By 1980 Yamaha Corporation made it clear that its Tuning Fork brand aspired to be the No. 1 motorcycle company in the world. Honda Motor Corp., ichiban since the 1960s, confidently accepted that challenge, and like a pair of heavyweight sumo wrestlers the two corporate giants locked arms, ...
By 1980 American motocross fans had grown accustomed to predicting who wouldn’t win the United States round of the 500cc motocross Grand Prix World Championship. An American wouldn’t win — it had been that way since the USGP first called Carlsbad Raceway home in the early 1970s, so why ...
BMW enthusiasts who appreciate the purity and performance of a bone-stock BMW might want to skip the next few pages in this issue of Motorcycle Classics; a 1974 R75/6 lost its pedigree in the making of the accompanying feature bike, what its builder describes as a 1928 BMW R52 Similaria. But ...
Flathead race engines finally became extinct November 1968, when the AMA Class C rules committee legalized overhead-valve 750cc engines for Nationals competition. Previously, overhead-valve engines were limited to 500cc displacement, while sidevalves could be 750cc. The new rules caught ...
Publisher, author, motorcycle historian and 1972 Daytona 200 winner Don Emde’s most recent book The Speed Kings is a history of boardtrack racing that’s long overdue. It’s perhaps the most complete history of the sport to date, one that includes hundreds of period photos supported by ...
1972 Yamaha R5 350 Engine: 347cc air-cooled 2-stroke parallel twin, 64mm x 54mm bore and stroke, 7.5:1 compression ratio, 36hp @ 7,000rpm (claimed, 1970 model) Top speed: 100mph (claimed), 95.31mph (period test, 1970 model) Carburetion: Two Mikuni VMSC 28mm Transmission: 5-speed ...
1960 Yamaha YDS 1 Scrambler Engine: 246cc air-cooled OHV 2-stroke parallel twin, 56mm x 50mm bore and stroke, 8:1 compression ratio, 20hp @ 7,500rpm (claimed) Top speed: N/A Carburetion: Two 20mm Mikuni VM 20 Transmission: 5-speed, chain final drive Electrics: 12v, flywheel magneto ...
Ricky Graham, feet-up sliding a Harley-Davidson XR750 prepared by Tex Peel at the 1983 Springfield Mile, was among the greatest Mile racers of all time.There are great flat track racers, and then there are great flat track racers. Consider the late Ricky Graham, who billed himself ...
What’s the longest wheelie you’ve ever pulled on a motorcycle? Fifty feet? A football field? Perhaps a full mile? Doug Domokos, aka the Wheelie King, rode a bike for 145 miles without letting the front tire even so much as dab the pavement. That was a Guinness World Record, one he set in ...
If you’re seeking balance in the universe, consider Don Emde’s 1972 Daytona 200 win. His ride aboard a privately entered Yamaha TR3 is considered a major upset in Daytona history. Facing an army of factory-prepped 750cc bikes capable of speeds in excess of 170mph on Daytona’s steep ...
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