Talking to the Indy Star, Mark Miles (CEO of Hulman & Co, the parent company to Indianapolis Motor Speedway) has put some doubt into the historic venue’s commitment to host the MotoGP Championship. Having a contract to run the race through the 2014 season, Miles said that IMS might opt-out of the final year in its agreement with Dorna (IMS apparently has this option for a brief window after the 2013 Indianapolis GP). However while the news has focused so far on IMS’s ability to opt-out, both Dorna and Indianapolis Motor Speedway have options in their contract to go through with the 2014 round, and with a bevy of variables in the air, we may or may not see three American GP rounds next year.
Surprise! America will be getting a 847cc three-cylinder naked bike for the 2014 model year, the 2014 Yamaha FZ-09. Replacing the Yamaha FZ8 in the Japanese company’s line-up, the FZ-09 is the first motorcycle from the tuning fork brand to sport the Yamaha’s new line of three-cylinder engines. The Yamaha FZ-09 comes about as the MIC is reporting its second-consecutive year of growth in the 751+cc sport bike segment, as well as increase in commuter riding over short-distance sport riding. With those trends in mind, Yamaha has punched out the displacement on its middleweight naked bike, and focused on giving riders a comfortable, yet stout, motorcycle. Priced at $7,990 MSRP, we think Yamaha hit the nail pretty much on the head with this one.
In the past few years I’ve come to believe that, while superior physical differences (their reflexes and fine motor skills) are significant, it’s the mental differences that are the most interesting. I suppose anyone who has ridden a motorcycle even a bit beyond one’s comfort zone can appreciate some part of the physical aspect of riding a racing bike. For most of us, even the speed of racers in local events is impressive compared to our street riding. While the skills with throttle, brakes, and balance are on a level similar to the best athletes in other sports, I think that what really sets motorcycle racers apart is their ability to overcome fear.
The progress in the last five years on electric motorcycles has been astounding. Taking their first laps around the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course, a 87.434 mph pace was the best an electric motorcycle could do at the prestigious road race in 2009 — a pace that was on par with the 50cc record set in 1971. In just five years after the first laps were taken by electric motorcycles at Snaefell, these machines have grown their average lap speeds by over 20 mph at the TT Zero race, setting a new record of 109.675 mph in 2013, and boasting a rate of improvement of roughly 5 mph each year since 2009. If hitting 142.2 mph down the Sulby Straight speed trap wasn’t further proof of the speeds these bikes are achieving, maybe some visual evidence will help support the notion.
Darius Glover is a dirt bike racer. Like you and me, he lives to ride, and when he is on two-wheels he feels the freedom that only other motorcyclists can truly understand. The thing is though, Darius is paralyzed from the waist down. Where others would give up their dreams and this sport, Darius at the age of 15 instead pushed onward. No pity parties, no excuses, just simply a daily example of where there is a will, there is a way, and a reminder that you can achieve anything that you put your mind to. It’s hard not to get a bit choked up listening to Darius tell his story, but you walk away feeling uplifted after feeling his attitude come across the screen.
Any race where 1,500 riders start, 500 qualify, and only 14 finish, has got to be an epic competition, and considering the fact that the Erzberg Rodeo starts in the excavation pit of an Austrian mine…well, it takes a special rider to be enticed by such an event. One such special rider is Graham Jarvis, who was the first of the fourteen men to reach the 20th and final checkpoint. Taking 2 hours and 52 seconds to complete the course, Jarvis made the 2013 Erzberg Rodeo look downright easy. However, with one look at the race-day conditions from this past weekend, we know it was anything but.
While normally, MotoGP fans never get enough of seeing Valentino Rossi on TV, there is one shot they would (for the most part) gladly be spared. As he leaves the pits, Rossi stands on the footpegs, and pulls his leathers from between his buttocks, before sitting back down again and leaving. These rituals – part useful limbering up, part invocation of Lady Luck – are something many riders perform, in their attempt to exert control over themselves, and over their environment. In a fascinating press release – by far the most interesting we have received in many months – the Aspar team today provided a discussion and explanation of what riders are trying to achieve through the use of these rituals.
Hoping to make it four wins in a row, it goes without saying that the MotoCzysz crew is working hard to close the gap to the John McGuinness and the Mugen team. However, having Team Principal Michael Czysz stuck back in the US, undergoing cancer treatments, must certainly add another level of motivation for the on-island MotoCzysz crew. Making time in their busy schedule, Asphalt & Rubber got to take some up-close photos of the 2013 MotoCzysz E1pc. The most obvious changes made to the MotoCzysz E1pc for the 2013 TT Zero race are the use conventional suspension pieces. Of course, it’s not a completely standard suspension setup, as MotoCzysz has developed its own adjustable triple clamp that incorporates tunable lateral flex parameters.
Max Biaggi is to make a surprise return to riding a MotoGP machine. The former 250 and World Superbike champion will take a seat on Ben Spies’ Ignite Pramac Ducati as part of a one-day test at Mugello, as part of Ducati’s testing program, according to Italian site GPOne. Spies was scheduled to stay on at Mugello to take part in a two-day test, but after the first day of practice at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, it was clear to both Spies and Ducati that his shoulder was still too weak to ride a MotoGP machine. With work continuing on the Desmosedici, it was important for Ducati to get as much data as possible on their bike, and so Biaggi was offered the chance to ride the machine.
Just as our Bothan spies had predicted, the folks in Varese, Italy have debuted an 800cc version of the MV Agusta F3. The new machine is cleverly named the MV Agusta F3 800, and as you may expect, the street bike features the 798cc three-cylinder engine that is found on the MV Agusta Brutale 800 and the still unreleased MV Agusta Rivale. Pepping that three-cylinder motor up to 146hp (note: MV Agusta continues to have some trouble converting kW into horsepower, and other publications continue to fail at checking MV’s math. Last we checked, 108.8 kW equalled 145.9 hp), MV Agusta has wedged the lump into its supersport chassis, and reports that no additional weight has come as a result.
If there ever was a bike that looked like a lounge sofa seat on wheels this has to be it.!
And that luggage capacity is bigger than the fridge at home.
Great bike but for gods sake, it looks like a bowling shoe.
I’ve never ridden one, but am told (by a fellow sport bike guy) that they are surprisingly sporty and entertaining to ride.
Honda did freshen the bike up but in my opinion it was not enough. In comparason, look what BMW did, say good bye to the LT and new from the ground up the GT and GTL. Folks from an outsider looking in, has Honda done any homework to find our why the BMW’s share of the market has grown far and above all the other Japanese OEM’s. Every e-magazine and print media well have a hay day when they do a comparason test between these two competitors. With the Middle East in crisis and gas prices starting to go up, the Honda can haul and tow but not with a great miles per gallon numbers to claim any efficientcy. BMW now has a power plant to compete, with a motorcyle that weighs 200lbs. less than the Wing. Both bikes are top of the line touring machines and when released the proof will be in the pudding. Happy Trails.
RT @Asphalt_Rubber: 2012 Honda Goldwing Gets Minor Tweaks – http://aspha.lt/b2 #motorcycle
In 20 years when I’m getting into the demographic for this pipe and slippers davenport, I’m getting an old Ferarri or Porsche instead. Death to ugly old guy stuff!
@BikePilot: A friend let me borrow his 2008 model for an evening trip and I was quite surprised at how agile a bike it is. There’s no doubt you’re riding 900lbs of bike that takes up a lot of real estate but because the CG is so low and it is so well balanced, it never FEELS like the luxo-barge it is. If I had a spare 10G+ and room in the garage, I would go for a low-mileage, used sample in a heart beat. The wife absolutely loved the passenger accommodations which really isn’t too surprising since her basis for comparison is my 2002 SV650S. If your local dealer does so, I would highly recommend you schedule a test ride.
This is the gold standard of long-haul touring bikes. BMW, Victory’s Vision, and more are all after a piece of this thing’s market. It really is a 2-wheeled Cadillac convertible, and feels like you’ve stepped onto a Prevost Tour bus after getting off most other motorcycles. Not real crazy about these trim styles, but they were certainly eye-popping in the bright yellow from a few years back.
After the automatic transmissions Honda is running recently the NEXT GW will be very interesting, and I don’t imagine it’s far off.
And oh yes, it’s ‘quick for a big man’: A motorcycle officer friend has one of these as his personal ride. One afternoon, he’s two up with the wife on a local interstate bypass. Kid on a 600 sporty pulls alongside, lets my friend know that he thinks he can smoke them: The wife pokes him in the ribs, so he wheelies the thing at 70, drops the wheel back down, drops two gears and he’s waiting for the kid at the bottom of the next exit. Brainless pulls up and wants to know ‘where’s the nitrous bottle?’
Every time I think of a GW I always get the same mental picture: I always seem to see them out on the interstate, usually a two-up older couple, matching helmets, etc. . . . . and they always look really happy. Can’t ask for more than that, and if I had to ride a LONG way, there’s nothing better.