Innehållsförteckning för March - April 2015 från Motorcycle Classics

Just as Kawasaki aimed the 1973 Z1 squarely at Honda’s CB750, they also tried to out-Honda Honda in 1974 with the KZ400, their take on the best-selling CB350. As with the Z1, they leapfrogged Honda with more capacity, but stopped short of upping the ante further by giving their new little KZ400 the Z1’s dual camshafts. Why? The answer may be the intended purpose of the KZ400. While the 903cc Z1 threw down the performance gauntlet, the mid-size KZ400 twin was designed as an economical, easy-toride, unintimidating commuter bike — and it arrived just in time for the 1973 oil crisis. Under an Arab embargo, the price of crude oil rose fourfold between October 1973 and March 1974. Suddenly, fuel consumption became really important. Delivering around 60mpg, the KZ400 was…

Show Time 2015: Motorcycle Classics Vintage Bike Shows The 2015 vintage show calendar is filling up, and we’re looking forward to getting out and mixing with readers and classic bike fans. Set your schedule now and join Motorcycle Classics at one of four different vintage events across the country. On June 5-7, 2015, we’ll be at the Rockerbox Motofest at Road America (roadamerica.com) in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. This will be the second Rockerbox Motofest at Road America, featuring two days of AHRMA vintage motorcycle racing on Road America’s legendary 4-mile road course. We’ll award a special Motorcycle Classics Editors’ Choice Award at the Rockerbox Bike Show (proceeds support The Steel Toe Fund), which last year drew an eclectic selection of custom vintage bikes. There will also be live music, plenty…

Once upon a time, a motorcycle was transportation. Faster than a streetcar and more reliable (and cheaper) than a horse, motorcycles were bought by thousands of people who used them to get to school or work. Delivery services and police departments relied on motorcycles to get where they wanted to go quickly and economically. Most motorcycle manufacturers got started building reliable, economical get-to-work bikes. Honda was no exception. Yet as the 1950s gave way to the 1960s, in developed countries like the U.S., England and Europe, motorcycles stopped being transportation, morphing into a Lifestyle Statement instead. Bikes sprouted exotic bodywork, multiple cylinders, overhead cams, high handlebars and fancy seats. Advertisements stopped mentioning miles per gallon and started crowing about quarter-mile times. Yet in the late 1970s, Honda, then (and still)…

Ipotesi, in case you’re wondering, is Italian for “hypothesis.” “I saw it translated as ‘hypertensive,’” says Ipotesi owner Danny Aarons. “Hypertensive fits its character better; I’ve never heard a credible story as to why MV used that name.” One could guess. In your imagination, you’re out for a morning’s ride through the foothills east of Lake Como on the Italian-Swiss border, and you come across an insolent rider on a large, multi-cylinder bike from Japan. You, however, are riding your Ipotesi, a machine designed to prove that handling can beat horsepower: That is its hypothesis. The proud yokel cannot power his heavy machine through the turns as quickly as you can hustle your MV Agusta, and your light, agile 350 dances up and down the hills, leaving the multi in…

William Shakespeare certainly liked his birds. In fact, more than 600 varieties of our feathered friends are mentioned in his plays and sonnets. Of particular note, in Henry IV, Part I, Shakespeare mentions starlings. Prior to the late 1800s, there wasn’t a single starling in the United States. But thanks to a plan supposedly hatched by the American Acclimatization Society, every bird the Bard ever wrote about was to be released in America, and in 1890 approximately 100 starlings were given wing in Central Park. From New York City the birds quickly multiplied and spread across the country. To be blunt about it, starlings have basically taken over North America since. Another starling introduced to the U.S. didn’t have wings, though, and it didn’t overtake the land. We’re talking about…

Norton luggage rack Q: I’m trying to find a sissy bar and luggage rack for my 1975 Norton Roadster, to no avail. It could be either of the two or a combination sissy bar/rack. It doesn’t need to carry much weight, either. The items I’d carry are an extra helmet and rain gear. Any suggestions? Mitch Zyman/Merrick, New York A: There are a couple of options, one of which we did an article on a couple of years ago. Here’s the link to that one: MotorcycleClassics .com/ventura-norton. Also, check out Andover Norton’s website accessories page at andover-norton.co.uk. Scroll down a bit and you’ll find their luggage racks. Cool runnings Q: I have a problem when checking the cooling level in my coolant tank. I suppose when the bike was new…

The race was billed as the $100,000 Champion Spark Plug 250, and it was the longest road race with the largest purse in AMA history. The year was 1971, and the twin-bill 250 (it was run in 125-mile segments) was held at the brand new Ontario Motor Speedway. Daytona Beach, Florida, had its 200; Ontario, California, now had its 250. It was the final race on the AMA’s 1971 schedule, and the Number One Plate had yet to be decided. Former Grand National champ Dick “Bugsy” Mann was in the catbird seat, needing a top-14-place finish. Sole competition came from defending champion Gene Romero, who needed an outright win to retain his title. Both riders were semi-teammates; Mann rode for BSA, Romero for Triumph. But there was another Triumph team…

Back in the mid-Seventies, riders didn’t seem to think twice about touring on mid-sized bikes, a set of hard bags and a fairing transforming their CB350 into a cross-country tourer. Hoping to capitalize on that market, for 1976 Kawasaki offered the KZ400 A1 Deluxe. Painted “candy-copper” brown and sporting a matching brown seat cover, the Deluxe was factory equipped with a fairing, highway bars, hard bags and a luggage rack. It was dropped after 1977, apparently due to poor sales. We found this low-mileage example on eBay, where it failed to meet its “buy it now” price of $2,199. Although showing a claimed 2,249 miles, it looked a little worse for wear from neglect, with badly scratched paint on the fairing and left saddlebag suggesting a fall or a garage…

You only get one first love, and no one’s counting after that. But if you remember your first, you’ll never know which one’s your last. Best to keep a restless heart, and be fickle with devotions, especially with old bikes. “Darmah” Dave Eulberg’s love affair with 1970s-era Ducatis happened the way it often does. From a bored 15-year-old dirt-biking on a Montana farm, bikes became a flourishing addiction in progress. From Honda CB350 rebuilds in his parents’ basement, Dave became a Honda dealer technician whose eyes were drawn to the Superhawks and Hawk GTs he’d work on. Forsaking reliability and embracing a problem-solving nature, he purchased his first Engish bike, a 1977 Triumph Bonneville. And if you can love old English iron, you’ve got an inside track to an unhealthy…

The usually yellow-painted Ducati Scramblers in 250/350/450cc guise were the last 4-stroke singles with lights and a number plate to leave the Italian manufacturer’s Bologna factory, killed off in 1975 after 40,000 had been built, thanks to a misplaced faith that the 125cc 2-stroke that replaced them would generate greater profits. Now, after twice thinking better of doing so before, Ducati has finally launched the Scrambler that debuted at Intermot 2014 in Cologne, Germany, last October, with deliveries due to start by the time you’re reading this. But after riding it at a gloriously over-the-top press launch in the über-retro city of Palm Springs, California, I have to say the only thing the new model has in common with the old is the name on the tank — and even…

What: Bisbee, Arizona. The authentic Old West with real saloons, vibrant colors and great roads! How to Get There: Take I-10 from either Tucson or El Paso, point your front wheel south on SR 80, and enjoy the next 50 miles as you climb into the Mule Mountains! Best Kept Secret: Café Roka. Try the appetizer sampler and choose from their outstanding native Arizona wine list. Avoid: Getting a hotel room right above the saloon! More Info: discoverbisbee.com More Photos: motofoto.cc…

3/7 Celebrating its fifth year, the Modern Classics Motorcycle Show is back and better than ever. New for 2015 is the Friday Night Modern Classics “Kick-Start” Party from 7-10 p.m. at the show’s home, Martin Motorsports in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. This year’s featured class is custom motorcycles from the 1960s-1980s. Normally a new bike dealership, Martin Motorsports is transformed once a year into a classic bike paradise of about a hundred motorcycles just for this show. On the web at martinmoto.com 3/6 One of the first big bike events of the year, Daytona Bike week returns this year, running Mar. 6-15. The racing kicks off on Saturday, Mar. 7, with the Daytona Supercross, Flat Track racing on the 12th and 13th on the Daytona Flat Track outside turns 1 and 2…

1 One of the coolest new helmet designs to emerge in the last few years has roots firmly in the past. The new Bell Bullitt Helmet takes its inspiration from the very first Bell Star helmet launched in 1966. Full of retro styling, the Bullitt incorporates modern safety and some nice touches. Made from fiberglass composite, it’s light, comfortable and functional. A magnet on a leather strap holds the shield closed, and you can remove the shield entirely by simply unscrewing the retainer rings. The brown leather and perforated micro-suede interior fits comfortably and looks like a million bucks, and the head piece and cheek pads are removable for washing. Available in a variety of colors including the new Retro Blue shown here. Too cool. DOT approved. Price: $399.95. More…

Most of the work to resurrect Gene Brown’s HRD Python was carried out by acknowledged Vincent master restorer Herb Harris at his 2,400-squarefoot facility in Austin, Texas. Over the years, Harris has owned and restored some of the most distinguished Vincents in the history of the make, including the 150mph Rollie Free “Bathing Suit Bike” and Marty Dickerson’s famous “Blue Bike.” Harris’ dogged determination to build the bike to original led him to Ireland, where an enthusiast had the Python Sports’ original numbers-matching rear frame, sporting the same gray paint under layers of subsequent black paint as the main frame. To give some idea of the meticulous preparation that went into the Python Sports, Harris determined there were four different types of black finishes used on the bike, including high…

First impressions are only that. An hour or a day with a bike rarely tells the whole story. A new bike can feel great on that first, short ride, but a week or a month of riding often tells an entirely different tale — and not always a good one. In 2014, Royal Enfield introduced a game-changer in its previously staid line of retro machines — the Continental GT. Inspired by the 1965 250cc Continental GT produced by Royal Enfield in England, the new GT is the most adventurous offering yet from Royal Enfield in India, which has staked its export future on retro classics powered by simple, single-cylinder engines designed to invoke memories of the original Enfield Bullet. Royal Enfield CEO Siddhartha Lal believes the mid-sized motorcycle market has…

Blessed with relative prosperity in recent years, the Italian motorcycle industry has taken its place among the world’s biggest and best. Small boutique builders soldier on, but Italian motorcycle production is today chiefly the province of two giants: Audi-backed Ducati and the sprawling Piaggio empire of Aprilia, Vespa, Moto Guzzi and the rest. It wasn’t always this way. Back in the 1970s, the manufacturers that had survived the introduction of Fiat’s small and affordable car, the 500 (or Cinquecento) and the tsunami of Japanese imports were few — and forever financially strapped. Yet they persevered in a single-minded pursuit of style and performance above all else. “To the outside world,” wrote Gary Johnstone in his 1994 book Classic Motorcycles, “the Italians have an approach to motorcycle design that defies comprehension…

Owners familiar with 4-stroke motorcycle engines often find themselves at a loss diagnosing poorly running 2-stroke engines. A 2-stroke engine is simpler (no camshaft, valves or valve gear), so by extension that should make it easier to work out issues with poor performance. The frustration comes when you can’t get your oil burner to run right even after confirming adequate compression, proper carburetion and correct ignition timing. Recently, we hit a wall trying to get a 1973 Yamaha RD350 2-stroke running properly, so we turned to Brad Obidowski of HVCcycle (hvccycle.net) in Lincoln, Nebraska, for help. A 2-stroke fan and RD350/400 fanatic in particular, Brad has acquired a great deal of knowledge about Japanese 2-strokes. After we described our RD’s running problems to him, Brad offered to spend a few…

Cochise County. The Mule Mountains. Great roads. Mining. Saloons. Hotel rooms that lock with real keys. Friendly people. It doesn’t get much better than Bisbee! Hidden in Arizona’s majestic Mule Mountain range 90 miles southeast of Tucson and just a hop away from the Mexican border, Bisbee is as much a jewel as the gems that came out of her mines. Bisbee combines the Old West, the American Southwest, a 1960s counterculture feel, fine dining, superior scenery, great riding and more. With only 6,000 residents and covering just 5 square miles on steeply-sloped hills, the town almost looks European, but it’s Wild West all the way. Founded in 1880, the town grew up around the Copper Queen Mine. Mining drove the economy until the 1970s, with more than 8 billion…