ClassicMotorcycleMechanicsJune2020

Bertie’s ZRX1200R!

SUBSCRIBETODAY SHAREYOURPROJECTWITHTHE WORLD!

SEEPAGE 34 FORDETAILS

Morecruisersneeded!

What no cruisers?

Iknowyouhavebeenasking

forawhilenowwhatthe

readershipwouldliketoseein

thisaugustorgan!After

meaningtowriteinforthelast

coupleofmonths,I,likethe

restofus,arenowstuckat

home,soIthoughtthisthe

perfectopportunity.

Asamanofacertainage,

who,likemostoftherestofus,

grewupwithFizzies,KHs,GSs,

RDs,CBs,etc.,Ilovethisage

ofbikes,withtheirflowing

lines,relativesimplicityand

lackofangularbodywork.

Youfollowthe‘ 15 yearsor

older’mantra,whichsuitsme

fine,buttherearealarge

numberofbikesthatjustnever

getamention.

IwillnowadmitthatIowna

Harley,which(apartfromits

relativelyyoungage)coversall

thecriteriaIhavementioned

aboveandIhappentoloveto

Two-stroke lover!

Iawaitwithgreatenthusiasm

myfavouritereadeverymonth

throughmyletterbox.I’ma

two-strokeenthusiast;Iown

two 1991 TZR 250 s

( 2 MA/ 3 XV),twoTZR 125 s( 2 RK

1987 / 2 RL 1989 )awaiting

restoration,andaBMWR 850

RTfordualbikingwithmy

wife.Iattachapictureofmy

2 MAwiththefairingofffor

servicing,andmy 3 XV.Ireally

appreciatethevarietyofthe

articles,subjectsandbikes

coveredthatyouoffertoyour

readers.Keepupthegood

work.I’dliketotakethis

opportunitytothankmy

81 - year-olddad,whohasbeen

ooffffeerriinnggmmeemmyyCCMMMM

subscriptionformanyyears.He

isn’tabikeenthusiast,buthas

alwayssupportedmeinmy

choiceofhobby.Thankyoufor

yoursupport,dad.Bestregards

toallmembersoftheteam.

GeoffreyBailey

Bert ie says:“Gladyou’re

withusGeoff!You’lllovethe

Julyissuethen–checkout

page 97 tofindoutmore!”

HellothereBertie!So,CMM

poppedthroughthedoor

yesterdayandImustsayyou

haveimproveditsinceyou

cameonboard,hencemy

renewedsubsatStafford

recently.Anyways,Istill

won’tbesellingyou‘your’

oldZRX 1200 Rback,butI

candoyouadecentYamaha

RD 350 F 2 .Sheneedsabit

ofTLC,butisallthereand

runningfine.Sheeven

comeswithaspareengine!

Afterall,it’sabouttimeyou

DougieKendall

I’dliketopaytributetomy

friendandlocalleggeenndd

DougieKendall

whosadly

passedawayon

April 9 just

beforehis 84 th

birthday.Dougie

workedfor

Kawasakiasa

mechanicatthe

startofthe 1970 s

andgainedan

encyclopaedic

knowledgeofthebrand,asthe

legendaryZ 1 As,Z 1 Bsand

Z 1000 scameout.Dougie

attendedallthecompany

coursesandby 1984 hewent

intobusinesshimselfasa

Kawasakispecialist.It’sno

exaggerationtosaythatright

untiltheendhecouldstilltell

meanypartnumber,any

torquesettingandanyminor

changemadetoanyclassic

gotastrokeragain:£ 2900

andit’syours!Bytheway,

youroldRexisdoingjustfine

andshecan’twaitfortheTT!

Keepupthegoodwork,sir!

HughKennedy

Bertiesays:“Hugh,you

swine!Letmemakeyoua

goodofferonmyonce-

belovedZRX!Comeon...I

couldchuckyouafree

magazineeverymonth?Oh,

hangon,you’vejust

subscribed...”

Kawasaki,allfrommemory.

Perhapsmoreimportantlyhe

wwasarealkindand

hhonestgentleman,

kkeepingthousandsof

bbikersontheroad.He

hadnostartorfinish

ttimeandtoeach

customerhewould

givetheoptiontosit

andwaitorhewould

happilyshowthem

andteachthemhow

torepairtheirown

bike.Hewasn’theavy-handed

andhehandledeachcustomer

bikeasifitwashisown.I’ll

neverforgetthethingshe

taughtme,orhiswisdomand

kindness.Thankyoufor

sharinghismemorywithallof

yourreaders.

LukeSheath

Bertiesays:“Soundslike

Dougiewasproper‘old

school’,Luke.”

bits.Thereareothertypesof

bikeyoucovertosomegreater

orlesserextent:mopeds,race

bikes,trialsandeventheearly

adventurebikes.

So,myquestiontoyouis,

whynocruisers?Thereare

sometypesofbikeIhaveno

interestin,butIwillhappily

seetheminthemag,becauseI

wouldliketothinkthatweare

allpartofthesamegeneration

ofthebikingcommunity,and

yourmagazineisalreadya

broadchurch.

Ialsolovetheresurgenceof

themodernclassic/retro.Brand

newbikesthatlook 50 years

old,somethingthatthelikesof

TriumphwiththeirBobberhave

triumphedat(sorry),soIwould

alsoliketoseeevenmoreof

theseinthemagaswell.

So,tosumup,please

considerthecruisersand

bobbers.Afterall,thereisa

massivenumberofownersout

there,withverylittleinthe

wayofmagazinecoverage,and

alsocontinuetoreportonthe

modernstuffthatlookslikea

bikeshould,andnotafailed

exerciseinorigami!

DavidLait

Bertiesays:“Thanksfor

thatDavid.Wewillsortoutsome

cruiserspost-lockdownand

continuetocoverretros,too!”

Hmmmmsmell

theetwo-

strroke!

BertownedanF 2 butthat's'his'ZRXbehind!

http://www.classicmechanics.com/ 21