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August 2010

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BST Carbon Fiber Swingarm – Asphalt & Rubber Starts Its Xmas List Early

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Attention Ducati Superbike 848, 1098, & 1198 owners with an extra $5,000 laying around, we’ve found the essential Christmas gift for your holiday wish list: the BST carbon fiber swingarm. Made from that magical composite material that makes motorcyclists spasm with delight, the BST carbon fiber swingarm weighs half of what the aluminum stocker tips the scales at, while increasing stiffness.

The BST swinger is also 16mm longer than the stock unit, which is the same length the WSBK guys use for better stability and handling. If you have the means, we highly suggest picking one up, and BST if you’re reading this, we’ll happily take one into the A&R office “for reviewing purposes”. More photos after the jump.

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News

Get Ready for Sturgis Asia

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No, this is not an April Fool’s joke…but it has all the makings of one though. Long-time Sturgis rally veteran Tom Bandy must have woken up one day and thought to himself, “man how cool would it be if Sturgis wasn’t held in South Dakota, but instead it was in South Korea!” and boom, Sturgis Asia was born.

In actuality, Bandy told the Rapid City Journal that “[he] had a a dream to bring Sturgis to the rest of the world,” which is starting with a tour of South Korea. While the festival is catering heavily to locals (much of SturgisAsia’s website is in Korean), the group will also fly riders and their bikes to South Korea presumably from China and Japan.

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News

KTM 125 Teaser Video

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KTM is hard at work on its new 125cc streetbike (which still needs a name) geared to young riders. Debuted at the EICMA show in Milan last year, KTM hopes to bring young riders into the “Ready to Race” brand at an early age. Accordingly, KTM released two concepts last year which centered around a 125cc four-stroke motor.

With a concept for track riding and a concept for stunting, KTM hopes this new bike will strike a nerve with what young riders think is cool about motorcycling. The bikes looked pretty good to us when we saw them first-hand in Milan, and from the looks of this teaser video, the R&D behind the concepts is coming along quite nicely.

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Rumors

Norton Returning to MotoGP Racing

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German magazine Speedweek is reporting that Norton will be back in GP racing for the 2012 season with a two-man team. Speedweek‘s highly respected Austrian journalist Gunther Wiesinger has received word that Norton has requested two spots on the 2012 MotoGP grid, and has signed a request to join the series when it returns to the 1000cc format. It’s unclear at this time if Norton will be entering as a claiming rule team (CRT), or be listed as a factory prototype, which could have a dramatic affect on the team’s success in the series.

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News

AMA Urges NHTSA to Abandon Funding Motorcycle-Only Checkpoint Program

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According to the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), the the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is offering law enforcement agencies funding incentives to setup checkpoints that target only motorcyclists. Based off a controversial program used by the New York State Police, the NHTSA is offering $350,000 in grants to five law enforcement agencies to run the program, which if successful could be further funded and expanded across the entire United States.

The checkpoints, which derive their legality from DUI checkpoint court rulings, primarily look for motorcyclists riding without a license or DOT approved helmet, and cite riders for aftermarket exhaust and lighting modifications. However the checkpoints fundamentally differ from DUI checkpoints in that they specifically are targeting a minority group of citizens (DUI checkpoints involve all motorists), and are doing so with no presumption that there is an increased risk to motorcyclists and the community as a whole when the checkpoints are being conducted.

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News

Jay Leno Will Be the Grand Marshal of the Indy GP

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Actor, comedian, and motorhead Jay Leno will serve as the Indianapolis GP’s Grand Marshal later this month when MotoGP makes its last stop in the United States for the year. Leno’s duties include presenting the Winner’s Trophy at the end of the race, and we have it on good authority that his chin will be waiving the checkered flag at the race’s conclusion (this last statement may have been fabricated for comedic purposes).

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Racing

AMA Daytona Sportbike VIR: Who Won Race 1?

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AMA Pro Racing had to use this photo finish to decide who won Race 1 of the Daytona Sportbike series at Virginia International Raceway this weekend. Coming up to the finish line #30 Bobby Fong is sling-shotting past #36 Martin Cardenas, as both riders vie for the race win. Official standings place the victory margin at 0.001 seconds. Can you make the call as to who won? Race results after the jump.

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Racing

Moto3 Officially Killing Two-Strokes in 2012

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Meeting this weekend, the GP Commission confirmed the demise of two-stroke GP racing as they finalized plans to start the Moto3 series in 2012. Replacing the 125GP racing class, Moto3 will center around 250cc singe-cylinder four-stroke motor with a maximum bore size of 81mm. The class will be open to multiple engine manufacturers, who will have to make their motors available for €10,000 or less.

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Racing

Yamaha Looking to Sign both Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies to the Factory Team

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The news is a bit obvious, but Lin Jarvis, the Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing, has confirmed that the factory MotoGP squad intends to retain the services of Jorge Lorenzo, and bring Ben Spies into the squad for the 2011 season.

The news comes on the heels of Valentino Rossi’s decision to move to Ducati for next season, and has been assumed to be a done deal once Rossi’s announcement was made public. This is however the first time that anyone at Yamaha has spoken about the team structure for next year in such a direct tone, likely because of the need to keep Rossi’s departure under wraps.

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