Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

funny

Browsing
Racing

Just So We’re Clear, This is How You Market a Race Team

By 11 Comments

The start of the AMA Pro Road Racing calendar is just around the corner, and that means manufacturers, teams, and riders are getting their PR machines in full swing. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get excited about our venerable national racing series (DMG’s shenanigans aside), but duds like this don’t help in whetting our two-wheeled racing appetite here at Asphalt & Rubber.

Just when we were about to lose all hope though, Triumph shows up and saves the day…with a little help from Jason DiSalvo and Elena Myers. Kneedragging, wheelie popping, backwheel drifting two-wheeled fun, all packaged in a well-done YouTube video that even manages to show a little personality from the riders.

We dig it, we dig it hard. A quick warning though: several orange cones were hurt during the filming of this video. Some footage may not be suitable for adult-sized children with a history of brrraaappptitus. Thanks for the tip Matt!

Keep Reading
By
Lifestyle

Epic Scooter Split — Best JCVD Parody Yet?

By 1 Comment

After a week of watching Netflix with our loved ones, Asphalt & Rubber is finally back to the moto-news grind. If you’re anything like us, your egg is still a bit nogged, your pants don’t fit nearly as well as your pajamas did, and Monday came like the Queen of the Harpies to torment your soul in damnation. For those of you still on holiday, we hate / secretly envy you.

That’s ok though…we can do this. But, to get back into the spirit of things, here is something a little light-hearted: an epic parody, of Jean Claude Van Damme’s epic split. We have nothing but tremendous respect for JCVD and his magical inseam, but we have to give these bros some credit for their feat as well.

After all, this might end up being the one time that you want your friends to see you riding a scooter.

Keep Reading
By
Reviews

Video: An Honest Review of the Triumph Bonneville

By 39 Comments

Is there truth in motorcycle reviews? That seems to be a debate that crops up time and time again, as it is hard to believe the journalistic veracity of publications that are entirely dependent on the dollars that flow forth from the major motorcycle OEMs. The conflicts of interest are high, the deadlines are tight, and there is of course the small matter of people having a difference of opinions, which all leads to public mistrust.

So it is refreshing when we see a frank motorcycle review that is free from the entanglements of typical motorcycle assessments — you know, a real honest impression of how a motorcycle is built in the factory and rides on the open road.

With a review as honest as this about the Triumph Bonneville, our protagonist has almost assured himself of a short career in motorcycle journalism. Still, it certainly provides some worthwhile entertainment, as long as you are not easily offended. It is possibly not safe for work as well — not that you read A&R from the confines of your office chair of course.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Video: 12 Questions with Valentino Rossi

By 5 Comments

It’s the US GP at Laguna Seca, which fans should know by now means a special video from Yamaha Racing that features the tuning-fork brands riders. Instead of the elaborate plots lines, and amazing acting skills from some of MotoGP’s finest, Yamaha has toned it down a bit for 2013, and done a simple Q&A with nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi.

With some help from Uccio, The Doctor got 12 questions, randomly selected from out of a helmet, which he answers in the video. Pretty basic, right? More like hilarious. If you didn’t have an understanding already of why Rossi is loved around the world, you will rapidly understand why with this video. At the very least, you will find out if Valentino is a member of the mile-high club. Yeah…that question happened.

Keep Reading
By
Banter

2013 April Fools Motorcycle Pranks Round-Up

By 12 Comments

April 1st is our most-favorite day of the year, as it is the Christmas Day for journalists far and wide — and like Christmas, it is better to give, than it is to receive. The motorcycle industry gives plenty on this day, and we thought we’d share with you the April Foolery that caught our attention this most glorious of days.

Here at Asphalt & Rubber, David’s fiction on the upcoming changes to the World Superbike Championship reigned supreme, and the bit about adventure-touring bikes replacing the World Supersport series was especially amusing.

We also got some interesting texts, emails, and comments about BRD’s new fund-raising plan, as well as the AMA Pro Racing’s supposed homologation of the Aprilia RSV4 Factory for supersport racing. We assure you that while they may mimic something close to what is possible in reality, neither stories are true…as far as we know.

How about from the rest of the industry though? In case you missed them, the highlights of April Fools Day are after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Jorge Lorenzo + Gangnam Style = Us Crying

By 12 Comments

At Phillip Island post-race press conference, I thought Jorge Lorenzo singing “We Are the Champions” with Wilco Zeelenberg would top my MotoGP audio/visual experience for the year (I’m still debating whether it is worth losing my MotoGP credentials to post-up that video).

However, I think this clip of the newly crowned World Champion doing a rendition of PSY’s “Gangnam Style” might just even surpass that special moment in my life. Just a warning, some things are burned into the back of your brain, and cannot be unseen. Happy Halloween after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Video: That Guy at the Track Day

By 10 Comments

Surely by now you have seen these text-to-voice animation videos that seem to proliferate in just about every niche possible on the interubes, and while this video is a bit of an oldie but goldie, it still had us in stitches during this weekend’s track day excursion to Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch. In-between us “throwing down some blazing hot laps” on the Nevada circuit, it didn’t us take long to find members in the Pahrump paddock that mimicked the protagonist portrayed here in this short YouTube clip.

If you have ever been to a track day (heaven forbid, a track day in Southern California), then surely you have witnessed first-hand the phenomenon of the rider with all the go-fast parts, bumping around the novice group, going turn-for-turn in search of something resembling a clue. It can be frustrating to witness, but next time you encounter some squid who is bragging about how he drags his elbows like Ben Spies or dangles his leg like Valentino Rossi, remember this video. And please, please, be sure to attend the riders’ meeting.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Yamaha Does Another MotoGP Video for Laguna Seca

By 8 Comments

Yamaha USA is keeping its Laguna Seca video tradition alive and well with another short flick that features the company’s MotoGP riders. Headlined by Jorge Lorenzo, Ben Spies, Cal Crutchlow, and Andrea Dovizioso, the Yamaha foursome is joined by MotoGP commentators Nick Harris and Gavin Emmett.

Not quite the comedic gold we’ve seen in the past, there is a tongue-in-cheek element to watching the video knowing that Spies dropped the bombshell about his leaving Yamaha, right around the time this video was being filmed.

From our seats, Dovi stole the show…as that grin is surely the same one he will be wearing if/when he gets the nod to the Yamaha factory team. As for Cal, don’t quit your day job mate. Video after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Banter

Video: When Winning a Race Isn’t Winning a Race

By 12 Comments

Premature Celebration: hands down, there is not a more embarrassing act for a motorcycle racer than finishing too early. Such is the case of Italian CIV 600 Superstock rider Riccardo Russo, who climaxed his race far too early during a recent event at Mugello.

Pulling out of the competition with jubilation, it took several pumps of the fist for the Italian to realize that he was not done with the task at hand, as he watched a train of other riders come right by him with still an eager pace. A lesson on holding out until the checkered flag, Russo joins an elite group of riders who have been publicly embarrassed for their problems with premature celebration. Thanks for the tip Jason!

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Who Needs MotoGP.com When We Have This?

By 16 Comments

If you are a true MotoGP fan here in the United States, then you have surely dropped SPEED’s abysmal coverage of the premiere class for the vastly superior coverage on Dorna’s own web property: MotoGP.com. Having a monopoly on internet-based video coverage of Grand Prix racing, MotoGP.com certainly brings its euros-worth of MotoGP/Moto2/Moto3 news, interviews, and analysis to your computer screen.

However, there has always been a desire for something more, something free — now that day has come. Ladies and Gentlemen, let us introduce to you the MiniBikers web series. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll hate Alvin & The Chipmunks even more than you already do. Check out the Silverstone round re-cap after the jump.

Keep Reading
By