Bike of the Month May 2020

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It’s not often that I have a hard time to come up with the words to a BOTM article but this time, I’m genuinely struggling. You see, this bike is a bit different to everything else we do on OSS, as is Matt, tbf.. No cradle frame, no aircooled engine, it doesn’t even have 4 cilinders, yet here it is. The OSS breed has a very narrow vision of what goes and what doesn’t, and there’s very little deviation from this path. However, every now and again, something stands out amongst the crowd; something that works when in reality it … Continue reading →

New OSS Trader – Buzz Motorcycles

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We are pleased to welcome Buzz Motorcycles as an OSS Trader, with a discount available for OSS members. Long term OSS member going back to the original site, Rotty has spent many years as a technician, engineer and special builder. He’s spent a lot of that time taking standard bikes and modifying them with modern running gear, turbos, nitrous etc. Specialising in Suzuki oil cooled models yet having a soft spot for all makes and milestone models as they developed over the years. Working full time as a technician in a busy main dealer workshop, he started on the side … Continue reading →

Bike of the Month April 2020

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Yes, really; you’re reading a BOTM article on the very first day of the month. The world is in shambles, and here I am actually getting some work done; I don’t know either, it’s not even a joke… Ask the question; “What is a Streetfighter?” in a group of people that we have been surrounded with over the years, and chances are you kickstart a full-on brawl. Whatever your opinion, there’s no denying the fact how it started out. Dig out your oldest SF mags and see for yourself; if it’s just Slabbies and Slingshots with 916-seats; you need to … Continue reading →

Bike of the Month March 2020

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As February has come and gone, you may have noticed a apparent lack of BOTM that month. They made that month too short; that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. It didn’t help that the weather was utterly miserable and riding bikes in the summer sun was a long distant memory. Cue March and we’re inching ever closer to spring. Yesterday was the first decent day of 2020 here and I even managed to get the bike out. I don’t ride on the road very often anymore (not here anyway) but if there’s one thing I get the most … Continue reading →

Bike of the Month January 2020

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It’s early January. You could be feeling full of cheese, confused about which day of the week it is, have back-to-work blues or you may even be doing one of those ‘dry January’ or ‘veganuary’ fads. Not me, I like beer and cheese too much. I also like really clean, tastefully modified naked bikes, especially if they are blue and white and have clip-ons. Anyway, enough of that, look at this… January is a great time to look back on the last year and consider what you’ve acheived. OSS member Allspeeds can do that with great pride, having transformed this … Continue reading →

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (and a Giveaway)

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OK, so maybe not quite as wonderful as that first start up after a long engine rebuild! Or eagerly awaited trick bits turning up in the post. Or lining up for the 1/4 mile or a track day. Or finally getting your jetting spot on… I could go on. Anyway, it’s that time of year again soon. You know, the time to sneak off from family/turkey/sprouts into the garage to ‘get some more beers’ whilst secretly spending ages looking at your bikes or indeed pile of project bike parts. The time to make plans for the new year to finish … Continue reading →

Bike of the Month December 2019

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Some bikes are built because you can, some because you want and sometimes because you need to. A sense of urgency before you miss that window of socially accepted ownership, so to speak. Such is the tale of Kraptanaman’s turbo GS1000. Excuses at the ready to justify the actual turbo to the good lady, parts were gathered from inside OSS-land and the build commenced swiftly. This very bike will be the first awarded BOTM twice, because the frame is YoshiJohnny’s old GS1000 Yoshimura-rep, previously earning BOTM way back on the old page. Playing around with the hacksaw to make the … Continue reading →

Part V – The Visit comes to an End – Sayonara, Hamamatsu

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There was no EFE. I lapped the room again just to make sure it wasn’t hiding in a corner that I’d missed. Nope. Clearly, this was in my opinion a HUGE gap in the gathered collection. How could they not have an EFE out on show?! But so it was. ‘Suck it up, sunshine’. I am totally writing a letter. I returned to do the circuit of exhibitions the other way around, just to get those different angles. Sometimes you get very interesting angles. I walked the floor, gathering extra snaps of my favourites. I was still feeling pretty euphoric … Continue reading →

Bike of the Month November 2019

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Wintertime, the offseason; pumpkin-spice everything, snow, iceskating, Christmas… Don’t you hate it? I do; I’d rather be basking in sunshine, hooning the backroads on my EFE or trying to get that one lap even better than the one before on my next trackday. Another thing wrong with autumn/winter is basically, the lack of light and all that comes with that very fact. My motivation grinds to a halt, nothing gets done and that in turn demotivates even more. However, you need the time off to get the bikes you broke during the summer preceding it, or building the racebike you … Continue reading →

Hamamatsu Heights – Part IV

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Another spotless flight of steps led to 3rd and final floor of Suzuki motorcycle history. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this place, Suzuki Plaza. Everyone has their own idea of what Suzuki is, what they do and what that means to them. I wondered if the old boy who worked the front desk with limited English but a welcoming smile even knew that there were groups of like-minded folks gathered within oldskoolsuzuki.info still trying to better what Suzuki had intended (in our own special ways). I had high hopes, of course that I would see all my favourites … Continue reading →