Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

PROJECT KEV RAYMOND

He’s been writing about bikes for almost three decades: CMM welcomes back Kevin Raymond. Francophil­e and old bike lover!

- WORDS AND PHOTOS: KEV RAYMOND

Well, more the bikes owned by the man himself!

It’s nice to be back, although you’ll need a long memory to dredge up the last time I graced these pages. think it must have been about 1993, and I was reporting on the restoratio­n of a low mileage 1978 Moto Morini. That’s long, long gone (unfortunat­ely) but over the intervenin­g years I’ve acquired quite a fleet of piles of rusting cra... sorry, I mean rapidly appreciati­ng modern classics – most of which haven’t moved for years due to the usual pressures of life, work and trying to restore a crumbling old farm in France. It’s time for that to change, so over the coming months I’ll be gradually unearthing various bikes, trying to remember where all the bits are, and hoping to breathe a little bit of life back into some of them. For starters though, here’s a brief run-down of what’s in store for you all.

1987 Suzuki GSX-R1100H

This was rescued from a skip in Corby several years ago. It’s missing most of the bodywork, complete front-end and most of the engine. But it’s a first-generation Slabby, so how could I resist..? CURRENT STATUS: So far it now has adjustable RF900R forks (in the original yokes bored out by 2mm), brakes and 17in wheels. I’ve sourced fibreglass bodywork and a (wrong, as it turns out – it’s from a 750) fuel tank, along with period rear-sets, new old stock EBC discs and an old stock Venom stainless exhaust which will only fit if I use a Bandit 1200 sump. But that’s okay because a) I’ve got one and b) the oil cooler I bought to replace the damaged original turns out to be a B12 one anyway and wouldn’t fit a standard sump. THE PLAN: I’ve got a suitable donor engine with duff gearbox, and I’m hoping the gearbox from the original is salvageabl­e so I can swap it over. Then I’ll need to make a new wiring loom, as well as sourcing all the bits that I don’t even know are missing yet...

1978 Honda CX500A

Bought cheap in France a couple of years ago as a nostalgia trip – my first big bike was a CX in 1986 and I did my first proper trip on it: Pompeii and back, six months after passing my test. I had to sell it when I got back to pay for the trip, and always wished I’d kept it a bit longer, so when this turned up at sensible money I couldn’t resist. It’s a very early Us-spec model, which was imported to the UK early on but then never registered or used, before ending up in France in the hands of an ex-pat classic bike nut who stripped and rebuilt it. It was definitely a rebuild not a restoratio­n though – it’s not as nice up close as it is from a distance, especially the engine which has been rattle-canned over the top of the original finish. I can live with that though. CURRENT STATUS: Complete and running, but not running very well – I suspect blocked air jets are to blame for the low rpm hesitancy. Rear shocks (originals!) are useless, front suspension not much better, and brakes (it’s a single disc Us-spec model) are appalling. THE PLAN: I still have all the hard luggage and tank bag that I fitted for the Pompeii trip, so will be rebuilding this as a replica of the original. First I’ve got to improve suspension (hello, is that Hagon?) and brakes (currently looking at suitable modern single calipers) and fit Euro-spec lower handlebars (because I still have my pride) which means changing all the cables and the brake hose. Oh, and I need to strip and clean the carbs: always a joy.

1957 Mobylette AV76

A barn find: yes, a real one! Dragged from the back of a French barn where it had been since the early 1970s. It had no front wheel and brake, so I found one at a boot sale. Cleaned the carb, and the points, flushed the tank through, and away it went. I fitted a wooden wine box as top-box, because it seemed appropriat­e. CURRENT STATUS: Now used to go to the boulangeri­e a mile away for bread and buns (it’s formally known as ‘The Bunne Shoppe Flyer’). Except last time, it wouldn’t start for the return journey so I had to pedal it all the way home. Uphill. THE PLAN: I need to investigat­e why it has no spark. I could also do with finding a less knackered saddle – this one’s mostly gaffer tape and it’s chafing something rotten. Actually that doesn’t sound quite right...

1988 Honda special

E Pluribus Unum, as it says on the yankee dollar – ‘One From Many’. I built this from bits 20-something years ago: lots of bits. The chassis, swingarm and rear wheel are from a 1988 Honda Bros 400, the rear shock’s early Fireblade, the complete front end and most of the bodywork is 1991 Suzuki RGV250M, and the engine is from an Africa Twin 750, heavily tuned by Dave Stephenson, and making over 70bhp. CURRENT STATUS: In more or less one piece, but the original fuel tank has rotted out and the brakes are full of gunge. Also I keep finding dodgy bits of wiring etc. from when I first built it – my standards are higher these days. THE PLAN: I have an NC30 tank which looks like it ought to fit, but doesn’t. Trying to decide whether to persevere with that or not. I also need to look into registerin­g it in France: tricky...

1992 Ducati 400SS

Bloody thing’s been hanging around for years. Bought for virtually nothing from a friend after he dropped a lawnmower on it – I replaced the top fairing and various bits. Originally intended for Carole but physically too big for her (same size as a 900) so it got shoved to one side – hasn’t been on the road since I can’t remember when. CURRENT STATUS: I’ve just sealed the leaky fuel tank, and currently got the carbs in bits to replace diaphragms and ultrasonic­ally clean the bodies. Then it needs new cambelts and a general clean up and service. The up/down workbench is a re-purposed hospital bed with a fire door on top, incidental­ly... THE PLAN: Fix it, flog it to fund purchase of the SS50. Slightly complicate­d by the fact it’s in France and still on UK plates, so I either need to sell it back in UK, where it’s worth peanuts, or register it in France, which is a pain in the derrière...

1997 BMW R1100RS

The daily workhorse: well, not so much daily – I don’t commute anywhere. More a case of dragging her out of the barn every now and then, sluicing off the worst of the owl shit and hoping she’s up for a thousand miles or so in a couple of days. So far, so good: called Flossie, for complicate­d reasons, now on 106,000 miles (25k of those in my ownership). We stripped the engine at 100k and discovered pretty much everything inside was still within tolerance for a new engine! It was rebuilt with new piston rings and one new camshaft and a new clutch, so I know it’s good for another 100k. CURRENT STATUS: She’s badly in need of a service now, the wiring loom is rotting away, front and rear subframes could also do with attention and one fork leg is knackered. THE PLAN: In theory? I’ve got spare forks and a new old stock loom ready to go, but the loom’s from a non-abs version, so I’ll need to make up a new sub-loom to keep the ABS. In practice I can’t see when/if I’ll get round to any of that, so I’ll change the oil and do the valve clearances and just hope it keeps soldiering on for the foreseeabl­e and doesn’t leave me stranded somewhere.

1971 Honda SS50

Not technicall­y mine – yet. I’m looking after it for my friend Paul, who’s moved house before building his new garage.

He has many, many mopeds and small bikes and I think he doesn’t really have this anymore because my wife Carole has seen it and decided she likes it a lot (she used to have an A100 Suzuki and this looks very similar). I had a couple of later SS50S when I was 16/17, and raced C50s in moped endurance for years so I’ve got previous with these. This has been sort of restored at some point but it’s not as good close up as at a distance. Clocks show about 7000 miles. It’s been fitted with a 70 or 90cc top end, apparently, and God knows where the carb’s from – it’s definitely not standard. CURRENT STATUS: The fuel tank is full of five-year-old fuel sludge and rust, so it needs some TLC before I can find out more. Starts and ticks over a treat with a sniff of ‘startyerba­stard’ though. THE PLAN: Keep quiet about it for so long that Paul forgets he owns it.

2001 X-sport 110cc pit bike

Not the kind of thing you usually find in these pages, I’ll grant you. I didn’t go looking for this – it found me when I bought an old racing bicycle and this was lying next to it, having been discarded by a sullen teenager, ‘because it seized’. Acquired it for pennies, took it home and discovered the generator rotor had come off the crank and got stuck against the side cover. Amazingly, the rest of the bike’s not seriously bent or mangled – just needs a bit of TLC. CURRENT STATUS: A tenner’s worth of used part should have had it running again, but by the time it arrived I’d stripped the whole thing down to paint the frame and replace the swingarm bearings. Then something else needed doing elsewhere so this got shoved on a shelf. That was a year ago. THE PLAN: Sneak up on it sideways, slap it all back together and have some fun in the fields. So that’s the Raymond fleet and work begins in earnest. Next month, the Ducati 400SS gets a stern talking to.

 ??  ?? 1100H ain’t no show pony: yet!
1100H ain’t no show pony: yet!
 ??  ??
 ??  ?? ...this CX will be a replica of the 1986 version!
...this CX will be a replica of the 1986 version!
 ??  ?? Africa Twin powered BROS/RGV is lovely...
Africa Twin powered BROS/RGV is lovely...
 ??  ?? Happy days on the old CX...
Happy days on the old CX...
 ??  ?? Moby: not the musician...
Moby: not the musician...
 ??  ?? Ahhh workhorse Flossie!
Ahhh workhorse Flossie!
 ??  ?? Wife Carole says Kev always has wood. Ducati 400SS in foreground.
Wife Carole says Kev always has wood. Ducati 400SS in foreground.
 ??  ?? Pit bike in bits...
Pit bike in bits...

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