What Kenny Roberts accomplished in Europe as a first-time world grand prix competitor is the most under-appreciated story in motosports racing history. The obstacles and setbacks that he overcame in his first year of racing overseas are still mind-boggling to reflect upon. Kel Carruthers was obviously a positive force in mentorship, but you have to hand it to King Kenny who let his racing speak for itself and who would not yield to any so-called legendary, traditional, old-school forces in grand prix motorcycle racing. Truly a racing icon who upheld the classic American tradition of candidly and honestly speaking one's mind while backing it up with winning results.
If Steve Baker had Roberts bike with the YPVS in 1977 I believe he would have won the title,and Baker was the first American world champion for Yamaha, winning the 750 formula 1 title,if only Yamaha had kept him to race alongside Kenny in 78, would have been one heck of a season if they had.
King Kenny,the only person in my 76 years that I ever asked for an autograph.Mid 70s,Harrington,Delaware 1/2 mile dirt track national.Still have it too!
I remember watching Kenny and reading up on everything about the man and he was one of the best that has ever thrown a race bike around a track, mad respect
He's so amazing...he makes it look easy...perfect lines the right gear before entering just a pro and fearless for his age..king Kenny we salute you!!💛💪💪💪👌👌👌
Excellent video!!!!!King Kenny & Yamaha 2-stroke roadracer bikes were the Best! In the start of the film(from the rider's viewpoint),listen to the sound,watch the track and tach,the lightness of the frontend and Kenny's positioning in the turns. The view from the right side of the bike really shows his talent of becoming "ONE" with track and bike.Watch this video at least 3 or 4 times to absorb the sweetness of it all.THANKS!Kenny for being a part of my life in motorcycle racing during the 70's.
Joe, you hit right. I had a tricked out Kawasaki 500 H1 triple years ago. I weighed a Buck 25 wet & when it hit 3500 rpm’s, it scared me but I never slowed down. Just held on! Stupid, I know. But that sound was so addictive. I Loved that bike…Till a Yamaha RD400 smoked me racing. Sold the Kawi & got me an RD400. Lol 😂
que barbaro 2 leyendas rodando otra vez fantastico keny y su yamaha cuanta historia deberia haber una categoria para que grandes leyendas del motociclismo corran otra vez seria fantastico
Great video , great memories of a great time- I think I can smell the summer Sun, petrol and two stroke fumes and a hot tinkly engine when you park up for a cigarette.
As a guy who rode Yamaha TZ bikes back in the 1970's I find it interesting that he is using only the lower end of the power band for most of the riding. It is rare that he goes beyond 9,000 rpm. Not really a race lap, but a demo. Still a good video.
King Kenny, he was Modesto High School, I was in Downey High school… learned everything I knew about flat track racing from him and the whole crew .. now we are both old …. lol.
Omg, i had a 99’ fully open Hayabusa for 6 years, before i stopped riding.I thougt that i was fast, but he would put 1 round to my conto after each of my 5-6 round. Nice to see the Kings abilities onboard! :-)
I fully agree to you man. Here in Portugal we still see some nice 2 strokes still running but they are rare. Back in the 90's I owned a Yamaha RD350R (we call it "electric chair") (:
Honda killed 2 strokes. They made some of the best 2 stroke engines but Soichiro Honda never liked them. They successfully lobbied to change GP rules to favour 4 strokes and the rest is history.
Yes John, I agree! The RSV 500 was one of the greats in the hands of Mick Doohan with Alex Crevier as his team mate! I really loved watching Moto GP at it's finest! Imagine a two-stroke 500cc motor putting out nearly 200 hp on the track and weighing only 287 lbs.!
That track has nearly everything to catch a rider out,many patches,surface tar streaks/repairs.Is it in an earthquake zone?King Kenny had it all under perfect control,very smooth and precise.
in my childhood (70's) in the San Francisco Bay area suburbs the streets were full of 2 strokes.. rd 400's.. kawi' triples it was a special time.. not to mention all the v8 Vega's.. Pinto's,.. Chavell's you name it.. GTO'S.. it was awesome.. and these cars were owned and built by high-school kids.. we worked at gas stations and built these cars in our parents garages.. cars that could make magazine covers today.. now kids skate board.
Thats back when schools still had auto shop and metal shop. Not anymore. Kids today know nothing about mechanics. I teach my kids, even my daughter to do pretty everything, them selves.
Sharpsdoublerifle true but cars were easier to work on back then. Now it's remove and replace. Back then it was repair and rebuild. Plus you didn't have to have a degree in computer science.
Yep or under the shade tree in the yard somewhere,, You want a hot-rod? Go drag any Chevy 396 engine out of the weeds, change the cam, pistons, tranny maybe, add a 650 Holly double pumper CARB, a Hurst shifter and a set of Hooker headers and hang on to that steering wheel!
While I mostly agree with another poster, he seems to be keeping it in the middle of the power band. However, the bike accelerates so fast he's spending most of his time downshifting for the next corner. I think under actual race conditions, riding to keep opponents behind him, the power band would probably expand. To Mr. Roberts, this is a Sunday afternoon ride, for mere mortals like us, if I could ride half this well we'd all be thrilled.
S Lit; Me too , cause of my neck I can no longer use clip-on bars but, I still use rear-sets. LoL 74 RD250(cafe-d )clip-ons ,rear-sets,fiberglass seat and, tank,chambers,79 mags. 74 RD 350 (bone stock) 75 RD 350 w/ clubmans 77 RD400 (cafe-d) clip-ons,rear-sets,fiberglass seat,chambers,Exccell ignition amplifier system, drilled diskes 32 mm. Makunies ,TZ750 reeds,baskets +bearings, port job. TA 125 (race only) 77 RD400 clubmans ,w/rear-sets and,chambers. 78 RD 400 (bone stock) Built in 2017 76 Franken D400 (cafe-d) Flat track bars (murphy bend)rear-sets. BTW 360 was a durtybike wasn't it ? enduro ? or jurassic RD from the 60's? R5's were prehistoric RD . lol They were roughriden,but you could slap on 1/2 of a TZ 750 on them with waterpump instead of autolube and, have a high maintenance rocket . Anyone know how to install a dry clutch on an RD 400 ??
This is still fun to watch. I love the older GP(2 smokers) bikes. Funny how fast KR catches up to the lappers...he was such a very talented rider. Back then they did it all, Flat tracking, TT’s, short track and Road Racing. Not anymore, bunch of cry babies, and they worked on them too!!! Until Kel Caruthers finally stepped in. Awesome team.
***** He upshifted and got in turn 1, because turn 1 is a fast corner so he didn't have to downshift. He just closed the gas to gain some engine braking, and the rear wheel kicked the bike noticeably 3:34. I drive a non-sleppery-clutch bike and it often kicks like that. That's why i hate non-slippery clutch so much.
All the old school 2 stroke bikes have a beautiful view on the Revs however there's no speedometer becoz lack of technology like nowadays they have a speed indicator normally at the far left of the screen with the option of using GPS.What about now why don't the people who produce such a wonderful onboard video show us the speed of the bike.I was a boy in the 80s and wonder what speed they're were going and still we have to guess.Hopefully one day it will happen.
What Kenny Roberts accomplished in Europe as a first-time world grand prix competitor is the most under-appreciated story in motosports racing history. The obstacles and setbacks that he overcame in his first year of racing overseas are still mind-boggling to reflect upon. Kel Carruthers was obviously a positive force in mentorship, but you have to hand it to King Kenny who let his racing speak for itself and who would not yield to any so-called legendary, traditional, old-school forces in grand prix motorcycle racing. Truly a racing icon who upheld the classic American tradition of candidly and honestly speaking one's mind while backing it up with winning results.
If Steve Baker had Roberts bike with the YPVS in 1977 I believe he would have won the title,and Baker was the first American world champion for Yamaha, winning the 750 formula 1 title,if only Yamaha had kept him to race alongside Kenny in 78, would have been one heck of a season if they had.
Still got it after all those years. An absolute legend. Thanks for posting.
King Kenny,the only person in my 76 years that I ever asked for an autograph.Mid 70s,Harrington,Delaware 1/2 mile dirt track national.Still have it too!
Kenny roberts raced in Delaware!? In Harrington!? Ahh thats awesome
I remember watching Kenny and reading up on everything about the man and he was one of the best that has ever thrown a race bike around a track, mad respect
This guy is just unbelievable. Met him in person, he's not that affable but what he does is not that friendly either. Hats off to the King.
He's so amazing...he makes it look easy...perfect lines the right gear before entering just a pro and fearless for his age..king Kenny we salute you!!💛💪💪💪👌👌👌
Excellent video!!!!!King Kenny & Yamaha 2-stroke roadracer bikes were the Best! In the start of the film(from the rider's viewpoint),listen to the sound,watch the track and tach,the lightness of the frontend and Kenny's positioning in the turns. The view from the right side of the bike really shows his talent of becoming "ONE" with track and bike.Watch this video at least 3 or 4 times to absorb the sweetness of it all.THANKS!Kenny for being a part of my life in motorcycle racing during the 70's.
Initialy he does a few easy runs, then gradually getting the feeling back a progressing to gp speed. People like him wil never loose it.
Yep, FINDING the groove…
Oh that sound, I love it!
Joe, you hit right. I had a tricked out Kawasaki 500 H1 triple years ago. I weighed a Buck 25 wet & when it hit 3500 rpm’s, it scared me but I never slowed down. Just held on! Stupid, I know. But that sound was so addictive. I Loved that bike…Till a Yamaha RD400 smoked me racing. Sold the Kawi & got me an RD400. Lol 😂
I bow down to those machines🙏😑 those 2 stroke machines .. They will always be remembered in the history of motorsports.
Yep, I can't even watch MotoGP without nodding off from boredom.
sensacional, fantástico.... melhor on board que já vi. som maravilhoso. Kenny Roberts show.....king.
Can smell that Castrol R from here, love the all singing Yam..
Watched him at Goodwood with Kevin Schwantz, Mamola and Spencer on the two strokes... Gave me goose bumps.
absolutely amazing, king kenny forever!!
que barbaro 2 leyendas rodando otra vez fantastico keny y su yamaha cuanta historia deberia haber una categoria para que grandes leyendas del motociclismo corran otra vez seria fantastico
Smooth as can be. What a treat, thanks!
Damn he's fast. That 2 stroke is getting with it too.Even the best of them misses a gear now and then Long Live the King!
2:35
loving 2 stroke
Outta the way, boys, I'm comin' through. I first saw KRSR race at Laguna Seca in 1981, and he blew me away.
That's KING Kenny Roberts thank you very much
Yes he makes it look as if he's having a quick spin to the shops for the Sunday papers, a champion and a legend
It doesn't get better than this a birdseye view riding with the king 👑 king Kenney Roberts
finally someone who knows how to change gears, love it!
King Kenny the legend.
Long time favourite.
Kenny, The Man
He dont mess around!!
King Kenny💛💛💛
A legend on a real Gp bike. Love it !
It would be an honor to get passed on the the track by this guy. I see nothing's changed.
it's amazing to see how easy he makes it look.
2 stroke with a conventional carburetor, the most powerful engine!
Dude still has the drive and skill to be out front. He's the real deal.
Magnifique Merci !
King Kenny Robert's is The one road racer who I have stayed loyal to , ever since 78
I love the fact that Kenny still rides quick its impressive
Great video , great memories of a great time- I think I can smell the summer Sun, petrol and two stroke fumes and a hot tinkly engine when you park up for a cigarette.
damn right
Great ride and video the old boy still has the goods
As a guy who rode Yamaha TZ bikes back in the 1970's I find it interesting that he is using only the lower end of the power band for most of the riding. It is rare that he goes beyond 9,000 rpm. Not really a race lap, but a demo. Still a good video.
Looks liek a track day to me.
I don't know who's bike that he was riding, but he probably has to respect that it is collectors item. His slow is still very respectable.
King Kenny, he was Modesto High School, I was in Downey High school… learned everything I knew about flat track racing from him and the whole crew .. now we are both old …. lol.
That sound lol..simply amazing
great sound , real gentle on the engine braking, my favourite on board video. very capable rider.
Omg, i had a 99’ fully open Hayabusa for 6 years, before i stopped riding.I thougt that i was fast, but he would put 1 round to my conto after each of my 5-6 round. Nice to see the Kings abilities onboard! :-)
750 gives me goose bumps hearing it rev up and at top speed !!!
even the king can miss a shift
He could mis-shift every other shift and still kick most peoples asses in a race.
missed more than that seem to be havin a few problems shiftin
It wasn't a mis-shift, it was a wink to normal people.
first thing i thought by the sound of the upshifts is maybe the gearshift is set a little to high lol ,
Clunky gearboxes in this years, also old and used.
He makes it look easy. He makes that bike seem tame and manageable. Truly The greatest rider to change the game of road racing technique.
if the old 2 stroke gp bikes have the modern gp shifters it will be damn good
Unforgettable...☘🍁
Ahh sweet music from the days before the greenies killed the 2 strokes.
I fully agree to you man. Here in Portugal we still see some nice 2 strokes still running but they are rare. Back in the 90's I owned a Yamaha RD350R (we call it "electric chair") (:
+Boris Aztoff Rd350 is still a head turner here in India in 2016 . I love riding it.
Better watch out guys!!I still have my RD400c!! And it's a ROCKET!!
Honda killed 2 strokes. They made some of the best 2 stroke engines but Soichiro Honda never liked them. They successfully lobbied to change GP rules to favour 4 strokes and the rest is history.
Yes John, I agree! The RSV 500 was one of the greats in the hands of Mick Doohan with Alex Crevier as his team mate! I really loved watching Moto GP at it's finest! Imagine a two-stroke 500cc motor putting out nearly 200 hp on the track and weighing only 287 lbs.!
This is his relax driving..not so much late braking..he 's holding it back a little
kenny roberts is king of kings !
2 stroke FTW, God I miss 'em.
Great sound
I used to try and keep up with Kenny when he rode up on Skyline Blvd and the hills of the South SF Bay. They call him the King for great reasons
so chilled in driving that monster great driving skills
Imola.Legendary track,and rider😎
That track has nearly everything to catch a rider out,many patches,surface tar streaks/repairs.Is it in an earthquake zone?King Kenny had it all under perfect control,very smooth and precise.
in my childhood (70's) in the San Francisco Bay area suburbs the streets were full of 2 strokes.. rd 400's.. kawi' triples it was a special time.. not to mention all the v8 Vega's.. Pinto's,.. Chavell's
you name it.. GTO'S.. it was awesome.. and these cars were owned and built by high-school kids.. we worked at gas stations and built these cars in our parents garages.. cars that could make magazine covers today.. now kids skate board.
Thats back when schools still had auto shop and metal shop. Not anymore. Kids today know nothing about mechanics. I teach my kids, even my daughter to do pretty everything, them selves.
Sharpsdoublerifle true but cars were easier to work on back then. Now it's remove and replace. Back then it was repair and rebuild. Plus you didn't have to have a degree in computer science.
Yep or under the shade tree in the yard somewhere,, You want a hot-rod? Go drag any Chevy 396 engine out of the weeds, change the cam, pistons, tranny maybe, add a 650 Holly double pumper CARB, a Hurst shifter and a set of Hooker headers and hang on to that steering wheel!
Grande Kenny mitico campione!!!
Kenny, Randy, Sheen, Grant. Transatlantic at Oulton park 76. Two stroke madness.
The King !
They didn't call him "King Kenny" for nothing.
HELL YEAH!!
I was there and Kenny passed me! I'm never washing the poop from my underwear that day .....
oi u,,
4,October
my bday
ThAnx
can't forget!!!!
man I love 2 strokes. you get those things "on the pipe" and now you got something between your legs.
hostia pues si que va muy bien en el cambio y reduccion PERFECTO. al final no se que ocurrio se quedaria sin combustible ?
While I mostly agree with another poster, he seems to be keeping it in the middle of the power band. However, the bike accelerates so fast he's spending most of his time downshifting for the next corner. I think under actual race conditions, riding to keep opponents behind him, the power band would probably expand. To Mr. Roberts, this is a Sunday afternoon ride, for mere mortals like us, if I could ride half this well we'd all be thrilled.
King Kenny Roberts and a yzr.. 😊
Whats this 250 class?
Back in the 70s I had a 360 Yamaha 2 stroke...hauled ass...now I have a street glide with a backrest and a cup holder. times they are a Changing
S Lit;
Me too , cause of my neck I can no longer use clip-on bars
but, I still use rear-sets. LoL
74 RD250(cafe-d )clip-ons ,rear-sets,fiberglass seat and, tank,chambers,79 mags.
74 RD 350 (bone stock)
75 RD 350 w/ clubmans
77 RD400 (cafe-d) clip-ons,rear-sets,fiberglass seat,chambers,Exccell ignition amplifier system, drilled diskes
32 mm. Makunies ,TZ750 reeds,baskets +bearings, port job.
TA 125 (race only)
77 RD400 clubmans ,w/rear-sets and,chambers.
78 RD 400 (bone stock)
Built in 2017 76 Franken D400 (cafe-d) Flat track bars (murphy bend)rear-sets.
BTW 360 was a durtybike wasn't it ? enduro ? or jurassic RD from the 60's?
R5's were prehistoric RD . lol
They were roughriden,but you could slap on 1/2 of a TZ 750 on them with waterpump
instead of autolube and, have a high maintenance rocket .
Anyone know how to install a dry clutch on an RD 400 ??
手元のレバーさばきが映ってるのが凄い！
この様な車載カメラは角川映画「汚れた英雄」以前にあったのか？
Excellent!
and this lady’s and gentlemans is a real bike
This is still fun to watch. I love the older GP(2 smokers) bikes. Funny how fast KR catches up to the lappers...he was such a very talented rider. Back then they did it all, Flat tracking, TT’s, short track and Road Racing. Not anymore, bunch of cry babies, and they worked on them too!!! Until Kel Caruthers finally stepped in. Awesome team.
Amazing rider.
He passes everyone with such a big speed differential.
I still love Imola.
Fantastic! If my RD 500 had the same engine...
When the bike was idling all I heard was ‘You don’t have the balls so don’t even bother.’ All Kenny Roberts hears is ‘Ready when your are sir!!’
Pure music!
The 62 dopes who gave this a thumbs down must be Randy Mamola fans who are still pissed, or members of the FIM.
Does he got some problem with clutch or gearbox, i see there is some gear misses or something?
***** No. It's a bike with non-slippery clutch in a 2-stroke. It worked like that. He did the shifting perfectly. Very smooth.
3:30
***** He upshifted and got in turn 1, because turn 1 is a fast corner so he didn't have to downshift. He just closed the gas to gain some engine braking, and the rear wheel kicked the bike noticeably 3:34. I drive a non-sleppery-clutch bike and it often kicks like that. That's why i hate non-slippery clutch so much.
Sonny P 2 strokes don't have much of an engine breaking...
Eh............. No!
In Italy he's still known as "The Martian"!
Amazing bikes and driver.
Check out the rev counter, how eager the needle is to hit the red line!!!. THAT IS THE MAGIC OF A 2 STROKE!!!.
"What a day,some guy passed me on the outside of a turn"😂 and how low were those clip ons
Sweet 👍👑
I would love to have seen racing at Imola before all of the chicanes.
wait until that 2-stroke power band hits then unleash hell
WISH we knew what Yamaha the King was riding..
Its amaizing
All the old school 2 stroke bikes have a beautiful view on the Revs however there's no speedometer becoz lack of technology like nowadays they have a speed indicator normally at the far left of the screen with the option of using GPS.What about now why don't the people who produce such a wonderful onboard video show us the speed of the bike.I was a boy in the 80s and wonder what speed they're were going and still we have to guess.Hopefully one day it will happen.
Yamaha 😍😍😍
Engine warmed up. Check. Tyres warmed up. Check. Let's go!
@3:33 missed a gear.
Sickest damn Thing on 2 Wheels !
That sound
Goodness gracious me what a rider Kenny still is, riding one of those things must be like trying to ride a firecracker lol
I would love to get my hands on that YAMAHA
two stroke Forever!!!!
Genius Genius 60 años
Very interesting
I can almost smell the blendzall!