What was Honda thinking?
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lower cg and mass centralization. Unfortunately, the experiement didn't work and they soon after went back to a more conventional layout (helping Freddie to win the 1985 500GP title)....
FWIW, they REALLY dropped the ball ten years later (1994) with a certain alphaneumerically called dud whose mandate was to conquer the world in Superbike (but which sadly managed to get a sound thrashing most times out, and put the lofty reputation of HRC into near disrepute....)
FWIW, they REALLY dropped the ball ten years later (1994) with a certain alphaneumerically called dud whose mandate was to conquer the world in Superbike (but which sadly managed to get a sound thrashing most times out, and put the lofty reputation of HRC into near disrepute....)
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Elf had already tried it out on one of their bike in 1979 and it didn't work out for exactly the same reasons: huge steering issues, too low of a center of gravity not transferring weight under braking and acceleration etc.
Elf had struck a deal with Honda that same year (which gave Elf RCB100 and NSR500 engine and gave Honda the single side swingarm used on various bikes) so it's curious they repeated the same mistake with the same consequences.
Elf had struck a deal with Honda that same year (which gave Elf RCB100 and NSR500 engine and gave Honda the single side swingarm used on various bikes) so it's curious they repeated the same mistake with the same consequences.
There may have been a couple of other theoretical advantages of that layout - the exhausts could have their own free run and not have to be built to fit around the bottom of the engine and that the mass higher up on the bike stayed the same through the race. It may have worked a bit better if they could move some of that fuel tank volume to behind the engine/under the seat by splaying those exhausts out a bit.
An interesting packaging exercise nonetheless!
An interesting packaging exercise nonetheless!
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Thinking about their Rider(s)
They did this as a "Just in case" the seaons races went through the Winter!:woot:
god I hate those CRAP ComStar rims!
They did this as a "Just in case" the seaons races went through the Winter!:woot:
god I hate those CRAP ComStar rims!
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Honda was thinking out of the box and wanted to experiment with every new![]()
idea their young buck engineers could dream up... these are the same engineers
that produced the RVF 4 stroke Works racers which born the RC30 and RC45
production racers... too bad Honda don't make them like that any more... too
expensive compared to the pedestrian bikes...
That thing indeed was a bust. With a near empty tank it cornered ok. But with a heavy fuel load so low it had the tendency to try to lift the tires off the ground on fast transitions. Honda learned quite quickly that the center of mass should be at axle level or slightly higher. Can't blame them for trying though. And the pipes do look cool up there.
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1,725 Posts
Hurry, tits needed...
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Exactly right - the center of mass of the fuel tank was actually further away from the COG of the bike, and hurt agility. All that fuel mass so low and having to be swung under and around the COG did not help agility of traction. Sometimes lowering the mass like this hurts more than it helps.
Still....it was worth a try.
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Hey Larry,
No interest in this thread-
http://www.speedzilla.com/forums/street-track/63312-just-stir-pot.html
Interesting.....
The last of the Yamaha 500GP piston-port inline fours (ridden by King Kenny @1979) had the intake at the front and exhaust facing the rear. It was only a stop-gap measure, however, pending the development of Yamaha's own rotary valve square four and later V4 layouts...
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6,827 Posts
Super interesting... I have Kevin Cameron's book and I have dined on every word like fine steak...Hey Larry,
No interest in this thread-
http://www.speedzilla.com/forums/street-track/63312-just-stir-pot.html
Interesting.....
Someday I hope Kevin accepts my invitation and comes to the BLS so he can
dined on my Nr500 cylinder blocks like fine steak... and we will talk about how
Mr.Honda's 4 stroke Gp racer leads right to the RC45 on the family tree...
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757 Posts
Laverda made a V6 endurance racer with a longitundinal layout in the late 70's. Some nut balls have tried racing the old BMW "brick" K bikes, as well as 1st gen Goldwings. Those are the only types of that engine layout I can think of.
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