Rumors are about that Antonio Banderas has dropped some coin to buy the 125cc and 250cc World GP team, Motomondiale. It will cost the Spanish actor to the tune of €6MM to play in the upcoming 2009 GP season. Banderas isn’t the first celebrity to enter into the sport of motorcycling by purchasing a team, but he is the first masked avenger. Sorry, there’s no way this article was going to make it without a Zorro reference.
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Shane “Shakey” Byrne’s 1098R is up for sale. That’s right, if you’ve got £80,000 you can own one of the Ducati’s that won the 2008 British Superbike Series. An outfit called GSE Racing has put Byrne’s race bike up for sale alongside two of Leon Camier’s bikes. In addition to these bikes, a spares package of £150,000 is also up for grabs, and the first £350,000 takes it all. It’s really almost everything you need to start your own BSB bid….minus Shakey himself of course.
The three bikes are for sale at £80,000 each. If your interested, you can call GSE at 01283-532543.
KTM has been taking Bill Murray’s “baby-steps” approach to racing with their 1190 RC8 R. Moving out of superstock racing, KTM has announced that they will enter into the German Superbike (IDM) series. This move shall be KTM’s last step before entering into the World Superbike Championship (WSBK) in 2010.
KTM will enter into the IDM with the same team and rider as they have been using in the Superstock series using the experience of Konrad Hefele, with German Stefan Nebel and Belgian Didier Van Keymeulen at the helms. Nebel has IDM titles, while Van Keymeulen IDM is the winner of the 2005 World SuperStock Series.
Despite this incremental moves, KTM has already been testing their SBK bike in Spain in past weeks. Look for Team Orange at a paddock near you in the 2010
Are you one of the unfortunate masses that can’t afford your very own Desmosedici? Do you have a Monster S4R laying around that you’re not using? Can you shake a rattle can, and play with clay? Well, we might just have the Christmas miracle for you.
A French handyman has taken his talents, and built his very own Desmosedici out of an old Monster S4R. While it would be difficult to pass it off as the real thing to discerning motorcyclists, you have to give the guy credit for: one, having the determination to do such a project, and two for it to come out as well as it did.
More Photos on Flickr, .
Bajaj, the Tata of the motorcycle world, has purchased an additional amount of KTM’s stock, raising its interest in the Austrian company to 25.86%. Bajaj had previously owned just over a 20% stake in the orange brand, and is indicating that it is not content with just its current amount.
This news comes with little surprise as Bajaj has telegraphed this acquisition and intent already when it gobble up an additional 14% of the company back in 2007. Rumors are now already forming as to whether Bajaj will try and consume a majority stake in KTM’s stock.
Harley-Davidson has announced that CEO Jim Ziemer will retire next year. The Board of Directors has formed a search committee to find Harley’s new leadership, both from internal hires to external prospects. Until a replacement is found, Ziemer will remain at his post.
The 58 year-old’s 40 year career at Harley-Davidson is truly an embodiment of the American dream, starting out as a freight elevator operator and working his way all the way to the top.
The World Superbike Championship series has launched an online store where you can now buy SBK branded t-shirts ($27), short-sleeved collared shirts ($61), long-sleeved collared shirts($123), hats ($20), and dreadfully horrible looking backpacks ($89-$130). The site looks good enough, but the sticker shock might leave you throwing up in your mouth a bit. $10 for a neck lanyard? Really SBK? Really?
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More rumors abound about Ducati’s replacement bike for the Multistrada. We can stop calling is the”R1200GS killer”, as it seems the first iteration will not include a 19″ front wheel. That’s not to say higher-ups in the Ducati management aren’t considering the possibility of a line extension or optional dirt-ready package.
Additionally, the Stradaperta 1200 (no definite news if that is to be the production name) will showcase a 1200cc air-cooled motor that is the latest revision on Ducati’s air-cooled and currently Monster based power plant. Output is said to exceed the 100HP mark, while maintaining strong low and midrange torque.
We’re still sometime away from any sort of official launch or reliable leaked specs and pictures, so take what is here as perhaps “educated” day dreaming.
Last week we speculated , Honda has now announced that it will be withdrawing from all of the AMA’s road racing series.
This news really only affects Neil Hodgson, who is currently the only factory signed onto the 2009 season. HRC’s move will not affect Jake Zemke, who won last year’s AMA Formula Xtreme Championship, because all signs point to him riding for the Erion Honda team, which Honda will still be offering support to, as well as the Corona Honda team.
Honda again cites the current economic situation as the reason behind their announcement. We’ll let you discuss if you think factors like Suzuki’s dominance in AMA Superbike, or the new ownership by the Daytona Motorsports Group could be aggravating circumstances.
The winter weather must be affecting A&R headquarters because today’s articles are all revolving around us day-dreaming of bikes we can’t afford and bikes that will never be produced. This post is an exercise in the latter category. Dario Caroselli has taken pen to paper and inked a few concept sketches for Triumph and Kawasaki street bikes. In them we can see inspirations from KTM, Buell, Yamaha, and few other brands, but its done in a subtle and tasteful way. Unless you had to state at motorcycle pictures all day, you might not even notice. We still think its a great showing by the Italian designer, who doesn’t over Italianize (yes, that’s a word, and yes we just made it up) the styling of the bikes and keeps them in-line with what those companies have put forth as being quintessential Triumph and Kawasaki (respectively).
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With the pressure to buy a KTM RC8 up’d by , it got us thinking what else we’ll need to ask Santa to get us for Christmas, a brand new 2009 Yamaha R1 wouldn’t be half bad, especially after watching this new video the tuning-fork brand released. Continue reading to watch the video, and see great wallpaper fodder of the R1