Riders of Kawasaki’s big honking Vulcan 1700 cruiser line, both the Vaquero and Voyager, should head this recall notice from the NHTSA, as it affects 11,836 units built between February 2, 2009 and March 20, 2015.
The recall concerns an ignition wire that may chafe, due to contact with the fuel tank. This can result in a short-circuit and possible engine stall, which in-turn could lead to the rider losing control of the motorcycle and crashing.
When you hear the name Bimota, you likely picture in your head bespoke and beautiful Italian motorcycles that borrow some of the most potent engines from motorcycle manufacturers and then build motorcycling exotica around them. Just about every Bimota is a highly coveted collectible…just about.
For some reason the Bimota Mantra is more infamous than famous, it’s design was ahead of its time, to say it politely. I know a few collectors who love the Mantra, and have a few in their collections, but the bulk of the two-wheeled public would rather forget the Mantra was ever penned, and that the V Due was ever built.
Asked what he would build if he had to recreate the Bimota Mantra, designer Sacha Lakic (the artist who was behind the original Mantra, and more currently, the Voxan Wattman) inked the above sketch.
Let us know what you think of the Bimota Mantra 2.0, in the comments. Also, photos showing Lakic’s design process are after the jump.
When different riders agree on a subject, it is worth listening. Summing up the 2015 championship, both Marc Márquez and Andrea Dovizioso independently came to the same conclusion.
When asked in the press conference who was stronger, Valentino Rossi or Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Márquez explained that it wasn’t as simple as that.
“It’s difficult to say,” Márquez said. “If you ask me, I would say Jorge is faster because his speed is really good. On the other side, Valentino is doing his 100% and he always finishes in front these last two races.”
Earlier in the day, Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso had been asked if he could become one of the wild cards which could help decide the championship.
“In a normal situation, it’s quite difficult. But not impossible,” Dovizioso replied. But the championship was far from decided, Dovizioso went on to add.
“I think that the points gap between Valentino and Lorenzo is quite big now, and Valentino is really good at managing the points. But I think Lorenzo has the speed to fight and to gain the points. Still there a lot of races left. I think he has the speed and is strong enough thinking about himself to try to win the race, and anything can happen.”
Dovizioso and Márquez echo a broadly-held opinion in the paddock: that Jorge Lorenzo is the faster of the two, but Valentino Rossi is the man who finds a way to cross the line first.
Do you want a MotoGP bike in your garage (or living room, as the case will likely be)? Do you have $184,000 and then some, burning a hole in your pocket? Do you like not living in a house, but think carbon fiber fairings will keep you warm at night?
If you said yes to any of those questions, you should buy a Honda RC213V-S.
In seriousness, if owning a Honda RC213V-S is a notion that does strike you, then you better hurry up with your order. This is because we asked Honda how orders were coming with the RC213V-S, and the Japanese brand responded that reservations for the MotoGP-bike-for-the-street are quite abundant, indeed.
We’re really enjoying the work of Tamás Jakus, better known as Jakusa Design. If that name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, we’re sure his recent work on the zeffed-out Triumph Tiger 800 will surely strike you as familiar. This time, Jakus has imagined a Ducati-powered car.
That concept is already in our headspace, thanks to the engineers at Volkswagen making the Volkswagen XL Sport, but Jakus’ version is far more appealing to us.
Extruding the distinctive intake of the Panigale across the trellis frame of an Aeriel Atom type oversized go-kart – complete with pigeon-toed three spoke wheels, just like the superbike – there are enough Ducati design elements to link the car to the brand to make the exercise convincing.
Leave your thoughts and your best Volkswagen emissions jokes in the comments section.
Well, the fun is over. Talking to MCN, Claudio Domenicali has laid to rest any rumors about the Ducati building a four-cylinder superbike to replace the Panigale.
The news confirms what everyone already expected to be the case, as it is hard to imagine a Ducati superbike model being anything other than a v-twin, World Superbike rules be damned.
“I can confirm there is no officially confirmed project at Ducati for a four-cylinder engine to replace the Panigale V-twin,” Domenicali confirmed to MCN. “There is no Ducati four-cylinder superbike planned.”
From the coast to the high plains. From the hubbub of a string of seaside resorts along the Adriatic Riviera to the vast unspoiled mountains and hills of Baja Aragon. From the green and fertile Po basin to the arid olive orchards and vineyards of the Maestrazgo.
Contrasts don’t get much greater than between Misano in Italy and Motorland Aragon in Spain.
The tracks, too, are very different. Misano is fairly slow, with a lot of tight first gear corners. Aragon is much faster, with some tighter sections, but a couple of seriously fast and flowing corners.
Misano is pretty much flat as a pancake, where Aragon has its own version of Laguna Seca’s Corkscrew, though not quite so precipitous, and a long, fast downhill back straight leading to a long double-apex left hander and a climb uphill to the finish.
The scenery may change, but the storyline in MotoGP remains the same. The championship remains a head-to-head battle between the Movistar Yamaha men, much as it has been since Le Mans.
After Misano, the ball is very much back in Valentino Rossi’s court, having extended his lead over Jorge Lorenzo to 23 points.
He will need that cushion, as the championship now arrives at Aragon, a circuit where Lorenzo arrives as a clear favorite, having had some strong results here in the past. Rossi, meanwhile, is at one of his worst tracks, Aragon being one of just two tracks where the Italian has never won, Austin being the other.
The big news this week might be about how Volkswagen falsified emissions reports on its diesel-powered automobiles – a move that today lead to Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn stepping down from his position in the company, and VW stock dropping nearly 30%, at the time of this writing.
Less well-known though is that Volkswagen has also lost its long-fought battle with Suzuki over the Japanese company’s stock ownership. VW and Suzuki were supposed to untie the knot back in 2011, but Volkswagen did not go quietly into that good night.
Taking the case to arbitration, the London Court of International Arbitration has finally handed the two parties its verdict. As such, Volkswagen will have to sell its 19.9% stake back to Suzuki.
MotoGP is headed to Motorland Aragon this weekend, and while the Spanish track is usually a favorite with the GP riders, for Nicky Hayden, it’s looking like a tough weekend already.
Breaking his right thumb while training on minimotos in Italy, Hayden will have to assess his ability to race on Friday, and if he decides to continue with the weekend, will likely have a hard time of things come race day.
An announcement that has been expected for quite a while now, Yamaha is officially returning to the World Superbike Championship for the 2016 season.
The news comes after nearly a season of competition for the Yamaha YZF-R1 in other classes, which has seemingly given Yamaha Motor Europe the confidence to support a factory team in the premier production racing series.
Helping Yamaha in that endeavor will be the experience WSBK outfit of Crescent Racing, who will run the day-to-day operations of the team, while Yamaha Racing develops the racing platform and strategy.
Yamaha’s return is already well-formed, as both Sylvain Guintoli and Alex Lowes will be riding for the factory team. Additionally, Yamaha Racing has already secured PATA as the team’s title sponsor.
It’s easy to focus on what is right in front of us, but every now and then you have to stop and think about the past – and a company like Honda certainly has a storied past.
Honda helped contribute to the rise of a post-WWII Japanese economy. It has built some of the most iconic vehicles in modern time, some of them two-wheeled, some of them not.
And for as much grief we give Big Red sometimes, it is one of the few brands in the motorcycle industry that truly sets the tone for everyone else. When Honda talks, everyone listens.
Maybe that’s what makes this short video from Honda, which debuted on Sunday during primetime football, so appealing to us – both as lovers of motorcycles, but also good branding.
The commercial is clever and well executed, and in less than two minutes it not only reminds us of the pedigree that is the Honda brand, but also of all the milestones the company has achieved in what will be 67 years at the end of this week. Pretty impressive stuff.