Episode 90 of the Brap Talk motorcycle podcast is out with another “weekly” episode, for your two-wheeled listening pleasure.
In this episode, we did it…we finally did it. We finally produced the long-lost Honda Gold Wing episode, which is actually also our first video podcast.
There were many naysayers amongst you – and if we’re honest, there were some naysayers in the Brap Talk ranks as well – but we got it down, only two years and change after its original recording.
Petroleum brand Valvoline struck a deal this week with Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, which sees the American company selling its global products business for $2.65 billion.
The deal sees Aramco taking ownership of Valvoline’s products used globally, while Valvoline would retain its global rights to the brand name itself for use in retail services, except in China and certain countries in the Middle East and Africa.
With the summer break over, MotoGP is set to resume at Silverstone. Was a five-week break a long time? “It was short!” Pol Espargaro insisted.
He would say that, though, having ended the first half of the season with a cracked rib and a couple of disastrous weekends.
“I think it was the first time I enjoyed a break so much, because I was mentally and physically quite injured, and I needed to stop, to take a deep breath.”
The rest of the field were not quite as emphatic as Espargaro, but they all said that having a proper break, rather than just three weeks instead of two between races, made a difference. They returned refreshed, motivated, and genuinely keen to get back on a MotoGP bike.
Andrea Dovizioso will not complete the 2022 MotoGP season. Today, Yamaha announced that the Italian had decided to end his career at Misano, his home race (Dovizioso is from Forlì, some 70 kilometers away).
Yamaha official test rider Cal Crutchlow will take Dovizioso’s place in the RNF WithU Yamaha team for the remainder of the 2022 season.
The official announcement that Alex Rins has signed a two-year deal with the LCR Honda team means that the 2023 MotoGP grid is now officially half full. The factory Yamaha, KTM, and Aprilia seats are all confirmed, as is the Gresini Ducati team.
There has been official confirmation of one side of the Repsol Honda, Ducati Factory, and LCR Honda teams.
Does that mean that the remaining 11 seats are still wide open? Not all of them. There are some which are sure bets, while others are still very much open.
Suzuki and Dorna have finally agreed terms for the Japanese factory’s withdrawal from MotoGP.
In a press release issued today, Suzuki made official that it would be pulling out of the MotoGP championship at the end of the 2022 season, and ending the participation of the Suzuki Ecstar MotoGP team.
At the same time, they announced they would be withdrawing from official participation in the EWC Endurance World Championship, where they race under the Yoshimura SERT Motul banner.
Episode 287 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one sees us looking at the unveiling of the Ducati MotoE race bike for the 2023 season.
On the mics, we have David Emmett and Jensen Beeler as they look what is taking place in electric motorcycle racing with the FIM MotoE World Cup.
BRP is recalling 9,353 units of the 2022 Can-Am Ryker because the handlebars on the three-wheeled vehicle might break during operation.
If you will pardon the pun, the issue stems from the handlebar stem bolts used to connect the handlebars to the front-end of the motorcycle, as these bolts might not have sufficient thread length to properly secure the handlebars.
Alex Rins is to race for the LCR Honda team for the next two years. The official announcement only came today, but that Rins would end up at LCR was a foregone conclusion since the MotoGP race at Assen, where the Spaniard had admitted as much.
“We are almost done and everybody can imagine where I will go next year with the exit of Alex Marquez going to Gresini,” Rins had told us on the Sunday night of the Assen race.
Episode 89 of the Brap Talk motorcycle podcast is out with another “weekly” episode, for your two-wheeled listening pleasure.
In this episode, we sit down and talk a bit about motorcycle culture, and what makes owning a motorcycle akin to being involved in a cult.
This leads to an interesting conversation into what goes into branding and the motorcycle lifestyle, and ends with a surprise gift from one of the best in the business at this vary task. It’s a fun show, and we think you will enjoy it!
Pecco Bagnaia has been involved in a car crash while vacationing on the Spanish island of Ibiza, which occurred while he was under the influence of alcohol.
According to local Spanish media, Bagnaia crashed the car he was driving at a roundabout, losing control when he caught a wheel in a ditch.
Though no other vehicles were involved, when the police arrived, Bagnaia failed a breath test, showing a blood alcohol level of 0.87g/l. Spanish law states that the legal limit in a breath test is 0.25 g/l, while the limit for a blood test is 0.5 g/l.