Throwback Thursday: The obscure, but historic Yamaha XV920 named “Lurch”
Larry Lawrence | September 22, 2016
Cycle News Photo Collection
Want to win a trivia contest among hardcore AMA Superbike fans? Ask a crowd of experts what was the first Japanese V-Twin raced in AMA Superbike. And then ask them what motorcycle Kevin Schwantz raced in his very first AMA Superbike race. You’ll likely stump just about everybody with those questions, but the answer would be one in the same – it would be this Yamaha XV920 built by Vernon Davis for Battle of the Twins racing.
The bike was affectionately nicknamed “Lurch”, not in honor of the Frankenstein-styled character in TV’s “The Addams Family” (although that might have been just as appropriate), but for the way the big, torquey V-Twin Yamaha blasted off the starting line. In 1984 Davis asked Schwantz if he’d like to race “Lurch” in the AMA Superbike round at Laguna Seca and Schwantz, who’d just gotten his Superbike license, jumped at the chance.
The Texas gang turned a lot of heads when Schwantz finished an eye-opening fifth in the first Superbike heat race. Suddenly their pit area was crowded with fans, fellow riders and other teams trying to figure out exactly who this new kid was who did so well in the qualifying race and what exactly was this contraption he was riding. Yamaha’s racing bosses were among those taking notice and asking questions.
Schwantz might have turned even more heads had “Lurch” not broken early in the Superbike race. Schwantz was sixth in the early going, behind only Wes Cooley, Sam McDonald, Fred Merkel, Roberto Pietri and Dale Quarterley, before cranks bearings spun on the Yamaha ending his debut.
This is a photo of “Lurch” wearing Davis’ Battle of the Twins No. 77. The bike continued to be modified for Battle of the Twins racing for several years and it’s rumored to still exist somewhere in Texas.