The Purist's Point of View
THE PURIST'S POINT OF VIEW
Will Britbike boffins find the GB500 their cup of tea?
ONE I not OF made THE THREE in England. MOTORCYCLES YOU SEE HERE WAS Need some evidence? Well, for one thing, unlike the two veterans with which it is keeping company, it can be parked overnight without an oil slick materializing under it. For another, the pulse of its engine is no more vigorous than the pounding of your sweetie's heart. And most conclusively, it starts when you ask it to, even if you ignore its electric-starter button' in favor of its kickstarter.
See? Couldn't be a British bike. Must be the Honda GB500, a finely honed piece of 1989 technology all dressed up in the equivalent of a post-war. waxed-cotton riding suit.
What this bike is about is nostalgia, that subtle characteristic with which the two other motorcycles you see here fairly reek. To find out how well the GB delivers on its understated promise of yesterday’s rides today, we asked two men who know of such things.
Bill Getty owns the Norton International seen here, whieh he found, in pieces, in a farmer’s field. Getty also owns JRC engineering, a wholesale Triumph parts distributorship, and British Parts Old & New, in Whittier. California. His International is part of a collection of 40 classic British motorcycles.
Getty’s International is a 1948 model, a 500cc singleoverhead-cam touring version of that most desirable of all Nortons, the Manx. Getty rode the International for the first time for this evaluation, and he bravely allowed us to ride it, as well. We found it blessed with several interesting attributes, not the least of which is that engine, a bellowing giant whieh revolves its crankshaft through a four-inch stroke.
When this beast gets cranked up to its 6000-rpm limit, there’s horsepower, movement and enough noise to initiate small rockslides. There’s also enough vibration to make a rider see double. There’s also a bit of oil spray and, at speed, an odd nervousness from the Inter’s fork, despite its substantial rake. Because this museum piece is worth an estimated $ 10,000 and because some of its bits and pieces are irreplaceable at any price, we didn't seek the, er, outer edges of its performance envelope. We can tell you, though, that it's a blast to ride, that, in spite of that slight front-end twitchiness, it’s rock-steady and very precise around corners, and that its brakes are nearly nonexistent.
Brian Slark, who owns the Velocette Venom seen here, at one time helped build Matchless and AJS machines in the London factory of Associated Motor Cycles. These days he deals in classic vehicles through Classic Marketing, which he operates in Hesperia, California.
Slark’s Velocette is a 1969 vintage. This bike’s engine is vastly more modern than that of the Norton, with a bore and stroke each measuring 3.4 inches. Thus, it does not vibrate with the vigor of the old Norton and feels much more comfortable when its throttle is cranked open. One important aspect common to both bikes is that each uses the classic British-style shifter, mounted on the right, with first gear up and three gears down. Trust us: This takes a bit of getting used to, and, with either bike, moving through the long throw of the shift lever is something that cannot be hurried. Danger, in the form of an expen"1 sively over-revved engine, "lurks just a single shifting screw-up away.
The Venom’s brakes are more powerful than those of the Norton, though they’re nowhere near the standards set by modern bikes; but the feel provided by its chassis is sure and predictable, even on the hard, age-cracked British Dunlops it wore. The value of this one is about $4500, according to its owner.
JON F.THOMPSON
Both men were asked to park their classics and take brief rides on the GB500, and then share their thoughts about it.
Said Getty, who was more than a little skeptical about the bike before he rode it, “In a way it kind of reminds me of a kit car, one of those Volkswagen-powered Bugattis. It isn't what it looks like it is. But when I get customers who think they want a British Single, what they really want is this; they just don’t know it. This doesn’t leak and you can start it.”
And to prove his point, he fired it up, using just his right hand to crank the GB500’s kickstarter. The bike started, first try.
Slark was the first to take the Honda for a spin, and came back grinning. “After a short ride, you're used to it,” he enthused, “it’s kind of user-friendly. The chassis is nice, the steering is nice, the brakes are beautiful. The gear ratios are all spaced nicely. I like the low seat—it’s like you sit in the bike, not on it. It’s got light flywheels, so throttle response is instant. But it’s so smooth you lose a lot of that single-cylinder feel. You don’t get that nice, relaxing single-cylinder thump, you don’t feel the power pulses like you do on a British Single. It’s so smooth, once you get it ofifidle it almost feels like a multi-cylinder.”
Though Getty also liked the GB500's smoothness, one aspect of the bike he didn't like was its compact size— though he was comfortable with the bike’s feel once it was under way. “This is made for a shorter person than I am,” said the 6-foot-2-inch, 260-pound Getty. “I can't work the foot controls very easily. But its handling is amazing, compared to what I’m used to. It feels like you're a piece of the
PURISTS
motorcycle. It feels like a knife. You could slice right through traffic with it. The way it goes around corners is just amazing, it’s so neutral. You don’t have to feel like you’re working. I love it.”
He was less sure about the GB500’s price. “At $2600 it would be a real hit. I could own one. Even at $4200 (the GB500’s suggested list price at presstime), this would be more fun than a British bike. You’d never have a British bike that would be this reliable,” he said.
Slark, however, was more concerned about what motorcycles are for than about what they cost. “Motorcycles have to be fun, and this one is. It’s light, it’s responsive, it doesn’t intimidate you with its weight, size or power, it’s not going to scare you when you whack the throttle open. You can find a nice, curvy road and have fun with this. It’s
a fun bike. I need it in my garage. If I had to buy a Japanese motorcycle, this would be it,” he said.
And, noted Getty, for those interested in boosting the bike’s fun factor, “There’s lots of performance stuff available for that engine—what fun. Plus, it’s beautiful. The British never made things so nicely. Their stuff is all terribly difficult to operate; you need two hands to work most British clutches. On this, the clutch and shift lever are so light—on my Norton, the shift lever is so heavy you feel like you’re using it to stir a bucket of bolts.”
Summing up the new GB500, Getty, the man with 40 classics sitting in his garage, simply said, “The British didn’t build them this good.” E3
