Ms. Grothe's MotoHistory 101
by
John Burns
Published: May 17th, 2018
Share
Mary Grothe keeps sorting through the boxes and uncovering things and people that I, for one, knew nothing about. Here’s one:
“Little Giant” Ikujiro Takai, 6th place, on the grid at Mosport 1977, with John Long, #36 in the background. As a Yamaha factory rider in 1974, Takai took two crowns in the All Japan Expert Class. In 1975 he finished second in the French 250cc GP class. Subsequently he became a noted designer for Yamaha, but in 1982 was tragically killed while testing the newly developed OW61 – the first V4 engine in a 500cc GP bike. Kenny Roberts later dedicated his Spanish GP victory aboard the OW61 to Takai.
Bowmanville, Ontario CA: 09/18/1977
RIP Ikujiro Takai
More by John Burns
Comments
Join the conversation
JB, that's cool stuff. Thank to Ms. Grothe and to you for posting. KR was The King during my motorcycling awakening, and my first love was a 1974 Moto Guzzi Eldorado piloted up the Blue Ridge Parkway by a guy fresh out of the U.S. He was accompanied by a couple other recent ex-squids Navy. Mr. Takai was just before my time, but a great story packed into a single shot by a master photographer.