Erik Buell’s motorcycle assembly line has been running about a month, and already Buell is worried about not having enough space as he ramps up production and kicks his engineering efforts into overdrive.
“These are wonderful problems to have,” Buell says as he walks through the plant where the first Erik Buell Racing production motorcycles are being assembled for delivery in February.
The plant’s layout was designed by a former automotive industry engineer who was fed up with big companies and, like Buell, wanted to challenge the status quo … More
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Yamaha loves its racers. From dirt to pavement, Yamaha understands its past champions played a major role in putting the Tuning Fork brand on the racing map. So when the company holds its year-end champions celebration, it’s kind of a big deal.
This year Yamaha’s Bob Starr and Racing Director Keith McCarty paid tribute to two of its biggest racing stars, three-time and first American Grand Prix champion, Kenny Roberts, and four-time 250cc motocross champion Gary Jones, by honoring them with lifetime achievement awards. Roberts, in typical King Kenny fashion, made a dramatic entrance by … More
Kenny Roberts arrives at Yamaha Motor Corp. USA headquarters on the infamous TZ750 flat-tracker to accept a lifetime achievement award.
The Stoked News story and video of King Kenny and the TZ Flat-Tracker at the 1975 Indy Mile
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The first episode is all about the motorcycle— a custom built Kawasaki ZRX1224RR Superbike. The video gives viewers an inside look at the bike’s development, which combines high performance aftermarket parts with SBK Factory’s own in-house superbike engineering. SBK Factory owner and bike builder James Compton explains what went into putting together this “modern classic” superbike for rider Jake Holden to race up America’s mountain.
This episode, “Pikes Peak—The Race,” takes you behind-the-scenes with the team as they prepare for and race up America’s mountain—a 12.42-mile ride that climbs over 5,000 feet with 156 turns. Compton, SBK Factory founder and custom bike builder, teams up with his longtime friend and AMA Pro Road Racer Holden to race in the 2013 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. From practice, to qualifying, to the main event, watch as Holden and Compton test the limits of themselves and their pair of custom built SBK Factory ZRX1224RR Superbikes.
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