This just in from former racer extraordinaire Glenn Cooper, who, as it turns out, is one heck of a funny writer. Thanks Glenn. Deano Swims’ old Honda, affectionately dubbed Battle Axe, is going to be back on the track for the first time in over 25 years next weekend at Road Atlanta. A lot of people from that era of racing are looking forward to it.

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Some legends are born, some are created, and every now and then some are reborn, or in this case “reanimated” after a near 3 decade hibernation…

This is the story, 3 stories really of the Battle Axe, a 1983 Honda CB1100F that raced and won (a lot!) in WERA and AMACCS competition almost 30 years ago…

Part 1 – It’s Aliiiiiive!

When Honda introduced the CB1100F in 1982 as an ’83 model, you could almost feel the wind of finality: Big H had been producing liquid cooled bikes for several years starting with the Gold Wing in the mid 70’s, yet the sport bikes of the time were still running air into, around, and in between the cylinders.

The CB1100F could then be seen as the last dying breath of air-cooled, multi-cylinder sportbikes.

When Honda rolled out this bike it was “All hail the new King”, but those in the know knew something was brewing…

The last few years Honda had been going Coo-Coo for Cocoa Puffs, designing a family of liquid cooled V4’s, which would be introduced in ’82 in 3 different style chassis, one of which was the famed “Interceptor” family.

All the while Honda had been racing the CB900F as a 1025cc (AMA Superbike displacement limit) monster with riders Freddie Spencer, Mike Baldwin, Roberto Pietri, and Steve Wise to name a few, it was no huge surprise that something very different, and a little wet was about to show up…

About this time, Atlanta native Dean Swims was one of the first to get the 1100 Honda out on the track, teaming up with Vic Fasola of the Cycle Nuts and Bolts stable in Clarkston, Georgia.

At 6’4” and 190 pounds, “Deano” didn’t exactly have a choice of which class to race in. It was either go A Superbike, or try to squeeze onto a mid size bike and look like a monkey doing something very nasty to a football…

The truth is he’s always been a big bike guy – his last street bike was a 1979 CBX Turbo!

Like a lot of the shops back then, “CNB” was a classic hole in the wall, with accessories and parts upstairs, and hidden below in the basement, ground level out back was an inner sanctum of roadrace building and tuning, which typically took place after hours, and lent itself to a party atmosphere, especially on Friday nights. Bench Racing extraordinaire flowed freely, just like the Budweiser on those nights.

Vic had seen Deano racing as a novice in WERA, and saw something he liked. He approached him one weekend at the track and offered his help with building and tuning of the big Honda, and before you knew it, the thing was morphing into a Superbike.

The pair went on to absolutely dominate WERA A Superbike in the southeast, and with the fledgling AMA Championship Cup Series (CCS), running in the Formula 1 class.

The mods of the day were pretty straightforward:
Ontario Moto Tech Pistons and cams
Falicon crankshaft lightening, knife edging of the crank throws, and polishing the journals
Cylinder head milling
Valve job (with stones!)
Dyna Ignition
33mm Keihin round slide carburetors to replace the smallish CV style units that came stock
A Bassani 4:1 mild steel, aluminum plasma coated exhaust system
Transmission gear undercutting
17” VF750F Interceptor rear wheel to replace stock 18”er
Kossman plasma sprayed aluminum front floating rotors
EBC brake pads all around
Progressive front fork springs
Fox Shox rear shocks.

That’s about it and the end result was probably somewhere around 130 HP, or in layman’s terms – enough to get the front end up coming downhill from the bridge at Road Atlanta

After the second year of racing this bike, Deano and Vic drifted apart, as Vic was helping a few other local riders who were racing bikes that actually paid contingency money from the OEM’s.

Deano’s roommate at the time, Donnie Rowe was running in the 500 Interceptor series, and another of our buddies, Ron Ewerth was racing a Yamaha FZ750, both of which paid $500 for a WERA National win, HUGE money back then and not exactly “sneeze at” material these days either, mind you!

A year or so later Vic started to work with a young upstart from South Atlanta, who had shown a fair amount of promise in his rookie WERA expert year. This tall lanky kid was pretty unpolished, yet Vic saw in him the potential to be a champion. The kid’s name? Scott Russell…

It was about this time that Deano and the Battle Axe (as the Honda had come to be known) made their way a little further east to the shop of Ron Martin and Larry Brown – Cycle Performance Racing, dealing mainly in drag bikes.

Larry and Deano were a very good pairing, and kept the wining streak going, but heavy competition in the form of the first generation GSXR 750/1100 was just over the horizon, and there would be no stopping those oil cooled lightweight wonders.

The rest of the street riding public would be whapped upside the head with the new technology when it arrived, and as with assaults of that type would also claim to have “Never seen it comin’!”

In it’s last season (1985) now running WERA A Superbike and Formula 1, as well as with AMA/CCS in Heavyweight Superbike, it was still winning, but the writing was on the wall…

The Battle Axe’s rein would soon be over – there was no way to compete with the power the stock GSXR1100 was putting out, not to mention all the chassis/handling improvements that came with the 1986 GSXR’s, which would go on to become the standard to which all others judge themselves.

Part 2 – Hibernation

The Axe was pushed into the corner of a garage in Tucker, GA where it stayed for awhile, then years later took up residence at the famed Roswell Honda/Fun Machines, where Deano was employed at the time.

It was parked right by his desk on the sales floor, almost dog-like in it’s allegiance to it’s master: “I know I’m old, and the new pups are all cuddly, but I have been your dog, and you my master, for a long time”.

I swear I used to see Deano talking to the bike, and every so often he’d pat it on the head(stock), as if to say “Hey Buddy, how ya doin’?”

I guess it’s true what they say about a boy and his axe!

After a few more years the Axe’s Metzeler slicks were rock hard and flat, the Kosman rotors had developed a patina of white powder/corrosion, the tank stickers had started to peel, yet the seat cover in typical Honda fashion looked brand new – They have some kick-ass Nauga farms in Japan!

After another 10 years or so, a new shop opened in North Georgia, just south of the southern Appalachian foothills – Moto 400 in Dawsonville, GA where a few Roswell Honda alumni went to work.

Motorcycle people and carnival folks have a lot in common with Gypsies. They roam around, switching camps, won’t see folks for years, take a new job and pick right up where they left off – friends for life…

This shop had a great upper level where all kinds of bikes were displayed, and sure enough – there was the Battle Axe, tires aired up and given a fresh dusting with a can of Hondabrite.

Still though it didn’t seem happy. Content to be in a warm shop surrounded by other less racy bikes, yes, but kind of out of it’s league at the Old Bikes Home – it wanted, no, needed to be back at the track – playing Canasta after hours with the other vintage bikes would not cut it…

Every now and then I’d go into Moto 400 for a few GSXR oil filters or a chain, I’d look up and see the Axe, and I could still hear the wail of that Bassani pipe. “Some day dude, hang in there…”

Motorcycle enthusiasts are everywhere, and occasionally they build a world class racetrack and museum (George Barber), and sometimes they prefer to fly under the radar. This phase of the Axe’s life comes under the “latter”.

Ervin is a mild mannered Englishman who loves (in the following order) his beautiful wife Marsha, their kids, and dragging a knee all over the southeast on any one of his fleet of exotic (mostly Italian) bikes.

In an arrangement part Romanian Orphan adoption/surrogate foster parenting, Erv agreed to accept the Battle Axe into his already crowded family, and to provide proper care and feeding of the Historically Significant (Do NOT call me Vintage!) Honda, whereupon we find ourselves ready for

Part Three – Rebirth
When M1 Promotions made the announcement mere months ago, it seemed like the time had come for the almost 30 yr old Battle axe to “have some work done”. Things weren’t as tight and toned as they once were, and what with modern advancements why not?
This bike would not just be getting a make over, but rather a work over!

For the frame up resto mod, long time pal and a heck of a tuner himself, Chris Birkle of Racing Sport Service (directly across the street from the main entrance of Road Atlanta) was chosen to work some magic.

“Hippy” as he has been known for 30+ years would be tasked with the build, a frame up, modernizing effort that would see suspension, wheels, and brakes updated, just like Chip Foose would do to a car of the same period.

Bikes of that era were not exactly known as keen handlers, and the advancements since that time in suspension, wheels, tires and brakes would be the starting point.

One thing you have to understand about Deano is he is equal parts Roy Rogers and PT Barnum. He would put these talents to work securing the needed bits or the Axe’s Update.

First a call to Verizon to update his cell plan to unlimited calls and texts, then Dean was on the phone to all his old racing buddies:

Darryl Bassani was on the receiving end of some tall tales, and has promised to make reproduction units for the older bikes, yet no old stock was available, so along comes Scott Ward out of The Republic of Texas, who has quite a collection of HRC bikes and also a special one-off Bassani hand bent high pipe to loan to the project, which Bassani then plasma coated so that it looks brand new.

Texas in the house again, this time former roadracer Otis Lance who kicked in a 3.5×17 front magnesium wheel off of an HRC RC30 ridden at one time by Shobert or Rainey.

Gary Gallagher of EBC fame generously donated a set of 320mm floating/wave rotors and pads to fit the HRC front wheel, and a “baby” wave rotor to fit the 5×17 CBR600F3 rear 6 spoke wheel.

Brembo 4 piston calipers and a front master cylinder are also getting installed.

Both wheels have been powdercoated EPM gold and look the business.

“Uncle Wally” hisownself, Walt Schaefer / Walt Schaefer Cycle Supply went so far as to send over a pair of Michelin slicks, at cost, just for old times sake.

The standard 39mm front forks were binned, and replaced with 41mm units off a CBR600F3, requiring a bit of machining to the CB1100F triple clamps.

Kent Soignier of GMD Computrack is rebuilding the FoxShox rear shocks.

Another old friend and another Roswell Honda alumnus (pretty much everyone mentioned in the story either worked or was a customer at this shop at one time) Kevin Banks co-owner of Auto Glo paint took the 30 yr old bodywork and refinished it to better than new condition.

Engine work is being done as well:
Kible Black Diamond stainless 2mm over sized valves and porting work on a virgin head.
Keihin CR 33mm round slide carbs from Sudco, identical to the carbs used back in the day.
The bottom end is Falicon crank with rods…stockers lightened, balanced, treated and shot peened.
Wiseco 1123cc pistons will replace the Ontario units since those are NLA.

The Ontario cams are good and will be reused and the newer style under shim buckets are incorporated into the new valve spring retainers, definitely an improvement over the old style shim over bucket arrangement that was known to spit shims on occasion.

We are currently T minus 1 week away from the event and you can bet there is some thrashing going on. Some things never change, this is racing related, right?

Rumor has it that other historically significant racers and race bikes may be there – Dale Quarterly on a GPZ750 Superbike?
Scott Russell may even take the WSB winning #4 Muzzy Kawasaki out of it’s hermetically sealed glass display case and do some laps.
Maybe Keith Perry has persuaded Lynn Miller to come out of retirement on one of his CB900/1025 rockets.

I think the Historic Moto GP event coming up at The Big Kahuna weekend at Road Atlanta will be MEGA. Events like this in the automotive world draw huge crowds, and when combined with an AMA Superbike Double race weekend, well expect to see a LOT of race fans.

See you there, GC