Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

checked and adjusted from the outside of th e engine wit hout removing any covers. . . just unscrewing a small inspecti on plug to see th e in ternal timing marks on the rotor. -T he 5-speed, consta nt mesh tranny is fantastic : like most J ap a nese units. Smooth, precise , short sh ift s always engage with hardly any consciou s effo rt . I wouldn't tell Da ve, but I will tell you ' that I never used th e clutch once underway , but never ca me close to grinding a dog or too th . The sh ifting drum detents must have no fla t spots. I tried a couple of times to see if I could find fals e neutrals b etween gea rs and co u ld n 't. N o matter how sloppy Marty or I mighstry to shi ft , th e RC always hits th e n ext . cog . But wh a tever youa o, don't stall itl T here's no primary kick . starting a nd locating the real neutral gives Bob H a n na h th e oppo rt unity to lap you twice. The Honda sports m or e suspensio n travel than any of- the othe r fa ct ory bikes - some 12 in ch es at each e n dl While everyo ne else is now usin g co m bina tio n a ir /spring front for ks, Honda's Sho wa units, wh ich ut ilize production style castings for the lower a lum inum sliders, only opera te on internal sp rings . The fac t th at th ese forks seemed to work as well as the b est ai r! sprin g com b in a tion forks I've ever fe lf, with out t he h arsh re bo u n d associ a ted to air/spring forks..makes one wonder if th e other companies . h a ve d evel oped the ir old sp ring designs to th e fu llest pot enti a l. Fox AirSh ox a re now b~ing used on a ll the fa ctory H ondas, incl u di ng . Marty's. T he b ikes are del ivered with Showa gas sho cks, but eve n last year th e team riders were p laying with d ifferent brands , in clu d in g S&W ' and Koni CPs.with reserv oirs . Br ad Lackey I had always used AirShox on h is Huskys, so when he changed to H onda in Europe this year and didn't like th e Showas th at came on his RC, his first ch oice was th e Fox Sh ox , Besides the versatility of being able to adjust the a ir spring p ressure for any track condition and riding 'style almost instantly, Fox AirShox have proven to be the most reliable shocks around .. Some air /oil shocks with coil over springs provide a little smoother dampening action , especially on rebound where th e Ai rShox lack good . con trol, But as one top rider put it , " I' d rather trade a little dampening action for a shock that won 't fade ou t . •' or blow u p during a moto. " And so far, even the best factory Kayaba or Koni units with reservoirs are having problems. Roger DeCoster had been using Fox AirShox on his works Suzukis at Belgian National races when his Kayaba sponsors wer en't around : which should t ell yo u something. . I OK , enough of all this talk! How does this b ig red turkey perform? In one word , fantast icl It's like a flying tractor. Flying, because once you climb on board your feet don't touch ground again , even in the turns because it 's so tall, until you get back down off it. It 's a tractor because it has enough torque to snap hands off at the wrists when th e. throttle is d ia led on even slightly. It puts out more 'power than I've ever experienced on any other bike before , ' from idl e right on up to peak RPM a round 8 ,000. It 's all controllable power with hardly a ny wheel spin. I quickly had . to adopt Marty's riding style of sitting right up on the tank. Look at any picture of Marty in a turn and you 'll see he has his crotch up ne a r th e gas cap. Heading down a rough stra ight you have to st and up and lean over th e front of th e handlebafs to keep from looping out. Even then I never had the courage to use full throttle in anyone gear. The bik e was that strong. Bob Hannah , who 's never even ridd en the bike, . described th e pow erband of th e RC 400 tome better than I could. "Com ing out of a tu rn beside or behind Marty, I ca n see him d ialing ' on th e th rottle witho u t even tou ching the cl utch. H e'll .just sta rt pulling away from me wh ile I' m trying to slip th e clu tch and get my Yama ha up on th e po werband." _ You can never. be in the wrong gear or RPM range for th e RC 400 to p ull . its way out of.' And Dave A rnold tells m e j ap an is sending t hem new cylinders wit h more to rq ue a nd mi drange pow er for th e T rans-AMA Series. I tell him H onda' s crazy. T he en gin e's al ready better tha n anyth ing else . If there's anythin g close I cou ld com p are th e RC 400 ' t o , i t ' s Husqva rn a's 390 CR. The powerba nd is quite similar - very smooth, broad , strong and to rq uey , but the Honda just has a co uple more po nies than most m ortals can use . I' ve a lready descr ibed th e action of the suspension components. Can you rid e a bik e wit h 12 inc hes of .susp ensi on ? Obviously yes, because Ma rt y does an d even I was ab le to quick ly dial m yself in to the ad di tiona l height. If you notice it a nywh ere a t a ll it's in turns wh en you put you r foot out. The Sunshine Mot ocr oss track was extremely ro ugh fro m the d a y's National rac e, but as fast as I dared to ride it without killin g m yself a nd making Dave m ad over a b ro ken b ike , the suspension soa ked u p the worst bumps and wh oops wit h the proverbial tester's saying , " . . . like th ey weren't eve n there ." . CN I""""l l-< (1) ,.0 o ~ u o IAbove) Use of the throttle is important. as Gianatsis foundout i~ a corner. IBelow) Note the p.roximity of the countershaft to the swingarm pivot. - Cas,:s'are maqnesnrm, (Bottom) Red aluminum swingarm and conical, fullfloating brake. Once again , if th e ha ndling of th e H onda co u ld _be co m p ared to any · other bike , I th ink a lat e mode l CR Husky would come closest. T he Honda ha s smoother , longer-travel suspension th an th e stoc k Husky , but th en it's all a matter of how much mon ey you wa nt to spend to make a production b ike p erform like a works bike . Fox AirShox and swingarm kits are available for most bikes, as are the new 12-inch travel Simons forks . The h andling perform a nce of th e frame geometry and designs between th e Honda and Husky are almost ident ical. That is, the Honda is a rear wheel handler under power and likes to keep a light front end. .Keep your body weight in lin e with th e bike's center of gravity as it works through the contact patch of the rear wheel and the bik~ is easily controlled. Brakes are excellent and easy to work as you dive into a turn . Once you start turning, slide up on the gas tank to make the light front end bite into the dirt and respond to the direction you're twisting the bars. It's not a d ifficult bike to learn to ride , but with all that instant power at you r right wr ist , the RC . 400 requires total concentration so you aren't regretting not having made out your last will a nd testament as the b ik e loops over backwards at 70 mil es per hour in 5th . gear. Can you have you r own RC 400 T ype lIB ? Rumors sa y yes, probably sometime in December along with a new RC 250c c producti on motocrosser, The origina l exp ected release date of this past summer has already been held up. How close will th e producti on RCs be to th e works .R Cs? Honda employees wh o've seen and r idd en th e prepro duc ti on prototypes sa y, " Excep t fo r slig h t d ifferences like a st eel swi nga r m instead of aluminum , th ey're t he same ." All we ca n do is wait and save our money. • S~cifications Honda RC 400 Type lIB . Engine 400cc single cylinder two-stroke , reed induction cylinder. Carburetor 36mm Mikuni. Ignition. . .. Capacitor discharge , externa ll y adjustable advarice. Transmission . . . . . .5-speed co nsta nt m esh , magnesium center cases. Chassis . . Chrome moly steel, single front downtube fr a me, aluminum tank and swingarrn, conical magnesium hubs with full floating rear brake , flexible rubber fenders, fiberglass base seat and -v • airbox. Suspension . . 12 inches travel front . and rear. Forks a re Showa oil dampened with inte rna l springs. Fox AirShox at rear. Weight ... 217 lbs . approximately. Wheelbase . . . . . ' 57-58 inches. Ground clearance 12 inches. 33

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