He's off the groove because that's where the traction was for that bike. It had too much power. I'm sure it was banned because HD couldn't compete with that kind of technology.
I was at the MotoGP and the Indy Mile this weeked, and this moment with Kenny was the highlight of the trip! The TZ had the most evil sound I've ever heard come out of a machine. Oh, and it wasn't a parade lap, the King GOT ON IT!!!
I watched Kenny when he came over for the Transatlantic Team event in the UK in the 70's. Lol, the UK riders thought that if it rained (it often does in England) they would have an advantage because they road race in wet in the UK and at the time that wasn't the case in America. Hmm. Didn't quite figure the sort of practice the Americans had doing this sort of stuff and how it prepared them for racing in the wet. Watching Dave Aldana and Kenny Roberts coming out of the Esses at Mallory park in the wet sideways and staying that way because they had the throttle pinned was something else to see. Great stuff. :)
This is one of those rare great moments in sports. Gives me goose bumps. Rossi was supposed to ride the TZ after Kenny. Kenny recieved multiple standing ovations after the ride and Vale declined saying that the night belonged to KR. Classic.
Thanks from Spain, memories of King Kenny at Jarama circuit 500 race on 1978, first time that I see him being a kid among my dad, leading behind the brave Pat Hennen till carburators of yellow YZR got in troubles... fantastic rider, incredible style of ryding, nothing similar seen before, neither Steve Baker... thanks again
I was watching and listening during the 1st part of the vid thinking...Those are all 'Hardly Ablesons" ... THEN the SWEEET MUSIC of the TZ came up... THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHARING!!!!!
Took a sports car racing friend to the Indy mile a few years before this and we were in the infield down between 3 and 4, completely blew his mind! Ricky Graham won on the Honda (yes!) and put on a show, along with all the others. Miles and TT were the best races for me; Indy, Springfield, DuQuoin, Santa Fe and Peoria.
I was there for the GP too, and the dirt mile was the highlight - so visceral. Not a big fan of HD but these HD's are the real deal: kicked ass and solid performers for this stuff- years of winning flat track can't be argued with. Love the XR's. Kenny was amazing and I'll never ever forget the sound of that bike! We were waiting for a taxi -Rossi went out after everyone left for a spin as well as someone else- I suspect Nicky H.
The rules were manipulated to get HD to win! When Honda bought out the XLV750 it was because the rules stated: 750 twin, pushrod, made in USA. Wonder why?
I loved riding my tz750 in road races. loved how it sounded , beamed me from one corner to the next. AMA and AFM open gp ..... wish it hadn't been stolen
oh fuck YES !!!!!!!!!!!! work kept me away form this year's GP... I should have gotten fired and drove down to Indy to see this... I am kicking my own ass now, big time.
Apparantly, it was the sight of Kenny going around the outside of the track, clipping the haybales, whilst still overtaking everybody else that cause the TZ to be banned. It went so fast you could not take a tighter line. 130 hp to everbody elses 70 odd!
Thank you for sharing this view of that. It was difficult to see the speed he carried thru the corners from the grandstands view. Hard to imagine he hadn't been on a bike like that for years and on a dirt mile and still run that hard. Awesome freak n bike. AMA should have had a two stroke class back then when they were being manufactured. Wonder how many are still running and how bad one in good condition would break a bank account if you could find one for sale.
