Trying to find old XV920RJ race bike article?

[motrhead]

I wasn't sure where to put this question, so here it is...
Back in '83 or 4 or somewhere in the vicinity, there was an article about a Yamaha XV920RJ race bike that was running at Westwood in Vancouver. Can anyone tell me what issue to look for, or where I might find a scan of the article? Believe it or not, it was apparently a very light and fast race bike in it's day.

[Dave James]

I wasn't sure where to put this question, so here it is...
Back in '83 or 4 or somewhere in the vicinity, there was an article about a Yamaha XV920RJ race bike that was running at Westwood in Vancouver.
That rings a bell.
Was that the project bike ex-Yamaha factory guy Bob Work (of Steve Baker fame) was "working" on. I remember it looked interesting. Was the 25 years ago? Yikes! :eek:

[motrhead]

Steve Baker...that rings a bell too. Was that who was riding it around Westwood? Yeah, it was a looong time ago.
What year did they shut down Westwood? That was one of the saddest days in BC history.
I have an XV920 parts bike that I may want to do something with,maybe something along the lines of the bike in the article.

[yzf1000jon]

.
What year did they shut down Westwood? That was one of the saddest days in BC history.
www.wmrc.ca Westwood Motorcycle Racing Club is running strong and hosting some excellent racing, next weekend is the season opener.

[motrhead]

www.wmrc.ca Westwood Motorcycle Racing Club is running strong and hosting some excellent racing, next weekend is the season opener.

I knew about the club, and the current track. Sadly it's nothing like the original. I believe it was Stirling Moss that spoke very highly of the original track. When I was a child I lived right next to it and could often hear the cars there.
Yesterday I was checking out the trackdays listed on BCSportbikes, and thinking I need to get some racing leathers and try out my RZ350 on the track...

[Mike Moloney]

This past February, while in the cafe at Millenium Motorcycles in St. Helens just east of Liverpool, I met Alan Seddon. Alan lived in BC's Lower Mainland in the early 80s' and rode that bike at Westwood. It was built for the US Battle of the Twins series and was seriously modified from its rather mundane stock specification. The pressed-steel frame was heavily braced, the forks were off some TZ and the motor was truly hot-rodded. Its Achilles heel was the cam chain tensioners and it would not take to over-revving. I spoke to Bob Work a couple of weeks ago and he told me it was campaigned by a variety of riders south of the border including Dave Aldana. Alan said it went around corners okay but it would weave in a straight line. The article in CC was by Alan Cathcart but it someone will have to dig through their musty collection to identify the issue. The bike itself no longer exists having been broken into component parts long ago.

Mike Moloney
www.peakridertraining.com

[motrhead]

Wow! Thanks. That's great info. So I'm not the only person that remembers that bike. It's a small world isn't it? I never heard how the bike did in competition -only that it was extremely fast around Westwood. I always thought the XV920 should be capable of making some real horsepower with that much displacement. When they are done up as cafe bikes, the massive engine hanging in the breeze reminds me of a Monster or a Guzzi.
A guy in the Netherlands built this from a 750 Virago:
http://www.caferacer.ca/cafegallery/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=502
Why couldn't Yamaha have built them like that?!