WHAT’S INSIDE - Florida · 23 Plates on a Honda CB750K1 ODDS & ENDS: The 2014 VJMC Freebie Four Award Winners PROJECT BIKE: 1968 Honda 450K1: the end of an era 26 MAINTENANCE &

Volume 36 / Number 1FEBRUARY / MARCH 2015 • $5

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE VINTAGE JAPANESE MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF NORTH AMERICA, INC.

15th Annual Florida Christmas Ride

Yamaha MF1 Mono-Shock Marvel

The Honda 450K1: End of an Era

WHAT’S INSIDE:

2014

VINTAGE JAPANESE MOTORCYCLE MAGAZINE 3

PRESIDENT’S LETTER: Riding into 2015 ...................................................................................5

BACK IN THE DAY:Honda CL450 / Wes Martin ............................................................. 12

FROM THE EDITOR: Request from Abroad ....................................................................... 13

RIDING SAFETY: Three Keys to Riding Safely.............................................................. 49

TECH HELP: Tech Tip #6: Regulators .................................................................... 53

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX ............................................................... 55

ADVERTISER’S SPOTLIGHT:It’s Not Just About Paint: Marbles Motors ................................... 55

EVENTS CORNER ......................................................................... 57

CLASSIFIEDS .................................................................................. 59

DEPARTMENTS

ON THE COVER Bikes parked for the show at the Florida State Rally at Silver Springs State Park

Volume 36 / Number 1FEBRUARY / MARCH 2015 • $5

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE VINTAGE JAPANESE MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF NORTH AMERICA, INC.

15th Annual Florida Christmas Ride

Yamaha MF1 Mono-Shock Marvel

The Honda 450K1: End of an Era

WHAT’S INSIDE:

2014

cover photo:Michael Fitterling

2014Florida StateRally

COVER STORY

38

IN THIS ISSUE

FEATURES

HISTORY:Yamaha MF1Mono-Shock Marvel6EVENTS:3rd AnnualKCVJMC Fall Picnic14PROJECT BIKE:I Have an Oil Tankerin My Garage18MAINTENANCE & RESTORATION:Refurbishing Tachometer and Speedometer Face Plates on a Honda CB750K123ODDS & ENDS:The 2014 VJMC Freebie Four Award Winners

PROJECT BIKE:1968 Honda 450K1: the end of an era

26

MAINTENANCE & RESTORATION:Taking Your Japanese Motorcycle from Fair to Show Bike Condition!34

MEMBER PROFILE:KCVJMC Honors Longtime Member:robert blakesley31

HISTORY:The Honda S90:beauty is in the eye of the beholder42EVENTS:15th AnnualVJMC Florida Christmas Ride46

PROJECT BIKE:Motorcycle Grandpa

33

★25


Official Publication of the VJMCFEBRUARY / MARCH 2015

Volume 36, Number 1Current VJMC Enrollment: 3853

PRESIDENTTom Kolenko

[email protected]

EDITORMichael Fitterling

[email protected]

DESIGN DIRECTORNadine G. [email protected]

CLASSIFIED ADSGary Gadd

[email protected]

DISPLAY AD DIRECTORGuido Cardillo404-587-0190

[email protected]

AD SALES REPRESENTATIVEArt Snow

[email protected]

MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORBill Granade

[email protected]

CHANGE OF ADDRESSPlease direct these requests to Bill Granade: [email protected]

ADDITIONAL COPIESIn order to minimize unnecessary expens-es to the club, VJMC prints a limited number of each issue of Vintage Japanese Motorcy-cle Magazine. However, we would be glad to accommodate any requests for additional copies from members. These requests must be submitted before the 15th of the month preceding each issue. For ex-ample: for the Feb/Mar issue requests must be received by January 15.

MISSION STATEMENT:The purpose of this organization is to promote the preservation, restoration, and enjoyment of vintage Japanese motorcycles (defined here as those 20 years old or older). The VJMC also will promote the sport of motorcycling and camera-derie of motorcyclists everywhere.

© 2015 Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club of North America, an IRS-approved Not-for-prof-it 501(c)(7) corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted without permission. All articles copyright by their respective authors.

Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Magazine is pub-lished six times per year, in February, April, June, August, October, and December. The views and opinions expressed in letters or other content are those of the author and do not necessarily represent VJMC policy. The VJMC accepts no lia-bility for any loss, damage, or claims occuring as a result of advice given in this publication or for claims made by advertisers of products or ser-vices in this publication.

Riding Into 2015

It’s time to make your 2015 riding plans now. I know it’s a bit early for some of you in snow country, but get the calendar out

and lock down the fun. The VJMC plans to ramp up our event schedule and grow the good times. Each year we are contacted by more organizations and venues that want to partner with the VJMC on events. We evaluate each opportunity against the focus of this club and interests of our members. As a volunteer-based club, we recognize it takes boots on the ground to make these

events work. We have declined opportunities where we felt our volunteer base was not there, or the event didn’t embrace vintage Japanese motorcyclists’ interests.

Our Field Representative program is being updated to encourage maximum en-gagement throughout North America at the local level. We have some remarkable Field Reps that have grown the VJMC membership locally. They have created annual events, partnerships with dealerships for shows, and regular meet-ups. We want to encourage and support members who want to take on a VJMC leadership role in their areas. If you are interested in promoting and creating good times, go to the website and download a Field Rep application and nondisclosure form to submit for consideration. We have recently added Steve Ligon (Bastrop, Texas), Murray Milne (Pompano Beach, FL ), Obis Brea (West Palm Beach, FL), and Rob Wiest (Bear, DE) to the Field Rep ranks. Welcome aboard!

Sometimes it takes a close friend to point out the obvious. I learned this over lunch with a long time industry expert. Our VJMC members are “influence leaders” when it comes to all types and forms of motorcycling. You are often experienced riders, veterans of many motorcycle purchases, part time mechanics or know who is, and are passionate representatives of the two wheeled experience. The fact that you often have multiple motorcycles, years of riding experience, and still enjoy the toys of your youth confers some “expert” standing in the community.

Don’t squander this social capital. Build the ranks of riders of vintage Japanese iron by taking the time to help others. Welcome the newbies, regardless of what they ride, direct folks to part sources like our great advertisers, help them get their bikes running, and invite them to VJMC events. All Japanese bikes will eventually qualify as vintage, just like their owners. We have even created a class at many of our local bike shows called “Future Classics.” It’s a way of welcoming the future of this club.

Finally, an explanation for our increased reliance on online event pre-registration. As we have grown, the coordination requirements to hold events with 75-200 mem-bers has grown exponentially. We have to reserve facilities, plan lodging, arrange tasty meals, buy sufficient trophies, pre-order T-shirts, and plan rides for many par-ticipants. Since we rely on volunteers, this makes the ability to front load for success-ful events doable. Please plan to use online registration for all our events so equipped in the year ahead. Pete Slatcoff has given this club this capability to make events scalable. This has freed our volunteer workers to also participate in the activities, instead of being stuck at some registration table for eight hours. The email notifica-tions when event registration opens should jump start your planning in 2015.

Sadly, one of our long time members, Max Hartman, a regular at the Barber Vin-tage Festival has passed. Our prayers go out to his family.

Ride safe,

Tom KolenkoVJMC President

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

6 FEBRUARY / MARCH 2015

Mono-ShockMarvel

Mono-ShockMono-ShockMono-ShockMono-ShockMono-ShockMarvelMarvelMarvel

Mono-ShockMono-ShockMono-ShockMarvelMarvelMarvelMarvel

VintAgE JApAnEsE MotoRCYClE MAgAzinE 7

by Geoffrey Ellis

Was the 1960 50cc MF1 step-through Yamaha’s first mono-shock motor cycle?In the “Wanted” ads in this magazine, President Thomas Kolenko

is looking for parts to restore his Yamaha MF1, but many members may ask, ”What is an MF1?”

Yamaha was a late arrival on the Japanese motorcycle scene, but, unlike their competition, including Honda and Suzuki, Yamaha did not start by producing bicycles with motors. Being more ambitious, they commenced production with the YA1 125cc copy of a DKW. In 1958, Yamaha was sixth in market share but was missing the real sales area in the home market, being motor scooters and 50cc capacity motorcycles. Realising this, Yamaha asked the design company, GK Design, to submit a proposal which resulted in a 50cc step-through—the MF1, obviously inspired by the success of the Honda Cub. GK Design is part of the Mitsui economic group, along with Yamaha and Toyota, and has designed the majority of the Yamaha range from 1955 until the present.

To give Yamaha the competitive edge, something different was required, so the MF1 was designed as a luxury step-through, where the Honda and Suzuki were more utilitarian. This proved to be a wise decision as Yamaha’s production doubled on the release of the MF1 and SC1 scooter in 1960, taking them to third in market share. Japanese sales were so strong for the MF1 that when dealers knew their motorcycles would be ready for dispatch, they would drive to the fac-tory the night before bringing cash with them and sleep in their trucks so they could collect their MF1s as soon as possible. On returning to their dealership, customers would be waiting cash-in-hand to take delivery. Yamaha had two MF1 production lines that could not keep up with demand.

Typical of many motorcycles of the time, the MF1 frame was a bulky, pressed-metal assembly. The fuel tank was located up high, on the head stem just behind the handlebars, and encased within the pressed-metal frame, with the battery for the electric start under the seat. Front forks were pressed-metal of a bicycle-type design. The motor was a standard piston port induction two-stroke with a bore and stroke of 40 x 40mm and a three speed transmission and manual clutch. Both an electric and kick start were fitted, as was the “largest tail light fitted on any step through,” to quote the sales brochure of the time. To give it a “delightfully modern air,” a two-tone color scheme of Amylac Yamaha grey and light grey was used. A single seat was fitted as standard, but a dual seat was listed as optional.

In 1960, less than three percent of Japan’s roads were sealed, so, to obtain a smooth ride, long travel suspension was required, which was not possible with the conventional suspension systems of the time. For the same reason, mono-shock suspensions were first fitted to motocross bikes for long suspension travel, and a mono-shock derivative was fitted to the MF1. Sales brochures boasted that the MF1 had twice the suspension travel of competitors. For rear suspension, an Eligo unit was used, which was manufactured under license by the Sumitomo Electric Manufacturing Company. This consisted of a coil spring encased within a large rubber block, with the rubber functioning as a spring/damper and also ensuring the coil spring did not bow under load. At 85mm diameter by 88mm


HISTORY

Two-stroke motor

Neidhart front suspension and bolt


long, it was located very close to the swinging arm pivot. The upper was bolted to a pivot and attached to the frame, with the lower attached to the swinging arm by forcing it into a fitting.

The front suspension was leading link but, again, to give a long travel suspension, unconventional Neidhart units were fitted to each fork leg. The Neidhart unit was patented by Swiss inventor Herman J. Neidhart in 1947 as an elas-tic joint but was soon converted to automotive suspension. Again, this was rubber-based, but, unlike other units that put the rubber in torsion, the Neidhart unit put the rub-ber in compression. Consisting of a square outer housing as part of the leading link and a square inner block rotated 45 degrees and attached to the front fork, shaped rubber blocks were inserted into the corner spaces and compressed as the link moved. By shaping the inner square a progressive sus-pension was created.

Both the SC1 scooter and the MF1 were exceptional sales success stories, but, unfortunately, Yamaha had not done suf-ficient testing. The MF1 frame cracked around the steering head due to Japan’s rough roads, and the SC1 had been de-signed for a 125cc motor but a 175cc motor was fitted as a last minute change, which overloaded the automatic transmis-sion, causing it to fail. To retain brand name and save face, Yamaha undertook a huge warranty program on both models that nearly forced them out of business. Fortunately, Yamaha was so respected that sales were only marginally affected and were back on a rapid increase eighteen months later.

There is no evidence of the steering head problems in this country, maybe because roads were smoother. The popular-ity of the MF1 did not follow it into export markets, with the bike being heavy and underpowered, but this was not the main problem. Yamaha specifications quoted the tire size as 20 x 2.50, which would normally translate to a 20 inch rim. However, the 20 inch size referred to the outside diameter of the tire, with the rims being a very non-standard size of 15.3 inches, so the standard 16 inch tires of the day were too large and not suitable. Yamaha had used a one-off tire and rim size unique to this bike, and replacement tires were not imported. When owners wished to replace their tires for the first time, both rims and tires had to be replaced with standard 16 inch rims and tires. This feature has become a problem for MF1 restorers world-wide.

Although giving a very smooth ride, the MF1 was under-powered, and the MF2, released in 1962, was very different, having a new, lighter frame with conventional rear suspen-sion and a more powerful rotary valve two-stroke motor. The Neidhart front suspension continued and was also fitted to the 55cc “Omaha” and “Riverside” models. This unique rubber suspension disappeared on release of the MF3.

If success can be gauged by others copying the MF1, then it was very successful, as Kawasaki’s first step-through, the Pet M5 of 1961, was a very close copy, even incorporating the mono-shock rear suspension and the Neidhart front suspension. l

YAMAHA MF1 SPECIFICATIONS

Engine SingLe CyLinder Two-STrokeType 50CC PISTON PORT INDUCTIONStarting system ELECTRIC OR KICK STARTFuel 20 GAS TO 1 OILOutput 3.5 hp @ 8000 rpMWeight 65KGSpeed 43 Mph (CLAiMed)Fuel Consumption 240 MiLeS per gALLon (CLAiMed)

ABOVE: The bent lever

is the kickstart.

RIGHT: Notice the fuel cap behind the handle-bars, the large tail

light, and the fuel tap protruding through

the leg shield.



Honda CL450

My photo is of me fresh from Vietnam on my 1969 Hon-

da CL450, modified a bit to fit the style of the day. I was twenty at the time of the photo. l

by Wes Martin

BACK IN THE DAY


In 2014, I had the good fortune to take part in many of our events and it’s

been another fun year with the VJMC. As I write this, the year is ending, and I am looking forward to another great year of riding, bike shows, and fellow-ship in 2015 with my fellow members. I hope the new year brings you all joy and success (and more vintage bikes, of course)!

I recently received a note from some intrepid fellow VJMC members, Hans-Peter Engel and Volker Wolff, from Germany who are putting to-gether a book on the 1962 Honda CUBY engine and its accessories. They need our help. See an excerpt from their email below.

I have received a lot of nice feedback on our last cover. It was chosen with the thought that the image reflected the core passion of our club, that of passing along the love of vintage Japa-nese motorcycles to a new generation. I failed to mention that Holly Granade was the one who pointed out the op-portunity to get that shot. Thanks Holly!

Also, regarding last issue’s cover image, perhaps I should have used “one of our oldest members” in the caption, instead of “oldest.” Thanks, Robbie Benson, for setting the record straight. Apparently there are a few other members who surpass Jim in the age department. (But we’re still going to tease you, Jim!) l

by Michael Fitterling / [email protected]

Request from Abroad

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT:Stamped engine caseVJMC members Hans-Peter and VolkerCUBY motor on wooden display mountSheet metal display mountAssembly Kit contentsAssembly Kit box cover

FROM THE EDITOR

Dear VJMC,...we will disassemble all parts, reassemble all, and show that in words and pic-

tures in the book. We also intend to show the engine and the accessories in action on a DVD, which will be included with every book. We want to offer the book first in German, then in English. To do this would not be the most difficult thing for us, but what we really need is background information about the motor.

Who knows something about the 800 CUBY engines delivered to the USA? Did they carry stamped numbers from 001-800 on the bottom of the crankcase like the one we have? What about the Assembly Kits? What is with the wooden beds that were provided to mount the motor for display? The five CUBY engines which were delivered to Germany had only special sheet metal display mounts. Do any engines with a type “A” carburetor exist in the US? We only know of the type “B.”

Anyone who knows anything about the CUBY engines, please contact us. We are aware that fifty years after the manufacture of these engines it is very difficult to find information about them. We believe the time has come to collect all the knowledge in a book—better late than never, before all this is forgotten and no one can remember anymore. Please write to: Hans-Peter Engel at [email protected] or Volker Wolff at [email protected]

Thanks to all and all the best to everyone from Germany.



KCVJMC FALL PICNIC



The weather could not have been bet-ter, and we used the same location as last year so most riders knew where to go. Many showed up a little earlier than last year, and, by the end of the meet, the crowd was just slightly larger than last year’s event. We had a sidecar group show up, led by a new VJMC mem-ber, Bill Brown. Bill joined the club at our VJMC regional event held several months ago. Bill also has a great collec-tion of motorcycles and scooters, many of which are vintage Japanese machines. Although some of the bikes which were present were new, we did have an im-pressive number of vintage Japanese motorcycles, as well. There were also a few who brought bikes in on trailers.

As with most of our events, I am al-ready waiting for next year’s picnic. John Bender is currently working on a spring “cruise in,” that, hopefully, we can get planned! This was our last 2014 event, so we will begin planning our events for 2015 at our next general meet-ing. Keep in touch with our activities at www.kcvjmc.org l

Several years ago, a member of our club, John Bender, along with sev-

eral others in the club thought it would be great to have a picnic at a local scenic lake. Our first year was a great deal of fun and was well-attended. Members of other local clubs also attended, and every year we have had more visitors. This year, we invited members from three other clubs, and a few from each joined us. More than anything else, it was a time to see old friends, talk motor-cycles, show off our bikes, or just come for the fun. We chose to hold our sched-uled monthly meeting at the event. In the meeting, we made VJMC member-ships available, and we signed up three new members. We are a Missouri club located close to the Kansas/Missouri border and have seen more new Kansas residents than Missouri residents join the VJMC in the past few months. We have had VJMC members from over 120 miles away join us at this event, because we are the closest vintage Japanese club around. Through their attendance, we have forged a number of new relation-ships.

We served hot dogs, brats, pota-to chips, and a variety of deserts that people chose to bring. Others brought chilled drinks. For the vintage motorcy-clist this is a feast. Food, friends, a little bragging, and people coming and go-ing throughout the day made for a fun event. We always fear that we may have a lack of food, but every year we have plenty of food left.

What is nice about this event is that there is little planning required. A mem-ber rents the park facility, others chip in on the food costs, someone else makes a poster, and as a club we all promote the event. John normally waits until later in the year to announce the date, and after that, there is just the anticipation!

by Mark Bayer, President KCVJMC, Kansas/Missouri Field Rep / [email protected]

The weather could not have been bet

EVENTS



by Jack Stein

PROJECT BIKE

This last spring, I ran into a fellow VJMC member at a motorcycle

swap meet. The member told me that he had retired and was selling several of his bikes. He told me he had a 1961 Honda in his shed that he might con-sider selling. I was intrigued, since it is so rare to find any model of a 1961 Honda.

A few days later, I found myself standing next to the shed looking at a very nice, all original, early model Benly CA 95. The bike started quick-ly, smoked a little, and rode nicely. A quick negotiating followed, and then I was loading the Benly on my trail-er. After I got the bike home, I did an evaluation and determined I had pur-chased a very complete and rare mo-torcycle. The 1961 model CA 95 was produced in small numbers compared to the 1962-1965 CA 95s. I found infor-mation showing that less than a thou-sand 1961 CA 95s were manufactured for the US market. The bike has several unique features, such as flat-side muf-flers, very small tail light, and unique mirrors and shock mounts on the rear. The VIN on the engine is two digits.

I decided to not restore the bike, but keep it as original as possible. I need-ed a set of tires and a new battery to start riding. After about a month, I ran into a problem with the fuel petcock.

All the parts are still available, but it is not easy to get the leaking stopped. After some help from VJMC member TJ Jackson, the petcock was operating and not leaking. However, my affection to the little twin caused me to overlook an annoying problem: the bike leaked oil badly; it left a big puddle when parked. I discovered that if I parked the bike on the center stand it leaked a little less. My son would quickly place a piece of old plywood board under the bike when I placed it on the stand. TJ

I Have an

in My Garagein My Garagein My Garage



referred to it as “The Exxon Valdez” as it had leaked in his garage, too.

I decided to remove the left side cover and see what the cause of the leak was. Quickly after getting the cover off, I noticed the seal on the clutch push rod was not sealing, then an inspection of the shift shaft seal and the counter shaft showed all the seals were leaking badly. The counter shaft seal and the clutch push rod seal were easy to remove using just a small screw driver. The shift shaft seal was not so easy getting out. I found a drywall screw with a sharp tip and screwed it into the seal, it then pulled out easily. The fifty year old seals were so hardened they appeared to be made of Phenolic; they had also shrunk. While I had the bike apart I drained the oil to do a refresh.

The seals for the bike were easy to find. The clutch push rod and the shifter seal were available from my local Honda shop, Western Honda. The parts guys at Western are very willing to help find parts for old bikes and their custom-er service is top level. The counter shaft seal was no longer available, but the part number was. I took the part number for the seal and typed it into the Google search box. Imme-diately, two Honda shops popped up that had the seal in inventory. I ordered the part from a shop in Nevada, and it arrived in two days via US Postal Service.

Then came the hardest part of the job—cleaning all the oil soaked parts. I used a stainless steel tub I had and mixed up a parts washing solution. The solution worked well but couldn’t remove the hard clumps of dried oil mixed with sand particles. For that, I used lacquer thinner and a paint brush, soaking the screws in thinner overnight. Everything cleaned up nicely. I discovered some of the holes for the cov-er screws had problems with their threads. A bottoming tap was used to clean the threads out. (Be sure to put grease in the flutes of the tap, so the pieces of metal will come out with the tap.) I then sprayed brake cleaner in all the case screw holes to remove metal scraps and any oil or grease that may have been present.

After comparing the new seals to the old seals for accu-racy, I started to install. I greased the inside lip of the seals to make sure they didn’t get damaged on engine start up, when oil may not have made it to the seals yet. When in-stalling the seals I used washers that had the same size hole and a slightly larger outside circumference. I carefully start-ed pushing in the seals with my thumbs to be sure the seal was not cocked in the hole. Once the seals meet resistance, I again checked to see that they were square to the bore of the hole. Then I placed the washer over the seal, placed a pipe on the washer, and tapped with a small hammer until the seal bottomed in its bore. Then everything went back on—the engine side covers, the foot peg support, the shifter, and the muffler. I measured out the correct amount of new oil and filled the crank case. I used straight 30 weight Rotella oil that is available at Wal-Mart.

A test ride revealed everything was working well. The Exxon Valdez has left my garage! l



Refurbishing Tachometer and Speedometer Face Plates on a Honda CB750K1

In October of 2010, I acquired a 1971 Honda CB750K1 from a relative who

had stopped riding motorcycles and had put the bike in storage with no more preparation than removing the battery. The last license plate tag on it was from 1989, so I estimate that it sat unused for over twenty years. I know that the engine ran when it was stored, but the general condition of the Honda was pretty poor.

Of the many things I did in order to get the bike back on the road was to re-furbish the tachometer and the speed-ometer face plates. BEFORE is of the instruments as found in 2010. Note the crazing and fading of the face plates, which I assume is the result of time and the extremes of temperature while in a metal storage shed for years.

I began by disconnecting the speed-ometer and tachometer cables, and the wiring. Then I unclamped the instru-ments from the bike. Both units have sealed cases, which need to be opened by carefully prying the metal retain-ing rings in order to get to the face plates to remove them. The process is not particularly difficult, but you do need to be patient and work slowly. A complete step-by-step procedure can be found online at http://www.salocal.com/sohc/tech/speedo/spedo1.htm

To remove the needles, use a plastic fork or a finger on either side of the needles to gently lever them up and off. Remove the two small screws hold-ing the face plates in order to remove them.

I then took the two face plates and

by Bill Bawn / [email protected]

placed them face down on the bed of a color scanner, from which I could scan them full-size and directly email the resulting file to my computer without having to print it. That file (IMAGE A shown on the following page) I then emailed to my son, Ian, who removed the crazing and restored the color us-ing Photoshop software. He made me one set in the original green color and, at my request, he made me a second set with black dial faces. He then emailed the files back to me as seen in IMAGES B & C. (Shown on the following page.)

Using a color laser printer I printed

the refurbished face plates on clear Xe-rox Dual Purpose Cover Stock/Trans-parency #3R4174 sheets. An Olfa 18 mm rotary blade circle cutter was used to cut out the three and one-half inch face plates, and hollow point punches from a Harbor Freight Tools 9-Piece Set #3838 were used to punch out the hole for the needle stalk and the holes for the mounting screws. Since the face plates are printed on clear stock, it’s not necessary to punch out the indicating light holes or to cut out the odometer and the trip odometer rectangles.

Reassemble the gauges by aligning

author’s note: Although the subject motorcycle of this article is a Honda, I believe the technique described should be adaptable to almost any brand in a similar condition. Also, this refurbishing process requires that you or a cooperative friend has access to a scanner and color laser printer and someone skilled with Photoshop or similar software.

BEFORE:Speedometer/tachometer as-found

AFTER:The refurbished speedometer/tachometer

MAINTENACE & RESTORATION


the new face plates over the original ones and install the screws to hold them in place. There was no need to glue them on. Carefully position the needles to zero and press them back on.

When I reassembled the cases, I didn’t try to re-crimp the metal retaining rings, as suggested in the link above. Instead I cut two “rubber bands” from an old motorcycle tube approximately one-half inch in width and stretched one over each original seal. By doing that, I won’t have to pry things open again should I need to get back inside either instrument. I found that apply-ing a liberal amount of Armour All to the rubber bands will assist in slipping them into position.

AFTER (previous page) shows the final result, with the tachometer and speed-ometer re-installed on the Honda.

You should note that having violated the original metal case seals, you may also have disturbed the seal of the face plate glass. Consequently, avoid getting the instruments wet! l

IMAGE A:Scan of as-found face plates removed

IMAGE B:Refurbished face plates in green

IMAGE C:Refurbished face plates in black


ODDS & ENDS

The 2014 VJMC Freebie Four Award Winners

It is with great pleasure and an equal amount of pride that we wish to con-

gratulate you for your wonderful efforts to gain new members into the rolls of the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club. Because of your hard work in signing up four or more new VJMC members in 2014 you have earned yourself one free year of membership in the VJMC.

You have placed yourself among the few who have attained this achieve-ment and the National Board of Direc-tors is very pleased with your personal commitment to this club. Thank you so much for your hard work. l

Best regards,The VJMC Board of Directors

by Bill Granade, Membership Director / [email protected]

Congrats to our Winners!Jeff AndersonMark Bayer Ray BaylessBryan BentleyKen CarlsonSean CarriganDon CecconiFrank CooperNorm FelgerJohn FiorinoSteve Gauding

Gary GirardGreg GoliasBill GranadeBill GrayKenny HainesDavid HellardRichard HolmanJohnny JacksonJerry JerrardAmbrose KnobelTom Kolenko

Randy MayesWarren MayesBill McclennenMike MontagueMatt MrdezaChuck Murray Kent MyersButch PownellGary RhodesMark RidgewayLarry Rossi

Mike RunnelsJoe SchabelSteve SearlesAndrew ShipmanPete SlatcoffNorm SmithFrank SovenoJack Stein Jim TownsendClaude Vaughn


Dale Richardson completed this beauty in record time.

The End of an Era

19681968196819681968

The End of an EraThe End of an EraK1

The End of an EraThe End of an EraThe End of an EraThe End of an EraK1K1

The End of an EraThe End of an EraThe End of an EraThe End of an Era

VintAgE JApAnEsE MotoRCYClE MAgAzinE 27


RESTORATION NOTES

• The k1 had only 8,000 miles on the clock.

• The seat was recovered by Steve gowing, Tailored Motorcycle Creations, in Fort Collins, Colorado (www.SteveGowing.com).

• Chrome was provided by VJMC advertiser Brown’s Plating in Paducah, Kentucky.

• The head was rebuilt by a machine shop in California years ago.

• The tires were replaced with duros (Dale went one size larger than stock).

• The barrels were bored at greeley Automotive Machine in Greeley, Colorado.

• The tank and side covers were painted the original Honda color, Candy Red, by American Auto Body in Greeley, Colorado.

• i dug through my parts stash and provided a headlight bucket, gray cables, some tachometers for parts, and a genuine 1968 CB450K1 Owner’s Manual.


PROJECT BIKE

My phone rang shortly after o’dark thirty on a Tuesday morning;

it was my buddy Dale Richardson. He asked me if I saw the 1968 Honda CB450K1 for sale on Craigslist. Bare-ly awake and at work, I quickly found the bike online, and it was a low mile-age Candy Red beauty. The K1 was ad-vertised that it suffered a broken cam chain, and the pictures showed the en-gine out of the bike and taken apart. The K1 looked great; the parts had to be worth more than the asking price. Dale drove up to Steamboat Springs, Colora-do, and bought the bike from the origi-nal owner’s family. The following week-end, I was at his house to see his latest find. “What do you plan to do with the bike?” I inquired. “I plan to restore it,” was his reply. With that, we started to make a list of parts it needed. The bike was very nice and in original shape but the plastic headlight bucket was shat-tered, the tachometer was broken, and it needed some new cables and tires—not to mention an engine rebuild.

The restoration of the K1 went amaz-ingly well and, for the most part, trouble free. The most difficult part was putting an engine back together after someone else took it apart years ago. To make the restoration even harder, included with the motorcycle were two 450cc engines that had been partially disassembled and the parts mixed together. The Hon-da Shop Manual was not very clear on how it went back together and how to align all the timing marks. Dale spent plenty of time researching the engine overhaul and talking with people famil-iar with the complex engine. The engine was bored .020 over, the head was pre-viously rebuilt, and a new timing chain installed. Dale, who has the energy of a five year old child, completed the res-toration in record time. He bought the K1 on August 7, 2014, and called it com-

plete on Monday, September 29, 2014—a mere eight weeks. (Haven’t we waited on seat restorations and painted parts lon-ger than that?)

This is the bike that replaced the Honda Black Bomber than was produced from 1965 to 1967. The 5-speed CB450K1 was sold in the US in 1968 and into 1969, when the CB450K2 was introduced. The K1 was an altogether more attractive and contemporary-looking model. The re-styled tank was introduced in response to initial negative public reception of the “bomber” tank. The K1’s new styling was also intended help publicize the fact that this was truly a new machine, with many engineering improvements.

The K1 tank sported a chrome panel on the fuel tank like the other CB models previous to 1969. The Honda CB450K1 marked the end of an era for the chrome panel bikes. BMW tried chrome tank panels in 1972 with the R50, R60, and R75 models and a disappointed public referred to them as “Toaster Tanks.” More recently, the all-new 2015 Ducati Scrambler sports a chrome panel tank of sorts. Of course, the end of an era be-gins anew with the mid-year 1969 Hon-da CB450K2 with painted tanks similar to the CB750 introduced in the same year. Everyone remembers how well the CB750 was received. l

by Robert Kelly / [email protected]

ABOVE:The engine looks like a polished jewel.

LEFT: The CB450 arrives at Dale’s house as a roller (no engine).

CENTER: The front wheel was steam-cleaned and the old, yellowed clear coat just melted away.

OPPOSITE:The restoration is in full swing.


MEMBER PROFILE

I was checking to see how many active VJMC members we had in Kansas and Missouri several months ago by viewing the VJMC Field Representatives pag-

es. Our club has seen significant growth in the past several years, and I was wanting to count the actual, active VJMC numbers in our area. Kansas City is about half Kansas and about half Missouri, divided by State Line Road, so we have many members from each state. As I was counting members, I noticed that one of our active members, Robert Blakesley, had VJMC membership num-ber 66. His membership would most likely go back to the late 1970s. I contact-ed Bill Granade, the VJMC Membership Director and Board Member, and he confirmed that an individual’s membership number did indicate, numerically, when they joined the club. In fact, Robert is currently the seventh longest term member of the VJMC nationally. Robert is the longest Kansas VJMC member, as well. Bill Granade was not able to confirm when Robert initially joined the VJMC, however, with such a low number, it was during the early years of the club.

Robert has been riding motorcycles since the late 1960s. He bought a 1968 H-D Sportster but owned it for just a short time. He replaced that bike with a Honda CL77 Scrambler, which he enjoyed riding off road. He added a second 305 Scrambler to his collection for more aggressive dirt riding, which had a 350 kit and racing cam. He enjoyed off road riding and rode a number of other bikes, including a 1972 Maico 501. In the 1970s, he purchased a number of addi-tional 305 series Hondas, including a Super Hawk, additional Scramblers, and a Dream. He also purchased various late ,60s Honda parts and still has at least six engines, several frames, and a mixture of other Honda parts. Most parts are for the CB/CL77 series motorcycles. In 2005, he purchased a beautiful 1976 Italian Laverda one litre triple, which was added to his collection of motorcycles. Rob-ert also has a very rare and fully restored 1953 Buick Skylark convertible, which has been a show winner in the local car shows.

Of all his bikes, Robert has a soft spot for his 1967 Honda 305 Super Hawk and his 1967 305 Scrambler. He also has a 305 Super Hawk-based café racer current-ly under construction. His blue, fully restored Super Hawk took second place at the Barber Vintage Festival several years ago. It was also displayed at the Kansas City HoAME vintage motorcycle show in 2013, where it received special recog-nition. The bike was also a ribbon winner at the KCVJMC Spring Show & Swap Meet in 2014. His Super Hawk has a 337cc kit, Harmon Collins cam, drag bars similar to early Super Hawks, and an older-type reverse speedometer from an older CB77. His ribbon-winning 305 Scrambler was displayed at the KCVJMC All Japanese Show in July of 2014 and was a big hit. I, personally, spent a lot of time admiring the bike! Robert likes his trio of Honda CBs and CL because of their reliability, looks, and that they are fun to ride, as well.

Robert can’t remember when he heard that there was a VJMC club in Kansas City but surmises that he found out through one of our f liers, which we posted for an event several years ago. He states that there have been no VJMC clubs in this area, except for an attempt to start a club in a local township a little more than a decade ago. When he saw our f lier, he got excited because he had been a VJMC member for approximately thirty years. He maintained his member-

LEFT TO RIGHT: Author, Mark Bayer, Robert, and KDVJMC chapter Vice President, Frank Sereno, on the right

Robert’s trio of 305s

by Mark Bayer, President KCVJMC, Kansas/Missouri Field Rep/ [email protected]

KCVJMC Honors Longtime Member: Robert Blakesley


ship all those years because of the great articles in the magazine, as a great re-source for parts, and to be connected to the vintage Japanese motorcycle community. He really enjoys attend-ing our meetings and events, and often shows one of his bikes. And Robert, we are still waiting for the unveiling of your café racer! As a club, we appre-ciate Robert as a genuine enthusiast of Japanese bikes and as an active mem-ber. Thank you for your involvement!

KCVJMC considers its official mem-bers to be VJMC members, however we have an open club policy allowing anyone interested to participate at any level they want in the club. Our club has also worked closely with the other major motorcycle clubs in our area. We work with and support the activities of the Santa Fe Trails Vintage Motor-cycle Club (affiliated with the AMCA), the Heart of America Motorcycle En-thusiasts Club, and VCME (Cowtown Rockers), a group which does an an-nual “Mods vs Rockers” event in this

area. KCVJMC gave Robert an award at our fall picnic on September 28 for his years of membership and active partic-ipation. Robert has been active in some of the clubs listed above, as well.

This article has been primarily about Robert and his decades as a VJMC member. What a great record of in-volvement in the national club! The VJMC is a great club, has supported significant events all around the coun-try, has been a strong supporter of our local KCVJMC club, and is building an active community of vintage Japanese motorcycle enthusiasts. Join up if you haven’t yet become a member of the VJMC. We have had some members’ wives give a membership to their hus-bands! For sure, continue maintaining your membership if you are currently a member. Look for an event in your area and make plans to attend and sup-port it. We have seen people come to our events from farther distances every year. This is a great trend we want to see continue. l

Inside his shop

His archive of vintage VJMC newsletters


This adventure started when my son-in-law brought me a 1970 Honda QA50 to try to get running for my oldest grandson. I had never worked on one of these

before but thought I’d give it a try. I cleaned the tank and carb and got it running, but it wouldn’t shift, so I decided to take the motor apart and see what I could do. At that point, I decided to clean, paint, polish, and restore it for my oldest grand-son, Deacon, since he was only three years old and he couldn’t even sit on it and touch the ground for a few more years. After rebuilding the motor, which I had apart more than once, and installing new tires, cables, paint, etc., I had a lot of fun searching for parts and working on the QA, and I thought it looked pretty good when I was done.

After doing the first restoring of the QA, while searching for parts and research-ing the early QAs, I fell in love with the two-speed, plastic fender, no lights, hub braked little Honda QA bikes. The QAs came in three colors: Scarlet Red, Gypsy Yellow, and Sprout Green. Since I had two more grandsons by then, I thought I would search for two more QAs, one in Sprout Green and one in Gypsy Yellow, for my other two grandsons.

I found a green one on Craigslist. It was a non-running, rough-condition bike with a bunch of parts missing. Since the QAs are hard to find, you don’t have many choices from which to pick, so I bought it and started working on the 1970 Sprout Green QA for my second oldest grandson, Sawyer. Next, I stripped it down piece by piece and made a list of parts I needed to restore it to showroom condition. Then the cleaning, polishing, painting, motor rebuilding, and fun started. After a lot of searching, polishing, and painting, I finally had QA number two done!

Next, it was on to searching for a Gypsy Yellow QA for my third grandson, Crew. I finally found one on Craigslist that belonged to a gentlemen that had it since he was a child. His dad had painted his name on the tank. Going through the same process I had used to restore the other two QAs, the only major problems with this bike were that the tank was rusted through and the fender was cracked, so it was a lot easier to restore.

By the time I got the yellow QA done, I had another grandson, Tristen, so I thought I would try to find a 1970 Z50 to restore for him. I searched again on Craigslist and found a Z50K2 basket-case. The search for parts for this model was easier because they sold more of them in the ,70s.

As I was building all these bikes, I also had a granddaughter, Kaylee, that was older than all my grandsons. She was riding a Yamaha PW50 and wanted a vintage mini-bike, also, so I asked her what she wanted. She told me that all she wanted was that it was pink with glitter so, of course, I had to find a Z50 for her and paint it pink with glitter. I found a 1970 Z50K1 frame and custom built a bike piece by piece for her. So, now that I had built this bike for my oldest granddaughter, I had another granddaughter, Ryann, who said she would take the pink/glitter after Kaylee’s done with it, but I think I will have another build in the future.

While I was working on these bikes, a gentlemen approached me at church be-cause he know I worked on the mini Hondas and said he had a green CT70 that had been sitting in his barn for years, and he was wondering if I was interested in it. To my delight, it was a 1970 CT70H four-speed. I had always wanted one of these, so I got to try my hand at restoring a CT70.

This is how I got to be known as the Motorcycle Grandpa to my grandkids. l

by Jerry Haasevoort / [email protected]

PROJECT BIKE

Motorcycle Grandpa


A new gauge nacelle trim piece was ordered but came damaged. A new two-part trim piece had to be designed to look like the original and pieced together then installed.

1

Many parts looked new after disassembly, doing some gentle cleaning, then reassembly: original is better in most cases.

Many parts looked new after disassembly,

2

The fork bearing races were open and bearings were held by grease only. Each bearing had to be removed independently. Re-assembly after thorough cleaning, also included new grease holding the bearings in place.

he fork bearing races were open and bearings

3

Get your gaskets, seals, new cables, and other needed parts before you begin. You will always find something you missed and will have to wait for new parts to arrive. Many old Japanese parts are still available through dealers.

4

Most old Japanese bikes require carb cleaning and often new rubber seals. When they are apart is the most convenient time to have the work done.

Most old Japanese bikes require carb cleaning

5

Changing fork seals is essential for most rebuilds. I had to get each seal from a different source although most are easy to find.

Changing fork seals is essential for most

6

Removing the cam set screw must be done to remove the camshaft. Care must be taken not to drop small parts into the engine.

7

Loosening the valve springs is necessary to re-move the camshaft which is needed to remove the head for more extensive work. Correct re-adjusting is important after re-assembly.

Loosening the valve springs is necessary to re

8

Every cable must be clearly marked and tagged.The better you identify them prior to disas-sembly, the easier it will be to put it all back together.

Every cable must be clearly marked and tagged.

9

When replacing the headlamp cowl, getting the cables out, then back inside the new one can be a problem.

10

Assessing necessary work, protecting paint and fragile pieces, laying out parts where they can be found weeks later, is all very important.

Assessing necessary work, protecting paint and

11

The work can sometimes feel overwhelming. After it’s done you will be glad you did it. Here James is contemplating his next move.

he work can sometimes feel overwhelming.

12


At motorcycle shows and events or in the local newspaper, Craig’s

list, or in a neighbor’s garage, it is not uncommon to find old Japanese bikes for sale at affordable prices. Often these motorcycles are in fairly good condi-tion; they just have cleanable surface dirt; minor damage like a dented tank, a badly torn seat, a missing side pan-el; or have a few critical parts missing. Occasionally I have found a bike in fairly good overall condition but with a major issue, such as a stuck engine or damage from a minor wreck. These bikes may also be good candidates for starting a restoration, but require much greater attention as to what parts are needed in order to repair and restore the machine. Many times, these bikes offer a great start for an inexpensive semi-re-build or restoration. I am not talking about bikes which have been sitting out-doors for over twenty years, bikes miss-ing engines, bikes covered with rust, altered frame bikes, or bikes with se-vere visual and/or mechanical damage. Be very careful about buying any bike which does not come with a clear title. Unless you know the laws in your state about how to re-title the machine, these bikes would probably be best used as parts bikes. Additionally, understand that to insure a vehicle or license one for street use, most states require a title. When you are finished with your ma-chine, it is imperative that the bike will be able to be operated safely, legally, and is also insurable! This is why motorcy-cles without titles are often very inex-pensive yet cannot find buyers.

This article is about how to take a run-ning, fairly clean, basically complete old Japanese motorcycle from a rough ride to a show-worthy machine. This is also a plan which will help you to take a bike which will only bring a mini-

by Mark Bayer / [email protected]

mum price to one which will be much easier to sell. For this article, I took my 1978 CB400A (automatic), which was a nice looking, running motorcycle and transformed it from its unrestored state into a show-worthy bike which looks as though it is just a few steps away from being new!

Before beginning a restoration, the bike should be carefully inspected, and a list of needed parts should be made. Mechanical parts related to the engine, transmission, and clutch should be the starting point. Secondly, suspension parts like fork seals, brake parts, rear springs, and tires should be reviewed. Fork bearings should always be re-packed. Thirdly, electrical wires, lights, switches, and any wiring problem spots should be inspected. Next, cables should be checked and will usually need re-placement. Finally, paint, trim, decals, and any body work should be noted. Understand that as the restoration is in progress there will almost always be new items that crop up which need at-tention. Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Magazine is a good starting point for se-lecting and ordering parts. Many people have found that quite a lot of older parts are still available through the original manufacturers, and these parts are of-ten the best fit.

Before doing anything, buy a service manual from the manufacturer or from a company like Clymer Service Man-uals. Often these manuals can be pur-chased at a lower price from a resource like Amazon, AbeBooks, or other used-book dealers. New books are usually in the twenty-five to thirty-five dollar range. Next, make a list of all the parts which you plan on replacing. Then be-gin looking for the parts and ordering them. As stated before, OEM parts are usually better and often cost little more.

Also, look for a good resource person for direction or advice. The person doesn’t have to be in your city, just an enthusi-ast who is interested in your restoration. Look on the Internet for a group which includes or specializes in your mod-el of bike. Call the VJMC Field Repre-sentative in your region and ask if they know of someone who is familiar with your model of bike. Finally, if a person or group cannot be found, most proce-dures can be done with only minimal mechanical knowledge.

Once you have your service manual and parts have been ordered, prepare a place where you can begin your work. Understand that the work may take time, so you don’t want to pick a place which is a high traffic area. You also don’t want a place where animals will be running through, allowing parts to be moved.

If you don’t have a motorcycle lift, you will want to construct a simple stand that will allow the bike to remain sta-ble as you remove parts. Make sure the stand will hold at least double the weight of the machine with stability. Even with a stand of any kind, you will want to have several support straps holding the machine in a stable position. Never be-gin work on a motorcycle which is not safely secured and supported!

Before putting the motorcycle in the position in which is going to be worked on, place a plastic sheet (like an old

The finished beauty

Taking Your Japanese Motorcycle from Fair to Show Bike Condition!

MAINTENACE & RESTORATION


shower curtain or two) under the work area, so if nuts and bolts fall, they will not be lost.

Once the motorcycle is secure and sta-ble, the tear down can begin. I suggest that you take pictures of the process so that, when you re-assemble the bike, you will have pictures with which to guide the rebuild. Note especially where cables go so that you don’t have to backtrack in order to find the correct placement of cables or wires. Items like the seat, tank, side panels, and other external items will be the starting point. Repairs which will likely take the longest, such as dent removal, painting, or ordering and in-stalling decals, should be done early.

Here are some ideas regarding the tank and side covers:• Make sure to clean the inside of your tank. Here is a good starting point (there are many Internet resources available): www.doityourself.com/stry/5-tips-for-cleaning-motorcycle-fuel-tanks.• For dents, consider using an automo-tive dent removal service.

• For paint touch up, here are several ideas: A. Look for used car detailing service companies; they often have hun-dreds of paint samples and will have something close enough. B. Some body shops have a person who can match paints in small quantities. C. Go to an automotive paint company (ones who service dealerships and private repair shops); they will have thousands of color variations, and most will make a small batch of your color. D. When stock col-ors are close, often an overspray will be close enough to cover a damaged area.• Many sign companies can duplicate tank and trim patches. My various patches were re-created for $3, $5, and $45 each and were top-notch.• Tank and side cover decals are readily available for most vintage bikes and are usually not that expensive ($50-$100 a set); check the VJMC magazine for vendors.

Once disassembled and as you wait for other parts, paint, trim, chrome, and seat cover needs can be addressed.

Because these needs can often take the longest, you need to begin the resto-ration of these parts first. Engine, car-buretor, and other mechanical needs would be next on the list. These areas are also easiest to get to when other parts have been removed. In a sense, you should plan on working from the inside out: engine, other mechanical items, bearings, cables, wires, breaks, forks, then the external items like the tank, side covers, trim items, and, finally, wheels, tires, and brakes.

Have your resources available so that as you need unexpected parts or get into

The old decal was removed and a new one was made and installed. The old decal was removed and a new one was

13


areas with which you are not familiar, progress will not be slowed.

With my CB400, external parts were removed, new fork seals were installed, the fork bearing re-packed, and cables were removed. I took the tank and side panels to an automotive paint and body company (Liberty Auto Body in Liberty, Missouri). A number of chrome parts were taken to a plating company, where it was determined that the parts could be polished rather than re-chromed. As parts came in (clutch cable, brake cable, both throttle cables, and new engine gaskets) these areas were serviced. One part came in incorrectly and had to be re-ordered, which took additional time. The gaskets came in from two different sources. As the motorcycle was further dissembled, time was taken to clean ar-eas which could not be accessed when the bike was assembled. Wheels were removed and cleaned. The Comstar wheels cleaned up so well that there was no reason for re-painting. The primary work took about three weeks, and a final

RESOURCES USED

• vintage motorcycle repair Kansas City area 816-489-6063• liberty auto body River Bend, Missouri 816-257-7494• acme brass & plating Kansas City area 816-471-1002• vital signs Blue Springs, Missouri 816-220-0642• western hills honda Cincinnati, Ohio 513-662-7759

week was needed to secure hard-to-find parts. One original Honda OEM trim piece was ordered from a dealer sever-al states away, but when it was received, it was bent, cut, and not usable. Honda dealers have an internal stock/order sys-tem to find vintage parts still stocked by dealers; check out this avenue first in that these are usually original vintage or newly manufactured OEM parts.

A local motorcycle mechanic and re-storer, James Herr, was a big part of this restoration. He was good because he is an enthusiast, as well as a mechanic. James specializes in first edition Honda CB750s. He is active in the local vintage Japanese motorcycle community, and his activities can be tracked on his web site: www.vcme.9f.com. Those who love the old bikes should always be the best choice over those who do it as a busi-ness only.

Taking a bike from fair condition to show condition is not as big a challenge as many might think. It also may not cost nearly as much as you think. My

semi-restoration cost around six hun-dred dollars. Getting started is the first decision. My CB400A now looks like it could be on a showroom floor. It’s not perfect, but it looks really great. A num-ber of people who were familiar with the bike before the work have remarked that the bike looks almost new. The work was well worth the time and money, but what’s really nice is having people say, “Wow, that looks like a new bike!” l



2014

Rest stop during Saturday’s ride


FLORIDA RALLY WINNERS

BEST OF SHOW JOHN CHAVES1971 SUZUKI T500

MERIT AWARDMURRAY MILNE1978 YAMAHA XS750 TRIPLE

Z-Man aWaRDRODNEY TREDO1967 HONDA CL 90

HONDA1ST PLACERODNEY TREDO1967 HONDA CL 90

2ND PLACENICK KRUPA1966 HONDA CL77

YAMAHA1ST PLACENORTON MUZZONE1972 YAMAHA XS2

2ND PLACEPETER SLATCOFF1973 YAMAHA TX750

KAWASAKI1ST PLACEDAVID SHOLTEN1975 KAWASAKI H2 750

SUZUKI1ST PLACEROB SCHROEDER1983 GS450 GA

COMPETITION/OFFROAD1ST PLACESTEVE GAUDING1977 YAMAHA YZ80 FT

2ND PLACEOBIS BREA1985 HONDA XL350

CAFÉ RACER1ST PLACE MARY ALICE BEHRENS1961 HONDA CB92

UNRESTORED/SURVIVOR1ST PLACENICK KRUPA1982 KAWASAKI GPZ550

SPECIAL/CUSTOM1ST PLACEKEN WOGMAN1975 HONDA GOLDWING

LEFT:A trio of XSs at the bike show

RIGHT:Fat Boys’ BBQ

at the hotel

RIGHT:Mary Alice

with her award

BELOW:Lunch on Saturday’s ride at the Yearling

ABOVE:A bike show winner rides

up to receive his award.

RIGHT:The Yearling

Restuarant at Cross Creek

LEFT: Members’ bikes lined up at the hotel


Friday morning was chilly as I fired up my CB350 and headed north toward

Silver Springs. It was sunny and I ex-pected the chill would soon dissipate as the day progressed. I arrived at the Hol-iday Inn Express in Silver Springs before noon in only slightly higher temps. Still, the sun was shining and I enjoyed the feeling of warmth that not moving on a bike provided.

As members started arriving, we met in the hotel and made plans to have lunch together at a nearby restaurant. We nine early arrivals enjoyed barbecue and ban-ter at Fat Boy’s then filed back outside to take in a quick ride in the area.

By then it was mid-afternoon and the chill was almost forgotten as we head-ed out for a visit to a fellow member’s shop. Earl’s is both a motorcycle shop and salvage yard where scattered inside and outside, behind the shop in rows of heaps of chrome and metal four feet high with narrow paths between, and in the house next door were just about any make, model, and year of vintage motor-cycle and parts imaginable.

Just up the road was RideNow, the lo-cal Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda, Victory, KTM, and Triumph dealership, where we spent a little time looking over new models before heading back to the ho-tel and getting ready for the ice breaker dinner.

LaRocco’s provided a delicious array of Italian foods for our enjoyment while the crowd of members got reacquainted with old friends and made new ones. After dinner, we nervously watched the television as the weather forecast for the upcoming days was offered. Nice and sunny and…39 degrees on Saturday morning! I knew I should have packed those chaps and wore something other than my perforated riding gloves.

At dawn the forecaster was proven cor-

rect and we set off from the State Park for the hotel in the promised 39 degrees. That didn’t dampen our spirits, and we joined the rest of our members for breakfast and waited for the appointed time for departure on the morning ride, hoping by then a slight reduction in the chill.

By kickstands-up time it was still brisk, but temps had moved up a degree or two. The cold didn’t deter many, and we left the parking lot in a group of about four-teen vintage motorcycles. We wound our way through the back roads of the Ocala National Forest and over the high bridge at the Oklawaha River, after which we took a much needed break while frozen fingers thawed. After some hot coffee and some time in the sun, we headed north and west to the thin isthmus be-tween Orange Lake and Lochloosa Lake, arriving at The Yearling Restaurant, just around the bend from Marjorie Kin-nan Rawlings Historic State Park. The restaurant was the epitome of rustic charm, augmented by a trio of musicians in our room playing folk music.

Lunch took us longer than anticipat-ed, so we rushed back towards the park, where many of the bikes on the ride were to also be in the bike show. The ride back was shorter than the ride out, so all ar-rived in time to join the others already on hand for the show. Over a dozen bikes were displayed under the trees at Spring Mill. By about five, winners were an-nounced and awards presented.

With the falling temperatures in mind, we moved the “picnic” over to the ho-tel’s meeting room for a meal from Fat Boy’s comprised of chicken, pork, cole-slaw, potato salad, baked beans, and, of course, three types of BBQ sauce. We lingered over our meals caught up in stories of motorcycles and the warmth of each other’s company. By eleven, we

had all headed back to our rooms, in anticipation of a last breakfast together and the threat of another cold ride.

In the morning, when I went out to wipe down my bike and found frost cov-ering the saddle, it was 36 degrees. We rode over to the hotel hoping that by the time breakfast was over the sun would have warmed the air at least a little. By then, most had decided to not ride and, instead, get an early start for home. We said our good-byes to our friends as four of us hardy souls mounted up anyway for one last run through the forest to end a great weekend of bikes, rides, and fellowship. l


COVER STORY

Hardy riders get ready to leave on the frigid

Sunday morning ride.

Bikes awaiting judging at Silver Springs State Park


late ,60s and early ,70s, when I was in high school, owning a motorcycle and riding it to school was the greatest feel-ing in the world. For many of us who rode buses and bicycles and worked minimum wage jobs in those high school years, these Hondas gave us the opportunity to gain that freedom and independence we strived for at a reason-able price. The beauty was in the eye of the beholder.

It was the summer of 1970 and be-tween my junior and senior years in high school. I had just passed my driv-er’s test and was ready to roll. I had a part-time job working two hours after school, three nights a week, setting up tables and chairs and doing janitori-al work. I was getting paid $1.60 an hour. Each day, I would ride the bus to school and hang out with my friends, some of whom owned Hondas. Three had Honda S90s, and one cool guy had a CB160, which was painted royal blue. The CB160 had a custom pleated blue seat and straight pipes. It also had two

An unbiased, objective individual can evaluate a small displacement

Japanese motorcycle from any one or more of distinctly different viewpoints. For example, he or she may view a Hon-da 50 as a simple and small “cheap,” “step-thru” motorcycle built many years ago in mass quantities. Another objec-tive person, perhaps with a bit more knowledge on the subject, would view the same motorcycle as a uniquely en-gineered masterpiece, which is aesthet-ically pleasing to the eye and provides surprising performance and durability for its size and cost.

Many of us hold a sincere apprecia-tion of these and other classic motor-cycles simply because they happened to be front and center at a very impres-sionable time in our lives. These small displacement motorcycles provided the first step toward achieving individuality and freedom for many of us. A lot of us who were not blessed with deep pockets looked to these machines for that first venture into independence. Back in the

carbs and two cylinders and sounded awesome. Every day day at lunch break, these guys would fire up the Hondas and follow each other in circles around the parking lot. I was determined to buy a Honda and join in the fun in time for my senior year.

I saved my wages, being determined to buy either a Honda 50 or the preferred Honda S90, because it was a sportier looking model and had more power. The S90 was the target, as it was the same model that my friends had so much fun riding around at lunch break and after school. I wanted to join in on the fun. On August 1, 1970, I paid one hundred dollars for my first motorcycle. It was a 1966 Honda S90. I was very excited and very naive. The S90 had a battery that couldn’t hold a charge, a bent rear wheel rim, bent center stand, and dented ex-haust pipe, and had 8,200 miles on the odometer. The previous owner had also cropped the silver-painted fenders to half their original size. But it was black, it was an S90, and it was mine. “Hey

It’s cold outside—note the bubble shield.


by Chris Johnson / [email protected]

guys, I’m on the road!”Thumping around on the bent rim

and constantly charging the battery was annoying, so I spent more of my hard earned pennies for the needed parts. I replaced the battery, the bent rear rim, the drive chain, and the exhaust pipe. I learned how to tune the engine in order to achieve that maximum performance level. I also pulled the top end and re-placed the piston and the rings, and even ground in new valves. I was so pleased that the engine actually started after I reassembled it. However, I also learned that the bike ran just as fast and sounded exactly the same with the fresh top end! I learned that even after 8,000 miles, this Honda 90 engine did not miss a beat. I thoroughly enjoyed tear-ing the engine apart and putting it back together. What an amazing piece of en-gineering. The beauty was in the eye of the beholder.

I rode that 1966 Honda S90 for two years and a total of 1,510 miles. I yearned for more power as my wage rate began

to increase. I sold the S90 and purchased a 1966 Honda CB160. The story of own-ing Hondas continues, as over a period of 43 years I have owned Hondas in the following order: 1966 S90, 1966 CB160, 1973 CB350G, 1966 Trail 90, 1969 S90, 1972 CB350, 1976 CB550 and a 1970 CB350. I currently own the 1969 S90 and the 1970 CB350. I have happy mem-ories of each of these Hondas, and each has its own story, but this story is about the Honda S90.

Marriage in 1979, kids and family life, and a demanding job would take most of my available time. I had higher pri-orities. So, in the summer of 1989, I temporarily abandoned the sport. But I never stopped thinking about all the fun I had with that first Honda S90. After a three year hiatus, I decided to search

RIGHT AND BELOW:

My 1969 Honda S90 purchased

in 1992

My 1968 Mustang and 1966 Honda

Replacing the exhaust pipe

HISTORY

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Beauty

The


for another S90. Since the model was discontinued after the 1969 model year, it would not be easy to find one in good condition. In August, 1992, I found what I was looking for and purchased a 1969 Honda S90 for $350. The bike had only 4,600 miles on the odometer and was in very good, original condition for its age. Original condition for 1969 meant high-er handlebars, chrome fenders, and turn signals. I still own this bike today.

The Honda S90 provides good dependable transportation and still is fun to ride. I have enjoyed this S90 for over twen-ty-one years and have ridden over 6,000 miles on this very machine. The odometer currently reads 10,667 miles. Even though I am six feet tall and weigh a hundred and eighty pounds, the ride is comfortable due to the flexibility offered with the period bench seat and rather high handlebars. This bike will easily reach speeds up to fifty-five miles per hour. With no head winds and a smooth flat country road, I can reach sixty mph. With only eight horsepower, it will take thirty to forty seconds to get to that speed, but the S90 ac-celerates willingly, if not briskly, and will carry that speed with no complaint. I must admit that at sixty mph, the en-gine sounds like a high speed sewing machine. You get the feeling it is working hard and something is going to spin off! But that doesn’t happen. The engine and frame are virtually indestructible.

There is very little vibration that comes from the engine through the frame, handle bars, or foot pegs. With the short

wheelbase and lack of damping from the period suspension, the road bumps are noticeable. We all know these old Hondas do not have the perfectly engineered frame and suspension system offered on machines of later years, but after riding these gems over the last forty years, I have come to learn that these Honda motorcycles from the 1960s and 1970s are tough, dependable, and always fun to ride.

My advice to all classic Honda owners: Don’t just park it and look at it. You must ride it. It is intended to provide years of fun and enjoyment. Just keep it well maintained, clean, and dry. I can attest that these Hondas will perform for you and continue to please as long as you let them. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder! l


VJMC FLORIDA CHRISTMAS RIDE

a group of nicely modfied CXs got a lot of attention in the parking lot at theConey Island Drive-Inn.

,


Saturday, December 13, dawned cold, frigid really for a sunny Florida morning. As I pulled up to the ATM on the way out of town, as if in confirmation, frost

lay on the pavement in the shadows. Undaunted, I headed north for Brooksville in warm clothes under my three layers of riding jacket. The chill found its way in any-way, but by the time I arrived it couldn’t compete with the warming day.

I had time to down a couple hot cups of coffee and get reacquainted with my fellow VJMC members, while checking out the bikes, before our kickstands were up at eleven. A very cool group of Honda CX/GL 650s in both original and nicely cus-tomized café flavors were on hand, a beautifully restored RD500, Yamaha XS, a couple of “smoker,” Gold Wings, and everything in between completed the group.

By departure time, the temperature had climbed into the mid-60s with the sun traveling overhead in a cloudless sky—perfect weather for riding. I removed a cou-ple layers and remounted, then I and close to thirty other riders were off in search of hills and curves in this beautiful part of the Florida countryside.

Members came from as far away as South Florida and the Panhandle for this fun annual ride, which I am sure will continue be a permanent gathering for us in Flori-da. Once the group had returned from the ride, many stayed for more conversation, tire kicking, and good drive-in food, finished off with a celebratory cake in honor of the fifteenth year of this event. l


ABOVE:Riders gather at the Coney Island Drive-Inn to start the ride

NEAR LEFT:Taking a break

FAR LEFT: In the countryside around Brooksville, the Florida terrain is anything but flat

BELOW:Lakes and hills dominated the scenery

EVENTS



Living in the future has been my mantra and has kept me from having to use my emergency skills for many miles.

Riding is a complex activity, where many minor and major technical

skills are used. It is good to know and develop every skill you can, but in this article I would like to focus on just three major elements, or keys.

Living in the FutureAs you ride, keep your eye out for any-

thing and everything that is or may take place when you are fourteen seconds or so farther down the road.

Looking ahead, both in time and dis-tance, gives you time to assess your environment and make a plan for any-thing that could happen or is devel-oping. Anticipating problems helps to avoid them. As much as it is wise to practice your technical skills in avoid-ance and stopping, it’s always best if you never have to put those skills to the test in an emergency situation. Living in the future could also be described as “avoid-ing the use of emergency procedures.”

Don’t simply focus on the rear of the vehicle directly in front of you, but also watch for telltale signs of possible dan-gerous situations developing. Pay at-tention to the brake lights or turn sig-nals of the car ahead of the car you’re behind, and the car in front of them. Constantly scanning and using your peripheral vision, watch for side streets and stopped cars waiting to cross or join traffic. Look for white backup lights in driveways ahead, which warn you to be ready for them to back into the roadway. Notice that railroad crossing ahead and decide before you get there if you need to change lane position to enable you to cross the tracks at a safer angle. Watch for dogs or other animals near the side of the road ahead and be ready for them to act unpredictably.

It is important to periodically glance in your mirrors for anything develop-

ing there, but most of the time the real danger is ahead of you, so keep your mind on watching that area ahead of you where you will be in about fourteen seconds.

Living in the future has been my man-tra and has kept me from having to use my emergency skills for many miles. A few years ago my brother and I rode from Florida to Michigan, a round trip of about 2,800 miles in both rural and city traffic. During the entire journey neither of us had to utilize our emergen-cy skills. It wasn’t that we didn’t observe all sorts of crazy behaviors from other drivers, but when we saw these dangers ahead of us we were ready for them.

Don’t PanicI think we’ve all done this: You’re com-

ing into a tight curve and in the mid-dle of it you realize you’re in too hot. I’ve done it; I ran wide in a local corner that often catches me off guard when it doesn’t straighten out as early as it looks like it should. I purposely ran off into the grass. I stood the bike up, braked, released the brakes before leaving the pavement and my Honda became a dirt bike on a gentle ride across the grass on the right shoulder. I should have judged that corner better, but I didn’t panic, I chose what to do and I did it, straighten-ing the bike up and readying myself for a ride off-road. Was that the best option? Nope. However, having ridden on the grass and off-pavement gave me an idea of what I could expect, as did knowing the condition of the shoulder. Braking upright reduced my speed enough that riding through the grass was not much different than riding on my front lawn, something I do every time I leave home. But most of the time, running off the road is not a good option. On a right-hand curve, there are often other ve-


RIDING SAFETY

Three Keys to Riding Safely


hicles there. And going off-road in the Blue Ridge Mountains is usually the last thing you want to do.

Now, I take that that same curve occa-sionally on purpose, so I can hone my cornering skills to the point it doesn’t surprise me anymore. I don’t run off, I lean more. Often, a rider when faced with this situation will panic and throw on the brakes, or at least chop the throt-tle. At first thought it seems like slow-ing down would be a good idea, but hard-braking when leaned is a course of action that can have devastating effects. When you roll off the throttle, the bike will want to stand up. When the bike is no longer leaning it will not turn, so the rider accomplishes just what he or she wanted to avoid.

Your tires only have so much avail-able traction. When you brake, either with the levers, or by engine braking by chopping the throttle while in gear, you are asking for more traction for stop-ping at a critical time when you need all the traction you can get for turning.

What the panicking rider is doing is

not having faith in his or her bike’s abil-ity to lean, and, by leaning, its ability to turn. If anyone has watched motorcy-cles racing, one thing that is striking is how much they can lean and still retain traction. While we don’t all ride racing bikes, the bikes we do ride on the street are usually far more capable of leaning than we realize. Instead of panicking and bailing in a turn, have faith in the bike and lean. Unless you are dragging the peg or hard parts of your motorcy-cle you haven’t leaned as far as you can, and you haven’t turned in the direction you want to go as far as you can. Even when dragging a peg, you can shift your weight to the inside and get a tighter turn with the same amount of lean.

How do you lean? You countersteer; you turn the bars opposite the direction you want to go, often described as “push right [the right end of the handlebar] to go right.” It might be counter-intuitive to actually turn the bars opposite the di-rection you want to go, but it works, and the task for the rider is to practice this until it becomes intuitive and a natural

response. Part of learning that is think-ing about it each and every time you take a curve. Panicking is not thinking; it is reacting without thinking. Keep a clear head and don’t panic; do what you know you need to do. If you prac-tice turns while consciously thinking countersteering, when the time comes and you’re in too hot, you will naturally repeat the practice of “thinking through the turn.”

On straightaways it also pays not to panic. When that car pulls out in front of you, squeeze the brakes progressively; don’t just snatch the lever and pull for all you’re worth. A skidding tire is a tire that has lost traction, and a tire without traction takes much longer to stop than one with grip. Moderate your braking to ensure your wheels keep turning un-til you are at zero miles per hour. When you panic and lock your tires, you have relinquished control and have resigned yourself to luck. Once your panic has caused you to lock up, unless you can release and reapply properly in time, the accident controls you.



I recall reading about race car drivers and how they “drive through the crash,” in other words, they never relinquish control of their vehicle but do everything they can, even when a crash is imminent. That last second controlling your braking before hitting an object, might mean the difference between minor and major in-juries, or death.

Target fixation is another form of panic. You see an obstacle, be it sand, a car, or a guardrail, and, instead of watching where you want to go, you stare right at the thing that is scaring you. It’s almost magical: when you stare at something, that is where you go. You want to exit the turn, look at your exit. You want to hit the guardrail, look at the guardrail. Again, this is a matter of ignoring your natural instinct of staring at the threat and trusting your mind instead.

Controlling panic will help in many situations. Our natural instinct when things go wrong is to stop, and stop quickly, but thinking may tell you something com-pletely different. When that tire blows, throwing on the brakes will do little to help the situation, but using your head will tell you to slow gradually and apply braking to the good wheel. When the back locks up, your natural instinct will be to let go of the brakes, while your head will tell you to determine if you are straight or sliding sideways before taking any action. If something runs out in front of you in a curve your natural instinct will tell you to slam on the brakes, but your head will tell you to straighten up, then use the brakes. Your head will tell you these things instantly if you have practiced, practiced, practiced. Once learned, these skills will replace your natural instincts with what might be called “informed instinct,” the differ-ence being that what you have thought through and practiced now is what you do automatically. Practice is the best antidote to panic.

Ride Your Own RideAnother easy way to avoid accidents is to “ride your own ride.” This means to

control your own riding and not let others’ behaviors control yours.If you are riding in a group, and the rest of the riders blow through a late yellow

for which you would normally stop, then stop. When the pack is turning right after stopping at a red light, roaring onto the pavement to get ahead of oncoming traffic that is getting closer the further back you are in the pack, if you would stop when riding alone, then stop when riding in a group. Don’t let being part of the pack put you in harm’s way. Don’t relinquish control of your fate to others. If the pack doesn’t like it, find a new group with which to ride.

Other vehicles can also cause one to ride unwisely. Don’t let that tailgater who won’t pass you force you to ride at an unsafe speed. Be willing to first signal clearly, then pull off the road if necessary to get them past you. Choose the road you feel comfortable riding on, don’t just choose an Interstate, for instance, because every-one tells you, “But it’s the fastest route!” When someone doesn’t yield the right of way to you, don’t let having the right of way make you do something unsafe.

Riding on any number of popular twisty roads is differently challenging for each motorcyclist. Street riding shouldn’t be a competition. Don’t try keeping up with riders much more experienced than you, or perhaps more foolhardy than you. Ride within your own comfort level and envelope of ability. If competition is your bag, then schedule a track day. Don’t turn the road into a track and don’t let ego control your actions, possibly causing you and others harm. There is no shame at riding twisties slower than other riders. Not a single GP racer had mad skills in the beginning. Let your mad skill be using your brain and making the right decisions. Really talented riders will admire that more than your cornering speed.

With all the myriad skills you can employ riding a motorcycle, keeping these three elements in mind will help you avoid or minimize many dangers. Best of all, they may save you from having to use any emergency techniques in the first place. l

Our natural instinct when things go wrong is to stop, and stop quickly, but thinking may tell you something completely different.


Ellis: Jim, I’ve noticed more than a few small bikes that have their tail lights, head lights, and instrument lights all burned out at the same time. I also have noticed larger bikes with batteries that are constantly running hot and needing to have their battery water topped up. It turns out both had a common problem, but different starting points.

Smaller bikes, like Honda SL100s and CT90s, use the battery as a regu-lator to limit current. The alternator on the smaller bike’s six-volt systems can generate up to ten volts at peak rpms. That’s more than enough to burn out a six-volt bulb filament. So, for small bikes without a separate regulator, the key is to keep the battery charged and use a float charger when it isn’t in use. That will help extend battery life, and it also helps prevent bulbs from being burned out.

Now, on those larger bikes. Batteries that are running hot is an indication that the system is overcharging. Most bikes from about 1970 onwards with a twelve-volt system incorporate a reg-ulator. Like those in cars, regulators remove excess voltage from the circuit and shunt it to ground. There are two basic types—solid state and mechan-ical. Larger bikes, like Honda fours,

by Jim Townsend / [email protected] & Ellis Holman / [email protected]

Tech Tip #6:Regulators

used a mechanical regulator, while bikes like Kawasaki’s Z-1s, triples, and smaller Honda twins used a solid-state regulator. In the case of the mechan-ical regulator, an electro-mechanical switch is used to send the direct cur-rent to the battery and disconnect the alternator from the battery when volt-age rises above a certain point, usual-ly around fourteen volts. The points, like the ones in an ignition system, can suffer the same problems over time as ignition points and can require clean-ing the same way with a points file. A solid-state regulator works the same way as an electro-mechanical regulator does, but uses a resistor in series with a diode to regulate the voltage. In either case, the regulator is typically located near the battery.

Jim: Ellis, I notice you mentioned bikes which burn out all the lights at once. One thing to be very aware of on small bikes that have magneto ignition and a charging system for the lights is that you can start and run these bikes with-out a battery. However, if you do that with no battery or with a bad battery, all the light bulbs will burn out almost immediately, because the charging sys-tem will charge well over what the bulbs

can stand. For instance, something like a CT70 or Honda Cub 50 can gener-ate ten volts, but a good battery will limit the voltage available to the lights to a usable six volts. Since the ignition doesn’t depend on the charging system or the battery, they will run just fine, but without a battery or with a bad one, your lights will burn out.

I once bought a Honda C-102 (a step through Cub 50 with electric start) and noticed the lights were all burned out. I discovered that the previous owner had installed a twelve-volt battery to make the starter work better. The start-er could take the excess voltage, but the lights had burned out the first time they were turned on. The problem is that

Regulators remove excess voltage from the circuit and shunt it to ground. There are two basic types—solid state and mechanical.

TECH HELP

censes and are very familiar with elec-trical symbols.

We received an email from Gary Stone that was along this line. He wrote:

Hi Ellis and Jim,Thank you for your article in the October/November 2014 issue of Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Magazine. My question: Is there a way to determine if a motorcy-cle can be bump-started with a dead or near dead battery? Our group rides in remote areas with bikes like the Suzu-ki DRZ400S, Honda XR650L, Yamaha XT600, etc. The days of bump-start, no battery needed, 1985 Honda XL600s, seem to be gone with the introduction of electric start and fuel injection.

Thank you,Gary Stone

Ellis’s reply: The best way is to take a look at the wiring diagram and see how the ignition is fired. Looking at the Su-

zuki DRZ400S, it appears that there is a separate winding in the alternator to fire the CDI. I couldn’t find a good one for the Yamaha. The Honda XR600L needs the battery to drive the CDI, and the line to the CDI is through the start-er relay.

Jim’s reply: I would try bump-start-ing where you are not likely to be in an emergency situation. Do it on a street near home so you can push it easily. If you are out in the boonies, there may not be enough traction to get the engine to turn over. Practice bump-starting be-fore it is an emergency. Remember that with a dead battery you may blow the lights when the engine starts, as the al-ternator may go to full output and give a surge of voltage through the system.

If you have a problem, feel free to contact either or both of us via email: Ellis Holman, [email protected], and Jim Townsend, [email protected] l


now six-volt bulbs are getting difficult to find.

Another thing about regulators is that they are not adjustable. They are ei-ther good or bad. One way to identify a regulator is that many will have short cooling fins and have a multi-connec-tor plug. Many regulators also have the rectifiers built in, as well. For instance, on bikes with a three-phase alternator, there will be three wires coming out of the alternator. On Hondas, these are the three yellow wires. The plug on the reg-ulator/rectifier will be a six-connector plug, with five terminals used. Three are for the three yellow AC wires, one goes to ground, and the fifth connector is the positive connector which goes to the battery. Check your wiring diagram to see where the wires go.

In a future article we will review the various symbols on wiring diagrams for those of you who don’t have a ra-dio background. It just so happens that Ellis and I both have amateur radio li-


ADVERTISERS APPEARING IN THIS ISSUE:

Atlanta Motorcycle Works............................... 22

B & L Machine (Fork Seal Drivers) ................... 53

Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum ............ 44

Buchanan’s Spoke and Rim ............................. 12

CMSNL .............................................................. 64

David Silver Spares........................................... 63

Diamond Gusset Company. ............................. 37

Frank’s Maintenance and Engineering, Inc. .... 45

Gasolina Boots ................................................. 10

Hagon Shocks .................................................. 32

Honda Restoration ........................................... 36

JDV Products/Vessel ........................................ 24

Jess Bikes .......................................................... 53

Johnny’s Vintage Motorcycles ......................... 51

Kenda Tires ......................................................... 8

LeMay America’s Car Museum ........................ 22

Marbles Motors ............................................... 10

MikeXS, Inc. . .................................................... 20

Moto-Services .................................................. 25

Motorcycle Yamiya 750 ..................................... 4

Motorsport Publications .................................. 51

National Motorcycle Museum ......................... 54

Nor’Easter Blastworx ....................................... 37

Orazio Cycles .................................................... 48

Ottoco .............................................................. 36

Precision Motorcycle Painting ......................... 20

Rick’s Motorsport Electrics, Inc. ...................... 50

Speed and Sport Yamaha ................................ 56

Stop the Blues .................................................. 48

Vapor Honing Technologies ............................. 45

Vintage Suspension (Race Tech) ...................... 48

Western Hills Honda ........................................ 45

Wolverine ......................................................... 57

Workshop Hero ................................................ 30

Yamaha Powersports Division ........................... 2

Marbles Motors, out of St. Paul, Texas, is known across the country for their fine restoration paint jobs on Japanese motorcycles. When I bumped into Randy

Marble at the Barber Vintage Festival this year, he showed me several outstanding paint jobs that he had on display, and he also talked about all the other things he is doing with his business.

For years, we have known Marbles Motors and Randy Marbles as vintage Japanese bike paint experts. Many of us have had him paint our bikes, and we’ve won many awards with those bikes. But Randy tells me that it’s not just about paint!

Randy has expanded the product line of Marbles Motors to include a number of other products to supplement the excellent paint work he’s always delivered. Re-sponding to a need in the vintage restoration market, Randy has added plastic side covers for SL70s, SL100s, XL100s, SL125s, SL350 K0s, and SL350 K1/K2s to his cat-alog, and he will soon have the same for SL175s. Randy also realized why those side covers were missing when you bought that great “barn find,” so in order to attach them, Marbles Motors has reproduced side cover grommets that fit over 190 Honda motorcycles.

Randy Marbles is an experienced cyclist and bike builder, so he has used his me-chanical expertise to reproduce the clutch actuators for the Yamaha DT250s and RT360s. For those of us that have looked to replace the original failure-prone parts, they are a godsend. Marbles also stocks many cables for the popular Honda Moto-sport models, as well as the MR50s and Yamaha Mini-Enduros.

Marbles recognizes that some of us want to control and participate in every aspect of our restorations. With that in mind, Randy can also supply the do-it-yourself painter. Marbles Motors has faithfully matched the original paint colors on many Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Suzuki bikes for years and will sell the paint to the do-it-yourselfer.

Details make the real difference in a restoration project, and finding all the little bits and pieces is often the most challenging part of returning our beloved bikes to their past glory. To complete your restoration, Marbles can also supply a full line of reproduction badges and decals for a wide variety of vintage bikes.

So, it’s not just about paint after all. Like many of us, Randy is a “bike nut,” and working with him on a restoration project is easier as a result. You can talk to him about what you want to accomplish, and he’ll do everything he can to help out. Make sure to give Randy a call before starting your next restoration. You’ll be sur-prised at how broad a range of products and services he can supply to you. l

by Guido Cardillo / [email protected]

It’s Not Just About Paint

Custom paint projects that Marbles Motors is known for

Honda side covers and grommets

ABOVE: And we can do badges, too!

LEFT: Cables anyone?We’ve got plenty of those!

ADVERTISER’S SPOTLIGHT


by Peter Slatco�, Vice President, Events Coordinator / [email protected]

Happy New Year to everyone! Now that 2015 is here, we are ready to

start another event season.First on our list is—Destination Eu-

stis—Vintage Bike Show. This show, a kickoff event to begin Daytona Bike Week, will take place at the Lake Coun-ty Fairgrounds in Eustis, Florida, March 6-8. This venue was chosen to host the VJMC’s premier motorcycle event due to the quality of the Lake County Fair-ground facilities, centralized location, availability of amenities, and affordable lodging. Pre-registration is ahead of last year, and we expect bike entries to fill the two hundred available spaces. So, if you haven’t pre-registered yet, you are encouraged to do so.

Events Corner

Next in the order of events is Bikes on the Beach, in Panama City, Florida, on May 2, held in conjunction with the Spring Thunder Beach. Online regis-tration will open January 15 at www.regonline.com/2015bikesonthebeach.

The Main Event: Our 2015 VJMC Na-tional Rally. Registration is now open. We are a bit surprised at the number of current and past members who have already pre-registered for the Rally. To join those members go to www. regonline.com/2015vjmcnationalrally to register. This year’s Rally will take place in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, June 25-27. Our rally headquarters is the Ra-mada Pigeon Forge South, located at 4010 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863. Once you have registered for the rally, you can call 1-800-523-3919 to book your room at the VJMC discounted rate.

MaRCH 6-8Destination Eustis Vintage Bike Show

Lake County FairgroundsEustis, FL

MAY 2Bikes on the Beach

Panama City, FL

MaY 17-18Riding Into HistoryWorld Golf VillageSt. Augustine, FL

JUnE 25-272015 national Rally

Pigeon Forge, TN

UPCOMING EVENTS

The 2015 VJMC national Rally registration is now open!

Another noteworthy event that the VJMC is a major supporter of is Riding into History, a concours vintage motor-cycle show. It will be held at the World Golf Village in St Augustine, Florida, May 17-18.

These are all the events we are current-ly aware of for January to June, 2015. If you have an event you are planning or expect to attend, and you would like it shared with the VJMC membership, please go to the VJMC website and fill out an event request application. Once received, we will add it to the event calendar and include it in future email blasts. If you have any questions regard-ing events or need a little help with the event request form, please contact me at [email protected]. I answer every email and return all phone calls. Enjoy the events! l

EVENTS


CLASSIFIEDSPLEASE NOTE: Ads will be run for ONE ISSUE ONLY. Please resubmit via www.vjmc.org or contact our Classifieds Editor Gary Gadd by email: [email protected] if you wish an ad to run longer. Also please contact Gary if your post has been fulfilled. This will help keep our classified ads as current as possible.

A vintage Japanese motorcycle for the VJMC is 20 years old or older and, of course, Japanese. Please be aware that ads may/will be edited to conserve space. 12 lines will be free. please be aware of publication deadlines. For an upcoming issue, ads are due by the 20th of the month of the preceeding issue’s release. For ex-ample, ads for the April/May 2015 issue are due by February 20.

If you have business related ads, please consider taking out a commercial display ad. Contact Display Ad Director Guido Cardillo at 404-587-0190 or [email protected] for details and rate information.

we can now offer color photos to accompany your ads. Cost is a min-imal $10 per photo per issue. Payment via Paypal is available on the VJMC website. For payment by personal check, please address payment to “VJMC” and send to the address below. Photo ads will appear in the magazine issue following payment.

GARY GADD • 3721 HOLLAND ST. • FORT WORTH, TX • 76180 / 817.284.8195

FOR SALE

HONDA

For 1961/67 Honda CB72/CB77, nOS CYB race kit parts.Also a lot of new and used CA72 and C71 parts. David Living-stone, England, easternsunrise [email protected]

1964 Honda S90. 4255 original miles, very good condition.runs excellent. Florida title. $2850 cash. $500 deposit. Can deliver to eustis March 3 thru 6, 2015. Jerry Sira, 904-292-1273, Jacksonville, Florida, [email protected]

For Honda Ca/CB/CL160, Ca95 (150cc), S65, new and used parts. Lots of leftovers from restorations. paul enz, 321-268-5461, Titusville, Florida, [email protected]

1967 Honda CL77 Scrambler.Black/silver, 15k miles. Excel-lent shape, completely restored in 2010 including tires, paint, and chrome. Serious inquiries. $6500 obo. Local pick up or you arrange shipping. Richard Eichelberger, 352-326-3526, Leesburg, Florida

For 1971 Honda CB450, parts.Fuel tank with cap, no dents. Seat with mounts. Tool kit box. Headlight mounts (fork covers), gauges, turn signals, air boxes, side covers with emblems. Wes Robison, 864-978-0368, South Carolina, [email protected]

For 1971 Honda CB450 K4, parts. Fuel tank, complete, no dents. Seat with all hardware, gauges, both side covers with emblems, air boxes, turn sig-nals, tool kit holder, headlight mounts/fork covers. Contact me for details and pricing. Wes Robison, South Carolina, [email protected]

1975 Honda Gold Wing. All original, 29000 miles, Vetter fairing. Has not run in years. has title. do not want to part out. Please call 9-11 am or 9-11 pm. 248-363-1692, White Lake, Michigan

1976 Honda XL125. 2300 miles, original. Some light surface rust. Will sell or trade for Surly LHT(Long Haul Trucker) bicycle, new or used. Contact me for details. Bill Polserove, 5117 N Hwy 21, Union City, Tennessee, 382261

1978 Honda CT90, Trail 90.Parts bike. If you need any parts just go to my link: http://parts-galore.ecrater.com/c/1903117/honda-trail-90-1978-ct90a. Free shipping on orders over $30.Joshua Trenge, 760-609-4218, Indio, California, [email protected]

1978 Honda CR125M Elsinore.Beautifully restored by Vintage Iron in Yorba Linda, Califor-nia. Kameron Williams, 678-859-2498, Oakwood, Georgia, [email protected]

1978 Honda CB400 automatic. nice condition. Contact me for details. $2500. Robert, 863-967-5737

1978 Honda CB750. Bike is in good condition. has been rid-den sporadically the past year. new tires and seat. 35000 km. Asking $2000. Dave Morgan, +905-877-5459, Toronto, Cana-da, [email protected]

1978 Honda GL1000 Lot. Two bikes, both complete, one dis-assembled for repairs. LOTS of new and good/excellent used spare parts, including some hard to find. Black bike (74000 miles) has broken cam belt on left side, engine condition un-known but turns over with no alarming noises. Has excellent mufflers and heat shields. Blue bike (under 30000 miles) has engine removed for alternator replacement; the alternator has been replaced, and the engine reassembled but not installed. its exhaust looks tired but is ser-viceable. Both bikes are titled. i have ridden both. Extra fenders, seat, side covers, gas tank, side covers, excellent instruments, wheels, drive unit, master cylin-der kits, heads, etc. It’s all over my garage at this point, so lo-cal pickup only. Will sell as a lot for $2500 (firm), not interested in parting anything out. This is easy restoration material or cheap spare parts. Gary, North Richland Hills, Texas, [email protected]

1984 Honda SC700 nighthawk. Very well maintained. Has Hon-da Line fitted bags, new rear tire, fresh clutch plates and discs, rebuilt clutch master and slave cylinders, Corbin and stock seats. Will need a front tire by next season. $4000 obo. Rich, 714-345-3765, Fullerton, California

1984 Honda VF1100C/V65 Magna. original condition, paint not faded, pipes not scuffed. runs good, 42000 miles. Best reasonable offer. Stan Mitchell, South Carolina, 864-980-5557

KAWASAKI

Kawasaki parts. I am a fran-chised Kawasaki dealer and have some ole OEM Kawi and Honda parts inventory I’m looking to unload. I won’t give it away but I’ll make the buyer for the entire lot a screamin’ deal. Either the Kawi or Hon-da parts by themselves or to-gether. If you’re interested, I’ll fax the list. David Guillory, 805-717-1626, Angleton, Texas, [email protected]

For 1966 Kawasaki J1/B8, parts. All original stock from the 1960s. Lights, fenders, carbs. Email what you’re look-ing for and I’ll let you know. Oliver, Ontario, Canada, [email protected]

1975 Kawasaki Z1B. 7800 orig-inal miles, original tires still on bike. Will only run with air breather out. Some battery acid damage. All original ex-cept for exhaust pipes. Needs work. $5500. Joe Berte, 508-4 8 1 - 3 3 9 7 / 9 7 8 - 7 6 0 - 5 0 4 2 , [email protected]



1980 Kawasaki Z1 Classic.new, never titled. 15 original miles, about half are from be-ing pushed. I have the original MSO but may be able to get a clear title in my name if need-ed. It was taken out of crate in 1980 by my grandfather and then put on display. It does have some blemishes and will need some touch up to be per-fect . Asking price is $8500. Con-tact me for more details and pictures. Leo, 901-283-4931, [email protected]

SUZUKI1972 Suzuki GT750-J. Barn find. Complete bike except headlight bucket, parting out. windjam-mer II fairing with brackets and new windscreen. Exhaust is serviceable with acceptable chrome and the four black cups at the muffler ends with their rubber rings. Wiring harness is complete and flexible, all con-nectors present and unbroken. Engine seized. Bodywork is pur-ple. Some surface rust in the gas tank. Radiator doesn’t leak, and the fan works. Will be in Vero Beach, Florida, for the month of January, 2015, and can bring any parts down there for economic shipping or pickup. Brock Hansler, 905-832-4534, Toronto, Canada, captainkcorb @gmail.com

YAMAHA1974 Yamaha RD250. Two bikes, not running, for parts or restoration. Steve Allison, 563-349-2092, Davenport, Iowa

1975 Yamaha RD250. Has 350cc engine. good running condition, nice chrome and paint. Needs a seat cover. Original 250cc mo-tor is available. Stephen wittick, 609-774-5442, Bridgeton, New Jersey, [email protected]

1979 Yamaha XS1100 Special. Runs and needs work. Steve Allison, 563-349-2092, Daven-port, Iowa

1980 Yamaha XS650 Special II. Original and in excellent condi-tion. 19000 miles. $2900. Jeff keiffer, 575-776-8676, Taos, New Mexico

1982 Yamaha XJ650. Top end rebuilt with NOS rings and gaskets. Carbs rebuilt. Forks rebuild with new seals and Progressive springs. Brakes overhauled, new battery and k&n air filter. new set of Met-zler tires. Bike is near perfect. 5500 miles, starts, idles, runs and shifts as it should. was displayed at Mid-Ohio last year. $2750. Mike Bohanan, 513-379-4703, Lebanon, Ohio, [email protected]

MISC. FOR SALELarge collection of vintage bikes and parts. Selling my entire fenced-in motorcycle compound as a package deal, includes my collection of nice rare vintage motorcycles, fully equipped motorcycle resto-ration shop, vintage motorcycle parts, and house; all situated on 2 private acres. If your passion is vintage bikes as a hobby or busi-ness then here is your opportu-nity to buy my 30+ year collec-tion. Zoning allows for a home based business. Bikes: Too many to list. Call for list. Kawasaki Z1, H1, H2, Honda CB750, Sandcast, K0, CT70, DAX. Complete bikes and parts. Many other brands and models too. Shop: Large 2100 square foot insulated shop with A/C and bathroom. Epoxy floor paint, 200 amp electrical service, concrete pad out front. house: nice floor plan, 3 Bd, 2 BA, over 2000 square feet, your wife will love the master bath and walk in closet. Real Brazil-ian cherry floors. All located on 2 acres, about 9 miles from the beach. Serious buyers. Price $359,000. Benjamin Pinckney, 276-728-6496, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, [email protected]

Vintage bikes. Honda CB400F, two bikes for parts, two rebuilt with zero time engines. 1963 CB77, ground up restoration. 1965 CB77, original condition, light work needed. 1969 CB160, original. 1978 XL125, running and in average condition. 1974 CT90 with aux fuel tank, in ex-cellent condition. 1969 kawasa-ki 250 Sidewinder, original MSO, needs cosmetic restoration. 1970 Kawasaki MX type dirt bi-cycle, as new with paperwork. CB77 engine, complete, frame fenders, needs rebuilding. Email for Honda and Kawasaki parts listing from the 1970s. includes points, gaskets, cables, rubbers, assorted parts all in new condi-tion, from CB100-CB77, Most Kawasaki’s too. Email for details and photos. William Bay, Cen-tral Florida, [email protected]

1968/81 Hondas. 50 Japanese bikes, mostly Hondas, $100 each or will part out. Also in-cludes 1978 Gold Wing engine, front wheel and fender, carb. Set and manifold, cooling fans, and other GW parts. Deal on whole lot. Also 2 Yamaha Big bear scramblers and Yam and Honda mopeds. Lots of seats and side covers. For CB750. Gas tanks. For Bridgestone 100/150 seat, very nice, $100. Dream and Super Hawk frames with attached fenders, electrics, wheels, etc. 1965 Honda dream engine 150cc, $100. Ask for prices or deal on large or whole lot. Located near Rhinebeck, New York, AMC super meet site. This stuff must go! ken krauer, 845-266-3363, Salt Point, New York, joankrauer@ yahoo.com

For Japanese Bikes, 1960s/ 1990s. Thousands of NOS parts from old dealer inventories. Thousands more used parts. Call or email with requests. Badger Cycles, 920-682-2127, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, [email protected]

Vintage Japanese Motorcycles. Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha. Pric-es vary. Sold separately. Over 60 antique motorcycles. CB100, CB125, CB160, CB175, CB200, CB350, CB450, CB400, CB550, CB750, CB400F, CB77, CL200,

CL77, CL350, CL450, CL70, CL90, S90, CB350, CL360. RD60, G7, 1969 CL2 200. Kz650, Kz400. Buy and sell old vintage motor-cycles. Steve Burns, 302-449-2582, Middletown, Delaware, [email protected]

Parts for Japanese bikes. I have about 7000 individual parts. Email for a PDF list of the parts. Lists are broken down into Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha. Please request only one list per day due to my time constraints. Mark Ak-samit, 928-202-8654, Arizona, [email protected]

Honda Manuals. Over 100 original Honda service manu-als for many various models, CBX, MB5, CB750, etc. Email for specific needs. prices on request. Bob Brandner, 561-776-6212, North Palm Beach, Florida, [email protected]

Japanese bikes. retiring, selling my 4000+ lines of Kawasaki, Su-zuki, and some Honda NOS vin-tage parts. Listed at my site, Vir-tuallyJunk.com. Asking $10k for it all, including rights to my site and contents. Bruce Mangels, 520-457-3035, Tombstone, Ari-zona, [email protected]

1959/79 Honda collection. 49-1047 cc. Selling 50 year collec-tion. From junkyard to museum pieces. Paul Crippes, 707-894-3174, Cloverdale, California, [email protected]

Japanese bike parts supply. 10s of thousands of parts, new and used. Reasonable price in order to make a speedy deal. Gene Crump, 662-369-4542, Aberdeen, Mississippi, [email protected]

WANTED

HONDAFor 1958 Honda JC58 Benly 125cc, need exhaust pipe and headlight rim. Dirk McKim-my, 989-329-3840, Michigan, [email protected]

For 1963 Honda Cuby 19.7cc, information. need help from any members with knowledge of the Cuby. Trying to write a book about the engine, used as a training object in early 1960s Japan. We have several engines, known in Japan as XT-10 en-gines including all six accessory packages manufactured for this engine. Our book is to contain maintenance photos, assembly photos, kits, and a complete history. A contact with Ameri-can Honda would possibly help. Have lots of unresolved ques-tions such as discrepancies be-tween the manuals and actual parts included in the accessory kits. Also need more informa-tion concerning production, customer locations, etc. please contact us if you think you can help with completion of our book. Volker wolff, germany, [email protected] or Hans Peter Engel, [email protected] [See “From the Edi-tor” in this issue]

For 1964 Honda CB77 Super Hawk, in need of a worn out seat or just the stainless steel trim. Bob Kelly, 720-837-9090, Colorado, [email protected]

For 1965 Honda CB160, need right side air cleaner cover, complete handlebar assembly with all switches, and a real nice front fender. Looking for all parts in very good to ex-cellent condition. gary pietra-niec, 313-680-1110, Dearborn Heights, Michigan, captkcode @comcast.net

For 1966 Honda CB77, need front fender, speedometer ca-ble assy #44830-270-000, lh ig-nition coil #30520-268-020 or 30520-268-325 or 30520-268-505, rear step rubber #50661-268-000, latch/knob side cover #17251-268-000 or 83650-051-000. Gary Lovell, 740-751-5558, [email protected]

1968 Honda CL350. Looking for a Scrambler with the sol-id blue and red gas tank, not the one with the line at the bottom of the blue portion. in rideable condition, decent looking, please. I would like to trade for a very special ex-

pensive electronic device that I have. James Rickards, 586-293-7096, Roseville, Michigan, [email protected]

1972 Honda Z50 K3. Looking for excellent original bike in candy gold color. would like to find an original paint bike. Sean Mor-phew, 562-698-7484, whittier, California, [email protected]

For 1975 Honda CB400F, parts. Need seat or seat pan, padding, etc, not critical. Front brake disc. Right side cover. Wes Robi-son, South Carolina, [email protected]

For 1976 Honda XL125, need replacement carburetor. Bill Polserove, 5117 N Hwy 21, Union City, Tennessee, 382261

For 1985 Honda CB125SS, look-ing for the alternator cover and sprocket cover. Please contact me if you have one you’d like to send to a new home. Ellis Holman, 317-691-4242, Indi-anapolis, Indiana, [email protected]

KAWASAKI

For 1966 Kawasaki W1 650, need left fuel tank petcock. Dennis, 262-255-5352, Milwau-kee, Wisconsin, [email protected]

1973/74 Kawasaki Z1 900.Looking for a bike in good, orig-inal condition. James neill, 662-417-5295, McCarley, Mississip-pi, [email protected]

PDV

For 1976 PDV flat tracker, look-ing for photos or magazine to help with restoration. J.k. Wynn, 423-474-6220, Eliza-bethton, Tennessee, [email protected]

SUZUKI

For 1965 Suzuki T20, need road

race gas tank, seat, and stand alone mechanical tachometer, Avon racing tires, 300x18 rear and 2.75x18 front. Can any-one tell me if this motor can be wired for ET system and if so, how. I am restoring a T20 as a vintage racer. Al Sibson, [email protected]

For 1985 Suzuki GS1150, want to buy a stock exhaust system in perfect condition. 1985/86 fit. no dents or corrosion pits in the black chrome finish. For res-toration project. John Stewart, 502-489-2247, Louisville, Ken-tucky, [email protected]

1984/86 Suzuki GS 1150E. Looking for complete running bike for restoration, condition more important than mileage. Prefer stock bike with stock mo-tor but will consider street mod-ified bikes. John Stewart, 502-489-2247, Louisville, Kentucky, [email protected]

YAMAHAFor 1976/76 Yamaha RS100, Looking for left side engine cov-er, the larger cover that goes be-tween the engine case and the smaller contact points cover. Idon’t know if any other mod-el cover will interchange with this, if anyone knows of anoth-er that will work, please let me know. Steve Chancey, 423-718-6210, Chattanooga, Tennessee, [email protected]

For 1979 Yamaha IT250, look-ing for stock blue rear fender, tool pouch, light switch. Also have an IT250 I will sell whole

or in part. Would like to corre-spond with other IT owners to swap parts and exchange infor-mation. Steve Allison, 563-349-2092, Davenport, Iowa

MISC. WANTED

Honda CBX 1000cc 6 cyl mem-orabilia for museum and the “CBX Book” I am presently writing. Any brochures, ad-verts, posters, owner’s man-ual, workshop manual, set-up manual, toys/models, old pho-tos, etc. related to the 1979-1972 CBX. Also period after-market fairings/bodywork. Let me know what you have and how much you need! Thanks. Ian, 626-444-9358, California, [email protected]

Japanese nOS mopeds and motorcycles from the 60s and 70s for our showroom. If you have anything to offer please contact me. Mike Buttinger, [email protected]

Dealer memorabilia. Collector seeks 1950s-1980s Japanese dealership items including ban-ners, signs, ashtrays, lighters, hats, clocks, promos, etc. Rare, weird and old is good. Tom Ko-lenko, 770-427-4820, Atlanta, Georgia l


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WHAT’S INSIDE - Florida · 23 Plates on a Honda CB750K1 ODDS & ENDS: The 2014 VJMC Freebie Four Award Winners PROJECT BIKE: 1968 Honda 450K1: the end of an era 26 MAINTENANCE &