Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1182254
1984 CHEVALLIER HONDA RS500 RACER TEST P82 After that, he switched to more afford- able 600 Supersport racing, in which he twice became French champion, as well as winning the 1992 Le Mans 24 Hours on a privateer Yamaha, and again on a factory Honda RC45 in 1995. But tragically, his racing days perforce over at the level he was ac- customed to competing at, Rachel Nicotte committed suicide in 2005. WORN OUT, OR WORN IN? The coordinator of Nicotte's small Chevallier Honda GP team had been his neighbor in Plaisir—the town Rachel lived in outside Paris—Oliver 'Gull' Rietsch. Gull owns the ex-de Radiguès, ex-Espié, ex-Nicotte bike today, still painted in the Ville de Plaisir colors in which Nicotte ran it in 1989-90, sponsored by his hometown, whose Mayor must have been a bike fan! "I gave up my job in property maintenance to go racing with Rachel in 1988," recalls Gull "I did everything that didn't involve working on the bike or riding it—so that meant driving the truck, keeping us fed, sourcing fuel, parts, supplies and tires, and espe- cially repairing bodywork—Rachel used to crash a lot. I mean, a lot. We ran it literally on a shoestring because we had no money for parts. We made friends with one of the Honda me- chanics, and he'd tell us 'At exactly 9 p.m. this evening, I'm going to throw our worn out parts in that bin over there,' so we made sure to be waiting around the corner then. Their idea of worn-out was simply nicely run in for us!" ENTER RACHEL NICOTTE Just three Chevallier Honda RS500 triples were built—the first 1984 de Ra- diguès/Johnson bike, the Le Liard/ ELF one copied from it, and the third Rollstar one made new in 1986, with altered chassis geometry and the potential to adjust this via eccentrics. The original 1984 Johnson bike was used as a backup that season, but in 1988 Chevallier sold this to French privateer Rachel Nicotte, who won the French 500cc National title with it that year, taking victory in most rounds. Nicotte also managed to fit in seven 500GP starts between the rounds, finishing in five of these, and in Jerez, he scored three World Cham- pionship points with a 13th place. In 1989 he contested the European Championship, finishing second in the series, with just three GPs squeezed in between these rounds. For 1990 money was short, so Nicotte only started three 500GPs, twice finishing in the points. Not much to see here other than a rev counter and water temp gauge (right). Old racing motorcycles are beautifully simplistic in certain areas. (Below) Any discerning MotoGP lover will instantly recognize the twin pipes as those from a Honda RS500.