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Jensen Beeler

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Come Drool Over “Kahn” by Mehmet Doruk Erdem

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Regular readers of Asphalt & Rubber by now should be well aware of my unrequited love for dustbin-style motorcycles. A&R diehards should also recognize the work of Mehmet Doruk Erdem, as the Turkish designer has penned more than a few concepts that have gone viral on the internet.

Today we have another of Erdem’s work for you to consider, a BMW-powered dustbin that is simply named “Kahn”. Based on the Bavarian brand’s twin-cylinder boxer engine, Erdem once again creates an eye-catching shell to house the mechanics of the machine, and hide them from the wind.

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News

Sons of Anarchy Spin-Off Series Coming to FX

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Face it. When it comes to exposing motorcycles to the masses, and making a two-wheeled life “look cool” the motorcycle industry’s biggest assets are shows like American Chopper and Sons of Anarchy.

With this thought in mind, we suppose then that it is good news that FX plans to create a spin-off of Sons of Anarchy, bringing the male melodrama back to the small screen, with a new show called Mayans MC.

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News

Triumph Sold Over 63,000 Motorcycles in 2017

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The end of 2017 is here, which means that we will start to see the results from the year’s sales cycle (don’t expect good news).

As such, one of the first companies to report in is Triumph, which shouldn’t be too surprising, considering that the British brand closes its books at the end of June (it’s actually surprising that Triumph waited so long in reporting these numbers).

From July 1, 2016 to June 30 2017, Triumph Motorcycles sold 63,404 motorcycles to its dealerships making £498.5 million in revenue in the process. From that, Triumph was able to make £24.7 million, before taxes.

These numbers mean that Triumph has seen a 12.7% increase in unit sales to dealerships over the past financial period. It also means that on the money side, Triumph has seen increases of 22% (revenue) and 48% (income, pre-tax), which isn’t too shabby.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #68 – Chupachuckwallacabra

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Episode 68 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is one of our last shows recorded in 2017, and it’s a good one.

In this show, we start out with a discussion about the TVS Apache RR 310S – a bike that is very likely to become the basis for BMW’s next sport bike. This then leads to a discussion about the supersport class, and how to make more compelling models for enthusiasts.

Our attention then turns to the coming rule changes for the World Superbike Championship, and the rumors of similar movements in the MotoAmerica Championship. These changes will also have effects on future production machines, which we speculate upon.

The show wraps up with an interesting discussion about the motorcycle media landscape and what it means to be a “journalist” in this industry, and during this point in time in media consumption.

All in all, it’s a very interesting show, and we think you will enjoy it.

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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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast #65 – MotoGP Winter Testing

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Episode 65 of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees Steve English, and David Emmett on the mics, wrapping up all the news from the MotoGP post-season winter testing sessions.

In the show, the guys cover the MotoGP tests at Valencia and Jerez, and give some insight into what to expect from the pre-season tests to come, once the winter testing ban is over and the 2018 season is closer upon us.

Of particular interest is the progress that KTM has made; the choices facing the factory Yamaha team; Honda’s early debut of the 2018 RC213V race bike; and last what to do with the very talented Johann Zarco.

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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Recall

Ducati Now Part of the Massive Brembo Brake Recall

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Yesterday we broke the news about a massive recall that is affecting a number of sport bikes with Brembo master cylinders. The first wave of that recall included Aprilia’s two offerings, the Aprilia RSV4 superbike and the Aprilia Tuono 1100 streetfighter.

Today, we get our first official word of another manufacturer that is involved with this massive Brembo brake recall, and it is Ducati. With six affected models, spanning four model years, Ducati North America is recalling roughly 8,000 units because the piston in their master cylinder may crack.

If you recall our previous coverage, the issue stems from the plastic piston in the master cylinder possibly cracking after hard use. If this happens, the master cylinder can stop operating, which can lead to front brake failure. This is an obvious safety concern

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Recall

Today Is the First Day of a Massive Brembo Brake Recall

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Today is the first day of a massive recall for Brembo brakes, as our inbox just received the first official notice of what is expected to a recall that touches a multitude of brands that use the Italian company’s high-performance line of brake master cylinders.

The issue stems from the Brembo’s popular PR16 radial master cylinder unit (the master cylinder that is often paired with the Brembo M50 calipers), which apparently can crack internally at the piston, which can then lead to front brake failure. 

Because of the physical properties of the piston material used on the master cylinder, and the porosity generated during the injection process used to create them, the piston could crack when used on race tracks, or with frequent ABS intervention, or when the motorcycle falls to the ground.

As such when the piston cracks, the front brakes may not operate properly during a braking procedure, which can lead to the front brakes failing entirely. 

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News

Honda Fury Recalled for Missing Fuel Tank Welds

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A recall has landed for the Honda Fury, which affects only 20 units of the cruiser-styled motorcycle. According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the recall is a result of the bikes missing welds on the fuel tank.

This is because during the manufacturing process, a disruption at the factory allowed a batch of fuel tanks to skip the final welding stage. As such, certain fuel tanks did not receive the necessary welds around the stay bracket, and have only tack welds holding them together.

As you can imagine, vibrations from the road and engine can cause the tack welds to break, which could cause a fuel leak that could pose a safety hazard.

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Bikes

Check Out the New Mini Ducati XDiavel…

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They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that’s the case, then the folks at Benelli are positively glowing for their fellow Italians at Ducati, as the Benelli 402S seems somehow very familia to our eyes…

Ok, let’s just call a spade a spade here: Benelli wholesale copied Ducat’s XDiavel motorcycle when the Pesaro company designed its latest machine, the Benelli 402S.

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News

Happy Holidays from Asphalt & Rubber

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Seasons Greetings from Asphalt & Rubber. While we stoke the fires on the yule log, everyone at A&R would like to wish our readers a Happy Holiday.

We will be taking the day off as we sip some cider and gorge ourselves on delicious home-cooked nom noms (yeah…nom noms), but we should (finally) be back in the swing of things tomorrow.

Whatever your denomination may be (bagger, café, supermoto, etc.), we hope you are with good friends and family, and that the two-wheeled vehicle in your garage gets some seasonal merriment as well.

We hope you are as excited about 2018 as we are…now go get you ‘nog on!

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Racing

Honda Ups the Ante with Factory “HRC” Team for Suzuka

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The Japanese motorcycle manufacturers take the Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race very seriously, and none of the brands make a bigger deal out of the mid-summer event than Honda.

Big Red has won the Suzuka 8-Hours on 27 occasions, out of its 40 runnings, which is an impressive win ratio, but there is one issue: for the last three years in a row, the Yamaha Factory Racing Team has displaced Honda’s supported efforts on the top podium step – a feat no other team has ever achieved.

This is an insult that Honda can apparently no longer tolerate, and this week the Japanese manufacturer announced that at the 2018 Suzuka 8-Hours, a factory-backed “Team HRC” squad will compete in this iconic race.

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