Ron Haslam on the Elf Honda 500
Ron Haslam’s a man who knows more than anyone about the behaviour of hub-centre steered bikes having raced them at the very highest level. The 63-year-old legend rode the chassis-less bikes which featured single-sided swingarms front and rear. “I rode them between 1986 and 1988. Honda were in collaboration with French petrol giant Elf with Serge Rosset as team manager. I liked developing the bike, and though the first one I ever tested didn’t work well at all, we learned a lot from it. The second version which we designed to pitch more under braking to load the front tyre was an improvement. The ultimate aim was to try to develop a road bike based in what we learned from racing. It was very heavy to begin with, perhaps 20-25kg too much, so we did what we could to try to lighten it. There were load of problems to solve, but I was excited by the challenge of it all and the team were enthusiastic. The budget had no limit and things didn’t always go to plan. We once used a lot of magnesium parts in the steering to reduce weight, but it’s brittle stuff and when I landed after popping a wheelie down the straight at Hockenheim, the steering broke sending me onto the grass to crash at about 140mph! Braking was an issue as well. We used a really big front disc which used to drag and get hot. It would often push the pads back into the calipers when you got to really high speed. I had about five fast crashes at the end of straights when I lost the brake pressure completely.” What positives did the bike have, Ron? “The bike steered well and
was really stable, especially under braking. Though because it didn’t pitch forward and load the front tyre like a forked bike would when you braked, I had to brake to weight the front-end a fraction before I could really use them to their full: but neither hard braking nor acceleration would alter the geometry of the bike so it would hold a line perfectly. You could also change the set-up much faster than you could on a forked bike. We could try things that I’d not have time to on a bike with a normal chassis. The biggest handicap was the lack of feedback. You couldn’t feel what the front tyre was doing, and you wouldn’t know when it started to slide. I was usually good in the wet, but not on the Elf! “At some races I also had a factory NSR500 with a conventional chassis to use. On that bike I was on the rostrum twice. When Honda instructed us to use the hub-centre steered bike the results instantly became worse, even though it also had a factory engine. “Honda would sometimes allow me to use the NSR for the final qualifying at each race and I’d usually end up a lot higher up the grid, but in the race I finished well down. After riding the Elf bike only for quite a while we thought we were making progress with it, but as soon as I switched back to the forked bike I had to reconsider things. It wasn’t all bad though: I did win Macau on an Elf in 1986. I think it would have made a good TT bike and been fine on the road, but with the standard of machinery at GPS, it was always going to be tough.”
along at the spirited pace that we were, felt very safe and relaxing. Another advantage of the Yamaha’s all-round appeal and usability is its comfort: the riding position isn’t at all cramped, wind protection is decent, and the seat seems good enough to stay in for many an hour. Owner Phil has been down to Portugal a few times on it and not ached once. I’d say the clutch action could do with some revisions, with its sharp take-up making it a tad too easy to stall in stop-start situations. But if this and the small cubby hole are the only things to complain about... Phil said this was his second GTS and unless the money was just right he wouldn’t be letting it go. “I reckon it’s worth around £4000 as it’s in good order and only done 12,000 miles,” he says. “Bigger mileage isn’t such a problem, especially if it’s been looked after. But as parts can be very difficult to source you need to be careful and get yourself a complete bike in good running order. Front discs are impossible to find, as are the collector boxes which can rot. You can modify an EXUP system to fit, though you lose a bit of midrange as the header pipes are a lot bigger in diameter. Pattern consumable bits are all easy to get hold of though. They’re not hard to work on, but the front end’s different and it can take around half a day to grease up the linkage system: and it’s crucial it’s done. I’ve seen one with 100,000 miles on the clock, so it’s tough. Fitting a narrower front 120/70 front tyre to replace the 130/70 original helps the steering, as does keeping the 170/60 rear. Don’t be tempted to swap it for something wider though, as you’ll slow down turn-in.” Thinking back to my ride, the GTS felt solid as a rock while still dealing with bumps as well as a magic carpet. With its engine feeling so smooth and able to deliver such massive drive (though the Yamaha is a bit on the weighty side in engine-off situations) there’s no doubt about its surprisingly impressive abilities once it’s on the move. And if you’d have said I’d pass such a positive verdict like that one after I first gave it a go I would’ve just laughed and walked away. Yamaha’s GTS1000 is a bloody good bike, but you’ve got to give it enough of a chance to show you it is. Luckily I did!