Roger Lee Hayden has been riding a privateer kawasaki in World Super Bike this year. With Randy D's leg broken, RLH will get to ride in MotoGP next to his older bro Nicky. Nicky is on the Ducati, Roger Lee will be on Randy's Honda, partially sponsored by Playboy. You can see how enjoyable riding a Honda can be.
I wish Roger the best, he really needs a break to get himself back on track. I was thinking about how much things have changed concerning the formula that made this happen. 1.) U.S Honda recommended him after getting a little input by Nicky and Kevin schwantz. 2.) Roger has historically been a Kawasaki guy. 3.) Nicky left Honda under not so nice terms and now rides for Ducati 4.) Kevin Schwantz has always been associated with being a Suzuki guy I really think that all of these factors coming together really does show what can happen when the love of the game takes top billing over corporate marketing and contractual obligations. This is kind of how it used to be, I guess "back in the day" has suddenly become today. BTW, most folks don't realize that Roger finished a very respectable 7th at Laguna in his maiden MotoGP wildcard attempt on the Kawasaki.
I remember Roger Lee at Laguna. It was what made me think we'd be seeing much more of him. I wish I had known when I was a kid that real people actually could make a living racing motorcycles... Too bad my dad was a Harley guy more concerned with helmet laws than racing...