Honda 160 Racing In The Northwest
Vintage Class Racing At It's Lowest Common Denominator
In 1990 Tim Fowler was working as a corner worker on the
racetrack at Pacific Raceway. Never having raced before, he witnessed a machine
on the track that would change his life and inspire him to start racing himself.
The machine was a Honda CL160.
Many remember the Honda CL160 Scrambler as one of the
bikes you could "meet the nicest people on
" back in the late 60's
when sales of Hondas were taking off. The world's largest manufacturer of
motorcycles was making literally tens of thousands of 160cc motorcycles every
year between 1965 and 1969. Honda had spent countless hours at the track and was
doing an excellent job of developing twin cylinder motors that ran well on and
off the track.
Above: Tim Fowler blows
out of turn three at Pacific Raceway during July 2002 competition.
The introduction of the CB750 Four in 1969 meant the days
were numbered for the popularity of the twin screamer 160 Scrambler. With an
onslaught of inline fours pumping up the adrenaline of riders across America,
Honda realized that in order to maintain a market for twins they would have to
take an upward slant in power, moving to 175 and 350 twins for the Scrambler in
1969. The end of an era.
Back to Tim Fowler's miracle moment. In 1990 it was
unusual to see 160's being raced, but Fowler had befriended one such racer and
followed his footsteps buying a 160, setting it up for racing and competing as a
rider himself. Throughout the 90's Fowler competed and fine-tuned a formula that
others could follow to hit the track with a CL160.
 Fowler
(at left with a nifty case of helmet head) and another racing partner, John Bundy, had loosely
formed a small cluster in Seattle called Group W Racing. In 2000 Fowler met
Michael Bateman who quickly picked up the 160 bug from Fowler and ran with it
big time.
Bateman, a rider and wrencher himself, became intrigued
with the low economy formula Fowler had devised. He set up a web site for the
team and spread the word that 160 racing was where it was at. Group W also
hooked up with Flying Circus, a Portland club and evangelized the pluses of the
160. Soon the two clubs would be competing against one another and there would
be a total of 14 racers on Honda 160's between the two organizations.
 During 2001 Bateman and a few others rustled up seventeen
CL160's at an average cost of $70 each, parting them down and rebuilding eight
of them back to racing standards. "The beauty of the 160 is we can also
draw from CB and CA160's for extra parts since the motors are identical"
notes Bateman. As is pointed out in Simon Pierre's corresponding
feature, it
only takes about $1,000 and some elbow grease to have a race bike like this. A
class is born!
Above/right: Michael
Bateman slinks his bike into turn four at Pacific Raceway during vintage
competition.
"This kind of racing is all about the turns"
says Bateman, "We keep the motors stock so things are pretty even on the
straight-aways and it's a level playing field." Watching these racers go is
a sight to see. Since it's well known the straight-aways will afford few chances
to compete, the action in the turns is heated.
Standing in the S segment of turn three and four at
Pacific Raceway on any given race weekend is enough to make your head spin. With
the 160's it's where the line is drawn between the men and the boys. Fowler
himself is vicious as he enters turn three and proceeds to pass three or more
riders within the 10-15 seconds it takes to wind through the twisty.
 Because this is vintage racing, Group W also works closely
with Sounds Of The Past, an organization devoted to keeping vintage racing alive
and well in the Northwest.
To get a taste of the action, watch the WMRRA schedule and
make your way down to Pacific Raceway during competition. Begin by walking out
to turn three and four (about a half-mile each way) before 10 a.m. as Vintage is one
of the first classes to race in the day. Don't forget your camera.
After the race, return to the pits and talk it up with the
15-20 racers who all congregate together under a series of tents, usually on the
west side parking area.
Above: Simon Pierre Smith on a CL160 squeaks
out a lead on Richard Richter during competition.
If you've got the urge to race, but not the dinero it
takes to run the Superbike class, check in with the guys at Group W and hit the
track. SR!
TM/Summer 02
|
