YAMAHA’S LOST CAUSE
Just when Yamaha’s square-four 0W60 racer was nearing perfection in 1982, the company changed direction entirely, putting its star rider onto an untried V4. It would be another two years before Yamaha won the 500cc Grand Prix world championship. Here we look at the motorcycle that could have been a world-beater.
The 1982 season was a watershed moment in the 500cc Grand Prix world championship. This was the final year all four Japanese manufacturers went head-to-head in the championship, pushing the envelope with new or revised designs. Yamaha was perhaps the most committed, and perhaps also the one with the most to lose. Its star rider, Kenny Roberts, had rewritten the history books way back in 1978 by becoming the first American to win the ultimate motorcycle title, as well as delivering Yamaha its first world crown since Giacomo Agostini’s amazing effort in 1975.
