Table of contents for Issue 40 in Retrobike

G'DAY

Retrobike|Issue 40

G'DAY

THIS issue marks the sixth anniversary of the relaunch in January 2015 of Retrobike as a quarterly journal of old-school cool. Classic not plastic! Over 24 issues, we’ve presented around 200 feature bikes from around Australia and the world, plus maybe half that number again of iconic motorcycling events, groups and people. And had a lot of fun doing it, just quietly. Happy birthday to us. “None of this is rocket science if you want to have a go” Our first cover bike and lead story was David Anderson’s 1984 Suzuki 750 Katana, stylishly subtle but brimming with skilful chassis engineering by Victorian custom workshop Bikecraft. With its GSX-R 17-inch wheels, upside-down forks, six-piston brakes and mono-shock swingarm, the 30-year-old ‘Street Kat’ steered, stopped and handled almost like a new…

Retrobike|Issue 40

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke inline six; chain-driven DOHC, four valves per cylinder; 64.5 x 53.4mm for 1047cc: 9.3:1 comp; wet sump; 6 x Keihin CR flat-slides; Dyna 2000 ignition; custom Tranzac exhausts; multi-row chain primary to wet clutch and five-speed gearbox; chain final drive; rebuilt by Nicom, tuned by Steph; 105hp at 9000rpm (stock) CHASSIS Steel tube frame with engine as stressed member, braced and modified by Nicom; 43mm Bimota forks and triple trees, 2 x Brembo 300mm rotors with four-spot calipers on laced 17 x 3in alloy rim; 900SS twin-shock swingarm with small Brembo disc on laced 17 x 5in alloy rim; Pirelli tyres BODYWORK Tank, seat and mudguard by Nicom; 900SS fairing and headlight; paint and graphics by Mark Haywood; Speedhut tacho/speedo SPECIAL THANKS John Boyd, Nic Comolly, Mark…

ROAD RACER

Retrobike|Issue 40

ROAD RACER

BACK in 1984, Yamaha launched on an unsuspecting public what was touted as a Roberts/Lawson two-stroke V4 YZR500 GP racer with lights, badged in Australia as the RZ500. Regretfully, it wasn’t really that at all, more the coupling together of two RZ250 parallel twins on a common crankcase to create a reed-valve twin-crank 50-degree V4 (the GP racer had rotary disc induction), but it nonetheless quickly became a cult classic. Production lasted for only two years, with just 8000 units made, roughly split between the steel-framed 205kg 78rwhp RZ500 sold in Europe (as the RD500LC), Canada and Australasia, and the alloy-framed 196kg 64rwhp RZV500R sold only in Japan. The United States didn’t get either, on account of their more stringent pollution regulations, which didn’t sit well with Major Wyn Belorusky,…

Retrobike|Issue 40

FIRST AMONG EQUALS

THE first Cucciolo clip-on bicycle engine differed from similar products from other manufacturers in that it was an OHV four-stroke in a sea of smoky, plug-fouling pre-mix two-strokes, but was not especially reliable and was prone to overheating. Initially built from 1946 under licence to Turin tuning workshop SIATA, Ducati chief engineer Giovanni Fiorio comprehensively redesigned the engine in 1948 with a modified cylinder head and separate cylinder (both made from aluminium) and new crankcases, amongst other things, with power up from 1.25hp at 5200rpm to as much as 2hp in the ‘Sport’ version. Known as the Cuccioli T2, it is regarded by many as Ducati’s first engine. A novel feature of all early Cucciolos is overhead valves operated not by pushrods but pullrods. Instead of a pushrod operating directly…

Retrobike|Issue 40

THE ROARING TWENTIES

THE 1920s was a boom time for motorcycles on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, Harley-Davidson and Indian battled for supremacy in a crowded field, ditto Norton and Triumph in the UK. All four had benefited from large orders from the armed forces during the Great War of 1914 to 1918, which provided the platform for popular consumer models during the economic renaissance of the 1920s. Triumph’s early big seller was the flat-tank Model H, like the Norton 16H a 500cc side-valve single built more for reliability than performance. Technical innovations soon followed, like the adoption of chain final drive (in place of leather belts) on the 550cc Triumph Model SD in 1920, and the souped-up 500cc Model R the year after, featuring four overhead valves. The exuberant,…

Retrobike|Issue 40

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke 45-degree V-twin; OHV, two per cylinder; 3.25 x 3.625in for 61 cubic inches (986cc); 7:1 comp; dry sump; chain primary to foot clutch and three-speed hand-shift gearbox; chain final drive; 48hp at 5800rpm CHASSIS/BODYWORK Silver-soldered cast/ tubular steel, diamond-style frame; girder fork; rigid rear; drum brakes; cast aluminium fuel/oil tanks; sprung saddle; weight 240kg (dry) BEST America’s fastest pre-WW2 production motorcycle; rarer than hen’s teeth NOT SO GREAT Rarer than hen’s teeth…

HOMEGROWN HERO

Retrobike|Issue 40

HOMEGROWN HERO

IN THE pioneering days of Australian Superbike racing, no team made more headlines than the Mick Hone Suzuki outfit. In this excerpt from his new book, Slow Burn, Bob Guntrip explains how the outspoken and articulate Hone melded the skills of engineer Alan Pickering with the talents of rider Robbie Phillis into one of the most successful and professional teams in the history of Australian racing. MELBOURNIAN Mick Hone remembers how the strengths of Superbike overcame early difficulties. “Unlike GP racing, in Superbike you could choose from a dozen different bikes and get your bits from a dozen different suppliers, and the guy who made his bike work the best could be very competitive. The riders wanted it, the fans all jumped to the fence when it was happening, but…

Retrobike|Issue 40

MID-SIZE WONDER

HONDA built on the world-changing success of the CB750 Four in 1969 not by going up in capacity but by going down, referencing the success of its small capacity multi-cylindered four-stroke GP racers of the early to mid-1960s. First off the rank was the CB500 in early 1972, like its older sibling a SOHC, two valves per cylinder, inline four making maybe 50hp at 9000rpm to the 750’s 68hp at 8500rpm. But it was around 25kg lighter and physically much smaller, which made it much easier to ride. The bore was stretched from 56mm to 58.5mm on the same 50.6mm stroke with the CB550 released two years later, initially as the conventionally styled CB550K which remained in production until 1978. From 1975 until 1977, a café-styled version, the CB550F Super…

Retrobike|Issue 40

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke boxer twin; OHV, two per cylinder; 94 x 70.6mm for 980cc; 9.5:1 comp; wet sump; 2 x Mikuni 38mm flat-slides; MMM Boxerworks ignition; dry single-plate clutch to five-speed gearbox; shaft final drive; 60hp at 6500rpm (stock) CHASSIS Twin-loop mainframe in tubular steel; fabricated sub-frame; GSX-R750 USD forks in Hyosung triple trees, dual 285mm BMW rotors with Brembo four-pots, laced 18-inch rim; mono-shock swingarm, drum brake laced to 17-inch rim; all fabrication by owner; Pirelli Sport Demon tyres BODYWORK Honda CB900 fuel tank; Suzuki TR750 seat; R65 mudguard; BMW F800 headlight; Daytona Velona speedo-tacho; paint and graphics by owner SPECIAL THANKS Chris Hodges, BM Shop Stafford; Spectre Vehicle Engineering; Ellaspede BEST Creative mix of models and parts; distinctive style; great handling and brakes NOT SO GREAT Not much…

Retrobike|Issue 40

ROB NORTH BSA

I DO have a valid basis for assessing the worth of the Peckett triple, as the former owner of a pair of factory-built Rob North-framed BSA-3s, including the one that I raced in mid-'80s (750cc) World Championship TT Formula 1 rounds at circuits like Assen, Vila Real and the Isle of Man, plus the annual British GP support race at Silverstone. I have to admit it was a combination of bloody-mindedness and patriotism, coupled with appreciation for the triple's talents, that made me the last person ever to race a BSA motorcycle in World Championship competition, and to score points in doing so. But if I'd had the package that today’s RPS Triumph represents at my disposal back then, I'd have had an even more potent start money special for…

Retro STYLE

Retrobike|Issue 40

Retro STYLE

TCX® STREET ACE AIR UPPER: full grain combined with suede inserts. LINING AIR TECH: breathable. REINFORCEMENTS: ankle area, reinforced toe and heel counter. CLOSURE: lacing system. FOOTBED: anatomic and replaceable. SOLE: designed high wear-resistant rubber sole. COLOURS: ANTHRACITE. SIZE RANGE: EU 36 – 48; US 3,5 – 13. $209.95 RRP, linkint.com.au PIRELLIS FOR SMALL-BORES Pirelli’s Diablo Rosso Sport is a cross-ply tyre dedicated to under-bones, small displacement sportsbikes, touring bikes and scooters. With its Supersport-derived tread pattern, high grip in wet and dry conditions, modern profiles and an emphasis on performance over mileage, this could be the performance tyre to try. With scooter sizes starting at just $59.95 and large hoops from $104.95, this is economic high performance. www.pirellimoto.com.au CRUISE CONTROL FOR OLDER BIKES I discovered the joys of cruise…

Six APPEAL

Retrobike|Issue 40

Six APPEAL

“I WANTED TO HAVE THE SOUND AND LOOK OF A HONDA RC 166 RACE BIKE FOR THE ROAD” BUILDING a road-going tribute to any World Championship-winning race bike is diffi cult enough. Using an engine four times as big makes it nigh on impossible. Luckily no-one told Queenslander Tom Dermody and his good mates Nic Comolly and John Boyd. Tom is no stranger to interesting machines, having accumulated over the past 40 years an enviable quiver of road and racing bikes, including a Yamaha YZR500 and TZ250, a Vincent-powered Norton, Suzuki RGB500 and GS1200 and no fewer than four highly collectable Hondas; an RC 30, RC 45, SP1 superbike and a replica of the RS1000 endurance racer. “About eight years ago, a friend of mine, Nic Comolly from Nicom Engineering,…

TWO'S COMPANY

Retrobike|Issue 40

TWO'S COMPANY

WHEN you’re on a good thing, stick to it. So obsessed was Tom Moose with V-twin Yamaha café racers, when his workload as a lawyer in Gydnia, Poland, got in the way of his first attempt at building a custom XV920 as a hobbyist, he chucked in his day job to take up bike building full-time. We liked his style so much that his first custom off the rank graced our cover (‘White Knight’) back in issue #35. It and its black-finished twin featured inside were built in the café racer style, impressive enough given their cruiser Virago roots, but with a healthy dose of street fighter DNA. This time around, Tom has pursued a drag/café mix in his quest to further raise the bar. “I am still in love…

Retrobike|Issue 40

Retro Specs

ENGINE Water-cooled two-stroke 50-degree V4; twin contra-rotating crankshafts with gear-driven balancer; reed-valve induction, with four transfer ports and a single exhaust port; 54 x 54mm for 494cc; 4 x 28mm Mikuni flat-slides; Yamaha CDI ignition; YPVS power-valve exhaust with expansion chambers; gear-driven primary to oil-bath clutch and six-speed cassette gearbox; chain final drive; 100+rwhp at 11,500rpm (est) CHASSIS Aluminium twin-spar mainframe with detachable sub-frame; fully adjustable 43mm USD forks, 2 x 320mm PFM cast-iron rotors with Tokico six-piston calipers on 17 x 3.5in Marchisini alloy wheel; modified GSX-R aluminium swingarm with Öhlins monoshock, single 190mm Yoyodyne titanium rotor with Brembo twin-piston caliper on 17 x 6in Marchisini alloy wheel; Dunlop D207 tyres BODYWORK Carbon-fibre YZR500 fairing, tank and seat; hand-fabricated controls; TZR250 switchgear; Avocet bicycle speedo DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1375mm; dry…

Retro Specs

Retrobike|Issue 40

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke single; OHV (two) operated by pullrods (see breakout); 39 x 40mm for 48cc; 6.25:1 comp; Weber MF14 carburettor with Biltwell Whiskey throttle; magneto/coil ignition; wet sump; two-speed transmission, chain final drive; 1.25hp at 5200rpm (claimed) CHASSIS/BODYWORK Pre-WW2 Iver Johnson bicycle frame; springer fork with hub brake; rigid rear with centre-pull rim brake; custom fuel tank in stainless steel; vintage Ideale seat; leather battery bag by Dane Utech; DENALI headlight; Ducati Monza paint; graphics by Artisimo BEST Style for miles; iconic engine; fuel economy NOT SO GREAT Motorways; long hills…

Retrobike|Issue 40

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke vertical twin, with 360-degree crankshaft; chain-driven SOHC, two valves per cylinder; 75 x 74mm for 653cc; wet sump; 2 x 34mm Mikuni carburettors; Pamco electronic ignition; custom fishtail exhausts; gear primary drive to Heiden clutch and five-speed gearbox; 520 chain final drive; 53hp at 7200rpm (stock) CHASSIS Much modified XS650 Special mainframe; modified P&P girder fork, XS400 TLS drum brake laced to 21 x 1.6in rim; extended swingarm, twin Harley shocks, XS650 SLS drum laced to 21 x 1.6in rim; all fabrication by owner; Pirelli MT43 tyres BODYWORK Custom fuel tank in 1.2mm sheet metal; cut-down aftermarket Harley fenders; vintage Triumph seat; all fabrication by owner; paint and graphics by Two Tones Autorefinish BEST Vintage flat-tank style; 100 per cent shed-built; soulful engine NOT SO GREAT Not…

Indus trial STRENGTH

Retrobike|Issue 40

Indus trial STRENGTH

“IT WAS GOOD FOR 120HP AT 8000RPM, 130HP ON THE LATER FUEL-INJECTED MODELS” RECENT news that Kawasaki Heavy Industries will later this year spin off its motorcycle and engine business into a separate corporate entity is seen by most observers as a good thing. Motorbikes are small beer for the monolithic titan of Japanese heavy engineering, whose main game ranges from building cargo ships and railway locomotives to aircraft, missiles and nuclear power stations. The proposed split will streamline decision making on new models, for example, ensuring that Kawasaki motorcycles will always remain relevant and adaptable to their consumer market in an ever-changing world of two-wheeled technology. The news is not however so great for motorcycle journalists, who’ve been cracking jokes about the parent company’s name since the release of…

Retrobike|Issue 40

LEGENDARY

motorcycle journalist and all-round top bloke Bob Guntrip has published a new book, Slow Burn, which traces the development of modified production bike racing in the decades leading up to the birth of the World Superbike Championship in 1988. The journey starts with Dick Mann’s 1970 Daytona 200 victory on a souped-up Honda Four, moves through the European Formula 750 and TT Formula 1 classes, and open class and Superbike racing in the US, and ends with the riders gridding up for what would become WorldSBK. Australia was a big part of the development of international Superbike racing, with quality fields in the keenly-contested Chesterfield Superbike Series, Shell Series and Victorian Superbike Championship. Riders included Graeme Crosby, Andrew ‘Ajay’ Johnson, Dennis Neill, Wayne Gardner, Mick Cole, Mal Campbell and the…

LEGENDARY

Retrobike|Issue 40

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke inline four; SOHC, two valves per cylinder; 58.5 x 50.6mm for 544cc; 9.0:1 comp; 4 x 22mm Keihin carburettors, with ram tubes; electronic ignition; Delkevic exhaust; chain primary drive to multi-plate clutch and five-speed gearbox; chain final drive; 50hp @ 8500rpm (stock) CHASSIS Double-cradle mainframe in tubular steel; fabricated seat sub-frame; shortened 35mm conventional forks, single 270mm disc brake on re-laced 19in DID rim; twin-shock swingarm, sls drum brake on 18-in DID rim; Coker tyres BODYWORK 1975 CB550K tank; custom seat unit; not much else; lots of chrome BEST Simple, elegant, perfect style and stance; strong engine NOT SO GREAT No instruments or guards…

Good Morning VIETNAM

Retrobike|Issue 40

Good Morning VIETNAM

FIFTY-one years ago I wasn’t keen to go, neither before nor after the letter arrived ordering me to report to the nearest army call-up centre. No, I was just a Kiwi visiting Australia avoiding registering for the ballot in my own country. I was only 18, a long-haired motorcycle-loving hippie who marched in protest like many of my generation, wanting no part in conflict yet ever ready to make love not war. Like, peace, man. I returned to NZ, went in the last ballot there and my number never came up. It was only many years later I learned that my home country had sent no conscripts, only volunteers, to fight in Vietnam. Fast forward to 2017 past 80 more motorbikes, all sorts of jobs and almost 40 years with…

Retrobike|Issue 40

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke inline triple; OHV, two per cylinder; 67 x 70mm for 740cc; 12:1 comp; dry sump; 3 x 33mm Amal Mk1 Concentrics; 12V Lucas Rita CDI; belt-drive primary to dry clutch and five-speed close-ratio gearbox; chain final drive; 55ft/lb at 7000rpm, 84rwhp at 8750rpm (measured) CHASSIS Chrome-moly tubular-steel twin-loop cradle; 35mm Ceriani forks, 2 x twin-piston Lockheed calipers on 254mm cast-iron rotors, laced 2.5 x 18in Akront alloy rim; fabricated steel swingarm with twin Koni shocks, single twin-piston Lockheed caliper on 230mm cast-iron rotor, laced 3.5 x 18in Akront rim; Avon AM22/AM23 tyres DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1435mm; weight 165kg (oil, no fuel) BEST Smooth, fast, great sound; all but unbeatable in Classic F750 racing NOT SO GREAT Ordinary brakes…

ROAD KILL

Retrobike|Issue 40

ROAD KILL

PETE was taking it easy. It was pretty obvious from the odd squirt that his Ducati Monster could have left my old R100LT behind its crackle whenever he felt like it. We were motoring at that lovely limbo where a bloke might have a chance of talking his way out of a ticket as it was. But an 1100 Duke is all lightweight weapon. An old BM LT, even with custom shark-tooth graphics like mine, is like a dual-axle dump truck by comparison. He was in the lead when we left Goulburn and took the road through Crookwell and beyond. It amounted to the first part of a back-road run home for me but was more direct for him. Bloody great road up through Tuena and Trunkey Creek these days…

Retrobike|Issue 40

SHOICHIRO-SAN

WHEN we think of legendary engineers, names like Edward Turner, Phil Irving and Fabio Taglioni spring to mind. Well, here’s another, Shoichiro Irimajiri. A graduate in aeronautical engineering, 24-year-old Irimajiri was tasked in 1964 by Soichiro Honda to build a four-stroke 250 GP bike capable of beating the dominant two-strokes. The solution lay in more revs, and so Irimajiri designed not only a miniaturised inline six, he filled it with double-overhead cams and four tiny valves in each 41cc cylinder to make some 62hp. “We were up against four-cylinder two-strokes built by Yamaha and Suzuki,” Irimajiri recalled at the launch of the CBX1000. “Cylinder multiplication was the only way we could be competitive.” The new engine debuted in mid-1965, but overpowered the existing chassis and wasn’t immediately successful. Hailwood returned…

SHOICHIRO-SAN

Retrobike|Issue 40

Retro Specs

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke 75-degree V-twin; SOHC, two valves per cylinder; 92 x 69.2mm for 920cc; 8.3:1 comp; 2 x 40mm Hitachi carburettors with K&N filters; electronic ignition; custom exhaust; five-speed gearbox with shaft final drive; 65hp @ 6500rpm (stock) CHASSIS Box-section pressed-steel mainframe with engine suspended beneath; Kawasaki ZX6R USD forks, 2 x four-spot Tokico calipers and 310mm wave rotors, 17in cast wheel; triangulated cantilever-style swingarm with Sachs mono-shock, stock Virago drum brake and 16in cast wheel; Metzeler tyres BODYWORK Repositioned fuel tank; custom seat; not much else BEST Style in spades; aggressive stance; adjustable suspension; great brakes; soulful V-twin engine NOT SO GREAT Bold tyre lettering not for all…

PUPPY From small things, big things grow LOVE

Retrobike|Issue 40

PUPPY From small things, big things grow LOVE

DUCATI is one of the most famous and valuable motorcycle brands in the world, but it wasn’t always thus. Established in Bologna, Italy, in 1926 by Antonio Cavalieri Ducati and his sons Adriano, Marcello and Bruno, Società Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati manufactured a range of vacuum tubes and other radio components until the factory was flattened by US bombers in October, 1944. Keen to diversify production when the plant was rebuilt towards the end of 1945, the three Ducati brothers exploited their strengths in precision machining to build under licence a small 48cc four-stroke bicycle clip-on engine known as the Cucciolo, Italian for ‘little puppy’ and named as such for its yapping exhaust note. The Cucciolo was conceived by lawyer and journalist Aldo Farinelli, developed by self-taught engineer Aldo Leoni…

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Retrobike|Issue 40

BACK TO THE FUTURE

QUEENSLANDER Andrew Parcell is a big fan of Yamaha’s venerable SOHC vertical twin, with no less than three custom examples — a café racer, a bobber and a dirt tracker — already sharing space with a couple of Harley-Davidsons in his shed before he embarked on the build before you now. “I’ve customised a few XS650s,” he says. “They are a great platform to start with. I purchased this one two years ago as an unfinished bobber project from Gumtree. It was a basket case, in a very bad state with a lot of things missing, which didn’t matter as I didn’t need or use many original parts. I just made them instead.” Andrew’s initial inspiration came from the flat-tank Triumph motorcycles of a century ago. “I love the style…

Million Dollar BABIES

Retrobike|Issue 40

Million Dollar BABIES

THE Crocker V-twin was to US pre-WW2 motorcycling what HRD-Vincent and Brough Superior V-twins were in the UK. Ultra-expensive, super exclusive and guaranteed that nothing was faster, less than 100 complete Crocker V-twin motorcycles were manufactured — no-one is exactly sure, some say as few as 65 — and who knows how many survive? Not many. Rarely traded, Crockers these days command astronomical sums at auction, up to a million dollars a pop for the ‘Big Tanks’. The four Crockers shown here were owned by an Australian collector, Brendon of 1346 Venice. The three painted bikes have since been sold overseas. The unpainted fourth is an accurate replica built from scratch by local metal magician Jol Marks on the NSW Central Coast. Al Crocker was a university-trained mechanical engineer and…

Retrobike|Issue 40

Retro Specs

ENGINE Liquid-cooled four-stroke inline six; chain-driven DOHC, two valves per cylinder; 62 x 71mm for 1286cc; 9.9:1 comp; wet sump; digital fuel injection; electronic ignition; Hy-Vo chain primary drive to five-speed gearbox; shaft final drive; 130hp at 8000rpm (claimed) CHASSIS Double-cradle mainframe in tubular steel; welded-on seat sub-frame; 41mm conventional forks, twin discs, 18-inch cast wheel; twin-shock swingarm, single disc, 17-inch cast wheel DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 1580mm; dry weight 297kg (327kg wet); seat height 835mm; fuel capacity 27 litres SPECIAL THANKS Wilco Vonk BEST Bigger is better; effortless smooth power; won’t mistake it for anything else NOT SO GREAT Likes a drink…

Lucky THIRTEEN

Retrobike|Issue 40

Lucky THIRTEEN

KYLE Vara is a young self-taught fabrication wizard, engine builder and proprietor of Thirteen and Company, a custom motorcycle workshop in downtown Los Angeles, USA, who first came to international prominence in 2016 with a Honda CB550 café racer dubbed Amber. “THERE’S ALWAYS A PLACE FOR STYLE, STANCE AND DOING THE SIMPLE THINGS WELL” “The goal with Amber was to design a motorcycle that was approachable to any rider,” Kyle told well-regarded Aussie custom bike blog Pipeburn on its release. “We typically like to build edgy race-inspired bikes. But this time we broke that mould, with something that displayed a real balance of maturity, elegance and attitude.” Whatever the motivation, the original build was a huge hit and attracted a flurry of orders, which Kyle wasn’t much interested in filling.…

SHAPE SHIFTER

Retrobike|Issue 40

SHAPE SHIFTER

“I BOUGHT IT IN BOXES, INCOMPLETE AND DISMANTLED DOWN TO ITS LAST NUT AND BOLT” REGULAR readers of Retrobike will know well the work of John Downs, gun studio and location photographer and our hardworking Queensland connection. John is one of our most prolific and talented contributors, whose recent covers include Christian Jentz’s sublime BMW bobber last issue and Garth Allison’s amazing CX500 café racer in issue #33. John has a great knack for finding interesting bikes and an even finer-tuned ability to photograph them, both reflecting his lifelong passion for riding, racing and building motorcycles. We featured back in issue #21 his Norton Atlas/Commando hybrid, a classic racer he scratch-built from the parts bin and later transformed into a stylish and soulful road warrior. He’s been at it ever…

BEST OF BRITISH

Retrobike|Issue 40

BEST OF BRITISH

LAST year’s Goodwood Members Meeting saw a Historic Formula 750 race for bikes built up to 1972 staged for the first time at the Duke of Richmond’s springtime race meeting held on his fast, spectacular 3.81km circuit in the heart of the Sussex countryside (Thunder Ground, Retrobike #35). With a preponderance of BSA and Triumph triples in the field, it was no surprise that two of these finished first and second — but both were RPS-framed Triumphs, not the better-known Rob North specials forced to fill out the minor placings. “TWO THINGS YOU NOTICE IMMEDIATELY ARE THE ABSENCE OF VIBRATION, AND ITS APPETITE FOR REVS” Reigning CRMC F750 champion Graham Higlett was first on the bike owned by Paul Bowling, with Andy Hornby close behind. RPS stands for Richard Peckett…

Retrobike|Issue 40

CRASH HELMET CROONER

THOUGH I am not given to paranoia about governments snooping into our private lives, let it be known here and now that as far as I am concerned, what you do within the privacy of your own crash helmet is your own damn business. Me, sometimes I like to sing. That said, few other people who have heard me sing like to hear me sing. As an act of mercy towards all my friends (and complete strangers), I have never been to a karaoke bar. “Helmets are wonderfully solitary places. I like them that way” I’m not a bathroom shower singer, either. I’m just a crash helmet crooner, and my repertoire ranges far, wide and badly. Now I don’t sing inside my crash helmet all the time, just when the…

CRASH HELMET CROONER