1970-72 YAMAHA R5

California Classic Japanese Motorcycle Club Show and Swap Meet

Thursday, July 05, 2007

When: 2007-07-20 through 2007-07-22, 8a.m. - 3p.m.
Location: Auburn County Fairgrounds, 1273 High Street
Cost: No charge for spectators

Largest exclusively classic Japanese motorcycle swap and show in the country, held in the beautiful Sierra Foothills at the Auburn Gold Country Fairgrounds! ONLY JAPANESE MOTORCYCLES. This is a must participate event! Hundreds of bikes, parts and more! Bring your bike to show and parts to sell! Show on Sunday only - Open to all! - Shaded area for swap meet - Shaded stage for show bikes! (with seating) - Food with drinks on premises - Camping overnight 10 dollars per car – No Fires - RV Overnight with hookup 20 dollars - AMA Speedway Races Friday night! - Swap 35 dollars per swapper / space - For Sale - Bike Corral 10 dollars - 15 dollars to show one, 20 dollars for two or more bikes - Peoples Choice Awards

Of particular interest to us fellow R5 enthusiasts is that this year the show is honoring the Yamaha 2-stroke twins: R5s, DS7s and RDs. Usually this means a lot of these bikes showing up at the show and an image of the bike on the show t-shirt.

Wish I could be going... but since I'm on the wrong coast, someone local will have to go and snap some pics for the site!

(Info gleaned from cjmc.org, Hemmings Motor News Calendar and r5yamaha Yahoo! message board)

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AMD World Championships

Thursday, April 19, 2007

I'm not much for Harleys and the whole billet-chrome-crazed chopper scene, but I must say there's been some interesting stuff happening in the custom world lately, as things get less OCC and more creative. Check out the AMD World Championships of Custom Bike Building, especially the latest Euro Finalists. Some good stuff here, like the hot-rod Rock 'N Bike from Art of Racer in France. Not a vintage asian two-stroke, but sweet nonetheless.

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Two Wheel Tuesday!

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

It's that time again! Time to meet up at The Abbaye in NoLibs for Two Wheel Tuesdays!

Great turnout tonight, lots of good stuff... Jim brought out his new 749s, Skip brought his beautiful Triumph cafe racer, and later in the night a Ural with sidecar pulled up - and there were plenty of Ducs, Beemers, Aprilias and other Triumphs as well. Despite a valiant effort (and lots of pushing by Jim), we were unable to get the R5 to start...

Below are a few shots taken while we were there. Enjoy, and hope to see you next week!

Nice Monster

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Bonneville Speed Week

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Photoblog of various goings-on at Bonneville Speed Week.

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Lansdale Bike Night / Hotrod Hoedown

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

It's that time again... time for all the end-of-summer shows. Stuff coming up this weekend:

11th Annual Lansdale Bike Night - September 9th, 5 - 11PM - the largest one-night bike event on the East Coast (aka Sturgis East)
2006 Hotrod Hoedown - September 8th and 9th - Always a favorite. More jalopies than bikes, but the number of two-wheelers has been increasing every year.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend either of these events this year, as K and I are going to check out the Watkins Glen Vintage GP...

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Vintage Bike Auctions

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Overheard on the Kneeslider:

The Estate of Barr Ashcraft
GIANT TREASURE TROVE!
Over 50 Classic Motorcycles
Over 70 Antique Tractors
Over 170 Classic Cars and Trucks
Antiques and Home Contents
TONS OF TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT!
Everything will be sold to the highest bidder TWO DAY AUCTION JULY 6 and 7
Shutesbury Mass (North of Springfield)

Apparently, among the 50 bikes are Ariels, AJSs, BSAs, BMWs, Ducatis, Hondas, Moto-Guzzis, Laverdas, Matchlesses, Nortons, Royal Enfields, Suzukis, Triumphs, Velocettes, Yamahas, and others, as well as some basket cases, too. Visit the J. Wood and Company site for more info...

But if you'd rather just pick up a whole collection at once, check out this auction for an entire museum. For a listing of the collection, visit the MidAmerica Auctions site.

Labels: Events, For Sale

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Two Wheel Tuesday - Recap

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The ne'er-do-wells of PRIMER did indeed attend this week's Two Wheel Tuesday at Abbaye... and we had a good time. Turns out everyone wound up knowing someone, and new friends were made.

A bunch of Ducatis and Triumphs were on hand, as well as some tasty Beemers (for the difference between Beemers and Bimmers, see here). It was all washed down with a glass of La Chouffe ($3 special!) and a big honking plate of fish and chips. After a little late summer night hooliganism on Kelly Drive (map), I retired a happy boy.

Anyways, we discovered the fine folks that put on this weekly shindig are none other than the Philadelphia Riders. These cats run the gamut, and the list of bikes represented is impressive. Check out their site, and look at some of the other events coming up. Chances are, PRIMER will be there!

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Two Wheel Tuesday

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

In keeping with the good weather, the ne'er-do-wells of PRIMER (and some special guests) will be riding the bikes down to the Abbaye in the Northern Liberties for Two Wheel Tuesday, a weekly gathering of unique motorcycles. It's something we've been trying to get together for some time now. Finally, the weather, our schedules and my bike are all cooperating. See you there for some Yards?

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New Yamahas to Wear Old Livery at Laguna Seca

Friday, July 08, 2005

Yamaha factory racers will be painted in the old yellow and black scheme of yore when they race this weekend at Laguna Seca. These colors haven’t been used since the 70’s! All part of the celebration of Yamaha’s 50th anniversary. I dig it.

Via Kneeslider, who posted the official Yamaha Press release:

Yamaha’s Factory MotoGP team goes to this weekend’s United States Grand Prix in celebratory mood, wearing the famous Yamaha USA colours of yellow, white and black.

This special livery marks Yamaha’s 50th Anniversary and acknowledges the significant contribution made by American riders to the marque’s racing history. The Yamaha Motor Company was founded on July 1st 1955, just two weeks before the factory’s first bike, the YA1, won its first race, the Mount Fuji Ascent race. Since then three American riders have won nine premier-class World Championships with Yamaha – ‘King’ Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey, each taking three crowns across three decades, the 70s, the 80s and the 90s.

The livery that Yamaha Factory Racing YZR-M1 riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards will wear at Laguna Seca was first used by Yamaha USA in the late 1960s and won global renown when Roberts scored his World Championship hat-trick.

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First Event of the Season

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Rock-n-Rods

Saturday, April 23rd, 2005
Spring Custom, Classic, and Beater Show
10am until 5pm + FREE to PUBLIC!

Last year there was a nice selection of cafe racers, choppers and ratty bikes to oogle. Tons of rat rods and sweet kustoms too. I'll be bringing the R5 out, but not showing it, since nothing's been done to it since last year... or maybe I will... dunno yet.

KAHUNAVILLE Entertainment Complex
Exit #6 off I-95
Wilmington, Delaware

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Spring is in the air...

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

And with it came the irresistible urge to get the bike out of the house and running again...

I dunno, perhaps it was the umpteenzillion bikes I saw today, including the usual Tuesday gathering of exotics in my neighborhood (see below*), or maybe all the distant wails of sportbikes zooming off in the distance...

At any rate, I got home tonight a little early from the gym and decided to push her out. With little help from Kendra (boy, she is strong!), we maneuvered her down the stoop without too many swear words... it sure is easier to get out than get in... I ran down to the gas station for a gallon of gas (which really confused the attendant) in my little red plastic container, and after adding the contents to the tank, topping off on oil, and aiming the pipes AWAY from Kendra, the house, the general public, etc, I let her rip...

And she roared to life (ok, I'm exaggerating) in a great plume of whitish smoke (ok, I'm not exaggerating)... and with only three kicks...

So she lives! Wintering indoors treated her well, as did the lining of everything with WD-40... from what I can tell, she just needs a bit of polish and some air in her tires, and she'll be ready for the open road once more...

* BTW, I finally found out what goes on every Tuesday at a Belgian pub in my area (from the Moto Guzzi National Owners Club):

(PHILADELPHIA) TWO WHEELED TUESDAYS
Come join us every Tuesday night at 7:00 P.M. at The Abbaye, 637 North 3rd (3rd and Fairmount), Philadelphia, to socialize with like minded riders and have dinner, if you wish. Rain or shine! For more info call: 215-432-4229

That would explain the wonderful assortment of non-Harleys lined up every Tuesday... I'll have to gather up my posse and head down one of these weeks...

Labels: Events, My R5

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End of summer...

Monday, October 04, 2004

I entered the Yammy (alongside Russ') in the Hot Rod Hoedown... first time I've entered anything in any sort of car show! Great stuff there, including a handful of tasty kustom bikes in the show and a whole slew of them parked just outside. A few of 'em are shown below. Good stuff.

After that we rode out to the Lansdale Bike Show... and by gosh I have never seen ANYTHING that enormous EVER. There were easily 60,000-70,000 people there. And just as many bikes! Not too much interesting stuff, mostly cruisers and such, but there were a few gems here and there and some really well-done examples, even for Harleys. Mike from Hiway had a booth set up. Stopped by to say hello.

Since then I've been riding sporadically, as the Yammy has been quite temperamental. She'll go a whole day, 130 miles or so, without a hitch, and the next day she won't make it around the corner. Plug fouling seems to be the culprit, and I haven't been able to figure out what's wrong. Got her going a little yesterday, that was fun. I'll keep her going as long as I can, until it gets too chilly. Then she'll come inside, where I can admire her all winter.

Here are a few snaps from the day: