1972 Honda 500/4 on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Schwantz and Mackenzie on the Nurburgring box

A 500GP bike never fails to stop me in my tracks and that’s exactly what happened when I spotted this Schwantz example from the early nineties, proudly displayed on the Arai stand at the recent Motorcyclelive show.  On loan from Crescent Suzuki and accompanied by a rostrum publicity shot from the 1990 German GP at the Nurburgring, I felt the urge to write a few words on that special weekend. I started the year running my own 250 GP team with fairly standard TZ Yamahas but was drafted in as Kevin Schwantz’s team mate after Kevin Magee suffered a serious head injury at the second Grand Prix in Laguna Seca.  With no testing and some major Spanish food poisoning I finished 8th at the next round in Jerez then followed that up with a 5th place in Misano. Next up was the Nurburgring and after qualifying on the second row of the grid, my crew chief Geoff Crust informed me he had a premonition of a race day rostrum finish. He also told me I better make it come true as he was already looking forward to a few post race celebratory refreshments. While I hoped Crusty was the new mystic meg, the truth was I would have been more than happy to buy the beers if I made it to the flag inside the top five. I had an outside chance of catching one major scalp as Wayne Rainey was riding with a nasty hand injury but I suspected adrenalin would see him through the day. I also followed Mick Doohan a fair bit in practice but he was beginning to find his feet on the Rothmans Honda so was going to be another problem.  When the lights went out Schwantz and Rainey went straight to the front I while I hung in behind Doohan and Pier Francesco Chilli, and then it happened. Coming out of the bottom right hand hairpin, Doohan and Chilli simultaneously high sided in one of the most spectacular crashes of the season. I never liked seeing any fellow riders crash but I made the most of this early race gift and rode my 160bhp/115kg RGV hard to the flag, claiming my first podium of the season.  We partied hard (win or lose we always did) that night and I went on to have my best ever season finishing fourth overall in the championship. After the last round in Australia, I finished second to Kevin at Sugo in Japan then won in Malaysia at another international race that KS didn’t attend. I also tested at Eastern Creek for the following season but then was flicked from the team for reasons that still remain a mystery. Hey Ho!       

EICMA 2013: 2014 Honda VFR800F

Gracing the new 2014 VFR800F is traction control, ABS, heated grips, adjustable seat height and self-canceling blinkers. The V-Four-powered machine has been re-tuned  for greater low and mid-range torque, and also receives a new telescopic fork, Pro-arm swingarm, wheels, new, slimmer bodywork and styling. Starting with the 782cc V4-VTEC engine, Honda engineers focused mainly on cam timing and valve duration/overlap to increase low-to midrange power and torque, claiming 104.5 hp @ 10,250 rpm and 55.4 ft-lbs of torque @ 8,500 rpm. Bore and stroke is 72mm x 48mm, with compression ratio of 11.8:1. VTEC valve timing still operates one pair of inlet/exhaust valves per cylinder at low rpm, and then switches to four as revs rise. Honda’s single-mode Traction Control System (TCS) is fitted as standard equipment and is operated from the left handlebar.

GROMforum.com 2014 Honda Grom Giveaway Winner Announced

The Motorcycle.com Forum network‘s GROMforum.com has announced the winner of its Win a Grom contest. Thousands of people entered the contest by creating a forum account and contributing at least 10 posts on GROMforum.com, but only one person could win the new 2014 Honda Grom. Congratulations to mad8vskillz, who has posted 229 times on GROMforum.com, helping to contributing to the fast-growing community!