Five memorable race-winning bikes at the Isle of Man TT
With Honda’s RC213V-S, Victory’s new RR electric superbike and Suter’s potent 580cc two-stroke MMX500 all entered in the 2016 Isle of Man TT, we look back at five significant bikes which raced to victory at the heroic event1. Ducati NCR900SS
It was the first event of 1978 Isle of Man TT and news of Mike Hailwood’s return saw record crowds line the 37.75-mile circuit. Legend has it that grown men cried when Mike Hailwood, on board the Ducati NCR 900SS V-twin, crossed the line to beat Phil Read’s purpose-built Factory-backed four-cylinder Honda. Prepared not by the factory but in the Manchester-based workshop of Steve Wynne’s Sports Motorcycles, the 80hp 900’s lightweight frame, conservative geometry and long wheelbase proved perfectly suited to the demands of the TT circuit. During his unforgettable comeback ride, Hailwood set a new lap record of 110.62mph in a race that wasn’t without its dramas. Hailwood had a 50-second lead at half distance over Read which he lost at the mid-way pitstop when his bike didn’t want to start. He rejoined the race well behind Read and set about reducing the gap to the Honda, which he did while being willed on by the crowd. To the delight of fans, Read’s bike broke down on the fifth lap which left Hailwood to take his 13th TT win.
2. BSA Gold Star
While the Clubman TTs weren’t official championship races, the BSA Gold Star — or Goldie as they became affectionately known — dominated the Senior, Lightweight and Junior classes during the mid- to late-1950s. In fact, of the 37 riders in the 1955 Clubman Lightweight TT, 33 of them had entered riding BSA Gold Stars. Produced in 350cc and 500cc variants, and to various levels of specification, it was the highly-strung DBD34 which was, and still is, considered the duck’s guts of the British manufacturer. In race spec, the 499cc single had a power output of around 44hp, boasted a huge Amal carburetor, minimal silencing, no air filter and it notoriously fouled plugs as if it were a two-stroke. At the Isle of Man in 1956, English rider Bernie Codd became the first-ever rider to score a double win the Clubman TT event, claiming both the Junior and Senior TTs riding his DBD34 Goldie.
3. BMW’s supercharged twin
It took three years of trying before BMW’s supercharged boxer-engine racer won a TT but it wasn’t for lack of grunt. In the late 1930s, a time when the benchmark Nortons were making nearly 50hp, BMW’s supercharged twin was capable of almost 40 percent more power, with an output of 68hp.
In its debut year in the hands of Jock West, the supercharged Beemer finished sixth place in the 1937 Senior TT. The next year, in 1938, he went one better to finish fifth while new teammate Georg Meier DNF'd with mechanical issues. But in 1939, in the last TT before the Second World War caused a six-year hiatus, Meier claimed victory in the seven-lap race with a record speed of 89.38mph and led teammate West over the line by two seconds for a BMW one-two.
4. Honda RC174
Another memorable TT-winning bike ridden by 14-time TT winner Mike ‘The Bike’ Hailwood is Honda’s six-cylinder 297cc RC174. The cylinders had a bore of just 39mm and a stroke of 34.8mm, it had 24 valves in total, six 17mm flat-slide carburetors, a seven-speed transmission and it produced 60hp at a touch over 17,000rpm. It was a bike Mike Hailwood once described as the finest racing motorcycle he had ever ridden. In 1967, on board the RC174, the British rider won the 350cc world title from Giacomo Agostini. At the Isle of Man TT the same year, Hailwood took the victory in the 250cc TT, in which he set a record lap of 107.73mph, as well as the 350cc and 500cc Senior TTs.
5. Kawasaki KR750
Based on Kawasaki’s infamous air-cooled H2 and H2R triple-cylinder 750cc two-stroke roadbikes, the KR750 was Kawasaki’s Formula 750 campaigner between 1972 and 1978. Around the time Yamaha’s new inline four-cylinder TZ750 began dominating, Kawasaki responded by updating the 1975 KR750’s flex-prone chassis and added water cooling to the ageing engine which increased power by a significant 15hp. With a power capability of 120hp, British rider Mick Grant rode the KR750 to victory in the 1975 Senior TT. He also won the Classic 1000 TT in both 1977 and 1978 on board the Kawasaki triple, and was clocked through the speed trap in the 1978 event at a whopping 190mph (305km/h).
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