Erv Kanemoto
Encyclopedia
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing currently divided into three distinct classes: 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP. The 125cc class uses a two-stroke engine while Moto2 and MotoGP use four-stroke engines. In 2010 the 250cc two-stroke was replaced...
motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
mechanic
Mechanic
A mechanic is a craftsman or technician who uses tools to build or repair machinery.Many mechanics are specialized in a particular field such as auto mechanics, bicycle mechanics, motorcycle mechanics, boiler mechanics, general mechanics, industrial maintenance mechanics , air conditioning and...
and motorcycle race team owner. The son of a farmer, he began boat racing as a child then switched to tuning karts raced by his sister.
He was hired as a race mechanic by Kawasaki
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Chūō-ku, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo.The company is named after its founder Shōzō Kawasaki and has no connection with the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa....
in 1968 and became famous for his partnership with motorcycle racer Gary Nixon
Gary Nixon
Gary Nixon was an American motorcycle racer who, when on Triumph motorcycles, most notably won the A.M.A. Grand National Championship in 1967 and 1968. He was also a former winner of the Daytona 200 motorcycle race on a 500cc Triumph, claiming a victory in the 1967 event...
when they won the 1973 U.S. Road Racing
Road racing
Road racing is a general term for most forms of motor racing held on paved, purpose-built race tracks , as opposed to oval tracks and off-road racing...
National Championship aboard a temperamental and brutally fast Kawasaki H2R, a 750cc three cylinder, two-stroke.
When Nixon retired in 1979, Kanemoto joined a young up and coming road racer named Freddie Spencer
Freddie Spencer
Freddie Spencer , 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.-Biography:...
and won the U.S. 250cc Road Racing National Championship with a Yamaha
Yamaha Motor Company
, is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized...
. He spent the 1980 season with Spencer before moving to Europe in 1981
1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 33rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Suzuki riders Marco Lucchinelli and Randy Mamola battled it out to the final race of the season with the Italian rider claiming the crown and Mamola finishing runner-up for the...
to be a Yamaha mechanic for former 500cc World Champion Barry Sheene
Barry Sheene
Barry Stephen Frank Sheene MBE was a British World Champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.-Early life:...
.
He is perhaps best known for the World Championships won with Spencer for the Honda
Honda Racing Corporation
Honda Racing Corporation is a division of the Honda Motor Company formed in 1982. The company combines participation in motorcycle races throughout the world with the development of high potential racing machines. Its racing activities are an important source for the creation of leading edge...
Grand Prix
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing currently divided into three distinct classes: 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP. The 125cc class uses a two-stroke engine while Moto2 and MotoGP use four-stroke engines. In 2010 the 250cc two-stroke was replaced...
team in 1983
1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 35th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:The 1983 battle for 500 cc supremacy between Honda's Freddie Spencer and Yamaha's Kenny Roberts would be one of the most dramatic seasons since the 1967 duel between Giacomo...
and 1985
1985 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1985 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 37th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Honda's Freddie Spencer gave a dominating performance becoming the first man to win the 250 and 500 championships in the same year. Defending champion Eddie Lawson finished in...
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
Eddie Lawson
Eddie Lawson is a former four-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. His penchant for not crashing & consistently finishing in the points earned him the nickname "Steady Eddie".-Biography:...
in 1989
1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 41st F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Defending champion Eddie Lawson stunned most observers by switching from the Yamaha to Honda in the offseason then proceeded to win the championship, becoming the first man to win...
to win another 500cc World Championship for Honda. Kanemoto also won 250cc World Championships for Honda in 1991
1991 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1991 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 43rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:The beginning of the 1990s marked a golden age for Grand Prix motorcycle racing. The rivalry between Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz was in full flow while Mick Doohan started to...
and 1992
1992 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1992 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 44th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:1992 was a year marked by injuries to several riders, most notably Mick Doohan. The Rothmans Honda rider had won five of the first seven races and seemed ready to win his first...
with Luca Cadalora
Luca Cadalora
Luca Cadalora is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion.-Early career:He won the 1986 125cc World Championship on a Garelli and then the 1991 and 1992 250cc World Championship aboard an Erv Kanemoto tuned Honda.-500cc:In 1993 he rose to the blue riband 500cc division...
as the rider, and in 1997
1997 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1997 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 49th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:A fourth world championship in a row for Honda's Mick Doohan with another dominating performance. He broke Giacomo Agostini's record for victories in one season with 12 wins. It...
with Max Biaggi
Max Biaggi
Massimiliano "Max" Biaggi is an Italian motorcycle racer and winner of the 2010 World Superbike Championship. Throughout this racing career, he has won the 250cc World Championship four times, and finished as runner-up in both the 500cc and MotoGP championships...
as the rider.
In 2001 Kanemoto was inducted into the AMA
American Motorcyclist Association
The American Motorcyclist Association is an American not-for-profit organization of more than 300,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights...
Motorcycle Hall of Fame
Motorcycle Hall of Fame
The Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum is an offshoot of the American Motorcyclist Association that recognizes individuals who have contributed to motorcycle sport, motorcycle construction and motorcycling in general. It displays motorcycles and riding gear and memoribilia. The museum is located in...
. Kanemoto is currently still involved in motorcycle Grand Prix racing as a consultant.