Indholdsfortegnelse for March - April 2020 i Motorcycle Classics

One of the most rewarding parts of working for this magazine all these years has been meeting and interacting with all the wonderful people that make up the old motorcycle hobby. Meeting readers and enthusiasts at motorcycle shows and events throughout the years has allowed me to put faces with a lot of your names, your bikes and your stories. And as much as we love travelling to the big shows like the Barber Vintage Festival in Alabama, for the past four years we've also looked forward to our own Big Gig: The Motorcycle Classics Ride 'Em, Don't Hide 'Em Getaway, held each summer at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. When we started this event, we crossed our fingers and hoped we'd have 20-or-so readers show up…

Though we normally highlight an example of our feature bike for sale here, we didn’t find a current listing for a 1993-1998 Triumph Tiger 900 anywhere. EBay failed us, our favorite Search All of Craigslist tool failed us, etc. So we present to you a lovingly maintained, 21,000-mile R100GS in surprisingly original condition we found on cycletrader.com. It has a few scrapes, but it also has rebuilt carbs, a new factory charging system, new tires and rebuilt forks. The $10k asking price may be a bit much, but if it’s low miles you’re after ……

There weren’t many established design practices in the earliest days of the motorcycle. In those nascent times, ingenious builders tried just about every form of power, from steam to internal combustion, from one cylinder to more than four. And, they experimented by placing those powerplants in many different positions, from over the front wheel to various locations on and around — and in — the bicycle frame itself. Eventually, as the motorized bicycle morphed into an actual motorcycle, the layout became somewhat more familiar. Yet, engineers were still tinkering with details, from rudimentary suspension design to fuel tank position to final drive system. By the end of World War I, motorcycle design was more firmly established, yet engineers were still thinking outside the box. In 1918, for example, there was…

By the late 1960s Yamaha’s production racers, the TD (250cc) and TR (350cc) were enjoying unparalleled success on racetracks around the world. But the racers’ street bike counterparts — Yamaha’s bread and butter consumer products — were showing their age. Compared to other contemporary middleweight models on the market, bikes like Honda’s CB350 and Kawasaki’s Avenger A7 350, Yamaha’s DS6 (250cc) and R3 (350cc) models relied on 10-year-old technology to lure customers into dealer showrooms. No surprise, sales began to lag. That was about to change in 1970 with the launch of two all-new models — the DS7 (250) and R5 (350). Beyond engine displacement, these new models were joined at the hip in many ways, sharing similar and updated platforms. But when Yamaha Motor Corporation released those two models…

Back in 2018 we installed an Alton electric starter on editor Hall’s Norton Commando. This time around we’re installing the other easily sourced electric starter kit, from Colorado Norton Works. As you can see from the photo above, this is a comprehensive kit that includes a belt drive conversion in addition to the starter. Like the Alton, this kit requires you to replace the inner chain case. The CNW starter requires you to remove the stock ham can air cleaner, as the starter motor takes up some of that space. Fortunately they also sell the K&N compact air cleaner that does fit with the starter. There’s rumor of a smaller stock looking air cleaner in the works from CNW. We’ll look at that when it comes out. Sometimes belt drives…

What: The Museum of Flight, 9404 E. Marginal Way South, Seattle, WA, 98108-4097. (206) 764-5700. General admission: $25. Senior discounts available. How to Get There: Take I-5 south out of Seattle for 13 miles, grab Exit 158, and follow the signs. Better yet, approach Seattle from the south on I-5, and visit the Museum of Flight without entering the downtown Seattle area. Best Kept Secrets: If you are in Seattle and you want to see something different, don’t miss the Chuhily blown glass gallery just below the Seattle Space Needle. And as mentioned above, the riding in Washington is amazing. Avoid: Don’t leave home without checking the weather first (it can get cold, wet, and icy up there in the Pacific Northwest). I’d avoid downtown Seattle (it’s densely trafficked, and…

1988-1994 BMW R100GS Developed from another Dakar bike — Hubert Oriol and Gaston Rahier’s four-time-winning R80G/S — the production R100GS incorporated BMW’s Paralever single-sided swing-arm to control torque reaction and added a non-adjustable Marzocchi fork and single Brembo front disc brake. The drivetrain was similar to other contemporary R100 models with 40mm Bing carbs (32mm in the U.S.) and Bosch electronic ignition. More offroad focused than the Tiger or Elefant, the R100GS rolled on a 90/90 x 21-inch front tire and 130/80 x 17-inch rear. Likewise, the engine was tuned for torque, with respectable grunt available from idle speed. The suspension would accommodate substantial bumps and potholes (with 9-inch travel front and 8-inch rear), yet felt plush on the street, where the GS’s handling was competent but not quick. Brakes…

Norton’s decade-long ride down the comeback trail under the ownership of Stuart Garner is now reaching fruition. As you read this, production has commenced of the historic British marque’s twin Twins — its 650cc parallel-twin Atlas range. Launched at the Birmingham NEC Show almost a year ago, they will initially be available in Nomad and Ranger street scrambler versions, one (Ranger) more decidedly dual purpose than the other. These two all-new motorcycles presage what Garner promises will be a constantly expanding range of entry-level models in the Norton range — all without in any way impacting on the company’s current air/oil-cooled Commando 961 retro twin, which continues in production in Euro 4 compliant form — alongside its 1200 V4 Superbike family which entered production one year ago. Pricing is at…

Most forms of motorcycle competition focus on achieving a high degree of velocity. Not so with the sport of observed motorcycle trials. In this offroad competition, the main premise is to ride a purpose-built machine as carefully as possible over and around numerous obstacles, all while being scrupulously watched by section officials. It takes a good eye, a steady throttle and clutch hand and a very good sense of balance. In trials, points are added to a rider who “dabs” or “foots” in any given section of the event. “Like golf, where the least amount of strokes on the course wins, trials are won by the person who touches their foot to the ground the least amount of times over the course of the event,” explains the North American Trials…

Clive Curry had always wanted to participate in the Durban-Johannesburg trial, a regularity run in his native South Africa. But he lacked one essential ingredient: a motorcycle built before 1936, as the rules stipulate. The “DJ” as it’s known, is no longer a race as it was from 1913 to 1936. Instead, riders must arrive at each checkpoint as close as possible to a specified time, in the style of the modern Motogiro d’Italia or the resurrected Milano-Taranto run. This is the story of how Curry acquired what is perhaps the perfect motorcycle for the DJ: a 1930 “Ivory” Calthorpe 350. The Calthorpe In taking any product to market, one of the most powerful ways to boost sales or justify a higher price is to offer a Unique Selling Preposition…

Working on a friend’s recent “vintage” Japanese purchase got me wondering if “true” classics like the Norton Commando and Triumph Bonneville are easier to own than we acknowledge. No question they can have their share of mechanical gremlins and dodgy electrics, but compared to the array of more “advanced” machines that followed in their wake, mostly from Japan, they might just be the easiest classic bikes to keep on the road. Or at least to buy parts for. The problem is, because of their value we tend to relegate them to weekend warrior status, prized jewels we haul out for group rides or a Sunday run to the local pub. If you’re new to the classic scene you might not be ready to pound down $7,500 to $10,000 — or…

3/6-7 Back for its 10th year, check out the Modern Classics Motorcycle Show. This year will feature a great collection of bikes from the 1960s through the 1990s. Check out the Friday Night Modern Classics Kickstart Party from 7-10 p.m. at the show’s home, Martin Motorsports in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. On the web at martinmoto.com 3/6-15 This year marks the 79th Anniversary of Daytona Bike Week, which runs March 6-15, in Daytona Beach, Florida. The racing kicks off on Saturday night, March 7, with the Daytona Supercross. The American Flat Track series Daytona TT and the 2020 Daytona 200 both take place on Saturday, March 14. For more info, schedules and specific locations of activities visit the Bike Week site. On the web at officialbikeweek.com 3/14-15 Visit Rapid City, South Dakota, for the 32nd…

It took quite a while for us on the left side of the pond to catch on to adventure bikes: it’s fair to say that the U.S. motorcycle market was about cruisers, dirt bikes and street standards until the late 1990s. Though Honda’s Africa Twin, Yamaha’s Super Tenere and BMW’s R100GS were all top sellers in continental Europe, only the Beemer ever made it to the U.S. So when the first generation 650cc Cagiva Elefant arrived in 1984, U.S. testers couldn’t get their heads around it — especially its weight: “twice that of a 250 motocrosser,” said Cycle magazine in December 1985, noting, “when 454lbs of motorcycle gets away from you, the chances of snatching it back are slim.” But by the early 1990s, there was some indication that the…

“BMWs are considered to be nearly immortal.”—Roger Lovin, The Complete Motorcycle Nomad (1974) Most people who own vintage bikes put, at most, a couple hundred miles on them a year. George Canavan has put over 6,000 miles on this 1968 R69US, and he continues to ride it on a regular basis. “The ride is rewarding — it’s very, very smooth, and reasonably quiet.” Before BMW started building sport bikes in the late 1970s, most North Americans who bought the German-built twins did so because they wanted to go from Seattle to Pensacola on two wheels, with maybe a little side trip to the Yucatan. In an era when motorcycles were expected to make noise, break down and leak oil, BMWs had a reputation for comfort, reliability and clean operation. Few…

Sometimes the stories behind vintage motorcycles are as interesting and compelling as the bikes themselves. This is one of those times. The persistence and talents of one man have resurrected not one, but two discarded, forlorn prewar Moto Guzzis found in a distant corner of the world. This epic began in 1968 when a 20-year-old Army-enlisted man from Tennessee named Spencer Graves was assigned to duty in Asmara, Eritrea. Eritrea became an Italian colony in 1889 and, under the hand of dictator Benito Mussolini, the capital of Asmara was greatly expanded beginning in the early 1920s. With over half of the capital’s 98,000 residents being native-born Italians, there were of course many Italian products, including motorcycles, as we shall see. Early in his deployment, Spencer found a 1939 Moto Guzzi…

The salt turned to slush. This is bad. More so than dirt, sand or any other surface, the salt hangs onto the moisture. The air is heavy and the track surface is dangerously slushy and unstable. Real bad. Speed and relativity Southern California Timing Association officials are telling people to rethink whether they want to run today. Riders have gone down. But Andy’s not having it. He’s travelled over 1,500 miles in a 1973 Dodge van to be here. Hundreds of fellow Milwaukeeans chipped in gas money, spare parts and sweat equity for this land-speed record run. Andy’s fought jetting issues all day long. Whatever’s going to happen, happens today. No one has unlimited time to make magic happen, but Andy’s got less than most. The Milwaukee County vehicle fleet…

“On the first test ride that bike took off like a scared cat.” Positive or negative? Q: How would I determine if my 1973 Triumph TR7RV is positive or negative ground? I assumed that it was positive ground, but I hooked it up that way and it blew the 30-amp inline fuse on the negative cable. I do not know a lot about these British bikes. Thanks. G. Manning/via email A: First off, use a 15-amp fuse, as the ratings are different between British and U.S. fuses and a 30-amp British fuse as called for in the rider manual is a 15-amp American fuse. Next, the fused negative cable goes on the negative post, the positive post (red wire usually) goes directly to ground. If it still blows fuses after these…

Seattle’s Museum of Flight, located at the southern end of Boeing Field, is a short 15-minute ride from downtown Seattle. In my opinion it’s the best thing to see in Seattle and you don’t have to enter the downtown area to do so. The Museum of Flight came about as the result of the Pacific Northwest Aviation Historical Foundation’s 1965 recovery and restoration of a 1929 Boeing 80A-1 discovered in Alaska. One thing led to another, and today, the Museum of Flight is the largest private air and space museum in the world. The name is understated, as the place is a museum, a restoration center, an educational center and one of the world’s premier repositories of aviation history. It consists of several halls and displays. The large T.A. Wilson…

The bikes that Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson, Fred Merkel, Wes Cooley and Freddie Spencer rode in the glory days of Superbike racing are out racing again. “A lot of us started racing in the ’80s when these bikes were originally on the track,” explains Kevin McKee, a spokesperson for the Classic Superbike Racing Association. “Our heroes raced these motorcycles. We are big fans of the bikes and riders of the classic Superbike era.” The first AMA Superbikes — heavyweight 4-stroke motorcycles that were highly modified versions of bikes sold to ride on the street — went on the grid in 1976, with Reg Pridmore and his BMW taking home the No. 1 plate that year. For the first few years, the rules allowed 1,000cc 4-cylinder machines, but in 1983, the…