Classic Motorcycle Mechanics
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics
This is the magazine dedicated to the buying, riding and rebuilding of the later classics and Japanese machines. Subscribe here.
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In this edition of Show Us Yours, take a look at Mick’s Kawasaki Z900 Hybrid. Want to see your pride and joy in our magazine, on our website and on our social media pages, fill in the form here>>
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Words/Pictures by Steve Cooper Once in a while there’s a need to tight a nut or bolt on something that’s small, fragile or mounted on a surface that’s easily damaged. If you’re not careful the fixing ends up either not sufficiently tight or the surrounding material gets marked. Even worse you over tighten then snap…
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In an earlier edition of Q&A Lee was asking how to restore the yellowing plastic of the petrol tank on his TY250. I had a similar issue with the expansion tank on my CX500 restoration. I ‘borrowed’ some bleach from under the kitchen sink, made up a fairly strong solution with water and immersed the…
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Q: I have installed a racing exhaust on my W650, which is pretty much a set of empty pipes/silencers, but did not re-jet (I wasn’t interested in the supposedly four extra bhp it was said to provide). It’s LOUD, and the backfiring was wild at first, but 3500 miles / 5500kms or so later, it’s…
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Q: Hello! My son is living in the USA and he is in the middle of fixing up his 1984 ZX750 GPz A12 American spec. He wants to know the torque setting for the bolts holding the drive chain sprocket on the rear wheel. He has set them at 29 ft-lbs, but is unsure if that…
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Words/Pictures by Steve Cooper We’ve all been there; the painter or powdercoater forget to mask a thread. Taps and dies are good on smaller threads but what about larger ones? What if you’ve already fitted key parts and access is limited? Fill the back of any holes or spaces with clean rag and add masking…
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Q: My bike was involved in a crash and came down on the right hand (timing cover) side. All the electronic ignition pick-ups have been replaced by a previous owner with parts from a GS1000. I am not sure whether the black box was also replaced to match. The bike starts fine, but will not rev-out…
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In the October 2015 edition of CMM a chap called Rob Neal wrote about high-temperature paint for his CX500 well, I have a similar vintage CBX1000 and have used VHT silver spray paint to good effect on several of the casings and it looks great despite not being applied by a professional. While in the…
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Words/Pictures by Steve Cooper Dropping a fixing into a bike is a pain with ages spent crawling around to no avail. Rather than waste time stand back, take a deep breath and then put something cushioning under the bike. Often just taking the bike the stand will cause the screw, washer etc. to plop onto…
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Q: Can you tell me how to tell if a nut or bolt is usable or not. I think I over-torqued a bolt/acorn nut combination due to using a cheap torque wrench which didn’t click. Note to self: cheap tools cause more problems than they solve. Tommy G, USA A: It has often occurred to…
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