http://www.yamahablog.net Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:41:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Lake Whitney, Texas, August 30, 2002 -- The Fed-Ex man arrived at Hatch Studios with plane tickets and a packed itinerary straight from Yamaha -- my new MO mission was going to Lake Whitney, Texas for a chance to ride the all-new 2003 YZ450F. I was apprehensive at first -- ... http://www.yamahablog.net/2003-yamaha-yz450f/ Meanwhile back in Espana... There I was... Over the blind hump just after Circuito Almeria's downhill-plunging turn one, turning right, and inserting my ram-air snout as deep as I dared into the long left that follows with Cycle News's Blaze Conner and Army of Darkness Agent Phlegming breathing hot sangria ... http://www.yamahablog.net/2003-yzf-r6-not-to-be-outdone/ The plan came to me while basking in the blue glow of the TV while watching dirt bike racing late one night. I would head to the bustling Hatch Illustration studios the next morning and fire off a polite e-mail to Ken Faught, the Editor of Dirt Rider magazine. I would kindly ... http://www.yamahablog.net/the-evolution-of-hatch/ 'Twas dawn over Morro Bay as the fledgling motojournalist awoke. Bleary eyed, and finding himself in an unfamiliarly opulent environment, he peered, squinting, out the sliding glass doors at the overcast sky above the placid inlet. Seabirds squawked a morning call, and sailboat rigging played against masts like so many ... http://www.yamahablog.net/04-yamaha-roadstar/ Upright, comfortable riding position with great weather protection. Light, effortless handling for urban use, comfortable long-distance cruising, and serious sport riding too.It was Thursday. I was hot in LA when the call came in from MO: "Agent Jason, Yamaha has a new bike available for a few hours and we ... http://www.yamahablog.net/2004-yamaha-fz6/ Fighting for the Yamaha spotlight with the new Star Motorcycles Raider is a revised YZF-R6 sportbike. But the tuning-fork brand has also unveiled two small-bore streetbikes (a supermoto machine and a similar dual-purpose 250), plus a heavily tweaked XT225 that jumps to the status of XT250. But the big news ... http://www.yamahablog.net/2008-yamaha-street-preview/ Yamaha’s YZF-R6 has been a major player in the middleweight sportbike wars ever since it debuted in 1999. Combining light weight with razor-sharp handling and a wailing top-end punch, Yammie’s 600cc screamer has been a potent tool that perennially competes for top honors in its class. Then in 2006, the ... http://www.yamahablog.net/2008-yamaha-r6-first-ride/ On a cool February morning a week prior to Chad Reed’s victory at the Indianapolis RCA Dome, a group of jaded motojournalists leave the warm confines of the Hilton Garden Inn aboard an armada of Yamaha WR250Rs. From the palatial campus of the Inn we ride through scenic Victorville on ... http://www.yamahablog.net/2008-yamaha-wr250r-wr250x-review/ Tenere or Ténéré is Tuareg (nomadic people) language for desert. The place Ténéré is a desert area in Niger and Chad in the southern Sahara. Sahara also means desert directly translated from Arabic. So before we start, I’m telling you that this is all about riding in the desert!To drag the 2008 ... http://www.yamahablog.net/2008-yamaha-xt660z-tenere-review/ Two-stroke motorcycle engines are akin to the dodo bird – or nearly so. Ring-ding streetbikes all but disappeared by the 1990s, reaching their zenith in the mid-’80s with the GP-inspired Yamaha RZ500, Suzuki RG500 Gamma and Honda NSR400, all of which were never officially available in America but were sold ... http://www.yamahablog.net/2009-yamaha-rd350-concept/