Boonie Knott talks to Jim Knipp after the two battled in a WERA Formula One race. (Larry Lawrence photo)
This is a classic from the archives. Boonie Knott (left) talks to Jim Knipp after the two battled in a WERA Formula One race at Indianapolis Raceway Park in April of 1985. Knott was on a Suzuki RG500 GP machine, while Knipp rode a Yamaha YZ500. The two obliterated the field and had their own personal battle. Riding full-on GP bikes at IRP had to be an eye opener, as the expression on Knott’s face shows.
I don’t recall, but I probably used some smart aleck headline in my story like “Knott Nips Knipp” or “Knipp Can’t Undo Knott”. Gary van Voorhis, with Cycle News at the time, told me there was a club racer in the South by the name of Michael Tuck. He’d always hoped that Jim Knipp would have raced Tuck with the resulting headline that would read something like – “It’s Knipp and Tuck at Road Atlanta”.
Rider Files 
Bonnie Knott TTFN = Ta Ta For Now…. He’s a cool dude.
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Troy,
For sure Boonie is a very good guy. He’d race you hard, then go over and have a beer with you to talk about the race.
LL
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Hey Larry,
Jimmy’s Yamaha was a 1982 TZ500 J model. That was the third of only three years Yamaha produced a production spec formula bike; 1980, TZ500 G & 1981, TZ500 H models. Jim bought it brand new, in the crate from the Yamaha distributor in France and shipped it back to Indianapolis in 1984. I have photos someplace of us uncrating it in the back of the old Greenwood Honda dealership and Jimmy riding it up and down Stop 18 Road south of Greenwood, IN. Oh the memories!
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Oh, I just noticed that photo is taken in front of my 1885 Chevy van we drove all over the country chasing WERA trophies!
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First and foremost, Big thanks Larry for this Great website that brings back so many memories for so many of us. I enjoy everything you have posted. I would like to personally thank Mr. Greg L. Sickmeier for all that he did for me during all our racing efforts.{YZ-TZ)? I would also like to thank Marc Wertzberger for all of his help and support all of those great racing years…..I could have not been there without them.. Again,Larry Awesome site…Thanks , Jim
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Jim
Great to have you stop by the site. The whole Indy crew – Greg, Hamp, Jeffries, Stu, Gene, Duane, Marc and you had so much influence on me and my love of the sport. I owe you a special debt of gratitude. Remember when you broke all those bits safety wiring my old GS750? Fun days.
LL
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Jim, here’s what the 500J looks like today. Hope it pastes to the page. If not, send me a note: rusty@sbt.net Cheers.
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Oh yeah, the memories ….. these guys were in their heyday when I was just starting in roadracing. I ended up buying Jim Knipp’s KZ650 Superbike from another racer many years ago. I rebuilt it and then sold it to another racer, Wes Orloff who is supposed to be redoing it again for AHRMA racing. He’s promised me a few laps on it when it’s ready.
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I have an old picture of me and John Kangas standing around a brand fresh TZ500 at Blackhawk. my recollection is that the rider had not gotten around to buying new tires for it and went out on what he called rim protectors and promptly crashed it.
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