2007 Yamaha Yz450f on 2040-motos

Moto blog

NZ Superbike Series Points Leader Is A Grandfather Of Three!

Dennis Charlett is stamping his authority on the New Zealand Superbike championship. The 45 year-old father of five and grandfather of three (no, those aren’t typos) won the first three races of the season during the series opener in Christchurch, placing him firmly at the top of the points standings heading into round two at Levels Raceway, near Timaru. The championship favorite certainly got the wake-up call as Taupo’s Suzuki rider Scott Moir raced to a convincing win in Saturday’s Superbike race, while Charlett was forced to settle for fourth place.

Learn on track with Mackenzie and Whitham at Focused Events

Focused Events Rider Development Days at Silverstone offer a new, intense tuition-based experience on a selection of new Supersport machines, hosted by high-level instructors including Niall Mackenzie, Jamie Whitham and Steve Plater.The courses will be situated at Stowe circuit, Silverstone and will be aimed at Novice and Intermediate riders. Dates for the events have been confirmed as 14th May and 2nd September.Pupils will not only be taught by World class instructors, the machinery available for use will be high-end Supersport machines from Ducati, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha. Total cost for the day is £339 including bike hire with a £50 premium for use of the exotic Ducati 848.Chief Instructor and Visordown Road Test Editor Niall Mackenzie explained, “A track day can be an intimidating place to learn circuit and road skills, especially for less experienced riders.

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!