Mystery bike

Haven't had a Mystery bike for a while, so here's two mysteries:

The mysteries are:


1. What is it?
2. Why, just why????

Friday bike

Bet you've never heard of this one!

Vostok S-565

The Vostock was a 4 cylinder 500cc Grand Prix racer built in the Soviet Union.

The engine was a very MV like DOHC four with 3 valves per cylinder (1 inlet, 2 exhaust), and it produced around 80 bhp.

It competed in a number of GPs in 1968 and 69, with its best result being a 4th. Then it was withdrawn and never seen again.

Very little information on the Web, almost everything here has been stolen from this website.

Friday bike

Sometimes a bike is launched to much fanfare, but never really catches the public's imagination. This usually results in poor sales, a short production run, and it quickly disappearing from people's memories. One bike that fits into this group is the Yamaha TR1.

Launched in 1981, the TR1 was a 1000cc V twin styled to look similar to other bikes in Yamaha's range (XJ650, RD 350, etc). It was Yamaha's first four stroke bike with single shock rear suspension, and was touted as a 'sports tourer'. I particularly remember it as I had an SR 500 at the time, and the TR1 was (in concept if not mechnically) 'two SR 500s'. Its 'unique selling point' was an MZ 2 stroke like fully enclosed rear chain, aimed at increasing chain life.

In many ways it was almost a 'Vincent of the 80s' - large V twin engine, triangulated rear suspension, minimalist frame, but unlike a Vincent it was also quite cheap. You would think that this would have been an attractive package to buyers, but it sold in very small numbers. I think I only saw 1 or 2 at the time (probably at shows), and didn't see another one until about 2 years ago. I remember at the time there was the story in the press that unsold TR1s from the UK ended up being sold cheaply to the Greek Police, but I'm not sure it that's true.
Interestingly, it had a slight restyle very early in the production run. In the top picture the bike has a rather truncated rear end and a 'hugger' style mudguard, but later ones (all the one I've seen), had a more conventional setup.

The engine eventually ended up in the Virago custom models (possibly the ugliest bikes Yamaha ever built), and the TR1 disappeared into history.
Talking of a 'Vincent of the 80s', looks like someone had that idea!

More reading here, and there's an owners' website.

Car show

I'd seen an advert in my local supermarket for a car show today, so decided to go along. It was organised by Clydeside Cruisers and was in Lochwinnoch, the next village to where I live. It's only about 5 miles (8 km) away, and as there is a cyclepath (built on an old railway), I had planned on cycling. However, I decided to walk it as this meant that I had the option of a 'cross country' route home.
The walk there was very pleasant, it was a bright day with only a few minutes of rain, and the cyclepath was particularly busy. I was passed by a group of tandems which appeared to be taking visually impared riders out on the back for a ride.
Once at Lochwinnoch I went for a wander round the show. It was fairly small, but there was a good selection of cars.

Old Ford Anglia - if you look carefully, that's a BMW engine in there!

A slightly cut down old Vauxhall

A Bonneville - but not as we know it.

Work in progress!

Love that leopard skin roof!

My favourite.

There were a few bikes there, but the only one worth mentioning was this Harley trike.

While I was at the show it started raining very heavily causing people to scatter and look for shelter. Luckily I had brought my 'walking waterproofs', so I stayed dry. As the rain didn't look like stopping for a while, I abandoned my plan to talk a 'cross country route' home and headed back along the cycle path. The rain never really stopped all the way back, and there were huddles of cyclists sheltering under all the bridges. 15 minutes after I got in the rain stopped and the sun came out! Typical.

Friday bike

Makine

No, I don't know why either! If you can read Turkish, there's an article here.

CL 350 update

Thought I'd write an update of some work I've done on the CL 350.
I haven't really done that much since the last post, just cleaning things and giving them a coat of paint. I always have the problem of when I'm working I have the money but not the time, and when I'm unemployed (like now), I have the time but no money!
The outer cases of the engine look a lot better now.

Before...

After.

I cleaned the cases with degreaser then removed any corrosion and marks with a wire brush in an electric drill. I then smoothed the surface with wet and dry, gave  them a wipe with alcohol, then a couple of coats of Hammerite Smooth Silver.
They came up better than I thought they would, and certainly as good as they would have been when they left the Honda factory.
I've also stripped one fork and painted the lower.

I've ordered some fork seals (unlikely the existing ones will still seal after being unused for about 20 years), so when they arrive I'll paint the other fork and rebuild them.
Hopefully, I'll get enough for the tandem to allow me to buy steering head races, swing arm bushes, and brake shoes, bearings and tyres. This will allow me to build the bike up to a 'rolling chassis' and it'll take another step towards getting back on the road.
More soon!

Goodbye, wee friend

Unfortunately, today my cat Misty had to be put down due to kidney failure. She must have been at least 16 - 17 years old, a fairly long life for a cat, and I'd got her from the local Cat Rescue about 8 or 9 years ago.
Always an 'indoor cat', she rarely went outside until the recent good weather, and had always been content just to seek out the warmest and most comfortable spot in the house. She had a very gentle nature and had been a very good companion to my late wife, Kathleen, during her later years when she was housebound due to disability.
It's strange how attached you get to pets, and Misty will be sadly missed.