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.
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Great story. Shame about the music, especially when they interrupted him mid sentence to bring us more of the song.
Oi, that’s not fair, he’s way lighter than his competitors!
joking aside, he is truly an inspiration. A man with true balls of steel.
W/e bitchin, complaint or problem that i had today have been completely made irrelevant AND burried by this.
This guy just made me feel like some ungrateful S.O.B with no missing limbs (not that i want to miss any of it).
U Sr. have a will, BALLS and skills made of steel.
Carry on, inspire and empower others less fortunate in your same situation and/or condition.
I know Alan reasonably well and I can tell you that he is every bit as inspiring as the video shows him to be. Respect in scarcely adequate.
back in the 90′s i was racing and in the field was a guy who lost his right lower leg. well, he lowsided and was fine, but his prosthesis detached.
i’ll never forget the look of the corner worker who picked up his “leg.”
PRICELESS.
good laugh that day.
Wow. That guy’s really somethin’.
I think I heard of Alan a while ago when he was still trying to get his racing licenses etc. all in order. Was turning out to be a bit of a challenge…
Glad to know that he has done it!
BADASS! A will of iron and balls of steel. This man knows how to live.
I’ve been keeping an eye on Al for a little over a year now. He’s truly been an inspiration to everyone I’ve shared his story with. These men and women who race with disabilities are everywhere. They are amazing people, often racing on outdated, ill-equipped machines, simply to enjoy the sport. Makes u step back and think when the last time was that you enjoyed the sport the way they do. RESPECT!!!
Go to the face Book page for Left Side Story Alan Kempster Committee and LIKE the page if you think Alan is worth supporting. We are trying to help him fulfil his dreams. Have started to get him sponsors and things are starting to finally look up for him.
Mans tears.
MikeD agreed.
Proud to be Australian because of Alan.. Very proud.
Are Australian’s a different breed of racers ??? This man is a great inspiration to all with or w/o limbs !!!
grit
@Kevin: “Go to the face Book page for Left Side Story Alan Kempster Committee and LIKE the page if you think Alan is worth supporting.”
Done, mate! :-D
Man what a dude!! Sky’s the limit just have to aim for it unbelievable determination good for him…..
RT @Asphalt_Rubber: Left Side Story – Why Alan Kempster is Your Personal Hero http://t.co/FgMWB3Js
The country is one where much of the flora and fauna are very dangerous. Its people are made of seriously tough stock.
to say our Flora and Fauna are very dangerous, that’s highly amusing.
Alan is a lesson to everyone to take matters into your own hands to acheive what you want – inspirational video but really annoying how the music is brought in over him telling his story, drowning him out. Sack the sound editor please, now.
My dad was a quadriplegic, then triple amputee later in his life and I ride a motorcycle every day. It’s very inspirational to see someone rise up and refuse to abandon his passion.
“to say our Flora and Fauna are very dangerous, that’s highly amusing.”
I’m delighted to have amused you. A number of friends have regaled me over the years with tales of being chased(!) by eastern taipan and mates suffering from necrosis after being bitten on the sack (eep!) by redbacks. The risks of diving (one friend was an instructor for years) made light venomous fish, stingray and box jellyfish that could all kill ya. Yay! More venomous snakes than non-venomous on the continent. Awesome. And thanks to the funnel web spiders, the getting dressed mantra was “check your boots”. Cool.
All that amusement aside, it’s fair to say that I haven’t had to deal with that level of f*&^-you-up in all my years of Canada and Japan. The worst I’ve had to deal with in my travels were the occasional bear and a few black widow spiders. I consider the difference between a rattler wanting to be left alone and a taipan coming at you from 4 metres away to be “significant”.
But, hey, that’s just me. :-D
LOL… yeah, it’s just you. without wanting to derail what is a motivational thread, I’m sorry, but the chances of being chased by a snake, Eastern Taipan or otherwise, is limited to small parts of Australia, and only in the wilderness. Box jellyfish, funnel webs, you’re funny. You don’t walk out of your house and get confronted by these things. Your second-hand sensationalist reports are good entertainment though. Born here, lived in every state, including the bush. Sorry but your ideas are pure fantasy, but keep it up, for the entertainment of the readers :-D
@Ben:
Good to hear that the potential for demise of Australians has been greatly exaggerated! Would love to make it down to Phillip Island and catch the MotoGP some year. :)
Respeckt for Alan
I know wat is it to drive 1-handed
1-handed.com