Yamaha RD350 Motorcycles in Quebec, page #44

Moto blog

Rossi Makes Progress but Hayden Suffers Shoulder Setback

Ducati continues to develop its Desmosedici GP12 MotoGP race bike, setting modest goals while trying to establish a good setup. Already trailing the other factory teams in development time for its race prototypes, Ducati continued to try to find good base settings for the GP12. Valentino Rossi achieved the team’s goal of lapping under two minutes and two seconds with a time of 2:01.886 while completing 44 laps on the second day of testing at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit.

Spies Second at Sepang Test Day Two; Lorenzo Third

Yamaha factory rider Ben Spies led for most to the second day of MotoGP testing at Sepang before settling for the second best lap the time sheets behind defending World Champion Casey Stoner. Spies rode 37 laps and recorded a time of 2:01.052, which stood as the fastest lap in the morning session. That time was surpassed later in the afternoon by Repsol Honda rider Stoner by 0.157 seconds.

Lorenzo Leads Sepang Test Day 1; Spies Fourth on 1000cc Yamaha M1

Yamaha‘s Jorge Lorenzo topped all riders with a top lap time of 2:01.657 on the first day of pre-season MotoGP testing at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit. With reigning World Champion Casey Stoner ailing and unable to ride, Lorenzo produced the top time as the only racer to lap Sepang in under 2 minutes 2 seconds. Riding the 1000cc Yamaha YZR-M1, Lorenzo topped second-ranked Dani Pedrosa and his Honda RC213V by 0.343 seconds.

Rossi 'training' at his MotoRanch

Like Kenny Roberts, Valentino Rossi has got his own ranch where he has built his own private motocross track and dirt oval. The above YouTube video shows Rossi training on the flat-track circuit that makes up his 'MotoRanch' located near his home town of Tavullia. He's shown riding a Yamaha, but that's probably because Ducati don't have themselves a scrambler.

AMA Supercross – 2012 Oakland Results

The 2012 AMA Supercross Championship race is getting tighter with a fourth race winner in as many rounds following James Stewart‘s victory in Oakland, Calif. The JGRMX Yamaha racer captured his first win of the 2012 season at Oakland’s O.co Coliseum. Stewart out-dueled longtime rival Chad Reed of TwoTwo Motorsports Honda for the win.

Rumor: Yamaha Developing Inline Three Roadster

French motorcycle outlet Moto Revue reports Yamaha is developing a new three-cylinder middleweight. Citing an internal Yamaha document, Moto Revue reports the new naked model will feature an inline Triple engine, aluminum perimeter frame, upside-down fork and a triple-pipe exhaust like the MV Agusta F3 and Brutale 675. Yamaha has produced a Triple before, offering the XS750 from 1976-1979 before replacing it with the XS850 in 1980 and 1981 (pictured above is the 1981 Yamaha XS850.) The potential new model is still likely to be years away, so its look is yet to be determined, though Moto Revue does have a rendering that borrows some of the design elements from the FZ8.

AMA Supercross: 2012 Los Angeles Results

Chad Reed won his first race of the 2012 AMA Supercross season in Los Angeles but the victory was overshadowed by a first-lap collision that left Trey Canard and Ryan Morais with broken backs. Racing for Team Honda Muscle Milk, Canard was injured on the first lap after catching a piece of some signage. That forced him to single a triple jump, putting him in the path of Star Valli Yamaha rider Ryan Morais who landed on Canard from behind.

2012 New York International Motorcycle Shows Preview

The 2011-2012 International Motorcycle Shows tour hits the Big Apple this weekend with a number of debuts, Jan. 20-22 at the Jakob K. Javits Convention Center.

Provisional 2012 World Superbike Championship Entry List Released

The International Motorcycling Federation has released a preliminary entry list for the 2012 World Superbike Championship. The preliminary list includes 24 entries representing six manufacturers: Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki. Noticeably absent is Yamaha which announced last summer it would pull out of WSBK racing.

The short but sweet life of the Yamaha R7

I was reunited with an old friend recently, my 1999 Virgin Yamaha R7 Superbike. By the end of 1998 I had won three straight BSB titles with the Yamaha YZF750, when main sponsor Cadbury’s pulled out leaving zero funds for a title defence. Wanting desperately to ride the new R7 and thinking a replacement backer would instantly get on board I turned down quite a few offers including a juicy contract from Crescent Suzuki (Paul Denning always enjoys reminding me).