Editor's note: Dave Gurry’s review of owning and riding a 1972 Kawasaki H2 Mach IV   generated some good comments including the following from reader Peter Hickman. Peter spared no cost in completely restoring his 1974 Kawasaki H2 Mach IV. We asked him to tell us more about the project and he responded with the following:   

I purchased the Kawasaki from a person in Wisconsin and did the restoration. I am a certified aircraft mechanic, which I think was very helpful in the resto. I stripped the bike piece by piece, cleaned, zip-locked and tagged all salvageable parts and bid for the rest of the NOS parts from all over the world on eBay.

 

All the black parts were powder-coated with either gloss or satin finishes by a firm in New Hampshire and all the chrome was sent to another firm in Tennesse. The paint was done in Canada by Brad at BK Custom Coatings. The paint works hand-in-hand with the decals I bought from Reproduction Decals. I installed a thin clear 3M headlight protector to the rear lower portion of the fuel tank to keep the paint from being rubbed of when closing the seat. The expansion chambers were hand-built by David Higgs of Higgspeed located in England (he has my bike displayed on his website under the H-Series Link).

 

I have changed certain things on the bike to modernize it including: 
• Lower forks were powdercoated with black satin. 
• Oil dipstick was powdercoated with black gloss. 
• Seat side rail and back bar were powdercoated with black gloss. 
• Rear engine mounts were powdercoated with black gloss. 
• Rear inner drum was powdercoated with black satin. All these changes were made to eliminate the old all metal look and make the bike more attractive and modern.

I also added a right hand front brake which involved the machining of a left stock caliper and hand-bending a new brake line to wrap around the fork. The rest of the brake lines were custom made in Ohio by Speigler and the disks were drilled with 70 holes per disk out in Oregon. The rear threaded brake rod adjuster was fitted with a carb vacuum boot (those threads at the end of the rod always looked unfinished to me). I rebuilt the engine myself with five over pistons and Damon Kirkland, "The Crank God," down in Alabama, rebuilt the crankshaft.

 

This was the first bike I have restored. I used to own one of these in high school back in ’74 and always loved it! This bike took the first place trophy in the one and only bike show I have been to.

View more photos of Peter's restoration 

 

I have been a touring motorcyclist since 1971 when I bought a new Honda CB750. Over the years I have been fortunate to tour in 46 of our 50 States. Needless to say I have seen many of the great wonders of this land either on purpose or by accident. I enjoy the motorcycle ride if it be a short ride for breakfast or a cross country trip just for the sheer pleasure of riding.

Two years ago I started a project for my travels: motorcycle touring by river ferry. On one of my tours in Kentucky I found seven river ferrys. I rode six of them and would have rode the seventh but it was closed. Maybe next trip.

I found ferrys that serviced anywhere from six to 300 vehicles per day depending on location and time of year. One ferry that I located had been in service at the same crossing since 1785. No mistake here, 1785. Talk about history.

Several of the ferrys were off the beaten path and were difficult to find. Most were free but the most I paid was $2.00 crossing the Ohio River at Cincinnati.

 

The joy of riding a motorcycle on the secondary roads. No traffic. Not knowing what you will see around the next curve. You know what I'm talking about.

Next year I will be headed for Tennessee and more ferry rides. Another note: I have mounted a video camera to my motorcycle and will be putting together videos of my travels. 
 

Have something you'd like to share with your fellow Motorcycle Classics readers? Maybe it's a touring story, bike review or helpful tip you've gleaned from experience. Whatever it is, we want you to write about it and send it in. Just email Associate Editor Landon Hall with the subject line "MC Dispatch" and you might see your story here.  

 
The 1983 Suzuki Tempter GR650-X Model in red with aftermarket
windscreen and backrest/rack. 

Imagine the weight and handling of a classic British twin. Then update the suspension with a rear hydraulic swing arm style mono-shock and adjustable front air forks. Make the bike look good with chromed exhaust and fenders, contrasted by black cylinders and frame, pay homage to the classic Triumph twins with a teardrop tank and clean lines, and oh yeah, keep it affordable – very affordable. That’s what you have with the 1983 Suzuki Tempter GR650-X, and with all it had to offer it failed to catch on in the U.S. I have yet to see another besides the one parked in my garage. The country was gripped in a recession at the time, and U.S. buyers who did buy new bikes flocked to four cylinder bikes with their wallets, including Suzuki’s own GS models, and in doing so they missed the GR650. Too bad – it’s a very sweet bike, as many Europeans can testify as they snapped them up. I bought my used Tempter in 2004, so this review may be a bit biased – I think it’s a terrific bike and it's a shame the marketplace missed a real gem.

 

The Suzuki Tempter GR650-X was produced in two models, the budget “X” model pictured has traditional spoked wheels, a single color paint scheme and non-adjustable front forks, all out the door for $2,149. The upgraded “D” version got a two tone color paint scheme, magi style wheels and upgraded adjustable front air forks for $2,399. Cycle World’s test boasted, “For a little over 2 grand you can own a real, honest-to-gosh, full-size, brand-new undented motorcycle.” Today a low mileage model will run about $1,500 – and most well under that reasonable sum – if you can find them.

 
The upswept dual chrome exhaust help creates the look
of a classic British twin. 

But besides the clean retro “roadster” styling, the GR sported some interesting innovations under the hood. The engine is a four-stroke twin, with dual overhead cams on each cylinder, and utilizes a twin dome combustion chamber first introduced in the 1981 Suzuki GS650 models, which improves combustion efficiency, and added an air swirl feature to the fuel mixture. Suzuki also made a bold engineering design with a trick two-stage flywheel, that when under 3,000 RPM creates added torque – allowing the rider to lug forward in almost any gear without stalling the motor.

 
The GR650 has a crisp shifting 5-speed transmission,
and included two helmet locks as well as storage under the seat.  

Power is delivered to the rear tire by a traditional chain. No kickstart option was offered – but the electric start and handlebar choke adjustment work well. The twin megaphone style exhaust has a sweet subdued sound, and pleasing swept-back lines.

 
The GR650 proves to be both reliable and easy to work on.
Here you can see the backrest/rack with a small Chase Harper
roll bag for added storage.  

The bike dry weighs in just shy of 400 pounds, making it very agile for a cycle with the power of a 650cc engine. Its 3.4 gallon tank provides a decent distance between fill ups, as the mileage leans toward the mid 50mpg mark when not driven hard. The seat is pretty comfortable and relatively low at just under 30 inches, with plenty of space for a single rider, and decent for two. Under the one-piece seat is a small tool tray and access to the battery, as well as a helmet lock on each side of the frame.

 
The tool tray under seat provides limited but adequate storage. 

The “full floater” swing arm suspension includes the ability to adjust the preload from 1 (low) to 5 (high) with the round knob located under carbs  – useful when riding two-up. The single front disc and rear drum brake provide adequate braking since the bike is so light for its class. The entire package makes for a nice ride on a twisty road, banks and turns with ease, and has plenty of power. The low-end torque makes the bike forgiving in any gear.

 
Preload adjustment knob located under the carburetor. 

Some performance comments rose about the gearing, which is as a bit low and make the bikes rev high, annoying mostly when cruising at higher speeds.  Changing out the rear sprocket from the stock 38 to a 36-tooth model is a popular modification, along with swapping the front 15 to a 16-tooth sprocket. The electrical system is another potential weak spot, with the stock regulator/rectifier unit somewhat underpowered, so another popular modification is to replace the unit with a larger more powerful one. My bike came with the rear sprocket modification already, and in the course of owning it I’ve upgraded the R/R unit, as well as rebuilt the starter motor and added some aftermarket accessories.

When first introduced the bikes were well received by the motorcycle press. Cycle World wrote in their favorable review, “You’ll notice we’ve been carefully referring to this as the GR650, a perfectly good name for this great bike…Tempter is a silly name. This is not a silly motorcycle.”

 
Only the US received the ill-fated “Tempter” badge for the GR650. 

The magazine would go on to do a long-term report one year and 14,000 miles later, calling the bike “a good and faithful servant.”

I found this original GR on eBay – being sold by a very nice guy who had bought it used and kept it in storage – never even tagging it. It had only 7,500 miles, and was in overall very good condition. It never received a single bid on eBay (the opening bid was too high at $1,200, plus for a Suzuki what ???), and after some research I offered the seller $1,000 for it, and another $100 to deliver it the 100 miles to my home. When it arrived I found some parts missing, such as the chain guard and air filter, and gave the gummed up carbs a thorough cleaning. During the process the gas tank’s prior rust treatment dissolved into big chunks of plastic “Cream” crud, and was removed and flushed out before putting the bike back together.

 
The instrument package includes a gas gauge and
gear indicator – thoughtful items on a budget-minded bike.  

The bike is a bit cold blooded, like many models from the day, and in the States the mixture screws on each carb are covered by brass caps - making adjusting anything but the idle impossible. I drilled those annoying caps off my carbs, and now can easily adjust the mixture – a must in my opinion for a 20-plus year old cycle. I’ve found that after a few minutes warming up, with the right mixture the bike runs well, delivering a smooth pleasant rumble from each cylinder through the megaphone style exhaust, with plenty of power and nice handling.

For me the bike is a good fit for my 5 foot 10 inch frame, and never ceases to give me a great ride, whether it’s for a short hop or long day trip. My wife and I will do day trips and she’s found the seat comfortable with the backrest as added security. In Europe where it’s a more common sight, riders commonly adapt their GRs for touring by adding hard cases and windscreens, for which it seems well suited. There is a very active Netherlands-based forum with enthusiasts eager to share their love for this model of bike, and their in-depth technical knowledge.

 
This 1983 Suzuki Tempter GR650-X model only had 7500
miles when brought back to life by its current owner. 

I’m by no means an expert, but the GR650 is a straightforward machine for the average shade tree mechanic, and except for the valves that require shims for adjustment, everything is very accessible. Parts such as gaskets, filters, replacement screws, etc. and such are still available, as the GR shared many basic parts from the GS line. I’ve found BikeBandit.com to be a good source for OEM parts, although most aftermarket accessories passed on the Tempter. When I decided I wanted a backrest/rack I ended up buying a used one-piece unit from an early 80’s Yamaha, and with the help of a hacksaw, drill, stainless screws and bolts adapted it to fit the existing grab rails.

For this rider the Tempter proved more than just a temptation – it gave me the confidence to work on bigger bikes by myself, and fulfilled the desire to own a British-style twin, but with Japanese dependability, and some clever engineering to boot. When I park my bike at work a Suzuki GSX-R Sport Bike is always right next to mine – and I always look at the racing style rear swing arm and note my 23 year old bike sports the same technology…and is a bike that fits my 40-plus year old frame, not to mention my budget.

I’ve always owned used Japanese bikes from the seventies and eighties. I think they are great fun, terrific bargains, and forgiving to work on for someone teaching themselves the basics of motorcycle repair and maintenance. The Internet has proven to be a huge resource for owners, and I like the idea of recycling perfectly good machines rather than buying new. Everyone in my town, and most others from what I can tell, are eager to drop over $15K on a new Harley. For that I could have bought 15 of these bikes, but I only need one. This allowed me the to succumb to the ultimate temptation – buy another used Japanese bike. I’ve come to realize that fixing them up is almost as fun as riding them, and out there are many low mileage bikes just waiting for a thoughtful new owner. Now that I think of it, twenty- three years later, the name “Tempter” is somewhat fitting.

 

 

Have something you'd like to share with your fellow Motorcycle Classics readers? Maybe it's a touring story, bike review or helpful tip you've gleaned from experience. Whatever it is, we want you to write about it and send it in. Just email Associate Editor Landon Hall with the subject line "MC Dispatch" and you might see your story here. 

 

It’s not often that a race bike gets me second guessing my meager riding skills and questioning if I am man enough to get on it from 30 ft away across the paddock. That was my exact thought process however as owner Stan Friduss pulled away the remote starter and the heavily breathed on 1000cc engine of the 1976 Moto Guzzi Lemans Superbike exploded to life. Every head within earshot turned towards the pit. I approached cautiously as the biked settled into a spitting idle as if it was pissed off for being woken up, courtesy of the gaping DelOrto smoothbore carbs. This was my first introduction to my dance partner for the weekend, and the fortuitous relationship to come.

Thanks to Stan and Pearl Friduss, I got the opportunity to ride the Friduss Racing Moto-Guzzi vintage heavyweight superbike for the AHRMA season finale at the beautiful Barber Motorsport Park. I am a huge fan of the vintage superbike class, having grown up during that exciting first era of 1025cc high handlebar superbikes. This was an era when tires and chassis hadn’t quite caught up to impressive power output the superbikes were capable of. Exciting would be a huge understatement to anyone who witnessed the original spectacle. Ever since AHRMA re-introduced the class a few years ago, I had been itching to throw my leg over a heavyweight superbike. Honestly, however, a Moto Guzzi ‘Superbike’ was pretty far down the bucket list. Why would I want to ride an old quirky pushrod, shaft drive Italian V-twin originally intended for the touring market when I could be pretending to be Eddie Lawson or Wes Cooley on a 1025cc Japanese inline 4 fire breather? Part of the draw to riding one of  Stan’s bike was his history of building quick Moto-Guzzi’s. After racing against his impressively fast Daytona based Formula 2 Battle of the Twins racer, I always wondered what it would be like to ride one.

 
Then 19-year-old Mike Baldwin (and friends) on the very same Guzzi superbike I would ride at Barber. 

One of the other draws to riding this particular superbike was it’s incredible racing history. This was no replica, but one of the original protagonists from the dawn of the superbike era. It was the very bike (purported to being the first Moto Guzzi Lemans brought into the U.S.) the great Reno Leoni of Ducati/Jimmy Adamo fame built for a 19 year old Mike Baldwin to ride during the 1976 season. Baldwin placed 5th at Daytona that year, then won in stunning fashion the following round at Loudon. Baldwin notched another victory on the bike the following year at the Charlotte superbike race. This was about the time Stan acquired the bike, where it went on to win countless club races, as well as several AMA Battle of the Twins victories and AHRMA races and championships. The list of names who rode the bike was a veritable who’s who of American road racing, including Rick Schlacter, Sherri Friduss, Will Harding, and even equally famed racer/announcer Richard Chambers (who just happened to be calling the races at Barber!).

 
In the shadow of greatness, frantically trying to learn to understand Italian … 

Despite the bikes racing pedigree, there were still some concerns about riding it in anger on my end. Even in it’s day, it was a bit of stretch to call the Lemans a sportbike. I had never ridden, let alone raced, a shaft drive motorcycle. The shaft drive also limited gearing options. Due to the shaft drive specific wheel, we were limited to running the stock 18” hoops (17” wheels and modern radial race dots are allowed in the AHRMA superbike class). The bike still runs it’s original 35mm forks, that even back in the day were considered small. The bike was also physically very low to the ground with a really long wheelbase approaching 60 inches. It would be a challenge to race around a track like Barber that rewards good handling and front end feel. To make matters worse, The allotment of Dunlop KR race compound 18” tires run on the Guzzi was gone for the year, so we had to make due with a half cooked rear tire and front tire of undetermined age. Not exactly a recipe for rider confidence…  

My first laps around Barber on the Guzzi didn’t do too much to improve my confidence either. Despite the thing scaring me silly during the starting process, I still managed to muster up enough courage to climb aboard to do my best Mike Baldwin impression. First thing I noticed, besides the glorious Italian symphony emanating from the 2 into 1 megaphone exhaust, was how quickly the bike revved. I have never ridded a stock Lemans, but expected the Guzzi to rev lazily like an air cooled Buell or Harley. This was definitely not the case, as the bike’s lightened flywheel and automotive style clutch allowed the big twin to rev like a two stroke. Each rev was accompanied by a disconcerting gentle side to side swaying caused by the inertia forces of the axially mounted 90 degree V-twin. You sit low in the saddle of the Guzzi, and when combined with the high pegs and long reach across the bulbous tank to the bars, promoted a ‘crouching surfer’ like riding position. The shift lever toe piece was very far out, resulting in a long shift throw that required a deliberate stab. Luckily, the sweet power delivery of the engine kept shifting to a minimum. The Guzzi pulled extremely strong from down low to its self imposed 8000rpm red line. I was a little shocked at how fast the thing was in a straight line. There is no question Stan can build a Guzzi superbike engine!

 
Hole shot from the 3^rd row – blind squirrel, nut, etc … 

As good as the engine felt, the chassis felt a generation behind. The long reach to the bars combined with the skinny 35mm forks resulted in a numb feeling front end with little feedback. The front end protested with chatter anytime I tried to push my corner speed up and ride the front end. The chassis was very loose feeling on the gas as the powerful engine would spin the worn Dunlop at will. The worst part of the track for this was at the end of the back straight where you crest a hill in a right hand turn. The bike would spin the tire and weave all the way up and back down the hill….all with your knee on the deck. Surprisingly, the shaft drive didn’t factor into any negative drivability issue while on the gas. Where I did notice it was on the brakes, where it actually sucked the back end down under engine braking, causing severe rear end chatter if I wasn’t careful about matching revs on down shifts.

Practice ended, and I still hadn’t figured out how to ride the bike. My times were about 10 seconds off a competitive pace for the class, and actually slower lap times than on my 350 Honda sportsman bike. Power was not an issue, but I just couldn’t get any confidence in the chassis or the numb feeling front end. A change to an equally ancient Avon rear tire didn’t help the situation at all. Despite the problems, we slowly chipped away at some of the issues on race day practice. Randy at Framecrafters welded up a new shifter toe piece that drastically shortened the shifter throw, allowing me to focus some additional brainpower on riding instead of shifting. Stan threw a $25 used Dunlop rear tire cast off from fellow competitor Tim Joyce on the bike which easily outperformed the Avon. I generally got more comfortable on the bike and concentrated on riding better, but it was obvious I was no Mike Baldwin. Before we new it, it was time for our first superbike race…ready or not.

 
If only the race would have lasted 4 laps ... 

I was lined up on the 3rd row for the start, wondering how the hell I was going to get this thing around the track competitively. I got a so-so launch and got stuck behind some 2nd row guys, bending the Guzzi delicately through turn 1 and making what I thought were clean outside passes through turns 3 and 4 with the front end protesting the entire time. I made it up to about 5th place when the race was red flagged for a crash. During the intermission while the track was being cleaned up, I was ripped a new one by a fellow competitor who said I cut across his front wheel and almost caused him to crash (I am probably guilty as charged….). I sat there biting my lip simmering. I was frustrated with my riding, angry, and focused on getting a good start for the re-start to get away from any issues in the middle of the pack. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was exactly what I needed.

I rode the warm up lap for the re-start as hard as I dared to get some heat into our old Dunlops. I was done walking on egg shells with this thing, it was win it or bin it time. I made a really aggressive drag bike like start. The bike responded beautifully. It is so long and low, that there was no way it was ever going to wheelie, so it just dug in and took off like shot. I surprised myself when I went from the third row into a 4 bike lead after the first corner. I just rode the bike angry, and it seemed to work. The bike still protested, but the feedback was the same if I was riding a cautious 80 percent or an aggressive 100 percent, so the choice was obvious. Like any fiery Italian, the bike would gesticulate wildly up in your face, but you were pretty sure it wasn’t actually going to punch you out….at least I hoped so. We led the first 3 laps of the superbike race as things finally began to gel, but the pace just wasn’t sustainable. The front end chatter got worse with each subsequent lap as the tires and front suspension heated up. Our well worn $25 rear tire began spinning up on early throttle application. After barely staying upright when the front end folded on the last corner on lap 4, I had to back down the corner speed even more to try and keep it on two wheels. Inevitably, we were passed for 1st place by Peter Politek on his 1000cc Ducati. No. 1 plate holder Crussel on his big 1000cc Kawasaki also got by eventually after an exciting lap of battling for 2nd place. We caught back up, but just didn’t have the corner speed or drive to get the position back. We ended the race in a surprisingly competitive 3rd place; a position I would have never thought attainable prior to the red flag re-start.

 

The rest of the weekend had its up and downs. An electrical gremlin took us out of a possible podium in formula vintage. Now that I had cracked the code to getting the most out of the bike, I was able to take advantage of the bikes strengths…the great power and the bikes surprising stability on the brakes allowed us to go faster each time out. By Sunday’s superbike race, we were able to lead a number of laps and finish in 2nd place. After strongly considering racing on the nearly bald rear tire one more time, we decided to call it a (safe) season and skip the last formula vintage race.

As I faced the bleak prospect of a cold Wisconsin winter on the 14-hour drive home, I found myself drifting off re-living my saddle time on the old war horse. The memory of the big Guzzi twin wrenching off of corners of a beautiful racetrack on a perfect fall day had left a lasting impression. Add to that the chance to ride one of a handful of original superbikes with such a rich and colorful racing pedigree made for an exceptional weekend. It had taken me two days to figure out how to ride the bike. I could have saved myself some time with a quick reading of the superbike race reports of the day. Mike Baldwin was one of the fastest riders of his time, and often criticized for what some felt was overly aggressive riding. I could see how that riding style worked well on the Guzzi. The secret to going fast on this bike was as simple as being Baldwin. A tall order indeed…..

Thanks to Randy at Framecrafters for the emergency shifter modification. A huge thanks to Stan and Pearl Friduss of Friduss Racing/Stan’s Moto Guzzi/BMW for the opportunity to ride this amazing motorcycle.   

Friduss Racing is sponsored by: 
• Stan’s Moto-Guzzi/BMW 
• Michigan Engineering
• MG Cycle 
• Vanson 
• Interstate Batteries