Kork Ballington Shows Legendary KR500

[kfor7504]

Just awesome.....I have a race 250 KR and love it ! i bet it smells as good as it sounds too LOL !!!!!

[1EvilDwarf]

A Man l would love to meet with a bike l would love to own...

Thanks for posting

[Dizaster199]

Two thumbs up!!! A brilliant piece of history, and you just can't beat that idle sound!

[tagomarutagomaru]

これってKROGがコークを日本に招待した直後にアップされたん­だっけ？

どなたかコークの解説訳してくだされ。

[cjlennon]

Thanks mr Ballington, I always loved the kr from when I was a kid, probably just cos it was green ,appreciated the engineering when I was a little older! hope you are keeping well!

[kawaslakkie]

Thanks for the show, love the 2 strokes!!

Kawaslakkie.

[JaguarAir007]

Hey Kork, thumbs up to the age old Kwak. Pity they dont have an Aldo Scribante or Kumalo race track here for you to play on. Ever thought of taking it to Lakeside and thrashing the "lighties" of today? You never know what may happen. Re-ignite the passion. Well done mate.

Murray

[Tony200861]

I met Kork in '79 I think it was - ace guy!

Still got the signed poster on my wall, alongside the photos I took of the great man, with his brother and the great KR500!

[TripAir]

sounds evil. Cool that Kork managed to keep his race bike after so many years.

[warp65]

Team Wine and Dine. Fantastic, thanks for the look.

[thearsenal323]

MY NAME IS JAKE BALLINGTON!!

[seapeddler]

Fitted with modern radial tires, how fast would it go?

[roryanat]

Kork lives on the Gold Coast in Queensland...We have an Historic hillclimb here in Brisbane in May and Kork brings the 500 out for a trot...still Mr Nice Guy...

[yokomchama]

this is one of my favourite the sound the engine the looks engineerings 500%

haha the neighbours - rev it louder

[phillipsolo]

best South African export ever! def going to have a Castle at Kyalami on Sunday. Say 'howzit' to Derek if you see him again, Kork :)

[djh83004]

Most awesome !! just watched the DVD of Kim Newcombe which featured Korkie, great time awesome racing.

[jcotteri]

Thankyou!

[xxcbr69xx]

Cool, thanx for sharing

[teamfab]

Hi Kork, the strip tease worked a treat, once i saw the monocoque chassis i was fully aroused.

A thing of complete beauty, thanks for sharing it.

[alloypony02]

TOO COOL !!! Thanks for sharing , YES SIR !

[nickdavis22]

Sounds Fantastic!!!

[zxzx1212zxzx1212]

It gets on the GP machine with sandals ･･･ (laughter. )?

[zxzx1212zxzx1212]

GPマシンにサンダルで乗ってるよ・・・（笑い）

[interceptordave]

Stay out of trouble? I can't promise you anything on that score...

'cptr

[normanthe4man]

Well Korkie at least the Bluegums are the same...geez is there ANYBODY left at home. You are looking good too, I dont feel so lonely with my gray hair now. Brought back memories of me dropping my 350 Kawa streetbike at Crossways hill on the Bluff...I still have the scars...suppose I always will. Thanks for the memories.

[Himmlerdude]

Would you beleive he lives in brisbane running a nut and bolt shop, he made an appearence at the 2009 Australian historic titles on a H1R racer for parade laps.

[Maximusfool]

Sounds a bit like a sick RD 350.. All that engineering and look how flimsy the swingarm is...LOL Nice bike though and Kork is your typical South African gent

[thorndonpark]

Great to see a legendary rider who appreciates the engineering effort put into his machine. I love how he checks the cylinder temperature at 5.57 before he gives it the big handful of revs - there's a real "engine guy"! He seems like an all round good bloke.

Ecellent vid!

[newo1234]

sounds awsome

[Aguijon1982]

Sorry, i have one question. What is the top speed of this machine? Thanks.

[LuckyDeviI]

I enjoyed watching you ride her naked like that in the street...That's how I swing I guess...

[rabidnz]

i am embarassed to have gotten very aroused from watchin a video with just a man in it

[LordSamuelJ]

I want that bike! Id use it to blow away all the stupid modern crotch rockets in my area.

[MrJonnyboyification]

a pure race bike

[MrJonnyboyification]

square 4 disc valve engine. nice but expensive when it comes to rebuild time

[GeoffComber]

Back in the day I was a great fan of Kork and the 'green meanies' , never did understand why the KR500 didn't wipe them out like the 250 and 350 but Kork's comments here certainly explain a bit.

Thanks Kork , good to see you looking so fit and well !

[Aguijon1982]

Thanks for showing it! Its a really rare bike. I love 2 strokes!

Great sound! It sounds like 3 motorcycles together.

[SPOOKSTR]

Great vid Kork....watched you ride at the Barry Sheene Festival od Speed 2009....awesome !!!

[manxcafe]

What a presentation, Kork you are a class act for sharing this fantastic machine with the world and bike enthusiasts. Thank You. I love MotoGP but I'll always be a 2-stroke fan.

[thearsenal233]

great vid omg my name is jake ballington so its pretty cool

[DrGasosa]

I LOVE THAT SOUND!!!

2 STROKE 4 EVER

[rick0000122]

the ol boy never tires of the two stroker,and thats the way it is!:)

[michaelball123]

An absolute legend of his time....

[Ady11000]

Nice vid and a dam good bike , It takes me back to when two strokes ruled the earth .Thanks for posting

[michaelball123]

I know what you are saying mate..I remember watching Kork race at Killarney and Kyalami in South Africa. Nice they gave him the bike,,Don't think Yamaha would give Rossi one of their bikes after a season...

[1971ratrace]

How much difficult is it to own a bike like that? Where to find them, who makes new pieces? How much can it cost in that condition? Tell us about the previous owners...and will you sell it to a museum? It was that bike or a classic ferrari?Movies here are getting better!!!TKS

[ropermachine]

to own it , you tell your race director you want it when the season is done!! usually when you win a championship !!

[runisle]

Perfect beauty !

[310cadet]

Great video, thanks for the great memories. My Brother used to work for Stuart Baldwin in the 80's and some of your old bits and pieces were on show for us to look at !!! Those magnesium carbs were so light and well made !! Dave R

[londonweekend]

Thanks for that Kork, the '82 version is my all time favorite bike - especially with the original big front mudguard, and those gorgeous exhausts - t just looks fantastic and the green/yellow/white with flashes of red colour scheme suits it so well -absolutely DELICIOUS!! - would love to see more footage with it's clothes ON though!! I'd also like to see the '80 and ''81 versions and Eddie Lawsons and Greg Hansons bikes - a shame it wasn't more succesfull so there would be more stuff about it

[thepwee]

Hell ya I enjoyed that

[DRSHANKER]

What a guy! :D

[criticalmass181]

What an absolutely legendary man. Nice to see he's still a 'good guy' too. Thanks for the vid.

[EseMorenoSoyYo]

I've got your autograph!! My dad got it at Cadwell and you invited him into your caravan when you were racing your air cooled kawasaki!! He said then you needed a works ride! how right he was!

[CarmenFerreras]

THE BIKE. THE LEGEND. Thanks for the video.

[nuskaha]

that is one heck of a gorgeous bike...two strokes sound brilliant.cheers for uploading your great vid

[fnposer]

a little birdy told me that Korks going to be at Eastern Creek with one of his bikes. Apparently he's going to be there with some his book as well... Damm i wish was in Sydney this long easter weekend

[gofucoffee]

Enjoy it??

I think I "JIZZED IN MY PANTS"!

[haugstule]

it`s like porn to watch this... gets me all worked-up just listening to it :)

[boubou4703]

amazing, beautiful, etc Thanks to show us this amazing bike.

[fnposer]

wow

[Izzetafox]

Wow Kork! what a treat to find this vid. Awesome machine with a sound to match. Make some more noise, screw the neighbours! (Think this vid has just woken the wife & kids up!) Brings back many happy memories of the glory days of GP racing. 2 strokes 4 ever!!

[gbh903]

Beautiful!!

[nosharpe]

A winning combination.

Kork & Kawa & Kastle (sic)... well perhaps a Windhoek.

Great pity Kawasaki never really featured in 2 stroke 500cc GP bikes.

[mk1xr21]

the wife has just shouted "turn that down" fantastic!!!! real race bikes are all 2 strokes!!!!

[Harno3]

Hummm!!! Beautiful sound,very nice video!

[HollisterSA]

Hey Kork... now this brings back memories.... remember the old hesketh track and racing days.... bike still looks good boet, hope you and family are all good. will chat soon

Allan Hollister

[bediasamaro]

I still remember the pictures of Ballington and his Kawasaki back in the late 70's in some Motociclismo magazines we could get to at that time in Cuba. So now -thirty years later- the sound of it comes to complete the whole idea. When it warmed up a little, it came to roar as expected, and it convinced.

Engines are like living creatures. Thank you champ for posting that for us to enjoy.

[skyy72]

great bike! thanx for sharing

[Marillionado]

Never saw him race but like any proper Kawa fan, his there in my "Green Meanies" Olimpus.

Would like to know how many of today's champs could undo they're bikes like this...or even change a spark plug for what that matters :-)

Thanks for posting.

[aaab01]

Outstanding Driver. Double-Champion 250 and 350 cc in 1978 and 1979!!!

[skinnyhawk]

Outstanding Sir!

[nametalcraft]

Mr. coke and I haven't seen you for a long time.

It is a hermit of former Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd..

[rscudiver]

Very nice. Thank you for that. Bike sounds AMAZING.

[nghonleong]

great to see a champ doing this just for kicks.....freddie or eddie - where r u?

just curious to ask - seem like shot in downunder...is kork there now?

[DollhouseBloodbath]

good guess

[umiskivinick]

wow.

thanks for sharing this mate.

[620yam]

awesome simply awesome you cant beat that beautiful two stroke grand prix sound and that dry clutch and kork's sense of humour.

they should change back to the beasts in moto gp

[soaldama]

FANTASTIC..... i mis the two stokes.

Bye..Bye

[Bigboomer]

As much as a two stroke is a fun ride, there's nothing else like the sound of a inline 4 street bike wailing up to 15k rpm

[hud42cdo]

hell-yeh!saw one of these on the island at TT100-granty was lighting it up sideways,then up on 1 wheel in every gear away from quarter bridge-as KORK turns the KR off,i could hear the blood flying round my head-FANTASTIC!!

green meanies.

[1980Z1MAN]

Daddy like! good vid.

[notondearchap]

thank you

[sodhill]

ahh the gingle of a dry clutch

[mrrampantrabbit]

Hey great bike......good interesting video too.....any chance of seeing it go as in go????

Regards Ben

[zoomerx]

I love this bike, I have a scale model version made by Tamiya. Ballington was a great rider.

[gewis]

thank you a real legend

[dennisaap]

that bike amazing ! thanks 1

[craig50]

This is bike porn.

[Santiagonow]

Thanks Kork, this is so much appreciated. Makes me wonder how great it would have been for us all if Kawasaki had decided to produce a road version of this one like the RG, RD and NSR did in the mid 80´s. My pick would have been the Kawasaki. Looking forward for more on your bike, best regards from Chile!

[rick0000122]

Thanks from the U.S. Kork! I showed the vid to my 13yr old.....your neighbors must love ya!

[pastrana1969]

great clip thanks that kawa doesnt look 25 yrs old when it was 'naked' the 2 strokes sound great

[86GAMMA]

Thanks for this great posting! Straight into my favorites!

[tr1ckcyclist]

Outstanding! How about you and the bike coming to Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2008? We'd love to see you.

[cronauer1985]

to right would sound great.

[cronauer1985]

what a sound. looks and sounds great with a true legend . great vid .

[750three]

Great Clip, Kork must have asbestos thighs!!

as he was riding the thing with no bodywork on, and he must have been right on top of those pipes!

[RobertD8]

Thanks for the vid!

nice bike

[Smokie7333]

Great Video & Bike Kork - Sounds so Right!.

Not as fast as my Kawasaki H1b though!.....:) Hmmm I wish!?.

Hope to see you next Year in Person at the Stafford Classic Bike Show.

[2stokemusicboi]

cheers for the vid, cool guy cooler bike sounds beutiful

[Jarnoparoni]

Hello Kork! As a boy 15 years old I see you often 1979 at the track. Remembering your great riding still - brilliant!! You are one of the best in Grand Prix racing history. Great video, thanks! Regards from Germany, Torsten

[tdmrat]

In those days as a kid of twelve,thirteen years old, i was a big fan of Kork Ballington and Kawa! thanks for showing this wonderful bike!

[yzr500owc1]

One of the most beautiful machines ever both physically and musically and along with one of the most talented riders to ever grace a Kawi. Thanks for the memories Kork!!

[herman125]

Luckely I saw Kork riding in Assen late '70 on the 250 and 350 as well. A shame the 500 couldn't compete with the other bikes.

[sitnolg]

What a boytjie and from Natal nogal!! I cant wait to read his recently launched autobiography "Ballington Unkorked". Brisbane, you are lucky to have one of South Africas winning sons.

[auto4union]

A real "Green Meanie" This guy was multiple 250 AND 350 world champion on Kwaks before they pulled out of GPs in `79 or `80 I think! Cool guy alright!!

[gixxerhogger]

what a treat! cool guy too

[leefortes]

Excellent!

Excellent!

[medfexer]

Beautiful!

[fnposer]

first time i've seen that bike with "clothes" on :D

[Jimbmc45]

I used to have a Suzook GT750 with all-speed expansions and it sounded much like that. Some of th fabrication work, like the swing arm, are really home made looking by todays standards

[awesker0]

Music to my ears!

That baby is totally unreal! I remember my dad telling me about those engine setups, nice to finally hear and see one, I think they sound nicer than the more modern v4 strokes. Take care of her mate!

[tonoKR250andKR1]

I was very impressed. Thank you very much!

[rooskie]

EXCELLENT.

man.. i'd love to fit soem lights and take it out on some mountian roads...

thanks for posting that! great to see it not sitting 'on a shelf' so to speak.

[AbleBaker1]

Went to YouTube to get the URL of that wonderful GP at Silverstone between Kenny Roberts and Barry and look what I found. Superb ! A wonderful talk through of the Kwacker's qualities - with humour. The only thing missing is pizza ! A new video AND a new book ! Where do you find time for a Castle ?

[cryogeneric]

excellent vid...

You've *GOT* to post some track day stuff. I would love to see that baby on a circuit again.

[snetterton88]

Superb,thanks for posting this,did Kawasaki give the bike as a present?Best get her out on track soon to keep the wheels turning!

If you do can I have a go!?!

[xJakeYx]

Around 1985 the MD of KMUK, Chuck Nakajima gave me my choice of one of any of the old GP bikes which were in the old race workshop. The '82 KR500 is technically amazing and I chose our "spare" as it had just been overhauled and hardly raced. I am in love with it! A "go" would cost a lot mate!

[JBT2E0JYM]

great video.

[NICKRGV]

Made my day,cheers Kork

[rocknroller367]

That is an awesome video! I have a great poster of Kork in my garage riding a KR500, scaping the crap out of the side of the fairing. I believe it's from the Fench GP @ Paul Richard in '81 or '82. Definitely one of the great racers of the time.

Thanks for a great video Uncle Kork! Just wish you would bring that beast to the motorcycle shows for Kawasaki. It woud be awesome to meet in person.

Cheers!

[mikitrimiki]

Can I ride it to my wedding?

[zx140rc]

That's really great of you to record and post that video Kork. It's cool for guys my age to see the machines with this type of technology as it flowed though to all the sportbikes I was into as a teenager.

[RickyJ46]

Cheers Kork, that was beyond fabulous!

I think a similar bike almost ended Eddie Lawson's career in 1982 at Laguna Seca.

[GaryMulcahey]

Thanks for that video.

G

[rg500delta]

By god, that bike looks and sounds fantastic. What a terrific video. Thanks, Kork!!

[Z1RD1]

WOW ! That's brilliant.

[brucewyoung]

Thanks for posting this---What a beauty!!!

[getnjgywitit]

Very cool video!

[southafricabev]

Brings back memories. Take care Uncle Kork.

[scope5k]

Nice video, Geoff your nephew here by the way.

[xJakeYx]

Hey Geoff thanks for the comment. Your videos are cool. well done. Uncle Kork