PPIHC: Carlin Dunne Sets Outright Best Motorcycle Time at Pikes Peak Tire Test on a Lightning Motorcycle

The competitors for the 91st Pikes Peak International Hill Climb have just concluded a two-day tire test at the Colorado road course, and it should perhaps come as no surprise that our boy Carlin Dunne has posted the outright fastest lap for a motorcycle during the tire test (the Santa Barbara native set the outright two-wheeled course record last year on his Ducati Multistrada 1200 S). What is surprising about Carlin’s result at the tire test is that he was on the Lightning Motorcycles electric superbike. That’s right, the fastest bike so far for 2013′s Race to the Clouds is a 200+ hp electric superbike that is refueled with solar energy. Petrol heads, eat your heart out.

Report: Indianapolis “Opting-Out” of 2014 MotoGP Race?

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.

2014 Yamaha FZ-09 – Three Cylinders of Naked

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.

Trackside Tuesday: The Mind-Killer

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.

Video: Still Think Electric Motorcycles Are Slow?

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.

Here’s Your Feel Good Moment of the Week — Now, What’s Your Excuse for Not Riding Today?

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.

Erzberg Rodeo – Red Bull’s S&M Playhouse for Motorcycles

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.

Controlling the Uncontrollable – The Role of Ritual in Racing

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.

Up-Close with the 2013 MotoCzysz E1pc

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.

MotoGP: Max Biaggi To Test Ben Spies’s Ducati at Mugello, Michele Pirro To Replace Spies at Barcelona

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.

Spy Shot: Honda CBF Spotted – 700cc Naked Middleweight

05/24/2011 @ 3:10 pm, by Jensen Beeler9 COMMENTS

Spy Shot: Honda CBF Spotted   700cc Naked Middleweight Honda CBF spy photo 635x476

Spy photographers Brenda Priddy & Company have snapped some more shots of soon-to-be Honda motorcycles, with perhaps the best find being a new CBF model (click here for photos on Motorcycle-USA) that appears to be an automatic unit, possibly a dual-clutch transmission equipped model.

The naked street bike slots in with the middleweight offerings that we’ve recently seen from a bevy of manufacturers, the most notable of which being the Yamaha Fazer8. Not much is known about the new Honda model, as the Japanese company is notoriously well known for keeping its projects under wraps, though we can likely expect a debut of the new CBF later this autumn.

Differentiating itself from the rest of the middleweight crowd, the new Honda CBF comes noticeably without a clutch lever and shifter-pedal, which lends us to our belief that the model will be an automatic, though it could carryover Honda’s dual-clutch transmission.

With the previously European-only CB1000R making its way to American soil, it’ll be interesting to see if the smaller CBF finds its way to the US as well. For our European brothers and sisters, the ~700cc should slot the bike in well with the 600cc and 1,000cc variations of the CBF.

Source: Motorcycle-USA

Comment:

  1. MikeD says:

    YAWN, I’LL PASS…what else is new ?

  2. Isaac Chavira says:

    @MikeD

    Why yawn at this bike? Is it because it’s not a 1000cc mohawk inducing ‘squid saddle’?

    I think it’s going to be great and given the fact that it’s a small bike that most likely will not be thirsty for dead dinosaurs.

  3. Damo says:

    Could be a great bike I have a Honda Hornet for many years and loved it, but I am dying to see what the respin on the Fireblade is going to be for next year. I am a huge Honda fanboy, but they REALLY need to update that litre bike.

  4. MikeD says:

    Isaac:

    Thanks for implying that im a SQUID, SADLY…im not. I wear ALL the gear, don’t know how to wheely and own an old SV1000N NOT some 190mph 195hp TORTURE RACK superbike.

    Do u happen to be from Europe ? That would explain a lot of your reaction to “my opinion” about your ALWAYS THE MASS MEDIA’S DARLING LAME A$$ HONDA.

    I say it like i saw it, A BLAND P.O.S that doesn’t give me BIKE WOOD. It works for u ? That’s cool, variety is the spice of life. (^_^ )

    If we all wanted the same life would so cookie cutter…and that’s just wrong.

  5. Isaac Chavira says:

    @MikeD

    No I’m not from Europe (US Navy Air Traffic Controller, VET) and I never said that you were a squid. I also do not like Hondas very much myself. You do have to admit they are in a new market niche. Take for example the CBR250. It’s great for 10yr old boys trapped in 16yr old bodies. This way there is a safer alternative to them buying R6′s the first time they want to own a sport bike. This 700cc will be a good starter bike as well. They key is safety and value. Our economy isn’t inspiring confidence for manufacturers abroad. I mean look at what Suzuki did with the 2010′ machines. KTM is bringing in a small bike too (125 Duke).

  6. Tom Z says:

    A little bland. But I am digging the fact that they are straying away from the standard tri-spokes which should have stayed in the 80′s.

  7. MikeD says:

    @Isaac:

    10yr old boys trapped in 16yr old bodies….LMAO, Priceless.

    Ok, i get your Drift… True, u can’t blame them for trying something else (bland or not). Everybody in the industry is hurting and looking for new ways to get those $$$.
    This might be someone’s ideal bike for all i know… lol, i should’ve taken it easier in my response…after all, no one will force me to buy it… (^_^ )’

    @TomZ:

    Yes, the new wheel pattern is a welcomed change.

  8. Hasmizal says:

    glad if this model come to Malaysia.. ;-)

  9. BBQdog says:

    ‘Middleweight’ is 150 kg without petrol ????