Remembering a Legend: Steve Wise and his Superbikers RC500

Superbikers Honda RC500 Steve Wise — Steve Wise’s Superbikers RC500 at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum

Holy Grail Honda: Steve Wise’s Legacy Lives on at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum…

AMA Motorcycle Hall-of-Famer Steve Wise, who passed earlier this year, has been called the greatest all-around motorcycle racer in American racing history. His feats in AMA competition spanned a staggering range of disciplines, including motocross, supercross, superbike, dirt track, and more.

“Wise earned the distinction of becoming the only rider in history to win AMA motocross, AMA Supercross, and AMA Superbike nationals. The Texan further proved his all-around talent by earning a podium result in the AMA Grand National Championship when he took third, in his very first Grand National Dirt Track appearance, at the Houston Astrodome TT National in 1982.” –AMA Hall of Fame

Born in McAllen, Texas, Steve grew up going to local motocross races with his father, who had a deep passion for two wheels. His old man bought him a Honda SL90 for ripping around the local hills and even opened his own Honda dealership.

Steve’s father backed his entry into local motocross races on an SL125, but the stripped-down four-stroke struggled against the two-stroke Yamaha motocross models.

“His dad’s novel solution was to add the Penton line of motorcycles to his dealership. Once he was on the light, two-stroke Pentons, Wise became nearly unbeatable.” –AMA Hall of Fame

After proving himself as a motocross rider at the national level, both as a factory Kawasaki rider and then a Honda privateer, Steve landed a factory ride with Honda in 1978 — the brand where he’d remain for the rest of his career.

Steve was a leading contender in the AMA 250 Motocross and Supercross championships in the late 1970s. However, it was a made-for-TV race — along with the specially prepped RC500 you see here — that would catapult his career to new heights and cement his status as an American racing legend.

That event was The Superbikers, created by racing promoter Gavin Trippe for ABC’s Wide World of Sports — the highest-rated sports show in America at the time. In the late 1970s, very little motorcycle racing was actually shown on TV.

Trippe had the idea to create an event that would test the world’s top riders from different racing disciplines in a single made-for-television competition.

“Trippe’s plan was simple: Invite top racers from the three major forms of motorcycle competition — road racing, flat tracking, and motocross — to compete against each other on a single course that integrated all three forms of racing… The race was held at Carlsbad Raceway, incorporating portions of the motocross track that included a high-speed sweeper and TT jump for the flat track section. The racers eventually returned to the pavement (road race) to complete a lap. Doing so tested each rider’s specialty.” –Motorcycle Classics

The machines were limited to 500cc two-strokes and 750cc four-strokes, and everyone raced on 19-inch wheels with Carlisle flat-track tires to keep the racing as close as possible. The result was one of the most entertaining, exciting spectacles ever broadcast on two wheels. World-class road race, motocross, speedway, and flat track racers duked it out on the same track, mainly on open-class 500cc two-strokes with lowered suspension and giant disc brakes.

Names like Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson, Bubba Shobert, Danny “Magoo” Chandler, and Ricky Graham — as well as many top European pros — graced the event. Steve Wise raced in the first 1979 Superbikers event, but his drum-braked bike wasn’t up to snuff.

“Honda asked me if I wanted to race in the Superbikers again in 1980 and I told them ‘Sure, but give me a competitive bike.’ And boy did they ever. The bike had a special factory engine. It could run 140 mph and had powerful disc brakes. It was great.”

As you may know, the Honda RC500 is one of the most legendary motocross bikes of all time — an exceedingly rare, factory-only 500cc two-stroke works motocrosser that was never sold to the public.

Our buddy Max Hind of 999lazer calls it “the holy grail of two-stroke motocross,” while Robin “Doc Wobbles” Walters, who restored Dave Thorpe’s FIM World 500 Championship-winning RC500, reckons it the best motocross bike of all time.

“A time when the bikes were full factory, not the watered down production-based bikes we’ve grown to accept as the pinnacle. No, this was one of the last full factory bikes where very little from a production bike comes close…” -Doc Wobbles, PulpMX

The bike you see here is Steve Wise’s actual Superbikers RC500, now housed at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum outside Birmingham, Alabama. With this weapon beneath him, Wise won the 1980 and 1981 Superbikers races against some of the most elite riders ever assembled in one place…and in front of a giant TV audience both at home and abroad.

Honda was very happy with Steve’s victories. They made sure to showcase Steve in their magazine ads and promotional materials. Meanwhile, the event was finding fans all over the world, and The Superbikers would directly inspire the burgeoning sport of Supermoto.

So impressed was Honda with Steve’s riding that they invited him to try out Freddie Spencer’s 1000cc Superbike in the winter of 1981.

“Here I was riding this 150-horsepower Superbike for the first time on Willow Springs in 40 mph winds. It was only by the grace of God that I survived that day. I ran off the track into the rocks a couple of times at 130 mph. I was shocked by the power of the bike. It was a real eye opener.”

Wise adapted incredibly quickly to the machine, however, leading the 1982 AMA Formula One championship for most of the season. The same year, he nearly took victory in his first-ever AMA Grand National Dirt Track appearance at the Houston Astrodome, riding a CR450 on the TT track.

“Wise worked all the way up from the back of the field to the tailpipe of leader Ricky Graham. It was obvious to all on hand that Wise was setting Graham up for a pass when a rear brake rod broke on his Honda forcing him back to third at the finish. Nevertheless, the Houston TT podium only added to the legend of Wise’s amazing ability.” –AMA Hall of Fame

Wise’s sky-high TT jumps are the stuff of legend.

Wise was named 1982 AMA Pro Athlete of the Year. In 1983, he earned a podium finish in the Daytona 200 and won the Mid-Ohio round of the AMA Superbike series, making him the first motocross winner ever to win a national road race. His status an American motorcycling legend was cemented.

Unfortunately, a pair of bad crashes at Road America and Laguna Seca resulted in injuries that would ultimately bring his racing career to a close. After his retirement, Wise became an ordained minister and founded a real estate investment company.

According to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, Wise was a frequent speaker at various Christian meetings and had three children with his high school sweetheart Sandra. Sadly, Wise passed away earlier this year at the age of 68.

In 2023, American Honda gifted 36 motorcycles to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, and Wise’s big-bore, air-cooled two-stroke RC500 Superbikers machine was one of them. This is the actual bike that Wise rode to victory at Southern California’s Carlsbad Raceway.

“Steve Wise was a tremendous riding talent, one of the most versatile American racers in the history of motorcycle sport. Indeed, the Texan won AMA nationals in three disciplines: motocross, supercross, and road racing.” -Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum

Wise will always be remembered as one of the most talented and versatile racers in the history of AMA competition. We’re so happy his legacy lives on at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, one of the most glorious destinations in all of motorcycling. Thanks to the Barber staff and photographer Joe Avila for these images of the machine.