1996 Yamaha Pw on 2040-motos

Moto blog

EICMA 2008: First Impressions

I have had a little walk around checking out the preparations for the show. I haven’t seen anything that I haven’t already seen or heard about previously, but here’s a selection from three of the halls. Yamaha are the only manufacturer to use an industrial crane to place some of its bikes up on high rise stands.

Kenny Roberts R1 Auction Nets $87,000 for Charity

The one-off GYTR-equipped Yamaha YZF-R1 ridden by “King” Kenny Roberts at this year’s U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca was auctioned for $87,000. Roberts and late night television star Jay Leno were the special guest auctioneers for the R1 at Mecum’s Motorcycle Auction in Monterey, Calif.

Yamaha Files Trademark Application for FJ-09

Yamaha‘s next three-cylinder motorcycle may be a sport-tourer, if a recently-filed trademark application is any indication. The Tuning Fork brand filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the name “FJ-09” as it applies to “Motorcycles, scooters, three-wheeled scooters and structural parts for all the aforesaid goods.” Following Yamaha’s usual naming conventions, the signs indicate the trademark will be for a new sport-touring model using the same Triple as the FZ-09. Yamaha has made it clear it plans to introduce more three-cylinder engines following the FZ-09 (or MT-09, as it is known in Europe.) Previously-filed trademark applications for the YZF-R3 and R3 names raised speculation the next triple would be a sportbike, but as per Yamaha’s usual naming convention, the “3″ in R3 is likelier to refer to the engine displacement rather than the number of cylinders.