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Jensen Beeler

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Michael Dunlop will be on an all-new machine for the 2017 Isle of Man TT, as the Northern Irishman has inked a deal that sees him on the new Suzuki GSX-R1000R superbike for the North West 200, Isle of Man TT, and Ulster GP.

Confirming the news with Britain’s MCN, Dunlop says he will continue to ride with the Hawk Racing team in the Superbike class, with full-factory support from Yoshimura.

The deal also sees him campaigning another GSX-R1000R in the Superstock class under his MD Racing name, as well as a yet-to-be-determined Supersport model.

If you couldn’t get enough moody goodness from KTM’s photoshoot with their MotoGP race bike, the KTM RC16, here is a look at the Austrian brand’s Moto2 machine that Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira will race in the 2017 season.

KTM will continue to use its steel-tube chassis design in Moto2, with of course a mildly tuned Honda CBR600RR engine powering the race bike, per class rules.

KTM CEO Stefan Pierer had some choice words for Honda at the bike’s debut, chastising the Japanese brand for its time penalties in the Dakar Rally (for an illegal fuel stop) and for the manufacturer’s alleged cheating in the Moto3 race class, where its competes heavily with KTM’s own offerings.

Pierer is said to be much happier with Moto2’s switch to a Triumph supplied power plant, which will begin with the 2019 season and be based off the three-cylinder engine found in the new Triumph Street Triple 765.

With a Moto2 now in place, KTM has a pathway for GP talent, all the way from Moto3 to Moto2 and into MotoGP. With a strong partnership in place with Red Bull as well, KTM is well-positioned to take on HRC’s racing dominance, and the powerhouse that is Repsol Honda. We smell a good rivalry heating up.

Episode 44 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is very special, because we have our very first guest on the show, Michael Lock from AMA Pro Racing.

Some of you might know Lock as the man behind the freshly rebranded American Flat Track series, and he has deep roots in the motorcycle industry, leading the US efforts for Ducati and Triumph, as well as working for Honda in the UK and across Europe.

As such, we had a very interesting time picking Lock’s brain about the current state of the US motorcycle industry, what is wrong with road racing, and what he is doing with flat track (with a bevy of side topics along the way, of course).

You will want to grab some provisions before hitting the play button on this show, because this one is super long (two hours) – we just didn’t want to cut out any of Lock’s insights.

Duration aside, we think you will find Lock’s comments and perspective to be very insightful, especially during these uncertain times for the motorcycle industry. 

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!

KTM is the new kid on the block, for the 2017 MotoGP season – and it is clear from the test times at Phillip Island that the Austrian brand has some work left to do on its V4-powered race bike.

The 2017 KTM RC16 is notably slower than its competitors, though shows a great deal of promise – especially as just a newcomer to the series.

KTM’s riders, Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro, will be looking to tame KTM’s monstrously powerful engine into something that can put the power to the tarmac, and they will also be looking to refine the steel-tube chassis into a proper scalpel on two wheels.

In other words, the 2017 season will be a development season.

Though a rookie season it will be, KTM’s partnership with Red Bull means that the squad is no stranger when it comes to marketing and presentation.

So we should not be surprised that with the team’s official livery unveiling today, that we also get a bevy of artsy high-quality (and high-resolution) photos of the team and the RC16.

Of course, no pixel was spared to bring you these gorgeous photos. We hope your bandwidth is up to the task.

At 23 years of age, it is strange not to see Elena Myers on the race track these days, as the talented MotoAmerica racer is undoubtedly in the prime of her life, racing-wise.

But, Myers hung up her leathers a little over a year ago, saying that she could not secure enough funding for the 2016 season – a common enough story in the American road racing paddock – but seemingly other issues were percolating below the surface of that statement.

Giving an extensive account to the Philadelphia magazine, Myers describes a narrative about how a sexual assault during a hotel massage changed not only her life, but also lead to her quitting the sport she loved.

The new superbikes from Honda and Suzuki have been grabbing the headlines recently, but its the updated Aprilia RSV4 RR and Aprilia RSV4 RF superbikes that we are most excited to see for 2017.

The factory in Noale, Italy has been smart about consistently updating the RSV4, keeping its stout superbike package constantly relevant – the 2017 model year machines are no different.

New for this year is improved suspension, brakes, and electronics (now with cornering ABS), along with Euro4 homologation, which comes without a power decrease, thanks to an extra 300 rpm from the lighter engine components.

The 2017 Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 RR and Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 Factory get similar upgrades, and help to round out Aprilia’s sport bike lineup.

Of course, with those improvements comes an added cost, and the RSV4 and Tuono models will be a little pricier at the dealership for 2017.

Changes are afoot at Yamaha Motor USA, as the company’s US President Terry Okawa announced a bevy of changes to the company’s motorcycle division, the most notable of which being the ascension of Mike Doughty to the role of General Manager, in charge of Motorcycle Operations.

With that announcement, Doughty announced a restructuring of Yamaha’s motorcycle operations in the United States, along with more personnel changes for the company.

The ECSTAR Suzuki squad rolled on the track day with its new aerodynamics package on full display, showing how the Japanese manufacturer was going to cope with the ban on winglets on its GSX-RR race bike.

Like the solutions we have seen thus far from other manufacturers, Suzuki is using vanes that are covered by an external fairing to channel the airflow and create downforce.

The solution is a clever adaptation to the MotoGP rulebook, and solutions like Suzuki’s should allow for teams to to tune their aerodynamics package during the season, without running a foul of the homologated fairing rule.

As my colleague David Emmett pointed out, the design should carryover to future street bikes, where we would expect the 2018 Ducati V4 superbike to be the first model to show such advances.

Ducati isn’t expected to debut its MotoGP aero solution until Qatar, as is Honda. Until then though, we will have to drool over these hi-res photos of Suzuki’s handiwork (after the jump).

You may remember the LEGO Technic set of the BMW R1200GS Adventure motorcycle that we featured not too long ago. Now the German automotive brand and Danish toymaker have collaborated to bring an “alternative model” to the 603-piece building block toy set.

Making the R1200GS Adventure model toy now a 2-in-1 kit, the collaboration between BMW and Lego has produced a futuristic flying motorcycle called the Hover Ride Design Concept.

Interestingly enough, the BMW Junior Company – a BMW Group training unit – will build a full-size replica of what this flying R1200GS could look like (complete with its boxer engine, which of course makes perfect sense).

The future of motorcycles may see our sport evolving into something similar to what is rendered here. But for now, the closest we’ll get to the future is this LEGO set.

Yamaha YZF-R3 should ready themselves for recalls affecting their pint-sized sport bike, as Yamaha Motor Corporation USA has determined that the YZF-R3 has defects that affects motor vehicle safety.

The recall will affect 2015 and 2016 models, and relates to two different issues. The first defect concerns the fuel tank fitting bracket, which may cause the fuel tank to crack and leak fuel, due to engine vibration.

The second defect relates to the main power switch, which can become corroded from water, and cold potentially cause the motorcycle to stall.

Over 17,000 people flocked to the northern end of Portland this year, braving the cold interior of a vacant building with their plaid shirts, in order to drink PBR, listen to loud music, and look at the occasional motorcycle. Yes, it us that time of year for The One Motorcycle Show in Portland, Oregon.

More than just a much larger venue, The One Moto Show continues to gain traction with vendors and sponsors, all the while attracting more and more bike-curious attendees through its doors.

Main-lined into the zeitgeist that we recognize as two-wheeled hipsterdom, “mainstream” motorcyclists can roll their eyes while shuffling through the PDX masses, but you cannot deny the pulse the show keeps with younger motorcyclists.

As such, there were more than a few pillars of the motorcycle industry circulating in the show’s ranks – all incognito, of course – trying to understand how the next generation interacts not only with motorcycles, but also with each other.

Over 150 bikes were on display for those in attendance – I heard a figure as high as 170 motorcycles were hidden throughout the multiple rooms and floors of the show’s venue – and a couple trends struck me over the course of the show.