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The classic bad ass motorcycle racer thread

Good to hear... thanks John.
 
budman said:
I will throw down one more. Eddie Lawson

One of the most smooth and capable Grand Prix racers ever.
A personal fav because I tried to model my own race craft after his.

He was a Daytona 200 winner on a Yamaha Superbike
Lawson/ Schwantz/ Merkel on the podium
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I'll second that for Eddie, if only because he continues to be awesome by having gotten into mountain biking in a big way. Now a spokesman for Giant. I rode around at Sonoma with him a bit during the IMS a few months ago. He's in excellent shape. Most baddest retired roadracer!
https://blog.motorcycle.com/2019/06/17/motorcycle-news/eddie-lawsons-giant-e-bike/
[YOUTUBE]QhysbKaJk0E[/YOUTUBE]
 
Love me some Eddie

My MotoGP hero in terms of success and his approach.
The man be Steady Eddie. :hail
 
Cool stuff. Great rabbit hole.
 
Phil Read

I checked and Phil was not on the list and he was a bad ass deserving to be. :rip

The Englishman competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1961 to 1976. Read is notable for being the first competitor to win world championships in the 125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc classes. He won seven FIM Grand Prix road racing world championships.

In the 1979 Read was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "for services to motor cycle racing". He was named an FIM Legend in 2013 for his motorcycling achievements. Indeed bad ass.

SFMCjohn said:
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Eventual 1964 250cc World Champion Phil Read on the RD56. This was the first year Yamaha used its red and white livery.

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the mighty 1964 Yamaha RD56 and Mr Read at the 1964 IoM TT.

godspeed, Mr Read. :rose
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budman said:
I checked and Phil was not on the list and he was a bad ass deserving to be. :rip
Click to expand...

:thumbup

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1965_RD56.jpg


This machine evolved from the RD48 (1961), Yamaha's first 250cc GP bike. It mounted a powered-up 2-cylinder rotary disc valve type 2-stroke engine with a separate float chamber type carburetor and forced lubrication on a chrome-molybdenum pipe featherbed type double cradle frame. Its debut race was in the 1st All Japan Road Race Championship in 1962.

The following year it began competing overseas and through yearly spec changes like the adoption of a 7-speed transmission, it won 15 GP races ('63–'65). In 1964 and 1965, Phil Read rode it to help bring Yamaha both the Rider and Constructor titles.​

if you love two strokes, Mr Read was basically there as they figured out how to make them work. :ride
 
Abosulutely!

I've come to realize we're more skewed to US riders because we watched them, grew up with them, even grew old with them, and we rarely got to see the European riders unless they came to Daytona for the prize money. So many greats.
 
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"Mr John Ashmead’s upset victory in the 1989 Daytona 200 aboard a three-year-old privateer Honda VFR750 Superbike remains as one of the most unexpected wins in the long history of the storied race.

"His Daytona victory marked several milestones – it was the last AMA Superbike victory for the legendary Honda VFR750 and Ashmead also became the first rider from Florida to win the 200.

"At Laguna Seca in July of 1985, Ashmead won his first AMA Superbike race with backing from Ontario Moto Tech and Mr Peter Brady, on an HRC Honda VF750. He battled Kevin Schwantz early before Schwantz’s Yoshimura Suzuki broke leaving Ashmead in the lead.

"Mr Ashmead continued racing in the Daytona 200 for years and went on to set race participation and mileage records for the race."
​

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John Ashmead races his Honda to a fifth-place finish in the Road America Superbike race in 1988.

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Mr Ashmead, racing in the 2021 Daytona 200 ...

godspeed, Mr Ashmead, who passed away on 10/16/22 after a short battle with cancer ... :rose
 
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The classic long term Moto Racer... :rip

I thought he would still be in the top 20 at Daytona into his 70's.
Always looked for him on the grid. Repping the OG's.

Fuck cancer.
 
Fuck yeah. That more than qualifies.:thumbup
 
KR: bad ass enough to stop a train.
 
KR may not have been the first American total bad ass racer, but when it comes to American GP races he is the first total BAD ASS.

Really cool to watch him from a novice flat tracker to becoming a true legend.
 
Johndicezx9 said:
I've seen a lot of KR race photos, but the addition of the train tracks stopped me in mine with a "Whoa!" :laughing
Click to expand...

f-ing Imatranajo, ftw—when men were men … :thumbup:laughing

Mr Agostini, maybe 1974?:

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probably 1975, since he won the 350 GP championship in ‘74 ona 1974 Yamaha OW16 YZR350?

Mr Sheene in 1979:

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and 1981:

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:party
 
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