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Video: Sometimes It’s Just Not Your Day…

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The old adage with motorcycles is that it’s not if you crash, but when you crash. That is because over an infinite amount of time, your chances of riding a motorcycle without crashing drop to zero — if not but for the simple fact that you cannot control the actions of others.

Take for example our unfortunate Russian friend here, who had the misfortune of crossing over a path of diesel/oil/coolant left by a car on a highway off-ramp. Obeying all the laws of the road, he still ended rubber-side-up on the roadway, and left to pick-up the pieces after the crash…literally.

It is sort of a surreal video with the music choice, but serves as a good PSA for the ATGATT movement. Luckily this rider was able to walk away relatively unscathed, and his bike will live to ride another day as well. Be careful out there folks.

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Trackside Tuesday: The Silly Suzuki Season

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As Randy de Puniet heads to Japan to test Suzuki’s 2014 MotoGP bike, the possible availability (some won’t be convinced it’s a reality until a pair of Suzuki motorcycles appear on the grid in Qatar next April) of two new factory seats has spawned a Silly Season unto itself.

If that possibility entailed another satellite prototype team, the furor would be considerable, but that it’s a new factory team means reason and rationality are running for their lives.

So once again we have the chance to observe the unique mindset of the top level motorbike racer. To that mindset, at least in this modern era, the factory ride is the Holy Grail of motorcycle racing. It’s easy to see why this has happened.

After the days of the 500cc two-strokes, when a highly-developed formula meant a privateer team could compete with the deep-pocket teams, the four-stroke era has seen costs skyrocket, and factory-deep pockets dominate the win column. It’s for very good reasons that riders feel you have to be on a factory bike to win races. But the thing is, not all factories are equal.

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US Motorcycle Market Drops 14.7% in Q1 2013

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While we have mostly been lamenting the loss of the European motorcycle market, thanks chiefly to the Spanish and Italian economies, things here in the United States appear to be a bit tougher than was thought. While Americans contemplate whether or not we are headed into a double-dip recession, the American motorcycle market certainly seems to be headed that way.

While last year showed signs that motorcycling in the US had hit rock-bottom, and even posted very modest signs of growth, the first quarter of 2013 is anything but reassuring. With the US motorcycle market down 14.7% overall in Q1 2013, the MIC is reporting losses pretty much across the board (off-highway bike sales are more or less flat).

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MotoGP: Bridgestone Denies Lorenzo’s Tire Accusations

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As is customary, the Bridgestone media service issued their post-race debrief on tire performance on Tuesday, in which they discuss how the tires they selected held up during the race at Le Mans the previous weekend. This week’s press release is more interesting than most, as it contains a denial from Bridgestone that there was anything wrong with the rear tire used by Jorge Lorenzo in the race on Sunday, countering claims that his tire was defective.

Speaking to the media after the race on Sunday, Lorenzo said that although he was not a tire engineer, he could think of no other explanation but a defective tire for the complete lack of rear grip he had suffered throughout the race. The setting they had used in the wet morning warm-up had worked well, Lorenzo said. In 2012, under similar conditions, he had not had a single problem, he explained, going on to win the race by nearly 10 seconds.

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Effenbert Liberty Racing Withdraws from WSBK…Again

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Sweet baby Jesus, here we go again. We are only into the fifth round of the World Superbike Championship, and Effenbert Liberty Racing is having its first (and hopefully last) kerfuffle. Announcing that “the adventure of the team in the WSBK 2013 is not of our further interest” in a press release today, Effenbert Liberty Racing announced that it will no longer race in World Superbike.

Explaining that the team was unable to promote the interests of its sponsors and partners through WSBK racing, the Liberty Racing will skip the Donington Park round, which would have been only the fourth round of the season for the squad, having skipped the opening round at Phillip Island, and starting its season at Motorland Aragon.

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Bonnier Corp. & Source Interlink Swap Publications – Cycle World, Motorcyclist, & Sport Rider Now Under One Roof

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Interesting news for American motorcycle enthusiasts, as nearly all your printed two-wheeled information is set to come from a singular company in the coming future. Already the recent purchaser of Cycle World, Bonnier Corporation seems poised to control a significant portion of the two-wheeled industry’s printed and online press.

Inking a two-way deal with Source Interlink, Bonnier Corp. receives in the transaction Motorcyclist, Sport Rider, Dirt Rider, Motorcycle Cruiser, Hot Bike, Baggers, Super Streetbike, Street Chopper, and ATV Rider. In exchange, Source Interlink receives the TransWorld extreme and urban sports properties (except TransWorld Snowboarding), as well as Sound + Vision magazine.

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MotoGP: Randy de Puniet Testing with Suzuki in Japan

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Suzuki’s return to MotoGP takes another step closer to being realized this week. Frenchman Randy de Puniet is flying to Japan today to test Suzuki’s inline four MotoGP machine at Motegi, as part of the testing program to develop the bike ready for its return in 2014.

In an interview with the official MotoGP.com website, De Puniet said he would be departing on Monday. “We leave tomorrow to go to Japan to test at Motegi with Suzuki,” he told MotoGP.com. “It will be a good experience for me, and I hope to do a great job.” After testing at Motegi, De Puniet will fly back to Europe to take part in the next round of MotoGP with the Power Electronics Aspar team at Mugello, where he will ride the team’s Aprilia ART machine.

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Moto Morini Tries New Payment Scheme – Pay for Only Half of the Bike, Get It for 18 Months

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It is no secret that the financial collapse of a few years had devastating effects on the motorcycle industry as a whole, and few markets have been hit worse than the Italian motorcycle market. Coming through a painful bankruptcy process, and re-emerging into a still devastated Italian economy, Moto Morini has perhaps had the worst luck of the Italian brands in dealing with this economic chaos.

Needing to sell bikes, and operating really only in its home market, Moto Morini is getting creative with putting Bologna’s other brand into the garages of motorcyclists. With necessity being the mother of all invention, Moto Morini has a clever scheme to help cash-strapped Europeans get a new ride: pay for only half of the motorbike.

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Sunday Summary at Le Mans: Of Titles, Shot Tires, Fast Students, & A Spaniard-Free Podium

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Defending titles is not easy. In the last twenty years, only Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi have managed to win successive championships, despite both Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner winning twice. Why is it so hard? A lot of reasons. Nothing motivates a rider, a team or a factory like losing.

Winning a championship requires a lot of hard work and talent, but also a smattering of luck, and at some point, luck runs out. Winning a title means always looking forward, eyes on the prize, while defending a title means looking back, at everyone out to get you. All these things combine to make winning the second title in a row much, much harder than winning the first one.

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Saturday Summary at Le Mans: Of Exceptional Rookies, Real Race Pace, & What It Takes To Be Champion

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Marc Marquez is just starting to let the mask slip. Asked in the press conference about the fact that he will start from pole at Le Mans, despite this weekend being the first time he has ridden a MotoGP bike at the French track, Marquez admitted he always has to play down his chances ahead of each weekend. “On Thursday, I always need to say something similar,” he said.

His modesty is very becoming, and throughout the pre-season and the early races, he has continued to dampen down overly-inflated expectations. Yes, pole is nice. Yes, winning is fantastic. No, he is not even thinking of the title yet.

But everything about Marc Marquez screams ambition, the desire to win, to do what it takes to beat his rivals and prove to everyone what he believes, that he is the best rider in the world, a (self-)belief that motivates every top level athlete.

The last-corner lunge inside Jorge Lorenzo at Jerez will be cited as evidence, but more than that, the desperate attempts in the preceding laps were proof enough, if proof were needed. Is Marc Marquez thinking of winning the MotoGP championship in his first year, a feat previously only achieved by Kenny Roberts?

No, it is not chief among his concerns. Is he trying to win as many races as possible, an objective that will bring him the 2013 title if he succeeds? Of course he is. He may not be thinking about the championship, but he is definitely trying to win it.

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