Lot 014: 1982 HONDA RS1000

William Joseph Dunlop MBE OBE competed in his first TT during 1976 and the following year secured victory in the Schweppes Jubilee TT riding a TZ750, following this with a victory in 1980 Classic TT on a Yamaha 1000cc. By 1980 he was mounted on a Honda which evolved in to a full works ride for 1982 commencing an association that was to prove to be the most successful in pure road racing history. During his career Dunlop won 26 TTÆs including a hat-trick of hat-tricks in 1985, 1988 and 2000, 24 Ulster Grand Prix and 13 North West 200Æs together with countless victories in other races around the world. The machine offered dates from his first year as a fully fledged Honda works rider when he secured the first of five consecutive Formula One World Championships with second places at the Portuguese F1 GP, the Ulster Grand Prix and in the Formula 1 TT, where he finished second to his team mate Ron Haslam. The origins of the machine that provided Dunlop with his first Formula 1 title can be traced to HondaÆs return to international competition, when they announced their intention to compete in the Coupe dÆEndurance, a class of racing that favoured four stroke machinery. The class had been dominated by European machinery during the early seventies, but Japanese machinery prepared by specialists such as Japauto with involvement from the factory was becoming increasingly competitive. Japauto secured victories at the Bol dÆOr in 1972 and 1973 with Honda based machinery. This attracted interest from Kawasaki who fielded a works entry in 1974 and 1975 prompting HondaÆs entry in 1976. HondaÆs works entry for 1976 utilised a twin over head cam,across the frame four cylinder engine housed in a steel frame. Interestingly, given that Honda road bikes relied on a cam chain, the new racer used gear driven cams. It was this machine, typed the RCB and originally displacing 941cc that would evolve into the dominant Formula One racer of the early eighties that would serve Joey Dunlop so well. The TT Formula One had been created by the ACU in 1977, together with Formula Two and Three categories, following the FIMÆs removal of the TT from Grand Prix calendar. The FIM granted the new formula's World Championship status, although for the first two years the Isle of Man races were the only ones counting towards the Championship, however, by 1980 the number of rounds had increased to five with the addition of races such as the Ulster Grand Prix. Honda supported the series from the outset and in the RCB series of machines they had the perfect tools with which to compete, winning the Championship in 1977 with Phil Read and in 1979 with Ron Haslam. Graeme Crosby won the Championship for Suzuki in 1980 and 1981 before DunlopÆs dominant run of victories from 1982 to 1986. The particular example of the RS1000 offered is unique. It was built by HRC exclusively for use by Joey in the TT and F1 World Championship and was supplied by the factory to Honda Britain. JoeyÆs works mechanic of the time, George Rolinson, has confirmed the machines provenance. The steel frame houses a short stroke (63mm) version of the of the double overhead cam, four valves per cylinder engine displacing 998cc. It is fitted with special camshafts, under bucket shims, titanium con rods and valves. Works machines with a clearly demonstrable history are rare, works machines with a demonstrable history that can be attributed to one of the greatest riders of all times are extremely rare.