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Yamaha XT500 engine reassembly The Yamaha XT500 was a Classic Mechanics project bike, which was broken down into at least six parts. To things manageable we've focused on the engine assembly. For full step-by-step imagery visit the image gallery. Picture one: Last month I sorted out all the engine bits and fitted new main bearings…

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Ron Haslam profile (pdf) To this day, Ron Haslam, who endeared himself to British fans during a racing career of over 25 years, can't remember whether it was late in 1971 or early in 1972 when he lined up for his first race at Cadwell Park. He does, however, confess that the debut race outing…

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Kawasaki KX-7R Back then we rode 600s or 750s and dreamed of a big GSX-R, even though we couldn’t master what we had. 20 years on our dream machines are cheap as chips. Abused, neglected, saggy shadows of their former selves. Japanese engineering means that they’ll still do 150mph, of course – but the wobbles…

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Yamaha RD twin test And their image wasn’t the slightest bit tarnished by their close familial ties with Yamaha’s production racers. Not for nothing were Yamaha’s road twins appended by the prefix RD, meaning race developed. The RD series replaced the 250cc YDS7 and 350cc YR5 and came with a much tidier engine layout using…

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Suzuki GT500 In the space of just 10 years, spanning the 60-70s, Suzuki’s T500 twin turned evolution on its head. What was launched as the hottest high-performance two-stroke twin on the block ended up as a mild-mannered tourer. The bike appeared at the beginning of one of the most dramatic periods of motorcycle development. The…

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Eighties icon: Honda CBR600 Honda's engineers had to learn the hard way that the combination of performance, flexibility and nimble handling that has become their byword had to be developed both on the road and the track, and at the right price. By the middle of the 80s, the Japanese factories had reached a plateau…

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Suzuki GT750 engine’s back… Rod's now getting within touching distance of finishing our overhaul. Still a lot to be done, but the engin'es now in place… Step-by-step images and captions can be viewed in the image gallery. View Suzuki GT750: part one View Suzuki GT750: part two View Suzuki GT750: part four Captions Picture one:…

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Kawasaki Z650 When Ben Inamura and his team gave the world the Z1 it was a spectacular delivery. If you remember that period of the 70s, the very sight of a Z1 was like a punch between the eyes by George Foreman. The world of biking had changed overnight. Well it did if you were…

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Suzuki GSX-R750RR Honda’s CB900F was a bike built as the basis for an AMA super bike racer. And the CB1100R that followed in 1981 was so special that its runaway race success was boring. But it was the RC30 that changed everything. Honda built one bike to race in F1, World Superbikes and endurance. One street legal bike that could…

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Suzuki GT750 workshop rebuild Step-by-step images and captions are available in the image gallery. View Suzuki GT750: part one View Suzuki GT750: part three View Suzuki GT750: part four Picture one: First I'm going to finish mounting the forks, then I can get the wheels fitted. Like many Japanese bikes of the period, the GT750…

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