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June 2010

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In a recent Ohio State Supreme Court decision, the armpit state of America further confirmed its status as the third worst territory in the United States by holding that a driver or motorcyclist can be convicted of speeding purely if it looked to a police officer that the motorist was going too fast.

The decision upholds a lower courts ruling, which held that a driver who challenged a speeding ticket could still be found guilty merely if the trooper stated the driver was “driving too fast” in their estimation.

What on Earth could possess electric motorcycle manufacturer Brammo to buy a BMW S1000RR, and then sell it on eBay after only putting 700 miles on the bike? Was Brammo CEO Craig Bramscher not pleased with what’s being hailed as the Sportbike of 2010? No, that’s not the case, Bramscher apparently heralded the bike as the best motorcycle ever made (besides the Brammo Enertia of course).

With a lime green (naturally) BMW S1000RR sitting outside of Brammo HQ not too long ago, and now an eBay classified ad selling said bike, we’re left to wonder what could be in the works. Could a Brammo electric sportbike be peculating in the minds of the Ashland, Oregon volt-heads? Only time will tell.

Beleaguered French motorcycle company Voxan has found life after death, and today was acquired by Venturi Automobiles. Backed by an investment group in Monaco, Venturi itself was resurrected back in 2001, but with new cash in-hand the company sees motorcycles as a way to bolster its portfolio.

The French conglomerate has released some interesting plans for its newly acquired motorcycle company, namely that it hopes to have Voxan release a production electric motorcycle in the next three years.

There aren’t a lot of stunters in the A&R office, but when Icon sent us this video a few minutes ago you could here our collective jaws dropping in the San Francisco/Bay Area. In this stunt video out take, Eric Hoenshell helps out fellow stunter Jason Britton close the tailgate on his truck after a long day of stunting, and the rest pretty much writes itself. Thanks for the guys!

As things at the Isle of Man get underway for the 2010 Isle of Man TT, FTR Moto is set to take an Isle first: the first Moto2 race bike to take on the Mountain Course. 22-year-old Olie Linsdell will race his FTR M210 in the six-lap Senior TT event on Friday, June 11th. For those doing the math, that’s a 226 mile race on a “prototype” machine, going race pace on city streets.

Linsdell’s FTR Moto2 has the same chassis setup as the Moto2 race bike, but features a race-prepped Honda CBR600RR motor, instead of the Moto2 modified lump from the same paterfamilias. The CBR600RR motor was prepared by the Joe Darcey Team, and is built to World Supersport specification.

Marco Melandri has an interesting post on his blog this weekend about Jorge Lorenzo’s Le Mans victory celebration. In case you missed it, after the race Lorenzo seated himself in a lawn chair with a bag of popcorn and soda right smack in front of one of the giant televisions that broadcast the race to the crowd. Considering the last race Lorenzo won, he jumped into a pond, this celebration was a bit more demur, but as Melandri points out there may be more than meets the eye on this celebration.

BRP, the company behind Sea-doo, Can-Am, and rotax motors, is rumored to be ready to launch a line of side by side vehicles under the Can-Am brand in the next few weeks. Likely not to go the UTV route with the Can-Am name nor its product offering, we’re expecting the new SxS from BRP to be a sporty on-road vehicle similar to the KTM X-Bow, and along the same ethos as the Ducati concept car we showed just last week.

Silly season isn’t just an event localized to the MotoGP paddock, and rumors are starting to surface in the World Superbike paddock as well. According to the paddock gossip, Marco Melandri could end up on a factory BMW ride in World Superbike next season, but the intrigue doesn’t stop there.

Part of BMW’s plan is then to have Melandri be their rider of choice when the team makes their predicted jump to MotoGP for the 2012 season. BMW team boss Davide Tardozzi is supposedly the mastermind behind the deal WSBK/MotoGP deal, although nothing seems to be set in stone at this point in time.

MCN is reporting that the days of 125GP may be numbered as Dorna and the FIM get ready to replace the small displacement GP series with what’s being called the new Moto3 race class. Drawing from the formula found in Moto2, Moto3 features prototype bikes with 250cc four-stroke single-cylinder motors. However instead of a single-spec motor rule, as found in Moto2, Moto3 appears to be open to multiple engine manufacturers.

NCR is known for its stunning renditions of Ducati motorcycles, our personal favorite being the NCR Corse Millona One Shot. Of course no bike in the Ducati line-up is safe from getting the once over from this performance-meets-aesthetics tuning brand, and thus the NCR Millona 16 was born. Expected to weigh 145kg (319lbs), make over 200hp (at the wheel), and include a carbon frame, the NCR Millona 16 is a Ducati Desmosedici RR on steroids (BALCO would be proud).

In an effort to get to know Team Texas a bit better, BBC Sport sat down Monster Yamaha Tech3 riders Colin Edwards and Ben Spies, and had the veteran rider question the MotoGP newcomer about issues on and off the track. Team orders? Rituals? Mustard or ketchup? The pair cover all the bases on what makes Team Texas truly Texan, and at the end of the interview, Edwards even dives into silly season speculation, and asks Rossi or Lorenzo? Check it out after the jump.