This month's SR Tested may not improve your lap times, make your bike work better or have any tangible performance benefits to you or your machine, but we here at SR have a deep appreciation for history. More specifically, the history of our sport and how racebike technology of yesteryear eventually trickles down to what we ride today. Thankfully for us, one of the brightest engineering minds around, Kevin Cameron, has authored a definitive source for grand prix motorcycle knowledge. Titled
The Grand Prix Motorcycle ($39.99), Cameron chronicles each major era in grand prix history starting from its humble beginnings in 1949 all the way to Valentino Rossi's title winning Yamaha YZF-M1 of 2008. In doing so he breaks down many championship winning machines, explaining how each component was superior to its rivals. What's more, he also credits the people behind (and above) the machine, telling a tale of the drama inherent in racing.
The book begins, appropriately enough, in 1949 and the championships first year. At the time British singles like the Norton Manx and AJS E90 were the machines to be on. Revolutionary for the time, it was common knowledge that winners rode on single cylinder machines. Cameron goes on to explain the major flaw in single cylinder engine layouts and how transverse four-cylinders quickly came to replace the singles starting in the early 50's.
Four-cylinder, four-stroke machines would dominate grand prix racing for the next two decades with the likes of Gilera, MV Agusta, and a little known company called Honda all fighting for the title, along with names like Read, Agostini and Carruthers. The era saw the rapid advancement of chassis and suspension technology to keep up with the ever more powerful engines. Though refined, the same basic drum brake employed on the old British singles were still a mainstay.
The early 70's saw some major changes in grand prix racing, most notably the introduction of two-stroke engines competing alongside the four strokes. It wasn't until 1975 that Yamaha, with the great Giacomo Agostini doing much of the development work, won the world title. Aside from utilizing a two-stroke, the 0W23 Yamaha ushered in the mono-shock rear suspension as well as the braced swingarm, all of which Cameron describes in detail. Not only that, but Cameron gives some great insight as to the racing climate of the time, including some fascinating technical tidbits of the motorcycles of the era and what the riders thought of them, delivered in his usual matter-of-fact style. He goes on to finish out the 70's with Kenny Roberts and the variable-exhaust-port-timing in-line four that delivered a gentler delivery of power, especially useful on corner exit.
We particularly found the chapters regarding the first three decades of grand prix racing interesting, as the progression from crude machines to specialized racing beasts is so evident during that time. Cameron goes on to chronicle the 80's with the emergence of Freddie Spencer and Honda's dominance, the 90's as Mick Doohan's era and finally closes with the last of the two-strokes and present-day MotoGP machinery.
The Grand Prix Motorcycle is filled with archived and rare racing photos of each era, along with illustrations by Pepe Burgaleta of winning machines stripped of bodywork and prime for examination. If Grand Prix Motorcycle racing 101 had a textbook, this would be it.