ELF R, of record
ELF R, of record

Video: ELF R, of record

Video: ELF R, of record
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In 1986, with H. Auriol, E. Courly and C. de Liard at the controls, this ELF-R (record erre) reached top speed of 321 Km / h on the Nardó ring in Italy. During the 1970s and 1980s ELF was synonymous with revolutionary chassis and suspension motorcycles, and was also synonymous with bikes plagued with technical problems and unreliability.

ELF had a long history in the development of competition engines, starting with Renault in the 1970s when the French brand began developing the turbocharged engines that would make its Endurance and Formula 1 cars famous. its benefits and also because of the delicacy of its mechanics.

ELF-R, of record
ELF-R, of record

The alma mater of the ELF project was Andre de Cortanze, the engineer who developed Renault turbo engines. Cortanze was passionate about motorcycles and had a head full of ideas that he wanted to apply to racing motorcycles. Starting from the base of a Yamaha TZ750 engine, the construction of the ELF-X (X for experimental) that was presented unfinished at the Paris Motor Show in 1978. The bike already presented what would be its distinctive in subsequent years; single-sided swingarm and double front swingarm replacing the conventional fork. In addition, the chassis had almost completely disappeared since the suspended elements were anchored directly to the engine. The latter was his main problem, since the engine was not designed as a resistant element and it began to give problems almost immediately.

ELF-R, of record
ELF-R, of record

In any case, it served to impress the all-powerful Honda bosses, who signed an agreement with the French oil company and Andre de Cortanze himself. The following year the FAITH (for endurance) at the Bol d'Or. Powered by a Honda 1000 RSC engine, the bike raced the World Endurance Championship from 81 to 83, reaching its best position in the TT1 endurance race at Mugelo. But its history was once again plagued with problems, now because of the constantly failing chassis. ELF continued in the competition when the TT1 World Championship with 1000cc prototypes was canceled, moving to the 500cc Grand Prix. In this new adventure they continued hand in hand with Honda, but now with two-stroke engines, the famous three-cylinder RS, and without the help of Andre de Cortanze, who was pushed aside by his new contract with Peugeot.

Thanks to these experiments he arrived in 1987 Honda's first single-sided swingarmI think the RC-30, but the other innovations of the ELF project still remain in the drawer of patents that Honda has in its offices. Anyway, thanks to this project we saw for the first time the importance that a chassis and suspensions really have on a motorcycle, whether it is a competition or not.

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