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  • Classic Motorcycle Mechanics

    The magic of Marcus

    Dec 16, 2019 6 minutes
    WORDS: JOHN NUTTING
    PICS: GARY D CHAPMAN

    Deterioration is a fact of life with old classic motorcycles, and more than anything it is the electrical systems that suffer the most.

    The components most vulnerable are generators and ignition systems where heat and corrosion conspire over time to undermine their performance, often in mystifying ways. Replacing parts with new old stock is fraught because even the original parts weren’t particularly good, and anyway never designed to last 50 years or more.

    With this in mind, former aircraft engineer and electronics fan Marcus Rex first designed a better generator and ignition for a Yamaha four-stroke 500cc single that led to the establishment 10 years ago of Rex’s Speed Shop. Electrical systems for TZ road racers and YZ motocrossers followed, along with generators and ignitions for Suzuki twins and the demanding Kawasaki two-stroke triples.

    Since then the business has expanded out of the little office on a farm in rural Sussex

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