[The Stig]

Hey guys,

I apologize for not being active on the forum for a long time. I was reminded to return, with news of jondog9's recent tragic passing. Life is just a brief flicker of a flame. Jon's burned brightly. He passed, doing what he loved.

This article and pictures linked below, about my SP2 was published in 2018. How the bike ended up, is a direct result of the support from members of this forum, including Jon.

Hope you enjoy.

Miguel

Honda's V-Twin Gamble: The VTR SP2 - Speedhunters

The RC51 VTR SP2 was a bit of a special bike for Honda, one that came out of the need to create a competitive entry in the Superbike World Championship. When V-twin engines with a capacity up to 999cc were allowed in 1988, it didn’t take Ducati long to take away championships from Honda who had …

www.speedhunters.com

 

[RC51V-2]

Excuse my ignorance but what are "narrowband" brakes? It looks like the pad surface is narrower, but wouldn't that reduce the effective pad area?

Please enlighten me...

Thanks!

 

[The Stig]

They're (albeit not modern) GP spec. brakes. Very rare and hard to get hold of calipers with titanium pistons. Lighter weight is the target, brake pads that work better once hot, are also available. I see similar spec. on historic GP bikes at Motegi's Honda collection hall.

 

[Wibbly]

narrowband discs are simply discs with a smaller axial cross sectional area but a greater thickness. they're not commonly used for road purposes as they are designed to work better under high brake pad pressures and higher heat.

 

[The Stig]

These Brembo narrow track discs measure 5.5mm thickness & not much different to most. Personally, I don't notice I need to apply much pressure. Just using 2 fingers, is the usual, but I'm not riding at race speeds.

 

[gts455]

Miguel.....WELCOME BACK, my friend!!!!

I've recently come back to the forum as well. Miss the old days and all the old members. Some good newcomers on the forum as well.

Thanks for posting up the article, Dino did a nice job as always.
How are all the cars?

Good to see you back....keep posting up, lets bring the forum back.

 

[The Stig]

Hey Paul,

Good to see you here, my friends. Long time!
I guess your stay in Germany finally came to an end and you're home in the U.S. again, now?

Dino has known my SP2 pretty much within 1-2 weeks of when I got it. Back then he was just starting out with an inexpensive SLR and a dream - he's come a long way!

Still got the cars, and a few more plus a few bikes, but not a lot of time to enjoy them.
Haven't ridden the SP2 since around this time last year. Planning to get out for a ride with it again soon, over the mountain roads to Fuji to go stay at a rider friend's place for the weekend, after which it'll probably be mothballed for another year. Just too big a bike to use on local roads, around here. Needs a good long ride yo stretch its legs...

I guess you brought that beautiful Fireblade back to the U.S. with you?

 

[gts455]

Hey Paul,

Good to see you here, my friends. Long time!
I guess your stay in Germany finally came to an end and you're home in the U.S. again, now?

Dino has known my SP2 pretty much within 1-2 weeks of when I got it. Back then he was just starting out with an inexpensive SLR and a dream - he's come a long way!

Still got the cars, and a few more plus a few bikes, but not a lot of time to enjoy them.
Haven't ridden the SP2 since around this time last year. Planning to get out for a ride with it again soon, over the mountain roads to Fuji to go stay at a rider friend's place for the weekend, after which it'll probably be mothballed for another year. Just too big a bike to use on local roads, around here. Needs a good long ride yo stretch its legs...

I guess you brought that beautiful Fireblade back to the U.S. with you?

Yep, I moved back in 2018.....miss Germany terribly.

Yeah i understand. At this point i get out 2-3 times a year for 30 min rides. Couple that with living in the worst possible area of the country to own a motorcycle and not much riding happens on my end. I was thinking of letting some bikes go for something a bit more neighborhood street friendly. The new Aprilia 660 Tuono, Husqvarna 701, or a Triumph Street Triple are all appealing.

The fireblade came back with me, as well, as parts.....every bolt disassembled and stored in 7 boxes. Was the only way i could get it back, so after the RC51 is back together this summer....maybe the Fireblade will be next years project.

 

[The Stig]

Hi Paul,

Sheesh - I thought I was doing badly, with riding bikes. I get out about 1-2 times a month, maybe a little more - but usually just to go on local errands, and for that, I take a Husky 450 motard, which is more suited to small bumpy country lanes and town use. The RC51 is saved for longer rides, which I don't get to do much these days.

Family always comes first on weekends (by choice).

I've got other bike projects I really need to finish someday...An NSR250 sitting, waiting - Lots of parts in the loft. Pains me to think of it gathering dust.
Instead, we've also developed into another hobby since January. 2-stroke go-carting, which is huge fun with our son, but quite time-consuming.

Hoping someday, as my son also rides his CRF50 often - in our little forest, eventually once he's old enough & licensed - we'll ride road bikes together. That's the dream.

I miss the days I used to ride the SP2 300km in a day, commuting to Tokyo and back, along the roads around Fuji mountain. Bikes & cars take a lot of time and maintenance, plus insurance, etc.

Gotta take it year by year, I guess. I wouldn't part with such toys, though.

 

[budoka]

Wow, Miguel it's good to see you back here on the boards! That's a fabulous write up, well documented and photographed. I can very well identify with all member's feelings about not getting the riding in near enough to our desires. I only got three track days on the SP myself last year (although 2 of them were something I'll never forget and not likely to duplicate) even though two back to back days were on the best course in Western Canada. Biggest bummer was not riding my (giant couch) dresser Goldwing but 30 km back from the shop after installing a new rear tire (it went into the shop on a trailer). A far cry from my 12.000 km cross country and back 3 years ago.
Paul, I knew you had disappeared as well, just didn't know where to since I too faded off for a fair lag time.
So very sad about jondog, He was one of the first to offer me an hand in friendship even with me having very little time here at the start. But we need to honor his memory and kindness with fondness rather than regret, he'd want it that way.
I'm going to try and be here more often, and hope we can continue what we all want: to ride our wonderful scoots and share our adventures and any helpful tips we can.
Daryl

 

[gts455]

Yeah, the last few years have been crazy. I've been more active on here again.
Trying to get this RC back together and running. Hopefully by the summer.

Good to see you back too, Daryl. Lets get this forum going again.

 

[The Stig]

Wow, Miguel it's good to see you back here on the boards! That's a fabulous write up, well documented and photographed. I can very well identify with all member's feelings about not getting the riding in near enough to our desires. I only got three track days on the SP myself last year (although 2 of them were something I'll never forget and not likely to duplicate) even though two back to back days were on the best course in Western Canada. Biggest bummer was not riding my (giant couch) dresser Goldwing but 30 km back from the shop after installing a new rear tire (it went into the shop on a trailer). A far cry from my 12.000 km cross country and back 3 years ago.
Paul, I knew you had disappeared as well, just didn't know where to since I too faded off for a fair lag time.
So very sad about jondog, He was one of the first to offer me an hand in friendship even with me having very little time here at the start. But we need to honor his memory and kindness with fondness rather than regret, he'd want it that way.
I'm going to try and be here more often, and hope we can continue what we all want: to ride our wonderful scoots and share our adventures and any helpful tips we can.
Daryl

Hi Daryl,

Thanks for the compliments.
Yeah, life happens to each of us! I know a lot of people in Canada has been on lockdown over the last year (My mom and brother live in Toronto). Japan hasn't had any legally mandated measures at all, for the last 12 months - every measure has been strictly voluntary & relatively light, so life has continued much as normal for myself and our family.
We feel blessed to have such freedoms when we realize many others feel they don't.


I messaged a friend this morning about riding to his weekend home up in the mountains, in April (Cherry-blossom season, here in Japan). He's just replied, saying he's going to check with his girlfriend, but I'm sure we'll ride sometime next month.

I'd be accompanying a mix of older bikes (One friend has a GPX750 he's owned since new!) and newer (Triumph 765 Street Triple plus a big BMW V-Twin).
Always a very scenic ride on some great mountain roads, if Fuji isn't overcast... Always at the mercy of the weather at 1,000m elevation.

It would be good to prepare the SP2, for use again, or perhaps it'll be fun to even the odds & use the RVF400, which hasn't seen any use in over a year. It only makes about 60 bhp, but revs to 16,000 or so. Feels tiny to ride, but puts a smile on my face too. Need to use both these bikes, or the fuel will go off... Ultrasound cleaning carbs isn't a task I'd relish!

Will take some pics, whatever I end up riding, when we go.

 

[gts455]

Both beautiful bikes. Love that RVF400.....especially with the Ethos. I find the smaller bikes more fun for the type of riding I do at this point anyway.

Thanks for posting pictures

 

[Motleyfan]

Great writeup Miguel. Always nice to see your hard work appreciated.

 

[Muhammad Atif]

Thanks for sharing your post, Miguel. I'm glad we've been able to keep in touch all these years off the Forum.
Paul @gts455 & Darryl @budoka great to read your posts. I'm also guilty of not being on the site for several years & only being on a couple of times, but it's also great to come across newer more knowledgeable members like @Wibbly .
I met Adam @Luckyadam12 & his family in Jacksonville, FL last visit to the USA & our families had a great time together !
It's just that I feel unwell today having just found out about John and his passing away when I logged in after a very long time. I feel terrible right now.
Take Care. I'll check in later, God-Willing.

Best Regards.

 

[The Stig]

Hello Atif,

Hey, nice to see you here again, my friend. I feel embarrassed I took weeks to dig out my old fork internal parts and let you know what I have. Life, family and the challenges we set ourselves are sometimes the only things we get distracted with. I wrote you a WhatsApp message today with some pictures and if these old parts resolve your problem, you're welcome to them.

I was just reading on the forum last night about resolving a "no spark / ignition" issue that Carlos and I were trying to work out last night on his SP2 (Which I think is a blown ignition module. Fortunately I have a brand new spare, which I sent him this morning, to try).
As I read old posts, it was sad that Jon had commented on some of the technical issues others had faced in the past.

I still haven't taken the SP2 out this year. It's cherry blossom season here, with beautiful colours. Nice weather and a great time to ride. In the next few weeks the bikes deserve to be ridden on good roads. Soon...

I hope you can ride your SP2 soon, too.

 

[The Stig]

Both beautiful bikes. Love that RVF400.....especially with the Ethos. I find the smaller bikes more fun for the type of riding I do at this point anyway.

Thanks for posting pictures

Hey Paul,


The bikes I most seem to ride, are my lithe Husky SMR450 and my mountain/road bike (for exercise) these days.
The Husky is useful for getting into town and back, a handful of km away, to run errands. Even this is overkill for going shopping, as it doesn't even come equipped with a cooling fan for traffic.

Watched last night's Moto GP race, this morning, great racing! I'm not sure if it's just getting older that makes me less enthusiastic about riding, or other distractions.

Lately, I've gotten into 2-stroke carting with my 9-year old son, and was given an old race cart, by a 66-year-old friend (who still races!). My son & I stripped and rebuilt it together. These things are huge fun - although taxing on spare time...

Together, we spent most of yesterday's rainy Sunday inside the workshop, stripping and rebuilding his old rookie cart, which we intend to gift to a car racer friend's 3-year-old boy; good to get kids into these things as early as possible.

My son also enjoys riding his old CRF50 in the forest, and I live in hope someday we'll ride together on roads. I sometimes tell him I took him on his first bike ride and want him to take me on my last, someday.

I haven't used my dirt bike in over a year (Which I bought, to ride with him in the forest - it's a bit heavy and so I find myself thinking of selling it). Must get out on 2 wheels more! LOL.

 

[SubSailor]

Well, Well, Well. Good to see some old names here. And a good write up on your bike Miguel! Tasty!

For myself, it's been a challenge since 2015.
Work at the time was taking a mental toll and I got badly burned out, which lead to dropping off the bike radar and general inactivity on this and other bike forums.
As such, I sadly requested that I be removed as Moderator due to low/no participation. I just didn't have the time.

Then, in 2018 I had a stroke while washing my 2008 Tiger 1050, which I then had to recover from before being able to walk/ride again.
I quickly sprung back, and have been at around 98+% since. I'll never be 100%, but the brain is an amazing organ in re-wiring itself.

So I got back into riding, and bought a 2013 Triumph Speed Triple 1050 SE ABS (1 of 200 made). Got it for a low price (initially), but found a truck-load of issues to fix, which took all summer.
Then, just as I was enjoying the Speedy, I got diagnosed with arthritis in the spine (Damn!).
At first I could ride for a couple of hours, then less and less, until now riding 20 minutes to a cafe is damn near agony from sciatic nerve pain. But I'm still determined to beat it.

So my currently status is, the Tiger has not been ridden since last summer and stays on the charger. The Speed Triple gets started every 1-2 weeks to charge the Shorai Lithium battery.
And the RC51 stays where it has been since 2009. In pieces. The only headway was in 2009 with swapping out the OEM engine for the race engine I bought back then.
I'm determined to try and finish the project. Don't know if I'll be able to ride it by then, but at least it will be done. Time will tell.

 

[The Stig]

Good to hear from you, Sub. Sorry to hear of your health issues. I do hope you get better. I can't imagine having arthritis, but it sounds debilitating.

A couple of years ago, relentlessly trying to finish some work outdoors in the searing heat & humidity of Japanese summer, I doused myself with a hose and carried on, not realizing I was becoming dehydrated.

I too suffered a stroke as a result. I woke up a few days later, feeling a little dizzy and some numbness around the waist. I thought it was a trapped nerve & that it would pass, till I found it taking a couple of seconds to change gear in a manual sports car.
Went to the hospital and got an MRI. They found a very small cerebral infraction (stroke), about the size of a pea. Apparently, 1 in 10 adults (even young) suffer from small strokes like these during their lives, but 9/10 never realize, nor ever get diagnosed, and eventually it can lead to dementia.
It was the inability to change gears at the usual speed, that made me think something was up...Good thing I did. I took it as a warning.

Aside from occasional mild numbness, I've been completely fine since, and it's been a couple of years now but I'm careful to avoid getting dehydrated. I'm supposed to take a tiny aspirin every day, which I sometimes forget - never been much of a pill taker.
I drink more water and less coffee, and do more exercise. Go carting is a form of exercise too. And the mountain bike. Corona has meant our local pool has been closed for much of the year but I'm hoping now it's reopened, it'll remain so this summer.
I hate sweaty gyms and see little point in picking up weights, only to lower them & repeat again and again. Exercise has to be something I enjoy, or it's nothing more than a PITA.

I hear swimming helps arthritis. I hope it gets better for you, my friend and that you can do more riding soon.

 

[The Stig]

@gts455 - Just read (you wrote weeks ago!) that you're thinking of a Husky 701. They look like pretty nice bikes!
Some 5 years ago, I bought a 2006 Husky SMR450 from an internet auction. It was cheap and seemingly nobody wanted it
@MakisRC51 doesn't like them, having been a Husqvarna mechanic in earlier years. He warned me to expect reliability issues.
Aside from a broken side-stand bracket (The previous owner put his weight on it, I guess), a gunked up (flat-slide Mikuni) carb (from lack of use?), and a terrible inlet insulator / manifold design (which I've replaced with a strong after-market one), it's been great for about 4 years so far. It's the bike I use most. It's entertaining for town use, being tall and light and enough fun to not be boring, yet not so big I feel it's too much for town use. Does sometimes lift the front wheel slightly under hard acceleration off the lights & will pull wheelies, if that's something you enjoy, but won't unless you make it do.

I'm sure the 701will be heavier, but it seems similar, albeit more powerful too. The 701 did pique my interest when it first came out, just not at several times the price...

If you see a 450SMR, go check it out and I expect you'd probably want to buy if it's unmolested and of low mileage. It'll never lose value and would be inexpensive. It's not a bike on most people's radar.

They come with cool things like floating Brembos (incl rear disc), radial master cylinder, Marzocchi forks, Sachs remote reservoir shock, high revving engine, dry sump (A little over 1L oil capacity), etc. Pre 2006 they had weak valve stems. From 2007 they got fuel injection.
The 450 is also available as a 510SMR too, but the extra stroke length makes it less revvy and no faster, apparently - just a little more torque. Some prefer the 450 for this reason.
These are actually motard race bikes with lights and only weigh 106 kg, IIRC. Feels very light. Brakes are strong & it handles beautifully. Engine is lovely for a single, and revs a lot more than you'd expect it to. Oil changes every 500 miles. Same valve shims as the SP2. Never had to adjust mine yet, in around 1,000 miles a year.

Riders typically like these for motard track-use; I've been tempted to try it on the circuit, but lack of time & self-preservation instincts... Still, they're great town bikes, as long as you won't be sitting in traffic for long (no cooling fan).

Not sure if you'd find a Husaberg motard in the U.S., but they're similarly very light and bags of fun. A friend with some very nice bikes loved his for how bonkers it was, but only for short trips, as he found the narrow seat too uncomfortable.

It was seeing his bike some years ago, that got me interested in a motard like this... Yamaha and other similar-looking bikes aren't the same. Much heavier and less focussed/fun.

HTH.