DAVE ROPER
Dave Roper, the man who will ride the 350/4 at the Classic TT, was the first American to take a TT victory on the Isle of Man. He won the 1984 Senior Historic on a ’59 Matchless G50, averaging 96.114mph over three laps. He has been with Team Obsolete from their inception.
He rode Pasolini’s old Benelli racer to victory in the 1993 Daytona 350 Historic GP. Later the same year he crashed it at Kerramoar (about 21 miles from the start) while leading the Junior Classic Manx GP.
“I was going faster than I had been in practice and turned too late, running wide and hitting the bank on the right; I dislocated my right hip while I was still on the bike,” recalls Dave. “Then I ricocheted across the road and the last I remember is the hay bale in front of the lamp post. Next thing I was being lifted into the helicopter...” This was only the second time Team Obsolete had run the Benelli, after the win at Daytona. “I was unsure of the required maintenance intervals, so Roper was limited to 12,000rpm during practice,” says team owner Rob Iannucci. “After practice, we checked the top end condition, which was found to be excellent. So we raised the redline to 13,500. This was a violation of one of the most important rules of race tuning: test all changes before the race. The increased rpm was transformative, and Roper paid the price.”
Dave is probably the only man to have ridden a Honda six, an MV triple and a Benelli four. “All three have light flywheels and gain and lose revs rapidly, but the Honda six is the extreme example of this. It is easy to stall, but easy to fire up again just by letting out the clutch. I guess I’d have to say my favourite of the three is the MV. It pulls the hardest, is lighter than the Benelli, but also the shortest and therefore the liveliest. But I love singles!”
When Dave last raced on the Isle of Man, his beard was a rusty red. Now it’s more aluminium oxide – but the need for speed is as fresh as ever. After a recent engine rebuild in the TO workshop, including a new crank, rods, pistons and valves, the 350/4 is ready to ride in the Jurby Festival as well as the Lap of Honour on the Mountain Circuit.