Innehållsförteckning för May - June 2020 från Motorcycle Classics

One of our favorite trips every year is our trek to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, home of the Road America race track. This year we'll make our trip in May to be a part of Vintage MotoFest, May 30, 2020, in conjunction with the MotoAmerica Superbikes Series (roadamerica.com). We began attending the summer vintage motorcycle races way back in 2010, the first year AHRMA racing returned there. For the first few years we ran our own bike show, but since 2014 we've joined forces with the fine staff from Road America to judge the Saturday ride-in bike show, and to give away our own Motorcycle Classics Editor's Choice award. This year's Vintage MotoFest event pairs with a busy weekend at the track, as the MotoAmerica Superbike Series comes to Road America,…

Yamaha XJ550 Seca Below Yamaha’s swirl-inducing YICS cylinder head design, the Seca’s 57mm pistons drove a 51.8mm stroke crankshaft and a hydraulically tensioned Hy-Vo chain to a jackshaft carrying the clutch and alternator. Gears connected the 6-speed transmission with a chain final drive. A conventional steel tube frame and swingarm ran on cast alloy wheels fitted with a single front disc brake and rear drum. A conventional non-adjustable front fork was matched to dual shocks (adjustable for preload) at the rear. Period tests achieved standing quarter-mile times below 13 seconds and a top speed of 110mph. Power delivery was progressive, but with a real rush over 6,000rpm and with power peaking at 10,000rpm. The engine liked to be revved, but it was also reported as docile in traffic. The Seca…

Eight times a World champion — seven times on 350/500cc MV Agusta motorcycles, once in Formula 1 with Ferrari — John Surtees remains the only man ever to have won World titles on both two wheels and four. But as well as an ace rider/driver, he was also a skilled mechanic who, besides fabricating an auxiliary fuel tank for his F1 Ferrari in the Silverstone GP paddock, as the only team member there able to wield a welding torch, also built a unique 350cc AJS 7R-powered bike in his home workshop during the winter of 1959-1960, which he intended to race in British short circuit races in between his MV Agusta GP commitments. Later known as the Surtees Special, this bike is now owned by New York-based Team Obsolete patron…

In recent years, American motorcycle auction goers have seen a speed-record Vincent Black Lightning and a Crocker “Big Tank” both edge toward the million-dollar mark. There were no such stratospheric prices achieved at the annual Mecum and Bonhams motorcycle auctions in Las Vegas, Jan. 21-26, 2020. But after six years in which American iron mostly topped the big money charts, Broughs are back. A super-rare 1922 Brough Superior Mark 1 with a JAP “90 bore” engine gained the top price of $308,000 at Mecum, including buyer’s premium, while the number two spot went to a 1930 SS100 at $239,250. Meanwhile at Bonhams, the top price seller wasn’t a complete motorcycle at all, but a Brough project, which, when re-assembled, would be a 1929 680 with a JAP overhead-valve engine —…

Yamaha had the café racer set in mind when it designed the new-for-1981 Yamaha XJ550 Seca. Steve Seidner, a motorcycle industry trendsetter and classic bike collector who has appeared on these pages before (The Magnificent Mustangs, Motorcycle Classics, January/February 2013), designs, manufactures, imports and sells motorcycles for a living, and he occasionally encounters interesting vintage bikes for sale. One such motorcycle is the brilliant red 1982 Yamaha Seca featured here. With only 1,776 miles on the odometer, as Steve tells it he couldn’t get his wallet out fast enough when this opportunity appeared. Yamaha introduced the XJ550 Seca in 1981, with technology, performance and aesthetics that went way beyond the bike’s $2,529 sticker price. Before diving into the specifics of Steve’s Seca, it might be useful to understand the U.S.…

Oil-in-frame BSA Q:A friend has an oil-in-frame 1970 BSA. Are there issues related to this design? It hasn’t run in 20 years. Jerry Gere/via email A: The only mechanical issues I’ve run into with oil-in-frame (OIF) Triumphs or BSAs were caused by careless sandblasting, leaving sand in the frame oil tank. Having sat that long, the oil left, if any, will be sludgy at the bottom. Best practice would be to first drain the oil, then remove the four bolts holding the bottom cover on the downtube. Thoroughly clean the filter screen, looking for any telltale metal parts, then reassemble with new gaskets. Fueling issues Q: Keith, I enjoy your column very much. I know you are a fan of British motorcycles, so here are a couple of questions for…

What: Aztec Ruins National Monument, 725 Ruins Road, Aztec, NM, 87410, (505) 334-6174. Admission is free. How to Get There: From the north or south, pick up US 550 (a magnificent road). From the east or west, it’s US 64 to either US 550 or New Mexico SR 516 north. Upon entering the town of Aztec, watch for the sign to Aztec Ruins National Monument. Best Kept Secret: Perhaps the Aztec Ruins National Monument itself. We had never heard of it. For grand dining, try Rubia’s Fine Mexican Dining in Aztec (we had chile rellenos and sopapilla el grande con pollo and they were superb). Avoid: Leaving without checking the weather (the area can experience snow and freezing temperatures in the winter). More Photos: bit.ly/aztec-ruins More Info: nps.gov/azru/index.htm…

Flathead race engines finally became extinct November 1968, when the AMA Class C rules committee legalized overhead-valve 750cc engines for Nationals competition. Previously, overhead-valve engines were limited to 500cc displacement, while sidevalves could be 750cc. The new rules caught Harley-Davidson race team with its valves down, and Milwaukee’s juggernaut team entered the 1969 race season outgunned. Or so it seemed. Despite running essentially obsolete equipment, H-D team rider Mert Lawwill answered the call with his trusty sidevalve KR-750 to win the coveted Number One plate. But 1969 was the KR’s swan song. Gene Romero, riding new Triumph OHV twins and triples, won The Plate for 1970. Meanwhile Harley’s engineers readied their own overhead-valve engine for racing. Their immediate response was the XR-750, an engine with iron cylinders and heads —…

Identifying an old bike I have rediscovered a music video with a very cool-looking vintage motorcycle and I am curious if anyone at Motorcycle Classics might be able to identify the bike. The video is Once in a Blue Moon by Earl Thomas Conley. It might also be a fun question to put out there for the readers to try to answer. I subscribe to your magazine and love it! Lowell Miller/Fort Worth, Texas Lowell, It’s a BSA, but we’re still trying to identify what specific model. Tech Editor Keith Fellenstein looked through some old BSA manuals. Note the square barrel and the conical front brake. It could be a Starfire 250, Shooting Star 441 or a Victor Roadster, but we’re having a hard time being sure. Readers, can you…

To enter a new capacity class, is it better to scale up a smaller bike, downsize a bigger one, or start from scratch? Many bike makers over the years have “stretched” a smaller capacity engine to create a larger one. While that may offer the best return on investment, is it a sound idea? In creating the engine for the VF500F of 1984, Honda went with scaling up. The new 500 was based on the Japanese/European market VF400F, but used cylinder dimensions and cylinder head design from the V-twin VT250. The result was effectively two side-by-side 90-degree 250s on a common crankcase, but with a strengthened bottom end. More on that later … Inside the VF500F, duplex chains drove four overhead camshafts acting on 16 valves via finger-type followers with…

Phil Read captured the TT Formula 1 title at the 1977 Isle of Man campaigning a factory-prepared Honda CB750. The win, however, was somewhat controversial. That’s because in 1972, Read was one of several Grand Prix racers who began boycotting the Isle of Man TT course as too dangerous. In 1976, as a result of the boycott, the FIM declared the Isle of Man was no longer a part of the Grand Prix circuit. In a Common Tread story at Revzilla.com, well-known TT enthusiast and author Mark Gardiner writes, “The Manx tourism industry and race organizers had a powerful incentive to convince 60,000 race fans to keep attending the TT, even though it was no longer the British Grand Prix, no longer part of the real World Championship, and no…

BMW enthusiasts who appreciate the purity and performance of a bone-stock BMW might want to skip the next few pages in this issue of Motorcycle Classics; a 1974 R75/6 lost its pedigree in the making of the accompanying feature bike, what its builder describes as a 1928 BMW R52 Similaria. But readers who forge onward with this narrative are in for a treat because you’re about to get a glimpse of how one man converted a mid-1970s Slash 6 BMW into what visually replicates a 1928 BMW R52, an early model that shared a similar silhouette with BMW’s first-ever model, the iconic 1923 R32. Those early R models set the stage for BMW’s prewar signature slab-side gas tank enveloped by two upper frame tubes that swooped from steering head to…

Just when Yamaha’s square-four 0W60 racer was nearing perfection in 1982, the company changed direction entirely, putting its star rider onto an untried V4. It would be another two years before Yamaha won the 500cc Grand Prix world championship. Here we look at the motorcycle that could have been a world-beater. The 1982 season was a watershed moment in the 500cc Grand Prix world championship. This was the final year all four Japanese manufacturers went head-to-head in the championship, pushing the envelope with new or revised designs. Yamaha was perhaps the most committed, and perhaps also the one with the most to lose. Its star rider, Kenny Roberts, had rewritten the history books way back in 1978 by becoming the first American to win the ultimate motorcycle title, as well…

For this How-To we’re going to replace the clutch friction discs in a 1969 Honda CL450, but this procedure would work for CB450s too, and is similar on the 350s. We undertook this project because the motorcycle had been stored so long that the petcock leaked gasoline into the sump, and after fixing that problem the clutch slips. You will need clutch plates and possibly clutch springs, though those are rarely bad. A new gasket for the right side case would be useful, and a new seal for the kickstart shaft, if needed. If the oil sump plug O-ring is flat you’ll need to replace it too. Dime City Cycles will have some or all of these parts. You’ll need oil of the correct weight and amount also, in this…

The Speed Kings, by Don Emde Publisher, author, motorcycle historian and 1972 Daytona 200 winner Don Emde’s most recent book The Speed Kings is a history of boardtrack racing that’s long overdue. It’s perhaps the most complete history of the sport to date, one that includes hundreds of period photos supported by commentary, facts, quotes and newspaper clippings to tell the story about motorcycling racing’s early pioneers who rode their brakeless motorcycles to speeds in excess of 100mph through the high-banked turns of motordromes constructed of wood. Perhaps the book is summed up best in its foreword penned by legendary racer Kenny Roberts. KR’s opening sentence pretty much says it all: “After reading The Speed Kings I’d like to say that those guys racing around the wooden tracks were really…

4/25 Join Grand Marshal Wayne Carini, host of Chasing Classic Cars, at the 21st Annual Riding into History Motorcycle Concours at the World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida. RIH begins on Friday, April 24, with a lunch ride and the Grand Marshal’s Dinner, followed on Saturday by the Concours d’Elegance. On the web at ridingintohistory.org 5/15 Head to the 52nd Annual Hanford Vintage Motorcycle Show and Swap Meet, May 15-16, at the Kings Fairground in Hanford, California. Enjoy the classic motorcycle show with awards in a dozen-plus categories, more than 150 vendors, a parts exchange and sale corral, RV hookups, food and more. On the web at classiccycleevents.com 5/16 Attend the 12th Annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering at The Quail Lodge in Carmel, California. This year’s show will feature the 50th anniversaries of…

I just picked up your March/April issue and found the Yamaha R5 article of interest because I owned two of them. Of note though, Mr. Gingerelli got one thing wrong. He stated the engine cases on the R3 split vertically. I picked up a complete 1969 R3 350 project last year and I assure you that the cases are split horizontally. Otherwise, great magazine as usual and I always look forward to the latest issue. Thanks. Jeff Carruthers/Calgary, Alberta, Canada Reply from author Dain Gingerelli: “Jeff, nice catch. Sometimes I just can’t seem to distinguish up from down, and the day that I wrote the R5 article must have been one of those days! I stand corrected — Yamaha’s first 350cc twin, the YR series (1967-1969), checked in with horizontally…

We were happily surprised to find a current listing for a VF500F, as they’re fairly thin on the ground these days. Found on eBay and located on Bainbridge Island, Washington, this VF500F shows roughly 33,900 miles. The current owner has had it for 16 years, and it looks to be a well-loved rider, not perfect, but awfully close. The original paint is holding up well, but the finish of the black-chrome mufflers shows some wear and the seat cover has a tear on the right side. The seller notes that the fuel pump has been removed, and that you currently can’t use the entire capacity of the tank due to this. So do your research on finding a fuel pump if this is the bike for you!…

It takes a special kind of bravery to buy a bike advertised on Craigslist. Craigslist, in case you are unaware, is an online flea market. Anything and everything may be found on Craigslist, from a Santa outfit for a newborn baby to a John Deere tractor. The seller writes their own description of the object, and buyer and seller make their own arrangements as to payment and delivery. The Craigslist website states, “Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen — that amazing ‘deal’ may not exist.” Many sellers are honest, others are not. The Wild West is alive and well on Craigslist. John Anton bought this Matchless sight unseen from a Canadian seller. It was supposed to be a runner, and appeared on delivery assembled, but with some unoriginal parts. Unfortunately,…

Matt Blake started learning about Indians when he went to work for Sammy Pierce, known to many as “Mr. Indian.” At the time, Sammy was managing the Steve McQueen estate’s motorcycles. “During that time, I got hooked on Indians.” That was a while back, but Matt has stayed hooked. His aim in life is to keep classic Indians on the road. At this point, it looks like he is succeeding. After the job with the McQueen estate ended, Matt started a business manufacturing tanks, fenders and other sheet metal pieces for Indians. He also does restorations and repairs. In order to advertise his business, he goes to a lot of classic bike events (well, at least that’s why he says he goes to all those events). Matt was at the…

Several motorcycle companies around the world started out as manufacturers of guns and other armaments before going on to arguably better and certainly safer things. Alongside BSA, Royal Enfield, CZ, Husqvarna and Benelli, the one which started it all was FN. The Belgian national ordnance factory established in 1889 at Herstal, just outside Liège, made arms and ammunition, and from 1901 to 1967 also built motorcycles. FN — standing for Fabrique Nationale (d’Armes de Guerre) — manufactured the world’s first production 4-cylinder motorcycle. FN was also noted for the use of shaft final drive on the majority of its models built from 1903 to 1923 (rather than the cheaper and less effective belts), and achieved some success in Grand Prix road racing and especially Motocross with a range of often…

On a sunny Saturday morning this February, I busied myself getting the 1974 Laverda 750SF ready for the first Wheelsport Vintage Motorcycle Club ride of the new year. Championed by Tech Editor Keith Fellenstein, the club meets on the third Saturday of the month at Gaslight Gardens, a bar housed in an impossibly tiny, cottage-like structure at the north end of the bridge over the Kansas River to downtown Lawrence, Kansas. Along with regular “club” members (it’s an open question if we’re really a club; there are no rules for membership and we don’t do much besides our regular meetup — but we do have T-shirts), we’re regularly joined by members of the local Moped Army, who buzz in on little scoots that sound like chain saws and are capable…

Our trip was to be a Destinations content safari for points of interest between Southern California and our turnaround point in Colorado. It was a success, with articles appearing in these pages on Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (November/December 2019), Kitt Peak National Observatory (May/June 2019), the Petrified Forest National Park (September/October 2019) and Mesa Verde National Park (March/April 2019). The best part for us, though, were visits to friends, riding through New Mexico, and a discovery: The Aztec Ruins National Monument. It’s the surprises that make any trip an adventure, and after a day of enjoying New Mexico’s US 54 through dazzling White Sands Missile Range, the Lincoln National Forest, and Cloudcroft, Ruidoso and more, we passed through Farmington and spotted a small sign along US 550 pointing west…