For all you Honda knockers

[merv]

In the sphere of significant motorsport events can you Honda haters tell us what forms of competition Honda have not managed to win some events in?

I can think of world car rallying, speedway - dirt and ice, Le Mans 24 hour cars, Nascar and there are sure to be others - Paris Dakar maybe.

However the list of what they have done is way too long for me to complete for you, but here are some (maybe Honda lovers can add to this list):

F1 cars and other sizes too
Indy both championships
Touring cars
Solar challenge
Motorcycle GPs all sizes from 50cc up, world and AMA - Daytona etc
Motorcycle endurance racing
Moto-X all classes world and AMA
Enduros (shame Merrimans gone back to Yamaha though eh!)
Isle of Man all classes
Trials
Desert racing - Baja etc

They have probably won lawnmower races and now they are getting into pushbike racing.

No other manufacturer even gets close - my guess is Yamaha has been a distant second to the worlds greatest engine maker.

However it is true Honda have not built trains or ships but they are building aircraft.

[Motu]

I'm right behind you on this one Merv,I'm no raving Honda fan,although I have 4 of them - but when Honda san looks at a racing class it's a done deal.So I'm really puzzled about F1,I'm sure they'll get it together,but when?

You missed flattrack,half mile and mile - this is one reason my XLV750 means so much to me.Harley has dominated dirt track racing for over 60yrs,if you want to win on the dirt track you gotta ride a Harley...others have had a go and beaten Harley - Indian,Triumph,BSA,Yamaha and yes,Honda.

Honda's first flattrack was a CX500,bored to 750,turned 90deg and put in a dirt track frame (I may come back with more on this one),but it wasn't that great - so one of the Honda riders(forgotten,a Freddy or a Carl maybe?) went back to Japan and said if you want to beat Harley you need one of these...and showed them an XR750.So Honda San got to work and made a masterpiece motor - 45deg Vtwin with XR750 bore and stroke,but with a 4 valve top end,put in a dirt track frame they cleaned up for a few years,the late Ricky Graham made a come back on the RS750 Honda to hold the No1 plate for a couple of years,others too,Rich King,Bubba,the Honda was the real deal in flattrack,what a bike.

But hey,but before you can race on the US dirt track circuit the motor has to be homogulated,and this is where Honda did a sidestep.On the other side of the world BMW was cleaning up in Paris Dakar,another red flag to Honda San - so they set about building a PD bike,kill 2 homogulation birds with one stone.So the XLV750 was born - a shaft drive like BMW because chains of those days couldn't cope,hydraulic tappets to keep rider maintenance to a minimum.Sadly the XLV750 was not a Paris Dakar success,but Honda kept going and finally did dominate in the big bike class for a few years - the bike that won looks like an Africa Twin,but is related closer to the XLV750.

Yep,no one suceeds like Honda.

[Motoracer]

I've always fucking hated the fact that they are so over priced in the second hand market. Always so out of reach Great piece of machinery (most of them) if you can afford one though

[Andrew]

I've always fucking hated the fact that they are so over priced in the second hand market. Always so out of reach Great piece of machinery (most of them) if you can afford one though

Providing I get a decent cut, we'll swipe one from Cyclespot sometime.

[Motoracer]

Providing I get a decent cut, we'll swipe one from Cyclespot sometime.

Sounds like a plan

[Kwaka-Kid]

overpriced? really?! Where?! in the 2nd hand market? now i will agree with you on the RVF as opposed to the NC30 VFR... but in the 400 market the ZXR400's are DEFINATLY worth more then the NC30.. they are like *the* 400 to own. I always thought Kwaka's were most expensive, and ive ALWAYS hated yamaha, out of all the bikes in my family nobody ever had a yamaha, worked on them heaps but, yucky. Honda are often just that step ahead in terms of foo-foo valves etc from what ive heard etc... always little black box's and i often think they got ahead of themselves and it paid not to get the first model of a certain advancedment, i.e the '83 Radial Valve XR motors, keep away, but by about 86 or whatever they had sorted them and they werent bending valves. anyways, Hondas are great, thanks for reminding me Merv and Motu, im behind the both of you on this!

[What?]

Hate Yamahas, KK? Why? They are all bikes out there, and every manufacturer has made some good ones, just as they have all made some shockers.
I have owned five Hondas (still own three). All good bikes, apart from one has an appetite for cam chains and another is just pure evil. Don't know how many Suzukis I've owned, and I have also owned a Kawasaki, three Yamahas, a Triumph, a BMW and a Royal Enfield (had the good sense to sell that again real quick!) One of the Yam's was a model which did Yamaha no favours, but it didn't stop me buying two more.

[Firefight]

[QUOTE=Kwaka- and ive ALWAYS hated yamaha, out of all the bikes in my family nobody ever had a yamaha, worked on them heaps but, yucky. [/QUOTE]


Is that right ? did not seem to stop you taking mine for a ride did KK


Must say have had a fantastic run out of my Hondas

XLR250
XR250
XR200
SL230
CRF230
CBR600

Firefight

[merv]

Firstly Motu I knew I'd forget a few things last night, but when you remind me of course I remember reading all the stories about Ricky Graham, particularly his comeback. The other point with flat-track is Nicky Hayden's recent exploits in USA before he went to MotoGP.

Just to show you I'm not biased and for those obvious Yamaha knockers here I'm currently looking at a WR250F with Sawyers - great bike to replace my Suz but I'm such a short dude we are having to work on how to lower it satisfactorily. When you are 165cm tall and the seat is near as damn it at 100cm you've got a problem (in this case I've got a problem). Definitely not made for the domestic Japanese market where they are mainly about my height.

I wouldn't mind trying to stay with Honda dirt bikes but they let me down a few years ago by going off-road only with most models and the CRF250X will be the same hence I'm looking at the road legal WR250F.

[wari]

I've always prefered BIG knockers to Honda knockers eh ...

[georgedubyabush]

I like how Honda seems to manufacture all their own parts, especially in the car world. Eg, their own pgmfi fuel injection rather than just throw another bosch system or whatever on it like most of the others. My nissan has at least 3 mitsubishi bits sticking off the engine. Also their uniqueness in some cases compared to the other japs. Oval pistons, v4s, just look at the Honda Rune...

[Motu]

My post last night was just from memory too Merv,I;ve got some pics here of the NXR750 which was the Paris Dakar bike and the NS750 which was the modified CX500 for dirt track.

I don't like Honda cars,they are much too hard to work on,but that's because I do work on them.

[Kwaka-Kid]

shit, yes ur right FF, i forget too much but no i must admit Modern Yammys do seem nice, and shit yes that R6.. wudnt stop me from wanting an R1 either... sorry im just thinking of the old ones of the eightys ive worked on. and yeah true, the YZ250's etc, always wanted one.. alright, its all good! haha. easily convinced. but yes Have had heaps of hondas around here.
SL125
XL125
XR200
XL250
CB250 x4
VT250 x2 or 3
MVX250 x1.5
NS400 x0.5
CB400/4
XR500 x2
XR600
VFR400 x2
hmmm, yes quite a number of hondas over the last 20 years.

[marty]

they are a little over priced 2nd hand, although new they aren't too bad - a blackbird can be had for $17999, but a VFR800 is the same price, and 2nd hand vfrs are probably the best holding price wise of all the big jappas. i want one, but i think i'll have to settle for a new suzi, need the new bike warranty for 1000kms a week commuting

[Motoracer]

I know what you mean KK, my TZR and my bro's FZR are a bitch to work on when compaired to my mechanic friendly ZXR. You notice that the tiniest things will take an extra effort on the old Yamahas.