SCOOPERMAN!

The sunny side of the classic world, with the VJMC’S Steve Cooper

Like it or not anyone who wants to own, run, restore or ride an old

Japanese bike is soon going to have to be making some serious compromises.

As this column has previously flagged up, the seemingly endless supply NOS (New Old Stock) is starting to dry up and we’re not talking about the high-end, high-value parts either. When you see things like little-end bearings coming up as discontinued them alarm bells should start ringing. Even the once seemingly inexhaustible supply of aftermarket pistons and rings kit are slowly disappearing off the likes of ebay. Compromises are going to have to be made and clever engineering solutions adopted.

To a degree this has already begun to happen and if you happen to be similarly afflicted with Suzuki Stinger-itus then you may already be aware that one brave soul has struck out and commissioned a batch of custom-made crankshaft bearings. With a minimum run of around 50, our brave T125 enthusiast is going to have to be selling a fair few before he gets his money back, but this is likely to be the very nature of fettling old Japanese bikes in the future. If you’re lucky enough to own a Kawasaki Z1 then life for you is likely to be significantly easier, but not necessarily cheaper. A huge amount of what’s needed for one of these 70s icons has been manufactured and it’s something that has a fairly big market potential. Honda CB750/4 owners will be similarly delighted to hear The Big Aitch is finally tooling up to make key items for the world’s first superbike. Nothing’s likely to be cheap, but at least it’ll be available. Stray away from the mainstream classics though and it’s a very different story. A friend has taken on a pair of Yamaha YD3S, the cooking version of the YDS3 sports bike. Only two things are available for the YD3’S motor – nothing and bugger all. This has led to the owner commissioning con-rods to be made at significant cost but, amazingly, he has found other fans of this oddball twin who also want con-rods. A problem shared is a trouble halved, etc., and he’s recovered his costs, helped out others and, crucially, horse-traded rods for components he badly needs. Custom manufacture and/or small batch runs are likely to become an ever more important facet of our hobby/passion/ obsession as the years go by. There’s a firm in the USA that has turned a tidy profit in replicating a range of plastic and rubber components for our bikes that would frankly amaze you. Who would ever believe there was a market for indicator lenses for Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon scooters or inlet rubbers for Yamaha SC500 stroker singles? Be in no doubt what we do will not be getting cheaper any time soon, but at least there are enterprising individuals out there rising to the challenge and assisting us keeping these old bikes running.