"I first met Kenny in 1971 when we came to America, and I raced for Don Vesco. In ’72, Yamaha asked me if I could take care of this Kenny Roberts kid and teach him now to road race so he would have a better chance at becoming AMA Grand National Champion. He was a fast learner and in 1972 the factory Yamaha team consisted of Kenny and myself racing 250s and 350 Yamahas and he ended up winning the Grand National Championship in ’73 and ’74. We had a lot of success here in AMA racing and our next step together was going to Europe to try and win the 500cc World Championship.

Obviously, we had a lot of success together. We were able to go to Europe and win the 500cc World Championship in our first year and Kenny ended up winning the next two as well. Those years in Europe were some of the best and I will always be proud of what we were able to accomplish. It’s amazing that a kid who was dirt tracking in America and didn’t know much else could do what he did, but he was obviously talented, and he worked hard to give himself the best possible chance of being successful. We worked hard, but we also had a lot of fun and we had our families with us for most of it. We traveled around Europe together and we all came out of it with a lot of fond memories from those years.

I can’t believe Kenny is 70. I’ve always been the old guy in our relationship so it’s nice to see that we’re both growing old now."On that hot August night in 1975, I would not have given great odds that Kenny Roberts would live to celebrate his 70th birthday. At the legendary Indy Mile, America’s reigning Grand National Champion saddled up a TZ750-powered dirt tracker, Yamaha’s answer to Harley-Davidson’s superior horsepower on mile tracks. In a straight line this was one hell hound of a motorcycle. When it came time to turn a corner, it was the Devil’s own disaster!

Always laser focused on the problem at hand, KR learned through methodical experimentation that he could force the beast to turn by bouncing it off the haybales! This solution - albeit life threatening – enabled him to pass the entire field, draft past the hated factory Harleys in the final run to the checker and score perhaps the most memorable win of his career.

The winner interview was among the most quoted of all time. “They don’t pay me enough to ride that thing” became a fixture in the lexicon of dirt track racing.

Eventually Roberts and Yamaha conceded American dirt track hegemony to H-D and took on a new challenge, Grand Prix road racing. In cowboy boots and straw hat, armed with the long gun that allegedly shot down the inflatable Michelin Man, Roberts arrived in the GP paddock like something from another world. “El Martiano” the fans called him – “The Martian.”

Knee down, spinning the rear tire and sliding around corners as if on dirt, Roberts rewrote the Grand Prix style book. He won three straight championships in his own right, traded his helmet for Yamaha’s Team Manager jacket and ruled the world with rider Wayne Rainey. Then, ever the contrarian, he left Yamaha to form his own team – and to build his own motorcycle!

But among a multitude of choices, Roberts’ signature achievement was to revolutionize the hierarchy of Grand Prix racing. When “King Kenny” arrived in Europe, the paddock was a slum and the riders were treated like chattel, their safety a non-issue. He changed all of that, demanding that the competitors be heard. When the aged bureaucrats of the FIM turned a deaf ear, he rallied the riders behind the threat of a rival series. That did the trick. The hidebound elders recognized an existential threat to their power and yielded. The resulting changes laid the foundation for the modern day success story that is MotoGP.

Now safely retired, Roberts has arrived at that 70th birthday amid world-wide congratulations. And so we say Happy Birthday to “King Kenny.” “El Martiano.” The original alien."Kenny Roberts is turning 70? Honestly, it seems like he should be older than that. We tend to forget when KR retired from the GP Circus in 1983, he was just 30 years old. Had Roberts continued to race as long at Valentin Rossi he would have been on the circuit through to 1995! That would have put him through the Spencer, Gardner Lawson, Rainey, Schwantz and into the middle of the Doohan era. Hell, he would have only been five years removed from the series when his son, Kenny Jr., became world champ.

Undoubtedly had Roberts decided to continue on he would have earned more race wins, podiums, poles and maybe even another world title or two. But that’s pure speculation and the truth is, when Kenny retired the circuits were still unforgiving and to have that kind of longevity in that era was realistically probably not even possible.

It is possible today because, while MotoGP racing is still a dangerous sport, it is exponentially safer than it was in the 1970s and ‘80s when Kenny raced. One of the big reasons the tracks are so much safer and careers can be so much longer today has a lot to do with Kenny and the often difficult and sometimes greatly criticized efforts he undertook to improve track safety.

Sure, Kenny will always be remembered for being America’s first premier class GP champion and for really opening the doors for American riders in the World Championships, but perhaps he should be equally honored for playing a huge part in making Motorcycle Grand Prix racing a sport that now places a much bigger premium on rider safety. Riders like Rossi have Roberts to thank for being able to enjoy 20-plus year GP racing careers.

And 70? Blah. I think it’s time for another KR Springfield comeback!""Kel Carruthers introduced me to Kenny in 1974. I had moved from Dunlop to Yamaha in Amsterdam and Kenny arrived to race Kel's "Lowboy" TZ250 In the Dutch TT.

King Kenny went on to reign supreme in US roadracing, then Europe and Japan as a rider, team owner, and manufacturer.

He was a pioneer in tire development, brake technology, data acquisition and aerodynamics, and without a doubt in his seventy years and counting, he has been the greatest influence in creating the professional Grand Prix racing that we enjoy today.

I wish him a happy seventieth birthday and thank him for all he taught me during the years we shared at Team Lucky Strike Roberts and Marlboro Team Roberts.

Happy birthday Kenny!"It was the Ascot National half mile practice, 1974, and I went out feeling pretty confident.

Al Harmon’s Trackmaster Norton I was riding was pretty competitive in the weekly Friday night races, so I thought I had a decent shot at making the National.

Before practice, I saw some people gathered around Kenny Roberts and noticed his bike had a newish looking number one plate on and they were taking pictures. No biggie, I figured he’ll clinch it tonight and rightfully so. He’s earned it.

The track was in particularly nice shape for practice. Normally, it’s like a plowed field.

After a lap or two, I thought I would really bury hard it into the south turn when I heard a rider on the outside of me.

Nortons, for some reason, are quiet running, even at full throttle, so I could hear this rider’s engine really well, even though I was wide open coming off the corner.

It sounded like his throttle was stuck wide open (due to a massive amount of wheelspin) and then in a spilt second, Kenny went by.

He had the left cases dug in and as he crossed over into front of me, the spray off the cases and his rear wheel blasted me like an Asteroids video game. It felt like a fire hose stream of paint balls banging into my number plate and helmet.

To add insult to injury, his front wheel had about an inch or two of daylight under it.

At least he gave me plenty of room when he went by me. I shrugged it off thinking there’s one person I wouldn’t beat tonight.

Later, I’m sitting in the qualifying line, waiting to fire up and then Yamaha racing manager (Pete Schick, RIP) comes up to me and says to me "…Kenny’s going to clinch the championship tonight, so I want you to stay out of his way…”.

(At that time, I was a full-time Yamaha employee and Pete was actually my boss)

Then he adds "If you &%$# this championship up, I will fire you Monday so don’t even bother coming in…”

I asked Pete if he was watching practice a few minutes ago when Kenny humiliated me by passing me in turn two, on the outside, feet up while doing a wheelie. Pete just walked off without saying anything.

I must have qualified ok because I made the third heat, albeit back row. There were a few Experts who didn’t make the heats, so I was happy.

When we lined up for the heat, I took my position. And sure enough guess who is right in front of me in the front row? It’s Kenny Roberts!

Ok, this is a frickin’ national but all I can think about is my job, how broke I am.

After what seems like an eternity of introductions and whatever else Roxy Rockwood (RIP) was saying, we fire up and I get back to my starting position.

The starter wastes no time and jumps up on the stand. I look at Kenny and I can tell he’s in neutral. The engines are revving up and Kenny is looking up at the stands, waving with his left hand.

Did I mention this is the Ascot national and there’s a championship to win? Hello Mr. Roberts.

Now I am getting scared, really scared. I should be scared because in a few seconds all Hell is about break loose.

And it’s getting real loud.

But I’m more concerned about Kenny picking his nose and not paying attention to the starter.

And what if I ram him, and we both go down? Or I break his leg or wreck his bike or worse…it went on and on in my head.

In addition to those scenarios, I wondered how I will be funding college for my two kids without a job at Yamaha.

I was renting a room for $100/month (I was recently separated, kicked out of the house and virtually homeless) and how could I find a cheaper place to live? I had no college degree or any real skills. No money, no nothing.

My dad gave me a gas card and a van, I couldn’t afford to have either.

Nor could I afford to rebuild my own 750 Triumph Trackmaster, (crank broke previous year and took everything out)

My life was passing before me and how I blew a college education to “race” motorcycles at Ascot.

My then wife said "It’s me or the bikes…” and, well, you know the answer.

The flag drops and I get down the business at hand. Before modern timing/scoring technology, a back row start, can in some cases, work in your favor.

The best starter in the world is Eddie Mulder. Not only is he one of the greatest riders ever, but he just knows how to get to the first turn, first. Every time. I’ve studied him for years on grabbing the holeshot.

I timed it right and did the Eddie Mulder “back row roll”. I was up to the front row quickly and passed Kenny on the right side, he was still in neutral when I went by.

I got through the first turn mayhem, tucked in and headed down the back straight. I could see that I was a close fifth or so, not too shabby, semi at worst.

I tuck in not for aerodynamics but to stay out of the massive roost. The spray was so heavy, it was louder bouncing off my helmet and number plate than 10 unmuffled 750s.

Right after the pit gate, Kenny passes me and just about everyone else going into three. Coming off of four, I can see Kenny took the lead and 9 laps later, he easily wins the heat.

I pull into the pits and immediately start changing into my street clothes. Al Harmon yells, “what are you doing?! You’re in the semi…”

I said 'I need a job more than anything' and went in the stands to have a beer to celebrate having a job.

As they say the rest is history; Kenny clinched the championship that night, and later went on to even greater wins and championships.

The following Monday, I went to work at Yamaha. I got there earlier than usual. That day, I had a special appreciation for working at Yamaha.

Happy Birthday Kenny!Happy Birthday, Kenny. You have always been a friend, an icon, a stepping stone in American and world class racing. We’ve shared so many legendary moments and anecdotes, that it is only fair that we consider you as a part of our family.

Thank you for being such a game changer in our sport. Your legacy lives on, and not only by being the father of another World Champion, but by the respect and admiration that the entire MotoGP family has for you."
"Ex-Superbike Champ and Dirt Track Champion Bubba Shobert On King Kenny Roberts' 70th Birthday",

I am fortunate to have KR as a friend. He was about done with dirt tracking, so he was more than a competitor to me. I was lucky being able to train at the ranch, receiving advice. He is the Goat ! KR was more dedicated to motorcycle racing than anyone else I know. He is definitely one of a kind!""King Kenny - an inspiration in all things MotoGP! When I traveled to Barcelona to have my first face to face meeting with Dorna, in the bid to secure MotoGP for Laguna Seca, I met with Kenny to pick his brain. He had promoted MotoGP back in the 90’s and I thought he might have some insights for me. His first question was - “Why do you think YOU can do it?” My very non-political answer was - I’m a woman in motorsports - I’m used to fighting for the rights to promote events”. “OK”, says King Kenny - “go ahead and ask me your questions!”.

As we were both involved with Yamaha, we got to eat together a lot - I learned all the possible four letter words from him, at times useful!

Happy 60/10th Kenny!"“Roberts? Kenny Roberts, the biker? You have to follow this road, all the way down. On the left you will find the entrance to a ranch. You will recognize him because that madman has put a mini-bike up there. Hey! Watch out for your wallet! ".

Gigi Soldano the photographer and I looked at each other questioningly, and we took that road. A few kilometres later, as we were told, we found the entrance to the ranch.

An hour earlier we had phoned Kenny, warning him of our arrival.

"Ken, can you tell us if there's a hotel near your place?"

"What hotel, you can sleep here with me, on the floor"

"He's always joking, Kenny: he said we'll sleep on the floor," I said to Gigi, who shrugged.

Oh well, at that point we entered a dirt road and went up the hill. There wasn't really a villa. It looked like it was some sort of temporary arrangement. Around there was a lot of land and several cows.

"I need them to keep the grass low," Roberts replied when we jokingly asked him if he was becoming a farmer.

Then he showed us his workshop: the floor was completely covered with bits of walnuts and there were several motocross bikes disassembled, cut, sawn in pieces.

"Buster is having fun," was KR's laconic explanation. Buster is Kenny Senior.

Inside the house, on the wall, there were the remains of a chocolate cake. "There was a party and the boys made a bit of a mess yesterday," Kenny said and as it was getting late he handed us two pillows. Two large pillows.

"You can settle down there for the night," he told us, pointing to a corner of the room.

The carpet was thick and high. It wasn't bad. We lay down.

“Well, we did the Dakar. Let's go to sleep”, said Gigi.

Early in the morning, Kenny was already up, escorting the boys to school. When he came back, with a cowboy hat on his head, he leaned against the fence and I started interviewing him while Gigi filmed him.

He had just won three 500 world championships in a row, he was the best rider in the world at that time.

Happy Birthday King Kenny, my friend! Come to my house in Italy, I have a place for you to sleep!""First off I want to say Happy Birthday Kenny. It’s amazing, 70 years old!

You know I remember the first time I saw you race when I was about 11 years old. It was at the Astrodome, during your first years as a rookie expert and I remember watching you slide that xs650 around at the TT track; your bike control and direction change were amazing and it was such an inspiration. I’m certainly not the only rider you’ve inspired. You inspired many riders here in the United States or around the World over the years, inspiring them on to do amazing things.

And it’s not only that but your support of our sport and your support of American riders is gone unmatched.

I just wanted to say a few words and obviously end it with this: It was such a pleasure to race against you and we had some great battles and as I said in recent years and talked about with you, you inspired me to get everything I had out of my abilities and performances. So, it’s a real pleasure to wish you a happy 70th birthday and have many more.Hey Kenny, Happy Birthday!

So, you’re 70 now. Wow. Since I’ve been around for a good part of those years, I thought it might be fun to remember a few snapshots that we’ve shared during some of that time. Some you might remember, some you might not (that’s what happens when you get old, I’m told!).

Racing bicycles around picnic tables with Skip

Loaning me your Mini Enduro 60 for my first race because mine was worn out (I still have this bike thank to my dad)

You draggin the handlebar on my grandfather’s almond hull short track

Going too fast with you in your Trans Am with a low front tire

Straightening out the swingarm on your home-made framed 250 after a race I did in Chico. Just needed to be heat treated as I recall

Being the first MotoGP helmet boy in 1983 for $50.00 a week.

Dislocating my shoulder in Imola

Belgium flying snails

Japanese Curry

Taught me how to play golf (sort of)

Running the Landcruiser off a cliff with two loaded guns above our heads

Building a Yamaha Vision roadracer to learn to roadrace on only to find out the engine ran backwards, and we couldn’t turn it into a chain drive

Minibikes at the Ranch

Welded bolts to the rear swingarm of an XR100 to use as footpegs so I could drag my knee in the dirt

Taking a TZ250 to Sears Point for my first roadrace ride only to have it seize through T1 on the first lap after you had drug your knee warming it up in your Levi’s.

Johnny

Building a Deltabox TZ in your garage to take to Daytona for my first pro road race

Selling bikes at Kenny Roberts Yamaha Modesto

Formula USA with nitrous-equipped TZ250’s

Formula USA with 500 GP bikes

New Years Eve with car racing (didn’t work out very well for a few guys)

Beavis and Butthead Czech Republic

Gonna build a three cylinder

Do you want to move to England?

Make our own carburetors?

Offer Mick what?

Banana leaf curry, Whyyyy Not!

Gonna build our own V5

Gonna build a chassis around a Honda V5 (much better)

Are you ready to move back home?

But the one thing that has always stuck with me is when you and my dad came back home from a road trip back east. You had stayed at Gary Nixon’s house and his dog had just had German Shepard puppies. You guys brought two back, one for you and one for me. Shortly after, mine was killed after a battle with a car on HWY 120 and you gave me yours to replace him. To a 6–7-year-old kid it meant a lot then and it still does. You’ve always been a member of our family and a good friend. I started in this industry because of my dad and you. I’m still in it mainly due to the experience I’ve gained with you along the way. Happy 70th Birthday from Debbie, Sarah, Tyler, David, Harper and Henry. We wish you many more.
See you soon.
Love,

Chuck"A testing story, never before told … to the best of my knowledge.

We are in Monterey, California. It’s late February 1983 and we’re testing at Laguna Seca, just a few days before the run over to Daytona for the 200. This of course, is back in the days when big international teams actually came to America to test in the off-season and suffer through crappy weather, rather than shipping everything off to Australia and testing in warmth and sunshine.

The cast of characters as I recall it … two Dunlop technicians, Pete Ingley and myself, joined by the FACTORY YAMAHA team … Kel Carruthers, Knobby Clark, Bud Aksland, various Japanese technicians and of course, “Almost-King” Kenny Roberts himself. Lawson was probably there too, but never mind him for now.

Machinery … two full-on Factory 500cc V4 road racers AND two Square-Four OW69 680cc machines, based roughly on the 500’s and built especially for Daytona, back when that race actually mattered on the international scene.

I don’t remember what day of the test we were at, but let’s just say that there had been considerable testing of both bikes at this point. Enough testing to establish that the 500 was “pretty good” (that’s the best comment you’re ever going to get out of Roberts) while the 680 was not. Handling on the 680 was the issue and Kenny wasn’t happy.

Wintertime testing, for those of you who haven’t been involved much, consists largely of sitting around while riders circulate infrequently, occasionally stopping to bitch about bike, tires, set-up, whatever, thus putting the mechanics and technicians back to work. Lots of time for boredom … and since Roberts is present, for practical jokes.

For some reason, I was in the know on this one, but in order to preserve my immaculate reputation I’ll hasten to add, involved only as a spectator. Out of sheer boredom I’m sure, and a possible prurient interest, Roberts had investigated the local sex shop in Seaside the evening before and purchased a rubber replica of … how can I put this delicately? Probably can’t be done, but let’s just say that it was relatively exact anatomical reproduction, and it definitely wasn’t male.

As all racing folk know, duct tape can attach anything to anything and so it came to be that during a break in the testing program, the item itself was affixed way up under the fiberglass seat of a priceless, only two-of-a-kind-in-the-world, Yamaha OW69, unbeknownst all the Japanese technicians, boss Kel Carruthers, Bud Aksland and soon-to-be-victim Knobby Clark.

Roberts could barely contain himself as he did a few scheduled laps on his 500 and then stopped briefly, insisting that he needed to test the 500 and the 680 back-to-back - right now! Just a few laps later he screams to a halt back in the pits, signals for a consultation with Kel and pronounces that, “After riding the 500, that thing”, now pointing to the 680, “handles like a ___ (insert suitable four-letter word applying to the rubber item above)!” Pausing for effect he insists, “I think the tire is hitting underneath the seat.”

At which point Kel turned to Knobby, just as Roberts knew he would, and says “Knobby, have a look will you?”

Now, at the best of times, it’s difficult to crane your neck just right to see whether or not a tire might actually be making contact under a Yamaha racing seat and when you do, there’s not much room between a person’s nose and that seat, so we can all forgive Knobby’s normally-analytical brain for not immediately computing just exactly it was under that seat that he was actually seeing.

When he did, Knobby, always a man of few words, turned his head and snarled just three words … “Roberts, you BASTARD!”

Happy 70th Birthday Ken. Humor got you this far - keep it up and you’ll get 70 more!

All the Best!
Jim AllenRay Bailey, AP Carbon Brakes and Kenny: During practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 1987, Kenny had no available riders due to injuries. As a team owner of Lucky Strike Yamaha, he made the unorthodox move to ride one of his bikes in practice. Upon his return to the pit, Kenny informed me that the bike DID not turn well and that blame lay with the heavy and outdated 320mm iron brake system.

“WE NEED A SOLUTION ASAP!!!” Proclaimed Kenny. After some serious head-scratching, the decision was made at AP Racing to pursue a first-of-its-kind Carbon brake system. Our solution was a carbon brake of 273mm diameter.

I mentioned it to Kenny; he LOVED the idea and told me, “Stop telling me about it and make it happen, Bailey."

With that rocket up my backside and constant “encouragement” from Kenny, in the following 12 months, we made it happen. We installed the carbon system on Wayne Rainey’s bike, and he won The British Grand Prix at Donnington Park in 1988, and the rest is history.

Immediately after the race, Kenny shook my hand and said, “about f…… time”.

Kenny was the driving force behind the carbon brake project, a genius racer, a great ally, and a visionary team owner. Always a pleasure to work with.

Happy Birthday, Kenny!"Happy Birthday Kenny!

Thanks for letting me be a part of your amazing career. The first time I saw you ride I knew you were special. You never quit. You never let up. Going to Europe to tracks you had not seen, on tires from a company with no experience and coming back a World Champion says it all. You don't quit. You rode injured and didn't quit. Your bikes were usually not the best, but you won on them regardless.

Thanks for having me around. And for having faith in me. It means a lot. I got to go places I never thought I would and be a part of World Championship racing. And I got to see Wayne, Kevin Schwantz and Mick Doohan battle it out in what was the most competitive era in motorcycle racing. I feel blessed to be a part of Wayne and John Kocinski's World Championships.

Because of you, I got to work with and learn from some really great people: Tim Witham, Shell Thuett, Kel Carruthers and C.R. Axtell. Not to mention the engineers from Yamaha and all the guys on Team Roberts. A very talented bunch.

It was more than a guy from Manteca, California could have ever dreamed of.

So you got to 70 and you're still pushing and building stuff that nobody would even think of. I'm not sure if most people would know that you are a talented fabricator as well. You always amaze.

Hang in there Kenny. You're one of a kind. And that's a good thing. Keep pushing.

Happy Birthday

Love you
BudSometimes you get lucky and are in the right place at the right time. I got lucky more than once. And unlucky as well. And you learn damn quick that asking Roberts even a simple question is asking to be slapped down as only Kenny could do. Over the years covering Roberts I felt a lot of sympathy for any track announcer who had to interview KR.

Daytona International Speedway, early 70's. He wasn't "King Kenny" yet or even 'prince Kenny' but 80y made people notice his style; his speed; and a bit of swagger even way back. Daytona through the years became a love hate relationship for Roberts, a win some and lose more but not because he didn't ride the wheels off his mounts.

Before KR went off to the GP wars he was the hero (or nasty Yank if you were a Brit) when racing in the 1974 Easter-time Trans Atlantic Match Race Series. Roberts reputation as America's hottest racer preceded him, and the Brits - led by 500ccGP World Champion Barry Sheene—gleefully anticipated a royal butt whipping. Whoops. Sheene, the Rolls Royce-driving hero of Britannia, and his mates quickly found out that KR was for real. As the series raced through Mallory Park and Oulton Park and then Brands Hatch (all tight and twisty 'scratchers tracks' in Brit slang) the smile on Bazza's face (Barry Sheene) disappeared and so did the walkover plans. Nothing like watching Roberts, wrapped in Old Glory, sitting next to Sheene in the back of a convertible touring the tracks for the riders parade. Steely Roberts playing head games and winning. The team won the series and another chapter in Roberts' history was written.

Back in the U.S., Roberts got back to being Roberts again. The little quirks that could, and were meant to, unnerve some folks mostly went unnoticed. But not at a Laconia roadrace national. Dunlop Tire shod Roberts was always battling the Michelin Tire boys. In the paddock the Michelin Tire work area was easily spotted because they flew a good sized Michelin Man inflatable. On race day the unthinkable happened... the Michelin Man slowly deflated and crashed. Once the Michelin crew found a puncture (caused no doubt by a 'stray' .22 cal bullet) they wanted to find the culprit. The list of suspects was very, very short. It took AMA referee Charlie Watson telling the riders in a meeting that there would be no Laconia National until someone fessed up to letting the air out of Mr Bibb. Roberts finally did.

And now the rest of the story: When Roberts retired from active GP road racing and came back as a team owner, Michelin was the control tire. "I had to pay for all my tires" Roberts told me "Michelin had a long memory."

Most folks recall Roberts' classic quote from the Indy Mile DT National that "they (Yamaha) don't pay me enough to ride that." That being the Yamaha TZ750 road race engine stuffed into a DT frame. My go-to quote was uttered by Team Harley-Davidson's Corky Keener: "I heard that screaming S.O.B coming and I knew we (teammate Jay Springsteen) were in trouble". Indeed. Keener and Springsteen had the race locked up. So much so that they were playing draft-and-pass on the straights of the 25 lap Indy Mile to give the fans a show. Meanwhile Roberts was playing 'bounce off the haybales with a bike which was a rocket in a straight line but didn't want to turn. And the rest is history. Roberts won and team manager Pete Schick was in shock. Keener and Springsteen were in shock also. Even more so as they had to stand for an atomic butt-chewing by H-D team manager Dick O'Brien. OB was pretty good with words: "They (H-D) could hire anyone to lose; they hired me to win."

Congrats on 70 KR. It's been a helluva ride and I'm glad I got a small chance to tag along.Kenny and I have a relationship that dates back to 1982. At the time I was having some issues in what was my first year of AMA Superbike racing. A mutual friend of ours, the late Sparky Edmondson, was my mechanic and things weren’t going great as I was really struggling with using the back brake too much. Sparky told me to give Kenny a call and I did. Kenny asked me where I was racing next and I told him Loudon and his advice was “Just do what you’ve been doing, the corners are banked.” I did that and I won my first Superbike race. When I talked to him again and told him I’d won, he said. “Just don’t think you’ve got it sorted.” He was right. I went to Laguna Seca for the next race and crashed three times.

Our friendship basically took off after that and we were close from that point on. After I won the 1983 Superbike Championship, Kawasaki pulled out and I didn’t have a ride. Kenny created a 250 GP team and took me to Europe to race in that championship. In 1988, he gave me a shot on his 500cc GP team when no one else would and we won three World Championships together. After my accident, he helped me get going again by helping me start my GP team.

To this day, our relationship is very tight, and it always will be. We enjoy each other’s company a lot and it’s always a good time when we’re together.

So, thank you Kenny for all you have done for me, and I look forward to celebrating your 70th birthday today.I know the precise moment that my career as a writer began. It happened the first time I met Kenny Roberts.

It was Daytona—my first racing assignment as an editor at Motorcyclist magazine. I was an itchy throttle hand away from a real job and did not want to go back, and this was the Daytona 200 back when two-strokes ruled the tri-oval and Kenny Roberts ruled the world. I had no idea what I was doing.

Daytona was all or nothing status wise, and magazines were how racing fans got their news. I had to photograph the races and write the stories, which back then took a good chunk of the magazine because there was no metaverse and Daytona was the most important motorcycle race in America, maybe the world.

This was my Sputnik moment, and to make it worse I was supposed to also interview Roberts, who I had barely heard of because I didn’t really read magazines before I worked for one.

Watching Roberts dive down the banking and tear across the finish line at 200 mph from my credentialed photo hole in the fencing did something to me. All these years later, I can still hear the fairing violently battering a hole in the air, the screaming engine pushed to the limit by a man unlike motorcycle racing had ever seen before. It changed me.

But that wasn’t the moment. That came later after my interview with Kenny, which he graciously granted the excited new kid in the paddock. The King spoke at length, answered all the questions I could muster, and as I was walking away still scribbling in my notepad, he uttered the line that turned me from a spectator into a journalist: “Better get it right asshole or I’ll never talk to you again.”

I’ve spent a lifetime at the keyboard trying to get it right ever since.—Ken VreekeMy friendship with Kenny Roberts goes well back--I knew him a bit when we came from Oklahoma to race Yamahas in AMA racing. We raced against him and I met everyone around him over the years while he raced dirt track and roadraced. He has always been "Kenny" which if you know him needs no definition. I helped him get started at his Yamaha dealership in the 1980s and that transitioned to me being on the AMA 250 team as a mechanic, then a mechanic on the Team Roberts Lucky Strike team with riders Randy Mamola and Mike Baldwin, and others. Here are some stories which can be told from that period:

Kenny Roberts Yamaha Country

Kenny started his own Yamaha dealership in Modesto in the 1980s and hired me as his service manager. Kenny had just retired from racing and had some time on his hands so he spent a good bit of time with us at the dealership. Bikes were selling and the service department was quite busy. Kenny had a lot of people helping him in those days including his brother Rick who I never got to know that well. Rick and Kenny did not seem to be alike in any way but they were both Alice's boys. Kenny spent a lot of time with his dad, Buster, over the years but if you knew his mom, Alice, then you know where he got most of his personality.

Kenny has many qualities: team owner, fearless racer and a really good fabricator, which can be quite rare in a rider. But one talent that he has is a very priceless sense of comedic timing. It made it hard to get work done at times because you were laughing so hard at something Kenny said, or did.

I remember once we sent Rick upstairs at the dealership to find something. Kenny's dealership was a typical California shop; it had a main level then sort of an attic above that where things that were not needed on a day to day basis were stored. Again typical California shop and the attic wasn't really finished, you really needed to be careful where you were stepping up there because some of it had a floor and some of it the floor was just the false ceiling in the shop area. Anyway, Rick was up there looking for something and Kenny, me and some other guys were standing by the counter waiting for Rick to come back down. He was up there for a while; you could hear him walking around up there looking for a gasket or something. While he was up there, one of Rick's friends came in the dealership, walked over to us at the counter and asked for Rick. Rick here?

We didn't even have time to open our mouths to tell him that Rick was upstairs when CRASH Rick's leg came right through the false ceiling, up to about his thigh, over our heads.

Kenny looked at the friend and said, "He'll be right down." I still laugh hard when I think about that.

Kenny's shop

Kenny's home shop was better outfitted than the dealership was for race bike repair or upkeep. I think I was transitioning from the dealership to the race team in this period so I was working at Kenny's shop one day and he asked that I prep the new V-Max motorcycle he'd gotten. Okay, prep it for what, Ken? Going for a ride or how far will you be riding it?

"No, I am going to dirt track that bike," he said. Kenny had a short track right off the house in Hickman there, of which a lot has been written about. Kenny decided the V-Max was going to be a dirt track bike. Okay, so I think I put gas in it and maybe checked the tire pressure before he was on it, did a long burnout on the cement and then went out on his dirt track on the V-Max. He was tearing around on that bike, sliding it in these giant slides, left foot down and huge rooster tail behind him. We stood in amazement watching him. He burned a half a tank of gas doing that and then brought the bike back to the shop. He seemed quite disappointed in the V-Max because he'd been told the bike was very powerful and I don't know, I rode it on the street and it scared me so I was almost shocked when he said the V-Max was slow. "We need to gear that thing better," he suggested and I told him that--look Kenny--the V-Max is shaft drive. Oh, he said, well why the (heck) did they do that? That's stupid.

He lost interest in the V-Max after that but seeing him out there with a giant clay rooster tail behind him is a mental image I will never forget.

Kenny's shop 2

Kenny's kids were still little when I was there. It was Christmas eve and I was finishing up something on one of the Team Nordica TZ250s when he came in the shop and asked me to help him assemble a giant trampoline on the back lawn of his house. He wanted to have it ready the next morning so his kids would get up on Christmas day and see that Santa had delivered the trampoline they wanted. So that meant setting it up after they went to bed, so it was dark by the time we started and we only had one flashlight and alcohol had been consumed waiting for the kids to go to bed so we could play Santa.

Anyway we are putting it together on the lawn, getting all the springs connected and what not. We flipped it over and we working on the underside when something snapped and the entire trampoline swallowed us like a giant Venus fly trap. We were flailing around in the fabric of the trampoline, in the dark, trying to get out. I think I got out first and finally got him out. Somehow we did get that thing assembled and the kids looked out the window Christmas morning and there was the trampoline Santa delivered. Again, alcohol.

Team Lucky Strike Yamaha

I did the Team Roberts 250 team for a few years and then Kenny started his own Grand Prix team so I went to Europe to be a mechanic on the team.

I think it was the very first race for the team, the Spanish Grand Prix, and we were just trying to get our feet under us and learn the bikes and the schedule and what not. It was my first race in Europe.

I think it was the first practice session of the year. Both riders were out lapping so we went to the garage and made sure things were ready if the riders came in and wanted to switch motorcycles or make changes. Kenny was on the pit wall with his stop watch.

From the garage one of my co-workers noticed that there was a big commotion on the pit wall and we all went to look.

I guess an overzealous security guard didn't like where Kenny was standing on the pit wall and told him to move. I think Kenny's response was to suggest the guard to perform a sex act on himself. So the pit guard came back with a member of the Spanish Police and this police fellow immediately "escalated" the situation by sticking his fully loaded machine gun in the King's chest and telling him to vamoose. Note: do not do this with Kenny. Soon more police and more machine guns were pointed at Kenny so we mechanics got behind the King. I could see myself spending race day in a Spanish jail. I had been holding a very crude and heavy laptop in the garage and I still had it in my hands and was wondering whether I'd be using it for a weapon or to deflect bullets when a senior member of the police came by and told his men to stand down and explained who they had all been pointing their guns at—a GP racing God, Kenny Roberts. The one who had stuck the gun in Kenny's chest was so sorry that he began to cry. Roberts said not to worry about it, he knew by looking at him he didn't have the balls to shoot anyone.

Those are the stories I can tell. I wish my old friend and boss King Kenny a happy birthday.

Even today if someone says to me "they'll be right down" I chuckle a little thinking of that hairy leg hanging out of the ceiling and what Kenny said."Just when I thought I was going fast, The King passes me around the outside. To my teacher and good friend I say Happy Birthday Kenny."Happy Birthday Kenny! Who would have thought we would be make it to be old men?

We met when you were 15 years old sweeping the floor at my brother Bud's shop and I was just 10. The hundreds of laps we cut on the short track my dad built for us are times I’ll never forget. You on your 50cc Suzuki and me riding my Hodaka made it a close race, but not really. You always managed to beat me.

Thank you for all the hand-me-down leathers through out my amateur days. Also for building me a Champion Framed Yamaha Twin to be competitive at Ascot my novice year and having Shell Thuet build me a 750 Yamaha twin my Junior year.

I knew you were going to do special things when you rode your first professional race as a Novice at the Cow Palace in San Francisco and finished third against all the Experts and Junior riders. Then you won two Grand National Championships on the less competitive Yamaha against the factory Harleys; you continued to impress.

When the TZ750 dirt trackers were built you told the powers to be, “Skip needs one too”. When the bikes showed up at Indy, we looked at each other without saying anything and thought, “What have we gotten ourselves into?”. When you got your bike and walked back to me in the practice line and said "Be careful, we don’t know if they are going to turn left!"  I started to get worried. After dropping out because my throttles were sticking I got to watch the ride that made history.

You always made me feel part of Team Yamaha, maybe not as an official teammate, but you made sure I was taken care of.

After I won my first National Roadrace at Loudon you called to congratulate me, kind of. “Just because you won at Loudon don’t think you’re a road racer." Point taken.

When you broke your back in Japan testing for the for ’79 season I was honored that you told Yamaha you wanted me to fill in for you at Daytona.

Thanks you for loaning Linda and I $5,000 to buy our first house, and yes we still live there as much as you make fun of us today.

Thanks you for always having bikes for Dustin to ride when we would come to the ranch. Most of all thank you for always being our friend. Happy Birthday Kenny; we love you.

Skip, Linda and Dustin.