Vintage 1976 Yamaha Rd400,cafe Race. on 2040-motos

Moto blog

And in my front room this evening...

NO IT'S NOT an illusion: you're looking at the 1981 Yamaha OW53, ridden by double World Champion Barry Sheene in the first three rounds of the '81 500GP championship. The bike's owner, aircraft engineering entrepreneur Chris Wilson, has lent the £100,000 GP machine to Visordown for our stand at this year's NEC Motorcycle Show - 27th November to 6th December 2009. Sheene raced the bike in the 1981 championship, where he finished fourth at Salzburgring, sixth at Hockenheim and third at Monza.

Stoner explains the tank slapper

Casey Stoner looked all set to win at Motegi, after translating his pole position into an early race-lead. But coming over the crest on the back straight his bike momentarily lost control in a tank slapper. Regaining composure the championship leader was forced to pump his brakes to get the pads back in place, with the rear-wheel bouncing in the air he ran out of time and space to make the 90 degree right hander and was forced to run into the gravel.

Yamaha Trademarks YZF-R3

Yamaha has filed for a trademark with the European Union for the names “YZF-R3” and “R3“. The trademark applications were filed Jan. 6 and are still under review, but once approved, we should expect Yamaha to introduce a new YZF-R3 soon after.