2007 Yamaha V Star on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Scott Russell Returning To Yamaha Champions Riding School Next Week

This just in from the Yamaha Champions Riding School: the Champ is back! As many of you know, Scott fell off a dirtbike and tumbled around long enough to hurt himself back in July. But he just called and drawled, “I’ll be back for the school as soon as I’m able to ride…let’s fill it up and have some fun!”  With the final round of the AMA SuperBike series coming to New Jersey Motorsports Park this weekend, it’s a perfect time for Mr.

I can die happy!

As an eighteen year old Kenny Roberts was my bike racing God.  I loved Barry Sheene but as a Yamaha FS1E rider I always wanted the little American to win simply because his bike resembled mine.  The coverage of Grand Prix in the late seventies was sketchy but I clearly remember watching the epic Sheene/Roberts battle unfold at the Silverstone GP on my council estate telly.  The Dutchman, Wil Hartog was hanging in there for a while but as the laps unfolded it became a two way battle with Sheene looking favourite to win.  Sheene lost the most time as the pair lapped a certain George Fogarty so my hero Roberts eventually won by just three hundredths of a second.  I’m not sure what happened next but being a Sunday we would no doubt be skidding around later in the day at the Pines chippie pretending to be Roberts and Sheene.  Fast forward thirty four years and a boyhood fantasy came true as I headed out on Chris Wilson’s 1980 Roberts machine for the Barry Sheene tribute laps at last weekend’s Moto GP.  It crackled into life instantly and felt as sharp as any of the more modern 500s I used to race.  The temperature gauge had a maximum marker on 60 degrees so to begin with I was nervous as it didn’t move but being a hot day (although still keeping my hand on the clutch) I convinced myself it wasn’t working.    The bike felt tiny, not helped by the fact I only just squeezed into my 1989 Marlboro Yamaha leathers.  It still felt rapid though as I played out the 1979 classic in my head while getting tucked in down the Hanger straight.  Steve Parrish was also out there on one of Barry’s 500cc Heron Suzukis so we did our best to copy the famous last lap at Woodcote Corner where Sheene came so close to winning his home GP. As a lad I would have said the chances of me riding round Silverstone on a GP winning Kenny Roberts machine were zero, but in the words of Gabrielle, dreams can come true!

Yamaha Becomes First Official OEM Partner of AIMExpo

Just in time for this weekend’s DealerExpo in Indianapolis, the American International Motorcycle Expo (AIMExpo) announced today that Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA will use the event to introduce its 2014 products to the marketplace. Yamaha is the first official OEM partner of AIMExpo, a landmark step in the continued growth of the event, which is hoping to be a viable rival to DealerExpo as a powersports industry destination. Yamaha’s range of powersports products comprises both the Yamaha and Star motorcycle brands.