May 1996, Performance Bikes
- Shoei Classic Ad PB May 1996
In the first of a series looking back at Shoei adverts from over the years, we bring you this beauty from the May 1996 issue of Performance Bikes.
Chequered flag riding kit in lurid colours, the star rider is none other than Trevor Franklin; then PB road test editor and now MCN’s resident, erm, legend.
So why use an image (with some sort of arty smudged border) of a portly road tester for an advert placed in his own mag? The simple reason is that top class racers of the 90s were overpaid, charisma-lacking style-dodgers that didn’t look as good on a bike as the journos. Actually, that’s a load of rubbish; why didn’t we use a picture of Norick Abe? Why?!
‘Poster Boy’ Trevor Franklin continues to enjoy the Absorbing Performance of a Shoei in the pages of Motorcycle News, currently exploiting protection, comfort and venting of the new XR1100 painted, once again, in his own design.
Bring back the chequers, we say.
Shoei rider Tommy Hill jumps the Mountain
Shoei-supported rider, Tommy Hill, took a win and a second at Cadwell Park yesterday (August 30, 2010) to finish the first nine-round stage of the British Superbikes Championship with the lead on points.
In an exciting day’s racing Hill, riding his Suzuki GSX-R1000, was on top form and after dominating the first race was challenging for the lead again in the second race when it was red flagged (on the 14th lap). In the first race rival Josh Brookes had taken the early lead but succumbed to an attack from Hill on the eighth lap. Hill then maintained a constant 1:27-minute lap pace while his rivals withered, so as to take the win by a comfortable 5.116-seconds. In the second race Hill had led for 11 laps and was trailing Brookes by just 0.230-seconds after 13 laps when the race was stopped.
Hill’s point tally from the nine rounds amounts to 287 points, three more than Brookes and six more than Ryuichi Kiyonari. However, with the Showdown phase now beginning, the championship points tally taken so far is cast aside. The championship will now be decided over the final three rounds (seven races) between the six highest points scorers so far, known as the Title Fighters.
All the title fighters have their championship point tally put on an initial parity of 500, to which is added only the podium points they’ve scored thus far (podium points have been awarded as three for a win, two for second and one for third). On this basis Hill steps forward into the Showdown as joint leader with Kiyonari on 525 points apiece.
Tommy Hill said: “In all I feel overjoyed. We get to leave here having effectively won the first part of the season and having beaten the HM Plant team in their back yard – that’s kind of a bonus. But now it’s crunch time and to be going into this vital part of the season with a joint points lead is a great position to be in.”
Race replicas always get us a little exctited, so we thought we’d share with you some images of the freshly released Ben Bostrom helmet.
It’s only available in the USA and helmets across the pond have to comply to a different standard, but we thought you might want to have a look at it. The X-Spirit 2 is known as the X-Twelve over there.
Former World Superbike race winner, Ben, currently sits 4th in the American Superbike championship.
Fresh from the National Superstock practice session at Brands Hatch (2010), TT legend and top guy, John McGuinness talked to us, about his upcoming Shoei replica helmet after removing a titanium bolt from his underwear. True!
James keeps his cool at Ulster
Shoei Rider James McBride took part in the fastest road race in the world the Ulster Grand Prix and joined the ranks of the 130mph club with a personal best of 130.004mph during the final Superbike race of the day.
Riding his Downview Finance Yamaha R6 and Pazzo Racing Superstock Yamaha R1, McBride pulled off some fine top ten results while pitching himself against the top British and Irish riders on one of the most challenging pure road circuits in the world.
The 7.4-mile circuit can suffer from the changeable Irish weather but this year it was kind and even the Dundrod 150, which is the precursor to the Ulster Grand Prix, ran in dry conditions (Thurs 12th August).
It was also the first opportunity McBride had to stretch the legs of the R1coming over the line in sixth place and fending off the attentions of British Superbike Evo rider Gary Johnson during the Topaz/Airport Road Service Station Dundrod 150 Superbike race.
He was also on the tail of the Relentless Suzuki riders, plus he put in a personal best lap time of 129.33mph which was set running on treaded worn tyres whilst everyone else was on new slicks.
Norifumi Abe in his 1994 Japanese Grand Prix debut
Where does the time go? It was sixteen years ago that Norick Abe brought himself to the attention of race fans around the world with his gutsy wildcard ride at the 1994 Japanese Grand Prix.
OK, so he binned his Mister Yumcha Blue Fox Honda in spectacular style fighting for the lead, but the demonstration of sheer speed and ability to mix it with the best of the world set him up for a regular word championship ride. He also inspired a 14-year old Valentino Rossi to adopt the nickname of ‘Rossifumi’ for the early part of his career.
Check out this video from 1994
We’d love to see where you’ve put your Shoei stickers. Email pictures to us at Shoei.assured@feridax.com
Good food. Great sticker
As a racer these days you have to have some sort of energy drink sponsorship adorned on your helmet. There’s no escaping it and the formula is there: motorsports + energy = success.
Many of our top riders, such as James Ellison, Chaz Davies and Eugiene Laverty, represent some of the bigger ‘liquid power’ brands, but it appears there’s a new wave of companies who want to exploit this prominent advertising position.
Check out Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship rider Johnny Blackshaw’s Shoei. Could local supermarket sponsorships be the next ‘big thing’?
Johnny Blackshaw's Spar-sponsored Shoei
XR-1100 Tommy Hill TC-2 Rep available now.
Shoei has launched a Tommy Hill replica on its XR1100 helmet.
The design, designed and sported by Tommy this season, is a reaction to UK rider demand for a replica and also out of respect to the courage the Kent rider has shown having fought back from horrific injuries to become a main protagonist for the 2010 British Superbike championship for Worx Crescent Suzuki.
Available immediately, the Tommy Hill replica is the first race graphic offered in the UK on the XR1100 and costs £379.99 – adding no further premium on other graphic models in the range. The striking design will also be offered in Red or Grey options later in 2010 and early 2011.
The Sharp 5 Star Rated XR-1100
Qwest Bloodflow Side
This is the new Shoei Qwest Bloodflow and is proving to be a bit of a ‘marmite moment’ here at Shoei HQ – we’d love to hear what you guys out there think - is it a Hero or a Zero?…
Qwest Bloodflow Rear
Qwest Bloodflow Top