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Clubroom => Foto Forum => Topic started by: Lozza on November 30, 2008, 08:46:57 pm

Title: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Lozza on November 30, 2008, 08:46:57 pm
The legedary flat tracker rides again.... it sounds mighty intimidating so imagine what it's like to ride ;D ;D

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IEQAnCL3e5Q&feature=related
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: firko on November 30, 2008, 11:07:36 pm
In 1980 or so I saw the great Randy Mamola doing some demonstration laps of Ascot Speedway in LA aboard the very same Kenny Roberts TZ750 Yamaha dirt tracker. It was bordering on being a religious experience.
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: TooFastTim on December 01, 2008, 11:59:55 am
In 1980 or so I saw the great Randy Mamola doing some demonstration laps of Ascot Speedway in LA aboard the very same Kenny Roberts TZ750 Yamaha dirt tracker. It was bordering on being a religious experience.

And that was just watching it. Imagine if you were RIDING it  :o
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Hoony on December 01, 2008, 12:43:31 pm
Randy Mamola, my all time favorite Road racer, Natural Talent and a love of what he is doing as well as a bit of a larrikin attidue.
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: KB171 on December 01, 2008, 01:46:20 pm
The KR Indy mile clips worth a gander as well  ;)
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Freakshow on January 12, 2009, 11:55:18 am
Hey hooney, i got some great pics of Randy when he was a kid, he used to be sponsored by my mate carlo, who sent me some pics for Xmas im scanning ATm,  Not only are there pics in here of him racing with the pros even as a junior ( and he was well know to towel them up ) he was just so far ahead of his peers while they were in jeans and army boots he was in Fitted factory leathers and Riding his sponsored Boss race bike.

Dean caught up with  him over at laguna circuit recently where he does a  race laps on a tandem bike he has set up for it, if i remeber correctly he does it for charity funding etc.  a true case of living the dream your whole life, im wondering if he has ever been off a bike.    If i get a chance ill put ip some of these pics, they really are inspirational and take you back to a time even now i see a picture with kids playing on the run off of the track and a truck just off the circuit, a time when saftey ment being careful not litigation.

there scaning in at 5mb so if i post it will be a bit small in a resize but youll get the drift.

The little kid is randy, guy to the right is i think Jim Dolan and then the jim carrey look alike is carlo

Randy was a talanted guy pity in 12 years he never cracked a world championship crown.  Close a few times
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Freakshow on January 12, 2009, 12:05:17 pm
look at the kids and the guy sitting on the edge of the track and the truck parked up on the run off.  Good ol days.

times were good, you had your licence, you raced, all the other shit was just that and you hoped the promoter paid you at the end of the night.

Im not sure who owns the copy right on these so go easy on where you save them to if i get some up.  On that subject : does copy right run out, like after a time period ?  some of these pics look like dan mahoney's work based on the overlays and i know he is selling off a lot of his and his dads stuff ATM to picture framers etc so i might hold back on the good ones just incase, but otherwise ill try to put up some more of the interesting and obscure ones if i get a chance.  :D

This pic was taken at Lodi bowl in 75, before they built up the Banked bowl around the top, ( see don castro movie to see how it changed)
LEft to right i think is robin phil  , Mamola, and Steve merten , cant see the numbers properly so cant say which jim that is but there older Factory leathers so he could ride too, other problem is these guys changed numbers from  Junior, senior, cluman, pro etc so its hard to keep up with the changes) in 75 these guys where getting 200 plus to a race so even making the final heat ranked as a big deal, it was a prime time in the sport i think, finish of some big careers and start of some big one's, so you had a lot of talent and pros on the tracks all over the country going from meet to meet

However the point is You can still see Randy is a kid here, with his 80u junior plate, and this is a full blown seniors race, Randy would have been about 15yrs old at this time.

Just look at his ride angle and position on the bike, you can tell from this image he was going to smoke em, they way he leans his body  in and if i look closely on the photo you can see he is the only one with a cocked wrist so he is already on the gas on the exit
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: paul on January 12, 2009, 12:08:29 pm
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=nj97mObeEyw&NR=1
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: VMX247 on January 13, 2009, 12:38:59 pm
Its new ,but you may like to feel the spirit of the era . :P

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/vintage-YAMAHA-RACING-rz350-tz-JERSEY-KENNY-ROBERTS_W0QQitemZ310113773781QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Men_s_Clothing?hash=item310113773781&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A3|65%3A1|39%3A1|240%3A1318
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: yzhilly on January 13, 2009, 04:59:05 pm
I luv that KR indy video when he is doin the victory lap and gets it on the pipe and pulls a mono down the back straight  awesome .
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Hoony on January 13, 2009, 05:32:07 pm
Yeah, its action a plenty hey hilly.
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: firko on January 14, 2009, 06:16:08 pm
There's a really good interview with Kenny Roberts and a nice smaller piece on the Champion TZ750 in the current issue of Sideburn Magazine. http://www.sideburnmagazine.com (http://www.sideburnmagazine.com)
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: matcho mick on January 14, 2009, 11:20:15 pm
i think Randy 's guesting at the Barry Sheene at easter?,(not 100% sure, but) :P
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Tony T on January 15, 2009, 07:27:10 pm
Here's a typical Mamola shot I took at one of the first Phillip Island GP's. FWIW.
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-8/1063360/RandyMamola1.jpg)

At that same meeting, I was sitting on a couch watching telly in the media centre when some bloke sat next to me. Turned out to be King Kenny but I was too freaked to say much more than g'day..........  ::)

P.S. was it Mike Dowson that rode a TZ750 at Bathurst in the late 80's? I must have a photo of that somewhere............
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: GD66 on January 15, 2009, 07:31:53 pm
It was indeed, he also made a rather quixotic effort on one in the Swann Series, as did Graeme "Goose" Muir. Yep, drag 'em out and get 'em up, Tony   ;)


A pic of the Pitmans TZ750 has popped up today on the tz350.com website, by coincidence. Rumour is that it will once again be on display at the Island Classic next weekend.... :o
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: cbc on January 16, 2009, 09:15:48 am
Hey Tony was that pic at the 87 Finke you! And did end painfully?
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Tony T on January 16, 2009, 09:25:02 am
Yes & yes............  :D 

I take it I did include that CD then?

btw I looked for the Pitmans TZ750 photos from Bathurst last night and couldn't find them. I'll keep looking. Found some of the Marlboro FZ's from the same meeting but no TZ's.  :-\
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: cbc on January 16, 2009, 04:00:25 pm
ouch!!!!!!
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Lozza on September 01, 2009, 03:04:47 pm
Not from forum member msmola2002 as the lucky b'stard was there but here is the first couple of videos from the Indy Mile run in conjuction with the MotoGP
CLIP 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgjXjcTB_pQ&feature=related) such a pity Kenny couldn't have opened it up and give it the berries, wonder the plugs didn't foul.The bikes builder Kel Curruthers is there also.

CLIP 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2YErcRTZP0) has the good quote "What is it?" ..."it's a tooo stroke" ;D ;D
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: firko on September 01, 2009, 04:26:39 pm
                  (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-8/1062154/kenny%20and%20rossi.jpg)
                                            Kel, Valentino and Kenny on board the big TZ750 tracker below.
                  (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-8/1062154/kenny%20Roberts_TZ750.jpg)
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: TT on September 01, 2009, 04:37:23 pm
Incidently, my Safari mechanic, Trev Otto is a wizz with the TZ750/500 engines.
He still get guys send engines from all over the world to get him to rebuild them.
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Freakshow on September 01, 2009, 04:55:09 pm
Hey Tony, i was trying to hit Trev up to shoot the YZ with one of his TZ in the background, kinda Grand national style for the mag, bit of a garge shot, but he told me he only had a one in bits and was a "C" model. 

Was after an A or B for the shot, but if you bump into him put the word on , maybe he was keeping mum, muller sold his off so he says and the other old chap that had one in Sa pulled the same line on me, very secret squirrel. 

MAl pitman has one but i think his is a C as well.  keep you ears out and on.
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Lozza on September 01, 2009, 04:59:40 pm
I saw that pic on the MotoGP website firko, and I reckon the first Youtube clip cuts moments short of when Vale must have come out and surprised Kenny.Oops edit these are the ones on the MotoGP site

(http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s297/Lozza85_2007/n502755_rossi_roberts_preview_big.jpg)

(http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s297/Lozza85_2007/n502757_roberts_sr02_preview_big.jpg)

REPORT (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Aug/090830b.htm)
Got a report Kenny was lapping as if not faster(43.5) than race times that night
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: firko on October 06, 2009, 11:34:48 am

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Oct/091005b.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Oct/091005b.htm)
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Colin Jay on October 06, 2009, 01:41:02 pm
Although it does not have a Champion frame, the picture below is a replica of Kenny's bike built up by Chris Fraser from the Silverton Hotel with the help of a few of his mates last year. So far he has displayed it at a couple of classic bike events. As far as I know, he isn't going to try to try and ride it, even though he has a few Australian longtrack sidecar championships to his name from years gone by riding a Suzuki RG500 Mk8 outfit.

(http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s120/coljay/DSCF0623.jpg)

CJ
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: colmoody on October 06, 2009, 08:27:46 pm
Does anyonyone know where that clip on you tube has gone of the only time he raced that weapon where he came from behind to beat the fergies on the last bend of the last last lap. Have watched that clip a few times over the last few years but when I tried to find it a month or so ago to show  a mate it did'nt see to be there.

Lozza, to think that Kenny was lapping as quick as the guns on the night is certainly the stuff that legends are made of. If that was the case though something is not quite right.
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Lozza on October 06, 2009, 09:28:33 pm
Col well a fellow who was there timed them with a stopwatch. So unless he lied to me or the stopwatch lied that's how it was. A few more turned up at the STOCKTON MILE (http://www.getphpbb.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=3434&highlight=stockton&mforum=2stroker) a week or so later.
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: oldyzman on October 06, 2009, 10:11:59 pm
Great thread.... sounds Awesom
YZMAN
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Lozza on October 07, 2009, 08:34:36 pm
THIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlypWq6izrE&feature=player_embedded) just turned up on youtube, balls the size of watermelons
Title: Re: Kenny Roberts TZ750
Post by: Freakshow on October 07, 2009, 11:35:26 pm
I noticed he mentioned tyres, well had i had tyre like this.................. oh its the Dunlop channel.  still good post