There is more movement in the online retail space for motorcycles, as the Motorsport Aftermarket Group (MAG) is reported to be merging its two online stores: Motorcycle-Superstore and J&P Cycles.
According to Powersports Business, the Motorcycle-Superstore will be merged into J&P Cycles some time in 2017, consolidating its two online stores into one. It is expected that many of the staff at Motorcycle-Superstore will be let go during the merger.
As discussed previously on Asphalt & Rubber, flat track racing in the United States will have a comprehensive makeover in 2017. The series will be rebranded as the American Flat Track Series, and the calendar expanded to 18 rounds.
At the Superprestigio in Barcelona last weekend, the CEO of the American Flat Track series, Michael Lock, sat down with Asphalt & Rubber to discuss the reasoning behind the changes.
The expat Englishman came to flat track with a unique perspective; that of an outsider. He was an Englishman abroad, and brought fresh eyes to the problem of trying to grow flat track racing once again.
Did Santa forget to put a certain carbon fiber superbike under the tree this Christmas? Us too.
Since we aren’t one of the lucky 500 people who will be receiving the Ducati 1299 Superleggera in 2017, we will have to make do with appreciating Ducati’s latest halo bike from a distance.
Ducati officially lists the 1299 Superleggera as making 215hp and weighing 156kg dry, though with the installation of the included race kit that peak horsepower figure pops to 220hp, while the dry weight drops to a near-nothing 150kg. OMGWTFBBQ.
Numbers aside, the truly astounding part of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera is its carbon fiber chassis, a first for a production motorcycle.
Make no mistake, the Bologna firm has been continuously pushing the boundaries of what defines a superbike, and it has been interesting to watch other brands react to their creations.
There might be a lot of talk about the death of sport bikes, but we argue that they have never been more intriguing.
You won’t find any photos of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera at a higher resolution than the ones after the jump. Enjoy!
Ducati is recalling over 5,500 units of its Scrambler motorcycles for a faulty kickstand pivot nut, which can potentially detach from the motorcycle. The recall affects 2015 and 2016 model year bikes, manufactured between February 17, 2015 and November 11, 2016.
If the pivot nut loosens or detaches, it can cause the kickstand position sensor not to function properly, which can lead to either the motorcycle stalling, or the rider being able to operate the motorcycle with the kickstand still down. Either scenario is potential dangerous.
If you are in the market for an electric motorcycle (or any road-legal electric vehicle, for that matter), you have only a few more days to take advantage of the federal tax credit that comes with the purchase of these machines.
For potential electric motorcycle buyers, that means the 10% federal savings (some states offer their own incentives as well) will only be available for purchases made for the remaining four days of 2016.
Once January 1st, 2017 rolls up on the calendar, electric motorcycles will cost their full freight. How this will affect the space though, remains to be seen.
To call the last couple of years for MV Agusta turbulent would probably be understating the situation.
The company has struggled for financial stability ever since its re-acquisition by the Castiglioni family, and that struggle has recently come to a zenith with the firms debt restructuring and investment by the Anglo-Russian investment group Black Ocean.
With that comes some harsh realities, namely that MV Agusta will not be producing a new superbike any time soon, as the cost of the project exceeds the Italian manufacturer’s capabilities – so said MV Agusta CEO Giovanni Castiglioni while talking to Alan Cathcart for Australian Motorcycle News.
Reading motorsports websites all over Europe recently, you would think it was Doomsday for motorcycle racing, and all forms of motorized sports.
Even in as august a publication as The Times (of London, that is), the headlines warned of impending disaster:. “EU insurance rule ‘will destroy British motor sport’“. Is the end nigh for motorsport in Britain?
The short answer is “No, but it’s complicated”. So where did these warnings that the sky is falling come from?
On Wednesday, the MCIA (the Motorcycle Industry Association, the body representing the British bike industry), the ACU, and the AMCA (both representing motorcycle racing, on road and off road) issued a joint press release, warning that motorsport in the UK could come to an end due to a ruling by the European Court in Luxembourg.
The ruling stems from a judgment in the case of Vnuk v. Triglav, case C-162/13 before the European Court of Justice, and known as the Vnuk judgment. The case involved a Slovenian farm worker, Damijan Vnuk, who was injured when he was knocked off a ladder by a tractor reversing with a trailer.
Vnuk was working on a farm at the time, and sued for compensation from the motor vehicle insurance policy of the tractor. The lower Slovenian courts rejected his claims, but the Slovenian Supreme Court referred the case to the ECJ.
Suzuki has issued a recall on a number of its DL650 motorcycles, better known to the riding public as the venerable Suzuki V-Strom 650. The recall affects 8,613 machines, which were manufactured between August 30, 2011, and October 12, 2015.
Suzuki’s recall notes that the bikes might have an alternator stator that has insufficient heat resistance, which results in a short circuit of the stator wires. A short circuit of the stator wires may prevent the battery from properly charging, which could cause the engine to stall, and thus possibly cause the motorcycle to crash.
To prevent this, Suzuki Motor of America has issued this recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Top ten lists are by their very nature subjective; beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all. From the moment the season started in Australia until the very end there was a great scrap for the title, with the fight going down to the wire in Qatar. But, who was the best rider of 2016? This is the our Top 10 riders of the 2016 World Superbike season.
Seasons Greetings from Asphalt & Rubber. While we stoke the fires on the yule log, everyone at A&R would like to wish our readers a Happy Holiday.
We will be taking the day off as we sip some cider and gorge ourselves on delicious home-cooked nom noms (yeah…nom noms), but we should be back in the swing of things next week.
Whatever your denomination may be (bagger, café, sumo, etc.), we hope you are with good friends and family, and that the two-wheeled vehicle in your garage gets some seasonal merriment as well.
We hope you are as excited about 2017 as we are…now go get you ‘nog on!
The rumor mill says that this video from Triumph is teasing us an “all new” Triumph Street Triple for the 2017 model year, which will see a displacement increase to 800cc.
The new bike is set to drop on January 10th, and promises to set “a new benchmark” in the streetfighter category. That is tough talk from a British brand that has let its modern sport bike offering languish over the past decade. But, we’re intrigued.
We have seen a revival in the streetfighter category as of late though, so hopefully the folks at Hinckley are wise to that trend and not keen on seeing the iconic Street Triple and Speed Triple models slip further from the riding consciousness.
Like you, we look forward to seeing what debuts in a couple weeks’ time. Hopefully it lives up to the hype — we’re suckers for nakeds.