2005 Yamaha Royal Star on 2040-motos

Yamaha Royal Star tech info

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Moto blog

See Britain's land speed record hopeful at Race Retro 2010

SEE THE MACHINE that could propel Britain to a new motorcycle land speed world record at The Race Retro 2010 show, held at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry from 12th to 14th March. Almost a year has passed since Visordown broke the news of the planned UK assault on the land speed record - this coming August the Angelic Bulldog team travels to Bonneville, where it is hoping to smash the 400mph barrier and bring the motorcycle Land Speed Record back to the UK for the first time since 1937. The current record stands at 360.913mph over a kilometre.

2012 Yamaha YZF-R1 Video Featuring Ben Spies

Yamaha has released a new video of the 2012 YZF-R1 featuring MotoGP racer Ben Spies taking the new bike with Yamaha’s 50th Anniversary limited edition livery to a track day. Spies who won the 2009 World Superbike Championship on a Yamaha R1 so he is obviously very familiar with the sportbike which will now be available with a seven-level traction control system. Spies appears a little bored as the other riders learn the layout of the track and when they get to the track, he calmly waits while they take off around him before dropping the hammer and showing them how it’s done.

Filling a void with an RD350LC

Last winter I managed to fill a void in my life when I stumbled on a very reasonably priced Yamaha RD350LC.  It was a tad scruffy, had the wrong exhausts but most importantly it was blue and white with all numbers matching.  I had the usual euphoria when the deal was done but I underestimated how much pleasure this particular purchase would continue to deliver another eight months down the line. The difference with this old bike is, instead of just taking it for the occasional ride I was talked into doing a full nut and bolt restoration.  Having never taking a bike apart completely before, initially it was quite daunting but I soon found the RD is easy to work on so it turned into a truly satisfying experience.  I’ve had some help from LC enthusiasts with the rebuild, however, the stripping, sourcing and organising was a total labour of love.  And call me sad but it has made me bond with this bike like no other which only adds to the feel good factor.  The bike cost £1800 and I’ve spent around £1000 but I reckon my mint Elsie is now worth a fair bit more.   I fancy rejuvenating a Fizzy  next time but there’s lots of other cheap 70’s and 80’s winter projects  out there so why not have a go yourself?