While qualifying May 11 for the North West 200, one of the world’s fastest international road races held in Northern Ireland and a precursor to the Isle of Man TT, John McGunniness suffered a nasty crash.The 23-time Isle of Man TT winner McGuinness broke his lower-left leg, four vertebrae and three back ribs. He was transported to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where he continues undergoing various treatments to his broken leg.John McGuinness North West 200 Injury Update
Unfortunately, McGuinness was forced to miss the North West 200, where he has claimed six race wins, and will miss this year’s Isle of Man TT.McGuinness released a statement Wednesday from the hospital, where he remains until further notice.The Honda Racing CBR1000RR pilot says: “I really am truly overwhelmed with the amount of support and well wishes that have been flooding in since my accident at the North West 200 last Thursday. Both myself and the wife (Becky) have received so much support and I cannot thank the race fans, industry people, the medical teams and fellow racers enough; all your messages do help pull me through the dark hours.“I’m still at the Royal Victoria Hospital undergoing various treatments for my leg injury; the fixator is still yet to be fitted as they don’t want to run the risk of infection, so at the moment it is day-by-day.“I’m not going to lie, missing the TT this year is going to hurt, but I will be watching and keeping an eye on everything! Good luck to all the lads heading out there; if I am able to head over then of course I will be there, but at the moment everything is day-by-day and I just have to do what I can to recover and get better. It’s going to be a long road ahead, but I have a great support network around me, so I have to be patient and take each day as it comes.“Thank you again!”Honda Racing says stay tuned for further updates.Another famous Honda rider, Nicky Hayden, was injured this week during a bicycle accident in Italy. For more, visit Nicky Hayden Bicycle Crash.
Associate Editor Teejay Adams recently attended the Yamaha Champions Riding School in Las Vegas, and she took with her the Yamaha XSR900 that she’s been riding for a while. This is the retro-style version of the MT-09, and Teejay gives us her impressions of the bike, including her thoughts versus the XSR700 that she rode previously.
The guest segment of Motos and Friends is brought to you by the faster and most technologically advanced, 2023 Suzuki Hayabusa—one of the most iconic sportbikes ever. Check it out in person at your local Suzuki dealer now, or visit suzukicycles.com to learn more.
In our second segment, Teejay chats with Cait Maher, a contributing journalist at motorcycle.com and owner of a Yamaha TW200. The two ladies met at the recent launch of Kawasaki’s dual sport KLX230s. Teejay is a total novice off-road. Cait however, although quite experienced in the dirt including her recent venture on the District 37 Barstow to Las Vegas dual-sport ride, still doesn’t consider herself an expert. Both of these girls have a positive, upbeat attitude, and their fun, energetic outlook shines through. Cait is definitely a give-it-a-go type of personality. Her take on the various challenges, experiences and adventures that she’s had make for fun listening.
