MotogGP on FS1

Well, almost all those guys. Remember John Kocinski? He rode for Cagiva in 1993 and 1994. One of the most thrilling races I've ever seen was the 1993 USGP at Laguna Seca, when Kocinski won on his home track. It was Cagiva's first 500 win on a dry track (Eddie Lawson had previously notched a win for them the previous year in the wet).

 

When 2 strokes ruled!

 

Indeed, a few have toyed with the idea of switching from 2 to 4 wheels, but the level in F1 is so high, and you need to start so young, that it is impossible these days (and going in the other direction too).

It depends on how you break things up by era. Agostini won all the 500 cc races in 1968 (10) and the first 10 races of 1969, which would give him a run of 20 wins (and from the start of one season). However, he had virtually no competition at that time (private bikes), and won virtually every 350 cc and 500 cc race for several years. If you switch to the factory-era, I think Marquez may already have the record. Doohan won 10 consecutive 500 cc races in `97 (12 of the first 13, he was second in the other), and Rossi won 7 consecutive MotoGP races in 2002 (and 8 of the first 9, coming second in the 2nd race).

Nahhh, he was soft, it took him 8 weeks to ride again. Barry Sheene was back after 7 weeks following his 170 mph crash at Daytona!

 

Sweet! I didn't know they ever put these machines up for sale; I thought they scrapped them so no one could investigate the technology.

 

Thanks for the info. You are as knowledgeable in the motorcycle arena as you are in the music arena. Very impressive!

 

Smile - a man for all seasons!

 

Well, technically the bike pictured was never offered for sale - it is a Yamaha OW31, which was the works version of the TZ750. The TZ750 was offered for sale to privateers, and was probably the most successful customer racebike in history, winning races for nearly a decade starting from its introduction in 1974. As the bike underwent continual development, later models incorporated many (but not all) of the refinements that were originally limited to the OW31 works bikes.

Even the exotic 500s were sold as customer racebikes on occasion, again minus the truly trick bits that were reserved for the factory machines. Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha all offered privateer 500s at various times. Yamaha had a customer version of its YZR500 available as late as 1997, with aluminum instead of magnesium crankcases and frames built by Harris in the UK and ROC in France.

 

Oh I know all about the TZ750's- had a friend who raced one back in the day- Greg Smrz (if that last name looks familiar, it b/c he had a brother who did stunt work in Hollywood). And I know you could buy many of the vintage 2 stroke racebikes; the Honda 250's were a particular favorite at the races I worked the pits for (WERA endurance series). I was referring to the works machines.

So, you were saying you wished you had bought a TZ or a YZR? Are those the collectibles going for huge sums now? I could certainly see that. I'd love to have one to look at, though I wouldn't want to ride one of those beasts.

Those RZ350's were cool machines; similar to the racebikes, but tuned for the street.

 

I'd have liked to have bought a TZ and a YZR, but I doubt a YZR would've ever been in my budget.

TZ750s could be had pretty cheaply in the late 80s-early 90s. You could find for-sale ads for them in Cycle News all the time. They're a lot more collectible now, and occasionally one will pop up on eBay, although most of them change hands via private sales and live auctions. Last I looked, the going rate started at $40-50K, and went up from there.

The Harris/ROC Yamaha 500s were never inexpensive even after they were obsolete, and they're a lot more complex to maintain than a TZ, plus I'd imagine it would be very difficult to get any spare parts. Here are a couple of comparative sales from the past several years:

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19766/lot/323/

http://raresportbikesforsale.com/tag/yzr500/

I always liked the RZ350 as well as its big brother, the RZ/RD500, Yamaha's attempt at a V4 500 race replica for the street. It was never officially imported into the US, but more than a few of them made their way here. Suzuki also had a street version of their square-four RG500 Gamma racebike.

 

I had forgotten about the RD 500, but now that you mention it, I remember reading about them. And yeah, TZ's got to be pretty cheap- of course there wasn't a whole lot to them, component-wise. Once the tech had been surpassed (and if I'm not mistaken, by then they were void of a class to race in, other than the ultra-competitive open class), there wasn't much reason to buy them. And I'd imagine it was difficult finding one that wasn't pretty ratted-out. In hindsight, it woulda been great to grab one. But what I still kick myself over is not picking up a '81 CBX when they were so largely ignored. I had just started wrenching at a Honda dealership in PA and I remember a number of them sitting in crates for quite a while. They could be had dirt cheap to begin w/ and w/ my employee discount, I coulda had one of those 6 cylinder beauts for a song (like $1500). Checking the 2nd link you posted, one sold for 10X that recently.

 

There's always that window of opportunity after a racebike (or car) is no longer eligible in any racing class, but before it becomes a prized collectors' item or vintage racer. Within that window, it's just another worn-out machine that most people haven't much use for. If you ever want to get really depressed, check out what Cobras were being offered for in the Road & Track classifieds in the early 1970s.

'79 and '80 CBXes are more sought-after than '81 and '82 models, but even with the earlier ones $15K is at the high end of the range IMO. Good ones can be had for significantly less than that with patience. But probably not for $1500. Check out the International CBX Owners Association's website, they're one of the primary resources on the web for all things CBX.

I always wanted a CBX too, being the streetable descendant of the magnificent 6-cylinder 249/297cc racebikes of the 1960s that Redman and Hailwood rode. Few things stir the blood more than a six at full song through megaphone exhausts. The closest I got was a souped-up '81 CB750F, which was my daily transportation for several years and which I still have, but it's been parked for a number of years and needs at minimum a carb/brake rebuild before it's roadworthy again.

 

I don't know why I said "81; I meant '79. The '81's were the ones w/ fairings and saddlebags, marketed as a sport-tourer. It was '81 when I started working at that Honda shop, but the left-over CBX's were '79's. And yes, those things sounded sweet, even w/ the stock mufflers. I never heard one thru megaphones. And the reason they hold such appeal for me is the same you mentioned- the DNA in those things was amazing.

I don't want a CBX now, have never sought one out, I just think back to when I could have had one for a song and think how short-sighted I was. I could have had a great sportbike and ridden for years as the thing just got more valuable. But at the time I lusted for one of the new V-4's; always wanting the next big thing...

I always liked the F models. After leaving the industry and riding a Hurricane for a few years, I matured enough to know that I couldn't resist riding the thing like it was meant to be ridden and I had no business riding like that on the street. Too many close calls out on country roads w/ pickups coming around a turn in my lane; I knew one of those times wasn't going to be a close call. So when I got out of my pocket-rocket phase I was looking for a 750 or 900F. They were so much easier to work on than later bikes (except for the cam chain tensioner- never could find a tool to loosen that top nut!). They had everything right out where you could get to them. And they were air-cooled, but still rock-solid reliable. But by the time I was in the market, I couldn't find one that wasn't ratted out. I ended up w/ a 650 Nighthawk (the 2nd incarnation w/ the hydraulic valves and shaft drive). Great motor, but handling was sub-par, even for a shaft-drive bike- never could get the front end solid. Just as well, helped keep me sane (relatively) on the road.

 

I've been working in the motorcycle industry for 35 years and while the technology of the modern GP bikes interests me I find the circuits very boring so I don't make a point of following the racing now.
My all time hero will always be Mike Hailwood who managed to win both the 250 and 350 titles in 1966/67 and finished 2nd in the 500cc class both years as well.
In June 1967 for instance he won 3 classes (250/350/500) at the IOM and the same 3 races at the Dutch TT. Not too bad for one months racing.

That he could ride the wheels of anything on any track speaks volumes for his talent with numerous IOM victories as well as GPs. From memory he also rode in some production bike races as well.

 

The F models are great, and to extend your comment about DNA, they're the ultimate expression of the air-cooled inline four that started a revolution in 1969, the original CB750. And they're plenty quick enough for street riding, although I'm sure that many owners of modern sportbikes would laugh at that assertion. But the time-honored saying among those who fly applies equally well to motorcycles: "there are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots".

My 750F is really more of a hybrid between a 750 and a 900 - it has a big-bore kit bumping it up to 836cc, and it also has bigger carbs (possibly off a 900) that have been tweaked and tuned. The gearbox was shimmed, the clutch beefed up, a Corbin Gunfighter seat, superbike bars, and a Kerker 4-into-1 added, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting now. It was the personal streetbike of a friend who had previously owned a motorcycle shop and raced in WERA endurance classes.

 

One of my favorite pictures is the iconic shot of Hailwood heeled over on the RC166 at Clermont-Ferrand in 1967:



Speaking of the IoM TT, did anyone else catch the TT coverage on Velocity this week? They ran an hour-long recap of each day's races all week long. Michael Dunlop's dominance in his four wins, including his first Senior TT, had the feeling of the passing of a torch from one generation to the next, although John McGuinness was suffering from a wrist injury and said he expected to be back stronger next year. Unbelievable watching these guys scream by at 180mph inches from stone walls and hedgerows - I can only imagine what it's like in person.

 

They put up a few hay bales, don't they? What's the big deal?

 

There is a phenomenal video on YouTube where you can do a full lap of the IoM circuit with one of the go-fast lads, and it is quite an experience. I guess it's about 20 minutes, but it is not boring at any stage. I'm sure it would totally scare the crap out of me to go at half the speed those lads ride at. All power to them.

 

Great picture,bike and rider. Things changed for the worst when the bikes went away from individual pipes for each cylinder, lost that full analogue sound .

It was nice to see Bruce Ansteys' new lap record get some coverage on our local network news channels.

 

I highly recommend Duke Video's box set of audio recordings from the 1958-68 TTs:

http://www.dukevideo.com/prd9953/TT-Audio-1958-68-10-CD-Box-Set

They're digital reissues of the Schofield TT Sound Stories LPs. Not sure if they're needledrops, and the bit about the recordings being restored "using the latest digital technology" is a bit worrisome, but they don't seem to be brickwalled. Although I can't say that I've looked at the waveforms.

 

I still have a cassette of sounds from the IOM, late 50s to maybe mid 60s and that includes the Guzzi V8. Shame I no longer have anything to play it on.

 

The start of a new MotoGP season today at Qatar's Losail circuit, and it turned out to be one of the most electrifying races I've seen in 30+ years of following the sport. Unfortunately, Fox decided to run the race this time on FS2 instead of FS1 - I get both channels, but judging from the complaints I've seen elsewhere from folks who weren't able to watch the race, I'd guess that FS1 is bundled into a lot more cable/satellite tiers than FS2.

Spoiler: race results

A stunning victory for Rossi and Yamaha, fought tooth and nail with the outcome in doubt right up to the checkered flag. It was clear that the new Ducati GP15s had a horsepower advantage, and I was convinced that Dovizioso was going to blow by Rossi on the start/finish straight at the end of the race, but it was not to be today. And what a ride by Marquez to claw his way back from the back of the pack to a well-earned fifth place. Given that the Ducatis already look very strong even with the limited development time they've had, it's going to be real interesting to see how things shake out as they start to really leverage the data gathered during each race to dial them in further.

Really looking forward to the next race in Austin after such a great kickoff!

 

That was some amazing dicing at the front. Winner uncertain until the final straight. Fantastic triple-digit attacks and parries. Great to see Duc's in the chase. Hope that can continue. Great kickoff indeed! If this is any indication, this season could be much more competitive.

 

Those wimps, they were only doing just over 350 kph down the straights!!!

Ducati is in a strange position, if they win a few races they will lose some of the benefits of being a non-factory team (like better tires, etc.). So, once they have established that they have improved, they will be hampered!