Features

Suzuki Katana When the Suzuki Katana was first shown at the Cologne exhibition in 1980, it was generally dismissed as a styling exercise. Yes, it was stunning, but the Japanese would never produce a bike like that really. Would they? Yes, they would. A year later the Katana was on the roads. Well, two Katanas…

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Yamaha YDS1 20 1959 Yamaha YDS1 The grand-daddy of them all – Yamaha and Japan’s first out-and-out 250cc two stroke sports road bike. Its impact on the road was mirrored on the track. Yamaha’s over-the-counter twins have been the mainstay of 250cc and 350cc road racing for nearly 40 years and they all go back…

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Harley-Davidson X90 If you're a regular at the classic motorcycle shows, you may recall seeing a young lad charging around the edges of the field on a tiny Harley-Davidson X90 mini-bike. The bike belongs to Mick Hall and his son, Jack. Mick has a lifelong passion for bikes of all varieties, and young Jack's interest…

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Kawasaki Z400 rebuild A colleague had his arm twisted for a Scrapheap Challenge-type project and had earmarked a distressed Kawasaki 440 engine as the project’s powerplant. Could I look over the engine for him? You bet! The engine had previously been removed from the donor bike and was of unknown history. When I finally got…

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Kawasaki Z400 engine rebuild I had already stripped Steve’s Kawasaki 400 twin engine into its component parts and now it’s time to take a good look around the bits to see what needs to be replaced for the rebuild. Ringing Z-Power for some advice about gaskets and parts availability gave me something of a surprise,…

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Kawasaki Z1 It's not often I get the opportunity to delve deep into the heart of the King of Motorcycles, but when this scarce 1972 Z1 turned up at our workshops in a cloud of oil smoke, I relished the prospect of giving it a thorough mechanical overhaul, particularly as it was such a lightly…

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Kawasaki Z1 engine rebuild Second instalment of Rod Gibson's Kawasaki Z1 engine rebuild. Captions are reproduced in full below but for step-by-step captions and images, visit the image gallery. Image gallery captions Picture one: Last month I left the engine in big lumps, now it’s time to dismantle all the component parts for a through…

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Kawasaki Z1 engine rebuild Third and final part of Rod Gibson's Kawasaki Z1 engine rebuild. Captions are reproduced in full below but for step-by-step captions and images, visit the image gallery. Picture one: Last month I fitted the crank, input shaft and clutch basket into the upper crankcase half. Before joining the cases I’m refitting…

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Honda CB125T Bought a couple of years back to replace her tired CG125, the little Superdream had come with a history of problems and mishaps. Despite being roadworthy and carrying a full MoT, the bike smoked like a two stroke and slurped copious quantities of oil during the brief time she’d ridden it before admitting…

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Honda CB125 valves Below are the captions in full. Click on the image gallery and scroll through the pic strip for pictorial reference and captions. Picture one: First of all I’ve opted to remove the valves from the cylinder head. My valve spring compressor has had two metal strips welded into the jaws to fit…

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