Buying Guide

Yamaha FZ750 You’ve got to feel sorry for Yamaha sometimes. Their timing is terrible. So many times they launch a good bike and it gets aced by the opposition. Okay, so there are exceptions (350LC, R1, etc) but the FZ750 is only now reaping the appreciation it deserved when it was brand new. When it…

Continue reading »

Yamaha FS1-E 50cc Who'd have ever thought that a moped could become one of the ultimate symbols of teenage rebellion? Back in the late 60s the UK government was becoming increasingly alarmed at the growing tide of motorcycle injuries suffered by young, inexperienced riders on 250cc machines. Once the reserve of old Brit plodders like…

Continue reading »

Kawasaki 750H2B The 1969 Kawasaki 500H1 Mach III triple was the first motorcycle of its kind. It was cheap to manufacture, stylish and brash, and delivered performance unfettered by any concerns of economy or tractability. Capable of a 12.3 second standing quarter right out of the crate it had brakes that were, at best, adequate;…

Continue reading »

Suzuki RE5M Suzuki launched its radical rotary engined RE5 at the Tokyo Show in Autumn of 1973 and appeared to be leading the rotary revolution. The company obtained a rotary licence from NSU in 1970, and had set a team of engineers to work on a prototype that was initially named the RX-5, standing for…

Continue reading »

Yamaha’s RD400 – great performance and usability Someone once said: “when the green flag drops the boasting stops,” and this month we’re reviewing a machine that unarguably eradicates 99.99% of all known BS. In terms of mid-1970s middleweights Yamaha’s RD400 was, in the eyes of contemporary road testers, top dog in terms performance, handling, usability…

Continue reading »

Honda CB250 – you meet the nicest people on a Honda, etc… By 1967 Honda’s, by now almost legendary, CB72 could trace its ancestry back a decade. Although a phenomenal machine, its profit margins are believed to have been low. Honda decided to produce a more conventional, and therefore cost effective, machine that was less…

Continue reading »

Honda CB900F If ever a bike has lived in the shadow of another it’s the Honda CB900F. When the CB900 was launched in 1979 the press, and public alike, had their attention firmly fixed on the headline grabbing six-cylinder CBX1000. 31 years later it’s still the CBX that is the bike most fans of big…

Continue reading »

1984 Kawasaki GPZ900R In the development of the motorcycle there have always been radical ideas that have changed the way we see, perceive and ultimately buy our latest motorised bicycle. The universal adoption of the diamond pattern frame in the pioneer days, the move from side to overhead valve, rear suspension, twin then multiple cylinders…

Continue reading »

Tiny trailie Suzuki TC90J The chance to ride certain machines doesn’t come up very often. Some are pampered  restorations but some are just plain rare. And when the owner tells you he doesn’t mind you getting the bike dirty and then points you to a prime piece of unfettered trail bike territory it’d be churlish…

Continue reading »

Motobecane 350 The search started about two years ago when I decided to run a ‘Wanted’ ad in Perth’s free advertising newspaper. I had a suspicion that a 350 Motobecane existed locally as I already had a 125LT twin that was among 14 others imported to Western Australia in 1974-75. Rumour had it that a…

Continue reading »