Honda Britain British Superbike, the Moriwaki VTR1000, probably the last complete Honda Britain British Superbike left and certainly a piece of history.

This Moriwaki VTR was one of six built during 1997 by Russell Savory for the Honda Britain race team. The bikes were sold off when Honda Britain had played with them and this was bought by Revolution UK, Moriwaki importers, who tuned this bike and made it into a full stage 2 Moriwaki engine. The bike was displayed at the NEC show of that year, resplendent in the magenta and  yellow colours of its sponsor, Club 18-30 Holidays. This particular one has a 'wet' tune - set up for wet weather riding so 'only' puts out 138 brake horsepower at the rear wheel (152 crank).

The bike was campaigned by Mark  Ditchfield in British Superbikes. On the odd occasion he 'tested' setup etc at club meetings he cleaned up. One weekend at Cadwell Park he won every trophy in  the Twins, Open and one-off race classes, almost getting lynched in the process - probably something to do with him resting his chin on his hand with his elbow on the tank down the back straight!! The bike is still in the same colours as  used then - Club 18-30 Holidays.

Of the six bikes built, this is the last remaining stage 2 Factory bike in existence. In the right hands this will still clean up at club race level or will make a massive talking point at any track day especially when people see the lambda sensor on the dash showing the carburation as it flicks about like something out of Knight Rider!

My experience of the bike is that the engine is bomb proof in this tune and surprisingly tractable to ride. It is absolutely no maintenance problem and is ultra reliable, needing very little to  keep it running for a full season of racing. The handling is superb - in dry conditions, I have run tyres almost through to the carcass and never had a  twitch out of it. The steering is surprisingly fast and holds its line perfectly.

Specification
The bike has been built with the best of everything. Try adding up the cost  of individual components and you'll soon reach fairly heady figures. (The  original build cost was £42,000).

* Spondon 'Ears'to take wider swingarm and internal frame bracing
* Spondon  triple box section swing arm with quick release wheel system
* Spondon front  fairing stays with lockstops
* Full factory stage 2 Moriwaki Superbike  Engine including modified radiators(x3), undercut racing sump, oil cooler,  carbs, ramair, crankcases and clutch.
* Moriwaki CV kit carburettors
* Honda CBR600 kit fuel pump
* Stage 2 hand made Moriwaki exhaust system with  titanium 'Zero' silencers.
* Moriwaki Carbon fibre airbox with carbon fibre  ram air tubes
* Cutaway fuel tank using quick release fuel line connectors.
* Spondon raised clipons
* Spondon rearsets
* Spondon fully  adjustable eccentric yokes and triple clamps
* Barnett heavy duty kevlar  clutch with heavy duty springs.
* Quick release Dymag wheels with brand new  Intermediates, zero miles on the tyres, wheels fresh from dymag service.
* Creations carbon kevlar crank case protectors.
* Fully adjustable Penske  rear shock
* Maxton tuned Fireblade front forks with quick release wheel  system.
* Twin AP six-pot superbike brakes
* Adjustable ratio AP master  cylinder
* Ohlins steering damper
* Harris GP twin pot rear brake with  PFM cast disc
* Elliot tachometer
* Solar water temperature gauge
* Lambda sensor for instant carburation check
* Magnom Oil filter
* Brand  new Lucas gel race battery
* New NGK iridium spark plugs
* Connections in  place for full data logging.
* RG Racing crash protectors.