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Examining the “Factory 2” Farce in MotoGP

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So, who is to blame for the three-class farce? When the ‘Factory 2’ regulations were first announced, fans and followers were quick to point the finger of blame at Honda. With good reason: HRC has made a series of comments about the way everyone except HRC have interpreted the Open class regulations.

Honda thought it was their duty to build a production racer, so that is what they did. The fact that it is hopelessly uncompetitive against the Forward Yamahas – 2013-spec satellite Yamaha M1s running the 2013-spec Open software – led to suggestions from Honda that what Yamaha was doing was unfair.

When Ducati announced that they would also be switching to the Open category, Repsol Honda team principal Livio Suppo was quick to denounce the move, saying it would drive costs up for the Open class teams.

Thus, It was easy to put two and two together, and come up with HRC putting pressure on Dorna to impose a penalty on Ducati, for fear of them exploiting the benefits of the Open class. Those putting two and two together appear to have come up with a number which is not as close to four as they thought, however.

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Bikes

2014 Ducati Desmosedici GP14 Debuts in Germany

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It’s been a weird year for factory MotoGP bike debuts. With Ducati now a part of Audi AG, the Italian team’s Wrooom! debut event was nixed, as it was jointly hosted with Ferrari.

Meanwhile in Indonesia, Yamaha Racing debuted in what looked like a basement service closet, though thankfully Movistar has come on-board as a title sponsor, creating the need to retake the team’s livery photos — hopefully with a little post-processing this time.

Just two weeks away from the opening round of the MotoGP season, in Qatar, Ducati Corse has now officially debuted its racing machine, the 2014 Ducati Desmosedici GP14.

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MotoGP

Ducati Corse’s 2014 MotoGP Livery

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Ducati Corse has finally debuted its 2014 MotoGP team, with Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso showing off the team colors with the Ducati Desmosedici GP14. The reunited teammates have their work cutout for them this year, honing Ducati’s GP machine.

Under the guidance of Gigi Dall’Igna, Ducati will compete under the Open Category, though Dorna has now made Ducati’s entry a “Factory 2” option, in an attempt to appease the complaints of Honda and Yamaha.

Regardless of what you want to call it, Ducati is free to develop the Desmosedici GP14’s engine, for the modest concession of using the spec-ECU software. Hopefully this means Cal and Dovi will be more competitive as the season wears on this year.

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Bikes

Updated 2014 Yamaha Super Ténéré Coming to the USA

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After months of speculation and rumors that the United States might not get the newest version of Yamaha’s best-selling adventure bike, the company has announced that the 2014 Super Ténéré will be available stateside.

Yamaha is offering the 1,199cc parallel twin in two different trim levels, the Super Ténéré and the Super Ténéré ES. Notable improvements to the 2014 models include an updated multi-function display, traction contro,l and a redesigned windscreen that is now adjustable.

The most impressive improvement comes to the Super Ténéré ES however, which receives adjustable electronic suspension.

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Bikes

Honda CB300F Single-Cylinder Spotted in Trademark Docs?

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Just last week, Yamaha’s US trademark filings tipped off a possible three-cylinder sport-tourer from the Japanese OEM, and in that article we noted how intellectual property filings are becoming an important element in spotting new models from motorcycle manufacturers.

The irony of course is that patents and trademarks are designed to protect the intellectual property of applicants; but in our case, they often give notice to things OEMs would like to keep secret. Such is the case with what we believe is the Honda CB300F, a single-cylinder naked bike that is based off the Honda CBR300R small-displacement sport bike.

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News

Dainese Confirms Rumors of Investor Talks

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Speaking to the VeneziePost (subscription required in order to read the article), Dainese Founder Lino Dainese has confirmed the news we broke last month about the Italian apparel manufacturer being in talks for investment, or possible acquisition.

According to the report, Dainese says the company came close to inking a deal with an unnamed private equity group, but terminated the talks because the parties could not come to terms with their agreement.

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News

US Senators Want to Defund Motorcycle-Only Checkpoints

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Take heart my two-wheel riding cohort: four courageous, topical, and freedom-loving senators are fighting for your right not to be discriminated against based on the number of wheels between your knees.

A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on March 5th aims to prohibit the use of federal funding to programs that seek to setup “motorcycle-only checkpoints.”

The aptly named, “Stop Motorcycle Checkpoint Funding Act,” would restrict the Secretary of Transportation from granting funds to government entities that want to make sure you and your passenger have on a helmet, amongst other things.

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Columns

motoDNA: Getting a Grip on the Mechanics of Trail Braking

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On the track, racers are either on the throttle or on the brakes – no free wheeling – this wastes time. Trail braking is a technique which racers use to slow the bike as quickly as possible from one speed (on the straight) to another (corner apex speed).

In applying this technique, a racer will approach a turn and at their braking marker, apply full braking force, normally with the bike being upright.

As the rider begins to turn in, they reduce brake pressure, easing off the brakes. Decreasing or “trailing” the brake lever force as the bike lean angle increases until they gets to the apex, the rider then releases the brake and applies the throttle.

Sounds easy enough in theory, but proper execution is complicated because it comes down to feel — and remember these guys are doing this seamlessly, every lap on the limit.

As Freddie Spencer once said, “fast riders have slow hands” so all this is done smoothly, progressively and powerfully.

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MotoGP

Bridgestone Releases New Color System for MotoGP

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Bridgestone is to introduce an improved method of marking slick tires for 2014. A new system of color-coding will make distinguishing between the various options much easier for fans to identify who is using which tire.

The four different compounds which could potentially be available at each round (two for the Factory Option category, two for the Open category) are identified using four different colors: red for hard, black (or no stripe) for medium, white for soft, and green for extra-soft. After the jump is the Bridgestone press release explaining the color-coding system.

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Bikes

Bottpower’s BOTT XC1 Cafe Racer Rendered

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Earlier this year, we announced to you that Bottpower was working on a café racer version of its XR1 street-tracker motorcycle. Using a Buell XB as a donor bike, the Bottpower XC1 Cafe Racer kit transforms the big-displacement American twin into something a little bit more hipster.

Though we are not big on the café racer scene (you wouldn’t know it, looking at our posts lately though) we have been enchanted with the work done by Bottpower on this project so far. We imagine the finished result will be coming forth shortly; until then though, we’ll just have to drool over these nearly finalized renders.

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News

Motorcycle Safety Foundation Launches iTunes U Courses

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Want to improve your riding skills from the comfort of your computer or tablet? The Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) has the digital solution for you. Releasing four courses onto the iTunes U store for free, the MSF has made available a wide variety of tips and strategies to help motorcyclists to sharpen and hone their two-wheeled craft.

The four courses are “An Adventure in Motorcycle Physics,” “Dr. Ray’s Street Strategies,” “Dr. Ray’s Guide to Group Riding,” and “Dr. Ray’s Seasoned Rider,” with each class consisting of 20 or so chapters.

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