20 V12 C B XTeam Lead er: Mark Miller (photo at right) Team Member: Mar k S proul To submit an ar ticle please conta ct Mark Miller via email <markm cbx@earth li nk.net> Current art icle format/content, but be creat iv e. 250-500 word c ount in MS Word or email format. Jpeg picture s please . Submit text files and picture fil es se parat ely (do not embed pictures in article). Regular mail/photos acceptable. Next Xpress submissions due by 5/1/2004. C BX T eam E xt r eme E xc lusiv e
Team Lead er: Mark Miller (photo at right) Team Member: Mark S proul
To submit an ar ticle please conta ct Mark Miller via email <markm cbx@earth link.net> Current art icle format/content, but becreat ive. 250-500 word c ount in MS Word or email format. Jpeg picture s please . Submit text files and picture files se parat ely(do not embed pictures in article). Regular mail/photos acceptable. Next Xpress submissions due by 5/1/2004.
ANDREAS GEORGEADES and the V12 CBXby Russ Caldwell, ICOA #5750
Every s o of ten, s om et hi ng very spec ia l ha ppen s in ou r li ves , s om et hi ng w e w il l
ne ver forget , no ma t ter ho w lo ng w e li ve.
This is the story of the V12 CBX and its builder Andreas Georgrea des.
You w ill . . . never . . . forget either
When the V12 is complet ed Mark Miller will do a follow-up art icle for us.
-editor
• • • • •THE EARLY YEARS
In exchange for working for 2 years athis father ’s restau rant in Johannesbu rg,21-year-old Andreas Georgeades waspaid with a brand new Matchless 500G50 Gran Prix racing bike. This enabledhis instant disappearance f rom therestaurant in 1964. That same year,represent ing South Af r ica in therenowned Isle of Man race, Andreas wonthe Bronze. This early success earnedhim entrance into the 1964 WorldChampion race in Europe where hefinished at a res pecta ble 10th place. Hisracing handle wa s esta blished. “Georgethe Greek”.
After 2 years on the European circuitAndreas went on to win the Expert 500cc Canadian championsh ip race in 1966riding his Matchless and took 5th placein the Canadian World Championshiprace at Mosport. Hailwood and Agostinitook 1st and 2nd. With his future wife they
rode to the racing circuit sharing spacewith the Matchless in their yellow vanand establishing “Georges” free spiritoutlook, tha t is alive and well today.
ANDREAS BUILDS HIS OWN GP
RACER
It was in 1968 when Andreas had his firstencounter with Honda in Canada whichwould challenge his extensive educationin machining and reveal a natural talentfor innovation.
The racing pre ss announced, “He’s Donethe Imposs ible” with the first successfulattemp t to build and win first place withhis Honda 600 4 cylinder auto enginepower ed ASG racer.
Andreas went on to race at Daytona andLaconia, New Hampshire against otherestabl ished champs including DonVesco and British Champion, PeterWilliams who took the c heckered. It was
here where photographers first caughtAndreas’ then unorthodox “knee-out-style”, in laying his bike over in turnsthat has since become de rigueur onevery circuit worldwide.
NEXT UP:
THREE FERRARI POWERED
MOTORCYCLES OF COURSE
Never satisfied with another “first”,betwe en 1978 and 1998 Andrea s bu ilt 3additional firsts a nd only (so-far) and all
were Ferrar i powered motorcycles .After two 6 cyl inder Dinos (onesupercharged no less) and his 308Ferrar i V8, a 12 cyl inder machineseemed like the next logical challenge.A couple of Honda CBX’s also seemedto be th e logical engines of choice.
These highly successful outrageousprojects he cal ls his “cafÈ racers”(which he still owns and rides) morethan prepared h im for h i s cur ren tchallenge, a 12 cylinder Honda CBX.
Andreas’ driving motivation is simplythat “it’s never been done before”. Atthat, his visualization of the challengebegins.
THE V12 CBX
The only drawings or sketc hes Andreasdoes ar e after he’s completed someth ingto help e xplain how he did it – if he feelslike e xplaining, that is.
The front end is from a ’98 Yama ha YZF.The rear wheel and brakes are Suzuki
’98 and the transmission is CBX, whichhe also use d on the Ferr ari V8.
Andreas built an extended base plate toaccommodate the two welded engineblocks with a common 12 connectingrod c rank. The 48-valve system remainsintact w ith little modification.
Carburetion consists of a 12 intakemanifold into 3 to the c hokes of 3 Weber
When I fi rst reviewed all the photos an d
historical information on Andreas, I
was i m m ediately stru ck by the fact that
this w as far m ore than an article on a
V12 CBX.
It was rea lly a st ory of a m an that ha sthe talents and vision to build the V12
CBX.
Af ter all , we all kn ow th ere ha ve been
m any great m otorcycle road racers and
there have been m any great road race
m otorcycle desi gners over the years bu t
Alex as i s th e only one to have done both.
I w i ll leave i t to th e ICOA techn i cal
gurus we all know and admire to tell
us just how creative, ef fective and
diffi cult the CBX V12 engin e and rollin g
chassis design w as to create, but for m e
I rea lly don ’t ha ve to wai t for th e f in aldetails and tally.
I am pr epa red n ow to t ell ever yon e th at
in 40 years of motorcycling nothing has
m oved m e to such levels of adm irati on
an d respect as the creati on of V12 CBX.
My feeli n gs for An dreas Georgea des
m otorcycle accom plishm ents are really
beyond w ords and of this I am certain:
An dreas an d hi s V12 CB X are CB X
Hi st ory th at w i ll n ever be f orgott en .
-editor
DCOE 45’s that a re linke d by an all ballbearing suspended double action fulpush rod.
Exhaust is accom plished through a 12in to 4 sys tem d i s t r ibu ted to the 4modified Yoshum ura mufflers.
The gas t ank , f rame, ba t t e rycompartment and seat are designed andfabricated by Andreas with a little help
from some of the finest welders in theSan Diego area. Machining work is doneby Andrea s himse lf.
While the V12 is nearing completionAndreas nee ds anothe r complete enginefor the e lec t r i ca l sys tems and thecranks haf t . Then the bike wil l becomple te ly d i sassembled for thefinishing and polishing work beforereassembly and “lift-off”.
An exper iment which couldrevolut ionize motor racing wil l beconducted at Westwood ci rcui t onSunday by a former South African riderwho has won national titles in threecountries.
Andreas Georgeades, 28, will unveil hispro to type machine dur ing the HiPer formance Honda Road Rac ingChampionships.
Georgeades, winner of championships
in South Africa, England and Canada,has done what many cons ideredimpossible - fitting a car engine to amotor cycle - and making it work .
He will drive a motorcycle powered bythe engine from a Honda sports car onSunday.
Georgeades changed the engine to anair-cooled un it by cutting away the wate r jacke t a nd adding co oling fins .
Repri n ted from THE PR OVINCE , Thu rsday, Septem ber 4 , 19 69
Fac tory mechanics have beenattempting such a conversion for sometime.
It follows that if Georgeades’ attempt issuccessful he could find himself muchin demand.
Sunday’s meet, one of severa l lead ing tothe Canadian championships , wi l lfeature many of the top riders in the
Northwest!
Time tr ials begin at noon. Racing start sat 1 p.m.
Some of the unlimited machines areexpected to reach speeds of between145 and 150 miles an hour in thefeatured Grand Prix event, a 20-lap raceopen to a ll classes.
Among drivers entered are WesternCanada 250 cc production championTony Cox of Vancouver ; Millar Farewe llof Burnaby, third in the 1968 Oregonchampionships; former sports car driver
Andreas i s expec t ing the usua lquestions when he pu lls up to sidewalkcafes, from the Americans –“How muc his it worth?” – The Europeans –“Howfast will it go? He’s been conditione dby these questions on all three Ferrarib ikes . His s tock answer for theEuropean quest ion is “well beyond fearfast”.
Andreas feels that a time schedule anda predetermined budget (commitment)would have ma de it impossible for himto have built his bikes. The fact that hisbikes se em to all be one-of-a-kind may
lend support to his theor y. The V12 willmake it 4 bikes in about 26 years. So avalue of one of his creations would bewhat the market (or individual) wouldbe willing to pay. That is, if one we reavailable for sale.
“He’s done th e impos sible” seems to beand appropriate phrase for Andreas –
times four of course.
THE OTHER ANDREAS
I’ve known Andreas Georgeades forover 12 years . Sipping a Moch a at a
favorite sidewalk establishment in LaJolla (CA) I watc hed this gleaming twowheeled polished aluminum combinedwith Ferrari Red machine nudge thecurb hear ing an idl ing engine thatwan ted to be doing eighty-five. Muchlater, I followed him on his ’78 Ferrarat 85 (not the super charged Dino). Hewas in 5th with the throttle closed.
When not work ing on a cur ren tchallenge, Andreas is on a tr ip riding andstopp ing at cafes or to look some o f theworld’s great ar t; his other pa ssion.
Eric Faulks of Vancouver; DaveWildman of Burnaby and J ack Heanskyof Coquitlam.
Georgeades moved to Eastern Canadain 1966 and won the nationa l 500 cc titleEarlier he won titles in South Africa andEngland. He has raced against most othe top factory riders at Daytona andIndianapolis.
Sunday will mark the Westwood debutof Georgeades, whose wife, Sue, is hispit machine.
Locally, former Sou th African cham pionAndreas Georgeades, who fitted a carengine to his motorcycle , won theunl imited class of Sunday’s HPe r f o r ma nc e Honda r oa d r a c echampionship before 2,500 fans atWestwood Circuit.
Georgeades won his heats on a Honda
powered by the engine from a sports car- a conversion factory mechanics haveyet to achieve successfully.
Andreas - The Man & A Few of His Other Projects . . .
WANT TO SEE THE V12 CBX -OR- HELP WITH PARTS
SO ANDREAS CAN COMPLETE IT
Parts Needed: One complete engine with alternator, starter, tach and full ignition (motor
does not have to be pristine). Also Andreas needs help on polishing the wheels and some
other parts. Leather custom seat cover and one stainless yoshamura RS3 muffler would be
greatly appreciated and help Andreas complete the CBX V12.
Want to see the V12: We are in Southern California so if you can help with parts or would like
to come and see the V12 and meet Andreas. email: Russ Caldwell rcgmi@yahoo .com
Andreas’ Ferrari Motorcycle - January 1990Caviva engineers may be working on aFerrari-powered motorcycle ( see “Bits,”November 1989), but San Diego residentAndreas “George” Georgeades haswhipped them to the draw. His custom bikealready roars with a Maranello mill, namelya $15,000, four-cam, 250-horsepower V-eight
from a 1978 Ferrari 308.
“I wanted to bring the mystique of themarque to my two-wheel riding,” saidGeorgeades, a 500cc Grand Prix riderduring the sixties. “Plus, I l ike theexcitement of effortlessly going 130-plus.”
Not so effortless was the packaging of that prancing-horse thrill into a single-track machine, and the addition of as lew of motorcyc le components .Georgeades’ modifications include a
new cam -belt drive that also pow ers thewater pum p, and a three-gear transfercase between the engine and HondaCBX transmission. A bank o f YamahaV-Max carbureto rs fuels the frontcyl inders whi le SuzukiGS1100 mixers feed the
rear . Suzuki GT750radiators mount at therear of the b ike tokeep the whee lbasedown to a shor t 59inches.
The hand-built aluminum frame usess us pe ns i on c ompone n t s f r om aKawasaki 900 Ninja. The rear wheelcomes from a V-Max and wa s convertedto cha in drive.
“I want to build what is for me theul t imate p iece of two-whee l a r t ,”Georgeades said.
But what would Enzo have thought?
‘George the Greek’ to ride in News TT
ONE of South Africa’s most colourfulmoto rcycle racers, who left seven yearsago to race overseas has returned,bringing a sensational 250 km/h home-built racing ‘bike for The Daily NewsSouth African TT this month .
Repri n ted from DAILY NE WS R EPORTER, Mond ay , Augus t 1 , 1973
He i s Andreas Georgeades , be t t e rknown to thousands of racing fans as“George the Greek” for his exploits onSouth African t racks in the ea rly 1960’s.
George the Greek faded from the South
African scene after coming second in the
Georgeades Ferrari : overdri ve overkill
Headi ng the pack in the 750cc fi nal du ri ng the TT m eeti ng i s An dreas Georgead es (No. 91) ,
follow ed by Errol Jam es (No. 73) , John Cooper (No. 94) , Korkie Balli ngton , 250cc World Cham -
pi on (No. 72) , Jon Ekerold (No. 86) , and Richard Borai n (No. 90) .
1963 motorcycling championships andafter winning the Dickie Dale memor iarace that year. In the 1964 Isle of ManTT he won a bronze rep l i ca , andtherea fter little was hear d of him.
SUCCESSES
But he wa s still racing in Canada , wherehe was notching up successes andworks rides at tracks such as DaytonaSpeedway. His greatest success waswinning the 1966 Experts Championship (500cc class).
He has returned to Johannesburg for aholiday and to ride his homemade racein the Daily News South African TT.
His rac er - called he ASG is powe red bya four-cylinder, 16-valve engine with twooverhead cams hafts driven by a toothedbelt. Georgeades said he based t he ASBon Mike Hailwood’s four-cylinde r Hondaracer of a few years ago.
He used a much-modified Manx Nortonframe to house his engine, and fitted asix speed gearbox. It raced for the firstime in September last year.
