PS mixed issue sampler - last updated Jul18

YOUR BIKES, YOUR WAY
1
2
3
4
More out-and-out
1
’80s than a Duran
Duran weekender and no
worse for that. Shell paint
job is straight out of a
1982 Harris brochure.
Those big 38mm
2
Mikunis on that tricky
20-degree downdraught
angle. CZ490 inlets cured a
persistent float bowl
flooding problem. It’s all
quite a tight fit too.
Koso clocks keep the
3
cockpit commendably
old school, and a Harris just
would not be a Harris
without the compulsory
masterylinder sweatband.
Swarbrick spannies
4
are a sinuous fit in
and around the tubework
and footpegs. Thermakote
finish is classy and so far
heatproof.
SPECIFICATION
GT750 HARRIS
MAGNUM
KETTLE
ENGINE
1972 Suzuki GT750J
750cc, inline
two-stroke triple,
Mikuni VM38 carbs
on 20-degree
downdraught, Ramair
filters, lightened
crankshaft,
match-ported barrels,
O-ring head gaskets,
RGV250 alternator,
ZX-6R radiator,
Swarbrick TR750
chambers, Zeeltronic
programmable
ignition.
CHASSIS
Modified 1983 Harris
Magnum 2, NWS
swingarm,
magnesium
three-spoke Dymags
with Spondon quick
release system,
Öhlins rear shock,
Öhlins rwu forks,
Aprilia Mille R front
discs, Pretech
4-piston calipers,
Magnum 2 rearset
carriers with Tarozzi
’pegs and levers,
original Harris
bodywork with Cibié
headlights, RG500
replica front
mudguard, Honda
MT-05 rear light.
Swarbrick TR750 spec expansion chambers
– it makes power because it’s been breathed
on – properly.
“The 38mm Mikunis are on a 20-degree
downdraught,” says Tony. “The engine has
been angled down in the frame slightly too,
but the carbs kept flooding no matter what
we did to the float heights.” The solution? “I
found some angled inlet rubbers for a
CZ490 motocrosser on eBay. The poor bloke
couldn’t work out why I wanted three of
them. But they were sent from Czecho and
did the trick.”
The radiator was originally a GSX-R750
K1 item but it fractured on its solid
mountings during dyno testing and the only
replacement to hand was a ZX-6 item that
fitted like it was made for the job. “It went
straight on and now it runs without a
thermostat with the electric fan set to chime
in at 95-degrees.”
The chassis, with an original NWS ally
swingarm, was treated to exactly the same
level of attention as the engine. “The
headstock’s original, but the front tubes and
engine mounts are all new,” says Tony. “Mal
at Metal Malarkey (nr Bishop’s Castle,
Shropshire) did a great job. You’d simply
never know. Most of the frame work was to
get the front mounting points absolutely
right. He welded up the Swarbricks too, just
to make sure they fitted perfectly.”
Swarbricks come in kit form, cones and
tapers all cut and rolled from mild steel
ready to be tacked together for fit and then
finish-welded when it all falls into place. This
way there’s no bodging brackets and dinging
dents to make it all work. The neatness is
palpable, especially in the ceramic-like
Thermakote finish.
Finish is, of course, everything on a special,
and Tony has gone very deep into the ’80s
vibe with a 1984 Shell Oils style paint job
on a red frame (from a Harris brochure no
less) that fairly screams ’ARRIS MAGNUM!
Which is entirely understandable. “I saw that
paint job when I was 18,” says Tony. “And
not having the money then meant I just had
to do it now.”
The three-spoke Dymags are off a V&M
race bike and came cheap because they’re
five pin cush-drive items, not the more usual
six. “It didn’t matter to me because we were
making a new cush-drive set-up anyway.”
Just like Tony and Mal made the myriad
spacers and mounting plates for the rearsets,
and the Aprilia Mille R brake discs and
Pretech calipers.
It really is a Special Brew a Magnum,
always were and always will be because
there are so many variables involved in a
“I FOUND SOME ANGLED INLET
RUBBERS FOR A CZ490
MOTOCROSSER ON EBAY AND
THEY DID THE TRICK”
build that’s purely a frame (in this case
originally purposed for a GSX1100) glass
fibre body parts – and the rest is entirely up
to the builder. Which means it’s more than
possible to take a wrong turn.
“The bike came with upside-down Öhlins
forks and I thought they’d be fine, but once
the Kettle engine went in they just didn’t
look right at all,” says Tony. “You’d think
anyone would be mad to swap them, but I
just bit the bullet and bought a pair of
conventional Öhlins.
“Then there are the magnesium engine
covers which shave a very welcome three
inches off what is a wide engine. The
alternator cover is carbon fibre and I’d
rather have it plain magnesium because the
carbon is not really of the period, but I’ve
got to draw a line at having one CNC’d.
Along with that hose through the fairing it’s
another bugbear.”
So, two perceived problem areas on a bike
that are ‘only’ cosmetic is not a bad result.
When the whole thing gels so well to a
casual onlooker, it’s only Tony who’s ever
going to be mildly unsettled by what he sees
as flaws. Will he get around to fixing them?
Not while he’s working on a turbo-charged
Aprilia 125 that’s already making 28bhp
without a blower. “I’m hoping to get more
than 40bhp. There’s a bloke in Sweden
who’s got 54bhp at the crank from a turbo
TZR125, so it’s possible,” he says.
And when he’s not attempting to squeeze
impossible power from 125s he’ll be
tear-arsing around on his Bandit-engined
Magnum 4, or enjoying the local lanes on
his Husky 310.
Tony is 53 and runs his own air-con service
company. He freely admits he’s spent
£34,000 on this Magnum Kettle. “The
missus knows I’ve spent more than 30 grand
on it. The engine alone was 10 grand.”
Where some people are oddly guarded
about how much they spend, Tony is the
polar opposite and is quite happy to confess
just how much he’s into this one-off
Magnum stroker for.
You can see how utterly stiff the Harris tubework is with the engine as a stressed
member – few headstocks are as strong and unyielding as this
Money is a means to enjoy the good things
in life; Magnum to Tony means Harris, not
champagne. “I couldn’t even get a
Desmosedici for what I’ve spent on this,” he
says putting the vast expense into some sort
of perspective. Not that he’d want one. Not
when there are other Harris Magnum builds
waiting to be dreamed and schemed and
brought to life.
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