#thunderace

Twenty-five years ago the literbike balanced above a sharp precipice: On one side was the light new Honda CBR900RR Fireblade, and on the other were older, bigger bikes like the Yamaha FZR1000 and Kawasaki ZX-9R that you could actually go places on. Not knowing what to call the new bike they’d just built to bridge the gap to the new YZF-R1 that would be sprung two years later, Yamaha came up with Thunderace, nicely in keeping with the 600 cc Thundercat. Why not? In those days, MO was an international affair. Take it away, Colin, Ken, and Nigel. Check’s in the mail.