Forty years ago the UK went to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, Michael Jackson released Thriller, Steven Spielberg’s ET hit cinema screens, and Fowlers Motorcycles relocated to our current purpose-built home near Bristol Temple Meads… Yes 1982 was a very memorable year, but what was happening in the world of motorcycling? Here are a few highlights from the headlines.
Barry Sheene’s (second) big crash
It was July 28th, during practice for the British GP, and Sheene was riding at the top of his game once more. Pushing his Yamaha YZR500 to its limit, he came out of Abbey Curve and crested the hill nudging 165mph, only to see Patrick Igoa’s crashed 250 lying on the track in front of him. With no chance of braking or changing line, he hit it at full chat. Sheene would heroically/miraculously leave hospital just 23 days later and would be back racing again the next year.
Dawn of the turbos
The Big Four manufacturers started strapping turbo-chargers to their bikes in the early 80s – the idea being to give a middleweight machine the horsepower and speed of a superbike. The Honda CX500 Turbo kicked things off in ‘82; Yamaha quickly followed with the XJ650T; Kawasaki and Suzuki joined the party a year later with the GPz750 Turbo and XN85 Turbo. Fast they certainly were, but they were also short-lived: their weight, complexity, price, poor handling, dreadful fuel economy, and turbo lag put riders off and they went back to buying big capacity machines.
Two-part test introduced
In an effort to reduce accident rates, learner riders would be subjected to a new two-part motorcycle test. Part 1 would set you back around £50 and included basic control exercises – including a figure of eight in a box, a slow ride and a mock-up junction – usually conducted at large goods vehicle (LGV) centres. Part 2 remained largely unchanged, with the rider’s machine control assessed by the examiner watching from the side of the road.
Kawasaki’s GPz750 launched
Kawasaki had forged its reputation for making big, fast, air-cooled fours in the 70s, the GPz range of the would well and truly cement them as a sportsbike powerhouse through the next decade. On paper, the middleweight GPz was just a warmed-up KZ750E with a fairing and a loud paint job – and lacked the fancy water-cooling and four-valve heads of the competition – but tweaks to the engine, chassis and suspension gave it the power and poise to make it the choice for performance-hungry riders.
VJMC founded
The Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club was founded in 1982, by a small group of like minded enthusiasts who appreciated early Japanese bikes, their style, reliability, practicality and technological achievements. Today the club has around 6000 members and is one of the UK’s biggest classic bike clubs and now many of the machines that were new when the club launched are considered classic. Find out more at www.vjmc.com