Kenny Roberts' 1975 Indy Mile-Winning TZ750 Commemorative Posters to be On Sale at Lucas Oil Indy Mile on August 18

The bike that wouldn't die, Kenny Roberts' 1975 Indy Mile-winning Yamaha TZ750 sits on display at the 4th Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP Weekend under the Yamaha display tent on August 27, 2011.  The bike, restored by Ray Abrams of A&A Racing, one of The King's first sponsors when he started flat tracking as a Pro rider back in the early '70s, was brought out to the Lucas Oil Indy Mile during the 2009 event for Roberts to spin some ceremonial laps on.  He did more then just spin a few parade laps, he flat out lit 'em up on the machine that he rode to glory in August of '75 and after proclaimed that Yamaha 'didn't pay him enought to ride' the thing.

This particular version of the machine has some subtle differences from the original hay bale-bouncing 4-cylinder two-stroke that The King rode into history some 37 years ago.  Other then some graphics differences from the original, this one also sports the Goodyear DT-2 design tires that were an off spring of Roberts and company having to hand cut road racing slicks in order to get it to hook-up better at the remaining events it was contested in back in the day.  The original wore the old-style DT-1 tires almost totally out and they were all but totally chunked at the end of the 25-lap main from laying the rubber down and spinning up the rear tire in what is probably still considered Roberts' greatest motorcycle racing victory over the course of his illustrious career.

Scott Jones Photography, the man who is responsible for some of the nicest MotoGP pictures in the world that are regularly featured on the MotoMatters.com website, is also known for one of his shots of KR Senior riding the bike during those demo laps three years ago, that will be featured in a special poster alongside the original shot of Roberts on the TZ taken by Bert Shepard.  Those posters will be available for sale at this weekend's Lucas Oil Indy Mile on Saturday, August 18.

You can read the full press release below to find out how you can get your hands on one of these way-cool posters of The King in two of his finest (of many) moments!

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Kenny Roberts’ Legendary Indy Mile Rides Remembered at 2012 Lucas Oil Indy Mile   Limited edition poster will be sold at the event and online.    (INDIANAPOLIS-August 14, 2012) The legendary Lucas Oil Indy Mile AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National at the legendary Indy Mile track at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana has produced some of motorcycle racing’s classic moments. Kenny Roberts’ 1975 Indy Mile come-from-behind win aboard the “too tough to tame” Yamaha TZ750 is among the most famous. In 2009, Roberts re-created that historic ride in a thrilling exhibition run that brought the thousands on hand to their feet.   Scott Jones Photography of Oakland, CA has commemorated both of these memorable moments in a limited-edition poster print with matching images of both rides, together with a printed Kenny Roberts signature. On Saturday, August 18, 2012, at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile, a limited number of these prints will be available for sale for $20. The prints will also be available online at www.IndyMile.com while supplies last. Only 1000 will be printed, and never printed again.   The image of the 1975 ride is shown in black and white. It was made by Bert Shepard. The color image beside it was made by Scott Jones at the 2009 Indy Mile when Roberts’ “ceremonial” laps turned into blazing hot laps aboard the screaming TZ750. The poster prints are 32” x 16” and suitable for framing.   For those interested in a limited-edition of 50 prints hand-signed by Kenny Roberts, Scott Jones Photography may be contacted at http://bit.ly/KRrides. These special prints are Giclée canvas gallery wraps (canvas stretched around a wooden frame with black paper backing and wire hanging hardware installed), ready for display upon delivery.   The Lucas Oil Indy Mile returns as a featured event of the Indiana State Fair, and again coincides with the Red Bull Indianapolis GP weekend. Activities will be begin with gates opening at 2:00pm, timed-qualifying from 3:00pm-5:00pm, opening ceremonies 7:00pm with the first race at 7:30pm.     www.IndyMile.com

838 N. Delaware Street | Indianapolis, IN 46204 US

All The King's Men...or At Least His TZ750 Indy Miler..

As many of you already know, and have seen, Kenny Roberts made an

appearance at the Indy Mile on Saturday 8/29/09 aboard his infamous

Yamaha TZ-750 flat tracker that he used to win the event back in August of 1975.

With a great crowd on hand, the folks at Yamaha brought out a VERY nice

replica of the bike that now stands in infamy as one of the premier motorcycles to ever win an AMA Grand National Flat Track event. The bike was displayed during the w/e at the Indy round of the MotoGP race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and did it ever draw the drools from young and old--myself included.

After having been there on that fateful evening back in August of 1975, seeing, let alone hearing it again after all these years, brought the same chill to my body as it did over 34 years ago. Not only did Yamaha not dissapoint, but neither did 'The King' when he rolled out of the pits to take a few 'hot' laps on the old beast!

All along, figuring that The King would just run a few straight blasts and take it easy in the corners, the crowd, let alone myself, was awe-struck when he blasted down the straights and threw it into the corners almost as blazingly fast and furiously as he did all those years ago! The crowd was absolutely thrilled, and

I myself jumped for joy as he managed to wrangle the old beast through the turns as if it was yesteryear all over again. To put in into the words of Larry Lawrence from http://www.theriderfiles.com/, it 'was a magical evening' to say the least, one that everyone that witnessed will remember forever. The King has

NOT lost his touch, and he not only wowwed the crowd with his skill at throwing the old beast into the corners and jamming it down the straights, but he even talked for awhile afterwards about what it was like that night, as well as

THE night from almost 3 1/2 decades ago!

I shot the above shots in the vendors area at IMS on Friday afternoon 8/28/09 while Yamaha had it on display at their tent during the GP. They truly represent what a fine replica this particular one is. And the fine folks at Sideburn mag posted these short videos and story about that night as well:

http://sideburnmag.blogspot.com/2009/08/indy-mile-update.html

Long live The King, and long live one of the greatest stories, motorcycles, and

races that ever were.

And thanks to the great folks at Yamaha, and Sideburn for the link, for making this all possible!

Here is another link of that great nite posted from YouTube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSupEffWQtU

And here is a link to a smattering of videos leading up to, and including, this great event:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kenny+roberts+indy&search_type=&aq=f

Indy Mile 1975 Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj97mObeEyw


The above link is to a video of the infamous Indy Mile in 1975.
It is a direct link to YouTube.com and is only a borrowed link.
I was there but I am not the owner of the video. My thanks to
the person(s) that put it together and made it possible for us to be
able to watch and share it. Good times!


Note 9/7/09---for some reason, YouTube has removed the above link of the
original clip of the Indy Mile from 1975. However, here is a link to several more
recent videos, including The King and The TZ's return to Indy from 8/29/09:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kenny+roberts+indy&search_type=&aq=f