Freddie Spencer CB750F 6-Hour Endurance Replica

John Froude’s Faithful Replica of Fast Freddie’s CB750F Endurance Racer…  

“Fast Freddie” Spencer is one of the greatest motorcycle racers America has ever produced. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, he was a prodigy who began racing dirt track at the tender age of 5 and went on to win the 1983 500cc Grand Prix World Championship at just 21 years old — the youngest rider ever to do so until Marc Marquez finally broke his record 30 years later.

Spencer went on to win three World Championships, becoming the only rider ever to win both the 250cc and 500cc Championships in the same season (1985), as well as the only one to win all three of the major Daytona races (Daytona 200, Formula 1, and 250cc) in the same year. Today he’s a member of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, and recognized as an FIM Grand Prix “Legend.”

Spencer got his professional road racing start with American Honda in the 1980 AMA Superbike Championship when he was still a teenager. He not only gave AHM their first AMA superbike victory, but would serve as a great influence on the future of the sport.

“Freddie Spencer entered motorcycle road racing at a pivotal time and proved to be the fulcrum that helped lever this sport into the modern era. His work with Honda shaped the company’s sport-bike lineup that began with the CB-line and morphed into the Interceptors, CBRs, VFRs and RCs, bikes shaped by Spencer’s innate abilities and the same Honda engineers who worked with Spencer at the track.” –Motorsports Hall of Fame of America

Spencer gained international attention at the 1980 US versus Britain Transatlantic Trophy match races, where he battled the likes of World Champions Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene to win two legs at Brands Hatch. Suddenly, the eyes of the motorcycle racing world were on this soft-spoken American teenager.

“He had a supernatural feel for the front tire, was canny at using the rear brake as an early form of traction control, and had a dazzling ability to adapt to changeable conditions. In terms of raw talent, there had never been anyone like him.” –Asphalt & Rubber

In attendance at Brands Hatch that year was an 18-year-old London despatch rider named John Froude — little did he know, that day would change his life.

“It was here I first experienced the talents of an American few of us had heard of… We certainly knew who he was by the end of that Good Friday though! After looking in the programme my mate Malc (RIP) told me that #5 was a TZ750 being ridden by some guy called Freddie Spencer — fair enough, but, he was 18! So was I, but I only had a 250 road bike! I had to find out more about him and via the US m/cycle magazines I found out that he had just signed for American Honda (AHM) to ride a CB750F in AMA Superbike…”

John had quit school at 16 to hit the roads as a despatch rider — a profession he would stick with for more than 12 years, gaining his City and Guilds qualification as a mechanic in the process and sending a lot of “now classic Japanese bikes to an early (high mileage) grave.”

“Despatch riding back then was a whole motorcycle sub-culture, driven by the general bike scene, the music, and the ‘us against the world’ attitude that only professional despatch riders understand. It was a different world on the roads back then and every day was a GP-cum-hooligan day!”

John later worked as a motorcycle instructor, motorcycle mechanic, and finally a parts/accessories and clothing manager at a Honda dealer for 25 years. Over the years, he’s also become an authority on the Honda CB750F AMA Superbikes of the early 1980s, building the best Freddie Spencer replicas in the world with many original Honda RSC parts. It all started that day at Brands Hatch.

“I later saw the bike and team that Freddie was riding and for, I wanted one! But I wanted Freddie’s actual bike! His 1982 Daytona Superbike to be exactly exact! I realised that wasn’t going to happen on my wages so vowed to build my own, that was 36 years ago and that now sits on a paddock stand in the dining room, along with an ’81 Mike Spencer replica, and this latest third piece of the jigsaw…”

Yes, the only missing piece of John’s 1025-era CB750F Superbike trilogy was the 1980 Freddie Spencer Castrol 6-Hour Endurance replica you see here, which began as little more than a pile of leftover parts and a CB900F frame.

In 1980, America Honda entered two 6-hour endurance races to accelerate development of their new bike. What you see here is a replica of the bike Freddie Spencer raced at Loudon, New Hampshire. Since it wasn’t an AMA race, the rules were a bit different.

“Bigger motors were allowed (up to 1123) as were bigger fuel tanks and also, side panels could be left off for ease of access to oil tanks and batteries during pit stops. These bikes looked really raw, tough and a bit battle weary and they had one instantly recognisable focal point… A unique and huge gas tank!”

John, who was furloughed during the pandemic, painstakingly built this highly accurate replica in his own home, largely because he’s now a full-time caregiver for his mother, who has Alzheimer’s. Just the research to recreate such a replica was monumental, as the bike only raced a single event in this specific spec…45 years ago!

Fortunately, John developed a secret weapon in the form of the Facebook community he founded, CB750F AMA SUPERBIKE 1980/81/82, which brings together racers, tuners, photographers, and other folks who were actually there during this heady era of Superbike racing.

Soon, rare photographs and information began to surface. Meanwhile, John scoured the internet and collector community for rare RSC parts, while Shane at Final Cut Engineering — his “looong suffering engineer” — fabricated all kinds of one-off parts.

“Items like brackets, linkages, breathers, collars, fixtures ,and fittings were made to be exactly like the originals were, EXACTLY! “

Then it was time for the signature 8-gallon tank, only three of which were ever made. The man behind them? None other than master fabricator Todd Schuster, whose CB750 “Tokyo Rose” drag bike we featured in 2022 — restored by Karl Ardo and Josh Winderman after hanging in a barn for more than 40 years.

John needed a master fabricator who could recreate such a tank, which led him to our friend Ian Davis of ETTO Motorcycles. If you’ve been following BikeBound for any length of time, you know Ian is an absolute wizard — the perfect man for the job.

“It was quite an honour to be asked by John to make one. He supplied an original road tank, the project bike and detailed plans from the chap who owns the original endurance tank in America. John even managed to obtain original Honda America RSC filler caps.” -Ian

In the interview below, Ian goes into detail as to how he recreated the one-off tank, using little more than hammers, a shot bag, and an English wheel — legend! The result is a tank that even the keenest eye can’t tell from the original.

“This has been such a wonderful project to be involved with, particularly as I love this eras bikes and racers. Having previously read Freddie Spencer’s biography Feel, to then work on this bike has been an absolute joy.” -Ian

Hats off to John and Ian for working together to build this incredible replica, which pays homage both to Fast Freddie and the late Todd Schuster, a legend in his own right. It takes men of rare passion and skill to recreate such a bike. They’ve gifted us with something very close to a two-wheeled time machine capable of transporting us back to golden age of racing, when legends were just coming into their own.

Also, on Ian’s recommendation, we’ve begun reading Freddie Spencer’s biography, Feel, and have to say it’s a much deeper, insightful, and even spiritual read that we expected — we highly recommend picking up a copy if you’re interested in this era of racing history.

Below is our full uncut interview with John and Ian about this build and the stories behind it. We hope to bring you the rest of John’s Freddie Spencer replicas in the weeks to come. Stay tuned!

Interview: John Froude

 

• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.

Born and live in SW London, left school at 16 and went straight onto the road as a London despatch rider on my Suzuki AP50 Sports moped in 1978. I did this job for 12 ½ years and sent many now classic Japanese bikes to an early (high mileage) grave. RD250/400’s, Suzuki GT250’s including X7’s, CB750/900F’s and other more mundane motorcycles.

Despatch riding back then was a whole motorcycle sub-culture, driven by the general bike scene, the music, and the “us against the world” attitude that only professional despatch riders understand. It was a different world on the roads back then and every day was a GP-cum-hooligan day!

After that I became a motorcycle instructor, teaching complete novices and previously experienced riders to survive on the road and help them to pass their full licence bike test. I absolutely loved both of those jobs and got a lot of job satisfaction.

After that, I came off the road and began a new chapter as a motorcycle mechanic in an independent Harley shop and then as a parts man for Yamaha and eventually ending my working life as parts/accessories and clothing manager in a Honda dealer for 25 years.

I did a two-year day release m/cycle mechanics course at Merton Tech starting in ’79 and finishing in 1980 with a City and Guilds qualification. This was a huge help as a despatch rider enabling me to be able to service and repair my own bikes, thus saving labour charges at dealerships?

Around that time I had a huge accident (outside working hours) which did have an effect on me. It wrote my bike off and very nearly me as well and ultimately after buying the bike back from my insurance company I built my first “special”.

It was a trick little Suzuki 250 X7 which had TZ parts, a monoshock conversion, clip-ons, rearsets AP and Spondon parts. All topped off with Texaco Heron Bazza paint and a £1000’s worth of gold plating!

Other bikes came and went but also in 1980 I had a bit of a personal epiphany. I went to Brands Hatch with a mate to watch the Transatlantic Challenge races; it was here I first experienced the talents of an American few of us had heard of… We certainly knew who he was by the end of that Good Friday though!

After looking in the programme my mate Malc (RIP) told me that #5 was a TZ750 being ridden by some guy called Freddie Spencer, fair enough, but, he was 18! So was I, but I only had a 250 road bike! I had to find out more about him and via the US m/cycle magazines I found out that he had just signed for American Honda (AHM) to ride a CB750F in AMA Superbike…

At that time my personal workshop facilities consisted of a rented single car garage in an underground complex owned by the local council. No light, no power, and no real security but it was all I could afford. Dim lighting, cold and damp, it was not ideal but I was a beggar and could do little choosing. Subsequently the council razed it to the ground after a series of dodgy goings-on and a fire. None attached to me BTW…

I eventually ended up with a much nicer private garage in a much nicer part of town, but I have more recently been building in the house for very personal reasons. In 2020 when covid dealt everyone a bad hand, I was furloughed like most and I got to spend some quality time with my mum — my fiancee lived 400 miles away so I couldn’t see her.

I noticed Mum was having memory problems and swiftly realised it was a wee bit more serious than that? Now, five years on I am my mum’s full time carer as she now has full blown Alzheimer’s dementia. I still haven’t seen my lovely Avril but we are cool as she did the same for her lovely Mum and Dad in their late years, so she fully understands the commitment required.

With all this I found I needed a project to keep me sane, kind of motorcycle therapy? So I built two bikes in the back room. The bike you see here is the latest.

• What was the donor bike?

This bike is the third race replica I have built to complete a trilogy, I am obsessed with the AHM works CB750F based AMA Superbikes and it all started with that trip to Brands Hatch, when I later saw the bike and team that Freddie was riding and for, I wanted one! But I wanted Freddie’s actual bike! His 1982 Daytona Superbike to be exactly exact! I realised that wasn’t going to happen on my wages so vowed to build my own, that was 36 years ago and that now sits on a paddock stand in the dining room, along with an ’81 Mike Spencer replica and this latest third piece of the jigsaw…

But it’s a slightly different piece with a slightly different slant. It is based on the 1980 bike that was ridden at Loudon New Hampshire, for the Castrol 6 hour Endurance race, effectively a club race, not an AMA sprint. But this didn’t start as a donor bike for me, it started as a pile of bits I had left over and a frame from a CB900F.

• Why was this bike built?

As mentioned, I am an AHM CB750F Superbike junkie, they totally float my boat and if you really take the time to find out, you realise that, yes, they look like they were built up from the street model but, they are in fact very very special pure racing motorcycles, using a very loose interpretation of the rule book. This was known as the 1025 era, big, powerful inline 4 cylinder air cooled Japanese bikes with twin shocks and sit-up-and-beg bars. Awesome, raw, noisy and v fast!

American Honda returned to AMA racing in 1980 and raced this model through to ’82 when this era came to a close and the rule change for ’83 that saw a capacity limit of 750 and the gradual introduction of the new Japanese technology and hardware with single shock rear-ends and liquid cooling… (That’ll never catch on you know!?). So I had two reps, this one completed the set.

• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?

I never really liked the 1980 bike that much, I think it was the understated paint and silver stock finish on the motor of the first versions? But there was one version that turned my head, AHM , in an attempt to forward development of their new bike would try to maximise track time to test new hardware and allow maximum track time for their riders. As mentioned, they accelerated this process by attending two six-hour Endurance races that year, the first was at Ontario in California, the second at Loudon.

 

Because these were without the AMA remit, the rules were slightly different and a wee bit more relaxed? Bigger motors were allowed (up to 1123) as were bigger fuel tanks and also, side panels could be left off for ease of access to oil tanks and batteries during pit stops. These bikes looked really raw, tough and a bit battle weary and they had one instantly recognisable focal point… A unique and huge gas tank!

These tanks (there were 3) were constructed by AHM’s master fabricator Todd Schuster (RIP) by cutting up two (some say three) stock gas tanks to make this one work of art. Somehow, I was going to build this bike for myself.

• What custom work had to be done to replicate Freddie Spencer’s CB750F endurance racer?

The first task in creating a replica, any replica is research. As this is a motorcycle raced in the 1980’s, you would expect a good amount of pictures or write ups? Not so, this race was reported in Cycle News but very little coverage appeared anywhere else.

I had the article but, I had another resource. In 2016, after fruitlessly trying to find information on Facebook about the CB750 AMA Superbikes, I realised there was no one group dedicated to the subject…so I started my own. As a result it has grown unbelievably into a thriving community dedicated to the memory, fun, and excitement of those times 40 odd years ago.

The membership of our little group incredibly includes the who’s who of AMA Superbike at that time. Works riders, privateers, and crew members all graciously give of their time and knowledge and, crucially, some of the pro photographers who were there and are affectionately remembered have offered pictures from their portfolios for publication on the group. Some of which have never been seen before!

A few have surfaced from the Loudon 6-hour race and thus, have enabled me to get some of those previously unknown details correct. This is all well and good for the research, but what about the actual hardware? Finding “works” or “kit” parts in the 21st century, for a bike that was raced nearly half a century ago is not especially easy anymore.

You can’t pop in to the supermarket and buy RSC engine covers. Even eBay, which used to be a good source, has pretty much dried up, although very occasionally  some bits do still turn up.

Nowadays it is to the collectors and the names in the classic racing world that you need to know. I have been incredibly lucky and I am well aware of the fact. I have met and interacted with some of the kindest and most knowledgeable people who have helped me out in a manner that has no price.

But what of this specific bike? Raced for only one event in that spec, with those parts fitted? Well, sometimes there has to be an element of compromise, so with this replica, what I have employed is a wee bit of artistic licence. It is a small amalgam of parts used during 1980 on the AHM bikes throughout the season.

For instance, the carbs used on the 6-hour bike were Keihin ticklers, a pure racing carburettor, that very occasionally surfaces, but at a seller’s premium. I lucked out and bought (via the f/book group) a set of Blue Magnum carbs, which American Honda DID use throughout 1980 — a compromise, but relevant.

The pipe is not “exact” but very much like the early pipes AHM used. And so it develops, everything on the bike that is genuine or period correct, was used at some time during 1980.

Anything I couldn’t find, or was of a one-off nature, I had made by my looong suffering engineer Shane — I’m sure he would suffocate me if he could find a way that wasn’t obvious! So, items like brackets, linkages, breathers, collars, fixtures and fittings were made to be exactly like the originals were, EXACTLY!

Bizarrely, some items which were ten-a-penny back when the bike was raced, sometimes become among the hardest to find now — the basic NHK Kawasaki style steering damper for instance, or the oil cooler. All quite difficult now and expensive!

Ultimately I strive for absolute replication if possible and so certain parts have to be right. The RSC parts fitted are rare but desperately important to the finished article. The engine covers, the dry clutch parts, the quick fillers, the carb rubbers, all correct.

 

Once again, those photos were the key… Although I will say some others have surfaced since the pictures were taken so I now know a few other mods I (or rather Shane) will have to do. But along the way the frame bracing, the shock mounts, the yokes, all have to be fabricated, machined, welded and painted/anodised accordingly.

• Ian Davis of Etto Motorcycles, who fabricated the tank:

To fabricate the tank I had to cut up and widen the steel road tank. Have a mould made and a fibreglass top and base made. These I then filled and turned into formers, which I then shaped the 1.5mm 1050 aluminium sheet to conform to.

The whole process used only traditional hand crafting techniques hammers, a shot bag and an English wheel.

What I’m proud of is the amount of detailing I managed to put into this tank. When I made the tooling I even cut up an original CB750 tank just like the original fabricator did back in the day. The only difference was I did it to make the forming tools to shape the aluminium tank.

Members of the forum following this era of race bikes, even believe my tank to be an original. The detailing is that accurate. High praise indeed.

• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of? 

I am not really proud of my bikes — it sounds just a wee bit big headed. I build primarily for my own satisfaction, if other people happen to like it then that is a massive bonus! I do take pride in my eye for detail though I think? I do have to separately mention Ian Davis at ETTO Motorcycles for the unbelievable handmade aluminium fuel tank! It is truly the work of a master craftsman and a true work of art, I don’t know what else to say except that it is exact in every detail!

• Is there anyone you’d like to thank?

A massive thank you to (in no particular order), Shane at Final Cut Engineering, Ian Davis at ETTO for the amazing fuel tank, Brian O’shea for all manner of help and advice, Bernard Saunders for the rarer than rare parts, Thom Chung, Hans Hellfritsch, Sean Board, Victor Peters, Phil Taylor-Bond, Phil Sollash, Phil Gresty, Scott Moon, Jim Sawtell and Fringe Parnell and anyone else I may have forgotten. Big thanks to Phil Howard for being my best mate and to my lovely fiancee Avril for all the help and love. Iain Robertson for the paint job!!!

Follow ETTO Motorcycles

Website: www.ettomotorcycles.co.uk
Instagram: @ettomotorcycles

Follow John Froude

Facebook: CB750F AMA SUPERBIKE 1980/81/82