Retrobike RCBE #32 SPRING 2018

“The Honda Four ushered in an incredibly diverse and exciting period of motorcycle development” THIS month is the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of the iconic Honda CB750 Four at the Tokyo Motorcycle Show. We think of it these days as just another lovely old vintage bike, but at the time it truly was the bike that changed the world. Honda was then known for its twin-cylinder road bikes, the largest of which was 450cc, but the factory had had plenty of success with across-the-frame four and six-cylinder race bikes in winning six consecutive 350cc World Championships from 1962, along with numerous 250cc and 125cc World Championships. The factory withdrew from GP racing at the end of the 1967 season to concentrate on its road bikes and the CB750 was…

JAPAN has a very healthy custom motorcycle culture, building world-class show bikes and thousands of cool daily-ridden street bikes. Leading the way is Kengo Kimura, whose Hiroshima workshop, Heiwa Motorcycles, has dominated the show scene in recent years while turning out hundreds of street-legal customs for discerning customers all over the country. We featured Heiwa’s sublime 1966 Triumph TR6 rigid bobber, called ‘Master Peace’, on the cover of Retrobike #27 — heiwa means peace in Japanese — fresh from its win at the Mooneyes Yokohama Custom Show at the end of 2016. It was the first time a bike with a European engine had ever won the prestigious event in its then 24-year history. Amazingly, Kengo and co then won again in 2017 with another, albeit totally different, TR6-based custom,…

THE first Kawasaki-badged motorcycle, a 125cc two-stroke single known as the B8, was released in 1962, although the aviation division of Kawasaki Heavy Industries had been building small two-stroke engines for other manufacturers since 1954. In 1960, Kawasaki acquired a minority interest in Meguro, one of Japan’s oldest motorcycle manufacturers and at one time its most successful. Meguro had a licence to produce the BSA A7, a popular British 500cc pre-unit OHV twin, but was struggling for working capital, which eventually led to Kawasaki taking full control in 1963. Almost immediately, Kawasaki began making detail improvements to the BSA design, including punching out capacity to 650cc in 1965, albeit with slightly over-square dimensions, which differentiated it from the long-stroke 650cc BSA A10. And, thus, the Kawasaki W1 made its debut…

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke 360-degree vertical twin; bevel-driven SOHC, four valves per cylinder; 72 x 83mm for 676cc; 8.7:1 comp; 2 x 34mm Keihin CVK carburettors; digital ignition; electric start; wet clutch, five-speed gearbox; chain final drive; 50hp @ 7000rpm (stock) CHASSIS Double-cradle tubular steel mainframe with square-section top tube; fabricated seat subframe; 39mm conventional forks, lowered 50mm, with single twin-piston caliper and 300mm rotor on 19-inch laced rim; dual-sided swingarm with MDI shocks (70mm shorter than stock) with drum brake laced to 17-inch wheel BODYWORK Custom tank, side-covers and rear mudguard by Heiwa; paint by Six Shooter BEST Trademark Heiwa style; ridden not hidden NOT SO GREAT Nothing from where we sit…

OUT of nowhere they burst onto the scene and, like the proverbial classic rock band, each new release went straight to number one. From Munich in Germany, custom bike shop Diamond Atelier has been a dominant custom player in recent years with a string of show-winning bikes, including a pair of R nineT BMWs dubbed 'DA#4' (Play Hard, Retrobike #26) and 'DA#9' (Follow The Leader, Retrobike #28). Now founders Tom Konecny and Pablo Steigleder are going back to where it all began, with new ideas and new possibilities, but all while keeping that same unmistakable DA style. The opening track in their latest production is a killer, asphalt-shredding 2016 Ducati Scrambler custom with just the right sounds. Take a listen to DA#11. As Tom explains, it’s all happening at Diamond…

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke 90-degree V-twin; belt-driven SOHC with two valves per cylinder; 88 x 66mm for 803cc; 11:1 comp; wet sump; fuel-injected, 50mm throttle body; gear primary drive to wet clutch and six-speed gearbox; chain final drive; 75hp at 8250rpm CHASSIS Tubular steel trellis mainframe, with custom seat sub-frame; Multistrada forks with Panigale front wheel and two Tokico six-piston calipers on 320mm wave rotors; Monster 1100 Evo single-sided swingarm — and rear wheel and Brembo brake — with Wilbers shock unit; Metzeler tyres BODYWORK Much-modified (underneath) NCR endurance racing tank; minimalist seat and front guard; not much else BEST Winning blend of 1970s endurance racer and modern urban warrior NOT SO GREAT Seat looks thin…