In Google’s attempt to map every piece of asphalt on planet Earth, they have begun to take their Street View service to the race tracks of America. First on their list, and our personal favorite, is Laguna Seca. Check it out after the jump, you’ll catch a few ALMS cars in the shots, as they flanked the Google Street View car as it went around the course.
Former World Superbike Team, FB Corse, looks to be poised to enter the MotoGP Championship series for 2010 with race bike that uses a proprietary chassis and a 3-cylinder motor that was originally designed for BMW’s MotoGP effort.
Looking to back up their claim as the fastest electric motorcycle in the world, Mission Motors was also in attendance at this year’s Bub Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Shod in their streamlined fairings from the TTXGP, the Mission One reportedly averaged 160 mph through the timed mile. Check after the jump for a video of their run down the salt.
MV Agusta is rumored to have a 3-cylinder motorcycle in the works that’s smaller than the current F4, and Motociclismo was lucky enough to find it wandering about in the wild. Already dubbed the F3 (by the media, not MV), we know very few concrete facts about the F3, other than the visibly higher clutch case, and smaller front forks. The rest of the information is based on speculation and a little triangulation. Continue past the jump to read it.
MotoRevue has sent their man Jérôme Vannesson into the bat cave to whip up another photoshop of what they expect a motorcycle to look like, and this time getting the treatment is the 2011 Aprilia Tuono V4 Factory, in all its re-imagined glory.
Available starting January 2010, Yamaha is releasing another Limited Edition R1, this time featuring the race livery of Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP race bike. Before you run out to your local Yamaha dealer though, you should know a couple things:
First, the Rossi Race Rep comes with a price tag that’s over $1,200 more than the rest of the 2010 Yamaha YZF-R1 model line (raven, blue/whie, and pearl white), and for that extra cash all you’re getting is the re-painted fairing, and a fuel tank with a replica of Valentino’s signature on it.
Secondly, you might be surprised to learn that on top of that price premium, the 2010 R1 costs $800 more than the 2009 R1, despite the fact the R1 goes virtually unchanged for the 2010 model year.
For those not good with numbers, those combined prices put the 2010 Yamaha R1 LE costing over $2,000 more than this year’s current YZF-R1, and all it has to show for it is a paint job that sells another company’s product.
Say what you will about Ducati’s Nicky Hayden LE 848 Superbike, at least they knew what paint costs, and had Nicky personally hand-sign each bike.
For 2010, Yamaha has made some minor tweaks to the YZF-R6 that help bolster its midrange performance. By adding a 100mm longer exhaust pipe, remapping the the R6’s ECU, tweaking the variable length intake stacks, and revising the airbox, Yamaha has allegedly found more grunt down low, although the company hasn’t released exactly how much grunt they found with these improvement.
Continue reading to see the rest of the changes to the R6 for 2010, but to warn you in advance, you won’t see a cross-plane crankshaft listed after the jump.
When Honda showed off its new “Leyla” paint scheme for the new middle weight CBR600RR, the name had us a little confused, but the sometimes clever folks at MCN have spotted what many in the industry (including us) missed. That black & white camo-eque paint job is in fact a woman…moaning in delight…we think her name is Leyla. Take a second look, and you’ll see it.
As we edged closer to the official unveiling of the 2010 Honda VFR1200F, more details about the bike are starting to emerge. This latest detail confirms the rumor that the new VFR would be fitted with a dual-clutch transmission, making it the first motorcycle to incorporate such a gearbox design.
Similar to the DSG clutches found on Audi and Volkswagon cars, the Honda dual-clutch transmission will incorporate two clutches that alternate what gears they actuate, making for rapid shift times. Click past the break for pictures, video, and more on the VFR1200 transmission.
Now that Ben Spies has taken the points lead in the World Superbike Championship, Yamaha feels comfortable releasing the secrets behind “Elbowz’s” success on tracks he’s never seen before.
Walking us through his process, this is a rare insight into the mind of a motorcycle legend in the making. Check the video after the jump for the interview with Spies, and comments from his fellow Yamaha riders from the MotoGP series.
In 2004, BMW produced its 500,000th motorcycle equipped with anti-lock brakes. Now five years later, BMW has doubled that number with its one-millionth motorcycle with ABS, a K130oR no-less.