Yamaha FJR Motorcycles in Barrington, page #32

Moto blog

Three-Time World Champion Wayne Rainey Honored At Quail Motorcycle Gathering

Saturday, May 4 marked the 5th annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Carmel, California. With such a diverse collection of historical, rare and outrageous motorcycles, the Quail is an event we thoroughly enjoyed attending last year. To commemorate the occasion, this year’s guest of honor was none other than three-time 500cc Grand Prix world champion, and local area resident, Wayne Rainey.

Brammo Earns Seventh Place Against Gas Bikes

This past weekend, Brammo arrived to Sonoma Raceway in Central California ready to do battle. Only this time the electric sportbike manufacturer would be trading blows not with other electric bikes, but with their ICE counterparts at the second round of the American Federation of Motorcyclists series — one of the oldest club racing organizations in the country. We recently mentioned Brammo’s eligibility with AFM, and this weekend was the first outing. Team Icon Brammo and its two riders Eric Bostrom and Steve Atlas competed on the Empulse RR machines while third rider, Shelina Moreda, rode the Team Parker Brammo Empulse TTX — a modified version of the road-legal Empulse.

Kenny Roberts True American Heroes Benefit – Hang Out with World Champions and Bo Derek!

One of our favorite stories from 2012 was our coverage of the Kenny Roberts American Heroes Benefit Dinner. Hosted by King Kenny at his storied California ranch, it was an incredible opportunity to get close to the three-time world champ and other racing glitterati like Kenny Roberts Jr., Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson and renowned dirt-tracker Mert Lawwill. If those names resonate with you, it’s worth reading our story that includes a video and coverage of the Cpl.

Yamaha Named Official Motorcycle Of Road America

The economic downturn hit the motorcycle world particularly hard, as many factory-backed road racing efforts closed shop. The decision, while unfortunate, isn’t hard to understand, as racing at the highest levels isn’t cheap, and a factory involvement means added pressure to succeed, which ultimately means spending more money to do so. Through it all, however, Yamaha has remained involved with the sport, fielding factory teams and sponsoring various riding schools and even racetracks.

Valentino Rossi Test Drives Kyle Busch’s NASCAR Toyota Camry

The morning after riding his Yamaha M1 to a sixth-place finish at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, nine-time Grand Prix World Champion Valentino Rossi landed in Charlotte, N.C., to race around another track; only this time there were no right turns. (UPDATED with additional photos.) Rossi met up with NASCAR racer and fellow Monster Energy-sponsored athlete Kyle Busch to ride Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch, winner of the last three Nationwide Series races, gave Rossi a walkaround of his car before taking the Yamaha factory rider around a few laps of the Charlotte  Motor Speedway 1.5-mile oval.

Monster Yamaha Tech3 Garage Catches Fire at Circuit of the Americas

The Tech3 MotoGP team put the Circuit of the Americas‘ emergency systems to the test after a small fire broke out in the team’s garage. Tech3 says the fire should not affect its participation in this weekend’s Grand Prix of the Americas race. The fire, which ignited some time overnight, was quickly doused by COTA‘s sprinkler system.

Austin Kicks Off MotoGP Weekend!

  This weekend, the MotoGP circus makes its way to the United States for round two of the world championship, held at the stunning new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, the first time the track will host a world championship level motorcycle event. Expect to see the world’s fastest racebikes reach speeds over 200 mph on the 1 km (0.62-mile) back straight, and bring ear plugs — these bikes are loud! Fresh off a 1-2 finish in the season opener in Qatar, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi are looking to carry the momentum to CotA.

2013 Yamaha X-Max 400 Scooter Announced for Europe

Yamaha revealed a maxi-scooter for the European market. The new 2013 Yamaha X-Max 400 is the latest model from the X-Max family which is also available in 250cc and 125cc configurations. The new model uses the 395cc engine from the Yamaha Majesty.

AMA Pro Racing Announces Basic Twins Flat Track Class for 2014 Season

AMA Pro Racing announced a new class for Flat Track racing designed to provide a new stepping stone for up-and-coming Pro-licensed racers, replacing the Pro Singles class in 2014. The new class, to be called Basic Twins, is more or less a revival of the Basic Expert Twins division that ran during the 2007 and 2008 seasons, but dropped when the Pro Singles class was introduced for 2009. The new class will give young racers a chance to showcase their skills on Twins, easing their transition to eventually enter the Grand National Expert Twins class.

MotoGP to Hold Official Test in Argentina; South American Nation Returning to Calendar for 2014

Dorna Sports announced there will be a MotoGP test at Argentina’s Circuito Internacional Termas de Rio Hondo in July to allow teams to prepare for the track’s expected addition to the 2014 MotoGP calendar. Argentina was actually supposed to join the MotoGP tour this season, but the round was scrapped because of a dispute between the country and Spain after the Argentine government seized control of a Repsol subsidiary. Repsol is, of course, a prominent sponsor of several teams including Honda‘s factory team.