My black XBR 500 was a 500cc bike launched by Honda in 1985 in response to the Yamaha SR500. It was powered by a single-cylinder four-valve engine with the valve stem axes arranged radially relative to the geometric centre of the hemispherical combustion chamber – (Honda’s Radial Four Valve Combustion Chamber, or RFVC) and actuated by rockers and intermediate sub-rockers. Displacing 498 cc (30.4 cu in) and producing 44 hp. The engine, having its origins in the Honda XR series off-road models, featured a “quasi-dry sump”, the bulk of the oil being stored in a separate tank below the seat but a proportion (ca. 0,5 litres) of the lubricant remaining in the crankcase sump. The steel-braided hoses connecting the oil tank to the engine (clearly visible at the right-hand side of the motorcycle) looked lovely. The two exhaust valves enabled the XBR to be fitted with two separate exhaust systems. The XBR had both an electric start and a kick start and mine had the kick start linked by a cable to an exhaust valve lifter to reduce cylinder compression during manual engine starting. The XBR had 18″ Comstar wheels and tubeless tyres, 100/90 front and 110/90 rear. The frame was of a single-downtube, dual-cradle design having a box-section swinging arm and conventionally sprung rear suspension and a detachable pillion seat cover to simulate a café-racer look. My bike snapped a valve and destroyed the engine somewhere near Ashtead on the way to a airshow… thankfully covered by warrantee and a service shirt Honda coughed up and fired a new engine – winner winner chicken dinner.