Why Kenny Roberts ended up racing in Europe

º Until 1985 the American Motorcycle Association’s Grand National Championship comprised a mix of dirt and road races. In 1973 and ’74 a young Kenny Roberts had won the coveted #1 plate riding a mix of two-stroke road racers on tarmac and a four-stroke twin based on the XS650 production roadster on dirt. But there was only so long that Kenny’s talent could keep the Yamaha twin winning against Harley-davidson’s purposeful XR750. Desperate times called for desperate measures and in ’75 Yamaha built the infamous TZ750 powered device on which Kenny heroically won at the Indianapolis mile, quipping afterwards: ‘They don’t pay me enough to ride that thing’. For 1976 the AMA banned anything with more than two cylinders, so Kenny and Yamaha were back to the XS650. They spent a fortune on internal engine work, trying to make it competitive, but to no avail. The Harleys were still faster. Yamaha withdrew from the championship after 1977, but still had Roberts under contract. He went to Europe winning the 500cc World Championship in his maiden season and followed it up in ’79 and ’80.