One of the all-time iconic motorcycles raced in AMA Superbike is Freddie Spencer’s factory Honda CB750F-based machine. When Honda first entered AMA Superbike, this was the motorcycle it used during the 1980 and ’81 seasons. This illustration is one of the wonderful M Collection art work by the late Masaki Okamoto.

One of the all-time iconic motorcycles raced in AMA Superbike is Freddie Spencer’s factory Honda CB750F-based machine. When Honda first entered AMA Superbike, this was the motorcycle it used during the 1980 and ’81 seasons.

On Honda’s website more info was revealed:

Spencer’s bike was transformed from a 65-horsepower CB750F to a 130-horsepower Superbike in the imaginations and workshops of Team Honda masterminds here in the U.S.A. Two decades ago, current Team Honda Crew Chief Ray Plumb and company created everything from intake and exhaust valves to crankshafts in the process of doubling the standard CB750F’s power output. Frames were gusseted. Steering geometry was optimized for 150-plus-mph speeds at fast tracks such as Daytona and Talladega. Hand-machined triple-clamps held stout, heavily modified Gold Wing® forks. Swingarms took on the look of suspension bridges. Clearly, going fast on a 1980 Superbike took more bravado than finesse.

“Those big inline bikes revved to 10,500 rpm,” Freddie Spencer remembers. “They were a real handful to ride.” Despite the fact he had never seen the bike before Daytona in 1980, the young Spencer’s genius was already evident as he kept the big Honda in contention throughout that year’s 100-mile Superbike race, eventually finishing a close second to New Zealander Graeme Crosby.

Spencer would win three races in 1980, bringing the Honda home first at Elkhart Lake, Loudon and Laguna Seca. In 1981, Spencer would win the year-end Daytona National, along with Talladega and Pocono. A steepening learning curve, the most impressive team in the paddock and steady improvements to the motorcycle put Freddie second in the 1981 Superbike points chase–10 points adrift of another kid named Eddie Lawson. Freddie’s teammate Mike Spencer ended the season fourth after two second-place finishes.

This illustration is one of the wonderful M Collection art work by the late Masaki Okamoto. Thanks to Tracy Hagen for letting me borrow some original Okamoto prints to feature here.