1985: HONDA
I was contesting the remaining two world rounds in 1984. I managed to ride on the new mono-shock four-stroke Honda RTL that the Japanese manufacturer had sent over with the mechanic Kazutoshi Nakano and their rider Mazaya Yamamoto. Honda wanted to gauge the public reaction to the machine before putting it into a limited production run. I was immediately hooked when a machine had ‘Steve Saunders’ written all over it. Straight away, I wanted that Honda; it was a winner! It was years ahead of anything else on the trials scene, including the new mono-shock Yamaha that Tony Scarlett was riding, which I had also tested.
The next problem was how to get one of the new Hondas and how to raise funds for the 1985 season. Trevor Kemp was working for Honda GB at the time, and he had the answers I was looking for. I was on a good wage from Armstrong, and financially the Honda deal was not as good, but both my father and I knew the future was riding the four-stroke.
Trevor pulled every trick in the book to ensure an RTL ride for me, and eventually, he made it happen. The deal would be through Honda GB with extra financial support coming from the oil company Silkolene, one of my previous sponsors.
With no RTL model available in the early part of the 1985 season, I rode the newly introduced twin-shock Honda TLR until the arrival of the production single-shock machine. I soon learned to use the attributes of the four-stroke engine to my advantage to win. The new RTL arrived in secret just a few days before the February Colmore national trial; talk about excited! Some quick testing confirmed my thoughts; it was fantastic, and I loved it. In front of a massive crowd who had turned out to watch me debut the new Honda RTL, I took it to its maiden UK win — much to my relief.
EVERYONE’S HAPPY
Attending a Honda dealer meeting, it was a super-enthusiastic team who delivered the news that the faith they had in signing me had been rewarded with a total sell-out of the twin-shock TLR models — 150 in total — based on my success on the four-stroke. Everyone was happy. The success story continued as I took to the four-stroke like a duck to water.
Whilst Belgium’s Eddy Lejeune struggled with a new 360 RTL, I was in my element on the new 250, and Honda started to take notice soon after I finished second at the opening world round in Spain. It was not just the engine that was good; the Showa suspension was something else!
FACTORY SUPPORT
As my results improved, including a second at the Scottish Six Days Trial, the Honda team, supporting Eddy Lejeune, started to help me. They would ask to take my machine and make some changes and upgrade parts; they always asked if I was happy. I am sure the huge smile usually answered the questions. Eddy was a quiet person, but I got on fine with him.
I received a second RTL in June. It included updated parts such as new front fork yokes, forks and engine side cases cast from magnesium, featuring lighting coils for the WTC regulations. The crankcases were physically smaller, allowing an extra inch of ground clearance. It also featured a new detail change to the inlet cam, which aided slow-speed running. It was one of the areas of engine performance I had complained about. The Japanese engineers were all eyes and ears when they were speaking with you!
A HRC FUTURE
With another British championship won, I also took my first world round win in Germany to finish third in the world at the year-end. When I was aged 15, I had said, probably like all schoolboys, that I was going to be World Trials Champion by the age of 21, and I knew I could be with Honda. At the end of 1985, I was flown to Japan by HRC and offered what must be every motorcyclist’s dream, a works Honda contract. It was not mega-money, but it was the deal I most wanted in the world. I was in Japan at 20 years of age with full factory support and a works contract; it was a case of ‘game on’ for the World Championship.