I like this rumor. I like what this rumor says. And, I like that this rumor doesn’t seem to go away.
The scuttlebutt of the motorcycle industry right now is suggesting that the street-shredding Kawasaki Ninja H2 might be joined by a sport-touring variant.
This Kawasaki Ninja H2 GT – as some are calling it – takes the potent supercharged liter-bike, and makes it a little bit better suited for long-distance riding…well, as better suited to touring that a 200hp+ fire-breathing motorcycle can be.
Our friends at Motor.nl have a good scoop for Italian motorcycle fans, as MV Agusta is about to release later today a Lewis Hamilton edition of its iconic MV Agusta F4 motorcycle.
Like the MV Agusta Dragster RR that also brandishes the F1 stars name, this F4 is expected 1) to be mostly a visual exercise, and 2) show the furthering bond between the Italian marque and the British driver, which just renewed their contract with each other.
Meanwhile, rumors that Lewis Hamilton would wild card alongside Leon Camier at the next WorldSBK round appear to be unfounded, though profoundly intriguing to consider.
The Movistar Yamaha team has updated us on Valentino Rossi’s condition, as the MotoGP underwent surgery on his right leg earlier today.
Rossi was first examined at the Ospedale Civile di Urbino, where he was initially diagnosed, then he was transferred to the Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Ospedali Riuniti in Ancona, where the surgery was performed.
The team reports that the operation was a success, and that the doctors implanted metal pins (locking intramedullary nails, to be precise) into Rossi’s leg to hold the bones together.
Movistar Yamaha has issued another press release about the condition of MotoGP racer Valentino Rossi, confirming that the nine-time World Champion has broken the tibia and fibula bones on his right leg.
As such, Valentino Rossi will undergo immediate surgery to correct the fractures. The condition of the 38-year-old racer will be updated Friday morning, but it seems likely that this news dashes Rossi’s MotoGP Championship hunt for this season.
This is because a displaced fracture is a serious injury, as it means that Rossi has broken his bones in several places, and the pieces of the those fractured bones are not set correctly to heal on their own.
After reports from Italy told of Valentino Rossi breaking his leg in an enduro training accident, we have been waiting for confirmation of that news from an official source.
Now getting on top of this evolving story, the Movistar Yamaha team has confirmed that the nine-time World Champion has been involved in a training accident, and that he was taken to the Ospedale Civile di Urbino for a medical check-up.
Reports from Europe are saying that Valentino Rossi has broken his leg while training on an enduro bike.
Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport, says that the nine-time World Champion has sustained a “suspected fracture of the tibia and fibula” and that Rossi is expected to go into surgery tonight to repair the injury.
We should caution that these reports have not yet been confirmed, with Yamaha yet to comment on the injury, but if true they could have dire consequences for Rossi’s bid to be the 2017 MotoGP World Champion.
While the current crop of BMW R1200GS model motorcycles are being recalled for issues with their front suspension, the future of the venerable GS line continues to evolve, as Motorrad Magazine is reporting that the boxer-twin engine that powers the R-series will be getting variable valve timing (VVT).
Motorrad is also reporting that the engine displacement will also see a bump, up from 1,170cc to 1,250cc for the next-generation of R-series machines, which should mean that the water-cooled motor should get a healthy (and much needed) bump in power, to help compete in this hotly contested segment.
A document reportedly sent to Ducati dealers in the United Kingdom appears to spill some juicy details on the upcoming “Final Edition” Panigale superbike.
Allegedly, the “Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition” will come with 209hp at the crank, thanks to a number of engine modifications. The final installment of the v-twin superbike will also allegedly weigh a paltry 419 lbs when fully fueled (370 lbs dry). Shazam!
As we saw in the video teaser, the bike will have a red and white front fairing, with a green tail section, which looks similar to what was seen on the Ducati 1299 Superleggera, with a little tricolore flare.
It also appears to have a special Akrapovic exhaust, which we have seen already on the Superleggera and the Ducati Panigale R WorldSBK machine.
I thought when I wrote this piece – “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly About Motorcycle Patents” – that we would see a more sophisticated handling of motorcycle industry patents from the motorcycling media going forward.
Clearly my expectations were too high, since I just saw RideApart’s story, “Honda Underseat Exhaust Patent Hints at V4 Supersport”, which claims to show a patent for a new Honda V4 supersport. It doesn’t, and quite frankly, RideApart should know better…let me explain.
I am really excited about the Suzuki brand right now. Out of the four Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, the recession affected Suzuki the most, probably more than many people realize, but the Hamamatsu brand is poised to bring out some exciting machines in the coming few years.
We have already seen Suzuki return to the MotoGP Championship, and the work there has brought about the all-new 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000 superbike, which is looking to a potent weapon in liter-bike warfare.
By 2019, we expected to see Suzuki debut all-new GSX-R600 and GSX-R750 offerings as well, which should follow the footsteps of their 1,000cc sibling, by offering modern electronics, class-leading performance figures, and cut-throat pricing.
A new Hayabusa is also rumored to be in the works, though scarce details on that machine have us feeling it is more internet rumor than real-world reality. But, Suzuki has not been bashful about teasing a turbocharged sport bike for its lineup, showing us its Recursion concept on more than one occasion.
Could we finally see a turbocharged Suzuki this year though? The rumor mill is pointing to yes…but just pointing, and the reason is because of patents.
Much of this internet rumors stems from a flood of patents that have been found, where Suzuki is patenting technology related to turbo-powered engines in motorcycles, or because of other patents that make reference or inference to being part of a turbocharged motorcycle.
For Suzuki, the debut of its first all-new superbike design went swimmingly well, with the 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000R impressing journalists at its launch in Phillip Island earlier this year.
We would hope so, as the Japanese manufacturer once laid claim to being the King of Superbikes, but then cowardly abdicated its throne for an eight-year period, where only modest updates came to the line.
Like most of Suzuki’s motorcycle lineup, the GSX-R models have suffered from abandonment by their caretakers in Hamamatsu, and while there is a new GSX-R1000 for us to drool over (though its true mettle yet untested against its rivals), what is to come of its 750cc and 600cc counterparts?
Our friends from Down Under seem to have the answer, as Australia’s Motorcycle News reports that a new Suzuki GSX-R750 is in the works, likely to debut as a 2019 model year machine.
As for the GSX-R600, well…that appears to be going the way of the dodo, as Suzuki seems set to follow Honda’s on its exit out of the supersport market.