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How To Watch the 2016 Daytona 200 on Saturday

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Now with the blessing of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) the 2016 Daytona 200 is set to kick-off on Saturday, March 12th at 1pm EST, during Bike Week in Daytona, Florida.

Racing for 57 laps on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, Daytona 200 contenders will be on supersport class machines, where tire management and careful drafting will be the most important aspects for the racers.

At one point in time, the Daytona 200 garnered the attention of motorcycle racing fans around the world, and its owners DMG hope to return the iconic race to that stature.

To that end, the AMA’s sanction now makes it is easier for FIM-licensed riders to participate in the Daytona 200, and vie for its impressive $175,000 purse ($25,000 goes to the winner).

And for fans, the race is easy to watch, as DMG will be live streaming the Daytona 200 on its FansChoice.TV web property. The pre-race action starts at 12:30 EST; so if you’re on the West Coast, you will want to rise and shine a little earlier than normal, perhaps.

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News

Cycle News Acquired by Powersport Media, LLC

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The MAG Retail Group has  completely divested itself of its media holdings, as we can now bring you word regarding the sale of Cycle News to the newly formed Powersport Media LLC company, which was founded by Sean Finley, Bryan Robb, and Jesse Ziegler.

In the interest of transparency, Asphalt & Rubber readers should be aware of the fact that Finely and Robb also own Digital Throttle, an advertising network that caters to the motorcycle and automotive industries, and that Asphalt & Rubber is one of Digital Throttle’s clients, as is Cycle News.

Back to the matter at hand, the change in ownership for Cycle News is the second such change in recent times, as Cycle News was sold to MAG near the end for 2010.

Industry gossip suggests that this deal likely saved Cycle News from following the fate of its sister publication, Motorcycle USA, which was shutdown last week.

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News

Motorcycle USA Closing Its Doors After 20 Years

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After 20 years of service, Motorcycle USA is going to shut its doors at the end of this week.

The news is a shock to anyone in the industry, as Motorcycle USA was one of the largest daily news outlets in the space, with extensive industry knowledge, racing coverage, and bike reviews on its pages.

The news came over Twitter, though we are sure that the MotoUSA team will have a prepared statement on their site shortly, which will explain the MAG Retail Groups decision more clearly.

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Opinion/Editorial

The Power Play That Is RevZilla & Cycle Gear Together

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It is Friday, and I am still not sure why there is dearth of publications covering the movements between RevZilla and Cycle Gear. The largest brick-and-mortar motorcycle retail chain, and the most influential online retailer in our industry have just come together under one roof. Boom goes the dynamite.

Intonations of this deal have been in the news space for almost a week now, and by my last count, outside of our coverage here on Asphalt & Rubber, there has only been Motorcyclist’s rehashing of RevZilla’s press release, this 64-word story by PowerSports Business, and RevZilla’s self-published letter on the topic, by CEO Anthony Bucci.

If that doesn’t say something about the current state of moto-journalism, then I don’t know what does. It is a topic worthy of its own story, but that will have to wait for another day. Instead, I am here to talk to you about business, millennials, and future of consumerism.

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News

Don’t Call It a Merger: RevZilla & Cycle Gear Come Together

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The speculation about RevZilla and Cycle Gear can stop now, as the brands are finally talking about their plans together for the future.

In a letter posted to RevZilla’s in-house publication, Common Tread, RevZilla CEO Anthony Bucci announces that RevZilla will be acquired by a new holding company, which will also own Cycle Gear.

The holding company’s board of directors will include Bucci, and his fellow RevZilla founders Nick Auger and Matthew Kull, as well as the private equity firm J.W. Childs, which bought Cycle Gear back in 2015.

While Bucci’s letter to RevZilla customers states that the two brands will only be “sister companies” that will operate independently of each other, his FAQ on the subject leaves the door open for collaborations between the two brands, which would be the obvious benefit of their new ownership structure.

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News

Where Do Internet Trolls Go When They Get Banned?

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Managing the community aspect of a website like Asphalt & Rubber is no easy feat, especially considering the online personalities some people take on while behind the keyboard.

The history of the internet troll is as rich and long as the internet itself, as anonymity (or at least the appearance thereof) allows a cultivation of personality traits that would otherwise not manifest themselves in public.

In essence, what I’m trying to say is that people online can be dicks.

We are fairly lenient in the comments section, but that doesn’t mean that our ban hammer is sitting in the corner collecting dust – every once and a while, we have to banish a user from the pages of A&R. But once gone, where do they go? Alas, we finally have the answer.

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News

Report: Cycle Gear to Acquire RevZilla?

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Respected newswire Reuters is reporting that Cycle Gear is close to finalizing the purchase of motorcycling e-commerce giant RevZilla. Citing a source “familiar with the matter” at hand, Reuters suggests that the deal could close in the next coming days, with the new venture worth between $400 million and $500 million.

If true, this acquisition would mark a titanic shift in the motorcycle retail space, with America’s largest brick and mortar chain combining with the industry’s most prominent online parts and apparel purveyor.

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News

Pro Italia Online Sold to AMS Ducati Dallas

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Though the announcement is only going public today, Pro Italia Online was sold to AMS Ducati at the end of last year, on December 31, 2015.

The news is a big deal in the world of Ducatisti, as Pro Italia’s online store is one of the largest online retailers for Ducati parts in the United States.

Therefore, its movement from one top Ducati dealership (Pro Italia in Glendale, CA) to another (AMS Ducati in Dallas, TX) is tectonic shift in the retail power found in Ducati’s online landscape.

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Racing

Daytona 200 Gets Online Streaming

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At first it seemed the only way to watch the Daytona 200 was to be there in-person, but DMG has been able to swing a last-minute deal with FansChoice.tv to bring the internet live streaming of the historic race.

Sanctioned now by the American SportBike Racing Association (ASRA), it is not clear at this time what ASRA’s coverage will include, but the green flag drops at 1pm Eastern Time, Saturday, March 14th — commentary, or not.

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Racing

How To Watch The Superprestigio Race Tomorrow

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Saturday night is the last chance to see the stars of motorcycle racing turning a wheel in anger.

On 13th December, the cream of both the MotoGP and AMA flat track paddocks meet for the second running of the Superprestigio, an indoor invitation dirt track race, at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona.

The setting is a classic location: the Palau Sant Jordi is part of the former Olympic park, set atop Montjuic, scene of many legendary motorcycle races of the past.

For those who could not make it to Barcelona themselves, they need not despair. The event is to be broadcast in several countries around the globe, as well as streamed live online.

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Bikes

Is This How Much the Kawasaki Ninja H2R Will Cost? Nope.

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It has certainly been interesting to see the buzz around the Kawasaki Ninja H2 these past few weeks, especially as everyone tries to cash in on the supercharged hype-machine that Kawasaki has been running.

First we saw Motorcycle.com just create a story out of thin air, to help its owner VerticalScope promote a new web property. That was…uhh…the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen while in this industry, not to mention just sloppy journalism. Now lately we have seen a supposed dealer invoice for the track-only Kawasaki Ninja H2R, with a price tag just north of $60,000.

Many publications have latched onto that price point — which isn’t the craziest conclusion to come to, considering that the H2R is Kawasaki’s halo-bike project, and will likely cost a pretty penny — though with just a quick glance, we can see that the alleged paperwork has clearly been a work of Photoshop, and not inside information.

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