In the image above, Danny Coe (No. 7) races Donny Greene (No. 1) in the 1987 AMA 250 Grand Prix race at Daytona in March of 1987. Coe’s bike was one of the most unique-looking machines ever to run the event. It was a Phil Schilling/Performance Research Rotax featuring a Spondon frame and a unique fairing.
It’s rather bulbous-looking bodywork actually gave Coe an aerodynamic advantage on the high banking and long straights of Daytona and as a result he had one of the highest trap speeds of any of the 250s that week.
The Rotax was a tandem two-cylinder, water-cooled, two-stroke with custom hydro-formed factory pipes fitted by Stuart Toomey. The bike utilized a Yamaha TZ fork, Ohlin shock, Brembo brakes, 16″ Marvic mags fitted with what were the first true radial motorcycle road racing tires (Michelins).
Coe battled for the lead early in the Daytona AMA 250 Grand Prix race and ran among the front runners all day before running the Rotax out of gas on the final lap.
