MOTO X VOLUME 2 NUMBER 8

Come to Shell for answers. 

Suzuki and 

Keith Zeeman do. 

Suzuki/Shell GSIOOO outright winner oj the 3 hour Superbihe Challenge. 

Keith Zeeman, South African motor cycle.champion, 

on his sponsored Suzuki, {aces and wins with Shell Super 

Motor Oil. 

It's Shell's definitive answer to the problems two and 

four stroke bikes face on the road and in competition. 

Always ahead of the field, Shell Super Motor Oil is specially 

designed to keep your engine and plugs clean, minimize 

... exhaust deposits, while protecting bearings from corrosion 

and pistons from seizing. 

Whatever motor cycle you ride, come 

to Shell for answers. The champions do. 

• 

SUZUKI 

VZ78/JS380/309

Transvaal 

Series 

4 FINAL ROUND SYRINGA SERIES- Suzuki's day 

SYRINGA -Final Round Pg 4 

25 7TH ROUND S.A. CHAMPS- Finals at Syringa 

Natal Series 

46 ST.LUCIA NEWS- Opening of a new MX Circuit 

Cape Series 

13 6TH ROUND S.A. CHAMPS- Tissen is the 125 master 

31. 4TH LEG AA CHAMPS Hopkins takes the day 

39 WESTERN CAPE -Club meet 

SYRINGA -Final SA's Pg 25 

Features 

2 EDITORIAL-Views and news 

3 GRANT MABEN -Help support South Afric's best 

10 BUFFALO RALLY -Port Elizabeth hosts the occasion 

17 THARMARQ -Steenkamp's move into Kawasaki 

19 S.A. MAN OUTDOOR EXPO-Afen Dealers were present 

21 HONDA -News 

31 BIKE TEST -Moto Guzzi T3 

41 YAMAHA - News 

43 BMW - R45 and R65 

BMW -Two new models Pg 43 

4x4 

club of SA 

47 HEARING FROM CHARLIE TREEN -4X4's new editor steps in 

FRONT COVER: George Whyte captured this sideways at the Rainbow speedway circuit. 

PORT ELIZABETH -6th Round SA's Pg 13 

Moto X & Bike News SA Vol2 No 8 Page 1

(BW 

publlcitilll 

p.o. box 82760 

southdale 2135 

telephone: 37-7189 

Editorial 

EDITORIAL 

VOLUME 2 - NUMBER 8 OCT/NOV, 78 

Registered at the G.P.O. as a newspaper. 

Distributed nationally by Intermag. 

Moto X S A is published monthly by the 

proprietors G.w. Publications. 

EDITOR & ART DIRECTOR: 

Gary Whyte 

TEST RIDERS: 

Andre de Klerk and Mike BucknaIl 

CONTRIBUTORS: 

Charlie Treen, Viv Zimmerman, Mike Bucknail 

and Andre de Klerk. 

SUBSCRIPTIONS: 

Vivian Whyte 

LAYOUT AND DESIGN: 

Chris Groenewald and Gary Whyte 

PRINTED BY: 

Blesston Printing & Publishing (Pty) Ltd. 

36 Stanley Avenue, 

Auckland Park 

TYPESETTING: 

Good Graphix, 

2nd Floor, Loutan House, 

141 Prichard Street, 

Johannesburg. 

EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING OFFICES: 

P.O. Box 82760, Southdale. 2135 

AD ENQUIRIES: 

37-7189 (Jhb.) 

CONTRIBUTIONS: 

We welcome any Photographs, articles and 

illustrations. They will remain the property of 

MOTO-X S A unless prior arrangements are 

made with the editor to return such material. 

Photographs should be 5"x 7" colour or black 

and white prints. Contributors will be awarded 

a fee if material submitted is accepted. 

Copyright reserved. Nothing in this magazine 

may be reprinted in whole or in part without 

the express permission of the publisher. All 

published material becomes the sole propery 

of MOTO-XSA 

All opinions expressed are not necessary 

those of G.W. Publications. 

Hi folks! Despite certain 

rumours, we again take pleasure 

in bringing this month's mag, as 

dirtful as ever. 

Firstly, we would like to extend 

our congratulations to Grant 

Maben (1 2 S MX), Rob Wicks 

(2 SO MX), and Chris Brand 

(S 0 0 MX) on their fine efforts in 

the S.A. Champs. Well done! 

On a less joyful note, we must 

have our say in what must be the 

outrage of the year. That is the 

disqualification of Charlie 

Bezuidenhout (of minicross 

fame), which lost him the 

Transvaal title. It was said that 

he received outside assistance, 

but then again, which of the poor 

mites didn't? To expect a 3 ft tall 

kid to push a 1 3 0 pound bike 

through 1 ft of sticky mud is 

ridiculous, and a helpful push 

here and there should have been 

in order. Undoubtedly, the rule 

should be applied to the larger 

classes, but to 1 0 year old kids?! 

Good news is the reopening of 

Brickor. The track is looking 

great (thanks to the magnificient 

efforts of Errol Hammon), 

complete with a foolproof 

European style starting gate. It 

must not be forgotten, that 

decibel rating tests will be taken 

of every bike competing at 

Brickor, and any bike exceeding 

approx. 11 4 decibles will not be 

allowed to participate. A harsh 

measure? Certainly not, if we 

wish to use such fine tracks as 

Briekor and Syringa. 

Anyway, happy reading, and 

you'll see us again next month. 

DON'T MISS 

THE 

INTER- 

NATIONAL 

SERIES 

IN OUR 

NEXT 

ISSUE. 

Moto X & Bike News Vol2 No 8 

Page2

Orant Maben- 

Youngest & most 

successful Molor 

Sportsman 76/7/8 

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT 

to help what could be our next 

World Champion to go 

overseas 

Since the 4th. February 1978. Grant has started 118 races his tally reads 

as follows:- 

99 -1sts. 

6 - 2nds. 

3 - 3rds 

10 - D.N.F. 

Has won the National 125cc championship for 3rd consecutive year. 

Has won the Transvaal 125cc championship for 3rd consecutive year. 

Won the Transvaal Provincial 250cc championship 

Won the Natal Provincial 250cc championship 

Won the Syringa Series 125cc championship 

Won the Syringa Series 250cc championship 

Won the Syringa overall championship 

Presented with the State Presidents award for sporting achievement in 

South Africa. 

Nominated the South African Motot Sportsman of the year by the S.A. 

Guild if motoring journalists .. 

Presented with Honours by the Sports Car Club of South Africa. 

PLEASE SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO: 

A.A. MOTOR SPORT MANAGER 

P.O. BOX 596. JOHANNESBURG. 2000 

PLUS ANY IDEAS THAT COULD HELP THIS FUND 

OVERSEAS RIDERS FUND 

COMMITTEE 

Moto X & Bike News Sa Vol2 No 8 Page3

Moto X & Bike News SA Vol2 No 8 Page4 

NGASE

FINAL ROUND SYRINGA SERIES - 

26th August 

The Suzuki sponsored 4th Leg of the 

Syringa Super Series provided racing 

out of the top drawer that would have 

been a delight to television watchers, 

had the SABC outdoor units been 

there as originally planned! Alas, they 

were away in Bloemfontein for a more 

solemn occasion. Quite expectedly, the 

King of Syringa, Grant Maben was 

once again out on his own in both the 

125cc and 250cc heats, taking 

maximum points in all four Matos. In 

the first heat of the 125cc mota, 

Maben virtually led a procession ahead 

of Charlie Tissen, aeon du Plessis, 

Gary Bergstrom, Roy Gardner and 

Shahn Rowe. 

The second mota provided a few more 

thrills when Maben dropped his Honda 

to allow Greg Wilson through into the 

lead. Wilson's joy was however, 

somewhat short-lived as he also 

managed to throw it away and Grant, 

who had remounted, took the lead 

again. Final order was Maben, Tissen, 

Wilson, Robert Campbell and du 

Plessis, giving Maben the overall win 

for the day from Charlie Tissen and 

Deon du Plessis. 

The 

250 race provided real drama, with 

Robbie Wicks taking a bone 

.crunchinqi tumble shortly after the 

start. One of the few disadvantages of 

being out in front is the fact that if you 

fall, there are a lot of bikes behind you, 

and this Robbie painfully discovered. 

Next to hit the dust was Geoff Gray 

who dropped it- at Crocodile turn, 

making his displeasure rather obvious. 

Meanwhile, the survivors continued on 

their happy way with Maben leading 

Tyrone Stevenson and Martin Jones in 

the early stages, before Stevenson 

disappeared from the scene to put 

Jones into second spot from Charlie 

and Rod Bergstrom. Geoff Gray had 

some consolation in the second heat 

when he rode a good third behind 

Maben and Stevenson. 

The first heat of the juniors (125) saw a 

fantastic start with Rob Larney getting 

the holeshot from Kenny van der 

Merwe and Tony Riddell. Larney 

seemed to fade. while Riddell rode like 

the Champion he is to take van der 

Merwe who had moved to first place. 

Steve van Straaten, a much improved 

rider was up with the leaders, and 

. finished a good third behind Riddell 

and Kenny followed by Symm 

Grobler, Peter Hills and Geoffrey Nel. 

The second moto followed a similar 

pattern with Russell Campbell 

replacing Grobler in the fourth 

position. 

The 100cc junior class is developing 

rapidly into one the most competitive, 

with fathers doing all in their power 

(and pockets) to make their sons go 

faster. On this occasion it was once 

again a Riddell who turned up trumps. 

)~;.,' 

6,~"" 

Moto X & Bike News SA veiz No 8 Page 5

Tony's younger brother Neil took both 

heats from hard riding Norman Miller, 

with Mark Lamb filling third spot in the 

first heat, and Gary Beuthin taking over 

in the second. 

Chris Brand won both heats in the 

500cc Class, winning the first ahead of 

Rhodesia's Ian Mc Millan, Barry 

Falconer and Stuart Beattie. In the 

second mota, Brand trailed Mark 

Davies for all but the last lap, when in a 

desperate attempt to overtake, Brand 

appeared to. ride Davies into the mud, 

leaving the way clear to victory, but 

earning some fairly concerted booing 

from the large crowed. 

Natal's Roy Sturgeon has at last put 

some life into the Enduro class and 

took overallhonours for the day with a 

third spot and a win in the second heat. 

Dave Hill won the first from Butch 

Hirsch, Sturgeon and Allan Phillips, 

while Sturgeon won the second from 

Clive Strugnell and Dave Hill. 

Overall honours in the Minicross went 

to Charlie Bezuidenhout, John 

Hardiman and Jason Dingle. While the 

"Star of Tomorrow" was Jeffrey Hall - 

remembered by many as a rising star of 

yesterday !! The very competitive 

Highschool Support went to Tony Ie 

Raux, with Craig Whyte and Warren 

Cruikshank hard on his heels. 

.jj' ',.~. 

, 

Buddy Attwell 

Johannesburg distributors of 

Kawasaki motorcycles 

and spares. 

Page 6 Moto X & Bike News SA Vol2 No 8

...-"'111"!" ...... 

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·... -"'... 

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Moto X & Bike News SA Vol2 No 8 Page9

Its over! Well, for another year at least 

and a lot of us are already looking 

forward to the next Buff and are 

planning for it. The Buff must be one 

of the greatest motorcycle rallys in 

South Africa, if not the world. It is 

talked about in Panama and the East, 

ask anybody who is a biker and he'll tell 

you that it is as well known as the 

Monte. 

Congratulations to the Nomads for a 

very well organised Rally, although a 

lot of us are still waiting for our badges. 

Come on Tony, lets bring the entrance 

fee down a bit, we don't all have a 

fortune to go on the Buff with. 

The boys were there, the girls were 

there, and the bikes and trikes were 

there. And to top it all mad Martin was 

there with his unbreakable Z1000. In 

case any of you do not know who mad 

Martin is, let me tell you. 

He is one of the boys who believes that 

the Kawasaki Z1000 is king and will 

always stay king. I must admit, that 

after seeing what that bike took over 

Moto X Et Bike News SA Vol2 No 8 Page10 

The~ew6cylinderHondaCBXMa.gnuml000. 

Enterthe Win a 6 competition 

HONDA: 

Dirt Bike specialsthis month 

BENONI 

36 Kempston Avenue Benoni Tel. 54-6571

•••••••• 

•••••••••••••••••••••• 

···············ë 

I 

••••••••••••••••• 

•••••••••••••••••• 

ALLAN 

- The up and 

coming rider of Sandton Panelbeaters 

----~~~~ __=MP~~ ••~ ~~~----- 

SAND~RRlELBEATERS(:~~l. 

3RD AVENUE, WYNBERG, SANDTON. 

TELEPHONE: 786-8003. 

Moto X & Bike News SA Vol2 No 8 Page 11.

the Buff weekend, I can only agree 

with him. 

Mad Martin put his bike on the main 

stand, started the motor, put the bike 

into neutral, opened the taps and let 

the motor run a t 12000 rpm. Why? 

you may ask, well, don't ~sk. stupid 

questions. You have to rev It like that 

to get the exhaust pipes glowing red, 

from the leader pipes, to the 

megaphone. 

After seeing this for the first time, 

turned around to a friend of mine, and 

said, 'that's the end of that and a 

couple of bucks out of the window.' 

Obviously convinced that the mnotor 

would never start again. Mad Martin 

heard me and laughed, he started the 

motor and let it idle at a sedate 800 

rpm without so much as a murmur 

I actually saw him do this eight times in 

a very short space of time and in my 

opinion the other manufacturers 

should shanghai a Z1000 motor and 

crib it, because if they don't, 

somebody, after seeing what Mad 

Martin did to his Kawasaki, is going to 

blow his machine. 

Some of the most beautiful bikes I 

have seen for a long time were there, 

including an old Royal Enfield in 

spotless condition. It put some new 

bikes to shame, as some people let 

their bikes fall apart and never seem to 

care about the condition of their 

machine. 

Honda launched its new mini bike in 

time for the Buff and there were quite a 

few Magnums running around, 

including one which had done a bit of 

tar testing on it's side. 

The trikes were there as usual, in all 

their glory and splendour doing 

wheelies all over the place. There were 

a few new designs this year which 

indicates that trike fever is catching 

on in South Africa. Lets hope we see a 

lot more around. 

As you know the weather was terrible. 

It was freezing cold with the rain the 

entire weekend. This put a dampener 

on a few chaps who left early, but for 

the guys and dolls who braved it, it was 

one hell of a ball. 

The beer flowed and P.E. loved it 

except the chief trafficwarden who 

complained that the bikes his officers 

were riding seemed like the out of 

date pre war Harleys. 

Money flowed from every pocket into 

the beer tills and guess what! P.E. did 

not run out of beer like last year. 

Although there was plenty of grog 

around there were no fights. There was 

however a mock fight which two 

chaps put up for the benefit of a nosey 

reporter with a flash light. 

The mass ride through the city was a 

great success with everyone quite well 

controlled (well almost). Mad Martin 

entertained the 70,000 strong crowd 

with wheelies, even Grant Maben 

would be proud of. The boys with 

straight throughs on, blast a couple of 

ear drums apart. And some fathers 

vowed never to buy their sons a 50cc 

machine. 

Talking of the 50cc's, congratulations 

to the four chaps who made P.E. from 

Johannesburg on their little machines. 

A truly great effort. Well done chaps. 

A truly great Buff, a great crowd and 

one hell of a distance to ride in the 

freezing cold but it was worth every 

minute of it. More and more guys and 

dolls are realizing this, and every year 

the crowds grow. And as the saying 

goes Woff Woff .........Wet Buff, lets 

hope that next year it will be Woff 

Woff, ......Buff Buff again. See you all 

there next Buff. 


Moto X & Bike News SA Vol2 No 8 Page 13 

4

. 

,~ 

'~" . ~ . 

~'" 

- 

:\. 

.' , 

'But that was exactly how Dirt Bike told me to use a berm. (Photo: K. 

Smith) 

Wicks showing the fine riding which he used to power his Rocket into 

winning the 6th round of the Nationals. (Photo: D. Draper) 

'~o what if they watching, I can't 

ride on a full bladder'. (Photo: K. 

Smith) 


Hi Speet' 

Motors 

Servicing, Tune-ups, 

and Engine 

Modifications 

are our 

Special itv. 

WORKSHOP: 

Errol Norval & 

Frik v.d. Westhuizen. 

Bergstrom was unable to shape 

here in P.E. (Photo: K. Smith) 

633 ONTDEKKERS ROAD 

DELAREY 

ROODEPOORT 1725 

Try as he may, Maben chain problems 

kept him back to 2nd place. 

(Photo: K. Smith) 

Moto X & Bike News SA Vol2 No 8 Pege 15

Gary Keysers consistency 

earned him 3rd for the day. (Photo: K. Smith) 

RESULTS 

SENIOR 125 

1) C. TISSEN (YAMAHA) 

2) C. MABEN (HONDA) 

3) G. KEYSER (HONDA) 

SENIOR250 

1) R. WICKS (HONDA) 

2) T. STEVENSON (KAWASAKI) 

3) M. HOPKINS (SUZUKI 

SENIOR 500 

1) I. McMILLAN (SUZUKI) 

2) C. BRAND (HUSQUVARNA) 

3) B. FALCONER (SUZUKI) 

JUNIOR 100 

1) G. BEUTHIN (SUZUKI) 

2) I. WHITEHEAD (YAMAHA) 

3) G. JOHNSON (SUZUKI) 

HIGH SCHOOL 125 

1) K. VAN DER MERWE (HONDA) 

2) J. DE JAGER (YAMAHA) 

3) W. JONES (HONDA) 

FUTURE STARS 

1) W. GREEF(BULTACO) 

2) A. FERREIRA (SUZUKI) 

3) E. KING (BULTACO) 

Charlie Tissen put in fine rides to take 1st overall at P.E. (Photo: K. Smith) 

~ ., 

. .. 

Stevenson working hard to hold that 9 second lead over Robbie Wicks. 

(Photo: D. Draper) 


THARMARO HOLDINGS EXPANDS 

FURTHER INTO THE MOTORCYCLE 

INDUSTRY. 

Mr W.H. "Tiny" Steenkamp, chairman 

and mangaging director of Tharmarq 

Holdings has announced that his group 

has again extended its interest in the 

motor-cycle industry by taking over 

Kawacity in Randburg, and being 

appointed agents for BMW motorcycles. 

This follows closely upon the acquisition 

of the Kawasaki franchise in 

Johannesburg, through the purchase 

of M,racfë Motorcycles~ which chanqed 

its name to Kawasaki Centre and IS 

operating from 252, Marshall Street. 

Kawacity at 202, Hendrik Verwoerd 

Drive, Randburg, is being given a facelift 

to enhance its image. 

Tharmarq Holdings' appointed as 

distributors of BMW Motorcycles will 

ensure better representation and 

service for this prestige range of 

motorcycles. BMW recently 

announced two new models, the R45 

and R65. These medium-weight 

BMW's are new to the range and offer 

riders an alternative to the larger 

capacity machines. It is worth r,!)Pting 

that the BMW R45 is the smallest 

shaft-drive motorcycle on the market 

today. 

Tharmarq Holdings opened its first 

Motorcycle business on the 1st July, 

1978, in Alberton, where it has already 

made substantial inroads in that town. 

Mr Steenkamp proposes to increase 

the penetratión of Kawasaki and BMW 

into the Alberton, Johannesburg, and 

Randburg markets by stepping up 

servicing and other facilities, as well as 

sponsoring the Motor Cross Team in 

the 1979 season. 

Tharmarq Holdings (Pty) Ltd, founded 

in 1974, is one of the fastest growing 

private Organisations in the country, 

having grown into a group of twelve' 

different Companies with assets in 

excess of R2-million. 

Issued on behalf of: 

THARMARO HOLDINGS (PTY) LTD 

P.O. Box 38340, Tel. 836-4545 

BOOYSENS RESERVE 2091 

For further enquiries: 

Stan Glucksman (CAMPBELL, 

STEWART & ASSOC.) 

Debra Steenkamp demonstrates the beautiful new B.M.W. R45 Motorcycle. 

She is the daughter of "Tiny" Steenkamp. 

¥ Kawasaki.-clCawasakl .-«Kawasaki .-«Kawasakl .-cllawasakl • 

I 252 

Mar~I~!!~~37.1G/I/2/3/4 

i 

lawasaki =1 =( 

Alberton .. 

% 

I I 

~~~~r ~ 

C/r Voortrekker Ave. and HeIslon St Tel.:-11908 

Kawaclly : 

¥ 

i I 

202 Hendrik Verwoerd Drive, Randburg. Tel. 48-6301. 

; 0 The most modern Motorcycle Showrooms 

~ 0 Sales-Service-Spares-Accessories _. 

¥ 0 Full range of new and 

• second-hand Kawasaki 

J 

;i 

J 

Branches 

¥ Holdings 

and BMW Motorcycles 

in stock. 

ol 

Tharmarq Mol,orCYCles 

(Ply) LId. 

(A Member of the Tharmarq . 

Group ol Companies) • 

• Kawasaki.-cKawasaki .-«Kawasaki. -oCKawasaki .-«Kawasakl" 



Moto Guzzi had their fine wares on 

show (Photo: Gary Whyte) 

YAMAHA 

The TMAs fireproof clothing 

budget seems to have declined. 

(Photo: Gary Whyte) 

•LINEX 

MOTORS 

63 Hans Strydom Ave. 

Cnr. Central Rd. 

Linden Ext. 

46-7075 

46-4767 

YOUR YAMAHA DEALER 

INTHE NORTH 

See Danny Mulder for the best 

Yamaha deal, and get a free T- 

shirt with every bike purchased. 

Moto X & Bike News SA Vol2 No 8 Paga19

The Kawi Zl R, a study in excellence. (Photo: Gary BMW's immaculate 1000 brought many oohs and aahs 

Whyte) from envious spectators. (Photo: Gary Whyte - pic 

taken outside the grounds of the show) 

Part of the Honda companies display which covered a wide range of their products. (Photo: Gary Whyte) 


MAX FACTOR AND HONDA TO 

ORGANISE A NATIONAL MISS 

MAXI HONDA COMPETITION. 

Max Factor and Honda are due to 

organise a Miss Maxi Honda Competition. 

The competition is part of a big launch 

by Max Factor launching their new 

product "Maxi". 

The Miss MaxiHonda competition will 

be run Nationally through Honda 

Dealers throughout the country. Any 

girls interested must send their names, 

addresses and three good 

photographs, showing their faces, 

figures, etc. as well as statistics, 

hobbies and interest they might have 

to, Midmacor Holdings, Attention 

Verity . Ross, P.O. Box 2795, 

Johannesburg. 

Entry forms will be available from any 

Honda Dealer. 

The final winner will be crowned as the 

Miss MaxiHonda for 1979 and will be 

used in advertisements, promotlons for 

both Max Factor and Honda making 

this a full modelling contract for a year. 

All photographic sessions will be paid 

for, plus some super gifts from Max 

Factor. Honda will also use the new 

Miss MaxiHonda in all their publicity 

shots. . 

MAXI HONDA TO ORGANISE 

FIRST FEMALE MOTOCROSS 

SERIES. 

Max Factor will organise the first 

female motocross grand prix, which is 

due to start next year,it will run at the 

same time as the Syringa Series. 

The complete race, organisation and 

prizes are all sponsered by Maxi, an all 

new product by Max Factor. 

The races will run exactly the same as 

any other class and the riders can ride 

anything they can lay their hands on. 

Maxi will donate all cosmetic prizes 

plus a huge Maxi/Honda Floating 

Trophy. 

Any female riders wanting to enter, 

please contact Digby Wesson at 

Midmacor, or Mrs. Marge Witt at the 

Sports Car Club. 

If you are interested, please put your 

name down as soon as possible as 

there may be a race sooner this year, 

probably in November. 

MAX FACTOR TO ORGANISE ALL 

GIRLS BREAKFAST RUN. 

A regular breakfast run is soon to be 

organised by Max factor. This is part of 

a big launch by Max Factor who are 

launching their new product Maxi. 

The breakfast run will take the riders to 

various different venues. The main 

venue wil be "Lovers, Rock" on the 

Rustenburg Road. This venue being 

only 56 km from Johannesburg. 

Various promotions, entertainment will 

be layed on by Max Factor at these 

breakfast runs eg. beauticians, cabaret, 

band etc., plus prizes will be given out 

at every run. 

To make this a success we need a girl 

rider to organise the riders and help 

with the run. 

The breakfast runs are due to start in 

mid-October. Any riders interested in 

the runs, please phone and leave their 

addresses and phone numbers with 

Verity Ross or Digby Wesson at 

Midmacor at 836-0721 . 

BIG BANGER FROM HONDA 

A road-going 500cc single is among 

eight new models soon to be launched 

on the American market by Honda. 

The new machines are the 650cc, 

750cc and the 500cc, all to be on show 

in Cologne at the motor show. 

The 500cc roadster thumper, built on 

similar lines to the Yamaha SR 500 will 

come as a surprise. 

The 500 has four valves and a single 

overhead camshaft. It has the same 

engine as an off-road model and will 

make it's debut at the Cologne show. 

As expected it has the same layout as 

the XL250S off-road machine which 

has chain-driven balanced shafts for 

smoothness plus twin exhaust pipes. 

'Other new models expected in 

addition to the singles and fours are 

two CR motocrossers the XR250R, a 

playbike version of the XL250S. 

RODNEY GRAY SOUTH 

AFRICA'S BEST. 

Rod Gray, one of South Africa's best in 

road racing today, is just itching to get 

his revenge on the Yamaha group. Rod 

will partner Richard Borain on the 

otrher six and both riders will ride 

under the Sportsman Lager Castrol 

Grand Prix Banner. 

Seen here is Rod Gray on the six 

cylinder monster. 

BIKETIQUE TAKES ON TSUBAKI 

CHAINS. 

One of the world's largest and finest 

precision menutacturen presents the 

newly developed series of high 

performance motorcycle chains, 

especially designed for motorcycle 

Moto X & Bike New8 SA Vol2 No 8 Page21

driving under the most severe 

conditions, where superior farique life 

and wear resistance of chain is 

required. 

The chain is one of the highest quality, 

it is solid roller, shot peened parts, and 

pre-stretched. The rivets are quad 

stacked fprfor performance and 

strength. 

Each pitch of the Tasubaki chain is 

prestressed on actual sproket teeth, 

applying one-third of the average 

tensile strength automatically. This 

unique pre-stressing process provides 

resistance to fatique failure and better 

wear properties. 

All sizes of Lube-Free motorcycle 

chains have been developed by Tasubaki, 

high quality lubricant is 

impregnated into the porosity 

ofsintered metal bushings. The joint 

movement between pin and bushing 

releases necessary volume of oil to the 

pin surface and other parts, thereby 

minimizing chain stretch and 

eliminating chain seisure without 

lubrication from the outside. 

The Tsubaki "Lube-Free" chains have 

been proved uder the most gruelling 

race conditions. 

Now available from all Biketique 

dealers. 

HONDA STRENGTHEN THEIR 

TRIAL TEAM. 

Honda's successful trial team ran by 

Digby Wesson has been strengthened 

by the addition of another seven riders. 

These riders are Kevin Rogers, Rodney 

Bister, Leon Joubert, Rob Coetzer of 

Motorcycle RSA, Blaize Rawlings, 

Brian. Addison and there is also a 

possibility of Roger McCleery joining 

the team. These riders will join the old 

team which consists of Keith Woolley 

(Capt.l Roy Brown and Digby Wesson. 

The team is made up of Novices, 

Experts and one Master which is Kevin 

Rogers. To date this year the Honda 

team has won nearly every novice trial 

and should do even better with the 

coming of Kevin Rogers who is 

winning a lot 0 the Transvaal Club 

events and is doing well in the 

Nationals. 

WORLD DEBUT FOR HONDA 900 

Honda's CB900F2, the first big bike 

from the factory to make its world 

debut. It is also the first machine to 

result from their involvement in 

endurance racing. 

The engine is almost identical to the 

one that powered Jean-Claude 

Chemarin and Christian Leon to a 

crushing victory in last July's 

Barcelona 24-hour race, but it will not 

form the basis of next year's 

endurance race. These will be derived 

from the 750cc four which is expected 

to make its debut alongside a new 

650cc four at the Cologne show. 

The 750cc four will be in effect a shortstroke 

version of the CB900F2, sharing 

double overhead camshafts and 

sixteen valves. For endurance racing 

the engine will be bored out to 

BIKETIQUE LAUNCH NEW 

PRODUCTSplus 

latest news on some old 

products. 

Attached are some of the new 

products from Biketique and are now 

available from Biketique dealers 

country wide. 

Also attached is some latest news on 

existing products. 

The fantastic new Mklll Sport Fairing. 

The fairing is frame mounted and 

comes in most popular colours and will 

fit many bikes ranging from 250cc to 

1000cc. 

The perspex front section is available in 

smoked, blue, red or clear. Now 

available from Biketique and Biketique 

dealers. 

Biketique now have a fantastic range 

of Sidi motocross, road racing, casual 

and trails boots available in all sizes and 

colours. 

They are available with smooth or 

rough soles and some are now 

available with a new strap locking clip 

for easy fastening and removal. 

See them now at all Biketique dealears. 

Biketique announce the new 

1000cc's. 

The CB900F2 developes 95 bhp at 9 

000 rpm. It has the highest specific 

power output (bhplitre ) of any Honda 

built. 

The transmission is different from 

previous Honda fours in that the drive 

from the crank is by an inverted tooth 

chain to a countershaft that is in-line 

with the crank and clutch, which is 

driven by a gear. The gearbox is a 

conventional five speeder, but the final 

drive chain is of a new type claimed by 

Honda to have three times the life of 

previous self lubricated chains. 

The weight is 250 kg. and the tank size 

is a generous 20 lit res. The 

performance is rumoured to be almost 

as good as the CBX, and it is geared for 

211 krnph at 9 000 rpm should do 

217 kmph flat out 

Vella Sport fairing with hand 

protection, complete with flickers 

mountings, windshield and edging: 

The fairing is handle bar mounted and 

comes in most popular colours. 

COf!lplete range of gloves now 

available at Biketique dealers. These 

are for all types of motorcycling, 

motocross, road racing, trails, and 

general riding. All colours available. 

Remember when you change to the 

new yellow numbers obtain the made 

measure plate from your Biketique 

dealers. 

The plate is indented to look smart and 

has a leather finish. 

The ultra modern "Breezer" tvre lever 

which now makes the novice look lik~ 

~n expert. This tool will remove a tvre 

In seconds. Ideal for Mag wheels plus 

any other wheelan the market. Now 

available country wide from any 

Bikétique dealer. 

Complete range of K & N Filters to fit 

nearly every Japanese motorcycle. 

K & N Filters increase performance . 

This has been proved. 

Prestige new Fin Covers for Gold 

Wings for easy bolt on. 


Honda's New Challenger 500cc 

Enduro 

Honda's new 500cc single cylinder, 

fourstroke, enduro bike made its debut 

in the 'States recently. 

The new bike has the same lines and 

layout as the XL250S trail bike and 

prototypes that were exclusively pictured 

by Motorcycle USA earlier this 

year. 

This is designed as a match for the IT 

Yamahas and PE Suzukis. The new bike 

weighs in at just 114 kg dry and comes in 

enduro trim with a long integral tail 

section that holds a tool kit. 

The front leading axle forks yield 

215mm travel while 190mm is available 

at the rear with gas damping. 

A 305mm carb is fitted and the 584mm 

front wheel features a similar tread 

pattern to the XL250S. The same four 

valve twin port head of the smaller 

Honda is a feature of the big bike. 

There is no date set yet for the new 

bikes arrival in South Africa, but informed 

sources indicate that it may 

make its appearances in the UK in 

January, 1979. Perhaps Honda South 

Africa will have them a little later. 

Honda Centre Johannesburg 

on Vespa 

takes 

Honda Centre, Johannesburg, one of 

the largest bike and accessory shops in 

South Africa takes on Vespa. The Vespa 

models will include 200cc, 150cc, 125cc 

and the very popular 3 wheeler delivery 

van. 

Honda Centre offer a fantastic new 

workshop which is completely seperate 

from the Honda WorkShOp. It will be run 

by Bob Spiers who is said to be one of 

the best ever on Vespa scooters. 

Honda .Centre will also offer 95% 

spares availability plus a complete range 

of Biketique gear and accessories for 

either the delivery riders or the fun 

riders. 

If interested in a Vespa scooter, call in 

at Honda Centre for the latest range - 

big stocks available. 

Delivery boxes will be fitted at very 

reasonable prices. 

Honda wins Bol d'Or 24 Hour plus 

the European Endurance Race at 

Brands Hatch 

The Honda 997's of Honda France and 

Honda Britain cleaned up at the Bol D'Or 

raced at Paul Ricard circuit last month, 

The Bol D'Or long distance sports the 

largest and most prestigeous prize of the 

lot. Last weekend turned out to be a total 

victory for Honda. Out of 76 starters only 

24 bikes finished and 10 of the finishers 

were Hondas. 

Honda went out to get the 1st, 2nd, 

3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th placings. 

The first 3 places going to the C. 

Leon/JC Chemarin France 997 Honda 

Team, J. Luc/H. Rigal France 997 Honda 

team and S. Woods/C. Williams GB997 

Honda team. 

One week later at the European 

Endurance race at Brands Hatch the 

Honda team went on to win again this 

time with 44 starters and 23 finishers. 

Honda finished here with nine Hondas, 

giving them 1st, 2nd, 5th, 8th and so on. 

The first two places going to S. Woods/ 

C. Wiliams GB997 Honda and C. Leon/J. 

C. Chemarin France 997 Honda. 

This should surely prove Honda's 

speed and reliability. 

Honda now leads the Coupe d' 

Endurance series with 1st, 2nd and 3rd 

places. 

Honda's 900, 650, 500 and others 

Honda have at last brought out their 

much talked about 900, derived from the 

endurance racers. 

The engine is almost identical to the 

one that powered Jean-Claude Chemarin 

and Christian Leon to victory in last 

July's Barcelona 24-hour race, but it will 

not form the basis of next year's 

endurance bikes. These will be derived 

from the 750cc four which makes its 

debut alongside a new 650cc four. 

The 750cc four will be, in effect a 

short-stroke version of the CB900F2, 

sharing double overhead camshafts and 

sixteen valves. For endurance racing the 

engine will be bored out to 1000cc's. 

The CB900F2 develops 95 bhp at 9000 

rpm. It has the highest specific power 

output (bhp/litre) of any Honda built 

machine. 

The transmission is different from 

previous Honda fours in that the drive 

from the crank is by an inverted tooth 

chain to a counters haft that is in-line 

with the crank and clutch, which is 

driven by a gear. The gearbox is a 

conventional five speeder, but the' final 

drive chain is of a new type claimed by 

Honda to have three times the life of 

previous self lubricated chains. 

The weight is 250 kg and the tank size 

is a generous 20 litres. The performance 

is rumoured to be almost as good as the 

CBX, and as it is geared for 211 kph at 

9000 rpm it should do 217 kph at peak 

revs. 

The 500cc roadster thumper, built on 

similar lines to the Yamaha SR 500 will 

come as a surprise. We hope that it is 

faster than the Yammie though, and 

more like the old BSA Gold Star in 

performance. 

The 500 has four valves and a single 

overhead camshaft. It has the same 

engine as an off-road model and will 

make its debut at the Cologne show. As 

expected it has the same layout as the 

XL250S off-road machine which has 

chain-driven balanced shafts for 

smoothness plus twin exhaust pipes. 

Other new models expected in addition 

to the singles and fours are two CR 

motocrossers, the XR250R, a playbike 

version of the SL250S. 

Midmacor Holdings get new M,D. 

Ron Haywood ex-General Manager 

and Director moves into the driving seat 

as Manager Director. 

Kevin Byren moves to General/ 

Manager/Director 

Kevin Byren ex Director of Honda 

Spares and Biketique moves into Ron 

Haywoods position of General Manager/ 

Director. Kevin Byren will control all 

Midmacor's products on both sales and 

the marketing side. 

Honda breaks 1OOOcc,750 and 

400cc Lap Records 

Richard Borain on the all new 

CBX1000 six breaks the Kyalami lap 

record and wins overall for the day. 

Roy Minster on the' CB700F2 breaks 

lap record getting him fifth overall, and 

2nd in his class. 

John Sneesby on the 400cc Hawk, 

breaks 400cc class lap record giving him 

a 1st in his class. Keith Poulton on the 

Maxi Honda 400 Hawk getting a 2nd. 

Honda clinches both 250 and 120 

Championships 

Grant Maben SA 125 Champion for '76 

and '77 does it again and wins the 125 

class again to give him a hat trick. 

Grant won. all three heats at Syringa 

on Saturday, riding the little Honda 

CR 125 at blistering speeds letting 

'nobody get near him in all three 20 

minute heats. 

Robbie Wicks needing only an 8th 

place in any of the three heats ran 4th in 

the first heat and 2nd in the second heat, 

and not finishing the 3rd due to chain 

problems, still won the SA Championship. 

Class SA Championship going to: 

Grant Maben, 125 Honda; Rob Wicks, 

250 Honda and Chris "Brand, 500 Husky.

Full range of fibre glass front 

mudguards to fit all road bikes. These 

are available in all popular colours. 

Lockhart Oil Coolers. There is a full 

range now available and can be fitted 

to every Japanese motorcycle. 

Yuasa batteries. These are fitted as 

standard equipment on every 

Japanese cycle. These are now world 

top selling replacement batteries. Pro 

ed to be the best motorcycle battery 

sold anywhere in the world. 

Full range of Preston Products now 

available from Biketique. The 

motocross and enduro parts will fit any 

motocross machine. These are proved 

to be the best available to date. 

NEW FROM HONDA 

'COU NTERBALANCERS' 

Honda have developed effective 

engine vibration-reducing 

counterbalancing systems for both the 

high-performance Hawk and the 

spirited lightweight XL250S. 

The Honda counterbalancing systems 

work to keep vibration to a minimum 

and your riding enjoyment to the 

maximum. 

But there's more to it than that, with 

smoother operating engines, the 

vibrational fatique of the engine parts 

is reduced. 

However, the engine parts are not the 

only ones that benefit from counter- 

- balancers. 

With a high -vibration engine, the 

frame must be beefed up in order to 

handle these vibrational, torsional and 

other loads, and a heavy frame is no 

fun at all. But with a counterbalanced 

engine, the frame can be kept lighter 

since vibration resistance is less of a 

problem. This results in a lighter, more 

responsive, better handling machine 

and one that's more fun to ride. 

The Honda Hawk and XL250S 

vibration counterbalancing systems are 

excellent examples of the thorough 

engineering and careful thought that 

goes into every Honda. Purchase a 

Honda today and discover what it is 

like to ride without a "whole latta 

shakin' going on". 

HONDA'S RED ROCKETS WIN FIRST 

FOUR PLACES 

At Syringa's 3rd round in the series on 

the 29th of July, 78, the crowd 

witnessed Honda's remarkable 

comeback to the 250 class with riders 

like Martin Jones and Peter Hill 

changing over to the remarkable 

CR250R Red Rocket. 

From the drop of the starting flag the 

Red Rockets flew into an early lead and 

stayed there for the complete race. The 

Honda riders showed brilliant team 

work and real determination and 

stamina as they held of all challengers 

to take the first four places. 

The results were as follows:- Grant 

Maben 1st, Geoff Gray 2nd, Martin 

Jones 3rd and Peter Hill 4th. 

MIDMACOR ORDER THE 

FABULOUS CX500. 

Midmacor have placed orders for the 

fabulous shaft driven, vee twin, water 

cooled CX500. 

This is called the machine of the future 

both in the U.K. and in the U.S.A. and 

the best ever from Japan. When this 

machine was tested by our local press 

i.e. The Star the editor was heard to 

say "the best I've ever tested". 

The concept of the CX500 is a unique 

one in motorcycling, a mid range, high 

performance, lower-maintenance, 

super bike. 

The machine is designed for both 

thrilling sport riding and for 

comfortable touring. This fantastic 

machine has, five speed transmissions, 

and for smooth take-offs and shifts, 

there's a special damper plate which 

broadens the clutch engagement 

travel. The CX incorporates a low 

maintenance seales shaft drive passing 

through the right half of it's high swing 

arm, it is a big bore, ultra short stroke, 

liquid cooled, 496cc 80 V twin, pumps 

out a mighty 48 hp. (SAE net at the 

crankshaft). The cylinder heads take a 

22 twist from the crankshaft plane, it 

has two four-valve Pentroof twin 

cylinder heads which contribute to the 

CX's surprising horsepower output. 

This is only some of the many features 

the Honda CX500 carries. One only 

has to read local and overseas road 

tests to believe that this machine is a 

machine of the future. 

HONDA IMPORT THE ULTIMATE 

TRAFFIC MACHINE. 

Midmacor, the agents for Honda 

motorcycles import the ultimate traffic 

machine, the all new CX500 shaft 

drive, water cooled, V-Twin. 

This machine offers anything any 

traffic department would require in a 

motorcycle, horse power, speed, 

handling, shaft drive, economy, 

comfort, ground clearance and 

tubeless tvres. 

A traffic control machine in a million. 

Specifications are as follows:- 

Engine Type:Liquid Cooled, 4 stroke 

OHV 

Cylinder arrangement: 2 Cylinder, 

Transverse V 

Bore X Stroke: 78 x 52 mm 

Displacement; 496cc 

Horsepower; 50 bhp9 000 rpm 

Torque: m7 000 rpm 

Clutch: Multi-plate Wet Type 

Transmission: 5 spped. 

Starting system: Electric Push 

button. 

Ignition: COl 

Frame Type: Diamond Frame 

Tyres: Front 3,25S19,4PR Tubeless 

Rear 3,75S18,4PR Tubeless 

Fueltank capacity: 17 lit. 

Dimensions: L X W X H ... 2,185 x 

865 x 1,175 mm. 

Wheelbase: 1,445mm 

Wheelbase: 1,455mm 

Seat Height:810 mm 

Ground Clearance: 150 mm 

Dynamic bank angle: 36 

Dry weight: 200kg. 


Moto X & Bike NewsSA Vol2 No8 Page26

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Chris Brand walked the S.A. 500's right from the start. (Photo: Dave 

Malen) 

Continued on Pg 34 

Moto X & Bike l'I1ewsSA Vol2 No 8 Page 30

This is the touring brother of Le Mans. 

It is a hunk of machinery that doesn't 

like to be ridden at very slow speeds. 

As the Le Mans and all other models of 

Guzzi it vibrates or thumps, giving you 

the impression, 9 if you did not know 

better, that you were sitting on an old 

Boneville. 

The T3 is an out and out tourer. It loves 

the open road and this is where the 

machine speaks for itself To ride the 

bike vibration free, get the bike into top 

gear and cruise from 3,000rpm 

upwards. The ideal cruising speed was 

found to be between 120 -140 kph, as 

this is where the T3 stays with no 

effort·. 

When doing the above speeds the T3's 

handling changes into something more 

like the Le Mans. It requires no hard 

work from the rider and the suspension 

at this speed softens out the bumps. 

Throwing the bike into a corner 

becomes an absolute pleasure. 

As on the Le Mans the motor is 844cc 

and is a 90 degree transversely 

mounted vee twin with shaft drive. 

This causes the bike to rock later to 

and fro when idling. But as soon as the 

clutch is released and the taps are 

opened this is not noticeable. 

The outside appearance of the motor 

on the T3 is identical to that of the Le 

Mans, but there are quite a few 

differences inside. The compression 

ratio is 9.5:1 as to the Le Mans 10.2:1. 

The two Dell Orto carbs are 30mm as 

to the 36mm's on the Le Mans, and the 

BPH at 7,200 rpm is 68.5 which is 

11.5BPH less than the Le Mans. 

The Mota Guzzi factory have obviously 

gone into a lot of research, as far as 

touring bike is concerned. The T3 is 

designed and built as strict touring 

" 

••••••••••••••••••••••••••• - "- 

r-, 

::) 

" 

Roma Guzzi (Pty) Ltd has opned a NEW SHOWROOM for the 

- 

:.!) convenience of customers - at corner COMMISSIONER and 

o 

c 

Kruger streets Jeppe. This branch will be managed by Neville I- 

c 

b 

~ 

Smith (ex Honda Braamfontein). New Moto Guzzi and out 

usual top quality secondhand bike will be on show. 

PHONE 37-6638/9. 

• - 

N 

••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 

" ~ 

N 

:::> C; - 

(!) 

0 

0 ROMA GUZZI (PTY) LTD l- 

I- 0 

0 71 END STREET (CORNER PRITCHARD ST.) 

:2! 

:2! 

JOHANNESBURG 2001 

• 

23-8829 23-9571 

• 

• MOTO GUZZI • MOTO GUZZI. MOTO GUZZI. MOTO GUZZI • 

bike, it is definitely not a machine that 

would make a name for you as foar as 

street racing and performance goes. 

Although pulling away from a standstill 

will not leave you disappointed, as 

there is plenty of torque in the motor. 

The T3 will carry a pillion passenger 

and gear for a camping trip with no 

effort at all. In fact it seems to handle 

and perform better when loaded. The 

T3 I used was supplied by Roma Guzzi 

in JH B and came direct from the three 

hour indurance race at Roy Hesketh, 

where it finished 11th overall. 

The exhausts fitted to the test machine 

were Conti's as the standard exhausts 

had been worn through during the 

race. This shows you just how far you 

can actually lean the bike over. The 

Conti's were a bit noisey for a tour;ng 

bike, but I was assured, by Roma Guzzi 

that the standard pipes were hy far 

a lot quieter. 

' 

As seems typical on the Guzzi range 

the main stand and side stand is very 

difficult to use and a certain amount of 

practice is needed to master the easiest 

way of kicking the stand out. The 

~ 

• 


controls are very easy to use except 

for the indicator switch which is very 

small 

The instrumentation is not really up to 

standard as first noticed with the Le 

Mans. The speedo suffered a complete 

nervous breakdown and started 

indicating ridiculous speeds when not 

actually doing it. It is a pity really when 

you consider that Laverda have 

stoppred using Veglia as a result of this 

and are now using Japanese 

instruments. (Come on Guzzi it's time 

to make a change.) 

Road tests are often unkind to Guzzi 

because they take so long to run in. 

The engine and five speed gearbox feel 

tight and clunky until the bike has got a 

few thousand k's uder the belt. The 

test machine had 20,000 k's on the 

clock and felt just right. You could put 

another 80,000 k'sd on before any big 

problems arose. 

Although the T3 is strictly a touring 

machine it's equipped with a frame 

that wouldn't disgrace a high 

performance bike. It has an immensely 

strong duples cradle, strongly braced 

around the steering head and swing 

arm, allowing the front forks and 

steeply angled rear shocks to be fitted 

25% to the rear. If you really want to 

stop quickly you can call in the other 

front disc on the right hand side, which 

is operated by the hand lever on the 

handle bars. 

Maintainance will present few 

problems on the T3. Dropping the 

jump to extract the oil filter is a bit of 

needless hasie, but the Guzzi vee twins 

have few weaknesses. 

All in, the T3 is a useful long term 

purchase that will definately give its 

owner many thousands of 

maintainance free k's. In other words 

the T3 is an all round working bike, 

that is good in town and incredibly 

happy on the open road. 

Specifications 

engine: 90 degree vee twin push rod 

four stroke. 

Bore & Stroke; 83 X 78 mm 

Capacity: 844cc 

Compression ratio: 9.5: I 

Carbs: 2 X 30 Dell Orto's 

BPH at RPM: 68,5 bph at 7200 rpm 

Clutch: Dry multiplate 

Gearbox: 5 speed 

Electrics: 12 volt with 20 watt 

generator on crankshaft. 

Wheelbase: 1.50m 

Ground clearance: 0.18m 

Kerbweight incl fuel: 5281bs 

Fuel capacity: 241trs 

Brakes: Front. Twin discs hydraulicly 

operated. 

Rear. Single disc hydraulicly operated. 

(linked system) 

Performance: top speed 186.03 kph 

Standing % mile: 13.91 sec 

Test BIKE SUPPLIED BY ROMA 

GUZZI COR END & PRICHARD STR 

JOHANN ESBURG. 

Mike BucknaIl (Test Rider) 

with relatively soft springs. Aided by 

high bars and soft saddle the ride is 

amazingly comfortable. Yet you can 

pitch into a bumpy curve without a 

trace of wollowing. 

• Solid Roller 

• Pre-Stretched· 

• Highest Quality. 

• Shot Peened Parts. 

QUAD STAKE RIVETING 

FOR CRITICAL PERFORMANCE 

AND STRENGTH. 

Adding to the above is the unique 

braking system patented by Guzzi. It is 

the intergral braking system which 

basically means that when you push 

the foot brake, 75% of the braking 

power goes to the front left disc and '--_-" 

AVAILABLE FOR 

ALL MAKES OF 

MOTORCYCLES 

FROM ALL 

BIKErIOUES.

I 

'" 

HONDA DEALERS WHEEL 

DEAL ON THESE PRICES 

WAS 

NOW 

R 2899 R 2699' 

2497 2297' 

2497 2297' 

2098 1798' 

1750 

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES 

FOR ARMY GUYS 

Just show your oavbook or 

discharge papers to your 

Honda Dealer and he wi II give 

you the best deal of your life 

To ensure that the bike you 

want at these fantastic prices 

will be yours when you get 

out of the Army reserve your 

bike NOW! 

\ 


Barry Falconer leads a pack around what used to be the Wall of Death. (Photo: Brent 

Oppenheimer). 

Tissen (90) gets sideways in his pursuit of Mabens fast dissapearing mudguard. (Photo: Seymour Smith) 


D~. 

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P~. 

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PRETORIA 

280 Mitchell Street, Pretoria West Telex 30573 

JOHANNESBURG 

104 Side Road, Turfontein West 

BETHAL 

52 du Plooy Street 

48-4683/4 

3-1781/2 

680-1835 

680-2105 

4018 

DURBAN 722792 

Chelsea Avenue, New Germany 


Note the different seating positions of (1). (11). (25). (72) and (148). The Gary Butcher aboard his muchly 

start of the 125 senior moto. (Photo: Seymour Smith) tricked RM80. (Photo: Brent 

Oppenheimer) 

I Overall results Syringa I 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G. Maben 

C. Tissen 

R. Gardner 

R. Campbell 

G. Bergstrom 

250MX 

1 T. Stevenson 

2 M. Jones 

3 R. Bergstrom 

4 P. Hills 

5 G. Gwillam 

500MX 

1 B. Falconer 

2 C. Brand 

3 S. Beattie 

4 T. Trefz 

5 R. Patterson 

Points 

45 

36 

24 

22 

15 

45 

20 

20 

20 

19 

45 

34 

30 

26 

17 

3 C. Whyte 13 OVERALL RESULTS - 

4 P. Thomson 12 S.A. CHAMPS 

5 M. Dolhoff 10 

125 MX 

STARS OFTOMMORROW 1. G. Maben 210. 

1 G. Gibson 30 2. D. Du Plessis 169. 

2 C. Strugnell 16 3. G. Bergstrom 145. 

3 M. Makepeace 16 

4. G. Keyser 136. 

4 P. Belcher 15 

5. C. Tiessen 

5 B. Saldsman 12 

131. 

6. R. Gardner 110. 

7. P. Campbell 98. 

8. G. Wilson 83. 

9. D. Werner 66. 

10. S. Rowe 55. 

MINIMX 

1 G. Butcher 

2 C. Bezuidenhout 

3 D. Kotze 

4 G. CEOBALL 

5 J. Dingle 

100 JUNIORS 

1 G. Beuthin 

2 A. Carr 

3 N. Miller 

4 R. Davies 

5 M. Lamb 

200 HIGH SCHOOL 

1 T. Riddel 

2 S. Grobler 

3 R. Campbell 

4 K. v.d. Merwe 

5 G. Nel 

200 HIGH SCHOOL SUPPORT 

1 T. Le Roux 

2 L. Barilla 

27 

27 

16 

14 

11 

30 

20 

20 

13 

12 

30 

22 

18 

16 

9 

30 

18 

.. ., 

. .. 

250MX 

1 R. Wicks 

2 T. Stevenson 

3 R. Bergstrom 

4 M. Hopkins 

5 G. Gwillam 

6 M. Jones 

7 P. Hill 

8 G. Gray 

9 H. Bergstrom 

lOR. Sturgeon 

500MX 

1 C. Brand 

2 B. Falconer 

3 I. McMillan 

4 T. Trefz 

5 S. Beattie 

6 G. Green 

7 B. Hirch 

8 V. Kulikowski 

9 M. Hermanson 

10 R.Painter 

234 

224 

185 

123 

118 

90 

90 

88 

34 

28 

216 

200 

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Moto X & Bike News SA Vol2 No 8 Page36.

It was Nomad's turn to arrange the 

monthly motocross event down here in 

the Western Cape, which constituted 

the fourth leg of the A.A. 

championships and the third leg of the 

Nomad's championship. 

With the help of sporadic rain during 

the week prior to the event, it turned 

out to be the first dust-free race of the 

season at Brackenfell. 

Speaking to Des Burton, he told me 

the motocross side of the Nomad's 

club were to approach the parent body 

for a sizeable amount of money to 

improve facilities at the track for next 

season. 

On then to the actual races. 

First on the programme was the 

seniors 125. Dave Sawyer came to the 

line mounted on a new Suzuki 125C 

with quite a few modifications done to 

it. Dave told me he was happier riding 

125's as apposed to the 250 he had 

been riding up until then. Also on the 

line was Mike Hopkins. He was on 

Mark Connelly's bike. Mark was out of 

action with the broken arm he reoeived 

at the national meeting at Hammarsdale 

in July. Arnold Burton was also 

there on his 125 Yamaha and ready to 

pit his skill against the others. 

Alistair Stuart-White, who had been 

showing improved form, got the holeshot 

but didn't keep spot one for long 

before Hopkins and Burton whipped 

passed. Sawyer and Claxton were 

having a "go" at each other which 

helped to keep spectator interest alive 

after Hopkins and Burton had flashed 

by in their private dual. 

The race was a six lapper with Hopkins 

getting the chequered flag ahead of 

Burton while stuart-White held on to 

third. 

The Juniors were next on the 

programme. Not to be outdone by the 

"oldies" these youngsters showed 

there mettle in some of the best racing 

produced by them for some time. The 

past few meetings have all been won, 

and pretty comfortably at that, by Neil 

Johnson. Not this time though. Mike 

Hope who had been the danger to Neil 

Johnson in previous races finally got 

everything workin in the right order at 

the right time. It was he who left 

Johnson at the line and raced in front 

from flag to flag in the first race. Not 

far behind these two - which made the 

race even more interesting - were Roy 

Pheiffer and Carl van Rooyen. Van 

Rooyen had the better of the exchanges 

and finally took place number 

three. 

The second race for the juniors was 

just as exciting if not more so, as Hope 

and Johnson leap-frogged positions as 

the laps went by. Johnson madec it 

Hey! - what about me? - Simon 

Patterson. (Phot: Viv Zimmerman). 

first across the line this time with Hope 

second, van Rooyen third and Pheiffer 

filling fourth for the second time. 

Race number three proved just as 

exciting as the other two. Here we 

witnessed perhaps not as close riding 

but far more drama. 

Hope excelled himself and got to the 

front. Johnson, in his endeavours, did 

some most uncharacteristic things, 

one of which was to fall off. This added 

to the excitement because he now had 

to go extra fast to make up time and 

position. All went well right up to the 

last lap on the last bend when he did it 

again and fell of, only this time there 

was no distance or time left for him to 

recover. Pheiffer shot past and got 

second which was his best placing for 

the afternoon and Johnson got his 

worst. 

Event number three on the programme 

was for the big bikes. This race again 

turned into a three cornered duel 

between Hopkins, Burton and Cooper, 

who finished in that order. The pace 

was always fast and one wondered 

why Cooper, a consistant rider and 

tough competitor, suddenly seemed to 

lose interest and slow down. The 

reason, as discovered later, was that 

the frame of his bike had cracked with 

the result being. a most unstable bike 

which made handling difficult. Burton 

almost tossed his second place away 

as he pulled a stunt more in keeping 

with a rodeo when coming out of the 

last bend in this race. He managed to 

stay mounted, keep control and 

finished second. 

Heat one of the championship was 

next on the programme. This race 

turned out to be a three-way duel 

between Hopkins, Burton and Greef. 

One seldom sees Greef this high up in 

the order but he was in there giving the 

other two a hard time. He kept up with 

the pace until two minutes from the 

race end when he himself kept going 

but left his bike behind. End of race, 

end of points - for him anyway. A 

pity, because he was really going well. 

This let Peter Babrow into third 

followed by Alistair Stuart-White in 

fourth. Hopkins and Burton filled the 

first two places. A good race. 

Because of his now "out-af-action" 

bike, Billy Cooper came to the start of 

heat two riding Arnold Burton's 125 

Yamaha, obviously content to get a 

place high enough to contest the final. 

With Hopkins and Burton not participating 

in this heat, attention centred 

on de Hutton, Jacobs, Naylor, Patterson 

and HermansOn. That in fact was 

the order as they went around on lap 

one. The first three circulated in very 

close company and very fast, leaving 

the others to sort out the minor 

placings. Claxton, riding a 125 

machine, gave Hermanson a hard time, 

who in turn was battling to pass Alan 

Gasson, who let Hermanson and 

Claxton through when he fell off. 

The front three continued to keep up a 

hot pace and finished as they started - 

de Hutton, Jacobs, Naylor. 

So we came to the final of the afternoon. 

With what was witnessed in the 

two heats one expected to see a great 

final - and no-one was disappointed. 

Cooper had been loaned a 250 Honda, 

so he became a serious contender 

once more. Hopkins had had Burton 

on his tail-pipe all afternoon. de 

Hutton, Jacobs and Naylor had gone 

very fast in their heat, so the stage 

was set for a great race. 

The order of riders as they raced away 

on lap one was, de Hutton, Burton, 

Hopkins and Jacobs, Cooper, Patterson, 

Hermanson and Naylor. The front 

three immediately broke away and 

thrilled the crowd with places being 

alternated continously. Neither seemed 

able to out fox or out-pace the others. 

Dave Naylor got himself crossed up in 

the esses, fell, got up and started off 

again in last place. This added to the 

excitement as he rode as hard as 

possible to get back among the 


leaders. This he did with a reasonable 

amount of success for he was placed 

sixth after the 20 minutes plus one lap 

elapsed. 

Towards the end of the race Burton 

began to have trouble with his rear 

brake and spent a good deal of the 

time when on a straight kicking at the 

foot lever to get the brake to release. 

This slowed slowed him down 

yet he was still able to fill third. 

Hopkins saw his chance to pass de 

Hutton when they were caught up 

amongst some slower riders. This was 

just what he needed and the distance 

he put between himself and de Hutton 

then, was the distance by which he 

beat him to the line. 

So ended an afternoon of good 

exciting racing. 

Every picture tells a story. So does the look on Billy Cooper's face - the 

bike's frame had cracked. (Photo: Viv Zimmerman) 

The following are the overall positions 

of the various riders in the Nomad's 

championship after three rounds. 

Senior riders: M. Hopkins - 45 points; 

B. Cooper - 32 points; A. Burton -'24 

points; S. Patterson - 23 points; M. 

Hermanson - 20 points; P Claxton - 13 

points. 

High school riders - 125cc capacity: 

N. Johnson - 124 points; M. Hope - 

104 points - C. van Rooyen - 54 points. 

High school riders - 1OOcccap.acity..:. 

A. Souma - 129 points; G. Johnson - 

86 points; B. King - 54 points; W. King 

- 48 points. 

The positions of the riders in the 

Western Province Motor Club MX 

Championships are as follows: 

MX ChampionshiRs: M .Hopkins - 42 

points; B. Cooper - 34 points; A. 

Burton - 27 points; D. de Hutton and 

S. patterson - 12 points. 

Over 200cc chamRionship.: M. Hopkins 

- 45 points; B. Co'Q'i)ër- 34 points; S. 

Patterson - 22 points; A. Burton - 21 

points. 

Under 200cc championship: A. Burton 

- 39 points; P. Claxt"0ri"'"=2~points; M. 

Connelly - 27 points; D. Souma - 23 

points. 

High school - over 1OOcc: N. Johnson - 

87 points; M. Hope - 75 points; R. 

Pheiffer - 46 points; C., Baines - 28 

points. 

l:!.ighschool under 1OOcc: G. Johnson - 

85 points; A. Souma - 58 points; A. 

Faile - 42 points; 44 points. 

Mini-cross: D. Mc Clauchlin - 80 

points; D. Pheiffer - 62 points; G. 

Landt - 52 points. 

An early breakaway from the rest 

of the pack by (from I to r) Mike 

Hopkins, Billy Cooper and Arnold 

Burton (250 cc). 

(Photo: 

Viv Zimmerman) 


W-CAPE.WPMC MEETING 

Ronnie Scullard and his merry band of 

workers who make up the MX side of 

the WPMC were responsible of the 

running of the monthly MX meeting 

here in Western Cape. 

They were blessed by good weather as 

well as a good crowd. The entry list 

was somewhat down on the usual 

number of regular competitors but a 

number of the "usuals" were out of 

town. 

It had been noised abroad - as the 

saying goes - that Billy Cooper was 

determined to beat Mike Hopkins in at 

least one of the races in which they 

competed during the afternoon's 

racing. Speculation as to his chances 

was rife, especially as he had bought a 

new CR250R after his Yamaha frame 

had broken at the meeting prior to this 

one. 

His first chance came int he first event 

for riders on machines with a capacity 

of over 200cc. 

Determined he was and he kept 

"Hops" under pressure from the start. 

Cooper's efforts cost him dearly for, in 

trying to overtake "Hops" (in mid-air 

mind you), he did one of the longest 

jumps seen from the "Texan take-off" 

- and that includes Harry Everts, yet all 

he achieved was a front wheel 

collapse. This allowed "Hops" to win 

fairly comfortably with Cooper limping 

over the line in second. Babrow was 

third. 

Riders on machines under 200cc were 

next on the line. Peter Claxton at least 

managed to do everything in the 

correct sequence at the right time. He 

led from the start and finished ahead of 

the field with the drama being enacted 

between Souma, Burton and Donadio, 

until Donadio went over the top of a 

berm instead of around it, and 

Souma's plug began to lose its spark. 

The race finished with Claxton first, 

Burton second and Souma, with 

enough in hand, spluttering into third. 

The high school riders have been 

performing pretty well lately, with their 

races on this particular afternoon no 

exception. There appears to be a 

general improvement in the standard, 

for no longer does Neil Johnson have 

things all his own way. Although he 

won all three races it was not all 

without much effort and drama, 

Mike Hope, keen to repeat his success 

over Johnson in their last clash left the 

line behind van Rooyen and Johnson. 

In his efforts to improve his position he 

came adrift to find himself in eighth 

place. Johnson in the meantime had 

taken over first with Roy Pheiffer now 

second. van Rooyen wasn't too happy 

about the situation and a battle royal 

developed as he tried to regain second 

place from pheiffer. Without the 

pressure of the front bunch on him, 

Hope was doing some fast laps until on 

the last lap he was lying fourth and 

close enough to Pheiffer to take the 

third when Pheiffer fell off. Johnson 

and van Rooyen had filled places one 

and two. 

Dave Naylor piloting zuk 

round a rough Western Cape berm. 

(Photo: Viv Zimmerman 

Mota 2 saw Johnson trying to overdo 

the fast bit to get ahead of the others. 

This caused his downfall and his 

uprising was in place five. His arch rival 

Mike Hope was leading the race. So 

they circulated until the front three got 

involved with the slower riders on the 

last half of the last lap. Johnson, 

handily placed saw the gap, shot 

through the came out in front with van 

Rooyen now in second, Hope down in 

third and Roy Pheiffer fourth. 

Mota 3. Although ridden at a cracking 

pace this race was no where near as 

exciting as the other races. Pheiffer got 

away first, soon to be passed by 

Johnson. At the completion of lap one 

the order was Johnson, Pheiffer, van 

Rooyen, Hope. At the completion of 

the race the order was still the same. 

Mota one of the seniors race was once 

more Mike Hopkins going out in front 

with no one to seriously challenge him. 

Patteffion and de Hutton had 

themselves a time going for second 

place which Patterson made his own. 

Behind them Peter Babrow had his 

work cut out keeping Claxton on his 

125 out of fourth position. Billy Cooper 

never came into contention cimpleting 

only one lap on Mike Hermanson's bike 

to enable him to qualify for the 

Consolation heat, while his own bike 

was being repaired. 

Mota two. Without the "big guns" 

riding one wondered what this race 

was to be like. It wasn't long before we 

all realised it was going to be good. 

J .Jacobs who has been showing good 

form lately went to the front and 

stayed there. He showed a good 

temperament in that he was 

continually being harrassed by D. 

Naylor yet never became flustered and 

rode a good race. Naylor came in 

second with Mike Hermanson third. 

Another pleasing aspect was the continued 

improvement in the riding of 

Willy Greef who came fourth. 

One seldom sees riders of the calibre of 

Souma, Burton and Cooper in the 

Consolation heat, yet for one reason or 

another these three lined up in this 

race. 

Souma did the right thing by letting the 

other two on their 200's get away in 

front while he was content to ride a 

steady race and fill third place which 

gave him a place in the final. 

Burton and Cooper raced away with 

each taking the lead only to have it 

snatched away again by the other. This 

perhaps was the best race of the day as 

far as the front two riders were 

concerned with the places being 

swapped continually. Eventually 

Cooper got to the front and held on to 

his slender lead with Burton right on 

his back wheels as they crossed the 

line at the finish. 

Motothree - the seniors final. If Cooper 

has hoped to win this race it was a lost 

cause, because "Hops" left the line like 

a scalded cat' and with each 

succeeding lap pulled further ahead. 

It was left to Burton, Naylor and 

Cooper to take over second place as an 

inheritence after he had got in front of 

Naylor a lap or two earlier. 

So the race ended with Hopkins some 

eight seconds in front of Cooper after 

slowing down considerably, with 

Naylor third and Patterson fourth. 

The youngsters in action. Van 

Rooyen leads, followed by Johnson, 

and Hope who leads R. Phieffer. 

(Photo: Viv Zimmerman). 


MAXI BREAKFAST RUN 

THE BREAKFAST RUN 

ESPECIALLY FOR GIRLS 

Seen any good lightweight racing 

lately? If you live in either the Transvaal 

or Natal you could possibly 

answer "Yes" - not so, you live in the 

Western Province. I refer particularly to 

125's. 

One wonders why it is that the 

Western Cape must always be about 

last when climbing on the proverbial 

bandwagon. It is because the only 

thing allowed to disturb the "feathers" 

is the south-easter? Even then the old 

"Cape doctor" is not exactly welcomed 

with open arms. 

This then appears to be the case in 

regard to lightweight racing, with Natal 

transvaal enjoying the sport and helping 

those who wish to paricipate in 

some form of motorsport at a relatively 

low cost. Won't the motor clubs 

please do something to enable this part 

of the world to have regular 

lightweight meetings? 

I know of one man who is itching to 

get going but lacks the necessary 

finance to prepare a bike or two. His 

experience in riding and preparing 

bikes is extensive, but having only 

recently opened his own business finds 

capital a bit low which prevents him 

fulfilling his ambition. 

This is where the dealers could playa 

part in starting up 125 lightweight 

racing. They must surely have a 

number of older 125 machines. The old 

RD125 was pretty quick even without 

it being worked on. Honda's off-road 

bikes in the 125 capacity were pretty 

popular at one time - and then of 

course there must be a good number 

of 125 MX bikes taken in as trade-ins 

which could be worked on and made 

race-worthy. 

Come on Dealers - how about it? 

Imagine the "lolly" it would bring in. 

With realistic prices being asked these 

bikes could surely be cleared out of 

your stocks. It would also generate 

business in the spares department. 

Won't the dealers please do something 

to enable this part of the world to have 

regular "LW" meetings? 

A large retail organisation who has the 

only hypermarket here in the Cape held 

a promotion recently which included 

riders on 50 cc machines who raced on 

a portion of the car park. The manager 

mentioned after the event that he had 

been most impressed by what he had 

seen. Let me say "He ain't seen 

nothing yet". Perhaps his organisation 

would like to sponsor a couple of bikes 

- and challenge other retail stores to do 

likewise. Who knows - we may even 

have a "Retail league. But still - won't 

commerce do something to enable this 

part of the world to have regular "LW" 

meetinqs? 

As for the local motoring press I doubt 

if they have even heard about "LW" 

racing. Perhaps they would like to find 

out more about it and "cut" some of 

the formula I copy which seem to 

occupy so much space and give the 

local scene a look-in. Yes - perhaps 

they may even like to do something to 

enable this part of the world to have 

regular "LW" meetings. 

Now - if all those mentioned were to 

put their heads together I am sure this 

part of the world would soon be seeing 

and enjoying regular 125 "LW" 

meetings. I hope progress can be 

reported within the very near future! 

Viv Zimmerman 

DATE:- Sunday - 26th November, 

1978 

BREAKFAST VENUE:- "Hungry 

Wheels Restuarant" , Lovers Rock, 

Magaliesburg. 

MEETING PLACES:- 

Johannesburg Area 

Time:- leaving at 7.30am. 

Honda Centre, 

241 Booysens Road, 

Selby, Johannesburg. - Enq. 836-0721 

Verity or Digby. 

Kempton - Germiston Area 

Time:-Ieaving at 7.30am. 

Kempton Honda, 

Shop No.5, Wesbou, 

48 West Street, 

Kempton Park. - Enq. 975-6016 

Sharon 

Pretoria Area 

Time:- leaving at 7.30am. 

Mean Machine, 

383 Church Street East, 

Pretoria. - Enq. 412464 Laureen. 

Riders from Johannesburg Area will 

collect any riders wanting to meet at 4 

Ways at 8.00 am. Kempton and 

Pretoria riders will be going direct to 

"Hungry Wheels". 

This ride is specially for the girls, but 

any girls wanting to come along with 

their guys, are more than welcome. 

COST:- R3.00 per ticket. This includes 

breakfast (which is really super), a 

Maxi T-shirt, Fashion Show, Lucky 

draws. 

Fashion show clothing to be supplied 

by Norma Jean, cor. Claim and 

Pretorius Sts., Hillbrowand Biketique. 

See you there!!! 


a) YAMAHA 

ICJCJCJI ICJ 

and he is hard at training to make 

certain that he is ready when his 

opportunity comes. 

He rides his Yamaha for at least two 

hours a day as this is a sport where, if 

you don't keep your hand in, you can 

soon lose your advantage." 

Port Elizabeth matriculation pupil, 

Tony Orrey, has his sights set on one 

of the most unusual careers in the 

world - a professional 'foot ups' rider. 

And Tony, aged 18, has every chance 

of success. He is regarded as one of 

the major 'finds' in the rapidly growing 

sport of observed motor cycle trials. 

Less than four years after he started 

riding motor cycles Tony has twice 

won the South African national 

championships on his Yamaha and has 

already won three legs of the six events 

in the 1978 championship. 

Only four of the rounds are needed for 

victory and so Tony is almost 

guaranteed another title. 

His trainer/manager, Mr. Colin Tayler 

believes that Tony has the ability to 

make a world champ. Mr. Tayler has 

developed a special riding technique to 

help young Tony and he says that this 

consists of various movements that are 

Sidecar racing in South Africa could 

get a shot in the arm now that a 

Durban manufacturing company is 

about to produce the first locally-made 

sidecar chassis. 

And no-one is more relieved than the 

two brothers who have championed 

what often seemed to be the dying 

sidecar cause - Neville and Garth 

Riddel of Bedfordview near 

Johannesburg. 

' 

Neville (40) and Garth (35) are coowners 

of a large prefabricated 

dwelling company. They are also 

dedicated sidecar racers and both own 

Yamaha TZ750 racing motor cycles to 

which are attached British Trevor 

Ireson chassis, outfits that cost some 

R6 000 each. 

"We have been trying for a long time 

to find some way of increasing the 

popularity of our sport," he said, 'We 

hit on the idea of taking our chassis to 

a company in Durban now 

manufacturing exhaust systems and 

they were able to make a jig and then 

start production. The first batch of 

locally-made chassis is almost a sellout! 

" 

Both Riddell brothers believe that side 

car racing is among the most 

spectacular of the motor sports, 

especially on smaller, tighter circuits 

such as the Roy Hesketh circuit, 

Pietermaritzburg .and the Brandkop 

track at Bloemfontein. 

"Our Yamaha's are probably the 

fastest and most powerful 750cc 

racing bike in the world," said Neville. 

named and which are known as "They will do 235 km/h and when 

functions and elements. 

your passenger is balanced on the car 

"We both got into this sport almost by itself with his chin just centimetres off 

accident," said Mr. Tayler. "I live the tarmac it can be quite a frightening 

across the road from Tony and I took sight. r r 

up motor cycle trials as a recuperative But is sidecar racing really so 

therapy following a long illness. Tony dangerous? 

had been trying to make a go of racing "I would love to say yes," said Neville. 

bicycles but his problem was that his "But it's less dangerous than you 

legs were too short! 

would think; in fact it is a lot more 

He then bought a 50cc motor bike forgiving than motor cycle racing. In a 

which he messed about in the bush sidecar combination if you make a 

with and this led to the first real trials mistake you don't fall off, you can spin 

bike - a Yamaha." 

it if you have to. 

One year and 10 months after his first "And now that we will be able to buy 

trials competition Tony was the South our equipment locally the cost will be a 

African champion. 

lot lower. The price of a Durban-made 

"We feel that he is young enough and frame is about what I have had to pay 

good enough to become a world just for the air freight of a British 

champion," said Mr. Tayler. "Provided frame." 

Tony can get the necessary backing heIr------------- ..... 

would like to contest foot-ups in the Subscribe Now 

U.K. and on the continent next year 


YAMAHA 

The 'big thumper' SR500 is the second 

Yamaha to be named by authoritative 

American Cyclist magazine as "one of 

the 10best buys of the year" . 

The SR500, recently launched in 

South Africa, JOinS the Yamaha 

XS500E in the list of motorcycles the 

magazine believes are ideal for the 

sophisticated demands of the modern 

motorcyclist. 

"The introduction of this big thumper 

was a most interesting experiment by 

our company," said Yamaha's Bruce 

Johnstone. "In fact it's a no-nonsense 

return to the big English singles of 20 

years ago and our design philosophy 

was to bring back the nostalgia of 

those bikes but without the ineenvenience." 

As such the SR500 is a thoroughly 

modern motorcycle that is unoque in 

the current Japanese manufacturing 

The Yamaha XS500E twin has been 

industry in that it is the only big singles been available, has had rave reviews in voted by the authoritative American 

road bike to come out of Japan. the motorcycle press, including the 

'Motorcyclist' magazine as "one of the 

"It was a gamble," said Mr. press in South Africa. "We suspect 10best buys in motorcycling." 

Johnstone. "But Yamaha were that part of the reason is the return to The XS500 was up against 

encouraged by the entusiastic simplicity in this concept," said Mr. competition from the major motor 

response to our XT500 street Johnstone - "while the SR500's low 

cycle manufacturers around the world 

scrambler and the fact that surveys weight (169 kg) and its immense lowdown 

pulling power has made it into an 

and was accorded the honour after the 

had shown that many of these bikes 

staff of the magazine tested a wide 

were being used strictly as road bikes. ideal city bike and yet it is strong 

variety of machines. 

We thought we saw a gap in the enough for long cross-country tours. 

"We are particularly pleased that it was 

motorcycle product range, world wide, "The fact that our '1950s-model' 

this particular bike that did so well," 

and the SR500 was our answer." Yamaha has now been chosen as one said Yamaha's Bruce Johnstone. "Our 

Nostalgia brought back has been the of the ten best buys for the year in new XS 1100 to say nothing of our 

recipe for international accolades. The 1978 just goes to show that you can SP750 and other well-known super 

SR500, in the short period that it has learn from the past!" 

bikes have tended to garner all the 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ publicity in the past few months while 

the XS500E has really been a little 

under-rated. 

"It is an exceptionally well-mannered 

motor cycle that is small and agile 

enough to be an ideal town commuter 

and yet it has enough muscle to be a 

good open road cruiser whenever the 

need may arise." 

The Yamaha XS500E is powered by a 

four stroke double overhead camshaft 

motor of two cylinders with a capacity 

of 498cc. It has all the refinements of 

Yamaha's more glamorous and larger 

motor cycles such as trafficators and 

an electric start. 

"The advantage of this medium sized 

capacity," said Mr. Johnstone ..."is 

that it provides exceptional fuel 

economy with enough punch to please 

ority of motor cyclists." 

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before. While these BMW's keep the 

distance between BMW and other 

motorcycles concepts - they make the 

gap easier to bridge financially. 

Aspiring BMW riders now have more 

reason to ride BMW. 

c.,_ ~ 

,....=-.~...-="'Ir 

* TECHNICAL * 

ENGINE 

There are certainly ample grounds for 

speaking out against the opposedpiston, 

or boxer, engine but there are 

also more and better reasons favouring 

this concept. The boxer provides an 

optimal physical solution among all 

two-cylinder powerplants. Its con- 

Moto X & Bike News SA Vol2 No 8 Page44 

struction style guarantees balance and 

a high degree of cultivation since 

inertia forces of primary and secondary 

degree don't occur. In addition it 

offers: unproblematic cooling, ease of 

maintenance and repair and accident 

protection from the outstretched 

cylinders which shouldn't be 

underestimated. And one more thing is 

ensured by this engine concept: the 

rider's feet stay warm even when 

ambient temperatures are low. Riding 

wind warmed by the cylinders sees to 

that. Certainly not a decisive feature, 

but a pleasant one. 

With this in mind engines for the BMW 

R45 and R65 were based on 

powerpalnts from the 17 range, taking 

over their maturity, dependability and 

economy. Almost identical on the 

outside, these new BMW engines are 

56 mm (2.2") narrower, a result of 

reduced stroke and decreased con rod 

gauge. Lower piston speeds resulting 

from this fact favour long life while the 

reduced onstruction width permits 

even greater lean angles for those who 

dare. 

These compact engines come in two 

versions: 

- R45 with 26 kW (35hp) for super fuel 

- R65 with 33 kW (45hp) for super fuel 

It was the marketplace which demanded 

these new BMW motorcycles. For 

one thing, there was a desire for that 

"first" or middle-class model. The R45 

and R65 wouldn't be true BMW's if 

they hadn't been developed with the 

fixed goal of their unique requirements. 

Torque and its spread offer proof of a 

successful design job. The engines 

provide 90% of their peak torque over 

a range of better than 3000 rpm. As we 

know, when evaluating the 

performance of any engine, the factor 

of a broad, powerful and useable band 

is far more decisive than peak performance 

of any engine, the factor 

Torque and its spread offer proof of a 

successful design job. The engines 

provide 90% of their peak torque over 

a range of better than 3000 rpm. As we 

know, when evaluating the performance 

of any engine, the factor of a 

broad, powerful and usable band is 

fare more decisive than peak performance 

enthroned in lonely majesty atop 

a steep rpm curve. A good ratio 

between performance and torque on 

one hand and dependability and 

favourable wear rates on the other, 

make these two new engines typical 

BMW's in all characteristics. 

R45 - 

26 kW (35 hpj 

With its very flat torque curve the 

super-fuel version is convincing in all 

rev ranges. The healthy I ratio of 

performance to revs (a litre output of 

55 kW/' or 74 hp/1) serves a long life 

expectancy and dependability. The 

above average torque for this class of 

37.5 Nm (3.8 mkp or 1b - ft. 27.51 

paints a bullish performance picture. 

R65 - 33 kW (45 hpj 

The 645 engine of the BMW R65 is 

equally convincing for powerful forque 

over a wide rev range. 50 Nm are 

available at 5500 1/min whereby, as 

with the R45, at least 90% of the maximum 

torque (= 45 Nm) is available 

from 4250 to 7000 1/min. This flat 

torque band underlines the touring 

character of all three new models. 

A new feature for these motorcycles is 

an ignation system which meets 

automobile technical standards. It 

offers dynamic ignition advance which 

brings the advantage of adjustment 

value fora II major rev realms. In 

addition, this new ignition system is 

extremely dependable and easy to 

maintain. 

Beat in its class is a 280 W generator 

which, together with the powerful (0.7 

kW) starter, underlines the determination 

of BMW engineers to give a 

high level of usability. 

All three models are fitted with two 

Bing constant pressure carburettors 

(type V64/1I), mounted at an angle and 

fed from a 22 litre tank.This largevolume 

tank, combined with wellakes 

the R45 and R65 models 

uncontested for riding range in their 

class. Depending on riding style, range 

can be 300 to 400 km (' 80-240 miles). 

The carburettors, like the newly 

developed tank meet every quality 

standard of the larger 17 line. The 

same can be said of the exhaust 

system. This unit, also operating on 

the torque-enhancing pulse principle, 

matches the price-intensive, highquality 

standards of the larger line: 

high-gloss chrome outside and zincdust 

interior coating permit year a- 

round operation with no corrosion 

problems. 

DRIVE 

Power is transmitted to the rear wheel 

in customary, unproblematic style in 

this new BMW middle-class motorcycle. 

The well-proven fives peed 

gearbox from the large model range, 

fitted with new shift kinematic, as well 

as the further-perfected power transmission 

system with drive shaft to the 

rear axle are offered here. A torsional 

damper integrated with the drive shaft 

absorbs load peaks during acceleration 

and braking maneuvers while ensuring 

quiet shifts with even smoother road 

behaviour. 

CHASSIS AND FRAME 

Anybody who has taken a trip on a

BMW motorcycle will have soon 

appreciated its uncomplicated 

progress, dependability and road 

safety as well as the comfort of its 

cultivated road manners. In the chassis 

sector, only a maturing process going 

back many years and fed by constant 

riding experience can bring perfection. 

BMW engineers operate on this 

principle. Engineering rush jobs to 

push through the greatest number of 

possible "novelties" are never even 

discussed around BMW. 

Thus it isn't astonishing that one 

recognizes a relationship between the 

R45 and R65 motorcveles and the 

larger range immediately particularly in 

the chassis and frame realms. 

Although the engineers fell back on 

basic available designs, their front fork 

was a completely new concept with its 

responses attuned to the new bike. 

Prerequisites were precise wheel guidance, 

bump absorption and ride 

comfort. The R45-R65 machines 

turned out lighter and smaller overall 

and the engineers could reduce their 

spring travel (to 175 mm) compared to 

the larger BMW models, but the new 

bikes remain leaders in their field when 

it comes to length of spring travel. 

Analogous to the importance 

telescopic front forks have when it 

comes to the criteria of comfort and 

. safety, BMW chose, in Fichtel & 

Sachs, a guarantor for quality and 

precision in fork production. 

Machining of high quality materials is 

perfomed by special machines on the 

most modern assembly lines. These 

ensure close production tolerances, 

controlled by pneumatic, electronic 

test methods. Low-friction rubbing 

surfaces of outer tubes and plungers 

demand a surface quality with roughness 

values of less than 1/1000 mm. 

Sachs controls roughness and ovalness 

of the tubes with instruments 

capable of measuring accurately to 

1/10.000 mm. In addition, all highly 

stressed components such as fork 

bridge and slides are constantly x- 

rayed for cracks. The BMW telescopic 

fork undergoes a total of no less than 

75 checks. 

The new twin-loop frame, like that 

of the 17 line, is made of high-quality 

steel with two braces. The result is 

extremely high bending and torsional 

rigidity. To meet passenger car quality 

standards this frame is also protected 

against corrosion, allowing year 

around use. The requisite quality level 

is achieved through sandblasitng, 

phosphate coating and baking of both 

base coat and enamel. Since the 

quality of the large line set overall 

standards for the middle-class BMW 

motorcycle is it not surprising that 

expensive but play-free tapered roller 

bearings are used for steering head, 

rear swing arm and wheels. 

The new BMW middle class is equipped 

with a disc brake for the front 

wheel and dependable drum brake 

from the !7 range in the rear. To 

reduce inertia around the steering axis 

the front brake caliper is mounted 

behind the fork leg. This fixed-caliper 

brake eliminated all adjustments by its 

very design. It guarantees optimal 

decelration, even in the rain, thanks to 

its pierced disc of 260 mm (10.24") 

diameter and dual pistons. Beyond 

that, doseability of the brake is ensured 

in all riding situations by special brake 

lever kinematics. 

Handlebars, Hub and Instrument 

Set are blended into a new. 

ergonomically designed, operation and 

information unit which forms a single 

construction element. 

The unit includes the following 

equipment: 

- Large dials for speedometre and 

electronic tachometer. The rev 

range warning area receives 

additional illumination for night 

time riding. The R65 has an rpm 

warning light as well. 

- .Large, separate green control 

lights, left and right, for turn signal 

indicators, directly in the view 

field. 

- Ignition lock in the hub. 

- Control lights for oil pressure, 

charge, high beams and idle, 

placed centrally in the tachometer. 

A switch block placed on the left 

with turn signal lever means BMW 

has adjusted to the international 

standard. 

Elastic attachment of the front panel 

represents a new design step which 

offers ease of maintenace and 

assembly. In case repairs are needed 

the complete front portion, including 

blinkers, headlight, instruments, 

ignition lock and parts of the brake 

system can be dismounted in a 

moment. The module sysyem is becoming 

increasingly ev 

coming increasingly evident here, as it 

is in passenger car construction. This 

applies in particular to the central 

electrics of the new BMW motorcycles 

located under the L-profile of 

the newly designed tank where they 

examine, accessible and available for 

service. 

the advantages: 

- Ease of after-market installations 

thanks to contacts provided. 

- Clearly marked wiring gathered in 

neatly arranged strands. 

- Wires protectively routed, out of 

harm's way. 

- Multi-pin connectors, easily and 

quickly reached, were developed 

specifically for the motorcycle. 

Headlight and tail-light were likewise 

targeted to the demand of motorcycle 

use. 

Along with the H4 headlight of 160 

mm diameter, the twin-chamber taillight 

system with separate brake light 

layout must be mentioned for its 

improved signal effect to following 

traffic during darkness. 

As a further contribution to safety of 

the motorcyclist, BMW .outflts these 

new models with yellow side reflectors 

on the fork legs. 

This leaves the bench seat which is 

responsible for a rider's well-being in 

various ways. Highest ergonomic 

demands were placed on seat shape 

and upholstery for the new middle 

class, to match those known from the 

large BMW models. Padding consists 

of a non-rotting PUR cold foam core 

with constant spring rate, covered by a 

non-slippery, ribbed and water-proof 

surface. A total of five litres of lockable 

storage space under the riders seat and 

tailpiece make the R45/R65 bikes 

uncontested champs in their class. 

Likewise unequalled arte he aboveaverage 

assortment of high-grade tools 

and first aid materials, as well as a low 

seat height of only 770 m (30.3") 

inherent in the design. This allows even 

inesperienced ~r smaller riders to 

handle these models safely and 

without problems. 

TECHNICAL DATA BMW R45 

BMWR65 

ENGINE 

R45 

26kW/35hp 

R65 

33 kW/45 hp 

Capacity (cc) 473 

(Tax formula) (470) 

(28.7) 

Bore (mm) 70 

Stroke (mm) 61.5 

Compression ratio 9.2 

Performance (kw) 26 

at revs (1/min) 7250 

Max. Torque (Nm) 37.5 

at revs (1/min) 5500 

Carburetion 2 constant 

pressure 

carburettors 

with starter 

mechanism 

Carburettor model Bing V64/11 

Carburettor throat 028 (mm) 

Fuel tank 221 . sport 

tank, 21. as 

reserve, 

recessed safety 

cap, lockable 

650 

(645) 

(39.4) 

82 

61.5 

9.2 

33 

7250 

50 

5500 

2 constant 

pressure 

carburettors 

with starter 

mechanism 

BingV64/1l 

032 

221. sport 

tank, 21. as 

reserve, 

recessed safety 

cap, lockable 


ST. LUCIA MOTOCROSS CLUB 

NEWS. 

A Motocross Club has been formed at 

St. Lucia comprising of 45 senior and 

Junior members. 

Mr. Noel Galli was elected as the first 

chairman of the club, with Mr. A. 

Viviers as Secretary. Other committee 

members are: Wayne Jacobs, Fred 

Snyman, Lourens Wied and Arthur 

Howard. 

This is the first motocross club in 

northern Zululand, and well situated at 

a holiday resort like St. Lucia. It was 

therefore a dream come true for Moto- 

Moto-X fans when the new track held 

its first rally on Sunday, October 8th. 

Tribute must be paid to Mr. Noel Galli 

whose hardwork and determination to 

get a track going, formed the basis for 

the outstanding success of the first big 

meeting. 

Mr. Galli did not spare himself in his 

attempts to get a track established. 

During 1977 he started off with a small 

circuit on an old rubbish dump, but 

after much negotiations the Development 

Services Board ga 

e permission for a piece of land on the 

northern boundry of the Township. 

The track was built and top riders 

taking part on Sunday's event stated 

that it is first class. The circuit is snady 

by heavy enough to prevent dust. 

Competitors came from all over Zululand, 

Natal and even Johannesburg. 

The 100 cc Junior Section drew 14 

entries. 125 cc High School section 9 

entries. 125 cc Senior section 14 

entries and the 250/500 cc seniors 12 

entries. 

750 spectators lined the track 

watching with keen interest and 

admiration the competitors doing their 

roaring stunts on the 1,5 kilometer 

track, with an event every fifteen 

minutes. 

Winners: 100 cc Juniors, David 

Solomon on a Yamaha. 2nd, Patrick 

O'KEEFE (Yamaha) and 3rd was Derek 

Graham (Yamaha. 

125 cc High School: Ist, Wayne 

Angilley (Pietermaritzburg) on a 

Suzuki. 2nd, H. Beattie (Yamaha) 3rd, 

David Hartzer (Pietermaritzburg on a 

Suzuki 

125 cc Senior: 1st, G. Cooke Tonnesen 

(Yamaha). 2nd, G. Neaves (Yamaha). 

3rd T. Gwillan (Yamaha) 

250/500 cc Seniors: lst, Tommy 

Trefz. (Empangeni) (Yamaha). 2nd, C. 

V.d. Merwe (Durban) (Yamaha). 3rd. 

N. Stewart (Durban) (Suzuki) 

Tommy Trefz who is one of Zululand's 

finest racers, scored a track record of 1 

min. 46 sec. on his 500 cc Yamaha, 

while most of the other riders 

registered just under two minutes per 

lap. 

Tommy must be admired not only for 

his skill, but also for his dedication to 

moto-X sport and his endurance. On 

Saturday, October 7th. he rode in the 

last national at Syringa in Jojannesburg, 

finishing 4th., with a 4th place in 

South African racing. He then travelled 

through-out the night to be at St. Lucia 

for their inauguration meeting, and 

won all three races with a track record. 

It was indeed a great day, and a 

historic event for St. Lucia, with racing 

that was good and exciting, with no 

accidents. Pierre de Chelain from 

Pietermaritzburg in his capacity as 

commentator kept the events well 

under control, with the result that 

everything went off like clockwork. 

St. Lucia ladies excelled themselves as 

far as catering for the day was 

concerned, and the rally was 

concluded with a braai. Mrs. Daphne 

Galli presented Mr. de Chelain with a 

huge chocolate cake baked and iced in 

the form of a moto-X track. Apart from 

admiring this piece of art, spectators 

also could sample the contents. 

The AA has alotted four meetings to 

the St. Lucia club for the coming year, 

and Mr. Galli expressed the hope that 

more Zululanders will get interested in 

this type of sport and entertainment. 

Sarie C. Bongers. 

Page46 Mota X 8 Bike News SA Vol2 No 8

Branch of The Sports Car Club of South Africa 

THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE FOUR WHEEL DRIVE CLUB OF 

SOUTH AFRICA. 

ADDRESS:' 

7~'",Floor, Standard Bank Galleries, C/r. Eloff and Market Streets, 

.Iohannesburq. P.O. Box 3085, Johannesburg. 2000. 

TELEPHONE: (011 - JHB.) 22-2463 

TEL. ADD.: 

'MOTOR SPORT' 

CHAIRMAN: 

VICE CHAIRMAN: 

SECRETARY: 

TREASURER: 

EDITOR: 

ORGANISING SECRETARY: 

RADIO OFFICER: 

TECHNICAL INFORMATION OFFICER: 

COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE: 

MOTOR SPORT CO-ORDINATOR: 

COMMITTEE 

AUSTIN FRIEND 

IVOR KARAN 

LIZ HERRON 

CHRIS ROOS 

CHARLIE TREEN 

IVOR KARAN 

PETER MOUNSEAR-WILSON 

CLIVE MclLRAITH 

PETER ACHTERBERG 

PETER ACHTERBERG 

ROBIN HOOD - 48-9205 (H) 

726-7401 (B) 

BRIAN ELRIDGE - 763-5656 (H) 

VIC HERRON - 016-6-1638 (B) 

RAY COHEN - 43-5528 (H) 

22-4850/4920 (B) 

672-3736 (H) 

0151-5028 (H) Anytime 

016-33-4073 x 31 (B) 

48-0310 (B) 

836-2571 x 590 (B) 

0151-5028 (H) Anytime 

609-2713 (H) 

616-2000 x 470 (B) 

836-0721 (B) 

672-5198 (H) 

836-3601 x 174 (B) 

ALL THE ABOVE ARE JOHANNESBURG TELEPHONE NUMBERS 

UNLESS DIALING CODE SHOWN. OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE NOT 

EDITORIAL ADDRESS: NECESSARILY THOSE OF SCC. 

The Editor, 4x4 Club of SA, 215 Republic Road, OR 4x4 Club. 

Randpark Ex 2, Randpark 2194 

RANGE ROVER - LAND ROVER 

WE ARE THE EXPERTS IN PARTS & SERVICE. 

ALSO 

LAND CRUISER, CHEV, K10-20, FORD F250, JEEP, INTER- 

NATIONAL NISSAN PATROL. 

MODIFICATIONS: Tanks, Roll Bars, Bodywork, Roof Carriers 

etc. 

CONVERSIONS: Land Rover to Rover va, Chev 6, Ford V6. 

Land Cruisers to Chev va & Perkins Diesel. 

Chev &- Ford to VS & Perkins Di sel. 

ACCESSORIES: Hi-lift Jacks, Freewheel Hubs. Overdrives, 

.Winches, Spotlamps, Etc. 

SERVICING. 

SADAN & co. (PTV) LTD. 

THE FOUR WHEEL DRIVE SPECIALISTS 

26a Angle Road, New Doornfonteln,·Johanne.burg. 

Telephone: 23-2327,23-1381 


EDITORIAL I 

Well, you readers of the editorial in 

your club news letter, Club News, are 

in for a change. Instead of being 

treated to a monthly "In Peter Achterberg's 

View" you will now have "In 

Charlie Treen's 

iew". Yes, as you may have seen on 

the leading page, there is a new 

committee and, in amongst them, a 

new editor. Charlie Treen has been a 

regular contributor to articles to Club 

News for some years and many has 

been the month that I have blessed 

Charlie when I have been searching for 

copy for the new letter. I am pleased 

that someone competent has been 

found to take over as editor of the new 

letter as it is undoubtably the life-line of 

our club. Welcome, Charlie, and the 

best of luck to you. May lance more 

plead with the club members to please 

let Charlie have any articles/items of 

interest/gossip/photographs etc. of interest. 

It certainly makes the cross a lot 

easier to bear. 

We once again this year have 12 

committee members and once again 

this year Austin Friend is Chairman 

(who is the subje ct in this month's 

Personality Sketch). 

I would like to point out the following 

offices to you as you may not be aware 

of their functions: 

(i) Radio Officer: he is responsible tOI 

all queries with respect to ORRA and 

also representsthe club, with one other 

member, on the ORRA committee. 

(ii) Technical Information Officer: he is 

there primarily to help you, or any 

other non-member, with queries of a 

technical nature regarding our 4x4 

vehicles. 

(iii) Club Motor SQort co-ordinator: he 

is there to interface the club to motor 

sport events and he will deal with any 

queries regarding motor sport. 

To all the outgoing committee 

members, may I thank you on behalf of 

the new committee and the whole 

club, for all the hard work and long 

hours that you put in over the last year. 

Editorial II 

Following Peter as Editor is going to be 

a very difficult task. We all owe Peter a 

vote of thanks for his sterling work as 

editor over the past three years, in 

which he has built this news letter into 

a really first class publication, lately in 

collaboration with Gary Whyte. 

I hope that in the future the magazine 

will be offering you new, road tests of 

off-road vehicles, product tests and 

social and sport reports. I also hope to 

produce articles on maintenance, 

radio, and virtu.ally anything of general 

interest. In order to do this, I shall 

require the help of as many people as 

possible. Pleasepull finger, and send in 

those articles, news items and photos. 

A club magazine should be a reflection 

of the club, not of the editor, so don't 

worry if you cvan't spell or if your 

english is a little rough - write! 

Incidentally, cassette tapes are also 

very acceptable as a means of 

reporting - I guarantee that the 

cassettes will be returned. If you all 

thought that Peter nagged for 

contributions 

ain't seen nothing yet! 

Charlie Treen 

for the magazine - you 

This month:- 

Racing.: World Champion's Kalahari 

Profile: Austin Friend - The Boss 

Practical: Metal Loining Part 2, 

Brazing 

Social:Details of Outings 

Adverts:Assorted Notices 

Acknowledgement: "Keep on 

Trucking" is published by kind 

permission of 'Autosport' and Paddy 

Driver. 

KEEP ON 

TRUCKIN-f 

PARTONE 

There is an old saying, that you 

don't have to be mad, but it 

helps .... It all started with a phone 

call from Eddie Keizan in 

Johannesburg, asking me if I 

would be interested in doing the 

rotal Trans Kalahari Road Race- 

. an event covering 1000kms in two 

gruelling 500kms sections. It had 

taken Eddie two weeks to get me 

on the phone- you see, we do have 

phones in New Zealand, but I am 

unlisted. When I asked him who 

would be driving with me, and in 

what, he. said Paddy Driver in a 

Ford F100 pickup truck. "Give me 

24 hours," I said. His reply was, 

"Noch mon,you must comm 

now-let's make a plan. Just 

now!" So we did. And it was a hell 

of an experience. 

Unfortunately, there are such things as 

visas, which require bank statements 

(they don't want you on the dole in 

South Africa), and there is only one 

flight each week from Sydney to 

Jo'burg. That leaves every Saturday, 

so I had to go one week early, because 

the Trans Kalahari started on Friday. 

This gave me only two working days 

with a weekend in between to travel 

550 miles in order to collect visas and 

so on. Anyway, I was eventually off to 

Jo'burg and an atmosphere which I 

have always found very relaxing, at 

least as far as Kyalami is concerned; I 

think that is why I always went well 

there in the Grand Prix. 

Paddy Driver-with whom I get along 

very well-built up this truck from 

scratch some three years ago, and has 

been improving the thing all the time. 

The 6 litre Ford va has Paxton blower 

on it, pumping 511bsof boost at 4000 

revs, which in the higher altitudes yives 

it a good performance. The gearbox is 

a heavy duty Ford type C6 automatic 

with an American B&M hotrod 

conversion. This conversion is 

primarily like a manuyal box in that the 

particular gear you select stays there, 

and to change gear you just bang the 

lever like a motorcycle gearshift; it then' 

selects the next ratio up or down 

automatically. In this case, the 

gearshift lever was mounted high up 

between driver and navigator, because 

most of the time the navigator was 

swapping the rations while the driver 

was wrestling with the wheel and the 

left-foot braking. The driver called out 

the different numbers of the gears he 

wanted, but after a while this was't 

necessary, because we knew exeactly 

what wa sneeded. After spins and 

stalls, the navigator made the 

necessary 'N' shift, and used the key to 

restart the engine; all the instuments 

were located his side ui central, high 

between the seats. And written across 

the dash was the legend, "Hang onto 

your nuts ...." 

The truck had enormous strength and 

tremendous ground clearance, fitted 

with 11OOx15America off-road tvres. I 

onlyu drove the truck for about a 

kilometre and a half outside Paddy's 

front gate (for a press photo-call) 

before Paddy and I flew in his own 

Mooney to Gaborone, the capital of 

Botswana, where the event was to 

start. 

After clearing customs, Paddy filed a 

local flight plan and off we went on a 

two-hour jaunt following the so-called 

'roads' and cattle tracks we were going 

to be dtiving over in two days time. 

From the air, you couldn't see all the 

washouts and so on, but I could see 

the lay of the land and got the message 

loud and clear that if you broke down, 

you didn't wander off for help but 

waited for help to come to you ....lt was 

going to be compulsory to carry at 

least two gallons of water, sleeping 



jets. The bigger the jets, the faster we cylinder pick-up which he still has 

went: 150kph, then 160kph. We figured 

today, the vehicle now having a six 

that was good enough, since there cylinder Chev. motor and numerous 

weren't going to be many places where other gadgets. 

we could do that kind of speed, and Austin and his wife, Muriel, his 

anyway the fuel consumption would daughter and son, Jennifer and John, 

get a bit frightening (about 8kms to the have been on many trips in their Land 

gallon!). 

Rover to such places as South West 

----------------1 Africa, Botswana and the then 

Personality Sketch - Austin Friend. Mozambique. In 1972 he, Syd 

Youthead, Robin Hood and Mike 

I have known Austin for many years Lokston did the first Transkalahari 

and in all that time, he has had Road Race route survey but the fuel 

tremendous dedication to anything to crisis put an end to those thoughts 

do with four wheel drive and until 1975 when the first race was held. 

associated subjects, so much so that 

his name is synonymous with the Four 

Wheel Drive Club of S.A. 

Born in Kimberley in 1927, he 

matriculated from Kimberley Boys High 

in 1945. He became apprenticed when 

he left school and completed his 

apprenticeship aws an electrician ir. 

1951, having spent half of this time in 

JJ ' ....- 

Kimberley and the other half in 

Johannesburg. 

He first became interested in motor 

sport in 1949 in the form of speedway 

and midget car racing but lack of 

money precluded him from actively 

entering these sports. A little later Bill 

Richie and Austin built a ricing car 

from an M.G. chassis with a Riley 9 

motor. Shortly ater this 5 of them 

formed the Pentagon Racing Stable 

with a subscription of 5 pounds per 

month. The vehicle that they raced 

was reasonably successful and 

normally gained a place whenever it 

was able to complete a race. Austin is 

trying to trace this car and a picture of 

it is shown below. 

Since its inception, Austin has been 

involved in the race on the 

organisational side and has been on 

every route survey. He has also been 

on each Roof of Africa event since 

1969 either as a marshal, radio point or 

sweep vehicle. On the 1971 event he 

managed to roll his Land Rover on Sani 

Pass. 

Austin became chairman of our club in 

1976 and has been chairman ever 

since then. He is at present employed 

by a West Rand engineering firm as a 

quanlity control manager. 

Peter Achterberg. 

~------------------------~----~--~--~-- 

J 

1 

Before they were able to race this car 

thet had to sell the welding machine, 

which was used to build the car, to 

enable them to buy tyres. The last time 

that they raced this car was at Palmietfontein 

Aerodrome in 1955. 

Austin has always had a love for the 

outdoors and off-road and in 1959 he 

bought an 80 inch, yes 80 inch, Land 

Rover with a canopy on its back. Soon 

after this he joined the Land Rover 

Owners Club. In 1964 he sold the 80 

inch and bought a LWB station wagon. 

Then a number of LPOC members 

started being interested in motor sport 

and started assisting The Roof of 

Africa events. In 1971 Austin and a 

number of otrher people formed The 

Four Wheel Drive Club of South 

Africa. The same year he sold his old 

Land Rover and bought a LWB six 

METAL JOINING. 

Part 2 - Brazing and Bronze 

Welding, and Aluminium joining. 

These are nowadays called "Low 

heat" techniques. The advantages of 

these techniques lie in the fact that 

bonding of the metals is by a diffusion 

of a molten filler metal into the non 

molten base metal, rather than by the 

fusion of molten metal. Thus the 

molecular structure of the base metal is 

undisturbed, resulting in an unchanged 

grain structure and metallurgical make 

up, and very little reduction in strength. 

AZING. 

The joint to be made is first coated 

with powder or paste flux after 

cleaning. It is then heated to a cherry 

red colour by any means available. The 

filler rod is then pre heated, dipped in 

flux, and applied to the hot joint. The 

filler rod melts, and if the joint 

clearances are correct, the molten filler 

is drawn into the joint by capillary 

action. Thus a large joint area is 

penetrated and bonded. 

On, for example, a cracked 4x4 

chassis, brazing has distinct 


advantages over arc or gas welding, 

since a strengthening plate of, say, 3 or 

5 mm thickness can be cut to overlap 

the damaged area by a considerable 

amount. The filler is flowed in, and the 

joint covers a very wide area. Welding 

only covers a small area compared to 

brazing, and providing brazing rod of a 

reasonable tensile strength, 45 kg/mm 

(29 t.s.Il, such as Oelikon A101, Afrox 

M 15 or similar, is used, the joint will be 

stronger and more shock resistant than 

the average welded repair. The same 

applies to the attaéhing of brackets for 

fuel tanks, shock absorbers, etc. 

With brazing, cleanliness is of utmost 

importance, and it is advisable to clean 

using a wire brush, emery cloth or 

grinding disc to obtain a metallurgically 

clean surface. Flux may be 

applied as a liquied or as a powder, and 

any residue is usually easiuly removed 

by scrubbing 

Heat may be applied by any means to 

hand. For small jobs a Cadac gas torch 

is adequate. The Turbo Gaz blowtorch 

will handle medium size jobs - I have 

heard of a Land Cruiser chassis being 

brazed, the heat being supplied by two 

Turbo Gaz torches. For larger jobs 

oseypropane, oxy/acetylene or twin 

carbon arc serve very well as heat 

sources. It is essential that the base 

metal is hot enough and well enough 

fluxed to promote the flow of filler 

metal. The filler can be "chawn" by 

application of heat, and correct 

capillary action will be observed when 

the molten filler disappears into the 

joint. This action will be familiar to 

those who have been done some 

soldering. Absolute cleanliness must 

be observed to ensure good capillary 

action, and it is essential that parts to 

be brazed are clamped together ti give 

a joint clearance in the region of 

0,2mm. Joints of greater clearance 

than this can certainly be brazed, but 

the capillary action will not be as 

strong or as complete. 

Brazing is suitable for joining all carbon 

and mild steels, brass, copper and 

bronze. 

2) NICKEL-BRONZE WELDING. 

Brazing gives a tensile strength of 

approx. 45 kg/mm (29 t.s.l.) whereas 

nickel-bronze welding gives a tensile 

strength of about 70 kg/mm (45 t.s.I.). 

Types available include Oeillkon. of 

Afrox Nickel Bronze, and 

Johnson Mathey type DB, 85 kg/mm 

(55t.s.I.). The higher strength is very 

useful for repairs-to tubular structures, 

high strength joints, and general 

purpose work. 

The technique is very similar to 

brazing, except that the joint is 

prepared as if for welding, i.e. the 

edges are ground as if to accept a filler 

metal. Flux is applied, and the joint 

heated to red heat (800C approx.l, The 

filler rod is melted into the joint where 

it acts as a filler, bonding the two 

surfaces together. Care must be taken 

Your Natal 

Jeep 

Dealer 

~~CJ-6 

to avoid overheating, and the filler rod 

should be melted more by indirect heat 

than by direct contact with the flame, 

where possible. 

~.-\,:_ •. .l. 

iii, 

Bronze welded butt joint on 18 

SWG x 38 mm square tube. Photos 

are of Citroen GS engined car currently 

under construction, 

intended for Roof of Africa 78. 

Brazed joints before cleaning up 

and grinding. Brazing used to 

achieve maximum flow under 

gusset plates. 

AU~I 

crm 

1. Nickel bronze welded joint. 

2. Brazing flowed in between subframe 

and tubing. 

Brazed butt joint with a gusset 

plate. Brazing allows plenty of flow 

into the joint. 

Moto X & Bike NewsSA Vol2 No8 Page51

Nickel-bronze tends to work harder, so 

can be used for building up worn 

shafts, or even gears, if spares are not 

available or are too costly. The high 

strength makes it ideal for motorcycle 

frame repairs, bicycle repairs, any 

repairs involving cast iron - water 

pump rotors, shafts, or similar units. I 

have used nickel bronze to rebuild a 

washing machine pump spindle that 

was badly worn - no problem. 

This technique gives the strength of 

welding, while avoiding the problems 

inherent in high temperature metnods 

of joining. Virtually all non professional 

welders suffer from lack of practice, 

and it is common to find that joints in 

thin (1,2mm or less) sheet steel usualy 

result in burnt metal, holes or ragged 

edges. Nickel-bronge welding is not 

free from these problems, but gives the 

user a head start· in trouble free 

welding. 

the flux melts, the rod should be drawn 

along the joint in a striking fashion, and 

the aluminium rod will flow into the 

joint. A large casting or forging will 

require preheating to about 250C, 

BUT, be warned - aluminium melts at 

600C - 660C, so do not overheat. After 

preheating the same technique is used 

to weld the joint. 

The Multicore Alusol solder mentioned 

above can, with a little care in 

preparation, also be used to repair the 

horrible metal from which most 

carburetters are made. Thus a dropped 

or damaged carburetter can be 

salvaged. This metal ia a zinc alloy and 

melts if you look at it, so great care is 

needed. 

The next article in this series will cover 

gas welding, which has almost' been 

thrust into the background by arc 

welding and the methods mentioned 

above. However, gas welding is a 

useful technique, and the article will 

also cover metal cutting with a gas 

torch. 

Social 

The Off Road Radio Association and 

Hamnet Radio excercise on August 27 

was very successful. Hamnet 

expressed their satisfaction and would 

like to do it again. 

Don't forget the October Lesotho Run 

- contact Ivor Karan for details. 

monthi at the Ridgeway 'Hotel, Hendrik 

Verwoerd Ave, Randburg. 

Adverts: Contact the editor if you 

have anything to sell, swop, or need 

any parts, etc - ads free of charge!! 

Just let me have any ads before the 5th 

of the the month. 

Club jackets, T-shirts, badges, are 

readily availabe (in exchange for mere 

miney, ofcourse) from Chris Roos, 48- 

0310 (W). 

For Sala: 6 cyl Land Rover spares, - 

generators, etc. contact Seton 

Goodbrand, P.O. Box 68391, 

Bryanston 2021. 

WantedAricles, photos of 4x4's, travel 

photos and technical tips - send to the 

editor, 215 Republic Road, Randpark 

Ext 2, Randburg 2194. 

Wanted:Damaged or "Beyond 

Repair" CB set at nominal cost. The 

Editor. 

Braselec 3000 carbon arc welder, 

used to make almost all the joints 

shown. 

3) ALUMINIUM JOINING. 

Being a non fensus metal with a low 

melting point, aluminium presents 

certain problems not encountered with 

steel or copper. A thin, highly tenacious 

oxide film forms on an aluminium 

surface, giving excellent corrosion protection, 

but also providing an effective 

barrier to welding. This oxide melts at 

2000C. while the metal melts at 600C, 

so obviously this presents certain 

problems. The surfaces to be joined 

must be cleaned using emery paper or 

similar abrasilles. Now, to decide what 

to use: Multicore make an excellent 

fluxed solder in wire form, which works 

very well for small sections, sheet, 

tube, etc. However, for oarger jobs, 

such as inlet manifolds, etc, there are 

several types of rod available, together 

with separate fluxses. There are also 

flux cored rods on the market. As well 

as Afrox, Oeitikon and others, Turbo 

gaz make an excellent flux/rod 

combination, which has been found to 

work very well. 

A small section or job will not require 

preheating. The flame should not be 

played directly on to the joint, but 

should be moved over the work. When 

Noggins: If you have been on an 

interesting trip, (4x4, not LSD) and feel 

that others might be interested - 

contact Ivor Karan at 0151-5028 

anytime and arrange to tell us about it 

at the noggin - for those who don't 

know - the second Wednesday of each 

BRODERICX'S for JEEP 

Contact Pat Whitehead at: 

Broderick Motors Distributors (Pty) Ltd. 

Cnr. Kruger &- Union Streets 

Vereeniging 

Tel: (016) 22-1611 

Moto X & Bike News SA Val2 No 8 Page~2

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sullseription forna: 

IZ issues for onl~ R5,00 

make cheque/postal order payable to g.W. publications 

~me _ 

G.W. PUBLICATIONS, 

P.O. BOX 82760. 

. Southdale 2135 

------------------ 

postal address _ 

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Isn't this what 

every 2-stroke 

motor cycle 

owner has been 

waiting for - new 

performance, 

new convenience? 

BP has the 

answer in a big way. Both answers. 

A super 2-stroke oil- and a unique 

squeeze pack specially designed for 

the simplest, surest, time and 

money saving filling up. Just pull 

out the spout and squeeze in the oil. 

No spilling. No wasting. No left 

overs. You get every last drop - all 

the oil you pay for. And if you haven't 

used all the oil the pack is simply 

recapped for further use. 

BP Super 2-stroke oil has been developed 

specifically for modem 2-stroke 

motor cycles - both those with oilinjection 

systems and pre-mix systems. 

BP Super 2-stroke oil is blended from 

high viscosity index base oils. It also 

contains special additives to minimise 

deposits in the combustion chamber, 

plug-fouling, lacquer build-up on piston 

skirts, rings and ring grooves, exhaust 

port blacking and silencer deposits - as 

well as providing corrosion protection 

throughout the engine. 

All this, BP have squeezed into one 

bottle. Go for it.

MOTO X VOLUME 2 NUMBER 8

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