Known only to us as “The Sparrow“, we just got some tips from our insider in the AMA. The Sparrow goes on to tell us that rumors of Miguel Duhamel making a return to AMA racing at Fontana are untrue, and the actual rider listed as “TBA” is instead Tyler Odom. The Sparrow also goes on to say that John Hopkins has been incredibly unhappy with the performance of his GSX-R1000, faulting the motor as having less power than the rest of the field. While indications seem to suggest that’s not the case, Yoshimura has put together a new lump for Hopper that looks to have plenty of juice, but will it pass scrutineering after the races? Continue reading for the full report from The Sparrow.
Blasphemy, heresy, stupidity, sacrilege, un-American, and downright irreverence. Go ahead, get all those words out of your system. I’ll wait. The default opinion of marketers, analysts, and the general population is that Harley-Davidson has one of the strongest brands in the United States, this being confirmed by the fact that every business student in America has studied Harley’s marketing efforts if they’ve ever taken a brand management course. So why would I start a three-part series on how to fix Harley-Davidson by arguing to change one of the most revered marketing houses in the motorcycle industry? Giving credit where credit is due, Harley-Davidson, or I should say its admirers in business school academia, wrote the book on demand generation marketing geared towards the baby-boomer generation. However, in defending this market position, Harley-Davidson has painted itself into a corner by only engaging a very small segment of the population with its product. Unless they redefine and reposition their company image and who it resonates with, Harley-Davidson is going to watch the continued erosion of its footing in the motorcycle industry, and also the continued deterioration of its only industry leading quality: its brand.
- The BMW S1000RR Does the Tablecloth Trick
- AMA Pro Racing Adds AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Spec Racing Series
- How to Save Harley-Davidson - Step 1: Redefine and Reposition The Way You Market Your Brand
- World Superbike in New Zealand 2012?
- Kinekt Design Gear Ring - Bling for Motorcyclists
- Troy Lee Designs Fails to Impress with New Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Livery
- Video: Women Riders of the FIM
- 2010 Bimota DB6 Superlight - The Carbon Fiber Trellis Frame Dream Bike
- Disney Releases Second Tron Legacy Trailer - More Motorcycle Goodness
- Mat Mladin: Spies Better Than Rossi
Erik Buell Racing has just updated its website, and releasd the first real clear shot of what the EBR 1190RR will look like it in its racing form. With 185hp being made at the rear-wheel (according to the optimistic DynoJet dynamometer), the EBR 1190RR sits at the top of the Buell totem poll. Erik Buell Racing has spec’d the machine to be legal in both the AMA and WSBK, but the 1190RR is not homologated for neither the AMA American Superbike class (yet?), nor for WSBK (even bigger question mark).
Based off the 1125R chassis, the 1190RR is virtually anorexic, dropping 30lbs off the AMA Daytona Superbike racing machine, while still bumping up displacement by 65cc’s. With 93lb•ft of torque on hand at 9,500 RPM, the EBR 1190RR is sure to sling your eye balls into the back of your head…if you can find a racing series to race it in. Full technical specifications after the jump.
Dal Smilie is certainly not smiling this week. The Former American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Chairman was sentenced yesterday for embezzling $100,000 in fraudulent travel reimbursement claims to the not-for-profit organization. Smilie received a sentence of eight months in prison, and two years probation after pleading guilty for his misappropriation of organization founds over the course of years, ending in 2007. He was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and court costs.
The American Motorcyclist Association has announced its plan to reduce the number of corporate-elected seats on its board of directors. If you’re like this author, and don’t follow the politics of the AMA, you’re probably saying to yourself, “there’s corporate-elected seats on the AMA?” Yes, now doesn’t that explain some things? Previously there were six corporate-elected seats on the AMA Board of Directors, which meant that motorcycle companies controlled 50% of the Board’s voting power. This new measure, which was ratified on February 13th, will reduce that number to four seats, or 33% of the voting power.
We can finally retire the Hoppergate tag (saying this pretty much assures its continued use unfortunately), M4 Suzuki has issued a press release that confirms what Asphalt & Rubber already knew (hat tip to The Sparrow), John Hopkins will be riding in the AMA American Superbike team with Team Hammer. This news comes despite the fact that FB Corse has repeatedly insisted that the American rider was committed to them for the 2010 season, and they now chastise Hopper for backing out of the team at the last minute.
Something is up in the John Hopkins camp. First the American GP/WSBK racer was linked with MotoGP upstart FB Corse. A few days after the team announced a deal with Hopper, his manager said nothing was signed, and rumors about his involvement in the AMA began to ramp up.
While FB Corse continues to insist that Hopper will be riding with the Italian team next season, the American seems to be making every indication that he will be returning home with RoadRacing World is reporting that Hopkins will testing a Suzuki GSX-R 1000 with Team Hammer (aka Team M4 Suzuki) at Fontana on Februrary 2nd & 3rd.
Roger Lee Hayden, younger brother to former MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden, has signed with Team Pedercini for the 2010 World Superbike season. Roger Lee rode the Kawasaki ZX-6R to an AMA Supersport Championship, so theoretically he should feel at home again on Team Green satellite team in WSBK. However, the liter-bike class has proven difficult for the younger Hayden. In his three years on the Factory Kawasaki AMA Superbike team, two of those years were shortened by serious crashes.
In 140 characters or less, Mat Mladin has signaled that he won’t be jumping to WSBK anytime soon. Linked to Reitwagen’s satellite BMW racing effort, Mladin’s possible seat on the team went to Andrew Pitt just last week. Mladin created some buzz with his tweet two weeks ago, which hinted that the ex-AMA racer was considering making the transition to World Superbike racing.











