The Goldwing in Endurance racing.....the true story.

[Hal]

OK... Here's the startling history of the GL in Endurance racing.....

In 1976, a Swiss team entered a GL1000 in the World Endurance Championship.

The first race was the 24 hours de Liège, where the machine ridden by Fourgeous and Burki finished an astonishing 5th!

The frame was "not standard" and had been built by Pierre Doncque, who had built the frame for the Kawa Godier-Genoud that won the Bol d'Or in 1975.

It had a monoshock rear end.

2 GL1000s had been entered for the 75 Bol d'Or, one lasting till the 22nd hour, when something broke, the other breaking at 10 hours.

That's it folks, end of story, unless anyone has any more information!

[Whiskerfish]

This is the kind of history that Octane used to post for us all the time. I really miss that, Thank You!!

[Cookie]

When you consider the factory never developed the wing for racing as too heavy and limited design that is not too bad. There was also the British version that took a shot at the Isle of Man.

[Hal]

When you consider the factory never developed the wing for racing as too heavy and limited design that is not too bad. There was also the British version that took a shot at the Isle of Man.

Cookie, do you recall any names? I'd not heard of this....

[sunnbobb]

Dresda's Racer Isle of man

[Cookie]

Didn't the Dresda go up for sale last year?

[OhioBill]

Must have been interseting having the battery right by the gas tank filler cap. Hope they grounded it while refilling.

[Hal]

Must have been interseting having the battery right by the gas tank filler cap. Hope they grounded it while refilling.

That's very observant. [joke]I thought it was the radio/tape deck!!! [/joke]

You're right, it does look like the battery, but then if it is, where the hell is the air filter box? Seems odd putting the battery there really.....but I suppose they needed all the underseat space for fuel.



Never seen pix of the Dresda Wing before....it looks very 'right'.

[Phil Clark]

I own the "Biggin Hill" Honda Dresda 998. This picture was taken on the Isle of Man, June 1977. The bike's average speed for a 39-mile lap was 102mph. The engine was Supplied by Honda Racing Service Centre (HRSC) in Japan specially for the IOM. It has big valves, hc pistons, etc. and a top speed of nearly 140mph. There were a few Gold Wings being raced in Europe in the 1970s. They were surprisingly quick and handled well when put in racing frames.

[FTM]

Just browsing the internet when I came across this thread about the "Biggin Hill" endurance racer. I think that's the one that was owned by my mate in the 80's and 90's. Last time I saw it the engine was about to be stripped down on his kitchen table after going bang on the way to a bike shop to have the engine checked for a possible problem!
Some photo's from when he was using it to commute to work in London.

(looks like I'm not allowed to post links yet so if you go to Photobucket and search for "mouldy old photos" you should see them.)

I heard it had been sold a couple of years ago but I lost contact with my mate Norman who owned it when I moved out of London.

[FTM]

Looks like I can add photo's now.







These are the only four I have on my computer, I had more I never scanned but they could be anywhere now.

[CYBORG]

Good looking bike. purpose built. How did it do?

[Whiskerfish]

Very interesting, I would really like to examine that frame. looks like some fairly significant beef up around the swing arm mounting points. I really think that is the source for some of the high speed tail weave these bikes develop.

[FTM]

The frame was made by Dresda as far as I know. There is another thread on this forum somewhere with more information but I can't find it at the moment.

[FTM]

Here's the thread. http://www.ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=24037