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A Statement from John McGuinness, On Recovery And Missing This Year’s Isle of Man TT

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John McGuinness came away from this year’s North West 200 battered and bruised, with the Honda Racing rider suffering a compound fracture to his right leg, along with a set of broken ribs and four fractured vertebrae, after crashing during the superbike practice. 

The injuries have ruled McGuinness out of this year’s Isle of Man TT, which is only 10 days away at this point in time. Still in the hospital, awaiting an external fixture to hold his broken leg together, McGuinness will also have to wear a back brace for the next six weeks.

Reaching out to his fans, through a statement from the Honda road racing team, McGuinness has expressed his thanks for all the well wishes from fans and the road racing community, and confirms that for this year’s TT, the best he can hope for is to be a spectator.

You can read the full statement from John McGuinness, after the jump.

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Dirt

The Five Mistakes You Make Riding a Supermoto

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Riding a supermoto might be one of the most fun things you can do on two-wheels. Basically dirt bikes with street tires, supermotos offer an approachable way to hoon yourself around town, as well as practice some more advanced riding techniques in a lower-risk platform.

If you don’t have a dirt bike background though, your street bike habits might mean bad habits on the pavement with a supermoto, which is why the good folks at SoCal Supermoto put together this informative video about the five most common mistakes they see with new supermoto riders.

It’s a pretty informative, and heck…any chance to talk about supermoto riding, right?

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WSBK

UPDATED: Nicky Hayden Injured in “Serious” Bicycle Crash

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Nicky Hayden was involved in a serious collision with a car today, while training on his bicycle along the Rimini coast.

Hayden was riding his bicycle when an incident with a Peugeot saw Hayden struck by the car, resulting in the former MotoGP champion hitting the car’s hood and breaking through its windshield.

Details are light at this moment, but Hayden is said to have serious injuries to his chest and head from the crash. We will report more information as soon as we have it, and can verify its accuracy.

Updates on Hayden’s condition appear after the jump. This story was last updated on Monday, May 22nd at 11:03 AM.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #52 – COTA

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Episode 52 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is out, and it prefaces our adventures in Austin, Texas. A week-long motorcycle excursion, Quentin and I soaked in some MotoGP racing action, and then on to ride the 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000 and the new Aprilia RSV4 and Tuono V4.

Before we get to riding bikes, we had a chance to ride something a bit different, taking a Polaris Slingshot for a rip around the back roads of Austin. We then got to see how the timing systems work for MotoGP, which is a lot more complicated than you would think.

We also got to talk a bit to Kevin Schwantz, Kenny Roberts Jr., and Randy Mamola. The show then wraps up with a preview of our ride experience on the Suzuki and Aprilia superbikes. Short version: they’re awesome.

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. Enjoy the show!

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Bikes

Here Is KTM’s Fuel Injected Two-Stroke Motorcycle

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Fuel injection has finally come to the two-stroke market for production motorcycles, with KTM (and thus also Husqvarna) debuting two enduro machines with transfer port injection (TPI) on their single-cylinder smokers.

This has been a long time coming in the two-wheeled space, even though we have seen TPI and direct injection on other two-stroke vehicles, like snowmobiles and personal watercraft for quite some time now.

KTM is really the last manufacturer to support two-stroke motorcycles though, so any progress in this space is a welcomed breath of life for off-road riders. New technology truly could be the savior to two-stroke motorcycles, as emission standards continue to become more restricted with each passing year.

While the Japanese brands have focused their efforts on four-stroke motorcycles, KTM and Husqvarna are showing that there is still a market for these lightweight and efficient enduro models.

There is an Austrian boat-ton of high-resolution photos waiting for you after the jump. Like…a lot. Using the Erzberg mine as a back drop, these stunning shots will probably make you run out to your local KTM dealer. They certainly have us thinking. Enjoy!

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News

MV Agusta Teasing a Factory Customization Service?

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MV Agusta sent a cryptic teaser out earlier today, showing only a fabrication shop, and the letters “RVS” on a block of machined aluminum. Digging deeper, we know that “RVS” stands for “Reparto Veicoli Speciali” which translates to “Special Vehicles Department” in English.

Since the video shows the silhouette of a very custom-looking Brutale at its conclusion, we surmise that MV Agusta is gearing up to offer a factory customization service for its clientele, which could be very interesting.

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News

How Chinese Chicken Could Save European Motorcycles

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The motorcycle industry is still deep in the throes of trying to prevent the United States Trade Representative (USTR) from taxing small-displacement motorcycles from Europe with a 100% tariff.

The proposed tariff would double the cost of any two-wheeled vehicle manufactured in Europe, with displacements between 51cc and 500cc , but the real kicker is that the proposed tariff isn’t really about motorcycles…it’s about beef.

For roughly 30 years now, the United States (one of the largest producers of beef) has been trying to gain access to the European market, but the EU bans beef that has been grown with hormones, because of health concerns (the ban also has the nice side-effect of protecting European beef growers).

To put pressure on the European Union, the beef industry (through lobbying the USTR) has proposed a number of retaliatory tariffs on European imports in the USA, motorcycles being one of them. Welcome to International Trade 101.

However, a major breakthrough happened last week, one that could affect this bovine standoff, and it has to with Chinese chicken.

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast #51 – Spanish GP

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Episode 51 of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees Neil Morrison and David Emmett covering the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

The MotoGP Championship’s first round on European soil proved that you can’t predict the results for 2017, with a few surprising results occurring. The boys discuss all the implications from the Jerez round for the MotoGP paddock, with some discussion about Moto2 and Moto3 as well.

The show ends with a new segment, with the hosts picking their “winners” and “losers” from the race weekend. A short but in-depth episode, we think you will enjoy this week’s show.

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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