included Harley-Davidson, Norton and Royal Enfield, among others, plus BSA, which as a company had actually acquired Triumph Motorcycles earlier that decade. It wasn’t by accident that Triumphs were so popular among American riders, either. Shortly after World War II’s merciful conclusion, Edward Turner and Jack Sangster, who shared the company’s managerial duties, realized that if Triumph was to sustain and grow it needed a majority of its sales to originate in North America. Clearly, Triumph’s initial postwar success was owed to the Speed Twin engine, itself a half-liter bundle of addictive horsepower. Models such as Triumph’s 5T Speed Twin and TR5 Trophy sold well, especially…

Five decades ago a Grand Prix racer based largely on a street model finished runner-up in the 500cc world championship, prying open the door to eventual 2-stroke domination. That ground-breaking racer was Kawasaki’s 1970 H1R, a souped-up version of the Japanese manufacturer’s 1969 H1 road model. The racer who finished second to Italian superstar Giacomo Agostini, as he swept to his sixth consecutive 500cc world title on MV Agusta’s pure GP racer, was tough Kiwi privateer Ginger Molloy. His journey to the top echelon of GP 500cc racing started in the U.S. The Kawasaki H1R featured here is a remarkable time piece of originality from that impressive first year of racing. An early convert to the potential of 2-strokes in the 500cc class, Molloy sourced one of the rare H1Rs…

Ian Carter wanted a BMW that would do it all, but he ended up with a bike focused on only one thing — putting a great big grin on his face whenever he rides it. After learning to ride on Japanese 2-strokes, Ian Carter’s first big motorcycle was a BMW R100RS. “It was a high-mileage bike and the engine and suspension were bit tired but I loved it,” says Ian. “I’ve been hooked on Boxers ever since.” The RS was followed by an Earles-forked R60, and then a new Funduro. “The single was a mistake,” reflects Ian. “It wasn’t fun and I hated it.” He went back to a Boxer for his next bike, an R1100RS bought with only 5,000 miles on the clock. He went touring around France on…

Honda tires Q: I have owned my Honda CB450 since 1970. I have just started working to restore it. This model was the first 5-speed 450 made, and it came out with a 3.25 x 18-inch ribbed front tire. I’m not having any luck finding this size tire on the internet. Do you have any resources that I can contact? Steve French/via email A: If you’re set on having the classic tread pattern, try Sirius Consolidated Inc. (siriusconinc.com). They sell Liberty tires in classic patterns. If modern tread patterns are OK, Michelin makes a Road Classic line that has a tire in that size. You’ll have to ask for 100/90-18 as they don’t size by inch anymore. Trident troubles Q: Hello, I am working on a 1974 Triumph Trident. When…