Features

Honda RC30 and Yamaha 0W01 – both very potent There’s a bloke in the office downstairs from CMM who’s just got permission from his wife to use some of their savings to buy three classic motorcycles. A Ducati 888, a 996SPS and an MV F4. Now this bloke is no mug. He’s got three beautiful…

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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…

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Kawasaki was long lived It’s generally agreed that Japanese motorcycle engines have a short shelf life, if not short fuses. Few are produced for more than five years without being updated or replaced, and even Honda’s original CB750 barely lasted a decade before being superseded. So any Japanese machine with a design that has lasted…

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Yamaha YDS3 If the bike in camera this month looks a little old fashioned that’s only because it is. The YDS3 was the machine which brought Yamaha to thepublic’s attention in Britain. It was late 1964 and the timing could not have been better for Yamaha’s sales and marketing team coming hot on the heels…

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Kawasaki 250 S1 The 250 S1 hit the ground running in early 1972, hot on the heels of the larger 350 S2. The triple took over from the technologically more advanced and sophisticated 250 Samurai which had featured disc valves and, by default, a piggy-back ignition set up behind the pots. Intent on displaying the…

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Honda’s GB500TT offers British styling and performance without the price tag Bwooaarr, first, bwooaarr, second, bwooaarr, third. Etc, etc. It doesn’t take long to use all the gears on Honda’s GB500TT, and like most big singles it runs out of revs before you run out of expectation. The surprising thing about this one though is…

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Yamaha RD400 This 1976 Yamaha RD400C arrived last Christmas as a non-runner, missing a few bits and looking very rough. After some fettling over the next couple of months, it was fit enough to ride in the early spring. The engine seems to be a good ’un; running clean and pulling hard. After covering 1000…

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Yamaha RD350LC The greatest thing about the restoration of classic motorcycles is that you can now recreate precisely almost any machine that you once loved. Almost like meeting again that girlfriend who triggered the lust of youth only to go off to university, to be lost forever. This is all very fine, except when you…

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This green Yamaha XS1 is an American machine imported into UK In 1968 British industry finally launched the Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket 3 only to be aced less than a year later by Honda's seminal CB750/4. Set against this background an upstart firm that had made its mark with two-strokes launched an all out…

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Don’t fear a starter motor overhaul Picture the scene. A lovely spring morning, dry roads and blue skies. You wheel the bike out of the garage, don helmet and gloves, turn the ignition key and press the starter button. And, instead of the anticipated growl from the engine, all you get is a frustrating ‘click’…

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