1984 Honda V65 Magna (south Bloomfield) 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!       

Would you pay £115,000 for this?

A HONDA NR750 - one of the most hi-tech production motorcycles ever built - is up for grabs on eBay with an asking price of £115,000.The bike was produced in the early 1990s by Honda to showcase the company's engineering skills; a 32-valve, oval piston V4 engine, Carbon Fibre Composite bodywork and titanium-tinted screen are just some of the revolutionary features that warranted the bike's £37,000 original price tag.This particular 1993 model has covered 5000 miles from new - quite a few for a bike with such a heady price tag. We'd have expected it to come with delivery mileage only. It's being sold by an Essex-based dealer who describes the bike as 'IMMACULATE'.

Repsol Extends Honda MotoGP Sponsorship to 2017

Spanish oil and gas company Repsol has renewed its long-standing partnership with Honda‘s MotoGP program, ensuring we’ll continue to Honda’s factory prototypes in their iconic orange through the 2017 season. Repsol has backed Honda’s team since February 1995, making them the longest-running factory team sponsorship pairing in Grand Prix motorcycle racing history. In their two decades together, Repsol and Honda have claimed 10 rider titles, 133 race wins and 354 podiums.