We have all been there, right? You know, that moment when you are at the gas station, accidentally lock your keys inside the car, and then use a claw hammer to smash the window…RIGHT???
Of course you have, and, now Andrea Iannone has been there too.
Two things strike us from this video: 1) the back windows on a Porsche Cayenne are impressively resilient, and 2) we are glad Iannone got a contract with ECSTAR Suzuki for next season, because he would starve if he had to resort to carpentry.
Motorcyclists often romanticize about their bikes, talking about a motorcycle’s personality, or lack thereof.
This is total bullshit by the way, but there is something to be said about the connection between man and machine, as it is the same emotional bond that makes one a devout believer of one brand, and detractor to another.
Usually we make these connections through something visceral, like the sound of an engine, the power going down the road, or the handling of the chassis. Rarely does one speak about a motorcycle’s personality in the same breath as its electronics, but that might change.
This is because Kawasaki is working on an artificial intelligence (AI) project that will see its motorcycles grow and evolve personalities to compliment its owners.
Remember how Honda teased with a 21-part video series for the Africa Twin adventure-tourer? Get ready for the same treatment again, this time for Big Red’s ADV Scooter, which so far we only know as the “Honda City Adventure” concept.
This off-roading feet-forward scooter is coming to Europe, and likely North America as well, which should be an interesting test for this crossover model.
The latest teaser video gives us a pretty good glimpse of the machine, which doesn’t stray too far from its trade show concept, complete with wire wheels and dual-sport tires.
Your weekly two-wheeled podcast addiction continues with Episode 30 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast. This installment sees us discussing three different powertrains, the motorcycles that they power.
First up is Harley-Davidson’s new Milwaukee-Eight engine, which will power its Big Twin touring models for the 2017 model year. We then turn our attention to Ducati (no surprise there), and discuss the seeming return of the air-cooled Ducati Monster, which was spied last week.
We finish the show with a lengthy debrief on the Alta Motors Redshift MX, as Quentin and I had previously spent a day riding this electric dirt bike in the mountains near Portland, Oregon.
As always, you can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Enjoy the show!
At the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, at the Austrian round of MotoGP, KTM finally officially presented its MotoGP project, the KTM RC16. There had been months of testing, with press releases and photos issued.
There had been KTM’s participation in the private MotoGP test at the Red Bull Ring in July, alongside the rest of the MotoGP teams. But at the Austrian GP, the fans and media got their first chance to see the bike close up.
What are we to make of it? First, we should ask what we know about the bike.
On their corporate blog, KTM list some specs for the bike. There are few surprises: 1000cc V4 engine, using pneumatic valves, housed in a tubular steel trellis frame and an aluminum swing arm.
Suspension is by WP, while brakes are by Brembo, and exhaust by Akrapovic. Electronics are the spec MotoGP Magneti Marelli ECU.
In the latest round of poorly-kept secrets emerging at last, Yamaha have announced that they have signed Michael van der Mark for the 2017 season. He will join Alex Lowes in the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK squad for next year, replacing Sylvain Guintoli.
The move had been long expected, as it became clear over the summer that Van der Mark would be leaving the Ten Kate Honda team, with whom he has had a long relationship.
In most of the Western World, motorcycles are seen as a means of easing inner city traffic congestion. But, in some parts of the world, even the efficient transportation options of motorcycles are not enough to keep the roadways moving.
Such is the case in Vietnam, where there is a movement to ban the use of motorcycles within the Hanoi city limits. With the roads already resembling something out of a Mad Max scene, even scooters and small-displacement bikes appearing to be to many in number there (Note: I’m not sure I agree with this premise -JB).
As a young sport bike enthusiast, I never really took the BMW HP2 Sport seriously during its brief tenure as part of BMW Motorrad’s two-wheeled lineup (the BMW HP2 Sport was discontinued after the 2012 model year).
Under-powered, overweight, with clearance issues from the air-cooled boxer engine – I just didn’t “get it” when it came to the HP2.
As a more veteran rider, who too now is a little underpowered, overweight, with some clearance issues, I have a better appreciation for this quirky street bike, and a sort of longing for the HP2 to return to BMW’s arsenal. So too does Oberdan Bezzi.
Here, the Italian designer imagines a machine that benefits from BMW’s liquid-cooled version of its boxer-twin engine, the same lump that powers the current line of R-bikes, like the venerable BMW R1200GS adventure-tourer.
A week after getting his first taste of a MotoGP bike, Alex Lowes has learned he will spend two full weekends on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine, replacing Bradley Smith.
Smith injured himself when he crashed heavily during practice for the final round of the FIM Endurance World Championship. The Englishman had been drafted in to boister the YART Yamaha team, in response to a request by friend and former World Supersport racer Broc Parkes.
The aim was to help YART win the FIM EWC title, but Smith’s assistance ended before the race had even begun. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider collided with another rider, suffering a very deep cut to his leg and damage to his knee. Fears of a broken femur proved unfounded, fortunately.
Smith’s injury means he will miss both Silverstone and Misano. Alex Lowes was the obvious replacement for Smith, with rumors emerging that the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK rider would fill in for Smith over the weekend.
Any in racing series, defending the #1 plate is no easy feat, and when it comes to motorcycle racing, this statement is the most true in the FIM Endurance World Championship.
Composed of only four races for the 2016 season, the endurance championship still requires 52 hours of racing, and many more hours of practice and qualifying leading up to that figure.
To put that in perspective, it is roughly three-times more racing that MotoGP does in a season, and twice as much racing than what occurs in the World Superbike Championship.
All that extra racing time means there are more opportunity for where things can go wrong, and with only four opportunities to score points, it makes reliability, teamwork, and racecraft all the more important.
It is also worth mentioning the FIM Endurance World Championship is the only racing series where a tire war still exists, and it is also a battlefield where four factory-backed manufacturers can win at any particular event.
With all that considered then, we must give a well-earned congratulations to the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT), along with its riders Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle, and Etienne Masson, for winning the 2016 FIM Endurance World Championship.
Interesting news from our friends to the North, as BRP is rumored to be looking at entering the motorcycle industry with a two-wheeler.
The news comes from the Montreal Gazette, which says that the Canadian company is evaluating a move into the motorcycle business, and is looking for “possibilities and trends” in the two-wheeled realm.
This business venture would seem to be outside of BRP’s Can-Am brand, which already offers a motorcycle, albeit one that has three wheels and more closely resembles an on-road snowmobile.