Harris F1 Yamaha RD500

Steve Parrish on his 1985 F1 bike built by Dave Johnson, the engine was based on the RD500 road bike with considerable modifications. It has magnesium Mikuni carbs, a close ratio gearbox and inserts in het combustion chamber. The pistons are single ring and from the Yamaha YZ125 moto cross bike. The ignition system is from a TZ500 GP bike. Peter Gibson made the exhausts. The frame was made by Harris, approximately 3 or 4 of these frames were made. It qualified fourth row in the 500cc class at Assen and front row in the F1 class at the same meeting. The best result was at the British GP in the F1 race when Stavros had a second place in an impressive field. Chris Alty is restoring the bike at the moment.

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Harris F1 Yamaha RD500

For vids of the restoration see

Lancashire Motorcycle Workshop

Sankito Yamaha TZ350

Sankito Yamaha TZ350 triple. Made by Ferry Brouwer and Jerry van der Heiden, it has a Bakker chassis. Takazumi Katayama became world champion on this bike in 1977. The original idea of turning a Yamaha TZ twin into a triple came from Rudi Kurth, he used these engines in sidecar racing. In the eighties Jerry made a KTM 700 twin for Ton van Heugten for sidecar cross, the first race was a win!

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Sankito Yamaha TZ350

For more information and pics about the KTM 700 see

KTM 700 twin

Jedi Yamaha TZ500

1990 Jedi hillclimb car powered by a Yamaha TZ500 four cylinder two stroke engine on methanol. It also competed successfully in the 1100cc class in 750cc trim.

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Jedi TZ500

Want to know how it sounds, see

Jedi Yamaha TZ500

Rob Bron

I did an update on my Rob Bron photo set with a lot of new pics. In this pic he rides a Suzuki GT750 as a promotion for Nimag the Dutch Suzuki importer. Rob Bron was in 1971 the first Dutchman to gain a podium place in the 500cc class, during the TT in Assen he finished as second behind Giacomo Agostini. He would finish third in the World Championship that year behind Agostini and New Zealander Keith Turner. Agostini was the only one in those days who raced with factory material (MV Agusta). The others, including Bron, raced on  production racers. He was racing a Suzuki TR500 under the flag of Dutch Suzuki importer Nimag. Bron is since 1971 the best-classed Dutch racer in the 500cc class. Wil Hartog, Boet van Dulmen and "Jumping" Jack Middelburg did not equal this.

He is still the holder of the maximum speed record at Daytona, in 1978 he topped a lap at 342 kph. He ended his career in 1985. From that time he started a motorcycle shop and racing service. His nickname was "Rough Robbie".
Rob Bron died in 2009 at the age of 64.

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Rob Bron

Armstrong 500 triple

In 1984 Armstrong produced several Grand Prix motorcycles using a revolutionary carbon fiber frame, the most special one was the 500 triple. Following the technology being used by the Formula One industry, the frame was fabricated by car constructor Reynard Motorsport. The designers of this bike were Mike Eatough and Barry Hart, they created the first motorcycle using a carbon fiber frame to compete in Grand Prix. It was raced by Niall Mackenzie.

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Armstrong 500 triple

Yamaha YZR500 replica

The Yamaha YZR500 replica is finished, what a result, this is one of the best projects I have ever seen! The best compliment was made by Ferry Brouwer, saying that this is a real Yamaha. The men behind this piece of art are Alex Arletti (frame and Fairings), Carlo Mattarozzi (engine), Claude Hauser (carbs) and Franck Virmaux (drawings).

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Yamaha YZR500 replica

Bimota Tesi V-Due 500

In 1992 Bimota chose to build its own engine for the 500cc GP class which was then the domain of four-cylinder two strokes which had a minimum weight of 130kg. It was a v-twin two stroke which initially used a Tesi-style front end, but strictly speaking, Bimota did not actually build the engine, which was outsourced to the nearby Franco Morini Motori. The FIM had recently gazetted a lower (105kg) limit for 500cc class twins, the aim being to encourage production of cheaper machines that privateers could afford to buy and race, and Bimota aimed to exploit that advantage. The fuel-injected engine used forced lubrication for the twin crank bottom end and poked out 132 hp. Francesco Monaco was the rider of the bike. Parallel to the racing effort, Bimota was also working on a road-going version of the 500, but it was a long time coming. This was the Vdue, which first appeared in prototype form in 1992 but took a full five years to reach the stage of production. Both the racer and the road bike were not very successful, there were a lot of issues with the fuel injection. Nowadays they are very collectable bikes. 

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Bimota Tesi V-Due 500

Two stroke multi-cylinder sidecar track racers

In the seventies and eighties two stroke multi-cylinders were common in sidecar track racing. In Germany they used König and homemade Yamaha triples as first made by Rudi Kurth. Later Suzuki GT750 and Yamaha TZ500 and 750 were used. in 1980 multi-cylinders were banned. 

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Two stroke track sidecars

Vid of a König sidecar

König start up

Rimotu 80cc racer

Bert Smit on the Krauser 80cc. 

It all started in the last years of 50cc GP racing by Kreidler. Herbert Rittberger made an engine for Kreidler under the name of Rimotu (Rittberger Motoren Tuning). In the 80cc it raced as Zündapp and Krauser, with Bakker or LCR (Louis Christen Racing) frames. The factory racers were Hubert Abold and Stefan Dörflinger, in the Netherlands Bert Smit raced an LCR Krauser with sponsorship of John Bestebreurtje. In 1988 he won the European Championship race on Thursday and became third in the TT race at Assen on Saturday!!

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Rimotu 80cc