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Honda 941 Endurance 1976
After Honda withdrew from track racing to concentrate on
production models, there was talk from year to year of returning to racing.
Except for the Honda 750 Daytona, which entered and won only one race, the 1970
Daytona 200, there had been no official appearance on Honda's part in recent
years. Honda's good reputation in racing was maintained by motorcycles that were
adapted from production models by Pop Yoshimura, who was a real magician in the
field. Yoshimura worked for several years almost exclusively for Honda and then
worked on Kawasaki 900s as well. He got enough extra power out of the Kawasaki
to beat the four-cylinder Honda.
Late in 1975 a rumor was heard that Honda would enter an
official vehicle, derived from its four-cylinder production model, in the Coupe
d'Endurance. There were those who thought this was just the usual gossip,
but Honda itself announced that it was entering four official motorcycles at the
opening race of the Coupe, run at Mugello. The four teams were Leon and Chemarin,
Rigal and Guili, Ruiz and Huguet, and Woods and Williams. The Hondas were rather
far removed from production models and immediately proved to be much faster than
the competition. Thus Honda won all the 1976 Coupe d'Endurance races.
Motorcycle: Honda 941 Endurance Manufacturer: Honda Motor Co.
Ltd., Tokyo
Type: Coupe d'Endurance Year: 1976
Engine: Honda four-cylinder, four-shaft, with two-shaft overhead chain
distribution and four valves per cylinder. Displacement 941.3 cc. (68 mm. x 64.8
mm.)
Cooling: Air
Transmission: Five-speed block
Power: 115 h.p. at 9,000 r.p.m.
Maximum speed: Over 175 m.p.h.
Chassis: Double cradle, continuous, tubular. Front and rear, telescopic
suspension
Brakes: Front, double hydraulic disk; rear, hydraulic disk
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