Practical Sportsbikes
August 2021Practical Sportsbikes magazine is about buying, fixing, restoring and riding sportsbikes from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. Every issue of PS – the magazine home of new-wave Japanese and Italian classics – is packed with: - The most inspiring and ingenious reader restorations - The most in-depth road tests and buyers’ guides - Unmissable workshop tips and how-to features Practical Sportsbikes gets under the skin of the bikes that really matter to our readers and explains how best to maintain, rebuild and enjoy them. So if you’re in to sportsbikes from the 1970-1990s, PS is essential reading.
in this issue
welcome
Power, speed... it’s why most of us are here on two wheels, to some extent, right? Whether it’s two-stroke zing or big twin grunt, the visceral thrills from the light/powerful combination only a motorcycle offers is for everyone with a yen for velocity. Performance Bikes was created, evolved from Motorcycle Mechanics (just called Mechanics at the end), to react to the shift in culture in motorcycling from one largely driven by the need to be mobile, to one driven by fun, and desire. Manufacturers reacted by developing faster bikes evermore quickly. Three decades of incredible development, 30-odd years of asking ‘where will it all end?’ as bikes repeatedly raised the bar to where we are now: sportsbikes with over 200bhp at the wheel, for the price of a base model Ford…
steve burns specials builder of legend
“I’d only had my first steel frame off Bob for two weeks before I broke my back. It was 1983 I think. I rang him from the spinal unit and told him what had happened and he just said, ‘We’ll fix it for nothing’. I hardly knew the guy. That generosity really amazed me. “At his funeral in 2012 a guy from the Spondon owner’s club, Steve Nicholson, wrote a fantastic eulogy. It was the best eulogy ever. To summarise it was all about Bob giving the ordinary person priority. He was the least star struck person you could meet. He never missed a Spondon Owner’s Club bash. I hosted a couple, and because we didn’t have any spare beds he’d just sleep on the floor. He was a good guy. “He…
john corrin’s ttf1 yamaha 500lc
“ It’s a Spondon/Len Manchester TTF1 Yamaha 500. The bike was built for Brian Reid for the 1985 TTF1 World Championship. The engine was built by Arnie Fletcher and Robin Church. “They also built several TTF2 bikes which won the 1985 and 1986 F2 World Championships for Brian Reid. “It’s also one of the bikes that was onboard the MV Tornamona, the fishing boat that sank in Strangford Lough with both Joey and Robert Dunlop onboard. “I restored the bike in 2011, and take it to the Classic TT to ride in the parade laps. I also lend it to a friend Robbie Silvester (VRS Racing) to parade at Scarborough. It’ll be there in May 2022 for the Spring Cup. Fact: The name Spondon is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for gravel ‘Spon’ and ‘Dune’,…
expert view
Rob Wittey of PDQ Motorcycle Developments (01753 730043, pdq1.com) has the ultimate set-up for sorting injectors. “Usually the injectors we see for testing and cleaning are mainly from bikes that have stood around. I don’t see many injectors for maintenance, it’s more because someone has a fault. “The machine we have at PDQ is an ASNU injector tester. It can check flow, resistance, cold cranking, leakage, and so on at various rpm and pressure, and it has a built-in ultrasonic cleaner where it will cycle the injectors while cleaning. The spray patterns need to be consistent. You can see the spray patterns when the machine is in operation but a more telling visual indicator is the level differences in the clear graduated tubes the machine has for the flow test. “The machine we…
prawn gumbo: the perfect one-pan, one-burner paddock recipe
Ingredients Prawns (any size, shape or form)Basmati rice1 x Tinned chopped tomatoes Garlic (lots of)One onionWorcestershire sauce Tabasco (heaps of)Couple of celery stalksSalt and ground black pepperOlive oil Cooking instructions 1. Dice the onion coarsely and fry in olive oil in a pan until golden-ish. Then add as much/little chopped garlic as you want and cook out for a minute or two. 2. Add tin of chopped tomatoes and a little water and bring to the boil. 3. Add a cup full of rice and simmer gently, stirring frequently, adding water if and when needed. 4. Just before the rice is cooked (bite test) add chopped celery, Tabasco to taste, and prawns. Keep stirring like a bitch. 5. Season (needs quite a bit of salt to counteract the tomatoes). 6. Serve and eat when the rice is al…
project hunter
I’D LIKE A SPECIAL frame at some point in my life – to keep, that is. The odd one has passed through my hands for work, but I’ve never put my name on a V5. As a southerner, Harris were the name to have down my way, but I wouldn’t say no to a Spondon either. I’m not sure how realistic that is these days, given the price of them. In an ideal world you want one that still has the nice bracketry, the subframes, handlebars and rearsets that were fitted from new. At the cheaper end, they’ve lost those, and usually gained some bodges too. Anything that’s not been messed with is big money now, even if it’s not built up. I’d cost out a new one at the money…
