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2017 MotoGP Season Preview: Part 2 – Nearly Alien

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There is some resistance to talk of there being “Aliens” in MotoGP. Why, fans ask, should we regard these riders as so very different from the other riders on the grid? In previous years, the answer to that objection was simple.

Of the 143 MotoGP races held between 2008 and 2015, only two had been won by someone other other than the riders regarded as MotoGP Aliens.

In 2009, Andrea Dovizioso won the British Grand Prix at Donington Park. And in 2011, Ben Spies won the Dutch TT at Assen. At both races, the weather conditions were a factor.

2016 put an end to that objection. Last season, there were a record-breaking nine winners in eighteen races. Andrea Dovizioso won his second race (and nearly won a third). Cal Crutchlow won two in the same season, one in the wet, one in the dry. Does that mean there are now more Aliens? Or does it invalidate the term altogether?

2017 is going to muddy the waters on the term Alien even further. Yes, there are five riders who can be expected to win a race every time they turn up at a track. But there are three or four others who are just as likely to spring a surprise and win a race this season.

Nobody would expect them to win six or seven races, but neither would anyone be surprised if they were to win one race each. If they are not quite Aliens, what then shall we call them? MotoGP’s astronauts?

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Reviews

Gone Riding: 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6

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Good morning from cloudy California. Today’s adventure takes us to one of my favorite race tracks, Thunderhill Raceway Park, to test the 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6.

It should be an interesting day, namely since Northern California is getting some much-needed rain, although that makes it tough to test a 120hp+ supersport machine.

On second thought though, maybe these are ideal conditions for the “new” R6 – with its freshly added traction control, riding modes, and anti-locking brake system.

It’s this electronics suite that will be the focus of our testing today, considering that the 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 keeps the same frame and engine as its predecessor.

Definitely more evolution than revolution, other changes to the R6 for 2017 include revised suspension and braking components, magnesium subframe, aluminum tank, and bodywork that improves aerodynamics.

Yamaha calls this its “4th Generation” YZF-R6 model, though the spec list is suggesting something closer to a “3.5 Generation” machine…maybe 3.75, if I have had my Mountain Dew this morning and am feeling generous.

Yamaha feels confident that the 2017 model is a “new” bike though, and they even brought a 2016 model to ride, in order to prove the point to us. So, that will certainly be interesting. It looks like Bridgestone W01 full-wet rain tires will be the order of the day, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed that things don’t get too moist out there.

Per our new review format, we will be giving you a live assessment of the 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 right here in this article (down in the comments section), and there we will try to answer any questions you might have. So, here is your chance to learn what it’s like to ride the 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6, before even my own proper review is posted.

As always, if I don’t know an answer, I will try to get a response from the Yamaha personnel (we have members from both the Japanese and American teams here on-site) that are here with me here at Thunderhill. So, pepper away.

You can follow our thoughts on the bike live via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can also try searching for the hashtags: #Yamaha #RWorld #R6FirstRide for the thoughts of my colleagues as well.

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Bikes

How About a Ducati 916 Superleggera?

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Yesterday we brought you an interesting Photoshop mashup, where Ducati 851 Superbike fairings were CGI’d onto a Panigale chassis (it was a 1199 Superleggera, to be precise), with drool-worthy result.

That lead to the guys at OTTO Revista pinging us, to show their work, which includes the bodywork from the venerable Ducati 916, photoshopped onto the Ducati 1299 Superleggera, Borgo Panigale’s latest and greatest.

Taking from arguably the most beautiful Ducati ever produced, and adding to it the most technologically advanced Ducati street bike ever concieved, well…the result (above) speaks for itself.

Just for kicks too, there is a Supermono mashup, as well as a TT2 (Pantah) version, after the jump.

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Reviews

We’re Going to Try a New Motorcycle Review Format

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For a long time, I have been unhappy with how we do motorcycle reviews here at Asphalt & Rubber – and if I am being real honest, I have been unhappy with how the industry as a whole deals with motorcycle reviews, especially in this new crazy online world.

Mea culpa, A&R is just as guilty as the rest when it comes to publishing motorcycle reviews. We have been just as lazy as the next publication, as we try to chase elusive pageviews at the end of each bike launch, with timely but flaccid prose (with varying degrees of success, on both accounts, I should say).

Well, I want that to stop. It is dumb, and it is bad for the ecosystem.

So, starting today we are going to try a new motorcycle review format – one that I have been chewing on for several months now. It is a three-pronged approach to bike reviews, which sees us trying to achieve different goals with each of our three postings about the new motorcycles we ride. Let me break them down for you.

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MotoGP

2017 MotoGP Season Preview: Part 1 – The Five Aliens

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And then there were five. Should that statement have a question mark after it? On the evidence of pre-season testing, definitely not. Maverick Viñales earned the right to add his name to last year’s list, dominating testing and finishing fastest in all four.

Marc Márquez demonstrated why he is reigning world champion, and why his rivals have reason to fear him even more this year. Dani Pedrosa finished fifth at Valencia and Sepang, then third at Phillip Island and Qatar.

Jorge Lorenzo found the process of adapting to the Ducati tougher than expected, but was third quickest on his first day on the bike, and fourth fastest at Qatar.

And the man with the worst pre-season results of the lot, Valentino Rossi is, well, Valentino Rossi. You only ever write off Valentino Rossi after the final race at Valencia is done and dusted. And not a millisecond before.

So we head into the first race in Qatar with five Aliens, all of whom are likely to win at least one race this year. Some, like Viñales, will win a lot more this year than they have in the past. Others, like Lorenzo, will win far fewer, but will surely end up on the top step at one race, at the very least.

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Bikes

Ducati 851 Bodywork on a Panigale Looks Damn Good

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If you are a regular reader of Asphalt & Rubber, or listen to the Two Enthusiasts Podcast, you have probably heard our musings on where the next big design trend is coming, and know our affinity for the rise of bikes from the 1980s and 1990s.

So, with the being said, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that we are intrigued by the following piece of photoshoppery, which smashes together two Ducati superbikes, the 851 and the Panigale.

At first you wouldn’t think that the two designs would work together, but the more we look at this, the more we are intrigued to see one in the flesh.

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Lifestyle

Watch Internal Engine Combustion at 4,000 FPS

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Suck, squeeze, bang, and blow – there is no way to more succinctly describe the combustion process of a four-stroke engine. If you are more of a visual learner though, we might have the perfect video series to show the combustion process in your typical road-going motorcycle.

The video comes courtesy of the “Warped Perception” channel on YouTube, which has made a name for itself by taking high-speed high-resolution cameras and using them to show and explain complex actions.

In the case here, Warped Perception took a 3hp Briggs & Stratton engine, removed the head and replaced it with about an inch of acrylic glass, and then proceeded to see what would and would not burn in the simple engine design.

Slowing things down to 4,000 frames per second, and shooting 4k video, we get an absolutely stunning, not to mention informative, perspective of what happens in your typical internal combustion engine. Enjoy!

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Bikes

Italian Volt Lacama Electric Motorcycle Brings Some Style

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Italian Volt’s debut model, the Lacama, isn’t the most beautiful motorcycle that we have ever seen, but the Italian brand certainly has done a good job making a stylish machine for motorcycle enthusiasts.

Capable of hiding up to 15 kWh of batteries in its brick-like case, the Italian Volt Lacama does a good job of tackling one of the biggest design problems that motorcycle manufacturers face with electrics: styling the massive battery packs that these machines require.

Taking things a step further though, Italian Volt will offer the Lacama in several different form-factors, with owners able to choose from options that include café racer, scrambler, and roadster designs.

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Bikes

Honda CBR250RR, Reporting for Racing Duty

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Honda is taking the quarter-liter market very seriously. The debut of the Honda CBR250RR street bike proves as much, with Big Red doubling-down on the segment, just three years after the debut of the Honda CBR300R.

The small-displacement category hasn’t converged on a single-displacement yet, with anything from 250cc to 400cc seemingly filling the gap, all of which makes the Honda CBR250RR an even bolder choice from the Japanese manufacturer, as it’s on the smaller end of the spectrum.

We have yet to see the Honda CBR250RR come to the western markets, but in Asia, HRC is getting ready to go racing with its 250cc twin-cylinder platform. As such, the above is the Honda CBR250RR, in its Astra Honda Racing trim, which debuted this weekend at the Osaka Motorcycle Show.

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast #47 – Qatar MotoGP Test

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Episode 47 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is our last episode from the MotoGP pre-season, and it sees David Emmett and Neil Morrison covering the recent Qatar MotoGP test.

Unsurprisingly, a hot topic of that conversation was about Ducati’s aerodynamic unveil – what is lovingly being called the “hammerhead” fairing for the Ducati Desmosedici GP17. The guys also talked about Honda’s pre-season testing strategy, as HRC searches for its 2017 engine setup.

The MotoGP conversation ends with a long discussion about the progress and state of all the top MotoGP riders, before the attention is turned on the Moto2 and Moto3 championships.

Of course with the pre-season now over, David and Neil can’t resist picking their riders for who will win the 2017 season, and whether they will be placing any bets for yours truly, by proxy.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the show on iTunes and SoundCloud – we even have an RSS feed for you. If you like the show, we would really appreciate you giving it a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

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