VF500F lessons learned Yamaha enduro for a Moto Giro Pg.Inside: 10 CM72 Dream Supersport Pg. 12 Solvang museum racers Pg. 14 It’s MINT!!! Pg. 33 Hundreds of classifieds Vol. 32, No. 1 February 2011 $5 COVER STORY 20 Restoring a Yamaha DT2 The ‘perfect bike’ for a Moto Giro. FEATURES 10 One-of-a-kind CM72 24 Get a better look at your tools Re-creating a rarity. Kit makes IDs in the toolbox quick and easy. 12 Vintage racers shine in Solvang 26 Pain and suffering California museum is well worth the trip. Rebuilding a VF500F 14 Bewilder-MINT! 30 The VJMC is what you make it Tread lightly with your adjectives. Get involved to get more out of the club. 16 Beautiful bikes assemble for a good cause VJMs taking more spots at Euro-dominated event. DEPARTMENTS 4 President’s letter 33 Classifieds 6 Tech Q&A 36 Introduce a friend to VJMC 8 Letters, news and miscellany 38 VJMC regalia order form VF500F lessons learned On the cover Finding a clean DT2 was key in this bike’s Yamaha enduro restoration by Gary Renna. for a Moto Giro Pg.Inside: 10 CM72 Dream Supersport Pg. 12 Solvang museum racers Pg. 14 It’s MINT!!! Pg. 33 Hundreds of classifieds Vol. 32, No. 1 February 2011 $5 February 2011 www.vjmc.org 3 PRESIDENT’S LETTER VJMC magazine February 2011 Vol. 32, No. 1 President Surviving the winter blahs Hal Johnson t has been snowing since early a little twist, or adjust a mirror. 402-660-6710 [email protected] this morning, and I’m watch- Sometimes I simply stand and stare ing football on television late at the three of them like a father Editor I Brendan Dooley on a Sunday afternoon. The fore- watching his sleeping children. [email protected] cast is for accumulations of around Each of the bikes is my favorite 9” by the end of this slow-moving in its own special way. Art Director Rhonda Cousin storm, which should be heading On lazy Sunday nights, when out by Monday night. I’ve been I’ve not yet begun to think about Classified ads I’ve not been to Mackinac Island Gary Gadd to the grocery store to stock up on the pending work schedule or the 817-284-8195 baking supplies; we’re assuming special events for the upcoming since I was a teen. But right now, [email protected] with the unending snow outside, a we’ll be stuck in the house tomor- week, I’ll open picture files from Display Ad Director/ row and unable to get to work, so various motorcycle adventures of ride through the desert sounds great, Bob Billa or the twisties of the California 760-636-3288 we may as well take advantage of summers past. I long to jump right [email protected] it and do some baking. I saw a man into the pictures, to embrace that coast. How about the Dragon’s Tail riding a motorcycle through the wanderlust again. It seems there’s again? I take our road atlas from West Coast Rep it’s storage drawer and open it to Bill McClennon frigid slush this morning. never enough days to ride; the 714-996-2278 As I unload my groceries into Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the national map. My eyes wander [email protected] from place to place. I pause, sigh, the freezer located in our garage, the cornfields through Iowa and Mountain States Rep I catch myself giving one of my Illinois, the woods and rolling hills and put it away. Volunteer Needed Winter can seem so long. motorcycles an affectionate pat of southern Indiana. All the pictures Central States Rep on the saddle as I walk by. I look beckon my participation. Volunteer Needed down to ensure that nobody has ac- My mind shifts to the summer Ride safe (if you get to ride) Northeast Rep cidentally disconnected the cord to ahead. Hmm, where will it be this Volunteer Needed the battery charger. Every so often year? Perhaps around the great lakes Hal Johnson VJMC president Southeast Rep I cannot help but give the throttle through Michigan would be nice. Louise McCarthy-Dutton 954-993-3993 [email protected] Membership Director Bill Granade 813-961-3737 [email protected] Mission statement: The purpose of this organization is to promote the preservation, restoration and enjoyment of vintage Japanese motor- cycles (defined as those 20 years old and older, until 2011. We will embrace 1990 until then). The VJMC also will promote the sport of motorcycling and camarade- rie of motorcyclists everywhere. © 2011, Vintage Japanese Motor- cycle Club of North America, an IRS-approved Not-for-profit 501(c) (7) corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be repro- duced or transmitted in any form without permission. The VJMC magazine is published six times per year, in February, April, June, August, October and December. The views and opinions expressed in letters or other content are those of the author and do not necessarily represent VJMC policy. The VJMC accepts no liability for any loss, damage or claims occurring as a result of advice given in this publica- tion or for claims made by advertisers of products or services in this publication. 4 www.vjmc.org February 2011 Roberts Knows Retro! “Someone’s nally paying real attention to motorcycling’s glory years, a time when the sport changed in so many dramatic ways. Moto Retro Illustrated is a great read, a magazine that takes me back to those exciting years with in-depth research, writing and great photography. If you love moto-culture from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, you’re gonna dig it.” —Kenny Roberts PREMIER ISSUE: '60S, '70S & '80S MOTORCYCLING LIKE You’VE NEVER SEEN! Lawson and the ELR UNADILLA'75 The Bike The Man The Legend ing Kenny built a career telling it like it is, so we’re obviously jacked to hear his thoughts. He’s right, of course. KMoto Retro Illustrated is the only full-coverage—dirt, street and mini—retro magazine around, and because it’s written by folks with decades of journalism, riding and racing experience from the very eras and categories we cover, you know the stories are gonna be good. We’re more expensive than your average magazine, but we’re worth it. Moto Retro is large-format, glossy and printed on thick, luxurious paper. We dig deep and go behind the scenes on the bikes, technol- Route 66 & CB750 | Yamaha’s FiRst monoshoCkeR | hodaka supeR Rat ameRiCan honda’s 50th | pRoJeCt CR480R | JeFF WaRd: still Rippin’ ogy, collections, races, events, racers and collectors you remember from the glory days of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, and we limit advertising so you get a magazine packed to the sidepanels with great stories, killer photography and hair-raising ISSUE NO.1 tales from Back In The Day! Features Eddie Lawson, Yamaha’s rst So subscribe to Moto Retro Illustrated today and you’ll soon know retro as well as Kenny Roberts! monoshocker, Unadilla 1975, Hodaka’s Super Rat and much more. Available now!! Moto Retro Illustrated is quarterly (4 issues per year) and available only through our website or by mailing a check or money order to Moto Retro Subscriptions, P.O. Box 202, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274. Yearly subscriptions are $39.95 (U.S.) and $59.95 (International). Please email (mitch@motoretroillustrated), ISSUE NO. 2 Features Kenny Roberts, Yamaha’s DT-1, write or call (310.849.1845) for info on single copy sales, advertising information or dealer sales packages. Bob Hannah, the 1975 Indy Mile, Honda’s SL70 and much more. www.motoretroillustrated.com Available January, 2010. TECH Q & A Synthetic oil and your VJM By Jan “Dr. CBX” Ringnalda Should I use synthetic oil in my Q:classic motorcycle? This is a question which is being asked more and A:more frequently. The key thing to remember is when the engine in your motorcycle was developed, were synthetic oils even available? I find that some places (especially places that sell oil) like to recommend synthetic oils because why? Ah yes, the markup is higher, so they earn more! So before blindly believing the friendly sales person telling you that synthetic oil is always much better for your classic motorcycle, you have to consider the fact that these oils are newer and may have better characteristics for this type of engine, but is the oil worth the extra expense, and more importantly, are there any undesirable side effects? Basically, the synthetic oils are man-made, have a much more reproducible molecular structure and can be effectively termed “The Ideal Lubricant” because they don’t suffer the thickening at low temperatures, decompose as easily at high temperatures and are free of the contaminants of conventional oils. Rebuilt engine as clutch discs. If your bike has a wet clutch, the extra money, then switch to synthetic to you may not want this to slip too easily, so reduce wear, improve power and also improve However, if you have just rebuilt your clas- ensure you buy a synthetic oil suitable for wear resistance. Once the engine gets worn, sic bike and want to “run it in” to quote old wet clutches. perhaps switch back to conventional oil to engineers, then a conventional oil is much Leaks improve oil pressure, and reduce leaks. I find more suited for this task, as it is much better Synthetic oils are typically much thinner in this works pretty well, but nothing really at letting newly fitted components bed them- terms of viscosity.