Inspiring,..

Roberts was always a special talent in a very extreme profession. He didn't get the recognition that he deserved in America, because motorcycle racing has always been more or less a secondary motorsport in America. But in Europe and even Japan, he was revered as the Muhammad Ali of motorcycle racing.

I was always impressed with his professionalism.

His job was to risk his neck riding super powerful motorcycles at their limit, and during his prime he dominated even the most demanding division of motorcycle racing,..Gran Prix.

Yet, his demeanor was as even as that of a bank teller.

When I was into bikes I went to Talladega and watched Kenny win on a 350 Yamaha. He poppped a wheelie crossing the finish line at 130+ mph. I really hate to hear that he's gone but realize that we all must make that journey. Sad day. How did he die?

He's still around.

I didn't mean for the thread to sound like an obit.

I just recently discovered the youtube of him riding the TZ750 at the Indy Mile in 2009.

Balls. Big un's.

kwg

You quit scaring me like that. You hear!
I watched a ride of his via an onboard camera and he passed some bikes so fast they almost got off to see why their bikes had stopped. The video got a little dark as he approached the speed of light.

Here's an old clip of the 1975 Indy Mile race with some commentary from Roberts.

You stated that sooo well, KR and his motorcycle racing career is/was the epitome of professionalism!!

Roberts is a legend........always will be too

Yes sir, he's a Legend here in the Central Valley of California, Modesto to be exact, where he still lives (I think)
If I remember right he dropped out of high school to pursue his motorcycle passion.
Local papers always had articles about him.

Check out the victory wheelie at the end of the clip.

You can tell he's pumped. He knew he had done something special.

,..holding the checkered flag in his left hand and riding a high speed wheelie while holding the throttle in his right hand.

Roberts demonstrated a level of ability at motorcycling that's rare in any line of work.

It'll be a while before we see his like again.

Agreed.

I grew up watching KR racing in yellow, dude has giant brass, and a nice soft spoken persona not evident in todays world.

Living in Fresno, just out of high school we went to Laguna Seca every year from 1974 to 1984.
Kenny owned that race, a road race course in a foothill setting.
He was always the best rider on the track, with the best equipment and the best pit team.
A French-Canadian rider named Evon Duhamil (Spelling?) usually gave him a good run for his money, but Kenny always won.
Camping on the infield, BBQing Tri Tips and drinking beer, good times.

Watch Kenny win the 1983 Daytona 200 and pop a wheelie at the end. [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XTXxoeETHWA[/video]

Yvon DuHamel rode for Kawasaki and he trouble keeping his bikes running the whole race. He was a good rider, too.

I love motorcycle racing but almost have to have Valium IV when watching the TT race on the Isle of Mann. I almost have to have a paper sack to breathe into just watching that. Insane doesn't begin to describe it.

He's 61 years old -vid must be old.
I met him at Daytona about ten years ago , a buddy of mine is a professional road racer [josh hayes] Josh rode with Kenny's son Curtis both rode for Erion racing at the time.
Kenny is as nice a guy as you'd ever meet .
We were in the Erion garage slot at Daytona when I spotted him -he smiled and I whispered to my friends son [motorcycle nut-14yrs old ] do you know who that is ? he didn't .
I told him it was Kenny Jr and Curtis dad -Kenny Roberts -world champion Grand Prix racer -Kenny saw his face light up and nearly laughed. I pushed him towards Kenny and said go over there and I'll take your picture --Kenny shook his hand and put his arm around around his shoulder and I snapped their photo.
The guys talking in the vid -Kevin Swanse [sp?] and Valentino Rossi both world class racers and champions.
Road racing is as exciting/fun as anything I have ever done. Pinning the throttle on a yamaha r1 -banging gears at redline towards a sharp corner hammering the brakes so hard that your azz is floating off the seat then sling it in there with several other bikes is addicting. Gets my heart beating fast just thinking about it .

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His son is Miguel -also a champion racer and nice guy.

Another great rider is Freddie Spencer. King of the wet track. I remember him winning a GP by a stupid margin in the rain, more than a minute I believe.

He rode an experimental Yamaha OW69 at Daytona on some test rides in the early 80's. It was a 750cc 2 stroke and he couldn't keep the back tire from breaking loose,even on the straightaways.
My Pop actually got to talk to him about it.
When I raced motorcycles I never got to meet him but I saw him do a trials bike course in Florida.
He is pretty much the only one of my racing heroes that I never got to meet or race against.

I still think Dave Despain put it best when describing Super Bike racers, "They bring the family jewels in a wheelbarrow".

Roberts, Spencer, Duhamel, and many others were just fearless.

Here you go Anaconda, see if you can find yourself in the spectators. Some old school racing at Laguna Seca '79.

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jc-dB4DB7dg[/video]

That reminds me of a guy that rode everything and did more on his own dime than anyone else in that time. I attended one of his classes on going fast and it turned me into something with potential.
Steve Wise was one of those guys that carted his boys around in a wheel barrow.

Lawson took flat track dirt racing to the asphalt.

That pic demonstrates it.

While all of the European riders were looking for the best line down low, Lawson took the high line and drifted the ass end of his bike around the curves.

It hung 'em up.

Eddie Lawson -,Kawasaki made an Eddie Lawson replica of that bike -a friend bought the one that came to the Ms. coast --he liked to drink and ride .
Guess what happened to the bike. laf.

Used to go to the Indy Mile & the Columbus race in the late '70's - mid-'80's..........by then, Harley was ruling the flat track mile's & Springsteen was flying high.

Roberts was always the best rider on the track, but during that time, the HD's just had too much torque...........Roberts would pull up in the corners & fall back on the straights.

Roberts was the most talented road racer I ever saw but some of the guys riding the Superbikes today are pretty unbelievable too.

As Mickey Coleman mentioned, the Isle of Man is incredibly scary to watch.........can't even imagine riding it.

MM

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_B9ulrY69Sk[/video]

My racing was confined to The Drag Strip.You have to have super reflexes and be in great physical shape to Road Race.Kenny da Man!!!

The Isle of Man racing is one of the more insane things to have ever been conceived by Anglo Saxons.

That is an understatement. My Pop was like Hitler about me working out and being in shape for almost a decade.

Bart ,

Did you race AMA or WERA ?

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I'm not one to say very many things should be outlawed but Isle of Mann is beyond dangerous.
I remember -maybe 20 years ago two brothers were both in the race ,one wiped out and was killed and his brother came by and realized that that was his brother under the sheet.

I raced AMA Supercross and outdoor events after I turned professional.. Before that I raced NMA and went to the NMA Nationals in Ponca City Oklahoma. At one time I accumulated more points than anyone ever to qualify for the Amateur Nationals. That year I did well enough for Yamaha to give me a shot at the big time. I admittedly wasn't ready for pro motocross/supercross threw at me but I eventually did very well.
I'll add that I'm lucky that I didn't have any serious injuries.

I grew up racing motocross in the late 70 and early 80s. I certainly followed KR and have a great respect for his talent. He and Freddie Spencer could make those bikes fly!

Tenfour.

I was a top amateur M/X'r [local stuff not national],,always wanted to be really good at motoX but I was just never able to get going like some guys I knew and rode with.
Being 6'2 -190lbs didn't help either.
As far as injuries I did OK -minor stuff broke arm -collar bone -mild leg break .
My goal was to ride until I was 60 ,but I broke my back about eleven years ago at age 43 . I sit here now with a pillow behind my back for lumbar support .
Still have the monster the ended my riding 2001 Honda cr 500.

I've been sitting here watching racing clips on youtube.

Some coverage of an Isle of Man race stated that 7 people had died that week.

3 racers and 4 spectators.

I haven't seen the race in a while -but I noticed that some people like to stand on the "outside" of some corners.

Bike washes front end in high speed corner -bike goes straight off race coarse -not a good place to spectate from.

Sir Jackie Stewart commenting on the Isle of Man TT; "This is Man's country this...". High praise from a 60s and 70s F1 driver.

You Tube link

Lots of good vids there.

Did you ever make the suspension changes to your SG?

I have an '11 SG & it has no handling issues at any speed but always looking to improve so interested in how yours turns out.

MM

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-Nzq2GorVH4[/video]

I bought the Sputhe stabilizers, both front and rear, and installed the front yesterday.

I took it out on the interstate and twisted it up to a bit faster than the law would allow (a lot, actually) and it didn't wiggle like it did before I installed the stabilizer.

This stuff,...

http://www.sputhe.com/aluminum%20swing%20arms.htm

Kenny Roberts lives about 5 miles from me. Has a big arch over his driveway with a rusty old minibike strapped to it...lol. Never met him but have friends who have been to his compound....has all sorts of different motorcycle tracks and plenty of toys to boot. Bought my first dirtbike at "Kenny Roberts Yamaha" in Modesto in the early 80's.

My first bike was an RZ350 Kenny Roberts special. REst in piece Mr. Roberts.

I only got to watch Kenny race once, at the Houston Astrodome Short Track. I was there pulling for a boy from Baton Rouge - Mike Gerald. I think that Terry Poovey was a rookie that year. Springfield was a first or second year rider, and I think that he won the AMA title that year. May be wrong though, I've slept since then!!! memtb

Once 58 seemed old

Snake

I went to Laguna Seca to watch GP back in '82, IIRC. Kng Kenny was supposed to be up against Freddy Spencer there (nobody else mattered). Freddy broke his foot shortly before that race, so Kenny basically rode unopposed. He was still awesome. I stood at the bottom of the chicane and watched him come down the hill on one wheel through the S-curve. Seemed like he was defying physics...it was so smooth. I always regretted that I didn't get to see him ad Freddy head to head in person, but it's still a great memory.

He's not dead...just memories!

A lot of people don't know that Kenny nearly died in a practice crash, but then came back to win some more.

IIRC, the TZ750 GP bike (the one he was riding at Laguna Seca when I was there) was notoriously a bit over-powered for it's frame. It had some evil quirks when pushed as hard as Kenny pushed it. I remember his comments about actually intentionally sliding both ends on power through tight turns on paved GP tracks - something that was unheard of at the time. His dirt track experience is what made that a reality.

Yamaha was really making waves back then. King Kenny and Hurricane Hannah. Those were the days.....

This video 'Kenny Roberts rides his 1980 Yamaha YZR500 at Laguna Seca' that kg posted up got me into watching some other bike racing videos. This comment was listed below that video;

" Great to see Kenny on the bike and very sad to see Wayne Rainey in the chair. I love Wayne very much, one of the best riders of all time but really seeing him like this makes me feel very bad " .

After reading that comment I went and found a great video about Wayne Rainey and the intense competition he had with Kevin Schwantz back in the early 90's. Check it out;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLuMZMskRCE

What really really impressed me was what Kevin Schwantz said at 12:26 and reiterated at 13:36 . Such humbleness and caring for his fellow racer, it got my allergies kicked up a bit.

A life well lived

Roberts' riding style in which he forced the motorcycle's rear wheel to break traction to steer around a corner, essentially riding on paved surfaces as if they were dirt tracks, changed the way Grand Prix motorcycles were ridden.[1] From 1983 to 1999, every 500 cc world championship was won by a rider with a dirt track racing background.[35] Roberts' cornering method of hanging off the motorcycles with his knee extended forced him to use duct tape as knee pads, and eventually led to the introduction of purpose-built knee pucks used by all motorcycle road racers today. His battles with the Grand Prix establishment eventually led to the adoption of stricter safety standards for Grand Prix race organizers.[4] He was one of the first riders to challenge the FIM over the way they treated competitors and helped improve prize money as well as the professionalism of the sport. It was not until Roberts planned his rival race series in 1980 that the FIM was forced to change the way in which they dealt with motorcycle racers.

And what finer tribute is there than to actually have a production motorcycle named after you?

Anybody remember Rick Hocking? I went to school with him from 4th -8th grade in a 1 room school house.
Not with us anymore, too bad.

He sounded like a great guy who loved to race!! Did you know him later on in his life, after his racing career? Sounds like things didn't go well for him after his knee replacement.......did you ever hear what the cause of death was??

A bit of info I ran across;

I remember Rick Hocking racing Friday night motocross at the Sand Hill Ranch, it was an easy track and he rode a '77 Yamaha TT 500, he really stood out as the only 4 stroke bike on the track.
He was fast on that track as it was more like a TT track than a motocross track.

Kenny Roberts is a legend, an absolute stud at what he did.
That said, and I'll probably take an ass kicking for saying it in this thread, but I believe to this day that the most highly skilled motorcycle riders of all are the Motocross/Supercross guys.
Certainly I'm jaded, as I raced MX/SX for about a decade, but for my money, they simply have more all around bike handling skills.
I can remember practicing on an mx course with the state champ flat track rider on a few occasions and was able to keep up with him, he always was honest to concede that he didn't have the skills of the pro mx'ers.
Certainly apples & oranges, but I'll stick to my belief.

Yep, comparing flat track or road racing to MX/SX is truly apples to oranges, anyone doing either at a high level has my ultimate respect, & both take high levels of skills & balls, just a different skill set, that's all.

MM

Kenny and "Fast Freddy" Spencer did put on some shows competing against each other in the road races. Respect for each other but no love lost between them.