Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Im~ress;on: Honda .~ Works rockets from both sides of ~ By Alan Cathcart Photos by Kel Edge . Bill Pet ro & Ca t hcart ~ 00 O"l - ... >- C'\l ;:j C C'\l ~ -e- HAVE A MOTOCROSS VIDEO CHRISTMAS Ba ile y 's Motocros s School o n Video - ~ ........ Presented by Profe sso r Ba ile y Tal ks Rider Tec h nique . A Look At Why The Pros Make It Lo o k So Easy! $49.95 60 Minutes - 1 9 8 3 Motocross & Trophee des Nations on V id eo All Mat os + Pe rso na l Mo me n ts W it h Ride rs ! 90 Minutes - $99.95 Hu rry. S up pl ies Are Lim ited In side D avid Bailey Super Cham p Prese nted by - ...IlrlviKJ $49.95 Specify Be ta o r VHS All Prices + UPS & COD Gary Bailey's MotocrDss Schools P.O. Box 130, AdDn, VA 240~ 130 703 /650-3030 DON'T ACCEPT JUST ANY SPROCKET. BE SELECTIVE. SPECIFY PBI FOR YOUR BIKE, STREET OR DIRT. - PB ISprockets ar e made to perform o n th e s treet a nd in th e d irt a nd a re proven winners in the to ughest sport a round . Whe n you need a re pla cement sprocket, s a y "P BI" and pick a winner that wi!! g ive you mile a fte r mile of smooth, po werfu l perfo rma nce . Ri { ; \ . .~ " '~ MADE PSI TOUGH! Sprockets C la c kamas O regon 97015 Got aD opInIon1 Write a letter to the edit o r ! "- ' S PEC TRO OILS OF CA LIFOR NIA ORD ER DESK 50 RS750 & RS850R Strange how th in gs often do n 't wo rk out the way yo u expect. If at the start of the 1983 racin g seaso n someo n e had offered me a m odes t wager against H onda win n in g the U.S. Superbike titl e, I'd have tr ied to persuad e him to m ake it co n side r a bly less m od est before taking him on. After th eir crushing 1-2-3 sweep a t Daytona . spearheaded by World Champion -to-be Fr eddie Spen cer, the VF7 50-hased H onda Intercep to rs see me d a ra cin g ce rta inty for the first yea r o f th e 750cc S uperbi ke cha m p io ns h ip, a ide d by H on da 's steamroller ap p roac h to wi n n i ng th e ser ies tha t h as elude d th em for so lo ng: a total o f II co mplete bik es a nd 16 engin es in all pro ' vid ed th e basis fora tea m tha t included as ma ny as eig h t rider s, some formi ng p art of a back-u p ' su p po rt ' sq uad . By mi d-season i t see med all o ver ba r th e cel e brations, with six Ho nda victories o u t of si x events: vet therea fter thi ngs bega n to go terribly wrong, a nd b y October we'd learned th at there is n o such th ing in racing as a certainty. T han ks to a seri es o f crashes and rider inj uries , in cl ud in g o ne fa teful day a t Will ow Sp ring s whi ch sa w no less than three H ond as des troyed in sepa ra te accidents, th e Inter ceptors had to ced e o vera ll vicro rv to Wav ne Ra iney's Kawasaki. th at ' ran o n a fra ct io n o f H onda 's budge t and wa s co m p letely ou tclassed a t the sta rt o f th e seaso n . It wa s one of th e most su r p risi ng tu rn-a ro unds in recen t raci ng h istory. At th e sa m e ti me o n the ot her side o f th e Atl anti c, H onda a p pea red to hav e littl e or no ho pe of retaining th e ir W orld Champion sh ip TT Fo rmula I tit le, or o f regainin g th e British cro wn , in th e face o f stern o p pos itio n from th e works Suzukis: d itt o th eir cha nces of success in th e World Endurance Championship, run to TT FI rules w hi ch saw 1983 as th e final year o f th e 1000cc to p limit , before it drops to 750cc for th e 1984 seaso n . H onda de cided to pi n their ho p es o n a n en la rged 850cc vers io n o f the VF750 eng ine , suitably m odi fied for raci ng and housed in a sta te-of- thea rt raci ng cha ssis, in hopes that th ey migh t sti ll re tai n suffici ent co rn pe ririvi ty to ma ke a good showi ng against the bigger. more po wer fu l full -sized machines in 1983, and be a vear' s de velopment ahead o f th e rest for'1984. A co uple o f months in to the sea son , it seemed a h orri ble miscalcu la tion: fi rst o f a ll the bikes were late in a rr ivin g in Bri ta in , th en wh en they did i t beca m e rapidl y evid ent th a t mu c h of the deve l opm ent work re m ai ned to be don e, S pares were in short s u pply, too, and all thes e factors co m bined to force H o nda Brita in to reve rt to the o ld in -l in e fou rs fo r a co u p le of m eetings whil e they sorted out th e trou bleso me new bik es. Mea n time, the works a llo y-framed ver sions had deb u ted a t the Le Man s 24 Hours in Ap r il a nd enco unter ed numerous tro u bles befo re retirin g fro m the first of onl y thr ee en du r an ce e ven rs pla nned for tha t seas on , cu lm ina ting in the prest ig ious Bol d'O r in September. Then it all cl ic ked: ha rd work a nd co u nt less testing mil es m ad e th e bik e in to a winner at one o f th e races H onda wa nted to w in m ost, th e Isle of Man F I TT_ Sho rt ly before, Joey • ,Du n lo p W

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