Say what you want about the man in the White House, or the former man in the White House, or who gets the credit: The economy is roaring. Nowhere was that more apparent than at the Long Beach International Motorcycle Show this weekend. It was packed, and we saw a lot of companies that hadn’t been there before. Triumph, MV Augusta, and more. Things were hopping, and if the attendance and the enthusiasm extend into the marketplace (and I think it will), we’re going to see significant growth in the US motorcycle market this year.
Susie I and went on Saturday (thanks for the tickets, CSC Motorcycles), and it was shoulder-to-shoulder throughout much of the event. It was good to see. We’ll cover this event from six perspectives over several blogs: Friends, new motorcycles, custom motorcycles, vintage bikes, my favorites, and the female models that in the past always seemed to populate the big bucks exhibits (Harley, Ducati, Indian, and maybe a few others). Let’s do the easy part first, the drop dead gorgeous, young, mini-skirted female models who populated prior shows. The bottom line? I didn’t see any. Admittedly, I didn’t visit the Ducati booth (so maybe they had a few and I missed them), but in other booths where female models were usually present there were none. It’s probably a good thing, except for the models whom I’m guessing made good money in years past. Our society is growing up.
Two new bikes talked to me. One was the Royal Enfield 650 twin (a stunning machine); the other was the green Kawasaki 900cc Four with a café racer fairing. I sat on the Kawasaki. It fit me and it felt surprisingly light. Sue chased me off, I think, because she could sense the wheels turning. It’s a nice motorcycle (one I think I would like to own). Maybe it’s just Gresh’s enthusiasm in the Zed’s Not Dead Series, but I formed a bond with that Kawasaki. They say green motorcycles are bad luck, but I’d be willing to take the chance on this bike.
We saw the new Kawasaki 800cc twin, the other café racer that’s styled like a real motorcycle (i.e., the original Triumph Bonneville). The colors ain’t great in the photos (Gresh commented on that in his Wild Conjecture piece), but in the flesh the colors work (they look way better than they do in the pictures). Instead of looking disjointed, the color mismatch makes for what appears to be a custom bike. Thankfully, the industry-wide craze for flat black bikes seems to be subsiding. This bike looked good.
The Kawi US guy told me the KLR 650 was not available this year and Kawi’s position is that this is a “skip” year, which he thinks might mean they are coming out with a new model for 2019, or maybe 2020. He said no one outside of Japan knows for sure. The Kawi dude said if the KLR does come back it most definitely will not be $6799 (the KLR’s price last year). He thought the price for a new version (if it comes to fruition) will be substantially higher. Their 300cc Versys looked good, but at $5799 it was pricey for a 300 (and that’s before what I’m guessing will be over a grand in dealer setup and freight).
The show was hopping. The economy is back, and the motorcycle business is along for the ride. Stay tuned, folks…there’s more Long Beach IMS coming on the ExhaustNotes blog.
Back when we were running Briggs and Stratton mini-bikes a few kids had Yamaha Mini Enduro 60cc or Honda Mini Trail 50cc bikes. Both of these bikes were stone reliable and a real leap forward from the hard-tail, flathead, one-speed stationary motored mini-bikes. I had a blue Mini Trail Honda that was indestructible. Riding the Everglades of South Florida the cooling fins would cake with mud and the engine would overheat until it would stop running. Just stop.
Into these tiny times strode a colossus: The Steen Alsport 100. What a machine! The Steen was equipped with a 100cc Hodaka engine, and the front forks were Earles type utilizing a swingarm and held up by two oil-damped shocks. The gas tank was fiberglass and beautifully shaped. White was the only color I saw but there were other colors. Steens were rare around the neighborhood.
Dealerships more so than motorcycle quality determined motorcycle popularity at the start of the 1970’s. There were no Hodakas to be found. Very few Kawasakis or Suzukis populated our riding areas. Oddly enough a Montesa or Bultaco might ride by. These were huge motorcycles. The Steen didn’t have much of a dealer network In Miami so there was only the one kid who had a Steen in our group. I should remember his name but it has slipped away to that place all memories eventually slip.
This is not a restoration. This is a resurrection. I plan to ride Zed, not store it away like a stolen Rembrandt. The front down tubes were pretty chipped and scratched with lots of bare metal so I had to fog a little black paint onto them to slow down the rust. I know all things rust. As soon as ore is melted into steel it begins the long path back to earth. We live in a temporary world; as soon as we stop our struggles and ambitions the things we care about turn into dust. So I painted the Kawasaki’s down tubes.
Next on my list were new steering head bearings. I have a Proto puller set that cost around $150 in 1970 and it mostly is still intact. From that kit I used the bearing separator to get behind the lower stem bearing. I clamped the stem in the vise and a few sharp raps later the bearing was off.
Removing the races pressed into the fork stem is a little harder. There isn’t a whole lot of meat exposed to get a purchase. Some people weld a bead on the race then use that to punch the race out. I’m sure there’s a correct way but I don’t know it so I use two puller claws and force them against each other to wedge the puller tips behind the race. Since you have to hold the claws together with one hand you’ll need a length of old bronze boat shaft to pound on the claws. Most Old Boat Shaft stores carry lengths of bronze shaft. It’s finding the store that’s the hard part.
The new races pop in without trouble. I get them started with a dead blow hammer then finish seating them with a punch worked slowly around the circumference of the race. You can hear the hammer-tone change pitch when the race seats against the frame tube.
The triple clamps were a mess so I wire brushed them and shot some black paint on the things. I’m always aware that any paint work or cleaning I do destroys the originality of the bike so I try to keep it to a minimum. While the headlight ears were soaking in a vat of Evapo-rust I started assembling the forks.
A new throttle/switch assembly from 
I’m close to $1000 in parts now. I’m replacing some wear items so I don’t think those should count against Zed.
Progress has slowed on Zed. I really wanted to start the beast up. The problem is I haven’t figured out the ignition advancer issue yet. My E-buddy Skip sent me two of the things but neither one will work on the 1975 Z1 crankshaft end. I feel bad that Skip is trying to do me a favor and that the poor guy has to keep digging around in his parts stash. It goes to show you: no good deed goes unpunished. I am going to suck it up and buy a new, $159 advancer from 
Meanwhile, I’m not ignoring the rest of the bike. Let’s face it, even if the engine is shot I have to get this bike running. The front forks were leaking and contained about 3 ounces of oil between both fork legs. This is down a bit from the 5.7 ounces per leg suggested in my shop manual. I know I said this was not going to be a show bike restoration but I couldn’t bear a future staring at this gouged fork cap bolt so I sanded the thing smooth and gave it a lick of polish. Of course this means that I have to do the other side also.
The internals of the forks were covered in sticky black goo, which required a ton of solvent and liberal doses of carb cleaner to cut loose. Then came rags stuffed down the tubes and pushed back and forth using a drill bit extension. The sliders came polished from the factory and since they were preserved under a coat of oil it took no time at all to spiff them up without crossing over to the dreaded Show Bike threshold.
All the fork parts look usable if not perfect. The upper section of the fork tubes that were covered by the headlight brackets is pretty rusty. I’ve polished it off a bit and will lube the rusty areas to prevent further rust. None of the rust will show on the assembled forks but I’ll have to deduct points when the bike is in the Pebble Beach show.
The fork sliders are held to the damping rod via this Allen-head bolt. There was a fiber washer to seal in the fork oil but I don’t have any fiber washers. I ended up grinding a copper washer to fit and I only have one of those. Looks like a trip to Harbor Freight is in order to buy their 5090 Copper Washer Warehouse kit.
The clutch actuator was in good shape but dirty and dry. Most of the ones I bought for my old Yamaha had the helix cracked. I suffered along with the cracked helix until Hunter found a new, re-pop part and sent it to me, asking if he could have some of the ones I’d stolen from him in exchange. I have no idea what the old man is on about. This Kawasaki part is much sturdier than the Yamaha part and crack free so that’s one point to Kawasaki in the red-hot clutch actuator wars.
I’m placing another big order with 