Something For All The Honda VFR750R/RC30 Fans: AMA Superbike Retro & Hat's Off to RC30 in Canada

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The Commonwealth Camel Honda AMA Superbike team of #16 Tom Kipp and #68 Mike Smith can be seen in the hotpit lane at Mid Ohio in the summer of 1992. Armed with the Honda VFR750R RC30 machines, the Martin Adams' owned/run team was one of two teams in those days representing Honda/HRC in the AMA Superbike Championship Series, Two Brothers Racing with riders Freddie Spencer and Steve Crevier also campaigning Honda RC30s.
Kipp can be seen speaking with his head wrench while Smith, sitting on the pitlane wall/armco railing is talking with someone else just behind Kipp. Eventual '92 AMA Superbike Champion and '93 World Superbike Champion Scott 'The Screaming Chief' Russell can be seen walking along the right side of the shot with his head tuner, the late Merlyn Plumlee (who would later work for Honda beginning with the move to the RC45 and Smokin Joe's as the team's sponsor moniker.)
Kipp and Smith both won multiple championships in WERA, Formula USA and the top-dog AMA Road Racing Series, but never stood on the top spot of the podium in the premier AMA Superbike Championship. Both made numerous appearances on the box, taking a handful of 2nd and 3rd places, and both scored AMA 600 Supersport and 750 Supersport wins (and championships in Kipp's case) throughout their years in the series.
To this day I still feel that both of these gentlemen were the best of the best to NEVER win an AMA Superbike event, having graced the series for years on top-level machinery as well as top-notch talent. Let alone all-around nice guys and great reps of the sport.
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A gentleman out of Canada by the name of Rick sent me an e-mail a couple of weeks ago who had seen a couple of my Steve Crevier and Freddie Spencer shots, with them on the Two Brothers Racing Honda RC30s from back in the early '90s. Turns out Rick runs a VERY cool site that has an abundance of general and specific information on the Honda VFR750R/RC30, the machine that is probably best known to U.S. readers as the bike that took '84-'86 AMA Superbike Champion Fred Merkel to the initial '88 World Superbike Championship and the '89 WSBK Championship while riding for Team Rumi out of Italy.

The Honda VFR750R/RC30 was well represented on U.S. shores by Martin Adams' Commonwealth and Camel Honda teams, as well as the Erion brothers with their Two Brothers Racing team in the AMA Superbike Series. It is well-known that '95 AMA Superbike Champion Miguel Duhamel won his and Commonwealth/Camel's first Daytona 200 as a 'fill-in' on the Camel team for injured rider, the late Randy Renfrow. Probably one of Two Brothers/Spencer's most memorable wins to some AMA Superbike fans was the Miami street race, which was televised on CBS Sports back in the day. Spencer won out in the debacle that was, and usually is street racing in the United States.

Rick has put together a great site that pretty much covers it all on the V4/RC30 World Championship-winning machine. And he has been kind enough to post a few of my shots on his site as well. You can check it out here, but you better bring a towel to wipe off all that drool that is about to start flowing from your mouth:

http://rc30.yolasite.com/

Thanks to Rick at RC30 up north for posting some of my shots! You can check those out here along with some other very cool pics of RC30's in action and up close:

http://rc30.yolasite.com/pictures---rc30-race-bikes.php
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I just threw this link in for good measure. Dean Adams at the bitchin SuperBikePlanet.com has these shots in Monza at a rally of RC30 enthusiasts in 2007. Worth the look!

http://superbikeplanet.com/image/archive/rc30monza2007/
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Honda Japan/HRC has this promotional video of about 8 minutes of one of their RC30's being assembled and then presumably being made race-worthy on the track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO9YVYg4FyU
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And just for sh..s and giggles, this great video of multiple Isle of Man Winner Steve Hislop taking you for a spin on the 37 3/4 mile Isle of Man course on a Honda VFR750R/RC30. Hang on tight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUF5jHROVjQ
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