Features

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…

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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;…

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Adjusting carb throttles Assuming you run a Japanese four cylinder motor you will almost certainly have four carbs, one for each pot. When you  open the throttle you need all four carbs to respond at the same time so each cylinder gets the same amount of fuel and works with its neighbours. In real life…

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Kawasaki H1 500 Kawasaki first proposed a 500cc two stroke triple in the late 1960s, when Japanese manufacturers were making a concerted effort to cater for American tastes in particular. In the US, acceleration was what sold bikes (and cars, for that matter). The 350 Avenger twin was already as fast as most British 650s…

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Moto Guzzi Le Mans Mk2 Hard to believe now perhaps, but Moto Guzzi was for a long time Italy’s numero uno manufacturer of motorcycles. Although the glory has faded over the last decade or two, business was booming in the second half of the Seventies. The 1975 launch of the Le Mans 850 was probably…

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Harley-Davidson Evolution engine The Harley-Davidson Evolution engine is entirely new only from its base gaskets up, though the crankcase does contain significant refinement. What are the changes and their purposes? First, an engine's operating temperature is the balance between the heat the engine generates and the ability of its cooling system to reject that heat.…

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Harley-Davidson FXDS It all started back in 1971. Harley had the big FLH Electra Glide and the little XL Sportster, but nothing in between. In a moment of inspiration, Willie G Davidson stripped the panniers off a 1200 Electra Glide and bolted a skinny Sportster front end to it, and invented a new range of…

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1980 Harley-Davidson Electra-Glide Classic Although Harley has flourished more recently, back in the Seventies the situation was far less rosy. Just as happened in Britain, once the Japanese started to make large capacity bikes, America’s only remaining large-scale manufacturer found it increasingly hard to compete. Not that they even tried, it could be said. Having…

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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…

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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…

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