Erv Kanemoto

Last updated
Erv Kanemoto
Erv Kanemoto.jpg
Born
Erv Kanemoto

(1943-05-07)May 7, 1943
Occupation(s)Mechanic, race team owner
Years active1968–2002

Erv Kanemoto (born May 7, 1943) is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle mechanic and motorcycle race team owner. [1] He was one of the most successful motorcycle racing tuners and race team crew chiefs of the 1970s through the early 2000s, working with motorcycle racers who won two national championships and six world championships. [1] He is best known for his association with motorcycle racers Gary Nixon and Freddie Spencer. [1]

Contents

Motorcycling career

Kanemoto was born in Utah and grew up on a farm near San Jose, California. [1] He began boat racing at the age of 15 then switched to tuning karts raced by his sister. [2] He was hired as a race mechanic by Kawasaki in 1968 and became known for his partnership with motorcycle racer Gary Nixon when they won the 1973 U.S. Road Racing National Championship aboard a temperamental and brutally fast Kawasaki KR750 with a three cylinder, two-stroke engine. [1] The duo competed at the international level in the 1976 Formula 750 championship, laying claim to the Formula 750 world championship until international politics denied them that prize. [3] [4] [5]

When Nixon retired in 1979, Kanemoto joined a young up and coming road racer named Freddie Spencer and won the U.S. 250cc Road Racing National Championship with a Yamaha. [1] He spent the 1980 season with Spencer before moving to Europe in 1981 to be a Yamaha mechanic for former 500cc world champion Barry Sheene. [1]

Kanemoto is perhaps best known for the world championships won with Spencer for the Honda Grand Prix team in 1983 and 1985 when Spencer accomplished the double by winning both the 250cc and the 500cc Road Racing World Championships in the same year, a feat that will never be repeated due to the discontinuation of the 250cc and 500cc classes in current MotoGP competition.

He joined forces with Eddie Lawson in 1989 to win another 500cc World Championship for Honda. Kanemoto also won 250cc World Championships for Honda in 1991 and 1992 with Luca Cadalora as the rider, and in 1997 with Max Biaggi as the rider. [1]

In 2001 Kanemoto was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame. [1] Kanemoto is currently still involved in motorcycle Grand Prix racing as a consultant. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayne Rainey</span> American motorcycle racer (born 1960)

Wayne Wesley Rainey is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he won the 500cc World Championship three times and the Daytona 200 once. He was characterized by his smooth, calculating riding style, and for his intense rivalry with compatriot Kevin Schwantz, between 1987 and 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AMA Superbike Championship</span>

AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series that has been run every year beginning in 1976. For most of its existence it has been considered the premier motorcycle road racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned by the AMA American Motorcyclist Association since its inception, and the promotion of the series has been licensed to several organizations over the years. Since 2015 the series has been run and promoted by MotoAmerica, who also manage several other AMA professional road racing championships, including the popular 600cc Supersport class.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Biaggi</span> Italian motorcycle racer

Massimiliano "Max" Biaggi is an Italian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who achieved six World Championships. With four 250 cc road race titles and two in World Superbikes, he is one of only two riders to score championships across both disciplines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Lawson</span> American motorcycle racer

Eddie Ray Lawson is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1983 to 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luca Cadalora</span> Italian motorcycle racer

Luca Cadalora is an Italian former professional motorcycle racer who is the 1986 125 cc World Champion, 1991 and 1992 250 cc World Champion and 8-time Premier Class race winner. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1984 to 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randy Mamola</span> American motorcycle racer

Randy Mamola is an American former professional motorcycle racer and television sports presenter. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between 1979 and 1992. A 13-time Premier Class race winner, Mamola was one of the most charismatic Grand Prix road racers of his generation, becoming a favourite because of his interaction with race fans both on and off the track as well as his aggressive and spirited riding style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddie Spencer</span> American motorcycle racer

Frederick Burdette Spencer, sometimes known by the nickname Fast Freddie, is an American former world champion motorcycle racer. Spencer is regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of the early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jarno Saarinen</span> Finnish motorcycle racer

Jarno Karl Keimo Saarinen was a Finnish professional Motorcycle racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1968 to 1971 as Yamaha privateer, before receiving the Yamaha factory's full support in 1972 and 1973. In the early 1970s, he was considered one of the most promising and talented motorcycle road racers of his era until he was killed during the 1973 Nations Grand Prix in Italy. Saarinen's death led to increased demands for better safety conditions for motorcycle racers competing in the world championships. He remains the only Finn to have won a solo motorcycle road racing world championship. Saarinen was inducted into the F.I.M. MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Burgess</span> Australian motorcycle racing engineer

Jeremy Donaldson Burgess, is an Australian motorcycle racing chief mechanic, having worked with three world champions: Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi. He was also a mechanic on Freddie Spencer's team when Spencer won the 500cc World title in 1985.

The 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 35th F.I.M. Road racing World Championship season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Hennen</span> American motorcycle racer (1953–2024)

Pat Hennen was an American professional motorcycle racer. He competed in AMA dirt track and road racing competitions from 1971 to 1975 and in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1976 to 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kork Ballington</span> South African motorcycle racer

Hugh Neville "Kork" Ballington is a South African former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1976 to 1982, most prominently as a member of the Kawasaki factory racing team with whom he won four FIM road racing world championships. Ballington was inducted into the MotoGP Legends Hall of Fame in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Kocinski</span> American motorcycle racer

John Kocinski is a retired American Grand Prix motorcycle road racer whose successes include winning the 1990 250cc World Championship, and the 1997 Superbike World Championship title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Nixon</span> American motorcycle racer

Gary Nixon was an American professional motorcycle racer who most notably won the A.M.A. Grand National Championship in 1967 and 1968 as a member of the Triumph factory racing team. He was also the winner of the 1967 Daytona 200 motorcycle race on a 500cc Triumph Daytona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sébastien Gimbert</span> French motorcycle racer

Sébastien Gimbert is a professional motorcycle road racer. He currently competes in the Endurance FIM World Championship aboard a Honda CBR1000RR. His greatest success has come in the Endurance World Championship, and the bulk of his career has been spent on Yamaha YZF-R1 with more recent seasons spent on BMW S1000RR and Honda CBR1000RR motorcycles.

Yvon Duhamel was a French Canadian professional motorcycle and snowmobile racer. A six-time winner of the White Trophy, the highest award in Canadian motorcycle racing, he was one of the most accomplished motorcycle racers in Canadian motorsports history. His motorcycle racing career spanned the transition from the 60 horsepower four-stroke motorcycles of the 1960s, to the 100 horsepower two-stroke motorcycles of the 1970s. Duhamel was a versatile rider competing in numerous motorcycle racing disciplines including; trials, motocross, ice racing, drag racing, flat track racing and most prominently in road racing as a member of the Kawasaki factory racing team.

Graeme Crosby is a former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand. A versatile rider, Crosby was equally capable on either four stroke Superbike racers or two stroke Grand Prix racers. He is the only person to have won the Daytona 200, the Imola 200, the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race, and the Isle of Man TT.

Gary Jones is an American former professional motocross and desert racer. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1971 to 1976. Jones is notable for winning the inaugural AMA 250cc motocross national championship in 1972. Jones then successfully defended his national championship in 1973 and 1974, winning three consecutive 250cc motocross national championships while competing on three different brands of motorcycles, a feat which has never been repeated in AMA motocross history. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Grant (motorcyclist)</span> American motorcycle racer (1940–2094)

Ronald J. Grant was a British-born American professional motorcycle racer and racing team manager. He competed in the AMA road racing national championships during the 1960s and early 1970s. In 1964, he became the first American competitor to finish on the podium in a World Championship Grand Prix road race, when he finished in second place at the 250cc United States Grand Prix, held at the Daytona International Speedway. After his racing career, Grant became a racing team manager and respected engine tuner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Flat Track</span> American motorcycle racing series

American Flat Track is an American motorcycle racing series. The racing series, founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1954, originally encompassed five distinct forms of competitions including mile dirt track races, half-mile, short-track, TT steeplechase and road races. The championship was the premier motorcycle racing series in the United States from the 1950s up until the late 1970s.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Erv Kanemoto at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame". motorcyclemuseum.org. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  2. "Interview Erv Kanemoto, 1990". superbikplanet.com. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  3. "Gary Nixon's Kawasaki KR750". americanmotorcyclist.com. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  4. Assoc, American Motorcyclist (January 1977). Nixon Loses FIM Appeal and F750 World Championship . Retrieved 15 December 2012.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. DeWitt, Norman L. (2010). Grand Prix Motorcycle Racers: The American Heroes. Motorbooks. ISBN   9781610600453 . Retrieved 15 December 2012.