Retrobike Issue 40

THIS issue marks the sixth anniversary of the relaunch in January 2015 of Retrobike as a quarterly journal of old-school cool. Classic not plastic! Over 24 issues, we’ve presented around 200 feature bikes from around Australia and the world, plus maybe half that number again of iconic motorcycling events, groups and people. And had a lot of fun doing it, just quietly. Happy birthday to us. “None of this is rocket science if you want to have a go” Our first cover bike and lead story was David Anderson’s 1984 Suzuki 750 Katana, stylishly subtle but brimming with skilful chassis engineering by Victorian custom workshop Bikecraft. With its GSX-R 17-inch wheels, upside-down forks, six-piston brakes and mono-shock swingarm, the 30-year-old ‘Street Kat’ steered, stopped and handled almost like a new…

“I WANTED TO HAVE THE SOUND AND LOOK OF A HONDA RC 166 RACE BIKE FOR THE ROAD” BUILDING a road-going tribute to any World Championship-winning race bike is diffi cult enough. Using an engine four times as big makes it nigh on impossible. Luckily no-one told Queenslander Tom Dermody and his good mates Nic Comolly and John Boyd. Tom is no stranger to interesting machines, having accumulated over the past 40 years an enviable quiver of road and racing bikes, including a Yamaha YZR500 and TZ250, a Vincent-powered Norton, Suzuki RGB500 and GS1200 and no fewer than four highly collectable Hondas; an RC 30, RC 45, SP1 superbike and a replica of the RS1000 endurance racer. “About eight years ago, a friend of mine, Nic Comolly from Nicom Engineering,…

WHEN we think of legendary engineers, names like Edward Turner, Phil Irving and Fabio Taglioni spring to mind. Well, here’s another, Shoichiro Irimajiri. A graduate in aeronautical engineering, 24-year-old Irimajiri was tasked in 1964 by Soichiro Honda to build a four-stroke 250 GP bike capable of beating the dominant two-strokes. The solution lay in more revs, and so Irimajiri designed not only a miniaturised inline six, he filled it with double-overhead cams and four tiny valves in each 41cc cylinder to make some 62hp. “We were up against four-cylinder two-strokes built by Yamaha and Suzuki,” Irimajiri recalled at the launch of the CBX1000. “Cylinder multiplication was the only way we could be competitive.” The new engine debuted in mid-1965, but overpowered the existing chassis and wasn’t immediately successful. Hailwood returned…

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke inline six; chain-driven DOHC, four valves per cylinder; 64.5 x 53.4mm for 1047cc: 9.3:1 comp; wet sump; 6 x Keihin CR flat-slides; Dyna 2000 ignition; custom Tranzac exhausts; multi-row chain primary to wet clutch and five-speed gearbox; chain final drive; rebuilt by Nicom, tuned by Steph; 105hp at 9000rpm (stock) CHASSIS Steel tube frame with engine as stressed member, braced and modified by Nicom; 43mm Bimota forks and triple trees, 2 x Brembo 300mm rotors with four-spot calipers on laced 17 x 3in alloy rim; 900SS twin-shock swingarm with small Brembo disc on laced 17 x 5in alloy rim; Pirelli tyres BODYWORK Tank, seat and mudguard by Nicom; 900SS fairing and headlight; paint and graphics by Mark Haywood; Speedhut tacho/speedo SPECIAL THANKS John Boyd, Nic Comolly, Mark…

WHEN you’re on a good thing, stick to it. So obsessed was Tom Moose with V-twin Yamaha café racers, when his workload as a lawyer in Gydnia, Poland, got in the way of his first attempt at building a custom XV920 as a hobbyist, he chucked in his day job to take up bike building full-time. We liked his style so much that his first custom off the rank graced our cover (‘White Knight’) back in issue #35. It and its black-finished twin featured inside were built in the café racer style, impressive enough given their cruiser Virago roots, but with a healthy dose of street fighter DNA. This time around, Tom has pursued a drag/café mix in his quest to further raise the bar. “I am still in love…

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke 75-degree V-twin; SOHC, two valves per cylinder; 92 x 69.2mm for 920cc; 8.3:1 comp; 2 x 40mm Hitachi carburettors with K&N filters; electronic ignition; custom exhaust; five-speed gearbox with shaft final drive; 65hp @ 6500rpm (stock) CHASSIS Box-section pressed-steel mainframe with engine suspended beneath; Kawasaki ZX6R USD forks, 2 x four-spot Tokico calipers and 310mm wave rotors, 17in cast wheel; triangulated cantilever-style swingarm with Sachs mono-shock, stock Virago drum brake and 16in cast wheel; Metzeler tyres BODYWORK Repositioned fuel tank; custom seat; not much else BEST Style in spades; aggressive stance; adjustable suspension; great brakes; soulful V-twin engine NOT SO GREAT Bold tyre lettering not for all…