A Great Circuit now ruined by the F1 Bore Fest Brigade.This was also the last"West German Grand Prix",because later this year the Berlin Wall came down,from then on it became the"German Grand Prix".
Incredible, 10 years after this video was posted and 34 years after this race I'm here clapping my hands and cheering seeing these heroes...The golden age of motorcycling...Thank you...
I saw the thumbnail and already thought "wow, incredible", the rest is pure magic. I was in front of the TV when, few years later, Schwantz made that fantastic overtake on Rainey before entering the last lap's motodrome. I'm not telling that modern MotoGP drivers are less competitive or skilled but for me these guys were legends...
I see a lot of comments here praising the old two stroke races/racers...I count myself lucky to have had a taste of it myself. I grew up on mini bikes, mini cycles (we owned a Bonanza mini cycle with a Hodaka 100cc 5 speed motorcycle engine), enduro bikes and then motocross bikes where I earned AMA Expert Class Licenses in both 125cc and 250cc class in the early 70's while I was still in H.S. Then as I was about to hang my racing boots up and head off to Engineering college my local Yamaha dealer/sponsor (Island Yamaha in Merritt Island, Fl.) asked me if I was interested in running a partial season on a brand new 1975 TZ-250, I jumped at the chance...the caveat was I needed to turn some practice laps and get their blessing...so myself and a couple other potential riders went to Sebring for some shakedown and practice times and though I had never been on even a fast street bike I felt very comfortable on the TZ and I guess my lap times were good enough that I got the ride. Anyway long story short, we went to Daytona in '75 and ran in several of the 250 class prelim races and I had the distinct pleasure of being passed in open practice by Mr. Roberts on his TZ-700/750, he went around me in the first turn into the infield coming off the high bank front straight and I did my best to tuck in behind him, hoping to learn something from his line...lol...what I learned was KR had other wordly talent and rode the pants off his TZ-750...he would slide it all the way across the track under power when coming out of the turns...I almost ran myself into the infield watching his line when I should have been paying attention to mine....what a great experience. I ended up running in 3 other races during the winter/spring months my Sr. year in H.S. and then as I mentioned above I was off to Engineering College (FTU in Orlando. now known as University of Central Florida/UCF). I just retired from Lockheed Martin here in Orlando in 2016 after 32 years.
Awesome story man, thank you for sharing, I could only imagine riding extremely tuned bikes without any electric and computer aids of today's bikes, even the street bike I ride has abs and such lol, I'm 37 now but grew up riding a 84 YZ490, couldn't imagine riding something like that only with multiple cylinders, on tarmac with slicks lol, you're a bad man 💪😎👍
Que saudade... Tinha 10 anos na época desta corrida e já era muito fã do Wayne Rainey... Saia na minha bike BMX imaginando ser ele e sonhando um dia correr na antiga 500cc. ❤ Era um tempo muito bom...
I was 16 years old when i saw this live on TV. Since the 89 season i have loved GP bikes and watched it religiously ever since. This was an amazing time in bike racing though.
Great to see Spencer riding , young upstarts racing the 89 season ‘Mike’ 😂 (Mick) Doohan ,49’ little John Kocinski , Kevin Magee, Bubba Shobert , Mackenzie 😁 Great decades 80’s and 90’s to be a GP fan 👍🏻😎
Kevin Schwantz...Fast Freddie Spencer...Wayne Rainey...omg these whre the times of real MotoGP...with the allmighty light and very powerfull 2-stroke bikes...
All the little Spaniards couldn't even ride these bikes. Not strong enough to muscle them around the track. Skill and strength required on these beasts
And a Lovely year to revisit it in 2020, cos there is SOD ALL ELSE ON! Shame I can't find WHOLE SEASONS, I could happily go from 89 to 1994 in a binge watch session!
I used to have this on tape as well. It’s a great race, thank you for the upload. I guess there was a European heatwave that day. As soon as the race was finished we all revved up and went and met up to do our analysis 😀. Hockenheim was a great circuit I also read somewhere this was one of Wayne Rainey’s favourite races, it’s one of mine. Philip Island 1989 is another great race, thank you again 👌
Bom dia meu Amigo !!!! Grande época do Mundial de motovelocidade. As 500cc andavam muito. E quanta saudade desses pilotos fantásticos. E essa pista, hockenhein no traçado original. Só saudades dessa época maravilhosa...... Muito obrigado pelo vídeo e parabéns pelo canal. Abraço do Brasil......
@@bernhardjordan9200 boa tarde. Dá até uma dor no coração ver esse novo traçado ridículo. A Pista antiga é linda demais. Obrigado pelo seu comentário e um grande abraço.
Much appreciated uploader, 36 500s on the grid and a whole bunch of the greats putting on a show at one of the all time no nonsense tracks. Ah yes, the golden era :-))
I remember watching bikes and f1's on the old track on TV back in the late 80's early 90's. The safety details - hay bales leaning against the Armco.. no run off, no tyre walls, no air fence.
The improvements that Ed and Erv did to that mighty NSR DEFINITELY set the stage for Mick Doohan's 5 consecutive world championships - there was NOBODY better at developing a race bike that those 2 AMAZING individuals
Eddie lawson would do constant development and testing with swingarms and different frames cause he had all the Honda factory helping him, gardner and doohan just rode the beast and tried to improve it themselves, they didn't get any of the so called factory parts or help from Honda, watch the unrideables to see how they talk about bike development, riders of today have no idea how much technical gizmos contribute to how they ride
I wasn't even born in 89'. But after watching this, it makes me wonder just how skillful are the current motogp riders nowadays. These 500cc racers are Gods.....it's fascinating to see how they handle their beast of a machine with no electronic aids and a 2 stroke at that.
So so so nice to have watched racing when traction control was the riders right hand. And I don't care what anyone says, those bikes looked way WAY more badass than what we got today.
Jesus, the least thing you could have done, was buying an S-VHS recorder. More lines in a frame and better tape quality, allowing for a nicer video. But no, you stuck to that consumer shit. WHY?!
Dear yds250, Thank you so much for posting this super cool race. I don't know how many times i've watched it already, and i've only started watching motogp1,2,3 and wsbk since round 5 donnington race 2 wsbk (laverty and melandri). When i had the einstein-like idea to look for other races to watch on the internet, little did i know i'd be introduced to rainey, schwantz, lawson, young doohan (got me panicking). I'm from america. motogp hardly exists. Anyway, you do a service to man, posting this race, Love you forever, and marc and alex marquez, d3mortar ps happy superprestigeo!:D
What a race. Those 500cc two strokes were animals that wanted to kill the riders. Must have been great to see , and the smell of two strokes as well. Brilliant.👍👍
Hay bales in front of a metal guard rail at the end of high speed straight away...nice to know the FIM had the riders safety in mind when scheduling this race.
Lawson: "In Hockenheim we will need a Honda-lane!" Rainey: "Watch this, steady-Eddie!" You deserved much SO MUCH more of what you reaped, man. That day in Misano my hearth broke too.
I remember watching this, those were the days when we waited patiently to see these awesome lads toughing it out,fantastic, oh and as a laugh these machines had a wild 150bhp today's street bike's have over 200
They absolutely had more than 150 hp. A 500cc 2stroke grand prix bike? They were borderline uncontrollable in the wrong hands. Also a 150bhp 300lb lightweight bike is faster than a 200bhp 475lb heavy bike
is it just me, or black numbers on yellow plates is just classy. Makes it a lot easier to read as well. white on green and white on black, not forgetting white on blue
It was DORNA that ditched the easy to read number font and different coloured plates to the different classes. They can make money from stylised numbers to a rider etc. The numbers are almost invisible from the trackside these days.
There will never be another era like this. Roberts,Lawson,Rainey,and Schwantz. All legends in their time. All on bikes that would kill you if you couldn’t keep up with them. Today’s Moto GP bikes are much like street bikes with all the electronic rider aids. Relatively easy to ride comparatively even with the huge power of today’s bikes.
Now there have launch control, traction control, cock control, abs, remote suspension control, air conditioning, training wheels, blue tooth, air bags, full bathroom with a water slide. The bike doesn't even need the guy on top. And I used to walk through a blizzard, waist high snow, up a hill, at night, for 5 miles to get to the race track to watch the bikes run. Kids today, they know nothing.
Aaahhh.... Back in the days when world motorcycle racing was simpler. Look at some of the guys on the grid before the start. A few wore shorts and there's a guy without a shirt.
Ahhh... the memories. I have had 72 bikes/scooters of every make and model. In my 75 years but the one that always finds itself at the front is the Yamaha RD 350 LC which was the precursor to the RZ350. Nothing else comes close to the rush of power when the two stroke hit 9000rpm up to 12,000 rpm. The first time I rode one I fell in love with everything about that little bastard. Impossible to start in cold weather, terrifying in the wet. What a bitch.
Then again there were maybe 5 race-winning bikes. The factory bikes were usually (quite literally) miles ahead. I remember our (swedish) rider in GP500 in '89 and '90 used a 1984 Honda NS500 Triple!!
Too all. My hero is still Kenny Roberts. This vid 😎🔧was a Super Bowl season of MotoGP. Think today no squid knows how to bump start a bike. They never kicked a road bike over either. Best wishes all. Scrape the shiny bits and stay on the correct side of the handle bars
Saw Kenny on a talk show the other day and he was asked what he thought of the big heavy 4 -stroke bikes. He laughed and said (And they call those things super-bikes?) It's not a super bike unless it will stand on the rear wheel in 4th gear just from throttle response
35 in the field is good, but all the '80's races I've watched have the leaders approaching back markers just after the halfway point of race. Is that good or bad? A little more interesting, but I'll bet riders don't like it and it is only a mistake waiting to ruin a tight finish. This version of Hochenheimring looks incredibly fast. Most HP would win this race. Thanks for the upload! Pure gold!
You hear the commentator making a remark about Rainey having an extremely fast motorcycle which in my opinion wasn't due to any factory involvement, but because of a 2 stroke GENIUS by the name of BUD AKSLAND-
É isso mesmo,competição por prazer,amizade,convívio entre pilotos,tbm havia dinheiro claro,mas era mto diferente da ganância desmesurada que existe hoje...As grandes equipes só vêem números,títulos,etc...O mundo no geral tornou-se demasiado competitivo,mas tbm ganancioso...ABRAÇO,ALGARVE,PORTUGAL...
Two strokes!! When men were men!! No TC, no wheelie control. As a kid I rode a 500 and thought i was Wayne. True, almost killed myself but can say i rode a 500 two stroke on the limit. God's will in still alive, announcer saying Kevin wasn't making up ground yet Mr Smooth was reeling Lawson and Rainey back in like crazy. Amazing race and he got it right, the best in the world. Amazing
Was a great track as was the paul ricard circut !!! Be interesting how the new MotoGp riders would go on these weapons ... Pleanty of high sides and a heap of injuries
