The ex-Robert Dunlop, William Dunlop, Michael Dunlop
2004 Honda RS125RR Racing Motorcycle
Frame no. JR01041012
Engine no. A12995/9587

• Purchased new by Robert Dunlop in 2004
• North West 200 and Irish Championship winner
• Michael Dunlop's first Isle of Man winner
• Fitted with a JHA kit

Ireland lost another of its great road-racing heroes in 2008 when Robert Dunlop, brother of the late Joey, succumbed to injuries sustained in practising for the North West 200. Born on 25th November 1960, Robert Dunlop learned his craft on short circuits before making his road-racing debut at the Temple 100 in 1979. He celebrated his first visit to road-racing's Isle of Man capital in 1983 with a win in the Manx Grand Prix Newcomers' Race and scored his first TT win in 1989 in the 125cc event. For the next few years Robert Dunlop owned the 125 TT, winning in 1990 and 1991 to cement his reputation as one of the finest riders the Ultra Lightweight class has ever seen. He also won the Junior TT in 1991.

During the 1980s and early 1990s Robert enjoyed an unprecedented run of success at the Cookstown 100, winning eight times with a triple success in 1987 that netted him the 'Man of the Meeting' award. Following his Macau Grand Prix victory in 1989, Robert Dunlop was signed by the John Player Norton team to contest the Motor Cycle News Supercup Championship and selected road course events in 1990. Riding the rotary Norton, he won twice at the North West 200, took one of the team's three wins in the MCN Supercup and finished 2nd in the F1 TT in the Isle of Man.

In 1994 he sustained serious leg injuries in the Isle of Man during practice for the TT when the rear wheel of his Honda RC45 collapsed. Out of action for the rest of the year and all of 1995, he returned to the track at his favourite Cookstown event in April 1996. The legacy of his injuries would restrict Robert to riding 125s from then onwards, and despite not being fully fit, he nevertheless finished 9th at Cookstown in a race won by his brother, Joey. In 1997 he returned to the TT, finishing 3rd in the Ultra Lightweight race and the following year scored a fairytale win in the same event, which would be the last of his five TT victories.

Although he had proved that he was able to ride - and win - again, Robert continued to be handicapped by the lingering effects of that Isle of Man crash and in December 2003 announced he would retire from motorcycle racing at the end of the 2004 season. Early in 2005 he announced that he would be having further surgery to improve his leg, and if all went well would return to racing for one last time. He did so towards the end of that same year and in 2006 stormed to a record breaking 15th win at the North West 200.

Robert's fatal accident occurred on 15th May 2008 when the engine of his 250 Honda seized and he was thrown from the machine. His sons William and Michael Dunlop were both racing at the North West and the following day Michael scored an emotional win in the 250 race. Robert Dunlop was laid to rest on 15th May 2008 at Garryduff Presbyterian Church next to his brother, Joey.

The Honda RS125RR we offer was purchased by Robert Dunlop in the winter of 2004 and ridden by his son William for the full 2005 Irish road racing season, in which he scored his first ever road race win (at Athea). He also raced the Honda on several short circuits that year, during the course of which it also appeared in the orange and black livery of sponsor P F Flynn. In the winter of 2005 Robert bought the JHA kit that is still fitted to this machine (an expensive purchase at £20,000).

It was on this Honda in 2006 that Robert won his 15th and last North West 200 race. He also won that year's Ulster Grand Prix and the 125cc Irish Road Racing Championship on this machine, and took wins at the Southern 100 and Scarborough riding it. Robert said it was the fastest 125 he ever rode. A full breakdown of this Honda's racing history is available, and the history file also contains a letter of authentication from Paddy Flynn, who sold it to the current vendor Phil Morris, and an action photograph signed by Robert Dunlop.

William's younger brother Michael Dunlop also rode this Honda in 2006 and achieved his first Isle of Man victory on it in that year's Manx Grand Prix Newcomers' Race. In 2007 William Dunlop finished 3rd in the Irish Championships on the machine. Ridden by three members of the Dunlop dynasty: Robert, William, and Michael, this Honda RS125RR is a motorcycle of considerable historic significance.