knees secured against the tank
with a strap.
With no control over his torso,
the bike was fitted with Velcro
pads on the tank that could sup-
port his weight while he used the
handlebars. At the end of each
run he had to be lifted back to an
upright position.
"It is so different riding a bike
now. The only thing I feel is the
handlebars. I feel nothing else.
"I tested on a minibike, and
you catch everything late, be-
cause you only see that you're
making a mistake when you see
it, not when you feel it. So it's a
little bit later than feeling it in your
feet or your butt or through the
bike. It's a whole different experi-
ence."
The hardest part was start-
ing and stopping, with helpers
launching the bike up to speed
from the off and catching bike
and rider at the stop.
Wayne revealed that he had
dreamed of getting back on the
YZR almost from the moment he
regained consciousness in 1993.
"Maybe it was the drugs they had
me on, but I was determined to
get back on the bike.
"It took a long time, but
finally it happened, thanks to
Goodwood and the Duke of
Richmond." The Duke had
originally invited him in 2020, but
a scheduling clash and then the
pandemic got in the way.
"I can't say how grateful I am to
him, and to everyone else at Ya-
maha and elsewhere who made
this possible," Rainey said.
The bike was fitted with rain
tires, steel brakes, soft sparking
plugs and with a rich mixture di-
aled in, to soften the responses.
After first tests, Rainey asked
that it be leaned off to make it
sharper, and it was enough for
it to pop little wheelies when he
wound it on.
A one-off gear-shifting system
was fitted, but on a bike without
electronics or even full electrics,
it proved erratic, and Rainey kept
it in one gear. It was still enough
to recall the thrill and give nostal-
gic viewers a welcome whiff of
two-stroke exhaust.
It was not Wayne's first time on
a full-size motorcycle. He rode a
specially modified Yamaha R1 in
2019: a shake-down test at Wil-
low Springs Raceway in the USA
followed by an emotional public
gallop at Suzuka. As a street
bike, however, the affair was less
daunting. The 500cc racing two-
stroke was more of a challenge.
"The R1 has got electric start,
and then with fuel injection it
runs really good at low rpm. It's
like riding to the local grocery
store. But on a YZR500 it's noth-
ing like that," he said.
Michael Scott
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 26 JUNE 28, 2022 P37
(Left) Wayne Rainey
lights up the iconic
YZR500 for the first
time in 30 years at the
Goodwood Festival of
Speed. (Right) Rainey
with mentor and
former team boss,
Kenny Roberts.
