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Jensen Beeler

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Getting in a little early at Laguna Seca for the World Superbike round, Asphalt & Rubber was treated to an exclusive look at the new MV Agusta Brutale 800 America, the special edition street bike from Varese, Italy that debuted last week.

The darkly lit pictures that MV Agusta showed us last week, and even the ones that we have here, don’t do this limited-edition bike justice, as the colors pop and match perfectly in the sunlight.

I was actually surprised at how different the bike looked in person, as the machine really comes together when you see it first-hand, and not on a computer screen.

Owners for 2016 and 2017 model year KTM 690 Duke motorcycles should take note, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a recall on the popular hooligan machine because it may leak fuel from its filler cap on the fuel tank.

The recall affects 718 units in the United States, but in documents to NHTSA, KTM says at this time it does not have a remedy for the problem, and that such a remedy could take up to 120 days to create.

Presumably, this would then bar KTM from selling any 690 Duke models in the United States until a fix can be made.

Everyone at the upcoming World Superbike round at Laguna Seca will have Nicky Hayden on their minds, as the American rider’s absence from the racing paddock is still sadly felt.

Instead of seeing an empty garage though, Hayden’s side of the pitbox will be busy this weekend, as Jake Gagne will ride with the Red Bull Honda team at the American round, thus making his World Superbike Championship debut.

Taking leave of his MotoAmerica superbike duties with the Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda for the weekend, Gagne will race aboard the WorldSBK factory-spec Honda CBR1000RR SP2 race bike for Laguna Seca, giving American fans someone local to cheer for during both World Superbike races this weekend.

Episode 57 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast helps us celebrate America’s birthday, by talking about some freedom-loving motorcycles.

Our first topic of interest is a teaser to a project that we are working on here at Asphalt & Rubber. If you’ve been following us on social media, you might already have an idea about what it is.

That conversation quickly moves into a rabbit hole about racing though, and how closed-circuit motorcycle racing can evolve for the 21st century.

Our attention then turns to some news items, like how Honda is getting more serious about electric motorcycles, how Harley-Davidson might buy Ducati Motor Holding, and what we can expect to see from Ducati with its Final Edition Panigale superbike.

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.

Water-cooled BMW R1200GS owners will soon be getting a call from their local dealership, as the popular adventure-touring machine is getting a worldwide service bulletin that affects models made between November 2013 and June 2017.

The service bulletin concerns the fixed fork tubes on the BMW R1200GS and BMW R1200 GS Adventure models, which can suffer damage from high stress incidents (going over an obstacle, riding through a pothole, etc), and subsequently fail.

By our math, this service bulletin affects over 150,000 motorcycles, making it a massive global undertaking for the German motorcycle brand, for its flagship model.

Motorcycle manufacturers may be abandoning the 600cc sport bike class, but the folks at Dunlop are continuing to provide support to supersport riders on the track, with a new KR451 slick tire.

For those who don’t know, the Dunlop KR451 slick tire has been the spec-tire for the MotoAmerica Supersport classes, in a 180/55 R17 configuration for the rear wheel.

Choosing now to develop the race tire specifically for supersport riders, Dunlop is releasing the KR451 to fit the 5.5-inch rim used on modern supersports. This has lead to the creation of a 180/60 R17 rear tire size for the new KR451 slick – in soft and medium compounds.

The old adage in racing is that you get slower once you have a child. Being from Australia and all, I don’t think our friend Rennie Scaysbrook (of Cycle News fame) got that memo.

Just days before he would head off to Colorado for the 95th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Rennie and his wife Annabelle gave birth to their first child, Harvey James Scaysbrook.

Having just joined the noble ranks of fatherhood, it would be a short introduction, as Rennie would have to leave Baby Harvey right away and compete in the 95th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

For his work on the mountain, Rennie joined an exclusive club of a different kind, posting a solid 9:57.712 time on his 2017 KTM 1290 Super Duke R – thus becoming one of just a few motorcyclists who have broken the 10-minute barrier at the Race to the Clouds.

With that time, Rennie was the second-fastest man on a motorcycle at Pikes Peak this year *cough* first loser! *cough*, as his teammate and Pikes Peak rookie, Chris Fillmore, would go on to break the standing motorcycle record with an even more impressive 9:49.625 time.

We already showed you Fillmore’s lap, but we think Rennie’s give a better perspective of what it is like to race up the 156 turns of Pikes Peak.

As an aside, we were pretty stoked to see Rennie break the 10-minute mark at Pikes Peak this year, and of course the A&R team gives a big congratulations to the Scaysbrooks for their bouncing baby boy. Let’s hope he gets his racing skills from Dad, but his looks from Mom!

The Ducati XDiavel was produced to better fit the needs of the typical cruiser rider, and to go after Harley-Davidson’s choke-hold on the cruiser demographic. The Italian machine has had mixed success in that regard, though it brings far more performance into the category than ever seen before.

Tapping more into the strong custom scene, the Bologna Brand has been looking to the talents of various well-known fabricators to build upon the XDiavel platform.

This time up is Belgium’s Fred Krugger, who has created this very intriguing “Thiverval” XDiavel model for the Bikers’ Classics event in Belgium.

Ahead of the World Superbike round at Laguna Seca, MV Agusta is releasing a special limited edition machine for the American market. Called the MV Agusta Brutale 800 America, only 50 examples of this red/white/blue street bike will be made, one for each state of the union.

As the name implies, this special edition machine is built off the MV Agusta Brutale 800 street bike, with a unique livery and color scheme being the key defining features of the MV Agusta Brutale 800 America.