TREX Honda: The Boss

The machine is based around a Harris F1 frame, ordered by Rex to T-Rex geometry and swingarm pivot and length specifications.
The frame kit is modified to house the CB1100R engine and is powdercoated black, as is the box-section swingarm. The bodywork including the seat unit, front guard, fairing and fuel tank are Harris units but the rest of the bike is made in Australia and the quality is stunning.

The triple-clamps are C&C Motorcycle Engineering billet items, made to squeeze the 41mm conventional forks that run T-Rex internals. The handlebars and even levers are also by C&C, as are the rearsets and rear brake lever, along with the gearlever – which is set up in race shift pattern.

Believe it or not, those stunning XR69 replica rotors are also made by Clyde in his Melbourne workshop. Period AP Racing monoblock twin-piston calipers and Bendix brake pads squeeze them. Fluid from the Nissin master-cylinders is pressurised in Venhill brake lines.

The rolling unsprung mass is minimal with ultra lightweight Dymag wheels and Pirelli SC2 racing slicks. The rear rotor is also a one-off and the rear caliper a two-piston period Brembo unit that is independent from the swingarm and retained with an adjustable alloy rose-jointed torque arm.

Both front and rear axles are oversized and titanium, as is the swingarm pivot. Ohlins shocks provide rear suspension control.

The main fairing bracket is a gorgeous alloy handmade unit and has a centrally mounted Scitsu analogue tachometer and a single point front fairing nylon mainstay. All these parts are very neat, lightweight and practical. But unlike many racebikes, each part is also aesthetically pleasing, which is a theme carried throughout the entire bike. Every part looks perfect and not out of place – and each part complements the next. It’s a classy motorcycle, not just a fast one…

The engine is the heart of this bike and is proudly on display, bulging out of the Harris frame like it just ate a bloody huge can of spinach – it’s the Popeye of engines!

The CB1100R is a rare motorcycle – only 4000 ever made over the four years of production. To use an engine in a racebike is total commitment – they are worth a fortune!

This engine is stunning. The C&C Motorcycle Engineering and T-Rex engine covers are pure art. The ignition cover, front countershaft housing, right-hand crank cover and amazing dry clutch/slave cylinder housing are serious eye candy. Highly polished and fitted to silver cases and cylinder/head, with chrome or stainless steel bolts throughout, make this the prettiest engine in motorcycle racing full stop. The gorgeous braided stainless and anodised alloy oil lines and the external oil cooler top it off, while the Keihin CR carburettors are yet more drool factor – and this is all before spotting the titanium exhaust headers! It just keeps getting better.

The cylinder-head is ported and flowed, with modified combustion chambers and oversized valves. The camshafts are RSC specification cams, replicated by Clyde. The pistons, modified Honda units, swing off Carillo conrods that are bolted to a CB1100R lightened and polished crankshaft. The cylinders are bored 3mm and the standard crankcases are used. They house a stock, strengthened five-speed gearbox. The RSC replica dry clutch uses a Ducati clutch pack and hydraulic actuation, while the charging system and starter system are removed and replaced with the self-energising Electrex system.

Fuelling is taken care of by Keihin CRs and the exhaust system is a stunning titanium four-into-two-into one item. An hour is not long enough to truly admire the work that has gone into this dream machine. To race this bike in anger, as Michael Dibb is entrusted to, must be a nerve wrecking experience…

SPECIFICATIONS

ENGINE

Honda CB1100R, modified. 73mm x 69mm bore and stroke, Carrillo conrods, modified Honda pistons, lightened and balanced CB1100R crankshaft, 3mm overbored CB1100R cylinders, ported and flowed cylinder-head with oversized valves, reshaped combustion chambers, RSC grind replica camshafts, 11:1 compression ration, Keihin 35mm CR carburettors, CB1100R inlet manifolds, T-Rex titanium four-into-two-into-one exhaust system, external alloy oil cooler, modified sump, Electrex World self energising ignition system, CB1100R crankcases, C & C Motorcycle Engineering CNC machined engine covers and remote starter access, RSC replica dry clutch with Ducati clutch pack, quick action throttle, T-Rex muffler, CB1100R five-speed gearbox in race shift, Renthal sprockets and RK final drive chain.

CHASSIS & BODYWORK

Harris F1 frame kit modified for CB1100R engine, T-Rex spec steel swingarm, C&C Motorcycle engineering triple-clamps, handlebars, Ohlins steering damper, C&C Engineering rearsets, Ohlins rear shocks, 41mm forks with T-Rex Racing internals, Nissin master-cylinders, AP Racing period calipers, Venhill brake lines, Bendix Carbon Matrix brake pads, C&C Engineering XR69 replica rotors, Dymag magnesium 17in wheels, Scitsu instruments, T-Rex instrument brackets, Harris Honda fibreglass bodywork, seat and aluminium fuel tank, Pirelli tyres.

PERFORMANCE

140-rear-wheel-horsepower measured on T-Rex Dyno Dynamics dyno on PULP 98 octane. Weight: 165kg dry.

https://www.shannons.com.au/