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.
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.
As I own a Triumph and lust for the new Norton, I’m all for the restoration of iconic brands but really, does the world need another weighty air-cooled V-Twin?
Here’s hoping that the next generation of Indians will move into this century. Inline four, anyone? The longitudinal kind!
The weighty v-twin market is the largest market segment in the US.
I believe they will sell very well now that they have a strong backer and the right target market. When you buy a Harley, you buy an aggressive image (no matter how much HD Marketing tries to change that), and people who are put off by that have been looking to Triumph and the Japanese Cruisers. Being that the Indian Brand is where HD first stole their design format from, buying an Indian is inherently cooler and much more appealing just due to the fact that they are the “True Original”.
If I had my choice between buying and Indian, Harley or Victory, I would buy the Indian no question. Followed easily by the Victory (Stunning motorcycles and MODERN).
I suspect there are many other potential buyers out there who will agree, with their cash at the Indian dealer.
Great, great…thats all fine and dandy, heritage and W/E…now build something that a YOUNG guy like me could be interested into and doesn’t have to take an equity loan on the house to be able to afford it.
Only because it’s essentially the only design available in a cruiser. If I was inclined towards riding a Lazy Boy (the day is getting closer; I’m 53), the only bike I’d consider would be the 1700cc T-Bird, a parallel Twin.
Yup, that ThunderBird Storm(comes 1700cc standard unlike regular ThunderBird[1600]) looks better and better by the day…Fugly Rad Plastic Shroud and all…lol.
these guys really need to build a burt munroe replica for promotional purposes…
If the use of the Indian name helps Polaris sell more american made motorcycles and creates more jobs then i wish them well. I just wish we could make something other than cruisers.Triumph has a well rounded product line and seems to be holding on to their heritage just fine. They also seem to be selling a lot of bikes in America that aren’t all cruisers.
As a brand, Indian has a long, long way to go. At this point, the bikes are powered by a Harley Evo derived powerplant that is not counterbalanced and is solid mounted in the frame. Out of date even by cruiser standards and no vibration isolation whatsoever. None of the current model line up is competetive with Harley’s current offerings in fit, finish and overall quality, not to mention driveability. Polaris has its work cut out for it with a total makeover required to meet market standards.
All that pontificating being out of the way, perhaps a return to Indian’s more sporting roots might be a better idea along with a longitudinal 4 as mentioned above. Be DIFFERENT when resurecting the brand (again) and perhaps sales will follow.
I’m all for a return to the brand’s sporting roots, but umm, I4s are iky.
Now I’m not one of those highly educated market analysts, but maybe there’s a reason this brand keeps going down? I would like to say something positive here, but I can’t foresee this doing anything but ending in tears for all involved. Motus, on the other hand, is on to something good, I think.
I dont think people understand…
Victory is polaris’s modern cruiser brand with all the latest developments and gadgets that your expect on a refined modern cruiser.
the Indian is at the other end of the spectrum, it is meant to be about herritage and vintage…
this way polaris can take on harley davidson from both angles…
There is an old saying about insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I expect the same here. Ot the critics of the critics, we aren’t saying Indian needs to make a GSX-R1000 competitor, but Indian, to be a genuine and viable company, needs to be more than a parts-bin rip off of a Harley clone. Eller was set to make Indian epic and the judge who gave the IP rights to Gilroy damned the brand to a decade of virtual non-existence.
Jensen, you mention that the US is the world’s largest V-Twin market and this is true. However, Honda is still a pretty large motorcycle company without any domination of the V-Twin USA market. Indian cannot afford to think so provincially.
+1…@Tom.
Tom I don’t think Polaris’s strategy is really the same as Honda. The Honda brand makes a bike in virtually every segment. Polaris seems to want to hold a single brand in each segment, and here is making a distinction between the heritage cruiser (Indian) and new age cruiser (Victory).
What I think people are overlooking is the fact that Harley-Davidson is currently holding the keys to a very large group of riders. That’s a lucrative opportunity, and as far as brands go, only Indian could rival the Bar & Shield on American motorcycle heritage.
For those that want to see Indian a performance brand, you’re blowing in the breeze. You’d be better off putting pressure on Polaris to buy Erik Buell Racing.
Polaris doesn’t just seem to want to, they have to. They have no choice but to be provincial. Honda can lose the US market entirely and though a very serious blow, Honda would survive. Polaris only has the USA market and its not as large or powerful as it once was.
Erik Buell is a god only to the fan boys. His name carries no cache around the world and he’ll be about as influential in the motorcycle world as SSC is in the super car world – a lot of talk and an overprice prototype but not much else. And, I think that you are way over valuing Harley and its riders as though they are a growing market. No company lusts after Harley’s market, oh Harley’s sales numbers, but not their clientele. Harley is to bikes what Buick is to cars. Sure, they sell a lot but their market is not expanding (except for Buick in China, but that’s a different story…)
I also think that you think that those calling for Indian to have some performance expect Indian to make nothing but a “rice rocket”. Again, this is not a market blowing up with potential. What those of us saying Indian needs to be more than a one trick Harley knock off clone are saying is that Polaris needs to diversify Indian beyond the old man needing an object to feel validated in order to attract more customers. Cadillac offers the perfect example on what Indian needs to do. Cadillac in the past 10 years has offered something for everyone – two-door coupe, SUV, wagon, sport wagon, sedan, sport sedan, and a little-blue-haired-old-lady land barge. Indian doesn’t need to enter MotoGP, but something like a Suzuki SV650/Ducati Monster would not be a bad start. Even MV Agusta realized that over priced poseurmobiles are not enough to stay afloat. Indian can do the same without in any way damaging the brand. In fact, maintaining the status quo is more damaging to the brand than what Eller had proposed.