1997 Yamaha Fzr 600r on 2040-motos

Moto blog

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!

CARB Documents Reveal Two Yamaha FJ-09 Models

The California Air Resources Board today released executive orders on two Yamaha models: the FJ09FCGY and FJ09FCR. Both to be based on the current FZ-09 engine and chassis (MT-09 in Europe). In March of this year, MO’s resident sleuth, Dennis Chung, revealed Yamaha filed a trademark application for the FJ09 name.

Yamaha U.S. Increasing Club Level Road Racing Contingency

The state of road racing in America is hurting, there’s no doubt about that. But at least Yamaha is stepping up to the plate and increasing its contingency program for club level road racers 50% over last year. According to Yamaha, the program is designed to encompass a broad spectrum of road racing series across the U.S., from numerous club-level and regional sprint series events to the AMA Pro Road Racing series, including the addition of the ASRA Team Challenge Endurance Series.