Now on route to Mike Hopkins Motor Cycles. @ R 124 995.00 - First arrival Black only.



Turn heads with the aggressive new styling of the Ninja 500. Experience legendary Ninja performance and set the tone with a 451cc twin-cylinder engine that is designed to lead the crowd.



Smooth, powerful acceleration is available with a twist of the wrist from a new 451 cm3 engine. With well-balanced power output and strong acceleration throughout the rev range, the combination of this engine with a lightweight chassis makes the machine well-suited to a wide variety of riding situations including everyday riding.



The bodywork on the new Ninja 500 offers a fresh impression, while sporty elements give the machine a purposeful, race-inspired look that owners will be proud to own and show off.



Engine Capacity 451cc

Engine Type Liquid-cooled, 4-stroke Parallel Twin

Power 33.4Kw

Torque 42.6Nm

Drive Chain

Gearbox 6-speed

Weight 171kg

Tank Capacity 14L

Ground Clearance 145mm

Seat Height 785mm

Front Brakes Semi-floating ø310 mm Disc

Rear Brakes ø220 mm Disc

Front Suspension Telescopic Fork – ø41 mm

Rear Suspension Bottom-Link Uni-Trak (adjustable preload)

PHONE : Mark , Tony or Jannie on 021 9100535 for pre-orders

Suzuki Demo Day Thoughts

Suzuki held a demo event of all their new models last weekend at Freedom 301. As a supporting Suzuki dealership, we went through on the Sunday, lovely sunny day with no wind. Gino rode his Honda VFR1200, oops, and I took my 1980 Suzuki GS1000S to show off, and it worked I got pride of place parking right next to the Suzuki stand while Gino had to park round the back.

As said Suzuki had all their new and not quite so new models which included the Hayabusa and the GSXR1000, really facelifts of the older models, and which I’d ridden them previously. What interested me was the new GSX-S1000, the GSX1000GT and the update Katana. So, after all the customers had finished their rides, we dealers had a go, and first up for me was the Katana.

First impression, really like the new satin dark blue and black, with gold/bronze wheels colour scheme, really don’t like the digital dash, most of it being too small for me to read without glasses and even worse totally invisible in bright sunlight. Riding position feels very Motard, you site on top of the bike and grab the quite close, wide handlebars, nice for town work not so good on the long open road. Motor, what a difference, all the previous low-down snatching has gone and its smooth all through the throttle range, very impressive, pity Suzuki couldn’t do that first time round. A great big-city bike and, providing you replace the ugly rear plate holder with a nice tail tidy, a very distinctive looking machine.

Next up the GSX-S1000, this really the same as the Katana apart from cosmetics, however, to ride feels completely different. First the looks, I like the twin stacked headlight and kicked up tail, very street fighter, some people don’t. Riding, you feel you are sitting in the bike as opposed to on top as the tank is much bigger than the Katana’s. The bars are the same as the Katana’s, I think, but you reach more up to them as the seat is lower putting you in a more upright stance, again which I liked. Same useless instruments but also same brilliant motor so that’s good, and, almost forgot, both bikes go around corners exceedingly well, way beyond my skill and bravery. Summary, again a city bike but this one feels you could take it on longer open road runs providing you don’t want to cruise at 160Kms+ all day, but then of course you wouldn’t, what with the 120Kms national speed limit.

Last the very new GXS1000GT, having read all the overseas magazine glowing reviews, I was greatly looking forward to riding this. First the instruments jump out at you, an almost tablet size screen that is big and easy to read plus it works in sunlight, amazing, and apart from not being analogue, full marks. Great looks, I am really liking the twin projector headlights and forward stance of the fairing. Riding I found the motor to be very responsive, even at small throttle opening, in fact a bit too responsive, then I realised the Suzuki Intelligent Ride System was set on Active, probable Basic or Comfort would have suited my riding style better, although being intelligent I would have thought it could have worked that out for itself, oh well not that intelligent then. The demo I rode had the high screen option and I found this caused quite a bit of buffeting at higher speed which was surprising, could be I just need the lower screen or a new helmet. All in all, and with the addition of the Suzuki panniers, a very capable and good value sports tourer. Gino was so impressed he’s talking about trading his VFR for one.

Right which one would I buy, well actually none of the three, they are all great motorcycles in different ways, but for me the jewel in Suzuki’s range is still the Hayabusa. In my eyes it’s looks are unique and super cool, apart perhaps from its new Kardashian rear end, it has a wonderful analogue dash, it’s comfortable to ride long distances, its planted and handles better than it should. Also, I love the way the speedo climbs faster than the tacho when accelerating in top gear, plus of course it’s got hyper drive.

Not quite the usual Wednesday Workshop Roundup today, but a special feature on the Honda CB750F Adrian’s been restoring for the last month or so.

It’s difficult to understand Honda’s product range thinking around the late 1970s as they had the CB750F DOHC, the CB900F DOHC and the CBX1000 in their sport bike line up, the 750 and the 900 being very similar. My take on it is that the CB750F and the CBX1000 were aimed at the American market and the CB900 at the European. Certainly the 900 was not initially available in the US and only customer pressure forced Honda to release it there, and while I remember lots of CB900Fs in the UK I don’t remember the CB750F being there. SA is a bit of a melting pot and just about every model of the Honda range of that period managed to find its way there, hence the proliferation of CB750, CB900, CB1100 and CBXs, seemly more so that the rest of the world.

This bike came to us as part of a job lot of classic Hondas we purchased about 18 months ago. It was in a dilapidated state, half disassembled, with what looked like many parts missing, the engine and other bits roughly sprayed black. Not good and we initially decided to use it as a parts donor. The redeeming parts were the tank and body work bits which had recently been nicely resprayed silver with blue decals, presumably the start of a previous owner’s restoration that never completed.

Adrian all fired up after finally completing his full nut and bolt restoration of a CB900F, after only 2 years! That’s actually not quite fair, the strip down, refurbish and rebuild took about 6 months, and some of that time was waiting for parts. Then it was discovered that during the vapour blasting cleaning of the motor, water and detergent had got in, so the motor had to be removed, again, then stripped and rebuilt and again so more waiting for parts from the UK.

So, as I said, fired up from the success of this CB900 project, plus getting both a CX500 and a CX500 Turbo up and running, he declared he was going to restore and rebuild this CB750. Great we said that should keep him busy for another 2 years. However, this time and unbeknown to us, he had a cunning plan, we also had a third CB750F at had already been stripped to component parts for spares and by using some of these parts he had most of the parts needed to complete a full bike. Plus, he seconded Robin to rebuild the motor right from the start. Major framework parts were quickly despatched to the powder coaters just around the corner, engine parts ordered from the UK and from Honda SA, and smaller parts sand blasted and sprayed in house. Big surprise was that Honda SA had piston rings and a few other parts in stock in J’Burg, they must have been sitting there for about 40 years, amazing, and even more amazing the parts were much cheaper than non-OEM parts from overseas.

In just over a week the powder coated parts were back, total cost R1800, not too bad, and the rebuilding commenced. Parts arrived from the UK and Robin build the motor putting in new piston rings, cam chain guides, cam chains, valves and refurbished cam shafts, the rest was in spec so reused. Carburettors cleaned, several times, and new jets, seals, floats, and needles fitted. More parts ordered from both the UK, David Silverman, and the Netherlands, CMS, unfortunately we can never seem to identify all parts needed one time at the outset of a project, which is a bit frustrating. Nevertheless, progress was made at an almost alarming rate, at the end of about three weeks the bike was basically complete, black plastics had been polished with boot polish, switch lettering repainted, instruments rebuilt, brakes refurbished, reflector boots resin cast, and electrics sorted. Wow, time to see if it will run, excited!

Well not quite yet, first the tank had to be acid cleaned and then epoxy coated internally, this is now standard practice for us as these old tanks may look fine but rust in the seams and other hidden places is a killer for the carbs. Not wanting to wait the 72 hours for the epoxy to dry, we set-up a small feeder tank and try starting, a few spins of the starter and the motor splutters into life, it runs. Well, sort of, after fitting the newly dried tank we discover one of the carbs is leaking, and then after that, its running very rich, carbs out again, adjust and now its running lean. Right now, as I write, Adrian and Robin are again removing the carbs for another look, but we have faith that all will be sorted soon. So not 2 years, not even 2 months this time, but about 4 to 5 weeks and around R10k spent on parts and outside work and we have a fully restored Honda CB750FA. Well done Adrian and Robin.

The picture of the finished bike shows it with a nasty black four into one exhaust, this is temporary while we wait for a second-hand original chrome four into two to arrive from the UK.

Yamaha XJR1200 Café Racer

Way back when Café Racers were all the rage, as in 2013, I purchased this black Yamaha XJR1200 with the intention of turning it into a café racer, muscle bike style. It’s a 1995 model, just before the 1300 upgrade, and I think I paid around R30k for it. Rode it around a bit before starting any modifications to check all was ok and immediately noticed it would not pull above 180km/h, well not quite immediately as I had to first find a nice quite long road, otherwise it was a very sweet ride, lots of torque all through the rev range with very planted easy-going handling. The picture of it above the Hugosriver Bridge N1 just before the tunnel, shows it in its original form, just after, don’t quite remember, I found it wouldn’t go fast than 180.

So back home and the wonderful world web quickly disclosed it must be a grey import from Japan land and hence restricted to 180, ah thought so, even an older air cooled 1200 should be somewhat quicker than that. A further rummage on the web revealed a small red electronic device at when wired into the speedo removed the 180 restriction, made in Japan of course, so this was immediately ordered. As an aside, apparently in Japan all vehicles are limited to 180km/h, given that the national speed limit is 100km/h, don’t understand how the Japanese bureaucrats came up with that restriction speed, seems a bit pointless, but then again that’s bureaucrats for you, pointless.

Anyway, while on an internet buying spree, clip-ons, bar-end mirrors and various other bits and pieces were also ordered from various suppliers around the world, and the wait for exciting parcel deliveries began, remember, the Post Office still worked in those long-lost days.

Some week later parcels did duly arrive, but as with many a project stalled awaiting parts, my enthusiasm had turned to some else and it was many months until I returned to the Yamaha Café Racer. Finial found some time and motivation to remove the handlebars and then play around trying to fit the clip-ons, turned out not so simple, with the clip-ons fitted below the top yoke the switch units hit the tank, why is it on these Customising TV shows everything seems so easy. The solution was to push the fork tubes up through the yoke and fit the clip-ons on the top of the yoke, obviously changing the geometry of the bike, but it worked, the handling did not seem to suffer, and with the fitting of the speed de-restrictor and other trinkets I had my Café Racer, sort of.

It went ok but it seemed rather dull and non-descript, when it sat in the showroom nobody noticed it, we began referring to it as the black hole. It needed colour, Kenny Roberts Yamaha type colour, so off it went to the spray painters and back it came in glorious yellow, and white with black speed blocks. Wow, now everyone noticed it, and everyone wanted to buy it, but by now I had already invested quite a lot of money and wanted to go even further and make it distinctly special.

The standard double seat looked too big and stuck out the back, I wanted a short single seat but with the standard duck tail design so as the rear wheel would extend further than the seat. So off it went to Retro Prestige and into the hands of David and his then customising team. They took a mould of the original seat unit, then cut it down and created a single seat unit cunningly incorporating the original locking mechanism, and with this again sprayed in Kenny colours, a new single leather seat was fabricated to fit. In addition, the rather chunky rear footrest hangers were removed and replaced with CNC cut custom exhaust brackets, and the rear shocks lowered in line with the lowered forks, and the centre stand removed to aid ground clearance.

All this work was completed over several years but finally I had a muscle café racer, ironically just in time for the end of the café racer phase. The bike is now used and maintain by Gino and normally lives in our service reception. As point to note for anybody thinking about trying a similar customisation, the final cost of the customisation work was twice the price of the original bike. Makes you think, does it not. ~Bob

Nice review at https://sym.co.za/2022/08/31/sym-jet14-inner-city-superstar/

Bikes lined up and ready to go on our next classic tour Thursday the 31st. From the left is a 1988 Yamaha V-Max, 1982 Honda CX500 Turbo, 1981 Honda CB750F, 1982 Honda CB900F, 1979 Honda CBX1000.

Suzuki SA are holding a demo weekend on the 1st and 2nd of October, at Freedom 301, near Paarl. Bikes on demo are the ones pictured in the flyer below, or above, and rides are definitely only by pre booking, so please contact us and we will arrange.

Had this little bike in the workshop today, a Yamaha PW80, needed a carb clean a tune. It’s really small as you can see photographed against a SYM T200, which is also not a huge bike. Should really added a BMW GS behind for a full-size compression but didn’t have one handy, plus only just thought of that, dam and blast.

The PW80 was produced by Yamaha from 1991 to 2006, or 2012, depending upon which reference you want to believe. With a 79cc two stroke carburettor fed motor, a 3 -speed constant mesh, semi-automatic gearbox, and an automatic centrifugal clutch, it made an ideal beginner’s bike. Its bulletproof chassis give both parents and young riders a sense of safety and security, plus not being very tall, or heavy, meant when a mistake was made the fall was much less, again reducing the risks for beginners. Top speed was quoted as 64km/h with a torque of 6.3NM@ 5,000 RPM, not at all bad for an 80.

However, speed is not what this bike is about, it’s about Dads being able to teach their sons and/or daughters how to ride a motorcycle and in doing so passing on their own enjoyment of the sport, with Mum’s permission of course. The little Yamaha was first sold for $999 and went to $1,299, not a great amount back in the 1900s so would have made an unforgettable Christmas or Birthday present, with years of fun to follow. I remember buying my daughter a small quad bike, and although it was not exactly her idea, I kind of fancied it and she was the excuse, we certainly had fun tearing up the front lawn and flower beds. All came to a stop after I ended up on my back with her on top of me, quad bike on top on her and petrol pouring all over us, too much throttle going up a dune looped us. Still, it was a great shared experience while it lasted.

Sadly, being two stroke the bureaucratic spoil sports put an end to the PW80 and economic pressures, especially in SA, have made the prices of small new entry bikes way greater than, shall we say, normal Birthday or Christmas present range. They say the youngsters of today are no longer interested in cars and motorcycles like us old types were, are, instead cell phones and computer games are their thing. Computer games are great, I enjoy playing them, but I question if it is not actually the high entry cost to motorcycles that is the real restrictor.

Makes you think, does it not.

Well, a cold and very wet Wednesday, hence we don’t have too many customers for the workshop, so some longer-term jobs are being tackled today.

First an apology as I have not written for a while, reason being is that I have also personally been in the workshop, right knee replacement four weeks ago. Seal between the knee bones had failed and the bones were scrapping together, so open up the casing, grind back the bones and resurface with new parts, new seal, close up and good to go again, well sort of, unfortunately the body takes time to heal. Interestingly the new surface parts are trade named Uni-Glide and Rota-Glide which sounds all a bit too Harley Davidson to me.

Ok back to the real workshop and first we have a bench full of Honda CBX carburettors being cleared and refurbished. These are for the CBX currently undergoing a sympathetic restoration in the classic workshop. Next is Robin peering at our black CB750F, working perfectly earlier this morning, then got caught in the rain and how in a big sulk and refusing to start. Very strangely the problem was finally identified as both ignition coils failing together, found by switching out with alternative coils, but why both should fail at the same time is very puzzling, and will remain the mystery of the day.

Across the way we have Johann replacing wheel bearings, chain and sprockets on a nice and tidy KLE650. These KLE650 are great bikes and, with just a bit of routine maintenance, seem to last forever, pity the bureaucratic spoil sports stopped Kawasaki selling them.

Winston is keeping himself amused, full strip of a Triumph 1200 Adventure motor, apparently it is making strange rumbling noises from the depths of the motor. The bike has done over 120,000km and the ECU developed a fault whereby it was over fuelling on start-up, this caused fuel to be pushed down past the pistons into the sump contaminating the oil lowered its viscosity and causing excessive bearing wear. So big engine rebuild and new ECU, not a cheap repair for the unfortunate owner.

Lastly, in the classic workshop we have the Honda CX500, spoken of previously, now in a running state. Refurbished brakes with new braded hoses, the carburettors cleaned, twice, and balanced, new battery, oil and filter changed, it now starts and runs well. The fuel tank has been acid washed and internally sealed. If it wasn’t raining today, we would be test running it round the block. Our next steps will be to ride it for a bit, get all the niggles out and then pull it apart again and do a cosmetic restoration. The other bike is of course another CBX, the carbs which Robin was working on mentioned earlier, we are doing a restoration lite, get it running, roadworthy and generally acceptable with the objective to sell to an enthusiast who can then complete it cosmetically to the level he would like.

~BoB

Honda held nothing back when it overhauled the esteemed VFR sport tourer for 2010. Engine technology and architecture was adapted from Honda’s MotoGP race bikes, the Unicam valvetrain was adapted from its motocross bikes, displacement and power were significantly increased, and styling was a unique, clean-sheet design. Honda’s boldest innovation, however, was the VFR1200F’s optional Dual Clutch Transmission, which uses separate clutches for even and odd gears and offers two automatic modes plus a paddle-shift manual mode (there’s no clutch lever or shift lever), first DCT on a motorcycle. Beautifully made in only the way Honda can, the styling does look a bit bulbus, but look closer, the body panels flow and fit perfectly seemingly without any visible means of attachment. The clocks are great, big analogue tachometer, digital speed with easy-to-read sub information. The all-new VFR1200F was so impressive, various motorcycles magazines named it Motorcycle of the Year for 2010.

Updates for 2012 model include the addition of traction control, refinements to the optional DCT, more low-end torque, extra, although not much, fuel capacity and a new seat. The traction control, which can be easily turned off, is a good complement to the standard combined ABS already found on this machine, and it can be manually switched off. The DCT, in the Drive and Sport automatic modes, now optimizes shift points based on throttle input, not just the engine speed, and a new manual override allows use of the paddle shifters to select gears while in Drive or Sport.

Although, obviously no sports bike this 169bhp 129Nm V4 motorcycle really pulls, and on South African roads can easily keep pace with any pure sports bike but in a lot more comfort. In a race from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth between this VFR and, say, a GSXR1000 I am pretty sure the VFR would be the winner, although of course, this is purely hypothetical as I could never advocate, or be part of, such a race, much.

The one we have for sale has done 57,500 kms and has recently been overhauled, it also comes with matching top-box and panniers to complete the touring package. If you have never tried an automatic motorcycle and are toying with the idea of purchasing a big performance tourer then come a have a test ride, I am sure we can arrange an afternoon’s ride giving you the time to really experience the benefits of DCT.

Time for another Wednesday Workshop Roundup, and first up we have a BMW R100 Café Racer on the bench having its carbs cleaned and adjusted. Unfortunately, the picture, below or above, doesn’t really do it justice as the build quality is very tidy and I love the choice of tank colours.

Again, the problem of blocked and gummed carbs, this issue has become a recuring nightmare with these older carb fuelled bikes, as we continually have a queue of bikes requiring carb cleaning and can’t seem to get to the root cause. If the bike has been standing for a while, more than about 3 months, then normally the fuel has deteriorated and turned to a gummy mess in one or more of the carbs, that’s kind of easy and understandable. However, then we get cases where the bike was running perfectly last week and then this week its suddenly coughing and spluttering, refusing to idle or fouling the plugs, why, dirty fuel or what, who knows and extremely frustrating.

Moving on, we next have a Kawasaki ZRX6 getting a routine service and beyond that a Kawasaki Z300 having a major service, the top picture shows the value clearances being checked on its twin cylinder motor. Then across from that we have a SYM Fiddle receiving a new front tire.

Bottom right picture shows one of the CB1100F talked about last time, now complete and running very nicely, surprisingly no carb issues. Its not quite original, things like the exhaust and the indicators are not Honda, could also do with a bit of cosmetic attention in certain areas to really bring it up to showroom condition. So, as we have two other CB1100Fs, this one is going up for sale and at around R65K will make a nice easy restoration project, or simply ride it as is and enjoy.

The two Triumph Rockets are both in for electrical problems. One needed a throttle servo replacing and the other has strange ignition switch, shall we say features, which still need to be sorted. Bit unusual to have two red Rockets in at the same time, wonder what the collective term is for multiple rockets, arsenal or fusillade I suppose, or if you are in Ukraine an air-raid, sorry bad joke.

Last picture is from the classic workshop of a CB900F motor in the process of being rebuild, so far, the bottom end and gear have been assembled, next to go on will be the pistons followed by the cylinders. Barring any unforeseen problems, and further power outages, we should have this full nut and bolt restoration completed in a couple of weeks time, on and quite big offs it taken two years.

Electra Glide in Blue, anybody remember that movie, released in 1973 it told the story of an honest traffic cop working in a somewhat corrupt police department based in Arizona. The film is kind of a reverse of Easy Rider, the cops are the good guys, and the baddies are the hippies, but, and I'm trying not to give too much away in case you still want to watch it, in reality the cops aren't so good, harassing and persecuting anyone who is not of their persuasion, in other words anyone who is not clean-cut white American, just like today, actually. The end is also like Easy Ride except this time the hippies in a VW Camper van are the ones doing the shotgun shooting. Of course, for me the real stars of the movie where the bikes, the cops rode HD Electra Glides, obviously, and the so-called baddies rode HD Sportsters, or VW Camper vans.

Which brings us nicely to the Electra Glide, in 1965 Harley Davidson introduced its highway flagship, the Fl/FLH with electric start and baptized it with the now legendary name 'Electra Glide', the Electra part signifying the electric start and the Glide part coming from older models and signifying hydraulic suspension. It wasn't a great success. The new 12-volt electrics were unreliable and the fix for this increased the bikes weight so much that the brakes could not cope and the Panhead motor needed more power. The solution was the introduction of the Shovelhead Electra Glide in 1966 and although this addressed a lot of the previous model's problems it was plagued by production faults, yet again seriously undermining HDs reputation for reliability.

A more powerful 80 cubic inch (1340cc) version of the ShovelHead motor was incorporated in the 1978 'Electra Glide Classic' and in 1983 the Evolution motor was introduced. This along with other innovations, drive belt instead of chain, fuel injection, air-adjustable suspension, improved the reliability and with HDs new 'Its a Lifestyle' marketing, turned the company's reputation around, so much so that by the mid-1990s HD bikes were considered highly desirable luxury status symbols. The 1995 'Classic Electra Glide' had everything a touring rider possible could want, but just in case, there was also an extensive catalogue of extras to bling his machine up to his own individual taste, another brilliant, and profitable, marketing tool that HD brought into motorcycle manufacturing and sales. In 1999 HD started fitting their new Twin Cam motor, 88 cubic inch (1449cc), to all their models, still pushrods to the head but with a double cam arrangement driving them.

We have a 2011 Electra Glide Ultra Limited for sale which has a later and even bigger 103 cubic inch (1688cc) motor plus of course everything you could think of that opens and shuts, strangely other than reverse. I say that because all the other big touring motorcycles, as in GoldWing and BMW, do have reverse, and you kind of need it, moving these things around the garage is a bit nerve racking and I for one need a good site down after doing so. Whereas a reverse allows you to site on the bike making the job much easier, effort and stability wise. Then again perhaps I'm getting old. Once on the move, and I mean as soon as you lift your feet off the ground, it's a completely different story, the gearchange is slick, much less clunky than my older Harleys and the motor also much smoother, in fact the whole bike is smooth, now more than ever living up to its Glide moniker. Personally, I think the handlebar fairing is a bit big, preferring a simple windshield, but again once on the move its fine, and it certainly contains enough dials and buttons to keep you busy on long straight roads.

Having owned and ridden Honda GoldWings a fair bit, I have always considered them as the ultimate touring motorcycle but having ridden this Glide around the block a few times, my view could be changed, this is a very nice motorcycle, just stay away from VW Camper vans driven by hippies. ~ Bob

Seeing this Triumph being serviced in the workshop this morning made me think of the Wacky Wednesday offers some takeaway restaurants do, don’t ask me how I know, and it gave me the idea of a Workshop Wednesday Roundup.

So first off is this Triumph Street Triple, and its not as bad as it looks, just undergoing a regular service, the diagnostic PC can be seen on the red trolly to the right. On the bench next to that is a Suzuki GSX1000 also having a regular service, not sure why the guys are peering so hard at what looks like the exhaust servo, but what this picture illustrates rather nicely is the amount of stuff that must be removed to do a routine service.

On the opposite benches we have two Honda CB1100Fs. The blue was supposedly running ok but when we tried to start it up for last Sunday’s run it only wanted to run on about two and a half cylinders so it’s awaiting a carb clean, think we’ll use the ultrasonic clearer on it this time, that will teach it not to start! The red is being brought back to life after standing, unloved, for an indeterminate number of years. It’s now running, surprisingly smoothly, and final cosmetic work is being completed, mainly this consisted of straightening the handlebars, which we did using our fly press, and refurbishing the instrument binnacle. The exhaust is unfortunately not the original four into two, but a four into one Cowley which is at least a period type upgrade, indicators are not correct, close, but not original. As an aside I am amazed by how many different indicators Honda designed for their bikes, must have had a full department just designing indicators, really surprised they didn’t standardise a bit to save costs.

Outside we have Chief cleaning a batch of spare CBX parts we recently acquired, that’s a battery box he is currently working on. These parts will then be tagged and stored away for future rebuilds.

Inside the classic workshop is a Honda CX500 also being brought back to live, after standing for many years. If you look closely the carbs are off, being cleaned, and a new battery was purchased today, so fingers crossed it should be running very soon. The bike is very original, apart, of course, from the exhausts and in relatively good condition so the next step is a good deep clean which we hope, will work wonders for it cosmetically. The other bike under the yellow cover is a secret project, can you guess what it is, answers on a post card to the usual address.

Lastly is a bank of Honda CB750F1 carbs in for a clean, rebuild and calibration. ~Bob

The original RV125 monkey beach bike was made by Suzuki between 1972 and 1982, launched in California it was aimed at cool surfer-types wanting to cruise the breach front streets in t-shirts and board shorts, bikinied flower child on the back. California Cruising by the Beach Boys kind of vibe. The balloon tires, light weight and low double seat making it easy to ride over the dunes to the best surfing spots. The name in Japan, I think, means keep on going so its sort of Japanese for the saying keep on trucking, maybe.

That scene kind of expired mid-70s, but like a lot of things from originating from that time the RV125 has been reintroduced, cashing in on the nostalgic view people now have of that era. This RV125 is a 2016 model, now having a six-speed gear box instead of the original five and fuel injection, but otherwise being the same as the 1970s models. Basic, fun riding has always been at the heart of the RV125’s outlook on life, styling being far more important than performance, and I think Suzuki have got it ‘right on man’, this modern RV125 pulls off the retro charm with consummate ease, white and gold paint scheme, wide brown seat, balloon tires and tall bars, you can smell the sea air and suntan oil just by looking at it, a true 1970s survivor.

So cool looking it is, the RV125 is also a laugh to ride. Ok its only a 125 so no denying it’s slow, but providing you avoid freeways and major roads it’s great. I would see the best use being cruising around the City, Sea Point, Camps Bay, out to Hout Bay, or as a beach house run around, based in Kleinmond or Betty’s Bay for instance. Sunny day, half face helmet, shades, and nowhere particular to go, you can relive the 70s, and being a 125 it’s fugal, so even at today’s fuel price it will seem like the 70s, almost.

What with Top Gun at the movies, Kate Bush in the charts again, nostalgia is the thing right now, and it’s in our shop, right now. The bike has only done 611Kms, actually two kms was me going around and around the block, said it was fun. So practically brand new, at R45,000 or reasonable offer it’s your chance to be cool again, plus I believe this bike has all the right criteria of becoming an investment bike. ~Bob

Our Classics ready for Sundays Ride

Nearly all our classics checked over, fueled up and already for Sunday’s ride. I say nearly all, the CB1100F decided not to run properly this morning, seems we will have to clean out the carbs, again, and the 85 Goldwing also did not want to play first thing, then changed its mind and started fine, but by then we could not be bothered to get it out, bit heavy.

There is also a bit of an interloper in the line-up, can you identify it, answers on a postcard to the usual address.

Hope to see you and your Classic on Sunday. ~Bob

A few weeks ago, I was feeling guilty about not having ridden my V-Max for a few months; actually, anxious is a better word, carbs and fuel systems gumming up is a continual problem with modern fuel in old motorcycles. Sure enough when I tried to start it, it turned over slowly with not even a hint of firing, then the battery went flat. So as the battery had given trouble before, and I had no idea of its age, I assumed, hoped more like, new battery required, and everything will be fine again.

Last Sunday first thing, acquired new battery, is put it on charge for the recommended 4 to 5 hours before fitting it into the bike. In the meantime, I go for a morning ride with the IMOC guys. The route was around the Cape Peninsula and for once it was a great ride, very little traffic and cool but dry weather. Over Ou Kaapse Weg to Kommetjie, Misty Cliffs, Scarborough we then turned right out to the Cape Point Ostrich Farm and The Hatchery restaurant where, invigorated by the cool air, we stopped in need of breakfast. The farm is almost opposite the Cape Point Nature Reserve entrance, and presumably in peak tourist season very busy, but not last Sunday, in fact the owner seemed quite surprised to see customers, especially eight of them all together. Nevertheless, and despite her making apologies for not having enough bacon, she cooked us up a fantastic breakfast buffet: bacon, ostrich steaks, scrambled eggs, sauted potatoes, fried tomatoes, chili sauces and lots of toast and coffee, all for a very reasonable sum. Highly recommended if you are going that way and the reason for this part of the story.

Right, back home and back to the V-Max. Battery in, not quite as easy on the V-Max as most bikes, first the seat must be removed, four bolts, then the rear ignition coils must be disconnected and removed, another three connectors and two bolts. Only then can the battery be disconnected, lifted, dropped and crush finger, sworn at, then finally lifted out. New battery dropped in, reconnect everything and try starting. Disappointed, motor just turns over but again but no firing. Ok squirt some Easy Start into the airbox and it fires and runs momentarily, but does not continue, beginning to look like my worst fears are coming true. I can hear the fuel pump running but there does not seem to be any fuel reaching the carbs, disconnect the pump from the inline filter put my finger over the pipe and I can feel it sucking, but is it sucking enough? Next I give the filter a quick suck and get a mouth full of fuel vapour, more swearing, time to go inside and have a cup of tea. While having tea I read the manual about removing and checking the fuel pump and carbs, not a trivial job. Also nagging at the back on my mind is the idea that the bike has run out of petrol, although it rode into the garage and the fuel light is not on, so there must be fuel, surely. Anyway, not having any spare fuel handy, I abandon the job for the afternoon and go and fix a spotlight switch on the Himalayan.

Youth Day Thursday, after running some errands in the morning, I purchase some petrol, and I feel I need to use the word purchase, as R250 for what was just 10 litres of lawn mower fuel really is a purchase and not just a buy. Fortunately I don't have lawns anymore, just rocks, so it's 5 litres into the V-Max. New battery had been on charge so try starting again, lots of turning over as before, then just as I'm about give up, a small futt from the exhaust, ooh. Try again and a couple of cylinders start making more persistent futting sounds then the other two cylinders join in, and it staggers into life. Big relief.



Warm it up to a steady tick over, switch off and pour the other 5 litres of petrol plus a half litre of fuel system cleaner into the tank. On with the riding kit and up to the petrol station, wanted to see how much fuel was needed to fill right up, almost another 5 litres. Now that's interesting, the manual states the V-Max fuel capacity as 15 litres and I've just put in just over 15 litres so it must have been very empty, a bit embarrassing that. So to get over my embarrassment I take the bike up the N7 and then do Ride Number 1. Nice ride, bit overcast but with the late afternoon winter sun coming in low I managed to get some nice pictures of the V-Max with a very clear Table Mountain in the distant background, picture below, or above.

Back home again over a cup of tea I read the manual to try to understand how the fuel system works and why the bike didn't go on to reserve. After digesting the wiring diagram for twenty minutes turns out there is no actual reserve on the V-Max, its all fake.

You must remember that the V-Max came up in 1986 where the norm was still that the fuel tank sat on top of motor and the carbs where gravity fed through a simple fuel tap and when the main tank ran dry the bike started spluttering and you simple reached down and switched the tap to reserve to get the last few litres in the tank. With high V-Max motor the fuel tank is down under the seat necessitating a pump to bring the fuel up to the carbs, there is no fuel tap. So to simulate the same sort of low fuel warning, Yamaha designed a system whereby a low fuel sensor turns on a low fuel light and at the same time sends a signal to the fuel pump relay to switch off the pump within 30 seconds, the reserve fuel switch on the handlebars overrides this signal. So if the rider spots the fuel light straight away and switches to reserve the bike just carries on, if he doesn't spot the light the pump stops and hence so does the motor, creating an out of fuel situation, he then switches to reserve and restarts. Either way the bike has warned the rider that there are only 3 litres of fuel left.

All very clever except my low fuel sensor doesn't appear to be working, so I must have run the bike completely out of fuel just as I entered my garage, some might say that was lucky, I'm not so sure.

BoB

A very original 1998 Honda FireBlade came into the shop last week for consignment sale, and, having owned two different models in the past, sparked my interested in them again. This one, pictured below, or above, is a 1998 model which was the first year of the 919cc motor.

The first FireBlade was launched on an unsuspecting world in March 1992 and instantly became a motorcycling game changer. While the other big Japanese manufactures were chasing more and more horsepower at the expense of light weight, Honda came in with a smaller motor, only 900cc, but more importantly, contained within a significantly lighter package, and overnight power to weight ratio became top priority, not just outright power. The competition’s larger and heavier machines were totally eclipsed, and by the end of 1992 the FireBlade was the sports bike to own.

Tadao Baba is the Senior Chief Engineer behind the design of the FireBlade. In 1987 he was given lead position of a project design team tasked to create an FZR-beating 1100, but his racing experience had convinced him that lightness and manageability were more important than engine capacity. By the end of 1989, with a 900cc prototype, he’d won his case, Honda being so impressed they let him create a team of about 40, including three European test riders, a very usually move at the time, to take the design to production. His overriding ethos was lightness above all else, every component had to be as light as possible, apparently later, he would sometimes go onto the production line and sign the inside of the top fairings with his name and ‘Please enjoy this light feeling’. Also innovative, the characteristic holes in the fairing, supposed to aid turn-in, and the 16in front wheel are all his ideas, as was the motor. The initial motor may have been only 893cc but from the onset it was designed to be increase to 918cc, 929cc and finally 954cc for what, as we now say, future proofing the design for many years. Baba-san officially retired in 2004, and to acknowledge that FireBlade was change to Fireblade for future models, he continued in a consulting roll until the 2009 model.

The FireBlade we have on the floor is a 1998 model, 919cc motor giving slightly more poke, redesigned tail, headlight, and sharper looking top fairing than the earlier models. As an example of the continuing obsession with lightness, the clocks were fully redesigned to all electronic making them much slimmer, and weighing only 380gm instead of 760gm. However, despite all these ongoing upgrades, the other manufactures were catching up, case in point being the Suzuki GSXR750 and Kawasaki ZX-9R both hard on the FireBlade’s heels. Then the very new Yamaha R1 and, slight left field, the Ducati 916, both extremely focused sports bikes, fast and light, almost making the FireBlade appear a bit lardy, and maybe, pushing it off the number one sport bike slot.

The classic sport bike scene is growing in the UK and US and this FireBlade, being more than 20-year-old, falls right into that desirability category. A quick look of similar bikes for sale in the UK gives R60k to R70K as a price range, that is apart from Urban Tiger, the most sought-after paint scheme, where the asking price is R100k plus. Here is SA this scene has not gained quite so much interest and good bikes can still be had for not too much money, our bike being an example at R51,500.

As I said at the beginning, it sparked my interest, all it needs to get back to super original is to replace the aftermarket indicators with Honda originals, or reproductions, found some on UK eBay for R500 each, could probably get some locally and cheaper with a little more effort. The top fairing has a crack on the right-hand side that has been patched, but not great, so a more professional fix and respray, about R4000. Then new handlebar grips, remove the tank protector and rim tapes, result, for less than R60K all in, you have an original FireBlade, looking as it came out of the showroom all those 24 years ago.

Damn, now I’ve gone and nearly talked myself into purchasing it, someone else had better buy it quick. ~ BoB

The subject for today is tires, or more specifically tire pressures, I know, boring, but it could save you money, so let’s see how much I can waffle on. The idea was spawned, and I use that word deliberately, by my Cagiva V Raptor, pictured below or above. This is another one of my interesting motorcycles, hardly any in SA, I only know of one other and mine is decidedly not standard.

The Raptor 1000 was produced by Cagiva between 2000 and 2005 in three variants. Standard Raptor, Cagiva frame, suspension, bodywork with a 1000cc Suzuki TL motor, and Brembo brakes. V-Raptor like the standard bike but with straighter, lower bars, 7bhp extra, carbon cans and a small wacky fairing. Then the Xtra-Raptor same as V-Raptor but with lashings of carbon fibre and superior Marzocchi suspension, different rear linkage, and a steering damper. Created to compete with the Ducati Monster, the motor was torquey, quick, and reliable, possibly better than the Ducati’s, but the suspension struggled to contain it and this, along with Cagiva’s uncertain future doomed it to a shortish production life. Like Ducati, Cagiva also produced a smaller 650cc version, again using a Suzuki 650 V Twin motor.

I’ve got the V-Raptor, the one with the horns and claws, take a close look at the exhaust hangers. When I acquired it, the original red paint had already been changed to flip tone purple, the wheels sprayed white, the rear mudguard removed and short, very loud, cans replaced the originals. So, rather than return to original, I decided to go ever further, sprayed everything other than the frame black, wrapped the exhaust, changed a lot of the body work to carbon fiber, straight bars, airbox upgrade and, of course, lots of shiny gold alloy bits.

Ok, back to tires, small light frame, short wheelbase, and low steering angle should enable the Raptor to flip from side to side without any effort, mine didn’t, it did handle ok and was stable, but required, instead of just thinking about, actual effort to get it to turn in. Now I had a similar issue with my BMW R1200S but attributed that to the BM’s unusual Telelever front suspension, that is until I had to replace the tires because of ware, wow, new tires, and much improved turn in. Based upon that experience I assumed I needed new tires for the Raptor and showed then to Gino for advice on what to buy, he looks at them and says, ‘don’t need new tires try pumping them up’. Now I am very pedantic about tire pressures and frequently check them, so rather peeved I reply, ‘they are at the recommended pressure, 2.2bar front and 2.5bar rear, I checked’, well sort of, my real words were not quite that elegant. ‘No, no you misunderstand me’ say Gino, ‘pump them up more than the recommended, try 2.5 in the front and 2.8 rear’ again the real words not so elegant. So, I did, and guess what, no more effort, I just think, and the bike turns, brilliant and zero cost.

As I said earlier that experience got me thinking about tires and, sorry for stating the obvious, how important they are to how a bike rides and feels. If that 1 to 2 cm square patch of tire on road is not correct then regardless of suspension setting or fancy new sky hook, Ducati speak, electronic type suspension systems the bike is not going to handle at its full potential and that translates into less enjoyment for the rider. We get bikes coming into the shop, with tires 0.5bar to 1bar under inflated, not sure how the owners ride them, the front end is very heavy and imprecise, totally ruining the handling and feel of the bike. Worse still it’s dangerous, I recently rescued an elderly biker who had toppled off his BMW 100RT at a stop street, turned out the front tire was half flat and the heaviness of the steering cause him to lose balance and fall, fortunately with no damage to either him or the bike.

So, to conclude, check your tire pressures frequently, when I started riding on the road a wise old biker, and old is the key word here, advised me to check tires, pressure, and condition, at least once a week, very out of character, I stuck with that advise. A good standard is 2.2bar front and 2.5bar rear for solo riding but check the manufactures recommended pressures, online if you don’t have the manual, then if the bike still does not feel good go up a couple, as in two, tens of a bar at a time until, as they say, improvement is felt. I have a Gold Wing that needed 3bar in the rear to correct a low-speed front end shake, despite Honda stating the rear should be 2.6bar. Two points of caution here, first don’t go above 3.5bar, if the there is still a problem at that pressure, then it’s something other than tire pressure. Second, it could be interpreted that the simple solution is to run the tires at high pressure but will cause them to wear unevenly in the middle shortening the life of the tire, the tire needs to be at the right pressure for a particular bike tire manufacture combination, and often this can only be found by a bit of trial and error.

Well, 900 plus words of tire pressure waffle, if you got this far, well done, and thank you. Lastly, off road riders, if you had read this without giving up in disgust, please ignore all the above as your requirements are completely different. ~ Bob

As some of you may be aware I collect classic Japanese motorcycles from the late 1970s early 1980s period, and while owning these machines is to me a pleasure, especially when they are running well and I can ride them, they can also be a source of frustration. Case in point is the 1981 Kawasaki Z400J we purchased, well swapped for a Royal Enfield GT, a couple of months ago.

Now, normally I am not interested in adding smaller capacity motorcycles to my collection, they are nice, but maintenance and restoration work costs just as much for a small bike than a larger, more prestige one, so I prefer the glamorous super bikes. However, this little Kawasaki was in such lovely original condition, only 15,000km, and even having the toolkit, owner’s manual, and service booklet under the seat in the correct storage box, I just could not resist. Getting all the documentation with a bike of this age, its 42 years old, is great, knowing about the bike’s life history, for me, adds a personal connection to ownership. From the service booklet I can see it was originally purchased by a D.B Johnson from the Kawasaki Centre in Port Elisabeth, on the 5th of June 1981, then first serviced 13th July 1981, at 549kms. Wonderful!

As with a lot of things that seem too good to be true, turns out there are issues. First up was that it took a rather long time to warm up and perform correctly. Ok, not insurmountable, probably a clean and tune of the carbs will sort it, this is a small four-cylinder motor after all, so no real surprise the carbs are out of sync. Robin finally got time last week, removed the carbs, and sure enough the jets were all blocked. A clean and resync got it running better, but not perfect, I may be not the lightest and most streamlined rider, but according to old test reviews of the bike it should be good for about 155kmh, could only get just over 120kmh. Also, this longer run show up another problem, the steering head was notched, this is where the bearing balls make small indents in the bearing shells often caused by standing for a long time, making low speed ridding twitchy. Back to the workshop.

Robin tweaked the carbs again and stripped off the front end, in the picture below, or above, and sure enough the bearing shells where pitted. Next problem, where do we get replacement bearings, a quick call to Kawasaki and yes, they can get them from Japan, great, no, it will take 8 to 10 weeks, sigh. Try eBay and yes, using ebay.co.uk, I find a full kit with better taper roller bearing replacements, completed with seals at a slightly lower cost that Kawasaki’s. Great, but how do I get them to Cape Town given that the SA Post Office don’t work anymore, you might ask.

Well, I have a solution, which I’ve been using for a couple of years, called myukmailbox.com, this is a service whereby I pay for what is essentially a post box. I then use this post box address when purchasing items online from various UK suppliers, either through eBay or direct. Items can be stored at this address for up to 30 days, then all recently purchased items have arrived from the various suppliers, I press the consolidate button, the items are then combined into one package and courier to me. This is still quite expensive, but the combining into a single shipment does make the shipping move cost effective, plus the package gets to me, usually in about 4 days.

Right, that should all arrive end of next week, but I wanted to use the Z400 on the Distinguished Gentleman’s Run this coming Sunday, so Robin polishes the bearing shells, regreases the balls and reassembles to front end. First thing this morning I take the bike out for another test run, still takes a while to warn up, but not so long and it was cold this morning, steering is good, Robin’s makeshift repair is working. It warms up and I get onto the freeway, spin it up through the revs and I can feel its got more go, quite fun, I’m starting to smile. Traffic opens, so I drop a gear and give it the beans, spins happy up to about 7000 revs, about where peak power develops, and whee the clutch starts slipping, change up and again clutch slip at peak power. Disappointed, back to the workshop.

Interesting bike came into our workshop yesterday, with a starting problem. It's a Royal Enfield 350 Classic that has been professionally built by XLNC Customs, Delhi, India. A closer look will reveal that the front end has been completely replaced with USD forks, a large disc with a Bybre, Indians Brembo, radial caliper, machined yokes, and digital instrumentation. The swing arm has been lengthened, bobber type mudguards, single seat and all electrics seem to be in the cylinder under the seat, all very nicely done. Royal Enfield's have the same sort of prestige and desirability to Indians as Harley Davidsons do to the Americans. So, no surprise then that the Enfield customising scene is big in India, with many small companies offering custom parts as well as full custom bike such as this one. What is surprising, well to us, is that they don't seem to go the performance route at all, just cosmetic customisation, quite happy to leave the bike with a rather lazy 350 motor, and not even putting in the 500. Although, having been fortunate to have experienced ridding in India, I can say the traffic is quite chaotic, under statement, the Indian drivers seeming to make up the rules as they go, so you don't really want to go any faster than 80kmh, and I guess that's why performance is not important.

Ride slow and be seen, that's the ethos.

Today I am going to rant a bit about one of my pet hates, the digital instrumentation on most modern motorcycles.

First though, let's have a bit of history, once upon a time, back in the good old days, motorcycles didn't come with any instrumentation, just lots of levers, I'm talking 1920s here. However, if you wanted bragging rights in the pub, for around an extra 30 shilling, about R30, remember bikes cost around 70 pounds then, you could specify a speedometer as any option. This was a wonderful brass mechanical device that fitted to the top of the fuel tank and was connected by a thick Bowden cable to exposed gear cogs bolted to the front wheel, it would show your speed and record distance. All very stream punk today, height of technology in the 20s.

As speed limits caught on, the speedo became standard equipment, often along with an amp meter, both normally mounted in the headlight. The amp meter was needed because, until the Japanese came on the scene, motorcycle electrical systems where, shall we say somewhat unreliable, and the amp meter would give you a clue to if it was, or more likely wasn't, working. Then around the 1960s tachometers started to appear on the sportier motorcycles, mounted side by side with the speedo on the handlebars, and this arrangement became the motorcycle instrument norm for the next 30 odd years. That is apart from Harley Davidson who, for some reason, stuck with the speedo in the tank.

Late 90s the digital displays started to appear, a first just a clock, then speed and mileage, usually placed next to an analogue tacho. As an aside, I believe the first full digital motorcycle instrumentation was done by Honda on their 10-year Anniversary Gold Wing Aspencade in 1985. All digital, it also had, what Honda called, a travel computer but was really a glorified calculator, computers were still large in those days and required a lot of power, even a Gold Wing could not accommodate one of those. Interestingly Honda reverted to analogue for all the later Gold Wings, including the most recent model.

My first road bike was a Garelli Tiger 50cc, all it had was a bicycle like speedo, no warning lights, nothing, and the speedo was kind of vague, wavering between 40mph and 60mph. Actually, this was kind of handy, gave me bragging rights down the pub, "saw 60 on the speedo today". Next a massive improvement, a Honda Dream with the classic arrangement of speedo, tacho, and a row of warning lights in between. After that a Honda CB750KZ, same classic instrument arrangement, to the top of this, I fitted an analogue clock and an amp meter, both in nice motorcycle specific pods and made by VDO. Brilliant, what more could you want, told me all I needed to know in an instant. I had also fitted twin Cibie spotlights, and the amp meter was to monitor the power when these were switched on.

Right, now the rant. Since those early day I've ridden many bikes and up to about the mid-2000s enjoyed their instrument displays, the speedos had big numbers and were easy to read, even without my reading glasses, the tachos, still being analogue, read and react in an instant, great. Then someone had the bright idea to make everything digital and show how clever they are by cramming lots of useless information into a space so small you need a magnifying glass, let alone reading glasses, to read it.

Once one manufacturer had gone that way, it seemed all the rest were compelled to follow, fitting more and more complicated displays, each one trying to out do the next in now much information they could cram in. Some of the worst offenders, in my eyes, are Triumph, Yamaha, Suzuki, BWM and a few of the Italian brands, in fact, thinking about it all brands have at least one bad instrument model. The new Triumph 900 Tiger has a small tablet type screen, with selectable layouts, none I can read quickly and easily. The new Suzuki DL1050 has a display like old school graph paper with scribbles and lines. The Yamaha MT09 has a tiny screen with the rev indicator running around the top edge, try looking at that in bright sunlight. My Benelli 900RS has a small screen with large speedo numbers, next to the analogue tacho, and analogue temp gauge. So far so good, but then bright spark thought, as this is a sports bike, it would be a good idea to include a lap timer function. To get this function up, with the bike running, you hold the started button for 5 secs, to start timing hold for another 2 secs, to freeze hold for 1 sec and to stop 2 secs, fantastic just what I need, hurtling as fast as I can around a racetrack, I will have no problem using this while peering at the tiny screen.

Most of this additional information either cannot be accessed or read unless you stop, which kind of defeats the objective, totally useless and probably never used other than an initial let's see if it works look.

Another problem, older eyes take longer to change from bright to dark situations, a quick glance at a dark screen from a sun lit road revels, nothing. Expensive motorcycles are now mainly bought by middle to older people, and these people generally don't have quick acting eyes, something the manufacturers seem to have overlooked. Apart from Harley Davidson that is, who still mount their analogue speedos in the tank.

However, there is some light, the new Suzuki Hayabusa has, in my opinion, a genuinely superb instrument display. Thankfully the Suzuki designers made the inspired decision not to go digital but to leave the main instruments analogue, just adding a graphic hyperspace display between the speedo and tacho. So, when the horizon has become a tunnel and you want a quick glance at the instruments to ensure all is well before shifting to hyper drive, no problem, all is instantly revealed. This puts the Hayabusa at the top of my "really want it but can't justify yet" list.

Yesterday I had a very pleasurable ride on a Sym Blaze 200 delivery bike, and the experience made me think about the cost to fun ratio of motorcycling.

It all started when a customer brought in a recently purchased Sym delivery bike, only 248kms, complaining that he had trouble starting it that morning, and then after it did start it then abruptly stopped on the freeway only to restart again. This type of problem is always difficult to resolve as the bike was running perfectly when he brought into us, so as it was close to the first service Gino suggested the workshop do the service and then I then take it for a long test run to see if I could also break down. Fine with me, nice day and I enjoy riding pretty much anything with two wheels and a motor.

So around 13:00 off I go, whizzed away from the shop, I was pleasantly surprised by how nippy the bike is, this is pretty good for a 125, only later noticing the rather small 200 graphic on the tail, ok that explains it. Up Bottelary Road, the bike is running great easily keeping with the traffic flow at a nice 80 to 100 kph, only issue I had was this big white van tail gating me all the time, finally realised it the delivery box on the back, so stopped trying to get away from it and relaxed. Turned left at the Stellenbosch Road and headed to the N1, but then turn right into the Old Paarl Road, that this point I realised I was having fun, lovely warm, actually hot day, no pressure to go fast, just pootling along with the traffic enjoying the sights and smells of the country. So, I stopped, can't have too much fun, no, to take pictures of the bike by the entrance to the Giraffe House, see below or above, I didn't know giraffes climbed, totally bizarre.

Back on the bike and a few kms down the road I turned right into Muldersvlei Road, I like this road, small and picturesque, very much like an English lane. Stopped again to take pictures, Transnet were busy maintaining the lights at the main railway line crossing, about 6 people working and lots of bakkies, didn’t know Transnet maintained, totally bizarre.

Also took the opportunity to turn in and explore the Muldervlei Railway Station, strange I know, but I do like railways. Fortunately, this station, being sort of in the middle of nowhere, has escape the vandalism of most other stations. Quite a large station building it served as the northern main line to the, now unused, Stellenbosch branch, I image it must have been quite busy 80 or so years ago when the branch was in full use.

After a quick ginger beer from the country café I continued, around past the Western Cape Department of Agriculture corporate office and college, quite an extensive but tasteful campus, to the R44. Turned right and then a bit further on right again into Kromme Rhee Road, another nice lane, to get back to Bottelary Road. Wave at all the school kids coming out of St Vincent, the big white church, and buildings at the crossroads, and get puzzled looks, why is that delivery bike waving at us. The plan was to go back down Bottelary Road, but I hadn't broken down yet, plus I was still enjoying myself, so decided to turn towards Stellenbosch and take the Polkadraai Road, M12, back via Kuils River to Stikland.

Two things then happened, first about halfway to Stellenbosch the temperature suddenly dropped, and when I say suddenly, I mean like I just walked into the beer fridge at the local bottle store. No dropping into a dip or geographical reason for the temperature change, it just dropped, I would guess about 10 degrees, never felt that before, totally bizarre.

Second was the break down, the bike started spluttering and then stopped just before Stellenbosch, at that point I had just done just over 30 kms from the shop. Seemed like I had run out of fuel, but the gauge still showed more than three quarters full. The bike has a carburettor and a fuel tap, so it was easy to pull the fuel pipe off the tap and guess what, no fuel coming out of the tap. Right, so must be that some dirt has got in and blocked the tap. Well, no, a quick call to Gino, he tells me to open the fuel cap and wow, the petrol is now flowing out of the tap again. Air lock in the tank, the breather is obviously blocked, and it takes about 30 km to pressurise the tank enough to stop the fuel flow. Fuel pipe back on and off I go again, back to the shop where they inspect the breather in the fuel cap lock and find a data dot blocking it, totally bizarre.

So, back to the cost of fun ratio. I don’t class myself as a bike snob only wanting to ride this make or size of bike, as I said I just really enjoy simply being out there riding. This little bike costs around R22k, cheap be today's standards, yet I really had a fun time on it for the two hours, 60kms, I was out. If instead I had been on a R220K machine, would I have had 10 times the fun, I doubt it. This is not to say we should all ride small bikes, but that you don't need the latest, biggest, most expensive bike to have fun, a bike, and the right attitude it all you need, and in today’s economic times maybe a smaller bike does make sense.

Makes you think, does it not.

This, I believe, is the only Royal Enfield Himalayan in South Africa. It was imported by us for homologation purposes late 2018.

For those that do not know, every road going motor vehicle must undergo an approval process by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, NRCS, this body inspects all vehicle models and ensures that they comply with SA standards, homologation. This must be completed before any vehicles can be import in numbers and sold to the public. To do this a single vehicle is imported under a special permit and submitted to the NRCS along with specific tests, documented by the manufacture, to prove the vehicle complies with these standards, often referred to as Euro4 and now Euro5 compliance.

So, back to the Himalayan, after much governmental red tape, we finally got the bike homologated, hooray. The bike was loaned to various SA magazines for road tests, and the consensus was that it is a nice small to medium adventure bike, adequate on the tar and quite capable on gravel. Great, let's get moving and order a container full, 25 to 30 bikes.

How the sad part. Royal Enfield had a management shuffle, and the new guys decided that the SA market was not large enough to warrant the effort of exporting to us. To put this in context Royal Enfield sell nearly 1 million bikes a year into the Asian market, mainly India but also large numbers to their neighbouring countries, with smaller exports to Europe and the US. Back in 2019, the general populace of SA did not ride motorbikes, changing a bit now, motorcycle customers making up a very small percentage of this population and within that an even smaller percentage buying Royal Enfields. Our projected sells for a year was to have been between 100 to 200 and this unfortunately, was not the 1000s Royal Enfield expected and required. So, no go then, very disappointing.

A further attempt was to contact a dealer in Dubai to source some of the Himalayans and, the then new Twins, but this also fell through as the Dubai dealer was fearful of alienating his relationship with Royal Enfield by suppling us.

This all bring us to the often-asked question of when the new Enfields be in SA, unfortunately, the answer is not in the foreseeable future, as we no longer have a sales relationship with Royal Enfield, although we can still get parts. The only possible way for an individual to get a new Enfield is to purchase it overseas and import it personally, and, as I understand, this can be done, import duties and VAT must be paid, and with the restriction that once there it cannot be sold on for 2 years.

Good review of the Kawasaki Ninja 1000 SX on this weeks ZA Biker

https://www.zabikers.co.za/2022/04/28/kawasaki-ninja-1000-sx-the-thinking-mans-ninja-for-the-real-world/

This week appears to be voltage regulator problem week in our workshop. For those less technically astute I will explain, the voltage regulator on a motorcycle is an electrical black box than ensures a steady 12-14 volts is delivered from the motor to the bikes electrical system while the motor is running. If this box is not working correctly, either no power with be delivered, which will result in the battery running flat and the bike stopping, too much power, the battery is then cooked and worse still, possible damage to other electrical components on the bike, the ECU for instance, expensive!

This week we have a Triumph Tiger 955 and my own Cagiva Raptor 1000, not charging correctly, and both with suspected aftermarket, Chinese, regulators. Which has reminded me of an amusing story about David's Honda X4 and its failing regulator.

The X4 is an unusual motorcycle in SA being only made for the Japanese home market between 1997 and 2003, a big 1300 4-cylinder motor in a low-slung frame, solid rear wheel and stubby large chrome exhaust, I believe, produced to compete with Yamaha's V-Max. Anyway, somehow a few escaped Japan, most ending up in Europe, mainly Holland, but a few also made it here, and by some strange coincidence David and I both own one, mine's in the picture below, or above.

Ok, background over, now the story. David and I often ride together, he always on his X4 and myself on a variety of bikes. Back mid 2019 we went for a Wednesday ride, out around Paarl rock and then back through the Cape Farm lands, nice smooth flowing roads without much traffic so we were making, shall we say, good progress. I was on my White Ducati 900, important for later, and David as always on his X4, we get to Klipheuwel, on our way to Philadephia and the Pepper Tree for lunch, when the X4 stops, no electrics. We remove the seat hoping for a loose connection or something easy to fix, no such luck, the battery very hot, bloated and is kind of steaming, acid stream, bit like me after a good curry, not good.

We trailer the X4 to the workshop, test the charging system, and get 18 volts coming out of the regulator, which is obviously defective and has ruined battery, thankfully no damage to any of the other components. A new Honda regulator for the X4 is very expense and takes time to obtain, so, David decides to purchase an aftermarket regulator, with the correct number of wires, from someone he knows at a good price. We fit this and a new battery and all is good, bike producing the correct 13.5 volts and charging perfectly, David is happy.

Two years later David and I are out riding with some other guys, and for the first time since the X4 broke down, I am on my White Ducati 900, again. Stopped at traffic lights, robots, David leans over and shouts "Remember last time both these bikes were to together mine broke down", yes, I laughingly reply. We continue into Muizenberg and at the next set of robots the X4 stops, no electrics. David is incredulous, how can this happen again, it's your fault for bring that bloody Ducati!

We trailer the X4 to the workshop. Now it gets interesting I charge the battery and get the motor running, then, before doing anything else I check the output from the regulator, zero, nothing, no volts. I remove the regulator from the bike, restart the motor and check the stator output. The stator is the part that does the actual generation of the electricity, small wire coils in a ring around a moving magnet, normally mounted on the end of the crankshaft. The stator checks out fine, a nice 50+ volts across all three wires. Then just to ensure the problem is not a bad connection, I refit the regulator and check its output, suddenly its pumping out 18 volts, battery boiling power, switch off quick. Now, why should a regulator change from producing nothing to producing 18 volts, good question, answers on a postcard to the usual address please.

This time we find a more compatible Suzuki regulator, to replace the aftermarket one. I suspect the Chinese aftermarket regulators are made for the smaller motorcycles with motors that don't produce the electrical power that larger motors do. They work, but probably the extra power causes them to run hotter thus shortening their working life.

David is happy again, but obviously his X4 doesn't like my White Ducati, and I have been warned not to bring it again. Strange really, as my X4 parks close to the Ducati in my garage and that one does not seem to mind. Makes you think, does it not. Bob

Mini adventure bike, well you might have to change the tires to something slightly more off road for gravel, great commuter, R0.6 per km, plus big enough to do longer pleasure rides, Favorite Bike Rides 1 for instance. Fuel injected, water cooled motor, ABS brakes, full digital dash, USB charging socket, engine crash bars and a center stand, all for R35,995.

Right, declaimer first, I know nothing about quad bikes. Mark, our sales manager, pointed at a Kawasaki KVF300 we have on the floor, says why don't you write about that? What why, I replied, that things got four wheels, it's not much of a bike. No, no says Mark its interesting, look it up and write something.

Ok here goes; the KVF300 is made by Kawasaki, it has handlebars and a 271cc water cooled motor, very bike like so far. Now it gets weird, it has four wheels, three disc brakes, automatic CVT 2 speed transmission and thumb throttle, and also electric start, but there is also a pull start on the left, and reverse. Head, tail, and brake lights but can't go on SA roads, well it can, probably be very good over the potholes, however the traffic police might get a bit upset. Especially as the thing is called Brute Force, really!

As I said I know nothing about farm quads, so I read 2 reviews, one from New Zealand and one from the UK. The NZ review seem to like the quad and said things like "This transmission setup works very well and is impressive to see it included on this bike. In hi, the bike has a good speed range for getting around the farm quickly or following cows down the race ", no idea why cows should be going to the races, but hay, think about it, what do I know. Also said "Whilst I'm sure the lack of four-wheel drive may not suit many situations; this is a very economical solution for flatter farms or those that don't require a bike to do a lot of towing."

The UK review also mainly liked it although again I am not quite sure of what they a speaking of. "The Kawasaki gets a sophisticated digital dash that shows fuel level, speed, odometer and temperature. It also tells you what transmission option you've selected. One downside is the lack of a horn on the model we tested. On a stock farm it's very useful to have a horn, especially if your sheepdog is very old and deaf. The lack of one made for a lot of shouting and exasperation." What, I would have thought an old, deaf sheep dog is useless anyway. Then its storage compartments; "The Kawasaki has a useful front compartment that's fitted with a gasket to keep water out. It's big enough to take a couple of spray cans, a pair of ringers or foot trimmers. There's also another smaller compartment inside that could be used for carrying smaller items like tags and needles for out in the field." Right, I must assume they are talking about sheep farming here, not graffiti artists and/or drug dealers. Also, about the carrying ability "Load racks are sturdily built however, according to the literature, it can't hold that much. That didn't mean we couldn't load it up with bags of sheep food though, so it's fair to say you can get more on than advertised."

So, to summarise, the Kawasaki KVF300 is great for racing cows on a flat farm while overloading the racks, carrying strange implements in its various compartments, and shouting at deaf dogs. Makes you think, does it not.