Thursday, July 22, 2010

Yamaha stars visit Jay Leno's 'Big Dog Garage'

http://motogp-f1-races.blogspot.comOn their way to the Laguna Seca for this weekend's US Grand Prix, three of the Yamaha's present MotoGP stars - plus some of the past champions - made a detour to the LA suburb of Burbank, home to Jay Leno's famous 'Big Dog Garage.'

Leno, host of the Tonight Show, is a member of the AMA Hall of the Fame and his garage - actually a 70,000 sq. ft. complex with the several full time employees - houses over 200 motorcycles and cars, ranging from the pioneer motorcycles like his 1918 Pope to an 800-horsepower 'Ecojet' car tuned to run on the recycled cooking oil.

The latest addition to the Leno's fleet is an ex-Eric Bostrom 2008 AMA Superbike R1, which was given to Leno during the visit as a surprise gift.

Leno only expected to host a dinner for the Yamaha's MotoGP riders, which includes the championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, Tech 3 riders Ben Spies and Colin Edwards and Yamaha legends Kenny Roberts Sr, Eddie Lawson, and Wayne Rainey.

"There are so many vehicles in here," said Lawson, "that are just works of the art."

When he posed for photos with Lorenzo, Spies, and Edwards, Leno quipped: "Yeah, this is great - I love being the slowest guy in the room."