a pesky water buffalo - vjmc · a restoration workbench that tucks away official publication of the...

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

Inside: • The other ‘Yama’:

Yamaguchi• CBX motorcycle diaries• Build your own

restoration workbench• Hundreds of classifieds

The

Vol. 33, No. 1 February 2012 • $5

A Pesky Water Buffalo

February 2012 www.vjmc.org 3

10 A Colorado adventure Riding a GT250 through a burn area

14 Out, damn’d spot Do-it-yourself electric rust removal

16 ‘Wild Dragons’ Little-known CL tank sets

18 Japan’s other ‘Yama’ bike Pre-Hodaka PABATCO import

24 The CBX motorcycle diaries New purchase ridden home, from SoCal to Fla.

30 Building a bike stand A restoration workbench that tucks away

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

Inside: • The other ‘Yama’:

Yamaguchi• CBX motorcycle diaries• Build your own

restoration workbench• Hundreds of classifieds

The

Vol. 33, No. 1 February 2012 • $5

A Pesky Water Buffalo

On the cover

Shankar JayaGanapathy’s 1974 Suzuki GT750 went from weekend project to days of frustration and panic.

COVER STORY20 A sound ordeal Fixing that exhaust note turns into bigger undertaking

04 President’s letter06 Letters, news

33 Classifieds38 Regalia

FEaTuRES

DEpaRTmEnTS

The

Two days ago I was elected president of this great or-ganization. I appreciate

the confidence board members have in my ability to lead this army of volunteers. Volunteers make this club work. While I have served on the VJMC Board of Directors in various offices and positions for the past decade, I have never been more optimistic about our club’s future.

The reason for my optimism is the quality of our volunteers on this governing board: both newly elected and seasoned veterans. Last December, field represen-

tatives elected seven new board members to join the four returning directors. This new blood brings creativity, diversity and energy to help shape this club’s future. The new 2012 directors include Gordon East, S.C.; John Fiorino, Idaho; Ellis Holman, Ind.; Bob Leonard, Ariz.; Bill McClennen, Calif.; Gary Renna, N.J.; and Peter Slatcoff, Fla. Please congratulate these folks when you see them at a show, swap meet or ride.

These unpaid individuals share a commitment to service, giving their time, expertise and resources to make the VJMC the best organization focused on the enjoyment of vintage Japanese

motorcycles. Most of them have multiple Japanese motorcycles ranging from tiddlers to super-slab ground-pounders that can bring back the great feelings and sensations of our youth. These folks also know that great times on old bikes are enriched when shared with like-minded riders and restorers. Anyone who has been on a club ride, attended a show or rally, or even posted a YouTube motorcycle clip knows that fun gets multiplied 10 times when shared.

Many of these new direc-tors have been contributors for

years to our excellent magazine, website, rallies and local show venues. They have staffed show booths and recruited members for many years. More importantly, they have demonstrated a willing-ness to help others in our club enjoy vintage motorcycles and the rides they provide.

This 11-person board will help carve out the future path of this club. We are still forming committees, accepting responsi-bilities, filling offices and getting to know the talent pool available. We will have agendas and pri-orities to share in the upcoming months after lots of hard work. Expectations are great for the

future of the VJMC.Past volunteers also gave

much of their time and talents to help VJMC grow and thrive. To these troopers we owe a round of applause. Past president Hal Johnson, VP Bob Billa and Di-rector Dave Hellard piloted this ship for the past two years into today’s safe harbor. Secretary Randy Mayes arranged our monthly conference calls and kept club records for many years. She also provided a procedural voice of reason, reminding parties of by-law requirements. Event co-ordinator Jack Stein covered the Field Rep coordinator position and provided event kits, banners and guidance for our many state field reps in running shows, booths and club rides.

Please support all our board members as they take on the gov-ernance task for the next two years, and thank those who served in the past for their help. I will provide more details in the months ahead as we begin our work.

Tom KolenkoVJMC president

New VJMC board looks to the futureVJMC magazineFebruary 2012Vol. 33, No. 1

PresidentTom Kolenko770-427-4820

[email protected]

EditorBrendan [email protected]

Art DirectorRhonda Cousin

Classified adsGary Gadd

[email protected]

Display Ad Director/VP Gary Renna

[email protected]

West Coast RepBill McClennon714-996-2278

[email protected]

Mountain States RepVolunteer Needed

Central States RepVolunteer Needed

Northeast RepGary Renna

[email protected]

Southeast RepVolunteer Needed

Membership DirectorBill Granade

[email protected]

Mission statement:The purpose of this organization is to promote the preservation, restoration and enjoyment of vintage Japanese motorcycles (defined as those 20 years old and older, until 2012. We will em-brace 1990 until then). The VJMC also will promote the sport of motorcycling and camaraderie of motorcyclists everywhere.

© 2012, Vintage Japanese Motor- cycle Club of North America, an IRS-approved Not-for-profit 501(c)(7) corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be re-produced or transmitted in any form without permission.

The VJMC magazine is published six times per year, in February, April, June, August, October and December. The views and opinions expressed in let-ters or other content are those of the author and do not necessarily represent VJMC policy. The VJMC accepts no liability for any loss, damage or claims occurring as a result of advice given in this publication or for claims made by advertisers of products or services in this publication.

PRESIDENT’S LETTER The

4 www.vjmc.org February 2012

The reason for my opTimism is

The qualiTy of our volunTeers on

This governing board: boTh newly

elecTed and seasoned veTerans.

Garys Radiator Our Services include:• Gas Tank Repair & Seal• Motorcycle Radiators & Gas Tanks• Oil Coolers• Plastic repair• New Recore, Rodout, Clean & Repair Radiators• Custom Aluminum Radiators• Industrial Radiators• Block Flushing•Thermostats• Water pumps• Air Conditioning Services• Recharging AC

Before

After

225 W. Truslow Fullerton, CA 92832 Phone: 714.526.3367


VINTAgE JAPANESE MoToRCyCLE CLub boARD MEMbERSPresident: Tom [email protected] VP, Ad director: Gary [email protected] Secretary: Bob [email protected] Treasurer: John [email protected]

PR director, Magazine & Web Liaison: Roger [email protected]

Safety Coordinator: Lloyd [email protected]

BoARd MeMBeRS AT LARGe:Bill [email protected]

Jim [email protected]

Gordon [email protected]

Peter [email protected]

ellis [email protected]

CLuB eMPLoyeeS (NoN-VoTING MeMBeRS):Membership coordinator: Bill [email protected]

Webmaster: Jon [email protected]

editor: Brendan [email protected]


LETTERS, NEWS AND MISCELLANy

Sharing ideas inproblem solving

Does the VJMC have a problem-solving and idea database that allows members to share their knowledge and tricks of the trade? For instance, in my short time learning restoration I already have a couple of winners that others might like to know about:

1. I was able to make a valve compressor tool by just using a standard C-clamp with a super easy adapter I threw together in the shop. I put two ¾” copper tubing end caps onto a 2” piece of ¾” copper tubing (torch and solder like a plumber). I drilled a ½” hole on one end (for the valve stem to push up into the tube) and two ½” holes on the sides next to the drilled end, so now the valve keeper clips can be removed (or replaced later) during a valve job. A little flat filing made the side holes a little bigger so tweezers fit in easily. It took one hour to make and it worked like a champ. I used a small piece of scrap wood to protect the valve face from the other end of the C-clamp.

2. My 1973 Honda had completely corroded/seized hydraulic front brakes. I drilled and tapped the brake pad and removed it with a 3/8” bolt inserted into my new tapped hole. The piston was also frozen solid to the caliper. The brakeline-fitting hole in the caliper body is 10mm and provided the access for me to generate high pressure to the back side

of the piston. For that I used a 10mm bolt about 3/8” long and drilled a hole straight through it, end to end. The hole was appropriate for a tap to fit a grease gun fitting I had. I took special care to bore the thread end enough that the grease-fitted-bolt-adapter would not damage the pressure flange in the caliper housing. Now I pumped grease into the unit until it came out the bleeder hole. The bleeder was tightened to seal it and then a high-pressure grease gun provided the force necessary to squeeze the piston out. (A standard grease gun did not have enough pressure to do it.) If you are a better shopper than I am, you might be able to find a grease fitting already made to fit the 10mm hole or the bleeder hole, and then this is super easy!

These might be obvious tricks for the experts, but I bet I am not the only guy out there that found these fixes to be useful. One method was described on the Internet and the other recommended by a mechanic at work.

– George Mauer

Book Review: ‘The CBX Book’

Author Ian Foster’s “The CBX Book” is probably the best tribute to a single motorcycle ever written. In 404 pages of high-gloss, lavishly illustrated pages, he recounts the entire history of this six-cylinder super bike, with as much of the

human element as all of the technical details. Of course, its main appeal has to be to those of us lucky enough to own a CBX (or two or three), but this book is so wonderful, I think it will appeal to any Honda devotees or other vintage Japanese bike lovers.

Some of the best chapters of Ian’s tome cover:

• Other in-line sixes, with facts I never dreamed of, like daring 1921 and 1930 experiments, and MV Augusta’s 350 and 500 sixes of the 1950s.

• The complete history of Honda’s


LETTERS, NEWS AND MISCELLANy

CBX model evolution, from the naked 1979 screamer, to the bagged 1982 cruiser.

• Inside details of how Soichiro Irimijari turned his experience building Honda’s racing RC-166 of the 1960s, into the ’70s production bike.

• Personal stories from dozens of CBX characters who own, maintain, modify and love these machines.

For $42, the quality of the printing is near perfection: high-gloss pages with tons of color pictures on every page. Indeed, the majority of the book is pictures … I would estimate there are over a thousand snapshots, tables and illustrations.

Author Ian Foster is an engaging Brit who lives in Hong Kong and traveled the world to gather info for this book. He owns more CBXes than he cares to admit, and has written for The Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Magazine in the past. To paraphrase his introduction, it began with the 30th anniversary of the CBX in 2009 when Ian thought he could knock out a 200-page book in about a year. It took 400 pages and two years, but every bit worth the expanded time and scope.

To get your copy, send an email to [email protected]. They accept PayPal.

– Vince Ciotti

Free memberships to club promoters

The winners of the 2011 VJMC “Freebie Four” membership signup contest included a record 46 members who signed up at least four new VJMC members. This year our No. 1 new member recruiter was Bill McClennen, who signed up a record of 50 new members and also renewed 10 members. Outstanding work Bill!

The Club’s sincere thanks go out to all our 2011 Freebie Four winners: Melody Adams, Steve Adams, Eddie Bingham, Bo Bradshaw, Bob Brandner, Robert Brandner, Ken Brown, Joel Chamblin, Roger Craig, Ursulina Creel, Gordon East, Paul Enz, John Fiorino, John Furge, Greg Golias, Ken Gray, Kenny Haines, Scott Harrison, Max Hartman, David Hellard, Josette Herdell, Ellis Holman,

Hal Johnson, Bob Kelly, Tom Kolenko, Rodney Langford, Tim McDowell, Bill McClennen, John McElfresh, Warren Mayes, Chip Miller, Larry Miller, Buck Mitchell, Matt Reither, Gary Rhodes, Mike Runnels, Joe Rybenshy, Steve Searles, Roger Smith, Jack Stein, David Stidham, Marcus Swan, Karl Wardlow, Barry Whitley, Allen Wood and Rich Youngblood.

– Bill GranadeVJMC member coordinator

Sacramento chapter’ssuccessful first swap

The Sacramento Foothills chapter of the VJMC put on their first swap meet in October. We had bikes for display, vendors, buyers, tire kickers and lots of sharing about bikes and projects past, present and future.

We held our meet at the El Dorado Post 119 American Legion in Placerville. Coffee and doughnut holes were followed by hamburgers, furnished by the Son’s Squadron 119. We had a very good start and look forward to an even better meet this coming October.

– Mike MuetzSacramento Foothills Rep

‘Tight is right’Perhaps it’s my sadness over all old

motorcyclists who die, perhaps it’s just a regret of my own mortality, but I sorely hate to lose all of the skills, stories, legends and just plain good folk who go before we do. Since we’re all headed towards that same regrettable end, I’d like to involve you in preserving not only our precious motorcycles, but our knowledge and resources as well. “Tight is Right” may sound oversimplified or even trite, but in order to keep our

treasured bikes hot, greasy and smoking for decades to come, we need to pass on the bikes and the skills, interest, and especially passion.

When my grandson Cody was 16 last year, I bought two Yamaha RD250s to piece one together for him. Too many youngsters grow up without ever getting a two-stroke up on the pipe, and having owned 60 RDs and having raced them at Willow Springs for 10 years, I couldn’t resist thrusting one in front of him to enjoy. Sure he liked it, but he is leery of its age and reliability.

Each of us dedicated to vintage motorcycles needs to maintain younger people to work on our bikes, or surely they will be junked with the first real problem. Keep your eyes and ears peeled, whether it’s your sons, daughters, nephews, neighbors, or kids from church or the supermarket, I urge you to find someone who says “Wow!” when they first see a piston pulsing to the spin of a crankshaft. A kid who marvels at you kick-starting your bike, is the one who will eventually be charged with keeping your vintage Japanese bike alive for many generations.

Get tight with an apprentice before it’s too late; it’s the right thing to do.

– Bruce Mangels

Ill. Concourse event seeks VJMs in July

Last year I had the opportunity to enter a café bike I built into the Barrington Concourse D’Elegance event

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38

39

38

Words: Mitch BoehMPhotos: ed lawrenceworld champion Joel robert, leading

the way on his factory cZ in the 250 international division.

The Way We Were

Edison Dye’s Westlake Village Inter-Am of

1968 was more than one of the U.S.’s earliest

international motocross meetings—it fertilized

the then-tender roots of an American MX

dynasty. And thanks to photographer Ed

Lawrence, we get a crystal clear look at...

For anyone in the dark in 1968 as to the name of America’s newest

motocross series, or the sport itself, that year’s official Inter-AM racing

program—written and produced by Joe Parkhurst of Cycle World—laid

things out nicely: “Welcome to Inter-AM,” Parkhurst wrote in the program’s page-one

introduction. “Inter-AM stands for the International American Motocross

series. The 8-race series comprises the first presentation of one of

the most important events on the American motorcycle racing scene.

Leading European riders (at this time the best in the world) are touring

the country in a spectacular series that began in October at Pepperell,

Mass., went to the Midwest for the Mid-Ohio event at Amherst, then to

Wichita, Kan., and to Dallas, Tex.

Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson and Joel Robert: just three of the many heroes covered so far...

mr_ad_half_vjmc.indd 1 1/9/12 10:45:46 AM

in July in Barrington, Ill. After winning an award for my café bike, the organizers asked for any suggestions. Even though it was cool to have the café class, I thought a vintage Japanese motorcycle class would be a great addition to this great event.

Shortly after, the event director approached me to be a chairperson to establish a vintage Japanese motorcycle class.

It is a two-day event beginning with a road rally/scavenger hunt and ending with exhibition and gala dinner at the Makray Golf club. They are also featuring the Porsche Sport Driving School for what they call a Celebration of Speed.

This event is prestigious and highly recognized. Up until this point, it has always been vintage British and American bikes. This is the first time they have invited in the vintage Japanese bikes. This presents an exciting opportunity to showcase the skill and

hard work of the members of VJMC. They are asking for 10 entries to be

included with 60 of the world’s finest automobiles.

Members interested in submitting their bikes for an invitation should email me for information on a nomination packet at [email protected]. If you become an exhibitor, they provide two tickets to the concourse event for free and the dinner gala at a significantly reduced rate. The event dates are July 14-15.

Please check out the website, www.barringtonconcours.org, for photos and additional information.

– John McCreadie

VJLA AnnualDeath Valley Ride Vintage Japanese Los Angeles (vjla.org) presents our 18th annual 2012 Death Valley ride the weekend of April 21-22.

Please join us for a scenic tour of the high Mojave Desert and Death Valley. On Saturday we will visit many historic loca-tions such as Randsburg, Trona, Wildrose Canyon, and Death Valley. After spending the night in Tecopa we will head back to Lancaster the long way, taking in Baker, Kelso, Amboy and sections of Route 66. The ride will cover about 300 miles each day. The price of admission is a mere $20 towards the chase truck gas fund. Contact Brendan for more details at [email protected].

ErrataThe Tech Help article, “Replacing the

air cleaner bar on a Honda CB350,” in the December 2011 issue was wrongly credited. It was written by member Dennis Moore. VJMM regrets the error, and looks forward to more tech tips and articles from Dennis.


RIDE REpORT

By Ron Hurd

t first it seemed like a crazy idea, to ride from my home in Denver di-

rectly into the Hayman burn area near Deckers, site of

the largest wildfire in Colorado history. Iso-lated, with many thousands, if not millions of burned and dead trees. I thought it could be interesting to see how the landscape is recovering.

Started and extinguished in the summer of 2002, the Hayman fire burned more than 138,000 acres including 133 homes and forced the evacuation of more than 5,000 people. Six fatalities were related to the fire and the cause was found to be arson.

I planned to ride my 1981 Suzuki GS250T, a fine performing little bike that is easy to ride and handle—traits that could be important as roughly 40 miles of this nearly 170-mile

adventure will be on an unpaved Forest Ser-vice road.

Departing Denver, I rode a series of sec-ondary roads and even a section of former narrow-gauge railroad grade, now a county road. I arrived at Jef-ferson County Route 126; the 250 was happy cruising along at the posted 50 mph speed limit.

About an hour and a half after leav-ing Denver, I arrived at unpaved Forest Service Road 211 near Deckers. In less than a ½ mile, Road 211 en-ters the burn area and this is an area with a U.S. Department of the

Interior Burned Area Emergency Response burn severity level of “high,” the most se-vere level. Most trees are completely burned and blackened down to the soil. These dead-

A Colorado adventure

Entering the burn area on Forest Service Road 211.

standing trees, often referred to as “snags,” are an ever-present danger as they can fall without provocation. Caution is warranted when near them. Climbing steeply from Route 126, Road 211 gains almost 1000’ of elevation in under two miles.

Continuing the journey, I rode through grassland areas that include small groves of aspen trees. After a wildfire, aspen trees are often the first to recover and the trees I observe, while no more than 6’ or 7’, appear to be recovering quite rapidly. Some areas were skipped over by the fire and ap-pear untouched. In some cases, it may be just a single tree that was spared. Wildfire behavior is strange indeed.

At times smooth enough to allow for 20-30 mph speeds, the Forest Service road is rocky and rutted in places and at times I’m riding along in first gear acknowl-edging that anything faster is just too rough on what is a street bike that makes no pretense of being off-road capable or having off-road suspension.

After approximately 20 miles, Road 211 ends at Park County

Road 77. I elected to turn around and retrace my path back to Route 126. As I rode along it was en-couraging to see areas of green where grasses and wildflowers are recovering. Stopping for the occasional photo, it took a little over an hour to return to the in-tersection with Route 126 and smooth pavement. Yeah!

To return to Denver, I con-tinued on Route 126 to the small

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Climbing into the burn area on Road 211.

A few trees here survived.


RIDE REpORT

settlement of Deckers. Then it is north on Douglas County Route 67 to roughly parallel the twists and turns of the South Platte River. After another section of unpaved road, I joined up again with a former narrow-gauge railroad grade, now a county road. More twists and turns were in store as I climbed from river level at an elevation of 6,400’ to Conifer, Colo., an eleva-tion gain of approximately 2,000’.

In Conifer it was time to refuel. As much as I enjoy riding and being on the bike, it felt good to dismount at the fuel stop and stretch the legs a little. After hours in the saddle, it is amazing what 5 minutes of off-bike time will do. After refueling I joined up with Highway 285 to Denver.

Riding south on Road 211.

A grove of “snags” (dead-standing trees).

New growth in the valley.


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The GS250T performed flawlessly all day. As with virtually all Suzuki GS models it has a terrifically durable and reliable engine that just loves to run. I maintain it in a meticulous fashion and in return it rewards me with fine performance and reliability. Accurate carburetion, superb clutch and gearbox operation and a smooth-running, easy-spinning engine add to the enjoyment of the ride.

As I arrived home I could not help but think, “Wow, what an enjoyable day this has been, maybe it wasn’t such a crazy idea after all!” The only downside: I’m left with a dusty and dirty bike, but it will clean up nicely.

Yes, it’s true of VJMs: 1. They may not incorporate the

latest technology. 2. Will probably require more main-

tenance than when new.3. May not be the most stylish by

contemporary standards.4. Are far from being the newest,

hottest item on the market. Regardless, these items are of no

concern to me as I will always enjoy owning and riding a vintage Japanese motorcycle! ●

New growth, dead trees.


TECH HELp

Recently, I was going on a VJMC breakfast ride with five other VJMC local members. We had traveled about five miles from my home before my fuel supply was halted, leaving me stranded on the side of the road.

After getting my bike returned to my

home on a wrecker flatbed, I discovered that the inline fuel filter was clogged by rust shed-

ding from my 36-year-old fuel tank. I knew that to solve this rusting problem, I had no

Out, damn’d spot

By Bill Granade

CONTINUED ON PAGE 26


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A friend called me about a Craigslist ad he saw for a 1973 Honda CL350 with a “wild fuel tank.” The Honda had what could only be described as a psychedelic paint job. The ad claimed the tank and side covers were an original Honda “Flying Dragon” option. We both agreed the Scrambler sported a custom paint job and someone probably paid too much for them.

I forgot about the bike until I saw a tank set for sale on eBay and the auction listed the original Honda part number. A quick search of the part number revealed the tank sets came in three different colors and were available for the CL350 and CL450

Scramblers. I decided to learn more about these sets.

When I emailed some friends, the typical response I got was something like, “Wow, you know, I saw one of those bikes on eBay some time ago and the seller advertised it as OEM. I thought he was nuts. I said no way would Honda ever offer that, that’s a repaint! Well, ya learn something new every day.”

VJMC members and established Honda dealers revealed more about the sets. I was able to piece together that the tank sets were never well advertised and most people out-side the dealerships were not aware of them.

When the sets were first released, American Honda Motor Co. notified the dealers via a parts bulletin. The bulletin let the deal-ers know the sets were in the pipeline and how to order them. They were offered to the public in the Honda Accessories catalog of the day. My three-month search for the original Honda Parts Bulletin and a catalog was in vain.

The tank sets were only available for the 1972 and 1973 Honda CL350 and CL450 Scramblers. Earlier Scrambler models had painted fork covers, headlight buckets and ears, while the 1972 and 1973 models had chrome fork covers and a black headlight

EDuCaTIOn

Honda’s special CL tank setsBy Bob Kelly

Wild ‘Dragons’

The gold and purple tank up close.

case. To update your bike, all you had to change was the tank and side covers.

My CL350 sports the original Hawaiian Blue Metallic tank set. I decided my Honda Scrambler had to have this rare option. As my buddy Dale says, “Some motorcycles are rare because they made so few of them and some because they’re so ugly no one wanted to buy them.” Scramblers with these tank sets may fall into both categories.

Undeterred, I started my search on eBay. I initially found two sets; one sold for $750 and a CL450 set went unsold at $999. I nearly paid that much for my motorcycle! A national search of Craigslist revealed a few

motorcycles for sale with the tank set and a few tank sets for sale from some very nice people, many of whom shared their knowledge of the tanks and pictures for this article.

I went to Aurora Honda and the parts guy was able to look up other Honda dealer inven-tories. A quick check located a set at Western Hills Honda in Ohio that I bought.

I was unable to learn why Honda decided to offer these options and if Honda named them “Flying Dragon.” With the demise of the 350s and the rise of the “true” dirt bikes, the tank sets may have been ordered by American Honda to help sell the remain-ing inventory of Scramblers.

I’m happy to have the tank set on my Scrambler. I look forward to the controversy it will stir up at local shows. I can hear

it now: “I’m certain Honda never offered a Scrambler with that paint job.” I would respond, “Hi, you should join the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club, and here, read a recent article published in their magazine.” He’ll thank me later.

Do you want a tank set for your Scram-bler? You just need patience and a wad of cash in your hand. The Honda part numbers to look for are:CL450• 06171-347-810SM Gold/Purple • 06171-347-810SN Silver/Purple• 06171-347-810SP Green/PurpleCL350• 06171-456-810SM Gold/Purple• 06171-456-810SN Silver/Purple• 06171-456-810SP Green/Purple

If you have any additional information on these tanks sets please email me at [email protected]. A parts bulletin or a catalog with these sets listed would be great to share in a follow-up to this story. ●

A Gold Purple CL450 tank set recently found for sale on eBay.

This CL450 is sporting the Silver Purple optional tank set.

This nice 350 is owned by VJMC member Bill Kiddon.

The Optional Tank model started life with a Hawaiian Blue tank set.

A nice pair of 1973 Honda CL350s. The Light Ruby Red is owned by Dale Rich-ardson and the optional green and Purple Tank Set bike is owned by the author.



EXpOSÉ

Though Craigslist is far from divine, it has been known to work in mysterious ways. And, rather than permanently draining one’s VJM col-

lection, the online classified ad-vertising site sometimes giveth after having taken away.

This little motorcycle came to me rather unexpectedly after I reluctantly posted several bikes that needed to find new homes. Some guy with a large pick-up truck and a huge roll of bills bought them all before I had a

chance to respond to the other interested parties. My subsequent email to the curious included a brief explanation regarding my wife having convinced me that our basement required remodeling and about how oily old motor-cycles were no longer welcome amongst the new carpeting and designer decor.

One fellow’s reply admitted relief that the cycles were sold. Reportedly, his spouse had dis-covered that he’d inquired about my machines and warned him to go no further.

“I’m kind of in the same boat you’re in,” he said. “My place is already full of vintage two-wheeled stuff, including a weird little Japanese bike I found a few months ago.”

His electronic communiqué arrived with an attached photo cap-tioned, 50cc Non-Yamaha, 1959? A postscript said, “It always starts on the first or second kick and runs pretty well.” He also identified the cycle’s maker as Yamaguchi,

calling it Japan’s lesser-known Yama-motorcycle.

The darn thing was so cute that I quickly checked to see if my wife was still watching HGTV safely down in the new family room, and then cautiously hit reply to sender in order to hint that I’d sure be interested in the Yama-whatever if he ever decided to part with it.

Three months later, an out-of-the-blue email arrived with the

Japan’s other ‘Yama’ bikeBy Peter Hunn

It appears that the tank emblem sporting that large letter “Y” is the only piece of these circa 1962 Yamaguchis common to the earlier AutoPet. How about that neat scrambler for just $295! PABATCO fans recognize it as an 80cc “pre-Hodaka.” The ACE road bike’s name was re-used by PABATCO for one of its best-loved little Hodaka models.

See the Katakana-style characters on the little red lower fender sticker? I believe it roughly translates into the mod-el name, AutoPet, also scripted in English on a pot metal ID badge under the carrier rack. Also note the European-style two-person seat. That must have been an optional feature, as other surviving Yamaguchi examples are fitted with a solo seat. Both were supported by springs, bicycle-style. Yamagu-chi maven, James Rozee said, “The spring seat is the way Yamaguchi did all their seats. they never used a block of foam on a pan like the later bikes have. It’s weird to see that black seat cover on yours, as almost every Yamaguchi and Tohatsu that came over here had red seats with white piping [like yours] around the edges.”


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subject line Yamaguchi. Instantly, I knew that a chance to replenish a bit of my fledgling VJMC col-lection was about to materialize. According to his note, the fellow bike buff suddenly felt influenced by unspecified motivators to thin his herd. That four-toned (white, green/gray, dark green, and gold) oddball was “a cool little tiddler,” but didn’t fit in with his core stable of classic trail bikes.

As I commenced my inspec-tion with the translucent plastic “Y” emblem on the machine’s fuel tank, the seller told me the

motorcycle’s story. Actually, it was I who requested the history lesson. He’d simply invited me to see the bike, quietly announcing, “Well, there it is.” Having only recently heard of Yamaguchi via the guy’s email and through a few skimpy snippets offered on the Internet, I felt the need to buy time in order to get to know the long-defunct and arcane marque. I suppose that was the reason for the steady stream of questions about the cycle’s origin.

“Got it from somebody whose father bought it new in 1959... in Taiwan,” he began. “The guy

Though the most common fun fact about the Yamaguchi line is its use of Hodaka power, the 2-stroke 50cc engine on the subject BP-50 AutoPet came from Fuji. Reportedly, it represented a knock-off of a little British mill originally made by Villiers. When Yamaguchi bit the dust in 1963, its engine supplier, Hodaka made a deal with a motorcycle maker in Taiwan and then struck a more profitable alliance with PABATCO in Oregon.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 28


It all started with a small hole in the right exhaust pipe and an ob-session to make my GT750 sound perfect. Inspired by an article from Gordon East (The Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Magazine, June 2011), I proceeded to set things right. It seemed a simple matter of replacing the damaged exhaust pipe with a

new one or an intact one. Little did I know the ordeal this would become, but it did turnout to be a fun, challenging project.

I ordered a nice used exhaust pipe on eBay and was thrilled with the idea of replacing the damaged one. I planned for a weekend to replace the old one.

Armed with a 12mm socket wrench, I diligently started by removing the exhaust

bolts for the right exhaust. The outer most one turned with ease and slipped out ef-fortlessly. Then I proceeded to remove the right inner one and it was a little stubborn. I tapped it a few times, with no luck. I sprayed copious amounts of WD-40 and let it soak. While letting it soak and sipping a freshly brewed cup of coffee, I decided to try and turn the left exhaust bolts. With the

COVER STORY

A Sound Ordeal with My1974 Suzuki GT750

By Shankar JayaGanapathy


coffee in my right hand and the socket wrench set on the left exhaust bolt, I gave it a good, hard turn and it moved like butter. Something about this easy movement didn’t seem right. A closer look revealed the problem: the bolt just twisted on itself and broke. Oops!

Now I focused my attention back on the right inner bolt. I approached this with half fear and half frustration. I turned my wrench and it wouldn’t budge. I gave it a good nudge and it

Chris Beltz’s reCommendations

Steps obtained by author from “Gunner’s Suzuki” (www.medial.com/suzuki/cyl-removal/wisdom.txt):1) Obtain nine 3/8” x 16 brad-type T-nuts. They are the

same nut used to hold spikes to snowmobile tracks, but without the barbs.

2) Obtain nine 3/8” x 16 x 6” full thread hex bolts.3) Using the proper tap and die (8 x 1.25mm), clean up the

cylinder threads, and the mating threads on the small cap screws which bolt the head to the cylinder.

4) Insert the T-nuts into all nine studded holes.5) Place the head back on the cylinder, and tighten the

head using the cap screws, ONLY TO HAND TIGHT. The object is to bind the T-nut flange between the cylinder and head only enough to prevent it from turning, and not to warp the head or cylinder deck.

6) Screw the hex bolts into the T-nut until they bind the tops of the studs.

7) Using half-turns, tighten the hex bolts back and forth while noting that the cylinder is pulling away from the crankcase at an even rate.

Tools crafted for cylinder head removal based on the suggestion by Chris Beltz.

Brad-type T-nuts on the cylinder surface right on the stud holes.

The cylinder head is placed back on the block and hand tightened.

Screw the 6” bolts on the brad-type T-nuts and stop when it touches the stud. Repeat for all the stud holes. To move the block up, gently tighten the bolts no more then a turn and repeat evenly on all bolts.

Gentle and repeated turns apply even pressure on the cylinder base and allow it to detach and lift.


COVER STORY

moved and roughed its way out. Once out, I could see that the thread on the cylinder was damaged. Now I had a cylinder with one broken exhaust stud and the other with severe thread damage. The easy way out idea

of tapping and rethreading failed miserably and made the thread holes worse. Access to the bolts and space to turn is so limited that it really didn’t work as desired. My nerves increased as I realized, “I’m actually ruining

a nice bike.” I thought, “Why not put it all back the

way it was, at least close to the way it was, and sort of pretend nothing happened?”

I found out though, the Suzuki GT750 is not all that tolerant; after re-assembly and starting the engine, the exhaust collar area leaked like no tomorrow. The sound was aw-ful. Hot back oil was spraying out splattering smears on the bright, neat, lavender paint. It sounded the worst I had ever heard it and I was sourly disappointed. Desperate tighten-ing of the existing bolts made it worse and one more wound on itself and damaged the thread on the cylinder barrel.

Enough for nowSo, I had a really rough day and panic set in. Heavy hearted, I retired for the day and waited to deal with it later. Tomorrow per-haps, a fresh start.

I mustered the courage to go work on it again, but before starting I wanted to check out eBay for cylinders and pistons. Unable to locate any, I turned to Paul Miller. In a quick phone call, he confirmed having a 1975 cylinder with the matching pistons and every-thing as a kit. I was delighted to know it was available and transacted thankfully. A little encouraged by this small win, I proceeded to the garage to attack the troubling noisy beast again.

I stood there looking at the GT and con-templated, “Is this doctor truly qualified to perform this mechanical procedure on this bike?” I ran the steps through my mind. “I’ll need to get the cylinders out and replace them with new ones. How bad can it be I?” I re-assured myself, it could be done, that other people do it all the time.

I removed the exhausts, all of them; while at it, I stripped the right muffler bolt (14mm, close to the foot peg). I thought, this is easy; I’ll order a bolt. By now, I was get-ting used to stripping without thinking—the bolt threads that is. Slowly but surely I made progress in this operation. The tank came off, coolant drained and many hoses came off. I removed the carburetor and so on and all that remained now was the disassembly of the cylinder head and jugs.

After a short break, I attempted the big


cylinder head bolt on the right extreme, first with my standard length wrench—the one that has worked for all kinds of bolts—a Stanley purchased to tighten the fence gate bolts. It always seemed to do the magic. The wrench’s magic trick did not work here. The nut did not seem to budge. It did not even acknowledge that it was being unscrewed. Instead of fight-ing it, I moved to the other side and tried to

loosen that bolt. It would not budge either. So on and so forth, tried and failed for all of the 11 bolts. None seemed to care to come loose—they were all equally stubborn. So, one longer day ended with me losing the day’s final battle. I went for the WD-40 trick again. I decided to soak the bolts and give it another try in the morning.

On Monday, I was busy with the day job and contemplating how I would get the GT750 done and if the WD-40 would actu-ally loosen the bolts. (Another persistent thought was that I should have left it alone and tolerated the noise.)

The parts arrived from Paul Miller. The shiny pis-tons and pins refreshed my desire to push on with the project and fix things. After admiring them for awhile, I walked away with a smile to reattempt the repairs. I was energized by the arrival of the complete kit with new exhaust bolts, cylinder head bolts etc. and felt good.

Next weekendThe following Saturday, I started bright and early. After about an hour of tapping, try-ing, turning, and tapping, the head bolts just wouldn’t come loose. It was time now for a bigger and meaner wrench.

I headed over to Sears and came home with some serious wrenches and a torque wrench, my first. I never needed a torque wrench before and was excited to have one now. But the entire day was gone in wrench purchases. So, I used WD-40 again and let it all soak some more to start the next day.

Sunday morning, I started and proudly used the new equipment and this time the bolts turned with some success. Small wins inject so much energy into nebulous opera-tions like this one. The cylinder head came off without a problem.

Getting the cylinder barrels off, of course, was a different story. No amount of nudg-ing or banging with the rubber mallet did anything.

So, I abandoned the project for the day and turned to the Internet to research how to accomplish this feat. There were many suggestions. It was nice to know, that I’m not the only one, many fellow “Kettlers” have struggled with this and it was interesting to know many were soaking their cylinders with WD-40.

One particular solution for GT750 cylinder head removal caught my attention. It was off of a page from “Gunner’s Suzuki” (www.medial.com/suzuki/cyl-removal/wisdom.txt). Of the several suggestions made at this site, the one by Chris Beltz, seemed promising. It actually turned out to be brilliant.

Using the technique suggested by Beltz (3/8” x 16 brad-type T-nuts and 3/8” x 16 x 6” full-thread hex bolts) and plenty of soaking with WD-40, the head lifted off with ease (pics 1-5). I got the cylinder barrels off the base and it felt like the battle was behind me now.

Reassembly was fairly straightforward. After properly cleaning the mating surfaces, thoroughly washing off the grit in the re-bored cylinders, and cleaning the threads, the installation of the pistons was a breeze. I also took the opportunity to clean and adjust float levels in the carburetor.

I was able to zip and button up my GT750 in no time at all. So, after a few fun hours and couple of cranks, my GT750 fired right up and sounded great again. ●


RIDE REpORT

By Lindsay Gillespie

Call it blind faith (or maybe middle-aged craziness) but last May I flew from Toronto, Canada, to Los Angeles with the intention of hopping on a 1981 Honda CBX that I had never seen in person and riding it to my house in Florida.

Having missed opportunities to purchase a CBX many times over the years (it’s hard to believe that there was a time that I thought one motorcycle was enough), when I saw this one on eBay I moved fast to grab it. The listing said 470 miles on the odometer, and I paid top dollar for it.

So, having bought it, how to get it from

California to Florida? I always wanted to do a cross-country ride, so I figured, “What the hell, I’ll ride it home!”

My plan was to pick up the bike soon after landing, and leave L.A. early. I’d fol-low I-10 all the way to north Florida, then turn south on I-75 and home to Naples, for a total distance of more than 2,700 miles. My plan was to take six days in all (five if I could), assuming, of course, my butt, brain or the bike wouldn’t just plain give out!

Along the way I planned to be taking movie and still footage with my new GoPro camera that mounted right on the bike, but I’d have to figure out how to operate it first

since I had it shipped directly to the bike in L.A.

Day 1: Good so farWith the evening sun behind me and my shadow riding sentinel before me, I had lots of time to reflect on an extraordinary day as I blasted through the Arizona desert.

A friend had picked me up at LAX and drove me to see, for the first time, the 470-mile CBX. By now I was over the high side, with no turning back. While packing the saddlebags and bungee-cording my knapsack to the seat, several of the seller’s buddies came to see the crazy Canadian who was about to head off cross-country on an untried motorcycle.

Leaving the seller’s garage, the big six ran a little rough off idle (choke out of whack?) but proved to be strong and smooth on

the highway, and surprisingly comfortable. Cosmetically, it wasn’t perfect showroom condition, but still as nice as I expected. Af-ter lunch and a quick stop for some chain lube, I was on the road just in time to beat rush hour.

It takes a while to get out of L.A.’s urban sprawl, but once you hit the desert everything changes. The temperature rises, the vegetation gets sparse, and the hot winds power what must be thousands of windmills generating electricity.

Battling those high winds, I proceeded on towards Phoenix, riding until dark, stop-ping just 30 miles shy in Buckeye, Ariz. All in all, 364 miles the first day, not bad for a half-day ride!

Day 2: Onward through the desertIs there ever a lot of desert out there! In only two days of riding, I had already seen four states, two time zones, and 956 miles of unre-lenting, mind numbingly beautiful desert. The only green I saw was in Las Cruces, N.M., where a fertile valley alerted me to the fact that I was crossing the Rio Grande River.

I had yet to figure out the GoPro camera, thereby missing out on the opportunity to photograph and film some of the most rug-gedly stunning geography you can imagine. Maybe tomorrow …

In spite of a wicked headwind the weather was perfect, and I managed to cover 591 miles,

The CBX motorcycle diaries


bringing my trip total to 956, or 35 percent of my journey. Only 1,756 miles left to go, and the bike seems to love the 80 mph speed limit in Texas. I hunkered down in Van Horn, Texas, with a target tomorrow of reaching San Antonio, less than 500 miles.

Day 3: Texas is big, really bigOn top of what I did the previous day, I rode another 536 miles, and I wasn’t done with Texas yet. It’s not that it isn’t a beautiful state, but there sure is a lot of it. Maybe that is how the 80 mph speed limit is justified.

Ominously, interspersed with the scrub and mountains are signs warning “Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers, Prison Facility In Area.” Thankfully, there’s no room on the bike. The occasional oil well continues to pump Texas “tea,” while on the horizon there are miles of wind farms. New technology meets old technology.

Leaving very early that morning it had been cool, but the rising sun quickly raised the temperature. Leather gave way to denim around noon, and it was still sweltering when I finally dismounted for the day. By 7:30 p.m., I was done, stopping in Flatonia, Texas. The day’s ride was 536 miles; total ride was at 1,492 miles, or 55 percent of my journey.

Next day the plan was to breeze through Houston before the church crowd hit the road and head for the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge, ride on through Louisiana, skirting New Orleans on I-12 and back to I-10, and maybe even making it to Alabama.

The GoPro and I had yet to come to an understanding, so I stayed with my regular point-and-shoot, which suits me just fine.

Day 4: A new planThe morning air in Fla-tonia was so humid and thick you could cut it with a knife. It soon gave way to hot, humid and windy. And again, the wind was blowing right at me.

After a couple of hours of headwind, it was all I could do to hang on and try to keep

the bike vertical. My arms were about to fall off for hours, especially my throttle hand. I tried a new strategy: stop more often, take my time and try to live through it.

It worked. I managed 549 miles, finally leaving Texas behind, crossed the Mississippi River and into Louisiana at Baton Rouge, and continued through Louisiana and almost all the way though Mississippi, getting within striking distance of Mobile, Ala.

Total miles ridden were at 2,041, and just 700-plus miles to go. It was too much for one day, but not enough to justify two days. If it’s windless and dry, I just may make a run for it, but only if I feel safe and alert.

Day 5: Home at lastIf Texas was humid, Mississippi and Alabama were positively soupy. Loading the bike in Pascagoula just before 6 a.m., I had to wipe the moisture from the seat. The early start was part of my plan to see if I could make it all the way to Naples, a feat I was absolutely prepared to fail at.

For once the wind cooperated and stayed away, and I cruised on into the rising sun and another state, Alabama. Just past Mobile, a dense morning fog made the visibility so challenging that I almost missed the “Wel-come to Florida” sign.

I did see it, though, and it brought an interesting psychological change. Instead of measuring my progress in miles traveled, I started to think in terms of miles left to go. The countdown had begun. I began to think I could make it all the way.

Of course, counting down the miles made everything seem that much further. It seemed

to take forever to make it out of the Florida Panhandle and connect with I-75.

After the fog the weather was perfect the entire day and other than my hands being sore, and my butt starting to hurt a lot, the ride was smooth and uneventful.

The interstates in the south are smooth, fast, efficient and well maintained and can even be quite beautiful. I saw mountains and desert, cities and towns, unending vistas and rugged harsh terrain.

On Day 4, I had given my girlfriend Julie an ETA in Naples of 7 p.m. Despite commuters and a roadside brush fire north of Fort Myers, I arrived in my driveway at 7:03 p.m., sweaty, sore and thirsty for the cold Rolling Rock that Julie handed me in the driveway.

The CBX has earned its place in my garage. In spite of being 30 years old and in rough tune, it never once made me question it. Fuel consumption averaged just under 40 mpg, which is pretty good for a machine that spent almost the entire trip above 70 mph, often in 90-plus degree heat. Wherever I stopped people would walk over and admire it, even the Harley guys. It is a worthy addition to my stable, a true classic.

Along the way I thought more than once about Robert Pirsig and “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” and his trip riding a 305 Super Hawk, (with a passenger, no less), a bike 1/3 the size of the CBX. Com-paring the CBX to my Super Hawks, I had to wonder, what was Pirsig thinking?

On the other hand, what was I think-ing? Going 2,749 miles in 4-1/2 days; an average of 610 miles per day. In retrospect, that’s just plain nuts! Am I glad I did it? Yes. Would I do it again? Probably, but at a slower pace.

EpilogueAfter relaxing for a couple of days and giv-ing the CBX a good wash, we took a ride out to Fred at Fred’s Cycle. He concluded that the mileage seemed real and a quick examination confirmed that the choke cable was totally disconnected, causing the hard starts and erratic low-speed running. Nothing that a tune-up wouldn’t cure.

And I did finally figure out the GoPro. ●


option but to clean my tank.I decided to use the “Lazy man’s” way

(leave the tank in place) and cleaned my tank using electrolysis. For you non-Goldwing people, the early Goldwing fuel tanks are located under the seat and require pulling the rear wheel assembly to be able to re-move the fuel tank. It’s not a five-minute undertaking.

My total tank cleaning time, 3-1/2 days. Total cost, less than $3. The new fuel gauge sending unit gasket cost $2.99. The total wrenching time was under five minutes. I only removed the two seat bolts and the fuel-gauge sending unit. No need to remove the drain plug.

What came out of my tank was a real eye opener. A tablespoon of rust gunk per 8 hours.

The process is very simple. Mix 5 gal-lons of water with one-half cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (not baking soda). Next, clean the tank of all gasoline. After siphoning off all the gasoline, I sug-gest you then flush the tank several times with clean water. I used my garden hose on hard spray.

Next, add the water/soap “magic” mixture to within 3/8” of the top. Attach the positive lead from a battery charger (set to manual 30-50 amps) to a piece of steel (rebar is good) and the negative to the gas tank. Be sure the positive connection does not touch the metal tank or “magic” solution. I put the rebar or other steel (I used a 3/4” flat bar to begin) inside a 1” PVC tube with extra entry holes.

Then I placed both the PVC tube and steel anode into the tank through the fuel-gauge sending unit opening.

The process is self-halting; when there is no more rust to remove, the reaction stops. If you are inventive or plan on cleaning a more common above-engine fuel tank, you could clean the total tank thru the fuel filler neck. I did clean the fuel-gauge sending unit separately using the same process.

Every eight hours or so, disconnect the charger and remove the rebar/steel from the tank. Clean it off with a hose, then replace for another eight hours. After about three days, the bubbles will stop forming and the process is finished.

Empty/siphon the water mixture out of the tank and flush several times with clean water, hard spray from your garden hose ... or better yet, a pressure washer. Finish up by adding a quart of water and removing it with a wet/dry vacuum to get all the left over residue.

Immediately upon emptying the mixture for the last time, spray the tank with WD-40 or apply a commercial tank sealer (probably not doable with the Goldwing tank still in the frame) to prevent flash rusting. The tank is now ready to fill with gasoline and use, rust-free.

To confirm that there was no rust/crud left in my tank, I put a gallon of gas in and siphoned it into a clean container filtering through double coffee filter paper. Typically coffee filters are made up of filaments ap-proximately 20 micrometers wide. This size will filter out any visible rust particles. There were no visible particles (rust) on the filter paper. Mission accomplished: My tank is free of rust!

Remember none of the tank base metal will be removed, only the rust. When the rust removal process is completed, please note

the interior surface of your cleaned tank will not have a gleaming new metal appearance. The before cleaning rust areas will now have a rust free dull black color.

The only byproducts of this process are the hydrogen bubbles and oxygen bubbles generated during the electrolysis. Please be

careful and remember that hydrogen is a highly combustible gas. The base solution is common laundry washing soap, very easy on your hands!

To get comfortable with the process you may want to experiment with a rusted tool in a 5-gallon or smaller container to see the process in action. Remember “positive” to the “rebar anode” and “negative” to the item to be de-rusted.

Warning: don’t let your battery charger leads touch the solution. If you do, they will be damaged. You can use the base solution over and over. The removed rust will attach itself to the positive anode (red lead from battery charger) or fall/settle to the bottom of the container. The rust will precipitate out of the solution over 24 hours; settling on the bottom and leaving the solution perfectly clear. ●

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

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was stationed there while in the U.S. Air Force. When his mili-tary hitch ended, he took the Yamaguchi apart, air-freighted the frame back to Massachu-setts’ Westover Air Force Base, toted the wheels, and packed the engine in his duffle bag for safe keeping during the flight home. Then he reassembled the parts and puttered around on the bike whenever the mood struck him. His son remembers the Yamaguchi being more or less permanently stored in a backyard shed; Maybe since the late-1960s.”

That tale and about 10 min-utes worth of hemming, hawing, and thinking out loud how my wife might kill me if I brought home another motorized treasure, pretty much bought me time to weigh pros and cons of a possible handshake. The agreement was sealed when the owner opened the fuel petcock and, while casually standing beside the bike, gently coaxed the starter pedal down-ward. Two-stroke smoke clouded out of the tail pipe, prompting me to say quite clearly, “OK, I’ll take it.”

For the next several weeks, I enjoyed regular 25-mph Yama-guchi spins up and down my sub-urban road, occasionally telling a fascinated jogger a little bit about the bike. My exposés conclusion always included the detail that Yamaguchi was kind of a first

generation Hodaka, a maker with which at least a few of my older neighbors were familiar. One reply to my VJMC discussion group query set me straight on that assumption. But, the infor-mational email from Yamaguchi expert, James Rozee, began with a compliment:

“Cool bike. And very com-plete,” Jim wrote. “You are lucky [to have found such an example] as parts are rare. Yours is a 1960 not a 1959... But it could be a late 1959 if that is what the title says. Ac-cording to my records [however] they came out in 1960 and yours is the BP-50. They also made one with a push button starter. Most of the Yamaguchi’s with long seats were shipped [to the US]. The domestic [Japanese] seats were

blade type solo seats. [One] can tell if [the bike] is a domestic model (Japanese home market) if it has a metric speedometer. [It does, and admits having traveled 3,199 kilometers. Your engine was made by ‘Fuji’ not ‘Hodaka’ like many other models.”

I’d asked Jim about the wis-dom of restoring my find. To that he replied; “I would leave it alone if it were mine. I hate to see nice stock bikes restored. Many people don’t know what is right or wrong and screw them up in the end [by modifying or over-restoring]. Right now it is factory stock, so be careful riding it! Even my contacts in Japan could not find Yamaguchi parts. As far as mixing the gas and oil I would use good old outboard two cycle oil and mix it at 15:1 or 20:1 depending on what the bottle says. Don’t use modern synthetic oil as the bike has been used to old style oil and may have problems with the new stuff. Yamaguchi made many models and most were just com-bined bikes, so having a complete bike is half the battle.”

In his book, “Japan’s Motor-cycle Wars,” Jeffrey Alexander wrote, “the most spectacular collapse of an assembly-maker

network [in which the supposed motorcycle maker only manufac-turers frames and buys engines and other major components else-where] came in 1963 with the bankruptcy of the Yamaguchi Bi-cycle Manufacturing Company.” Alexander considered “Yamaguchi [as] a virtual industrial hub during the 1950s, around which a large network of motorcycle assem-bly makers revolved. Founded in 1914 as a bicycle maker, by 1959 [approximately when our subject BP-50 AutoPet rolled off the Tokyo-based line] it was one of the largest bicycle and motorcycle assembly makers in Japan.”

Apparently, like most enter-prises in China today, Japanese firms such as Yamaguchi operated solely on a cash basis. Conse-quently, when Yamaguchi ran out of money to pay suppliers and workers and “suffered [that] sudden bankruptcy and closure in 1963, [it] had the effect of pulling the [drain] plug out of a bathtub.”

And on warm days around my garage, kicking the starter pedal on the little Fuji-powered bike has the mysterious effect of making mosquitos disappear. ●

EXpOSÉ

Circa 1959 Yamaguchi model BP-50 AutoPet, as found. Its kick-start pedal doesn’t fold when not in use, so can be a bit annoying on an ankle. Aftermarket rear rack is marked “Taiwan,” and seems to verify the seller’s story about the bike being bought new at a Yamaguchi dealer on what was then also known as the Republic of China or Formosa.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19


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Specializing in the expert repair & restoration of Vintage Japanese Motorcycles from the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s.

It’s time to get that special bike of yours out of storage and back on the road...we can make it look and run like new again!Check out our web site for examples of our work & bikes for sale.

BUY - SELL - REPAIR - RESTORE

830-200-6052 [email protected]

Doing Business on the Internet and in the Beautiful Hill Country City of Spring Branch, Texas

In THE SHOp


I’ve been neglecting a restoration project for several years now, pri-marily because it was inconvenient. Every time I looked at that 1965 Sears Allstate—built by Puch—I thought about how much crap I would have to

move around to get it out of its storage corner, how much my back would hurt from sitting or squatting on the floor to work on it, and how inconvenient it would be to re-stow the bike and parts after every work session.

The obvious solution was to buy a proper lift, but I didn’t want to put more money into a lift than the motorcycle would be worth. Face it: most of our restoration projects on small to mid-sized Japanese and European bikes are exercises in nostalgia, not so much for adding value to an investment.

Just a simple lift that sits under the center of the bike can run $180 to $280, and I don’t trust the stability of these devices, especially if you plan to move the bike around a lot. A properly engineered air or hydraulic lift that can be raised and lowered and moved around during works in progress can run

from $1,200 to $2,200, way beyond budget or the value of the project. It could be justi-fied over time and a series of restorations, but this is not the situation I was in.

Instead, I took a pencil and lined yellow pad over to the Engineering Department (my kitchen table). By measuring the bike and the stowing space I had available in the garage, I decided I wanted the stand to be 7’ long and 33” wide. I didn’t want it wider because I didn’t want to have to reach to work, and 33” was wider than bars, pegs or anything else that protruded from the bike.

I was not going to have a stand that could be raised or lowered (that was way beyond the competence of the guys in Engineering), so I decided I wanted a deck height of 24”. The whole thing would stand on lockable casters so it could be moved easily inside the garage, yet be stationary and secure while working. A sketch from the Engineering Department gave us enough information to figure out what materials would be required. The whole concept would be executed through a talent I call, “The Art of the Two-by-Four.”

Next, it was off to the hardware store. The only thing we purchased outside the lo-cal community was a wheel chock, ordered from J&P Cycles. Materials for the project and their costs were:

• Eight 8’ 2x4s, $23.12• One 4’x8’ sheet of 15/32” plywood, $15.67• Three 8’ 1x2s, $7.68• 34 stamped metal tie angles, $50.49• Four 3” lockable casters, $25.92• Four 2-5/8” screw eyes, $4.98• Wheel chock, $34.99• Screws, $16.34• Black paint, $14.45

Total cost of materials was $193.64. As for tools, nothing more sophisticated than a chop saw and an electric drill was required. It was a simple cut, screw and paint job that was completed in three evenings, amounting to less than eight hours of work.

I started by cutting four of the 2x4s down to 7’ with a chop saw (1). Since we weren’t working to NASA standards, we just

Building the ‘Po-boy Bike Stand’By Ed Youngblood

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made an estimate for the vertical braces that would give us a deck height of 2’. I cut the braces to 13”.

To build the main framing for the stand, stamped metal 90-degree tie angles were used at each junction (2). This kept everything square and provided more than adequate strength.

The main side frames were constructed on the garage floor, which provided a large, flat surface so everything would be true, or true enough to our non-NASA standards (3).

From this point, everything came together on sawhorses, putting a welcome end to the stoop-labor phase of the project (4). Once the full box frame was completed, everything was painted (5).

The lockable casters were mounted at each corner (6), and the 5/32” plywood (which

the supplier cut down for us to 33” by 7’ at no charge) was screwed down to the frame (pic 7). The four eyes for tie-down straps were screwed in 7” from each corner. Why 7”? It just looked right, which is the litmus test for non-NASA work.

At just about this point, our wheel chock arrived from J&P Cycles, and was bolted in place. With the stand now completed per the drawings, we noticed a lot of vacant space under the deck. This was an offense to the whole concept, and we decided we had to do something about it. As it turns out, we had three plastic tubs that were creating their own storage problem in the garage, and it appeared they would fit nicely under the deck. Heck, they were even color-coordinated to the black stand, which created the nice illusion that we knew what we were doing all along.

So the tubs would sit under the deck, and we simply screwed in place three 1x2 slats (pic 8). Now we had plenty of storage where parts related to the work-in-progress could be kept secure and nearby.

Tubs were positioned, casters were locked, the trusty aluminum ramp was laid in place, and the Allstate was rolled onto the stand and strapped down (pic 9).

Done! The “Po-boy Bike Stand” was complete for less than $200.

It rolled nicely and snugly into the small space we had available between the garage door and our storage shelves (pic 10). It has to share space with the garden tools, but I don’t think this will be too much of a problem.

Oh, and by the way, our work would have made NASA proud. The deck turned out to be exactly 24” from the floor. ●

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Name __________________________________________Address_________________________________________City________________________State________Zip_______Mail to: Antique Motorcycle Club of America, Inc.® AMCA/Cornerstone Registration, Ltd., P.O. Box 1715, Maple Grove, MN 55311-6715, U.S.A.

U.S.A.....$30 Canada & Mexico.....$34 All other Countries.....$40

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AHRMA_MotoRetro_QTR.indd 1 8/22/10 2:58 PM

N.O.S.Parts

DiscountPrices

60’s - Mid 80’s

PAUL MILLER MOTORCYCLE“when your dealer says no

give Paul a call”

72 Whispering Brook Dr.Kensington, CT 06037

Phone (860) 828-1771Fax (860) 828-7490

E-Mail: [email protected]


CLASSIfIEDS

FOR SAlEhonda

1964 Honda C200 90cc. Black, better to be used by someone than to let it just sit in my garage. $925. Rex Chaney, 925-451-3560, Gilbert, Arizona, [email protected].

for 1964/69 Honda CA/Cb/CL160 and S65. Lots of parts. Plus SL70, VT500, CT90. Contact me and I can send them to you. Paul Enz, 321-268-5461, Titus-ville, Florida, [email protected].

1965 Honda CL77. Completely restored 305 Scrambler. Blue with many new old stock parts. Chrome is perfect. Bikes runs and rides great. Can start with your hand. This is a very early 1965 matching serial number bike. Ready for a museum, private col-lector, or rider. Email me with any questions and for pictures. $8500 cash. Conrad Ledig, 225-610-2233, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, [email protected].

1966 Honda CL160. Unmolested, black and silver. Call or email for price and photos. This bike is in great shape and will not disap-point. Rick Wykoff, 813-431-7758, Vero Beach, Florida, [email protected].

1968/70 Honda CL90. Two bikes. Scrambler version of the S90,

which means they have the sporty 89cc OHC engine and different tank with upswept exhaust pipe. Both have Pennsylvania titles, have been in storage and not run for some time. Could make one bike from the two or restore both. Would like to find a good home for them. $1250 for both. Can email photos. Joe Lazenby, 717-645-4723, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, [email protected].

for 1969 Honda Cb750, com-plete set of carbs. All four, clean and ready to use. New K&N filters. $300 plus shipping. Gary, 707-463-0672.

1970 Honda SL350. This bike has been in our family since new. Mo-tor rebuilt, frame up home restora-tion including paint done in 2000. Original tires, no aftermarket parts on bike. Not run for 3 years, but was put into storage with a dry fuel tank and fuel system. Mo-tor rolled over on a regular basis to ensure it does not seize. Curt Larsen, 306-465-2626, Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan, Canada, [email protected].

1971 Honda Cb450 K4. All original, 22500 miles, drives great, looks great. fresh tires, tubes and battery. Chrome is in excellent condition. Everything works. Have original owner’s manual, Honda brochure, tool kit and shop manual. $2500 obo. Email me for additional pictures. Scott Roos, (772) 631-7244, Stuart, florida, [email protected].

1972 Honda Cb350 and 1975 Cb125S. Selling as a pair (breaking up is hard to do). both near show condition. Local ga-raged since new, second owndr. both ave current CA titles in my name. Cb350 has 6800 miles, Cb125S has 2100 miles. $2200 for the pair. Contact me for details. greg MacDonald, 760-723-7121, fallbrook, California, [email protected].

1972 Honda Cb750. All original, still has original 4 pipe exhaust! Low mileage, has not been run for 10 years or so but engine is not seized. $500 obo. For early Honda CB750, set of 4 carbs originally from a 1971 CB750, $50. Rear brake assy for 1972 CB750, $25. Dan Nowell, 613-336-9887, Belleville, Ontario, Canada, [email protected].

1973 Honda Cb450 K6. New Tires. B+ condition. This is the brown/red model. You can Google image. $1200. Antique title. 43/45 horsepower, 5-speed transmis-sion. George Paley, 785-760-4909, Lawrence, Kansas.

for Sale: 1974 Honda MT 250

1974. Google image. Mine is silver and red, on/off road bike. $950 for the bike. $50 for shop manual, or $975 for both. This is a great runner & really firm, great price. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FocAtnPbo-w. Antique title. George Paley, 785-760-4909, Lawrence, Kansas.

1976 Honda XL350. Black, great restoration project, all original, $500. Scot, (586) 468-8472/(586) 484-6939, Macomb, Michigan.

1977 Honda gL1000 goldwing. 24000 original miles, good condi-tion and runs good. $2600. Jim Neill, 662-417-5295, Carrollton, Mississippi, [email protected].

for 1978 Honda Cb750K, 3-piece Samsonite detachable bags with back rest. See photo. good condition. $250. Vetter fairing and lowers with Cycle Sound with Motorola AM/fM/40 ch Cb. good condition. $250. Mick North, 740-808-4408, Lan-caster, ohio.

1980 Honda Cb750K. own a classic un-restored 750K, one of the first double overhead

A vintage Japanese motorcycle for the VJMC is 20 years old or older and, of course, Japanese.Be aware of publication deadlines. Ads are due by the 20th

of the month in which a magazine is issued for the next edition. For example, ads for the June 2012 magazine will be due to the editor by April 20, 2011.

If you have business related ads, please consider taking out a commercial ad. Contact VJMC ad manager Gary Renna at

[email protected], or me (contacts below) for details and rate information.

We can now handle color photos to accompany your ads. Cost is a minimal $10 per photo per issue. Please address pay-ment to “VJMC” and send to the address below.

Send all classified ads and money for photos, to Gary Gadd, 3721 Holland St., Fort Worth, Texas, 76180; call 817-284-8195; or e-mail: [email protected].


CLASSIfIEDS

cam models. Carbs were re-built by a Honda mechanic. Seat professionally recovered and sewn like the original molded seams. Chrome Mack four into one header and the original ex-haust. 18000 miles with original paint that is with some sun fading but no dents. Missing right hand plastic side cover. Chrome is oK, original wire front wheel has been installed. $1200, buyer must pick up with cash or arrange shipping. Call for more information. Also there is a 1982 parts bike available for an additional $150. It is a rolling chassis with engine but no body work. Doug Mantooth, 828-586-3495, Cherokee, North Carolina.

for 1980 Honda gold Wing Interstate, red top trunk and saddle bags mounted and wired on the frame by Honda. bags in decent shape. Asking $250 obo. Jack Delaney, 413-586-0564, florence, Massachusetts, [email protected].

1981 Honda Cb900C. Vintage restoration down to the frame. So much was done to this that it could take up a page. There are pics avail-able at http://photobucket.com/ 1981-Honda-CB900C/?albumview=slideshow. Kevin Knudson, 630-767-9160, St. Charles, Illinois, [email protected].

KawaSaKI

1966 Kawasaki f1 175cc. Very rare all original, looks and runs excellent. Electric start. Has clean Florida title. $1499 obo. Contact me for photos. Michael Mabry, 386-299-7701, Port Orange, Florida, [email protected].

for Kawasaki A1/7, lots of gaskets, plus some complete kits. Email me with PN’s or you needs. Maybe I can help. Also, new carb float bowl gaskets for Kawasaki H1 H2 S2 and S3. $2 each plus shipping, while they last. Fran Golden, (661) 822-7149, [email protected].

1969 Kawasaki W2TT. Early Japanese attempt to com-pete in the british scrambler market. Very rare, all original, clear Texas title. Stored inside since 1988. Link for photos, www.bridal-tuxedo-b-cs-tx.com/_forms/W2TT/W2TT.zip. $9500 for bike. optional oEM

spares. JM Pazzaglia, 979-846-3192, Texas, [email protected].

1971 Kawasaki H1 Mach III. Runs good and looks good. Starts first kick, shifts smoothly. Slight leak at the gear shifter and will need a new front tire. Paint is very good. Contact me for more info or pics. $4200. Brad, 204-573-1900, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, [email protected].

1975 Kawasaki Z1-b 900cc. Completely restored. Black with original gold graphics. Rims are powder coated black. Everything is new or rebuilt. $8000. See at www.jvcycles.com. Paul Mar-cucci, 916-849-8500, Sacra-mento, California, [email protected].

If you enjoyed this issue of the VJMC magazine, why not pass on the legacy to a friend. It is easier than ever to join our great organization. Simply go to www.vjmc.org and click the “Join the VJMC” button. Our dues are $30 per year, which entitles you to a year’s worth (six issues) of the club’s bimonthly magazine, and our event schedule is growing monthly for the benefit of members.

If preferred, your friend may fill out the form below and send it along with the dues to Bill Granade, 13309 Moran Drive, Tampa, FL 33618-3011.

New Member Name: ___________________________________________

Date: ___________ Address: ____________________________________

City:_____________________ State: _____ Zip: _______

Preferred Brands: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Phone Number: ________________

Email: ___________________________

Referred By: ___________________________________

Dues: $30 one year; $55 two years; $80 three years

CLASSIfIEDS

1975 Kawasaki f-11. 250cc, good original condition. Runs well, $950. Chuck Perkins, 217-392-2547, 306 E green, Augusta, Illinois.

1975 Kawasaki Z1-b. Excellent condition. Email for pictures and info. Mark Croft, 402-681-0898, Omaha, Nebraska, [email protected].

1984 Kawasaki ZX750E gpz Turbo. 16,000 miles. Newer brakes, clutch, and Metzler tires. Runs perfect. Repainted a couple of years ago. bike gets a lot of compliments. $5,000 or best offer. Paul Stelmaszek 734-542-9815 Livonia, MI.

1984 Kawasaki gPZ750R. Euro bike shipped over from South Af-rica. Bike was last running, driven and inspected 2 years ago. It is in good shape but will need a good restoration. Never laid down or damaged and ever single item is original. No pics. Call or email for more info. Pick up only. Thanks. Philip, 561-252-2024, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, [email protected].

SuzuKI

1969 Suzuki T350. Titled in 1970. Very good original condition, 10400 mile, pearl white, manual, parts book. $2500. Steve Lindley, (479) 846-3949, 122 N Ozark St, Prairie Grove, Arkansas, 72753, [email protected].

1972 Suzuki TS185. Old classic

enduro. $450. Scot, (586) 468-8472/(586) 484-6939, Macomb, Michigan.

1983 Suzuki gN125. Clean, titled, 3700 miles, 12 volt system with electric start. Unrestored and in great shape, red paint is shiny, no rust in tank, no rips in seat, chrome is good with some minor pitting. Some scratches from use, none serious. New carb and rear shocks, front forks rebuilt. Every-thing works as it should except horn. Starts and shifts through all gears easily. Carl Best, 303-796-7358, Centennial, Colorado, [email protected].

1973 Suzuki gT185. New engine and a parts engine, titled . Ask-ing $ 1275 obo. D.L.Hill, 479-462-3110, Muldrow, oklahoma, [email protected].

1975 Suzuki gT550 Indy. Original and complete 3 cylinder motor-cycle. Black. Has factory hard panniers, color matched. $2000 obo. Jay Lindquist, 631-874-4855, Long Island, New York, [email protected] Suzuki RE5 Rotary. Yel-low with black trim, 15k miles, extremely nice condition. Ran when parked seven years ago, will certainly need a tune up. Clear title, currently under Non-Op. $2500 obo. Bruce Bowman, 510-769-8419, San Francisco bay area, California, [email protected].

1977 Suzuki gS750. Stock GS750 four. Has been sitting 11 years. Needs front master cyl-inder, caliper, pads. No battery, engine turns over, transmission shifts thru all 5 gears. First $1500 takes it. Jay Lindquist, 631-874-4855, Long Island, New York, [email protected].

1982 Suzuki RM125. Refreshed

DG design RM125. New plastics and paint, very clean and runs strong. Usually starts on first or second kick. Needs work on rear suspension. Email for details. Ask-ing $1500 but will negotiate a fair price for the repairs needed. Runs and drives. Jim, 972-322-6170, Plano, Texas, [email protected].

Yamaha

1966 yamaha yM1 305cc. Last licensed in 1987. Was running well when stored. Painted parts OK, chrome badly rusted but intact. Could be re-chromed. Engine was rebuilt using 1968 and 1966 parts. $200 obo. Dan Nowell, 613-336-9887, Belleville, Ontario, Canada, [email protected].

1969 yamaha AT1-E. Original California bike. Runs, kick start or electric start. Restored by old school Yamaha tech. First year for 125cc enduro. David Kulaga, 530-889-9144, Northern California, [email protected].

1978 yamaha XS750. Motorcycle has something bent in the engine, so it has been sitting for more than 10 years in the weather. Was driven/limped to current location. $25 or best offer. Chris Carlson, 714-329-5355, Mission Viejo, California, [email protected].

1978 yamaha XS750E. Three cylinder 750cc. Great shape, runs well, always garaged and serviced, licensed, inspected and insured. Quicksilver Vetter frame mounted fairing, KG trunk with sissy bar backrest. All original trim, owners manual, service manual, complete OEM tool kit. New battery, carbs rebuilt, Metzler Lasertec tires. Seat cover needs replaced, have a new cove. See review at www.biker.net/roadtest/xs750e/xs750etest.htm. Accept-ing best offer. Arthur, 603-734-4145, Southern New Hampshire, [email protected].

yamaha Vision XZ550. Two nearly complete motorcycles plus one additional parts bike. Last run in 2010, need new

To pLACE

youR

CLASSIFIED

AD:

GARy GADD

817-284-8195

[email protected]


batteries and/or tires, along with a few other minor repairs/replacements. Bike #1=1983; VIN JYA11H000DA101244; clear title; 8,384 miles. Bike #2=1982; no title; 11,185 miles. The parts bike consists principally of frame, engine, muffler, and wheels. Sold as a group only; will not break up or part out. $1500. Call for more details. Bruce, 269-274-8072, Battle Creek, Michigan.

OThER BIkES FOR

SAlEfor bridgestone 175 and 200, seat in perfect condition. $100 plus shipping. Located near Rhinebeck, New York meet site. Ken Krauer, (845) 266-3363, Salt Point, New York, [email protected].

for 1965 Marusho ST500, all original motorcycle manual. About 40 pages printed on yellow paper in the original manila paper binder. Stamped with U.S. Marusho Corp address. $40 obo. Kevin, Puyal-lup, Washington, [email protected] Marusho Magnum Electra 500. Serial # F91001-F91123. En-gine # 2-1001-2-1123. Ido not have the title for this bike. I believe the tank and seat are not original and the engine is stuck, not sure to what extent. According to my research this was the last one built out of 123 bikes in 1967. Please email for pictures. Richard Good, 620-717-5057, Altoona, Kansas, [email protected].

MISC. ITEMS FOR SAlE

Misc parts. Good engine and carbs for 1976 Yamaha XV700 Virago, $200. Other XV700 parts available including excellent front wheel with both brake rotors. Good engine for 1977 Yamaha

XS400, with other parts. Lots of older Yamaha new rider foot peg rubbers. Hundreds of OEM Yama-ha and Suzuki individual gaskets and gasket sets all or much less than dealer prices. OEM Kawasaki gasket sets. Honda gasket sets for older models. Have points, plugs, condensers, tune-up kits, cables, sprockets, levers, brakes, some pistons, rings, valves, etc. New crankshaft, crankcase and hardware for Honda XL/XR 250. William W Mack, 865-983-4204. 2329 Airbase Rd, Louisville, Tennessee, 37777-4024, [email protected].

Vintage Japanese Parts. Selling off my spare parts and brochures. Many gems, some NOS bits. Email for a list. Rick Seto, Ottawa Canada, [email protected].

1965 yamaha big bear, two bikes. For 1978 Honda Gold Wing, parts. Lots of plastic side covers. 2 rear drive units, two radiators with fans, front fenders with em-blems, oil filter cover, fuel pump, carb and manifold set, misc small parts. $300 for the lot or separate. 1978 Honda 400 twin with good engine, $200. Parting out 50 Hon-das, 1969/80, $75 each. Yamaha and Honda mopeds. Lots of seats. 4 CB750 4-cyl gas tanks, $50 and up. Located near Rhinebeck, New York meet site. Ken Krauer, (845) 266-3363, Salt Point, New York, [email protected].

for various bikes. Original YDS3C mirror, C100 tool kit and pouch, C100 turn signal lens, NOS T20 kickstart rubber, early H1 clutch lever, nice brochures. Rick Seto, Ottawa, Canada, [email protected].

over 4000 Honda keys. All new and numbered. Through the de-cades, Hondas came with four keys, sometimes 5. The dealer gave the buyer 2 and he kept the others! These are some of the ‘kept’ keys. $10 each for any quantity including postage sent anywhere in the world. Email preferred. Barry Sulkin, 310-569-1383, Culver City, California, bar-

[email protected].

over 1000 Kawasaki keys. All new and numbered. Through the decades, Hondas came with four keys, sometimes 5. The dealer gave the buyer 2 and he kept the others! These are some of the ‘kept’ keys. $10 each for any quantity including postage sent anywhere in the world. Email preferred. Barry Sulkin, 310-569-1383, Culver City, California, [email protected].

for Honda, yamaha, Kawasaki, huge selection of NOS items. We are a Honda and Yamaha dealer from the early 1960’s. All our parts are by part number, NOT by bike. If you are interested please call or email with the part numbers you are looking for. Please list year, make and model. Scott, 860-886-2407, Taftville, Connecticut, [email protected].

original motorcycle magazines containing road tests for your 80’s vintage Japanese motorcycle. $2.00US plus $7.77US s&h (incl air mail for anywhere in Canada or US). email your year, make and model to me and I’ll see if I have a copy for you. I am clearing out my motorcycle magazine collection to benefit VJMC people. Canadian Stu at [email protected].

WANTED:honda

1959/67 Honda C200 90cc. Will pay top dollar. Bike must be in like new condition. Sid, Southeast Louisiana, [email protected].

1962 Honda Cuby. Looking for 19cc engine and any parts or literature. Tom Kolenko, (770) 427-4820, Atlanta, Georgia, [email protected].

for Honda Cb/CL160, need NOS or good used exhaust and front fender. Also CL160 seat and rims. Or whole bikes. Have CB/CA77 and S90 parts to trade. Nick Bendas, 314-277-5730, St. Louis, Missouri, [email protected].

for 1965 Honda Cb160, 2 carbs or just slides with the top ring and throttle cable. Also spark plug caps, rectifier, both side covers, left side engine chain side cover, front foot peg rubbers. Den, Bur-lington, Ontario, Canada, [email protected].

for 1965 Honda CA77 Dream 305cc, looking for tires. Mike Ar-senault, 603-228-0284, Concord, New Hampshire, [email protected].

For 1968 Honda CA77 Dream 305, looking for vintage fiberglass Buco saddlebags, the type with 2 lights each. Mounting hardware and working lights are a big plus. Philip Thompson, [email protected].

for 1968 Honda CL77, I need a good used centre stand to fit my scrambler. Thanks! Ian, 1-403-441-6736, Alberta, Canada, [email protected].

for 1969 Honda Cb175, looking for exhaust and air cleaner side covers (white). Gary Ibershoff, 313-318-8590, Whitmore Lake, Michigan, [email protected].

for 1969 Honda Cb450 K2, look-ing for a candy red fuel tank in NOS or excellent used condition. This tank is similar in shape and graphics (gold GT stripes) to the 1970/71 K3 and K4 tank but has a screw on cap as opposed to the flip release cap on those later models. Any help in pursuit of this tank would be greatly appreciated. Reade Whitwell, 206-935-9183, Seattle, Washington, [email protected].

for Honda CL200, looking for exhaust system. NOS or nearly new in very good condition. Re-placement part number is 18300-378-670. Volker Wolff, Germany, [email protected].

for 1972 Honda SL100, looking for someone to rebuild this bike. Ran in 2003. Needs many new/replacement parts. No time limit.

CLASSIfIEDS


Buster Dunning, 540-336-4414, Winchester, Virginia, [email protected].

for 1973 Honda Cb350g, need center stand spring. Thank you. John Basile, Arizona, [email protected].

for 1974 Honda CT90 K5, need grey cables, NOS for front and rear brake, throttle and speedo. Numbers are 43460-102-000, 45450-102-010, 17910-102-700, 44830-077-000. Also high altitude button set for carb, 16037-077-004. Chris Chown, 416-504-4353, Toronto, Canada, [email protected].

1974 Honda CR125 Elsinore. James Neill, 662-417-5295, 2318 CR282, McCarley, Mississippi, 38943.

1984 thru ‘86 Honda Nighthawk S (Cb700SC). Looking for any NOS or mint used parts and pos-sibly complete bikes depending on price. Lost everything in a huge house fire and looking to rebuild. Joe_Angelucci, 216-382-8965/216-381-3169 12-11 pm EST, Cleveland, Ohio, [email protected].

for 1984/86 Honda Cb700SC, looking for OEM accessories, especially the detachable saddle bags. Larry Daquioag, 919-624-0479, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, [email protected].

KawaSaKI

for 1972 Kawasaki H2 750/Z1 900, need parts or parts bikes. Email with info and pics. Steve, 260-466-1154, Pierceton, Indiana, [email protected].

for 1974/75 Kawasaki H2, exhaust mufflers. Need to be in good condition. Jim Neill, 662-417-5295, McCarley, Mississippi, [email protected].

SuzuKI

for 1966/67 Suzuki T20/X6 250, looking for left side cover (bat-

tery/tool kit cover) and a left side kicker shaft cover. Stan Thedford, 214-808-2345, Ivanhoe, Texas, [email protected].

for1968 Suzuki T500 Cobra, need a front fender. Greg Owen, 661-510-1052, Newhall, Califor-nia, [email protected].

for 1976 Suzuki RM125A, NOS inner fork tubes. Maybe used with no pits. Bike to be shown in bike shows. Gene McDaniel, 334-365-1997, Prattville, Alabama, [email protected].

Yamaha

1965/68 yamaha yDS3C. Look-ing for running 305 Big Bear. Jim, 858-566-7021, San Diego, Cali-fornia, [email protected].

for 1966 yamaha yA6, looking for the original style painted turn signals to fit the 125cc Santa Barbara. Ian, 1-403-441-6736, Alberta, Canada, [email protected].

for 1970 yamaha yDS6 250cc, looking for new crank pins (156-11681-00-00) and rods (246-11651-00-00) to rebuild crank. Also looking for 295-11681-00-00 pins and 295-11651-00-00 rods. Let me know if you can help with my stalled project. Jeremy Kinzl, 905-336-1339, Burlington, Ontario, Canada, [email protected].

for 1975 yamaha RD60, look-ing for parts. Especially need shocks, muffler and exhaust pipe. Also need other stuff to upgrade condition. Let me know what you have. Fred Klopp, 717-421-4287,

Central Pennsylvania, [email protected].

for 1975 yamaha DT175b, look-ing for owners manual. Will pay top dollar for NOS manual. Last detail I need to finish my resto-ration project. Greg von Baden, 832-256-5118, Houston, Texas, [email protected].

for 1976 yamaha RD400, need left side head and cylinder. Dave Stiles, 419-568-6832, Lima, Ohio, [email protected].

OThER BIkES

WANTED1960’s Tohatsu RunPet Sport 50cc. Non runners OK. Tom Ko-lenko, (770) 427-4820, Atlanta, Georgia, [email protected].

MISC. ITEMS WANTED

under 100cc bike. Looking to buy the following bikes. Honda MB-5, NS50, S65, S90. Kawasaki G3SS/KH100, AR50/80, KD80X. Suzuki AC50, AS50, TS50, T125 Stinger. Yamaha DT50, RX50, YG1, Yl1E, HS1, LS2, RD60, G5S/G6S/G7S, YSR50, RS100, RD125. If you have one sitting in the garage or backyard, give me a call. Fair market value paid for bike depending on condition. Will pay extra if the bike is properly titled. Will pay cash, willing to travel a bit for the right bike. If

you have an interesting sub 100cc street legal motorcycle not on my list, please contact me. Don Orton, 602-695-3615, Phoenix, Arizona, [email protected].

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

Dealer Memorabilia. Collector seeks 1950’s-1980’s 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, [email protected].

Honda CbX 1000cc 6 cyl memorabilia for Museum and the ‘CBX Book’ I am presently writing. Any brochures, adverts, posters, owner’s manual, work-shop manual, set-up manual, toys/models, old photos, etc. related to the 1979-1972 CBX. Also period aftermarket fairings/bodywork. Let me know what you have and how much you need! Ian, 626-444-9358, California, [email protected].

Looking for new old stock motorcycle parts lots large or small. Have cash, will travel, can arrange POD for large lots. Thanks in advance, leads to lots greatly appreciated. Bruce Mangels, 520-457-3035, Tombstone, Arizona, [email protected].

CLASSIfIEDS

Don’T MISS ThE VInTAGE JApAnESE MoToRCyCLE MAGAzInE, puBLIShED EVERy FEBRuARy, ApRIL,

JunE, AuGuST, oCToBER AnD DECEMBER


T-shirTs:• Short sleeve, white, 100% cotton, printed front and back. Available in S, M, L, XL, XXL, 3XL .................................... $15• Long sleeve, light gray, 100% cotton, printed front and back. Available only L and XL ............................................. $20

Polo shirTs:• Black, red, or white embroidered with club name and logo on left chest in 100% cotton.

Available in M, L, XL, XXL .....................................................................................................................................$25

sweaT shirTs:• Gray heavyweight cotton, printed front and back, available in L, XL, XXL, 3XL ......................................................... $25

haTs:• Black or gray, cotton, baseball style with embroidered club name and logo ............................................................. $15

Club Medallions:• White/black or black/gold with 1/4” top tab mounting hole ..................................................................................... $10

Coffee Mugs:• Black ceramic, 12 oz. with club name and logo ......................................................................................................... $6

drink koozie:• Red foam with white club name and logo screen-printed ..................................................................................... $1.50

keyChain:• White soft vinyl with club name and logo screen-printed, fastened to chrome ring .................................................... $1

VJMC Regalia ORdeR FORM

Add shipping and handling costs to order:• All items sent U.S. Priority Mail with

delivery confirmation; $6 for first item and $4 each for additional items for USA only.

• Canadian orders multiply U.S. Mail rate by 1.5 to determine S&H charges.

Quantity Item Description Size Price Total

Shipping Charges $ Enclosed is my check or money order made out to “VJMC” for the total of $

Ship to:Name:Address:City, State, Zip Code:

SEND YOUR ORDER TO: Tom Kolenko-VJMC • 2445 Elmhurst Blvd. • Kennesaw, GA 30152Regalia Questions?: Email me: [email protected]

WE KEEP IN STOCK MOST OF THE PARTS REQUIRED FOR BOTH ENGINE REBUILDS AND COMPLETE RESTORATION PROJECTS

ORIGINAL MUFFLER SPECIALS:CB750K0/K1 ‘300 TYPE’ SET OF 4 EXHAUSTS CB750K2-K6 (72-76) ‘341 TYPE’ SET OF 4 EXHAUSTSCB750K7 ‘405 TYPE’ SET OF 4 EXHAUSTSCB500F/550K/K1/K76 ‘323, 374 TYPE’ SET OF 4 EXHAUSTSCB350F ‘333 TYPE’ SET OF 4 EXHAUSTS

AFTERMARKET MUFFLERS:CB750K0-K6 4:1 CHROME COMPLETE EXHAUST PLUS MANY MORE

ORDER ONLINE:VAST COMPREHENSIVE AND EASY TO USE, SECURE ONLINE STORE – THOUSANDS OF GENUINE HONDA AND AFTERMARKET SPARE PARTS LISTED FOR HUNDREDS OF MODELS

WE STOCK MANY LARGE COMPONENTS:CYLINDERS, BARRELS, CRANKCASES, WHEELS, TANKS, EXHAUSTS, FAIRING PANELS, SEATS, FRAMES, etc.

PARTS SUPPLIERS FOR ALL HONDA MOTORCYCLES:FROM THE EARLY 60’S AND 70’S CLASSICS TO 2002 MODELS

SPECIALISTS IN PARTS FOR HONDA

ALL AT DISCOUNTED PRICES

“The world’s largest Independent Stockist of New Old Stock for Honda Motorcycles”

We receive huge deliveries of old and obsolete Honda parts throughout the year. Check out our website for your model.

DAVID SILVER SPARESUnit 14, Masterlord Industrial Estate,

Station road, Leiston, Suffolk, IP16 4JD, United KingdomWeb: www.davidsilverspares.com

Email: [email protected]: 011441728833020 Fax: 011441728832197

DAILY UPS SHIPPING TO THE USAHONDA ~ HONDA ~ HONDA ~ HONDA

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a pesky water buffalo - vjmc · a restoration workbench that tucks away official publication of the...

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