Retrobike #27 WINTER 2017

ONE of my favourite bikes turns 60 this year. The Harley-Davidson Sportster was released in 1957 as a sports model to tackle the British parallel twins and has never been out of production in all the years since. In a sea of modern bikes pretending to look old, a new Sportster is the real deal. The Sportster is a direct descendent of the famous WLA that mobilised the US infantry during WW2. Like many side-valve Harleys, WLAs ran four gear-driven singlelobe camshafts (one for each valve) which were retained when it was updated with unit construction and a swingarm chassis — both firsts for Harley — in 1952 and renamed the Model K. Overhead valves in cast-iron heads came in 1957 and with them the new Sportster moniker. Changes in…

THE Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show is the largest indoor custom car and motorcycle show in Japan and one of the coolest in the world, drawing an international celebrity crowd. Bikes have long been a big part of the mix and it takes something really special to win it. Enter Kengo Kimura, the quietly-spoken proprietor of Heiwa Motorcycles which he established in Hiroshima in 2005. He and his small team have built more than 100 customs in the years since, mostly based on Japanese bikes but including some 15 Triumphs, almost all of them pushrod twins built before the Meriden factory closed in 1983. This is his latest. Like many elite builders, Kengo prefers not to work from drawings or concepts, instead following his gut feel and skilful eye.…

“WITH MANY PARTS MISSING OR DAMAGED, NICK DECIDED TO BUILD A TRACK BIKE INSTEAD” NICK O’Kane is an ex-pat Pom now residing in Riverside, California, where by day he is a senior sales executive for a well-known US aftermarket brand. By night, his alter ego heads out to the shed to build custom bikes like this magnificent CBX Honda six. “I wanted to build a minimalist CBX racer and keep a blend of the original CBX lines while adding modern sports bikes components,” he says. To this end, what at first glance looks like stock bodywork is anything but, instead all constructed from carbon-fibre and subtly updated to give it a sharper, more modern edge to better match the top-shelf running gear. We’d like to think, if the CBX was…

FROM the dawn of motorcycling, riders have raced each other to determine who was the fastest. We started on public roads, such as they were, but it wasn’t long before more formal arrangements were introduced. Amongst the earliest official motorsport events Down Under were speed trials held on Sellicks Beach in South Australia, organised by the Levis Motor Cycle Club in the early 1920s. The Club was established as the Levis Social Club in 1922 and named after the then popular two-stroke Levis motorcycle; its charter was to organise social outings and events for its members. By far the most popular were occasional speed trials at Sellicks, which became an annual event from 1924, usually on the Australia Day weekend in January. The beach was an ideal location as under…

SWEDEN is the second home of the chopper. The summer riding season is short before the snow comes, with long winters providing plenty of opportunity for customising. Choppers have been part of the mix since the 1960s but, unlike the rest of the world, in Sweden they never went away. Peter Ström is a Harley-Davidson enthusiast in Stockholm with a particular passion for Sportsters. His recent builds include a trike for his wife and bobber for his daughter, both of which featured in local magazines. “With this build I wanted a drag-racing, hot-rod style,” Peter says. “I thought what could be more associated with drag racing and hot rodding than Mooneyes Speed Equipment,” referring to the renowned aftermarket manufacturer. Amongst their most famous and enduring products are small remote Moon…

TO BE invited to ride what is almost certainly the last 100 per cent original example of the most desirable production racer ever made is an act of unfathomable generosity and implied trust on the part of its new owner Nicolas Dourassoff. So it was important I brought back the ex-Jack Ehret 1951 Vincent Black Lightning in one piece. With just 8682 kilometres on its Euro-spec 300km/h Smiths clock, almost every one of them in anger Down Under, it is living history on two wheels. Now domiciled in France, those kilometres also include my two dozen laps at the Carole race circuit near Paris, to which Nicolas brought the battle-scarred warrior that had been recommissioned for use by Patrick Godet for me to ride on a regular track day. However,…