Terry Dennehy’s Drixton-Honda

Submitted by Don Cox on November 14, 20115 Comments

Talk about unlikely combinations. Two 22-years-old Australia bike mechanics, working in Milan with a Swiss frame maker, turn a Honda CB450 roadster into a competitive racer.

But the Drixton-Honda Terry Dennehy and Ralph Hannan built with Othmar Drixl finished fourth in the 1969 Italian 500 GP and ran out of fuel while holding second place to Giacomo Agostini’s MV in the East German GP.

In 1970, Dennehy took sixth place in the Belgian GP and was a comfortable second in the Yugoslav GP, only to retire with oiled plugs.

Leading journalist Mick Woollett told the author that for its day, Dennehy’s machine was a very competitive privateer’s 500. Private entrants had limited options in 500 machines in ‘69. British singles were wearing out; the Linto twin had reliability problems; the Aermacchi and Bultaco singles were really ‘stretched’ 350s; and Kawasaki’s H1R triple only went on sale in 1970.

The Honda 500 was possible through the can-do attitude of the two Australians, regular shots of espresso coffee and ready access to parts in Milan.

Drixl made the frame and tank, while the lads built the engine. They bored the engine to 500cc and replaced the torsion-bar valve springs with coils. Terry ported the cylinder head and sourced American Webco camshafts.

“Many parts were bought ‘off the shelf’ in Milan,” Hannan said. “We could go around to factories and buy the stuff straight out of the box. We had Aermacchi pistons and valve springs, Fontana brakes and Ceriani suspension. The carburettor was a 32mm dual-throat Weber. Rob North made the exhaust pipes for us in England.”

Ralph Hannan went on race in New Zealand and talent-spot Graeme Crosby. Elder brother Ross Hannan became Crosby’s Superbike sponsor and Ralph turned the spanners.

Terry Dennehy developed Meningococcal in Belgium in December 2002 and died within 24 hours.

by Don Cox

Ross Hannan

Terry actually did a lot more. He led the Finish GP in front of AGO and Keith Turner could have won that one however the ignition packed it in. He also was a good 2nd to Ago at German GP Sachenring and ran out of fuel on the last lap, pushed in to forth I think. The Imola result was a good one he was 2nd at one stage but engine misfire slowed him. Some of his famous results were in the Italian Championship (he had Italian licence) some very close results Rimini, Monza, Imola, Cincinatico and many others. Ralph was always a good Tuner
Rosko
Steve Ellis

I raced against Terry many times and went down the pub with Terry and Ralph even more. Very good pair of mechanics and tuners. It was very very difficult to do what they did back then.To build a competitve GP racer takes many years and they managed to do it in months and still had time for all the crazy stuff. Happy days
Steve (Eli) Ellis
Ralph Hannan

I still acnt understand what we did 2 blokes having fun,Terry was a good friend,and gave me a leg up on life,great times Steve Ross,awesome mates.
http://www.thrhonda.com Buff Harsh

I have studied the Drixton Chassis and its many iterations over the years and have always wanted to see the original bike that Terry raced. I have a copy of Continental Circus and as many photos as I could find of the original bike. It is my understanding there are about 2 of them that still exist. Through my contacts I have located many Drixton’s produced by a variety of fabricators and have measurements of many of the bikes. The Measurements I am most interested in are the distance from top shock mount to the SA pivot. If anyone has access to the original Drixton I would love to add its measurements to my database.
H. Timman

I am the owner of the Drixton Honda that Dennehy has driven GP’s. This bike is in 1970 by Dennehy in Francorchamps sold to my friend B. Heman. I was owner and Dutch Champion in 1972 wih this bike. I became the owner again since a few years. The bike is in original condition with weber carburettor.