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Tom Sykes and Kawasaki Officially Part Ways in WorldSBK

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Not exactly the best kept secret in the WorldSBK paddock, but now Tom Sykes and the Kawasaki Racing Team will officially part ways at the end of the 2018 World Superbike Championship season.

The news has been a long-time coming for Sykes, as he has been increasingly more hostile towards Kawasaki over the past few months in interviews. With KRT clearly taking the side of Jonathan Rea, signing him to a new two-year contract, Sykes has been left to look for a new home.

Where that home will be though is of considerable speculation.

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Rumors

The MV Agusta F3 Will Be the First Supersport with an IMU

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Sometimes, it seems like motorcycle manufacturers are intentionally tanking the supersport segment. For proof of this, I look at the electronics available, on this supposedly cutting-edge segment.

Something as ubiquitous as traction control is still slow to come to the supersport space, while it remains a standard feature on virtually every new street bike model. The concept is so foreign in this segment that less than half of the available supersports on the market have a traction control option.

One of those brands is MV Agusta, which was the first motorcycle marque to bring TC to the supersport class. Now, the Italian brand is ready to raise the bar another notch further, bringing the power of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to supersport riders.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #81 – Sex Panther

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Episode 81 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is out, and it is a marathon show – right at 2.5 hours in length. Because of that duration, we cover a huge range of topics, the first of which is a little news about Harley-Davidson, and the growing American trade war.

From there, we move to Jensen’s recent trip to Italy, where he rode the new MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 Lusso SCS, which features a new auto-clutch for sport bikes, made in partnership with Rekluse.

Jensen’s travels then took him to Milan, where he visited Pirelli’s world headquarters and testing facility, which was a unique experience in seeing how tires are evaluated and produced.

Lastly came a trip south to Sicily, to visit the Metzeler/Pirelli R&D testing facility, where Jensen rode the entire Metzeler tire range up a volcano…no seriously.

Back home in the USA, Quentin was doing a bit of racing, as he lined up on the grid in OMRAA’s 250 Ninja Cup. He then played on the other side of the wrench in his travels to Pikes Peak, spinning wrenches for Michael Woolaway, who raced a custom Ducati Hypermotard up the Colorado mountain.

At the same time, Jensen was in Laguna Seca for the World Superbike weekend, and the following Pirelli track day. There, Jensen got to ride two very unique motorcycles: the Kramer HKR EVO2 and the BMW HP4 Race. A short review: they did not suck.

Since Quentin recently also got a chance to ride the Kramer, the two trade notes on the show about this interesting single-cylinder motorcycle, and how much fun it is to ride smaller-displacement motorcycles on the track.

Like we said, it’s a marathon show, but we think you will find all the topics not only interesting, but the stories entertaining.

You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. 

We hope you will join the conversation, and leave us some audio comments at our new email address: twoenthusiasts@gmail.com.

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Bikes

Sarolea MANX7 Electric Superbike Debuts for the Road

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For the past five years, Belgian brand Sarolea has been at the Isle of Man TT honing its electric superbike. The results haven’t always been there for the boutique company, but Sarolea set its best time around the Mountain Course in 2017 with Dean Harrison at the helm, posting a 108.064 mph lap.

Taking what it has learned on “the roads” and applying it to the road, the Sarolea MANX7 has been born. Basically the race bike with lights, the Sarolea MANX7 Limited electric superbike is breaking cover for the 2018 model year.

Carbon fiber everything, and a truly bespoke machine, the overall aesthetic of the Sarolea MANX7 Limited might not be for everyone, but it certainly is a sight to be seen, with very clever details hidden in its retro-modern design.

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Rumors

Sorry, There Will Be No Triumph Daytona 765 for 2019

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Ever since Triumph was tipped to become the new engine supplier for the Moto2 Championship, there have been rumblings and speculations about what the British brand’s over-arching plan was for the sport biking space.

The engine being used for Moto2 is the same 765cc power plant found in the Triumph Street Triple 765 – lightly massaged for racing duty, of course.

Coupling that to the fact that Triumph quietly killing the Daytona 675 motorcycle earlier this year, the British brand seemingly has all the ingredients it needs in order to make a new middleweight sport bike – something that could give the Suzuki GSX-R750 or MV Agusta F3 800 a run for their money.

In what will surely be an unpopular report, however, we regret to inform you that there will not be a Triumph Daytona 765 motorcycle for the 2019 model year, despite all the dots that seemingly could be connected, and all the speculation made by other publications and online forums.

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Recall

BMW G310R & G310GS Recalled for Weak Kickstand

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Both of BMW Motorrad’s tiniest bikes are the victims of the German brand’s latest recall, as both models suffer from an issue with their chassis. In total, 2,376 motorcycles are affected by this recall.

According to recall documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the G310 platform has an issue with its frame and/or its kickstand, where repeated use or loading of the kickstand can see it become damaged.

Over time, the section of the frame that encases the kickstand bushing could eventually break, which could lead to an injury of the rider and/or passenger. As such, a recall has been started for the two motorcycle models.

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Podcast

Paddock Pass Podcast #76 – WorldSBK Mid-Season, Part 1

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Episode 76 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and in it we mix things up. Recorded at the Laguna Seca WorldSBK round, on the mics are Steve English and Jensen Beeler, and the duo covers the World Superbike Championship season thus far.

The show is the first part of a two-part series look at the WorldSBK paddock, which is currently on a two-month summer break. 

Starting with the opening round at Phillip Island, we look at what has happened thus far in production racing. We then move to the WorldSBK silly season, as the rider market for next season is just starting to get interesting.

Lastly, we make some predictions for the rest of the season, and take some quick looks at what is to come for the 2019 season in terms of riders, teams, and machinery.

All in all, we think you will enjoy the show. It is packed with behind-the-scenes info on the World Superbike Championship, and insights from teams and riders in the paddock.

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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