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FIM Changes Suzuka 8-Hours Result, Declares Kawasaki the Winner

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As expected, the result of the 2019 Suzuka 8-Hours was decided well after the podium ceremony for the Yamaha Factory Racing Team, with the factory Kawasaki team protesting Race Direction’s interpretation of the rulebook.

Agreeing with the Kawasaki Racing Team’s reading, the FIM concluded that because the race ended on a red flag, the results should be counted from the first full lap before the incident, which had KRT leading by a comfortable margin. 

This overrules Race Direction’s opinion that KRT failed to return to the pits five minutes after the race ended, which saw the Kawasaki team declared a non-finisher, and thus off the podium box.

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Racing

Yamaha Wins Confusing Fifth-Straight Suzuka 8-Hours* (Reversed)

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UPDATE: The FIM has reversed the results of the 2019 Suzuka 8-Hours, and declared Kawasaki now the winner of the race.

In what will surely go down in history as the most frantic and confusing conclusion to the Suzuka 8-Hours ever recorded, the Yamaha Factory Racing Team won its fifth straight victory at the iconic Japanese endurance race.

The result, which wasn’t clear until moments before the podium ceremony, sees the Red Bull Honda team on the second step, followed by the F.C.C. TSR Honda squad, which also finished second in the FIM EWC standings.

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Rumors

Is A More Rad Version of the Suzuki Katana Coming?

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The Suzuki Katana isn’t even officially out yet for the US market, and already there are rumors of an up-spec version of the classic-inspired sport bike coming from Japan.

The news centers around Suzuki wanting the Katana to compete better with the high-performance naked models already on the market, namely the Aprilia Tuono V4 1100, Ducati Streetfighter V4, KTM 1290 Super Duke R, et al.

The move then is an “R” spec machine, rumored to see its 999cc four-cylinder engine bumped out to 1,135cc. Other go-fast parts are likely to be included (read: brakes, suspension, wheels, etc), and perhaps some updates to the styling to make it more aggressive looking.

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Racing

Motorcycles Will Not Race Next Year at Pikes Peak

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The future of motorcycles competing at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb continues to be a precarious situation after this year’s death of Carlin Dunne.

As such, the Board of Directors for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb recently convened and decided that for next year’s event, no motorcycle racing will take place as part of the hill climb.

In a press release, the race organization says that it needs to “gather data and analytics to review more thoroughly the impact on the overall event in the absence of this program.”

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Products

Shark Acquires the Nolan Helmet Brand

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Today we report some more business movement in the helmet space, as the French brand Shark has acquired the Italian brand Nolan.

The transaction actually involves the two brands parent companies, 2Ride Holding Group (Shark, Bering, Ségura, Bagster, and Cairn) and the Nolan Group (Nolan , Grex, and X-lite helmets), with the French business unit buying its Italian counterpart.

The acquisition sets up a strong European house of brands in the motorcycle industry, which should be positioned well to compete against other players like Alpinestars and Dainese/AGV with head-to-toe protection.

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Bikes

Finally, Triumph’s Moto2 Bike Is Coming as a Limited Edition Model

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It looks like our Bothan spies were right yet again, because Triumph has confirmed our report from earlier this year that the Triumph Daytona 765 Moto2 bike would come to market as a limited edition machine.

Officially called the Triumph Daytona Moto2 765 Limited Edition, the bike is exactly as you would expect – a Moto2 race bike with lights and street-legal.

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Podcast

Paddock Pass Podcast #110 – Suzuka 8-Hours Preview

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Episode 110 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one is a special one, as it previews the 2019 Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race. This means that we see Steve English joined by Jensen Beeler on the mics, as they are our Suzuka specialists.

Looking ahead to the final round on the 2019 FIM Endurance World Championship calendar, the guys preview the Suzuka 8-Hours for us.

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Bikes

Curtiss Motorcycles Debuts “Hades” Electric Motorcycle

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Coming from the ashes of Confederate Motorcycles, the new Curtiss Motorcycles brand has shown another of its two-wheeled creations, this one also an electric model called “Hades” – after the Greek god of the underworld.

The creator of the Hades is none other than J.T. Nesbitt, who brings with him some of the same lines he made famous at Confederate. As you would expect then, the lines of the Hades are provocative, unconventional, and alluring.

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News

Harley-Davidson Sales Slip & Fall 8% in Q2 2019

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Sales continue to slip and fall for Harley-Davidson, as we see from the company’s second-quarter earnings report, which was was released today. Worldwide, the Bar & Shield brand saw an 8% drop in Q2 sales for 2019, when compared to Q2 2018.

This breaks down to an 8% drop in sales for the United States, with international sales showing a similar decline of 8.9%. For comparison, the relevant heavyweight motorcycle industry was down 4.9% in the USA during the same time periods.

On the dollar side of the equation, Harley-Davidson reported a net income of $195.6 million earned, from a consolidated revenue of $1.63 billion in Q2 2019.

This is nearly a 20% drop in net income, when compared to the $242.3 million that Harley-Davidson made on the $1.71 billion in consolidated revenue in Q2 2018.

This news continues an obvious trend for Harley-Davidson, as its sales continue to shrink each year, which is affecting the company’s bottom line earnings.

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Bikes

The KTM RC4R Is Reporting for Racing Duty in Europe

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When Dorna wished to start a new talent cup for European riders, it tapped the Austrian brand KTM to build the machine they would race and use to hone their racing skills. That machine is the KTM RC4R.

A four-stroke 250cc machine, the KTM RC4R is a step below the KTM RC250 R, which is used in the Red Bull Rookies Cup.

This makes sense, because the Northern Talent Cup (NTC) aims to find the top young riders from Northern and Central Europe, and feed them into the Red Bull Rookies Cup series, which will then hopefully jumpstart their careers into the grand prix paddock.

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