BMW Motorrad looks to have 2017 off to a strong start, with the German brand reporting a 5.5% increase in sales so far this year.
Selling 35,636 motorcycles thus far, BMW’s first quarter results were reinforced by the brand’s strong March, with over half of this year’s units sold last month (18,265 two-wheelers in all) for a 10.9% increase over March 2016.
If you have had your eye on a Norton V4 superbike recently, you might not have to wait as long for it to arrive, as the British marque has secured £3 million from the Santander Corporate & Commercial bank.
The debt investment will allow Norton to triple its production rate on the V4 SS and V4 RR models, and also allow for the company to hire 40 new employees for the job. Additionally, according to Norton this will allow the company to increase its production volume to 1,500 motorcycles per year.
It is tough luck for Markus Reiterberger, as the German rider will be sitting out the remainder of the 2017 World Superbike season, after not being able to recover fully from a crash he suffered last season at the Misano Circuit.
Reiterberger fractured two vertebrae (T10 & T12) in the crash, and has since struggled to get back to fitness and back to the pace for the 2017 season. Accordingly, the Althea BMW Racing rider has come to the decision to sit out the rest of the WorldSBK season.
This shuffle in the Althea team will take affect immediately, with a still unnamed rider set to replace Reiterberger at the upcoming round at the TT Circuit Assen.
The CCM Spitfire (above) was a big hit with A&R readers, with the bike’s basic looks and 600cc single-cylinder engine showing that sometimes less is indeed more.
In case you are not in the market for a roadster model though, CCM reportedly has a scrambler version in the works as well, so says Britain’s MCN .
The idea seems pretty obvious, when you think about it, with the two design aesthetics being very similar, and the SWM-sourced engine originally coming out for use in dirt bike models.
As such, we are almost surprised that CCM didn’t start first with a scrambler model, but that is despite the point.
After this year’s April Fools hijinks, we have a whole new respect for the cunning that resides at BMW Motorrad, and the Germans seem to be honing that trait even further today.
Announcing its plans for the upcoming Auto Shanghai 2017 later this month, BMW lists a number of four-wheeled news items for the Chinese auto show, and then casually slips-in at the end of the press release that we should expect a big unveil from BMW Motorrad.
The statement reads that “the highlight of the BMW Motorrad stand is the world premiere of one of the most exclusive models ever offered by BMW Motorrad,” which is terse, though given what we know about the Bavarian brand, it should be easy to guess what they are hinting at.
Along with a thrilling weekend of racing, several interesting items of news emerged in Argentina. Brad Binder and Remy Gardner were injured, and face surgery.
Also, discussions were held in the Safety Commission regarding who progresses to Q1 and Q2. And at a press conference, Dorna announced that the WorldSBK championship will be racing in Argentina in 2018, at a new circuit in the west of the country.
Confirming our report from several weeks ago, Yamaha has issued a recall through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for several of its three-cylinder motorcycle models for the 2015-2017 model years: FJ-09, FZ-09, and XSR900.
The recall affects 22,433 units, and centers around the fact that the handlebar might come loose while riding. According to filing documents made to the NHTSA, this is due to a painting problem at the factory, which caused not enough locking agent to be applied to the mounting bolts.
Weird is still the new normal in MotoGP, though after Qatar, we appear to be entering the second half of the acid trip, the part where the hallucinations stop being overwhelming and start to take on a strange kind of internal logic once you learn to embrace the weirdness.
You can sort of understand why motorcycling’s premier class is throwing up the kind of bizarre surprises that it does, and the truths you held to be self-evident still have some roots in reality, though they are much, much shallower than before.
The Termas De Rio Hondo track remains one of the jewels in the crown of motorcycle racing, albeit one which could use a bit of a polish. The track is little used, which often leaves it dirty, while also becoming rather bumpy.
Yet the layout is still glorious, and perfectly suited to the cut-and-thrust of two-wheeled racing, each overtaking point lovingly crafted to allow the chance to counter if passed.
Layouts like that help create great racing, which is what we got in part. But the blemishes threw up anomalies, causing riders to crash out and the racing to falter.
There was still a spectacle to admire, in all three races. The day started well, with Moto3, though a break in the field cut the battle for the lead down to a group of five, with a deserving winner at the end.
The Moto2 race threatened to turn into a snoozer, but the field tightened as the laps ticked off, creating last-lap drama that rendered the race memorable. And the final act was worth the wait, packed with drama and surprise.
