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Map App Waze Adds Better Motorcycle Support

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I know all you old-timers haven’t heard of it, but all the cool kids are using an app called Waze to get from Point A to Point B these days.

For motorcyclists, the popular “live map” program just a got a bit friendlier too, announcing today that it was adding motorcycles to its selectable vehicle types.

Don’t know what this means? Think of Waze like a social version of Google Maps. In fact, Google owns Waze and uses its data to power Google Maps’ route selector.

Unlike the users of Google Maps and the like though, Wazers (that’s the preferred nomenclature, dude) can report things to the app, like traffic jams, fuel prices, and our personal favorite: police speed traps.

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Bikes

Something Interesting from Ducati’s Wind Tunnel Testing

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At the beginning of this month, Ducati posted a promo video for its new Panigale V4 superbike. The video shows the new machine testing in a wind tunnel, touting the tagline that the motorcycle was “shaped by the wind.”

Surely this access to a high-speed wind tunnel for development purposes is the byproduct and one of the benefits of Ducati being part of the Volkswagen Group.

Though, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has all but made wind tunnels obsolete, making such things more of a show of engineering, and thus marketing. We digress.

What is of note though in this video, however, beyond the interesting glimpses of Ducati’s physical fluidic analysis, is that it is a glimpse at one of the Panigale V4’s very early designs.

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Dirt

2017 Superprestigio – No Baker, And No Marquez

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The Barcelona Superprestigio dirt track event returns for its fifth edition this December 16th.

But the indoor short track held at Palau Sant Jordi, south of the city center, will be without a couple of its big name riders this year, including the originator of the idea, Marc Marquez.

The Spaniard announced a few days ago on his Twitter account that he would not be racing in the event, citing the need for a rest after a long season. Just how much of it was his own decision, and how much the result of pressure from Honda, is unknown.

HRC were known to be deeply unhappy about Marquez racing in an event which is fraught with the risk of injury, but were unable to stop him.

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WSBK

PJ Jacobsen Racing in WorldSBK for 2018

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Patrick ‘PJ’ Jacobsen will be stepping up to the big show for the 2018 season, with today’s announcement that the American will be riding with the TripleM Honda WSBK Team.

Moving off of the World Supersport grid and into the World Superbike Championship, Jacobsen will be riding the Honda CBR1000RR SP2 with the satellite Honda team effort that TripleM has put together.

“I’m very excited to be making my World Superbike debut with TripleM Honda WSBK Team,” said PJ. “It’s a great opportunity for me to be finally racing in this class and I want to thank the team and Honda for making this possible.”

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MotoGP

Don’t Call It a Comeback: Suter Back in Moto2

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Five days after they announced they would be pulling out of Moto2 for the 2018 season, Forward Racing are dragging them back in.

Today, the Forward Racing team officially announced that they have signed a deal to race Suter chassis for 2018. Forward will be fielding Eric Granado and Stefano Manzi for the coming season.

The deal came about after Forward tested both Suter and Kalex chassis at the Jerez Moto2 test a couple of weeks ago. Granado and Manzi were fast on the Suter, and after supply problems with Kalex and KTM, the decision was made to proceed with Suter.

This took some persuading though, as Suter had to be convinced to change their mind. But after discussions between the company founder Eskil Suter and CEO Maurizio Bäumle, Suter decided to step back into the series.

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Recall

Recall: Triumph Speed Triple

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If you are the proud owner of a 2016-2017 Triumph Speed Triple R or Triumph Speed Triple S, you should take heed of Triumph’s latest recall, which affects 541 motorcycles.

The recall comes about because Triumph noticed a trend with its warranty repairs, that the regulator/rectifier lead for the the charging system may rub against a bracket for the ABS modulator, which could potentially result in an electrical short.

Triumph says that it will notify affected owners, and that Triumph dealers will replace the affected wire, and also reroute it to avoid contact with the bracket, all free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in November 2017.

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Podcast

Paddock Pass Podcast #64 – WorldSBK 2017 Season Recap

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Episode 64 of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees Steve English, and David Emmett on the mics in Spain, as they were in attendance at the Jerez test for WorldSBK and MotoGP.

While there, the boys got a chance to recap the 2017 World Superbike Championship season, where they talked about the big trends that we saw in production superbike racing this year.

Of course Jonathan Rea’s dominance is a major topic of discussion, but attention is also given on the show to the progress made by Pata Yamaha, the superior performance put in by Leon Camier and MV Agusta, and the championship battle that Ducati waged with Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri.

The episode is a quick show, and we will have more WorldSBK content for you in the off-season. Until then, keep an eye out for next week too, as we’ll have an in-depth MotoGP recap show for you.

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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News

Yamaha Selling Shares in Yamaha Motor to Raise Money

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The Yamaha Corporation announced today that it will be selling 8 million shares of its holdings in Yamaha Motor Co., a movement of shares that will see roughly 2.3% of the voting power in the powersports company changing hands.

This deal is expected to close on December 4th, and the Yamaha Corporation says that it will be selling its position to various unnamed securities companies, presumably to then be sold on the open market.

At the current market price for Yamaha Motor stock, this deal should be worth close to ¥26 billion, and ¥18 billion after tax expenses have been factored.

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Event

At the Long Beach International Motorcycle Show, 2017

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This year’s IMS kicked off in Long Beach, signaling the start of the consumer motorcycle show season in the United States. The three-day show was a mix of both excitement and disappointment.

On one hand, the show was an opportunity to see many models for the first time in North America.

On the other hand, many of the amazing offerings from EICMA, such as the KTM 790 Duke and 790 Adventure prototype, the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701, Yamaha’s futuristic three-wheeler, the Niken, and the Kawasaki Z900RS and H2 SX, were curiously absent at the Long Beach show.

Besides missing motorcycles, there were some missing manufacturers as well. Triumph did not have a factory booth at the show, but rather, used a local dealer to provide a small representation of the British marque’s lineup.

Additionally, Can-Am pulled out of the show completely, with neither a show display, nor demos outside. Conversely, it was great to see the Piaggio Group back at the show with a display of Aprilia and Moto Guzzi motorcycles, as well as Piaggio scooters.

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MotoGP

Valentino Rossi’s Winter Test Helmet Gets Mexican Flair

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It is another winter testing period for the MotoGP riders, and that means that Valentino Rossi has another special “Winter Test” AGV helmet design for us. This year, The Doctor takes his inspiration from Huichol bead art, after he visited the region on a recent vacation to Mexico.

As such, Rossi’s winter test AGV Pista GP R helmet features a hand-painted bead design that plays on the winter motif, with the Italian’s usual affinity for symbols.

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News

BMW Invests €200 Million in Electric Battery Center

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If you needed a bigger sign that the current zeitgeist of vehicle transportation is electric, look no further than BMW’s recent investment of €200 million for what the German brand is calling a “battery cell competence centre.”

The rather large capital expenditure, based in Munich, centers around the German brand’s commitment to electric vehicles, and its desire to develop next-generation electric drivetrains.

Specifically, the battery cell facility will allow BMW to explore new battery cell designs, chemistries, and technologies, so it can better work with battery cell manufacturers for the automotive company’s growing needs.

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