Fred Merkel Motorcycle
Winners of the two legs were fred merkel and giancarlo falappa.
Fred merkel motorcycle. Ducati 1199 panigale ducati motorcycles yamaha motorcycle dirt bike harley d chopper bike speed bike hot bikes sportbikes. You would get 400 600 riders for a friday night race at san jose fremont chico oakdale or lodi cycle bowl with races four nights a week fred remembers. American duo wes cooley and mike baldwin won that inaugural duel on july 30 1978 on a yoshimura backed gs1000 suzuki. Fred merkel motorcycles class of 2018 fred merkel was born in stockton california in 1962 to jerry merkel a professional dirt track racer.
Also a black plaque honoring him was erected in the park on july 22 2010. In 1981 merkel rode 250 grand prix bikes and was the third ranked ama novice rider in the country. In 1984 he teamed with mike baldwin to win the suzuka 8 hours endurance race. Merkle and his wife ethel cynthia brownson merkle enjoyed a long marriage from 1914 to his death in 1956.
While the 5 821km suzuka circuit itself was opened in the september of 1962 the suzuka 8 hour first came about in 1978. A second plaque in watertown is on the grounds of the octagon house. The ex fred merkel world superbike championship 1989 90 honda vfr750r rc30 production racing motorcycle frame no. Merkle s bar and grill in chicago is named after fred merkle.
The panigale 1199rs prototype. Fred merkle is commemorated in his hometown of watertown wisconsin. Flyin fred was the archetypal american racer. People also love these ideas.
Fred merkel was the first ever world superbike champ taking the inaugural title for rumi honda in 1988 and backing it up with a second in 1989. Hmrc30 2000429 like many american champions before and since fred merkel proved more than capable of competing with the world s best on the international stage. Mosport world superbike 1989 the canadian round of the world superbike championship from mosport park on june 4 1989. Born fred nels merkel on september 28 1962 in stockton california merkel started his racing career on the dirt tracks of california.
With the help of his dad gary he turned to racing on the pavement where he found immediate success. Fred merkel born september 28 1962 in stockton california is an american former motorcycle road racer and two time superbike world champion. Valentino rossi grand prix eddie lawson honda motorbikes racing motorcycles dirtbikes. He is a three time ama superbike champion winning in 1984 5 on the vf750 and 1986 on the vfr750f.
Fred merkel rode it to the inaugural world superbike championship in 1989. It quickly became the most important race for production based bikes in the world. The city s primary high school baseball field at washington park is named fred merkle field.