Freddie Spencer Tribute Bike, Robb Report Motorcycling, November/December 2005
In 1980, Honda Racing Corporation thrust themselves into the American consciousness by building their first motorcycle to battle in the AMA Superbike field. Their audacious entry was the CB900F, a beastly bike intended to build street cred for the Japanese giant.
Honda's entry was based on a CB750F platform that produced a measly 65 horsepower, but was so dramatically re-worked that the resulting race version cranked out 130 horsepower at just over 10,000 RPM. Power was boosted by upgrades to everything from valvetrain to crankshafts, but chassis developments lagged. Retrofitting was the inevitable solution to power-induced problems; frames became gusseted, swingarms were braced, and hand-machined triple-clamps were built in order to handle the heavily modified Gold Wing forks.
Adding to the chassis conundrums were medieval tire technologies that offered choices ranging from soft and extremely undurable compounds, to medium and hard compounds that required numerous warm-up laps before competitive lean angles were possible.
Honda matched their ambitious bike with an equally ambitious nineteen year-old who, in the previous year, was the youngest rider ever to win an AMA Superbike race. The kid was Freddie Spencer. Having already beat out Eddie Lawson to win the 250GP title, Spencer's alliance with Honda had all the potential energy of a nuclear bomb.
The resulting synergy between Honda's bike building and Spencer's track searing skills resulted in their first victory on June 1, 1980 at Road America. Spencer continued to make a name for himself that year, winning two legs of the U.S. vs. Britain Trans-Atlantic Match Races, beating both world champions Barry Sheene and Kenny Roberts. Spencer finished third in the 1980 Superbike championships, and second to Eddie Lawson the following year.
By 1982, Spencer was dividing more time between the United States and Europe, helping develop Honda's NR500 GP bike while continuing to race in the AMA Superbike series. As the on-track Superbike action got more competitive, Honda upped the ante with increasingly aggressively tuned bikes. Their 1982 CB900F produced 145 horsepower at 12,000 RPM, and offered a raw and difficult riding experience, at best. Racing was becoming more challenging. Maneuvering the overpowered bike was a battle of will that involved violent wrestling to manage the behemoth as it careened around the track. Spencer's efforts to contain the tempestuous bike placed such force on the low-slung handlebars that he actually bent them out of shape, requiring replacement after each race.
In order to offer Spencer a stronger grasp of the bike, Honda engineers incorporated an upright handlebar design. With the new ergonomics, Spencer was able to leverage the bike around turns and maneuver it with more authority than was possible with traditional handlebars.
The subsequent package afforded Spencer even quicker lap times, and he rode his modified CB900F to victory at Daytona in 1982. Spencer's domination on the upright bike was so intense that he led during all but one lap of the race. His departure that year to race exclusively in GP would continue the streak. On July 4, 1982, Spencer won the Belgium 500cc Grand Prix, his first international victory. He was only twenty years old.
In the spirit of the counterintuitive stroke of tuning genius that led Freddie Spencer to his Daytona Superbike victory in 1982, a unique upright bike has been built using the same unsparing discipline that forged the resilient DNA of Honda's CB900F race bike.
In late 2004, master bike builder William Kenefick accepted the daunting task of transforming the already capable Honda CBR1000RR-the modern equivalent of the 1982 street bike that became the CB900F race bike-- into a proper tribute to the wildly charismatic motorcycle that Freddie Spencer rode to victory. Boasting a decade of experience building unique customs, as well as having built three Del Mar Concours d'Elegance winners, he was well-suited to the task. This project holds a particular significance for Kenefick, whose passion was magnified both by its namesake, as well as his father, whom he credits as the underlying inspiration for his lifelong excellence.
The Freddie Spencer tribute bike is available in three degrees of tune and budget from Kenefick's custom bike company, Retro SBK. The entry-level "19" model refers to Spencer's race number and, coincidentally, his age when he won the historic Daytona race. The "19's" powerplant, as with all Retro SBK bikes, is tuned by Jett Enterprises, the company created by American Honda crew chief and engine guru John Ethell. Ethell and his team boost horsepower to 180 using HRC pistons, an ECU, and an Arrow Race Prep exhaust. His links to Honda anchor the authenticity and integrity of the engine by ensuring that it is constructed with highest mechanical standard.
The "19's" black powder coated components and wheels are offset with touches of titanium hardware, and an Ohlins shock and re-valved stock forks are tuned in accord with the bike's altered geometry.
The mid-level "Retro" model offers a more aggressively tuned engine that puts out a stunning 205 horsepower. It features PVM 4 piston brakes, forged aluminum wheels, and upgraded hardware including titanium fork and chassis trim, a Motech sport dash, and more elaborate custom bodywork. "Retros" feature Ohlins Road and Track forks equipped with 25mm cartridges.
The top of the line "Freddie" model has about as much in common with the Honda CBR1000RR donor platform as the CB900F did with the road bike it was originated from; the "Freddie" may as well have been plucked from an AMA Superbike grid.
No detail on the "Freddie" escapes the obsessive eye of Kenefick. As with all models, thirty hours in prep alone are spent on the "Freddie's" frame and subframe. Welds and cast sections are smoothed and extra brackets trimmed from pieces including the swingarm, suspension linkage, and triple clamps, before being powder coated satin black. The engine cases are painted in a flatter tone of black than the frame, and the valve cover, sump, ACG cover, and clutch cover are set off in a high-gloss version of the same color, creating a dynamic, tone-on-tone effect.
Ohlins Road & Track gas-charged forks are equipped with 15mm Superbike cartridges, and the shocks have been re-valved by Bazzaz Performance Design to reduce stiction, creating more stability with the bike's upright position. Forks are a gunmetal color, with lower pieces finished in satin black, while the upper shock remains the signature Ohlins gold.
"Freddie" engines produce a staggering 220 horsepower, and- like all three models- run without cooling fans. Clearly, these purpose-built bikes are designed with tracks, not traffic in mind. However capable the "Freddie" is, its posture and ergonomics promote longer rides and less chiropractic visits; think of it as a gentleman's superbike.
Additional top-shelf components for the "Freddie" were chosen not only for their superior construction, but also their rarity. PVM 10-spoke forged Magnesium wheels and 6-piston monoblock brakes contribute to the bike's outrageous handling and awesome stopping power, and in keeping with the purpose-built racing aesthetic, the levers on the master cylinders are designed to fold in case of a crash.
Other race-bred features include BPD's QS4 quick shifter, which allows full throttle upshifts in every gear. A Lockhart Phillips-supplied STM slipper clutch allows for full power braking while keeping the rear Michelins in check. A thumb brake from GP Tech is fitted, enabling aggressive application of the rear brake while going into or out of a corner in order to control tail spin, a nod to Spencer's notorious on-track acrobatics.
A custom made upper triple clamp is machined from billet aluminum to Kenefick's specifications by MotoWRX in Livermore,California, and the handlebars are mounted on adjustable risers. Every single piece of the bike is blueprinted; wheel seals are relieved, shifter pivots are coated in Teflon for smooth durability, and 350 man hours go into refining everything from the alignment of the swingarm and wheels to the reduction of friction throughout numerous moving parts. The extensive weight trimming throughout the "Freddie" produces the remarkable loss of 85 lbs, which drops the bike's weight to 380 lbs: a significant number considering the bike's power.
In concert with mechanical enhancements is custom bodywork and paint. Organic shapes are contrasted with angular bodywork, and silver and blue striping pays visual homage to the original bike. The upper fairing is custom designed and shaped by Glenn Cook of Zero Gravity, and is bisected with a triple bubble windscreen. The structural carbon fiber tank and tail section are by Max Moto, and the streamlined silhouette becomes sleeker through subtle touches like Kenefick's discreet routing of the wiring and controls.
The "Freddie" may have been inspired directly from Spencer's Daytona win, but translating that spirit into a mass of metal and rubber had to take into consideration the materials and engineering techniques available in the 21st century. When Kenefick describes the organic process in which mechanical dimensions and custom componentry have evolved, he says, "I actually spent quite a bit of time looking at the bike, talking to it, letting it talk to me." While there are a myriad of considerations such as weight distribution and steering geometry that must be weighed when building such an ambitious, high-powered motorcycle, there is also a certain unquantifiable something, a soul that it must possess.
There is no person better qualified to examine the soul of the "Freddie" motorcycle than the legend himself, Freddie Spencer. On a blazing August afternoon at Las Vegas Speedway, which happens to be the home of his High Performance Riding School, Spencer met the modern incarnation of his CB900F and took it for a ride.
After twenty laps around the course he navigates daily with a stock CBR1000RR, Spencer returned smiling. "Oh, it was nice!" he exclaimed, "Obviously I wouldn't have ridden it for so many laps if I didn't enjoy it-if it was tough to ride or it wasn't fun-but it's agile!"
The agility may have contributed to Spencer's propensity for wheelie popping during his ride, a stunt that is naturally facilitated by the balance of the upright handlebars. "Because of the extra leverage," he explains, "the slightest bit of input is going to make a difference."
Spencer's post-ride observations also considered the bike's state of the art components and handmade construction: "What you notice is the light weight. it changes direction so quickly, on the brakes when it turns in; you can see that it's just so easy for me to ride out there. What a fun bike to ride. That thing's really cool."
When contrasting the past and the present as epitomized by two bikes and one person-the raw power versus the modern possibility to harness that power- it becomes comprehensible that a pure race bike can be distilled into a tractable form. It is only in the mechanical world that one can reinterpret the past, and improve upon it. But during Freddie Spencer's twenty laps, the past met the future, and was purified with a level of refinement previously unimaginable.
Basem Wasef
info@basemwasef.com
323.791.8560