T2#052. Honda Interceptors

T2#052	Honda Interceptors
real name	Honda RGB500
source photo status	not found
vk post	link

— 140 kilometers per hour!? Why do you need such a racing motorcycle if the Volga is driving faster? Serega Semin, who expected to "change" his not-so-valuable liner for at least something, was silent in confusion. He did not know that in half of the cases, the specifications on the inserts were incorrect.

Half a lifetime passed in the blue labyrinths of public spaces. Classrooms, auditoriums, recreation areas, corridors, offices, libraries, pharmacies, entrances. The same blue, sometimes green paint and whitewash passing from the ceiling. Our whole world was eight-colored, because all the same colors looked at us from clothes, printing, toys, dishes, paint and plasticine. Like a translucent screen, they slightly covered the emptiness and depression.

And the "Honda Interceptors" seems to be driving along the wall of the blue maze. On the very wall of the very school corridor in which Seryoga Semin and I exchanged liners during the big break. In 1989, the liner did not look too interesting to change to: a racing motorcycle stands in a curve, and its pilot crazily, as it looked then, put his knee a millimeter from the rushing asphalt. The whole composition is based on his back. The most interesting of the distinguishable technical details is the shape of the motorcycle's rear fairing and exhaust pipes...

— Okay, let's look at this one. — I handed Seryoga a "double" insert for me with an Opel Cadet. We were both lucky. I didn't have number 52, and I was already starting to think about putting the whole collection together. And he wanted to get rid of the disconcerting disrespectful motorcycle, which even drives slower than the Volga.

About the motorcycle

My Turbo research started in 2013. That's when I posted a short series of short notes on my Inturbo blog. At that moment, it seemed to me nothing more than fun - well, who could be interested in inserts decades later? I wrote solely for my own pleasure and, fortunately, in English. Fortunately, because my erroneous opinion expressed in the publication that the Honda VFR700 Interceptor is depicted on the insert, an anonymous answer came 2 years later:

— No HONDA!!! This is SUZUKI RG500 from 1983, driver is Sergio Pellandini!

Thus, not only the name of the motorcycle was established, but also the year of the competition and the name of the rider. Later, Alexander Gorokhov, no matter how fantastically it sounded, was able to contact Mr. Pellandini himself, and he confirmed that in the photo he was indeed (as he put it, "the best part of 1983") and his Suzuki RGB500, which is currently in one of the museums in the USA, even the coloring is preserved.

The 1983 season, in which all the audience's attention fell on the constant duels of Americans Kenny Roberts and Freddie Spencer on Yamaha and Honda, respectively, turned out to be successful for Pellandini. Tenth places in Yugoslavia and Spa, ninth in Le Mans, Haram, Salzburgring, eighth in Monza. As a result: 11 points and 13th place, ahead of two-time World Champion Barry Sheen. Suzuki motorcycles collectively took last place in the brand standings, which is why the manufacturer suspended factory support for pilots for several years. And this is despite the fact that 21 of the 41 pilots used Suzuki, including the major teams Team HB and Heron Team. The best final place in the drivers' standings was Randy Mamola's third.

Speaking of motorcycle racing at the turn of the 70-80 years, it is impossible to pass by the RG500. These motorcycles brought 7 championship titles from 1976 to 1982, inclusive. RGB modification accounts for 2 of them: 1981 — M. Lucinelli and 1982 — F.Uncini. Unfortunately, royal motorcycle racing is not as well documented as Formula 1 - information can be very scarce or even contradictory. For example, in some sources, the RGB and RG models are confused. Despite the fact that the "Gamma" is a road replica of a racing motorcycle, which appeared in 1985.