King Kenny Rides His 1980 Yamaha YZR500 at Laguna Seca

I missed this...and it really did hurt somewhat. It was like dreaming of a lover far away while I sit here working and MotoGP was running at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Of course, the type of love differs significantly...but the feeling of longing was the same. Enjoy...and turn up the volume!

Monday Afternoon Moto News from Around the World

This afternoon is a bit less crazy than this morning, which means that it is very quiet now. Hopefully, this is because many people in the motorcycle industry are at home with their families!

First up here is the Road Racer X round-up of birthdays and other important events in motorcycle history. We have birthdays for Jurgen van den Goodbergh, William S. Harley, Sergio Gadea, Alex Gramigni, Jordan Szoke, Kenny Roberts, Phil Read, SpeedTV (yes, the TV network), Luis d’Antin, Kel Carruthers, Shoichiro Irimajiri. And, the death of Cal Rayborn in 1973. There are some huge birthdays on that list, so go and take a look.

http://tinyurl.com/yagmakr

And, we are being teased by an Indian company on the release of their new electric motorcycle. Tork India, who finished in third place Open Class in the 2009 TTXGP, have placed a photo on their Facebook page with a covered motorcycle - and not much more.

http://tinyurl.com/ydnyhqp

If there is more news, I will put it up later this evening. Otherwise, I will write here again tomorrow morning.

Kel Carruthers - Only Australian to Win 250 World Championship

Ahead of the Phillip Island Grand Prix, which will go off next weekend (16 - 18 October 2009), we take a look back at the only Australian - believe it or not - who has ever won a 250c.c Grand Prix Championship - Kel Carruthers - a legend in motorcycle racing. History will stay that way as this is the last year that the 250c.c two-strokes will be raced in the MotoGP Championship series; next year will begin the Moto2 World Championship where 600c.c. four-stroke spec-Hondas with custom frames will take over from the old-school two-strokes. I must admit, this change makes me feel a bit bittersweet as I do love the sound and power of a little 250c.c. pre-mix burner!

http://tinyurl.com/ykuwkan

From the 2009 Indy Mile at Indianapolis MotoGP

This is a bit dated in some ways, but sometime it does take time to put together a quality story. This is one. In it, we hear about Kenny Roberts and his TZ750, Ben Bostrom and King Kenny's TZ750 and even Rossi on the TZ750 - no, he did not ride it around the track, unfortunately. First, story:

http://tinyurl.com/y8nthjv

Now, some photos from Andrea Wilson:

http://tinyurl.com/y9he797

Kenny Roberts Relates the Story of That Night at Indy

That was the Indy Mile, not IMS, but it was an incredible ride...and a monster of a motorcycle.

http://tinyurl.com/mghcx8

Kenny Roberts to Ride Indy Mile on Yamaha TZ-750

King Kenny will be taking some hot laps aboard his famous Yamaha TZ-750 from 1975. Even more reason to attend the Indy GP! As if we need any more...

http://tinyurl.com/laakug