Honda-SOHC

I wish I was allowed a camera when I was working for the Honda Superbike team at the TT. For its 50th anniversary Honda brought over a bunch of GP bikes from their museum, including a ‘six’, and as an extra bike for the Senior they had a RCB endurance racer which had been run by a French team. That was very trick in places, one detail I remember was a diaphragm on the oil tank where the oil was topped up with a big syringe, and the back wheel was arranged so the sprocket and chain stayed put while the wheel could be changed in seconds.

We were in the ex Post Office Depot in Douglas, which was open to various Honda riders as well as the BSB team, one hazard was crazy Aussies and New Zealander’s who thought it was OK to fly a remote control petrol powered helicopter around while we were trying to work. I was worried about becoming shredded if anything went wrong.

We also had the bare bones of a works 250 four from the Japanese domestic championship, that Bill Simpson spent a lot of time prepping for his son, Ian to ride. In the event the weather was so bad that it wasn’t ridden, Ian was probably only half joking when he suggested I rode it instead using his number. Joey won that race, quite unfazed by rivers running across the track. I went out with his mechanics and came back at dawn absolutely blotto.

I love the Japanese stickers, nice one as always James!

The auction bike seems to be a die cast CB750, rather than a K0 transition if Ash’s book is anything to go by, the numbers are too low.

I enjoyed looking at the auction results, I was outside the auction at the Silverstone Classic as I am too tight to buy a programme, which acts as a ticket. They are suitably expensive to keep scrotes like me out. Do the results include the 15% buyers premium I wonder? It makes quite a difference to what the prices were like compared to what people ask in adverts.

Back in the 80's (so probably long enough ago to not have repercussions now) and the DVLA were publicly having no end of issues with their new fangled space age computer technology. When my licence was 'sent away to Swansea' by the court for my latest endorsements to be added, I noticed that they came back added in biro, not computer printing.

When I then physically lost my licence, later (but too late) found in the lining of my leather, having worked its way through a small pocket hole, I had to pay a fee for a duplicate to be issued. The duplicate came back from the DVLA clean as a whistle. Needless to say I did not complain and send it back, just started again from zero with the old points collection, which I was rather good at in those days.

unless its the same bike for half the dosh?

That's a 550, but nearer in cc to the 500cc four that Hailwood actually did ride.

Well, it seems to have sold, it's delisted as no longer available. The 750 was, I reckon, built as a classic race bike, it has all the right, expensive bits. I reckon if they'd taken off the 'bobby dodger' road legal kit, they could have possibly have sold it for more advertising it in the racing section. They could have had a separate photo of it with the road kit. Here's the RC181 look they were after, still a replica but good enough for Mike's son David to have ridden. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/23600/lot/414/?category=list

The 750 reminds me of 'temporarily road legal' race bikes that I've seen over the years parked up on Douglas prom at the TT, such as a Manx Norton with clip on bicycle lights, or a Yamaha 600 sports bike with a scrutineering sticker on the fairing from the previous weekend's Aintree meeting!

I’ve kept alive all these years by assuming that no one has seen me.

 

While I’m not condoning their use, or suggesting your mate should use one, when I was Classic racing I was putting blue Avgas 100LL (I queued up at a local airport with my Jerry cans) into the fibreglass tank on my Triton with no problems whatsoever, despite occasional crash testing.

I got the last laugh at Ty Croes, where I found a fellow racer who told me I was wasting my money, peering down the hole in his piston crown.