Featured In the October 2020 issue of Roadracing World: 

          Englishman John Cooper was a well-known professional motorcycle racer in the 1960s and 1970s. By the late 1960s, 250cc and 350cc GP classes were being dominated by Yamaha TDs and TRs. Four-strokes and European two-strokes were out-classed in speed but not always handling.

          Cooper raced a TD1C (See the April 2016 issue of Roadracing World, Historic Racebike Illustrations) in 1968 and hated the handling, especially on public road circuits. Realizing his Seeley Mk3 7R was getting out-paced, Cooper bought a 350cc Yamaha TR2 for the 1970 season. 

          While evaluating his Seeley 7R vs. the TR2, Cooper suffered a bad crash on the TR2. A friend drove Cooper’s Thames van home while Cooper lay in the back between his two 350s. During the trip Cooper thought of combining the handling of his Seeley with the performance of the TR2 …

—Historic Racebike Illustrations: 1970 Yamsel TR2, by Mick Ofield

            Slotting Yamaha race engines into better frames was not new; Rod Gould had successfully raced a Yamaha TD1C engine in a Bultaco frame. But Yamsel hybrids had a remarkably long and competitive run, racing at the front for nearly a decade. Read all the details in the October issue of Roadracing World!

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