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rd500
hi, this might be a bit of biased question from myself but ill give it a go,

as my username suggests i have an rd500lc which i have owned for a long time now and i am always trying to find out a bit of what they done on the race tracks of the world ( nothing probably ) rolleyes.gif, i know where i live i only seen 1 at knockhill in 86 or as far as i can remember anaway, i know that hizzy rode one in the senior tt in 85 and finished 10th, doohan raced one in oz and im sure alex crivilles uncle raced one, Phil Mellor and Des Barry im sure ran them aswell under the padgetts banner. if you guys have any info at all who raced them and what positions they got or even if they were successful it would be a great help. thanks in advance. PS.... speaking of knockhill does anyone remember the hulk that used to race there. smile.gif
MoMurray
QUOTE (rd500 @ Aug 25 2009, 08:18) *
hi, this might be a bit of biased question from myself but ill give it a go,

as my username suggests i have an rd500lc which i have owned for a long time now and i am always trying to find out a bit of what they done on the race tracks of the world ( nothing probably ) rolleyes.gif, i know where i live i only seen 1 at knockhill in 86 or as far as i can remember anaway, i know that hizzy rode one in the senior tt in 85 and finished 10th, doohan raced one in oz and im sure alex crivilles uncle raced one, Phil Mellor and Des Barry im sure ran them aswell under the padgetts banner. if you guys have any info at all who raced them and what positions they got or even if they were successful it would be a great help. thanks in advance. PS.... speaking of knockhill does anyone remember the hulk that used to race there. smile.gif


There was a guy in Ireland, Eric Galbraith who raced one at the TT and other major roads events as well as the Irish National events with some success. He cant be contacted throught the Irish Honda Motorcycles distributor if you wish to ask him directly. Great motorcycle bye the way.

Mo
rd500
thanks for that up.gif another 1 to add to list, do you remember if he won anything ???
GD66
Richard Scott and Michael Dowson achieved the 500's biggest victory when they won the Castrol 6 Hour at Oran Park in 1984, results and details at castrol6hour.com.au.
philippe7
And then of course there is the mysterious RDLC-based racer used by Steve Parrish in the 500cc Grand Prix, that we have discussed on many occasions

http://www.highsider.com/textlager/uk_text...rrish_85_01.htm
philippe7
QUOTE (Macca @ Mar 6 2009, 23:07) *
That was the year I went to the TT - I'll try to find a pic.

Meanwhile..........



Paul M

philippe7
QUOTE (philippe7 @ Mar 7 2009, 01:02) *
Steve Parrish seems to be aboard a 500 RDLC production-based machine, which prompts me to ask if anybody knows details about that other ( or is it the same ) RDLC-based racer that he campaigned in 500cc Grand Prix for a while . I know Stavros retained for many years an ex-factory 500 in-line 4 Yamaha (which he may have gotten through his Barry Sheene connection ) which he campaigned way past its sell-by date, and later (1985 ? ) used this notorious RDLC-based machine . Wonder how it could have been competitive against what was then still a rather good field of private RG's and RS's . Does anybody know more about this specific bike ? Engine preparation, frame, etc ?

Pics of said bikes on Manfred's site :

the vintage factory bike used in 83 :
http://www.highsider.com/textlager/uk_text...rrish_83_02.htm

the 1984 machine : is this still the same machine as the previous year ?
http://www.highsider.com/textlager/uk_text...rrish_84_02.htm

the 1985 bike : definitely an RDLC-based machine
http://www.highsider.com/textlager/uk_text...rrish_85_01.htm

exclubracer
QUOTE (philippe7 @ Aug 26 2009, 02:52) *
And then of course there is the mysterious RDLC-based racer used by Steve Parrish in the 500cc Grand Prix, that we have discussed on many occasions

http://www.highsider.com/textlager/uk_text...rrish_85_01.htm


Yes, this was built for the then Formula 1 class by Dave 'Mushroom' Johnson when Steve rode for Mitsui Yamaha UK with the engine using some TZ internals but the project came to nowt due to the weak RD500 crankcases, as opposed to the Suzuki RG500 Gamma as campaigned with great success by Darren Dixon in '88 when he trashed the diesels in the UK championship.

Then the following year of course the the rules were changed by Honda/ACU and the rest is history, boredom and the RC30/R7 diesels ruled the roost... rolleyes.gif
rd500
thanks for all the info folks up.gif , you have jogged my memory of parishes rd project, i think it was in bike magazine or something, i do remember reading about it. wasnt parishs in line 4 500 called son of slug? . do we think then that the yamaha he rode at some of the british meetings in 83 or 84 an rdlc based motor?
rd500
it does seem that any decision made in motorcycling seems to be pushed or suggested by honda, i dont know why all the other manufacturers follow them all the time.
exclubracer
QUOTE (rd500 @ Aug 26 2009, 16:46) *
thanks for all the info folks up.gif , you have jogged my memory of parishes rd project, i think it was in bike magazine or something, i do remember reading about it. wasnt parishs in line 4 500 called son of slug? . do we think then that the yamaha he rode at some of the british meetings in 83 or 84 an rdlc based motor?


I think you're correct, the 'son of slug' moniker was given to the TZ500(J?) Parrish rode in GPs and internationals and the RD500 based bike was used n the F1 class and as a backup for the TZ.
Macca
I've still got the MCN article and photo of the Parrish RD from when it first appeared, if anyone is interested I could scan it. There were several privateer RD500s as well, I posted some photos I took in '85 somewhere or other on TNF, Ron Storey rode one with 'Superbike' mag sponsorship and I have the SB mag article about that too.

(Actually I have just about every technical article and photo on racing bikes that appeared in any British mag from '77 to '85, and a few more - so if anyone wants to see pics of the Barton Phoenix-4 and Sparton-3 that were discussed recently, to see how much they were like any other motors, just ask........also the Exactwelds, various Rotax's, Scitsu 125, etc.)

Paul M
rd500
thanks again for the info, really good stuff. that pic over the mountain at cadwell is a classic. regardig eric galbraith, i looked up a few old books in the corner of the attic and right enough the winner of the irish 1987 southern centre solo championship was himself beating eddie laycock. only says yamaha though but it could be. also he was second in the superstockers that year in the southern irish championships to fran morrison. very interesting to hear about parish though, mabye he should have sorted bikes rather than comentating lol.gif
GD66
QUOTE (Macca @ Aug 26 2009, 10:27) *
(Actually I have just about every technical article and photo on racing bikes that appeared in any British mag from '77 to '85, and a few more - so if anyone wants to see pics of the Barton Phoenix-4 and Sparton-3 that were discussed recently, to see how much they were like any other motors, just ask........also the Exactwelds, various Rotax's, Scitsu 125, etc.)

Paul M



Macca, that'd be just great. Much as we like Classic Racer mag, it is woefully short when it comes to tech articles, and they are an interesting time capsule of what people were thinking and trying in terms of development, tuning, mettalurgy, handling etc., in the day. Scan away, son ! clap.gif
MoMurray
QUOTE (Macca @ Aug 26 2009, 06:27) *
I've still got the MCN article and photo of the Parrish RD from when it first appeared, if anyone is interested I could scan it. There were several privateer RD500s as well, I posted some photos I took in '85 somewhere or other on TNF, Ron Storey rode one with 'Superbike' mag sponsorship and I have the SB mag article about that too.

(Actually I have just about every technical article and photo on racing bikes that appeared in any British mag from '77 to '85, and a few more - so if anyone wants to see pics of the Barton Phoenix-4 and Sparton-3 that were discussed recently, to see how much they were like any other motors, just ask........also the Exactwelds, various Rotax's, Scitsu 125, etc.)

Paul M


I am pretty sure that once he gave up TZs, the only Yamaha Eric raced was an RD500. He was a Suzuki Katana man for a while but when the RD came out he got one of the first in Ireland. Of course he was not the Honda importer at the time! He is a good guy (although I haven't seen or spoken to him in years) and I am sure he would enjoy a chat if you were to reach him.

Bye the way, I took this in the Yamaha museum at the headquarters in Hamamatsu last year. Enjoy.

http://www.photoshelter.com/c/momurrayphot...0000U5CDsnGdOC8
Mo
rd500
great pic mo, i will let you know if i manage to reach him. cheers
Finski#13
I am sure a chap called John Davies ( Davis ) won the 500cc Production championship in at Bemsee in 1986 on a RD500
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