Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

"There was nothing for me to do except sit and wait.:" ,(A bov e) Celebrating the VFR700F's brief reign as champion : (from left) George Ellis. Jerry Frost, Mike Spencer, D irk Vandenberg, Joe Koury, John Ulrich. Ed Durham, Jeff Haas. Joe Boyd, Tom Hicks, Bob Gregg. Tom Buyan. Phil McDonald, Tracy Walsh. Christine Bau r, Jon Stillman, Bob Oman. Mike Velasco, Brian Uchida , Jon Row, Udo Gietl, Gary laPlante, Kiyoshi A izawa, Rick Mitchell. Riders not shown include Dain Gingerelli, Brent Ross, Nick lenatsch, Mitch Boehm, Dave Bush. (Below ) Leaving the pits. ' Gonna bust some records in Texas, ma, or Honda factory rider for a day By John Ulrich Photos by Dave Bush /Studio 10 LAREDO, TX, AP R. 26-27 The Federatio n In terna tionale Mo tocycliste (FIM) record books will sh ow th a t a team of riders set n ew mo torcycle wo rl d reco rds fo r average speed over six, 12 a n d 24 hours , and over 100 a n d 1000 kil o m eters, riding on a ba n ked , five-mile paved circle track in th e middle of th e desert. T he records will 22 sta n d at an average spe ed of 143.93 mph for six h ours, 146.63 mph for 100 kil ometer s, 144.3\ for 1000 kilomph me- ...- . .144. \6 . ... for 12 hours a nd ters, . . ~" ~ 143.18 mph for 24 hours. Wh a t the reco rd books will not show is that Am erica n H onda Motor Co m pa ny backed th e effort, nor wi ll the record boo ks tell of the inco mpara ble feeling of being a Ho nda factory rider for a da y, of being a part of a ge nui n e factory ri der victory celebration. T here's nothing quite like setti ng a h an dful of records and then sitti n g, drench ed in swea t a nd ch a m pay ne a n d beer . in a rented Chevrolet as th e nozzl e o f a dry che m ical fire ex ti ngu isher co mes through an open vent a nd fills th e ca r with a choki n g white cloud just as another rid er walks over the roof, caving it in . and a third pilot coats th e outside of the windows with a thick, green liquid from a second extinguis her. These factory teams know how to race and know h ow to part y, and here's hopi ng the d ry chemical used in fire ex tinguishe rs isn't carci nogen ic, n ever m in d the th ree da ys of co ughi ng an d hackin g foll o wing th e official tea m cele bration. Fact is, wh en Ameri ca n H onda gets seri o us a bo u t a nythi ng - motor cycle average speed records a n d p ostrace craziness incl uded - nothin g ca n sta nd in the wa y. T he o ld 24hou r record was \ 28.23 mph , set by ' Cycl e Wo rld m agazin e with a Su zu ki GSX R7 50 in September , 1985, a n d th e riders inv olved in th e C ycle Wo rld effort had just received th eir official FIM certifica tes wh en H on da went to T exas. T hose certifica tes a n d th e records they rep resen ted d idn 't have a cha nce, a nd Cycle World 's victory cele bration didn 't even do an y damage. Consid er th e fa te of th e Honda VFR 750F designated as the record seller. T h ree hours int o th e record a ttem p t, th e bik e blew up . So T eam Honda ro lled th e bike off th e trac k a n d s tarted o ver wi th a no ther VFR750F , whi le a VFR700F which starte d a t th e same time as the first 750 contin ued to drone around at a record- brea king pace. As it wa s, the 700 topped Cycl e World 's speed a nd h eld the record a t 138.90 for a few hours, unti l th e lat e-starting seco nd 750 eclipsed th e mark . , Consid er the quest ion of tir e wear a nd tire fa ilures; when Cycle World set the record, they showed up at the track and were ca ugh t co m p letely off g uard by p roblem s with chunks of tire tread Flying o ff th e str eet tires they ran. Lo ts of ti m e was lost installing tires on wheels a nd then installi n g whee ls on bikes. Honda went tire testing on three separate occasions prio r to th e actual record auempt, spending one da y at Dayton a Interna tional Speedway in Florida a nd two week ends at the U niro yal Pro vin g Grounds in Laredo; all three sessions were attended by tire co m p any technicians to mount tires , monitor tire wear and tra ck tem pera ture, an d ad vise 'on maximum safe spe ed conside ri n g cu rre nt conditions a nd rider weig h t. Wh en the slicks Honda ra n ch un ked , th e pit crew was ready wi th lot s o f wh eels and dozens o f tir es. Consider ae ro dy na mics. When Cycle World wen t to Laredo, lap ti m es aro u nd th e fi ve-rni le track varied by as m uch as five seco nds p er lap between ride rs, de pe n ding upon how well the riders tuc ked in behind the fairi ng. The story the maga zin e publis hed o n th eir a ttemp t showed one p ilot wit h h is feet stuc k ou t like a irplane canards, his elbows flap ping in th e breeze like sta bilizers. By th e tim e Honda had finished tire testin g with a team of exp ert racers, tucking in for maximum effect was completely figured o ut , and riders were briefed on wh ere to place their feet (the balls o f thei r feet on th e rear pegs ) a nd hands (righ t ha nd lebar, left clutch master cylinde r reservoir) a nd chests and helmets (on pre-position ed tank pads). , Pit sto ps? The onl y thin g th e Cycle World riders a n d crew had in comm on was some sort o f m agazine connecti on ; most weren 't racers or raceteam members, and pi t stops were, well , slow. Honda? T h e fastest gas stop and rider ch ange took 7.7 seconds. T eam H onda could cha nge th e rear wh eel, refu el , add oil and cha nge riders fast er than Cycle World cou ld add gasoline. Anima ls? One C ycl e World rider, faced with th e possibility of hitting a wiId p ig seen cros sing th e track in the middle of th e night, refused to co n tinue riding. Honda 's Mik e Spencer hi t a bad ger a t 150 mph , exp loding the badger a nd wh eelying th e handlebars into the front o f hi s helmet (loosen ing so me teeth ). Wh en he pitted as sche d u led two laps later, Spencer told th e crew to see if th e

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