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Q&A: Silvano Galbusera – On Replacing Jeremy Burgess & Being Valentino Rossi’s Crew Chief, Part 2

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At Valencia last year, working for the Belgian magazine Motorrijder, I interviewed Valentino Rossi’s crew chief Silvano Galbusera.

The interview lived up to expectations, providing a fascinating insight into working with the nine-time world champion, and the pressures of replacing legendary crew chief Jeremy Burgess as Rossi’s right-hand man.

Yesterday, we published the first part of the interview, in which Galbusera spoke of his switch to MotoGP, and replacing Jerry Burgess. In the second part of the interview, Galbusera talks specifically about working with Valentino Rossi, and what makes him such a special rider.

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Bikes

Finally, Here is the Honda Africa Twin in All Its Glory

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UPDATE: Technical specifications for the 2016 Honda Africa Twin have also leaked.

Honda has been teasing a six-part video series about the Honda Africa Twin, and the final installment has just leaked onto the internet. As you would expect, the video finally gives us the full monty on what the Honda CRF1000L will look like, along with some great action footage.

Perhaps even better, the final installment of Honda’s video series also features a very interesting discussion with HRC riders, Honda engineers, and stakeholders to the Africa Twin brand.

The discussion is very insightful to the development of the 1,000cc adventure bike platform, including off-roading’s first dual-clutch transmission (DCT).

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Bikes

New Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R Coming for 2016

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Superbike fans should rejoice to the news that Kawasaki has an all-new ZX-10R in the works for the upcoming model year. The news comes from Germany’s reliable Speedweek publication, which interviewed Guim Roda, the Team Manager of Kawasaki’s World Superbike racing effort.

Talking to Speedwekk, Roda said “we will have a new Kawasaki ZX-10R in 2016. The concept will be the same but, with some details and changes, it will be even more competitive.”

“Given that the current rules are very restricted, the motorbikes have to be developed with an eye on the sport. We are heading on a path that Aprilia, Ducati and BMW have already taken for this year by bringing out new bikes,” he added.

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Bikes

2016 Yamaha XSR700 – Hip Meets Modern Tech

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Yamaha’s new FZ/MT platform has been a home run for the Japanese brand, with both the Yamaha FZ-09 and Yamaha FZ-07 selling well, here in the United States (the bikes sell around the rest of the world as the MT-09 and MT-07).

So how does Yamaha build on that success? How do they reach riders who aren’t looking for the modern naked aesthetic? Well, you give them what they want.

Meet the 2016 Yamaha XSR700. Underneath that retro-standard exterior resides the basic makings of the FZ-07. It’s the same 700cc parallel-twin engine with its 270° crankshaft mated to a new lightweight aluminum chassis.

The Yamaha XSR700 is the production version of Yamaha’s recently unveiled “Faster Sons” concept, and is an obvious offering to the hipster motorcycle crowd that has come to adore the work of Japanese bike builder Shinya Kimura, who made the concept bike.

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MotoGP

Q&A: Silvano Galbusera – On Replacing Jeremy Burgess & Being Valentino Rossi’s Crew Chief, Part 1

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At Valencia last year, working for the Belgian magazine Motorrijder, I interviewed Valentino Rossi’s crew chief Silvano Galbusera.

The interview lived up to expectations, providing a fascinating insight into working with the nine-time world champion, and the pressures of replacing legendary crew chief Jeremy Burgess as Rossi’s right-hand man.

Today, we publish the first part of the interview. The second part will be published on Thursday.

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Event

At the Laguna Seca World Superbike Race Weekend

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A race is more than just a race. This past weekend, both the World Superbike and MotoAmerica motorcycle road racing series came to one of the most fabled tracks in America, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The racing was exciting, yet the crowd was not nearly as big as you would think. Maybe it was the threat of rain. Maybe it was the lack of TV coverage. Or maybe it was the fact that a lot of American riders have never been exposed to motorcycle racing and don’t know what a race weekend is all about.

Do folks think a race weekend is just sitting in the hot sun watching bikes droning around the track in endless, boring circles? Of course it’s not! Sure, there’s lots of racing, and as in any outdoor event, Mother Nature can be a factor, but there is so much more to a race weekend.

Many riders who didn’t grow up as race fans may not realize that a motorcycle race is more than just a race; it’s an event – a gathering of the motorcycling community. It doesn’t matter if you ride a cruiser, a tourer, or a sportbike. A race weekend offers something for everyone.

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Bikes

“I Am From the Future, You Are Not”

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Last week I was down in California, mostly for the World Superbike round at Laguna Seca, but also to replace a dead hard drive on a server named Heather, and for the Arai Corsair-X helmet press launch. It was a busy week, to say the least.

I was lucky though to stop be and see the folks at Alta Motors, the ranks of whom have swelled greatly since I was last there, as the company is readying itself for production and is soon moving to its new facility for that very purpose.

It might be too early to talk about 2016 model year motorcycles, but the RedShift SM is definitely a bike I am eager to see in its production form, since the prototype definitely impressed me…all the way back in 2011.

Alta seems just about ready to deliver on its “faster than gas” marching orders, and they have been quietly letting friends and family ride their pre-production units at the shop.

One such person was Jon Bekefy, a stalwart of the motorcycle industry, and no stranger to electric motorcycles, having recently worked for the now defunct Mission Motorcycles.

Equipped with a RedShift SM, a helmet cam, and a microphone…good things ensue. We imagine soon-to-be RedShift owners will have similar reactions once they get their bikes. Enjoy the video, after the jump…and Jon, do you really kiss your mother with that mouth??!

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Racing

52,704 Attendees at the Laguna Seca WSBK Round

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Michael van der Mark Honda WSBK Laguna Seca

Under normal circumstances, I would say that if you missed the World Superbike / MotoAmerica round at Laguna Seca this weekend, then you missed a great weekend of motorcycle racing.

Of course, the deaths of Daniel Rivas and Bernat Martinez have written a tragic ending to an otherwise great story, and their passing is still being felt around the industry, both here and in Spain.

Before that tragic race started though, Dorna released the attendance figures for American round, quoting 52,704 people in attendance over the race weekend. Breaking things down by day, that’s 12,436 fans on Friday, 18,559 fans on Saturday, and 21,709 fans on Sunday.

This accordingly means that World Superbike fan attendance for 2015 is up 6.7% over last year’s total attendance, which was 49,408. It should be noted that attendance in 2014 was up 20% over 2013, the first year of WSBK’s return to Laguna Seca.

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Dirt

Gas Gas Enters into Liquidation

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This looks like the end of the road for motorcycle manufacturer Gas Gas, as the Spanish brand entered into liquidation today, after its bankruptcy proceedings failed to find the €30 million necessary to pay the company’s creditors.

The news is timely, as today interested parties in owning Erik Buell Racing (or parts of it) will be placing their bids on the similarly wayward company.

Back in Spain though, the news is troubling for Gas Gas fans, as the company’s assets will be liquidated, with the hope of raising enough money to pay-off the company’s creditors.

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Racing

SCTA Cancels Bonneville Speed Week, Again

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Bad news continues from the Bonneville Salt Flats, as the SCTA has officially cancelled its upcoming Speed Week event — an event that was cancelled last year as well.

As we reported earlier, Speed Week was put into serious doubt because of the conditions of the salt flats, which were shown to have a thin salt layer and wet/muddy conditions that made the historic site unsuitable for land speed racing.

Spending Tuesday morning at Bonneville looking for a suitable stretch of salt for a 2.25-mile course, SCTA President/Race Director Bill Lattin & the BNI Chairman Roy Creel deemed the conditions unsafe for a race course, and thus dashed any hopes of the event being salvaged.

Perhaps the only silver-lining to today’s news is that if the salt dries out, future land speed racing events might be possible at Bonneville this year.

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Racing

Sunday at Laguna Seca with Scott Jones

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WSBK Laguna Seca weather

The weather is often a large part of the story at Laguna Seca. Usually it’s either heat, like the dangerously hot 2006 MotoGP weekend, or morning fog that delays the start of a day’s sessions, like nearly every time an event is held at this circuit.

But today the weather was a sudden thunderstorm that started just before sunrise. As the paddock came awake, lightning was flashing to the south and rain was drenching the circuit, washing the rubber off the asphalt and soaking the Media Center, to name only a couple of moisture-related casualties.

Out came the rain tires for the morning warm-up, and away they went on a track that was drying but still wet. But by the time Race 1 arrived, it was back to slicks for two dry races.

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