Hot Honda
Hot Honda
"It's a 305," the protesters said of this 250.
DON PEOPLES
ASK ANYONE to list the three most competitive motorcycles in American 250-cc racing these days, and it’s a pretty safe bet that no one will include Honda. The CB72, sohc Twin once was a strong bike in the class, but its development, generally, has not kept pace with that of the production two-strokes.
Some of today’s racing two-strokes are producing approximately 40 bhp, right out of the crate! Comparing the 20 bhp, or so, of the stock CB72 with this, it is easy to see why the Honda engine is somewhat out of style.
However, there are quick Hondas around— and they do win races. One man convinced that Honda can still cut it with the best of them-at least on the half-miles and short tracks—is Norm Reeves. As he is one of the top volume Honda dealers in Southern California, Norm probably is biased, but he backs up his claim by entering a CB72 that spends a lot of its time in running Victory Lane.
Back in 1966, Ray Jandra—one of the men in Norm’s service department-joined with a friend of his, Dwane Perkins, in building a Honda-powered flat-tracker.
Since then, they have developed the machine to such a pitch that recent tests on tuner C. R. Axtel’s dynamometer revealed that the previously mundane Twin delivers no less than 32.5 bhp at the rear wheel!
In the light of these results, both Ray and Dwayne knew that they must have one of the most powerful Super Hawk engines on the flat tracks. Brake horsepower, however, isn’t everything. In fact, unless the motorcycle wins races, power is entirely meaningless.
The Honda’s first race since the dynamometer testing session was the indoor National at the fabulous Houston Astrodome-a jim dandy place to check out the bike’s newfound potential!
All the confidence was justified. The bike was fourth fastest qualifier, finished second in its heat after a back row penalty start, and won its semi-main with the fastest “semi”winning time of the meet.
In the final event, a fuel tank mounting broke, and the tank slipped down and forced a piece of the air-cleaner material into one of the carburetor chokes. Rider Chuck Jones struggled through almost the entire race on one cylinder, but still finished in 8th place.
Though the power has been steadily increased over past months, the bike started to win right after it was built.
Elliott Schultz rode it during the 1967 season and finished up as the West Coast (District 37) No. 1 in short track racing.
Novice Alex Chinowski used the bike in half-mile meets-usually at the tough Ascot Park speedway-and ended up in 4th place in the novice ratings. He won two mains at Ascot, no mean feat considering the quick two-strokes that dominated most of the novice races there last season, and finished second on numerous occasions.
The bike ran so fast at Ascot that some other riders thought that it must surely be running 305-cc barrels-or larger. They protested.
The engine was stripped by Ascot officials, measured, and there it was for all to see-a mere 250 cc!
Elliott Schultz won most of the short track meets in which he ran and, on one memorable outing at Lancaster, made an absolute clean sweep. He won the heat, the semi, the main, and added the Trophy Dash for good measure!
The bike displays a high degree of reliability, as well as obvious speed. It has failed to finish only once in its career, when a throttle slide failed. That is the only time the Honda has not made the novice main at Ascot. Alex was leading the heat when it happened!
Its record is equally good on the short tracks. The only time the Honda wasn’t a top runner on indoor circuits last year was when Elliott Schultz fell while leading a race at Merced.
Ray and Dwayne both know how a winning flat-tracker should be set up. Dwayne rode half-miles until he suffered a broken leg in a race. Ray used a potent Honda 250 during his novice flat track year in 1963. He moved up to Amateur status in his first season, and the following year rode the first 450<-cc Honda in West Coast competition.
After a season or so as an Amateur, he decided to retire and concentrate his efforts on building and tuning.
The Norm Reeves Honda is the result. The CB72 engine is mounted in a chromed Sonic Weld frame with a Harley-Davidson rear wheel, BSA front wheel, and a Honda fork. The gearshift has been changed to the right, in accordance with normal flat track practice. The primary case is narrowed so that the bike can be heeled over to the absolute maximum.
The left footpeg is mounted well rearward on the frame, again to insure maximum ground clearance. Both exhaust pipes sweep along the right-hand side of the bike.
Naturally enough, Ray is loth to say what he has done to the engine.
Twin monobloc carburetors are obvious, as are the lengthy alloy intake manifolds on which they are mounted. A lot of the power has come from careful reshaping of the inlet ports. This has been responsible for a great increase in the mid-range torque, a factor most important in short circuit races.
Torque is there in abundance. The power comes on strong at just under 6000 rpm, and continues until the top limit of 10,750 is reached.
Now that Alex Chinowski has moved up to the Amateur class, the 250 has been just about retired. Chuck Jones will ride it in short track meetings for 1968, but the bike, is unlikely to run in half-miles-a situation that will bring much relief to most of its competitors!
However, Amateur half-mile contenders can watch out. Next Norm Reeves project is a super-hot Honda 450 half-miler. Ray and Dwayne are already well on with the job. If it performs in its class as well as their 250 has...
