Dave Knapp wheeying his Yamaha FZ750 Superbike over the hill at Grattan circa 1986. Knapp was one of the fast guys at Grattan who won a lot of WERA and CCS Superbike races at the twisty Michigan circuit. He came out of flat track racing and made a seamless transition to road racing. In those days Dave had an endurance team called Free Bird Racing. The hand-written WERA forms were often hard to read and my wife typed up the results inadvertently renaming the team Free Bud Racing. Dave said the team members decided they all liked Free Bud better so that’s what they called the team from then on.
Dave Knapp at Grattan Raceway circa 1986. (Larry Lawrence photo)
This Curtiss air-cooled V8, with builder Glenn Cutiss riding, went 136.3 mph over the measured mile at Ormond Beach, Florida, on Jan. 23, 1907. It was not only the fastest speed ever attained by a motorcycle, but the fast by any vehicle. Curtiss’ run on Ormond Beach was astonishing for the time. His outright speed record held for 12 years and it took 23 years for a motorcycle to go faster. Curtiss’ massive V8 was essentially a 4000cc beast built on a beefy bicycle frame. Can you imagine riding this thing on a fairly narrow beach reaching close to 140 mph? It boggles the mind.
The 1907 Curtiss V8, the fastest motorcycle from 1907 to 1930. On display at the Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, N.Y. (Larry Lawrence photo)
World Superbike Champion Fred Merkel wheelies his Honda over the finish line after winning the first leg of the Canadian World Superbike round at Mosport in 1989. Giancarlo Falappa won the second race. Merkel went on that season to win his second consecutive World Superbike Championship, this after winning three AMA Superbike Championships for Honda in the mid-1980s. Merkel’s Hall of Fame bio can be read here.
World Superbike Champion Fred Merkel wheelies his Honda over the finish line after winning the first leg of the Canadian World Superbike round at Mosport in 1989. (Larry Lawrence photo)
James Stewart
LOS ANGELES, CA (January 29th, 2010) -Team San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart underwent surgery this afternoon, to repair a broken scaphoid in his right wrist. Following Round 3 of the 2010 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, in Anaheim, CA, Stewart continued to experience severe pain in the wrist. Although previous x-rays had not indicated there was a break, an MRI performed yesterday and reviewed by medical experts today, revealed the bone was broken. Surgery was performed immediately by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Arthur Ting, of Fremont, CA and was completed without incidence.
As a result of the surgery, Stewart will not be competing in San Francisco this weekend. His return to the race track will depend on how quickly he is able to recover post-surgery and will be evaluated and determined on a weekly basis. “James is a true champion. The fact that he rode as competitively as he did making the podium at Anaheim 2 with a broken wrist (unknowingly) is testimony to that. He’s anxious to heal and get back on the race track as soon as possible,” said Larry Brooks, Team Manager.
Pascal Picotte winning a CCS race at Daytona in 1990 on the Yamaha Canada OW01. (Larry Lawrence photo)
Pascal Picotte was amazing at Daytona in 1990. The Canadian 600 Supersport Champion, who had just turned 20, was the breakout performer that year during Bike Week. This photo is of Picotte winning a runaway victory in the CCS Expert Heavyweight Superbike on his Yamaha Canada OW01. He was even more impressive when the AMA Pro events started later in the week.
In the AMA 600 Supersport Series race he had to start from the back of the grid after crashing in his Heat race. From the back of the field Picotte and his Fast Performance Racing School Yamaha was a blaze of white, cutting through the field at a pace faster than the leading trio of Thomas Stevens, Dave Sadowski and Jeff Farmer.
Inexperience cost Pascal that day. He was just about to crack into the top five after only about 10 laps, after working past maybe 60 riders, when he pitched it away. From my perspective it appeared to be the classic racing mistake of getting used to passing riders at a certain pace and then not adjusting when you get up to the faster riders near the front of the field. He was trying to pass talented riders like John Hopperstad, David Leach and Michael Barnes just as he’d done to the 35th place guy two laps before and it just wasn’t going to happen. He got back on his battered bike and still managed 16th. Regardless of the crash, the announcers had tracked Pascal’s progress with considerable enthusiams and his reputaiton in America was launched that day.
Ed Fisher poses at the 1953 Laconia Classic. That year was the closest race in the history of the event to that point, the top four riders finished within three seconds of each other. It took hours of checking and rechecking scoring tabulations after the race before Fisher was determined winner. Even then the race was protested and he was not officially credited with the victory until December during the AMA competition committee meetings.
“I found out I officially won the race when I got the check in the mail,” Fisher said. He added that winning Laconia in 1953 was worth $1,000.
Ed Fisher at Laconia in 1953.
The start of the 2004 AMA Supermoto race in downtown Reno. Doug Henry (19) earned his second AMA Supermoto Championship victory of that season in front of 20,000 fans on the Reno street circuit. The race was shortened from 18 laps to 10 due to a rain delay and increasing darkness.
Henry moved past Honda teammate Jeff Ward (3x) on the fourth lap. Henry held off German Jurgen Kunzel (52) by 1.275-seconds at the checkered flag to take the win. Ward finished third. Kurt Nicoll (31) finished fourth.
The start of the 2004 Reno Supermoto race with Kurt Nicoll (31), Jeff Ward (3x), Doug Henry (19) and Jurgen Kunzel (52) blasting off from the front row. Henry won the race. (Larry Lawrence photo)
In the mid-1980s the Paris-Dakar Rally was all the rage in Europe and in response manufacturers found a ready market for big dual sport bikes. This was Honda’s entry, the XLV750R. I remember when this bike came out I wanted one so badly. One of my favorite things to do is jump on my motorcycle and head out to the country and follow whatever little gravel or dirt road catches my fancy. In theory this big shaft-driven Honda would gobble up the highways in comfort en route to the hinterlands and then handle unimproved roads with ease. Honda made the big XLV from 1983 to 1986, but never imported it to the U.S. Perhaps it was ahead of its time. Today we have the Suzuki V-Strom, the KTM Adventure, Kawasaki’s KLR650 and of course the king of the dual sporters, BMW’s R1200GS.
1985 Honda XLV750R
