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!

More Afternoon Moto News - Freddie Spencer & Yamaha YZR500 Replica

Freddie Spencer will star at the Vintage Motorcycle Club's Festival of 1000 Bikes - which is coming up this July at the U.K. track Mallory Park. He will be riding a three-cylinder Rothmans Honda NS500 GP race bike. This is only first of what should be many legendary racers and motorcycle personalities which will be attending the event, so take the link and make your plans now!

http://tinyurl.com/yza84wg

Now, another very coll piece of news is the Yamaha YZR500 replica; you can actually build one for around £18,000 (currently around US$28,000). This is all thanks to Mico Products of Australia. In fact, they have a number of bikes from which you can choose to re-create and ride at your own leisure. You may have seen their bikes before and not even known it...take the link and watch the video.

http://tinyurl.com/yh5hw6b

Thursday Morning Moto News - WSBK, YZR500 & Aprilia Recall

World Superbike will be kicking off a three-day test at Portimao this weekend in preparation for the 2010 season. Shortly after that, 21 - 22 February, will see them at Phillip Island for another practice. That will just be one week before the opening round at the same circuit. Get a summary of this after the link.

http://tinyurl.com/yg8l3hs

Shane Byrne will be there with his Althea Racing Ducati: http://tinyurl.com/yaz74xm

Alex Gobert's column on the test: http://tinyurl.com/yaop7bg

Down outside of Sydney, Australia, you can actually purchase a full-on 500c.c. GP bike replica! Mick Costain of Mico Products can make a perfect replica of a Yamaha YZR500 from any season between 1988 and 2002. It is an impressive build and will certainly turn heads anywhere you go. Even the price is not so outside the norm. There are even more replicas he produces and you should see them for yourself!

http://tinyurl.com/yflgcuv

After that horrendous debut of the Aprilia RSV-4R (the lower-spec model), where five machines suffered con-rod failures and blew up. Well, apparently, some of those improperly manufactured parts made their way into the first run of the RSV-4 Factory and they have issued a recall to save those machines - ONLY in Australia for now. Get in touch with your dealer, just in case...

http://tinyurl.com/ye4l8a4