Blast from the past King Kenny

[Cruizin]

If you love Yamaha, then you know who King Kenny is.
 
The thing about Kenny Roberts is that he was an american who was safe right here in the USA racing bikes. But he had the balls to go over and race in Europe by himself. The only American at that time to just go wander over across the pond and take on the best riders in the world. Not only did he compete well, he won the freakin world championship that very first year! And, he also won the next two world championships as well! Against the worlds best riders, with their race teams and sponsorships, he just shows up and kicks their asses three years in a row.
 
And the Europeans were so mad, they wouldn't talk to him, some refused to even pay him. They wouldn't let him buy their new rain tires, and he still kicked their asses.
 
He may or may not be the greatest bike racer of all time, but he certainly is the greatest american bike racer of all time. I can't imagine an American just showing up at a Moto GP event and winning. But if he were in his prime today, who knows? They called him King Kenny for a reason
 
He won 28 USA National Championship races. 28!!!
 
Young Yamaha guys, get to know your roots. Watch this video about King Kenny!
 
https://youtu.be/cXDR140G2sA
 

[BentAero]

Kenny & crew are currently building a custom FJ-09 for his annual Salute to Heroes weekend being held next month...

[rodan]

I still remember watching KR race in person at Laguna Seca when they still rode 2 strokes... when men were men and traction control was science fiction!

[Cruizin]

Those old two strokes were awesome machines. 500cc's 150hp and 200lbs. Can you imagine what the technology would be if they hadn't killed the two stroke?
 
 

[Brick]

Kenny & crew are currently building a custom FJ-09 for his annual Salute to Heroes weekend being held next month...

 
Is there more on this somewhere?
 

[koth442]

KR has a ranch down in Copperopolis CA. I've got a couple friends that know him, never did convince them to introduce me though

[Cruizin]

I'm emailing with Kenny's website admin, they have some FJ-09 questions and I'm honored to help them. They promised to send me a bunch of pics of the finished bike and I promised not to post them until after the ceremony. I can't wait, this should be awesome!

[wessie]

You could argue for weeks about who is best. I think Ago, who won both 500cc & 350cc titles for 4 consecutive years and 15 titles on total was the best, despite Colin Edwards proclaiming Rossi as the GOAT (that says more about Edwards looking for an excuse about his mixed results than Rossi).
 
As for best US rider? I think if Rainey had not put himself into a wheelchair then he would have been the best. He was making an uncompetitive bike win races and was the only rider able to match Doohan with the might of HRC behind him. The 500cc class became rather dull for several years as Schwantz was past his best and the likes of Criville, Barros, Beattie and Ito were never going to trouble Doohan.
 
I'm also a fan of Eddie Lawson, who won 3 times on a Yamaha but took a risk and then won the following year on a Honda. Rossi did the reverse and it takes balls to leave a winning formula and work with a new team so the make a bike you can ride.
 
Kenny was a very special rider who introduced a riding style to the world championships that had not been used before. I'm not convinced he should be put on a pedestal above some other fantastic US riders.

[Cruizin]

The thing with Kenny though was he dominated every event that he rode. Flat track, oval track road racing...no learning curve he just flat out dominated every event and every rider. What he did here in the USA before he did it to Europe. The Europeans wouldn't share their rain tires with him and he rode in rain with slicks and still won.
 
But we were calling him "King Kenny" here in the USA long before he was kicking ass in Europe in the late 70's.
 
In his first professional race as an expert class rider in 1972, Roberts rode to victory at the Grand National short-track race in the Houston Astrodome.[2] Roberts made a name for himself that year by battling the dominant Harley-Davidson factory dirt track team aboard an underpowered Yamaha XS 650 motorcycle, making up for his lack of horsepower with sheer determination. Eddie Lawson tried to follow suit but failed to even compete well against Harley Davidson.
 
He then traveled to England with a team of American riders to compete against a British riding team in the 1974 Transatlantic Match races. The conventional wisdom at the time was that American riders, who competed mostly in dirt track races, could not race on asphalt at the same level as the British riders, who specialized in road racing events. Roberts dispelled any such notions by winning three of the six races and finishing second in the remaining three races. Roberts was the top individual points scorer in the event with 93 points, five more than Barry Sheene, the top British rider.
 
Then after that , the rest is history. Complete domination in Grand Prix Racing.