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/126819
\ Spencer and his Rothmans Cigarettes-sponsored Honda in Grand Prix trim. (Below) Freddie Spencer's typical expression. Fast Freddie Spencer won the 500cc Road Racing World Championship in 1983, lost it in 1984. He figures 1985 is his yea.r to get it back. ' Fre'ddl-e on-Freddl-e By Ken Frankel Last season is already a distant memory for Freddie Spencer. ,He has already forgotten th e year h e 1os t hi 500 cc wor ld ti tl e as h e IS 1 rep ares to win back the crown that mean t P so much to him. Not o n ly h as he got a rede. signed machine and a massive n ew sponsor in Rothrnans to 14 h elp hi m, but a n ew trav el sched u le wh ich mean s he w ill spend more time in Europe. Also ma rri age p la ns are in th e a ir a lt ho ugh th ey will pro ba b ly be she lved until nex t year . Just 12 m ont h sago t h e future looked bright forthe 23-year-ol d from Sh reveport, Lou isiana. Once agai n h e was preparin g for th e n ew season as the yo u ngest ever rider to ca p tu re bi t h e 500 cc crow n a n d t h e rggest favorite for years to retain th e title. As the favorite he fell at the first fen ce when th e back wheel o f his new H onda NSR500 V- 4 mach in e broke up in practice for the 1984 So u th Afr ican Grand Prix a nd he mis sed th e opening round of th e season with a broken foot. " Lookin g back o n 1984 obviously it was a bit of a disaster ," expla in ed Freddie recently. " H owever it was not all bad.' I proved to myself th at I was still as fast a rider as I had ever been, and that. in some ways made up . for losing -the championship. • • . ,. " T h e n ew bike had p ro ved th at it was a winner on occas ions and cap abl e o f doing grea t thin gs with more develo p me nt, whi ch it h as now h ad. I' m go ing into 1985 wi th a lot o f co nf iden ce. ' " In fact, I've pu t the bad st uff in 1984 co mpletely o ut o f my m in d a nd I'm just co ncen trating on th e good thin gs. ''I' m as con fide nt a bo u t my raci ng as I ever was a nd I' ll g uarantee ri gh t now th at 1985 is goi ng to be a d ifferen t story for both Fredd ie Spe nce r a nd H onda /Rothmans. 1984 is a ld f f ddi rea y or go tten. " Mu ch 0 Fre ie's p roblem s la st year ca me w ith th e new NSR ma chi ne w hich had the fuel tank fitt ed under th e engine wh ich cause d h andling problems. Also a ltit ude proble ms a t th e Sa lzbu i-gring in Au stria a nd a crash a t th e n on-championsh ip race a t Laguna Seca when hi s front brak e fa iled did no t h elp hi s ca use . In hi s crash at th e Trans-Atl antic Trophy races h e again brok e h is foot , w h ich kept h im o u t of th e Spanish Grand Prix a week lat er. "T he V-4 NSR500 has really different-h andling charac teristics from ' th e NS500 thr ee cylin der and th ey rea lly showed up at Don in gt on a nd, ~~~I~~I:~d~ly , just ca ugh t m e out, " " T he corner where I cra shed, Redgat e, is o ne th a t you ha ve to accelera te rea ll y hard a ll th e way through an d th e crash hap p en ed becau se th e front end o f th e bike ' turn ed in' . to'~~;p~~e~~5S~~;;~1~~~~~~~~~~~~ mo re thrott le so th at it pi cks u p th e fro nt wheel and straightens itself o u t. T h e NSR is very d iffere nt because of th e tot all y cha n ged weigh t distribution. "With th e fuel tank under th e engine, th e weight of th e fue l is transferred forwa rd under brak in g and tends 10 p ush on th e fron t wheel. " T he refore if th e bik e does tu rn in you ca n' t compensa te with a burst o f thro tt le lik e o n th e NS. Yo u ha ve to use some muscle and ac tua lly pi ck the bik e up. " I us ed to o mu ch mu scl e, to o q ui ckly and th e bik e rea cted fas ter tha n I th ough t. It go t some g rip and pi tched me o ff over th e hi gh side." H onda d u ly too k n ot e o f all th e problems a nd p roduced a n ew rnachi ne for Fr eddi e - who co u ld o n ly man age fourth pl ace in th e cham pi onshi p last year - to test a t Surfer 's Par adise in Aus tra lia at the en d o f la st year. It featured th e more co n vent io na l , desi gn with th e fuel tank above the engine an d th e exha ust pi pes belo w. Because o f th ese major struc tu ral cha nges a new frame ha s a lso been co ns tructed. Last yea r a pressed backbone diamonddesign was used to partly accornmodale th e fu el tank an d exhaust pipes. The new frame is a tw in tube • , • d iamond design made in aluminum similar to th e 250cc mach in e. In addi tio n th e V -4 eng in e ha s been redesigned to gi ve a more co m pa ct u ni t wi th th e ai m of re ta ini ng th e low center o f gravi ty which was fea tu red in la st Y s m achine. ear' As in 1984 th e eng ine reta ins the co m bin a tio n of the ATAC exha ust sys te m an d cra n kca se reed -va lve induc tion svsiem . T he com bina tio n o f th ese systems ena bles fast start ing and a progressive a nd predi cta ble power del ivery th ro ughou t th e power ,ba n d pa rt icu lar ly in th e lo w and mid ra nge. C ert ai n ly Fredd ie was su ita bly impressed wi th th e n ew bik e a t h is su n-drenc hed test sessio n Do w n U n der a lt hough h e wou ld giv e li ttl e aw ay. "After test ing th e 1985 NSR500 in Aus tral ia lat e last year, I kn ow that it is m uch im p ro ved in th ose a rea s where it was a little wea k la st year ," h e d isclosed with a sm ile. H e a lso won with th e n ew RS250R H onda at Daytona. "T he bike is great ly im p ro ved over last year and is a lo t o f fun to rid e." h e exp lained. "The p ow er band is broader and yo u ca n ride the bi ke to its limits without having to wo rry a bo u t thin gs lik e wearing o u t tires. " It's fun racing an d I'm looking for ward to racing it ." In sim ilar fash ion to the likes of Rob erts, Mamol a a nd Law so n , Freddi e was a reg u lar Trans-A tlantic co m m uter last yea r ru shing home to Shreveport after m ost gran ds p rix before rus hi ng back agai n for th e n ex t. T h is vea r hi s sched u le will not be so h ectic, " I m ay n ot be £lying back a nd forth to the U n ited Stat es af ter each race as I d id la st yea r, " h e revea led. "T h is seaso n is a little tighter with th e races closer toge ther. I' ll pro ba bly stay aro und ' th e HRC headquarters in Belgium more this year." Fin all y, are wedd in g bell s in th e ai r for th e form er cha m p io n wh o 's sh y, d oes n ot smo ke, prefers Dr. Pepper to any alcohol and p uts much o f hi s successarid happ in ess down to hi s beli ef in God? " Ma rria ge-wise 'yo u w ill have to as k my Iia ncee Sarrie, " h e sa id. "Last year she ca me to severa l o f my races in Europe but thi s year she's Mi ss Lou isiana an d will be co mpe tin g in the Miss America p ageant. " If she w in s, and I think she w ill , th en she' ll be very bus y. At any rate m arriage looks like something to plan for next yea r. " •