With all of our hosts at different corners of the world, Episode 40 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is now available and features the insights of David Emmett and Scott Jones. Discussing the MotoGP happenings at Motegi, David and Scott give a trackside perspective of the Japanese GP.
Of course, a good chunk of the conversation is about Marc Marquez wrapping up the MotoGP Championship, which means that there has to be a discussion about the crashes of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo as well.
The show wraps up with some rumormongering about the changes to the 2017 MotoGP machinery, and the guys give a preview of the Australian GP at Phillip Island, which is already shaping up to be an interesting race weekend.
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!
Ducati North America has issued another recall for the XDiavel, this time it is for the power cruiser’s kickstand.
Affecting bikes made between July 7, 2015 and June 22, 2016, the recall pertains specifically to the Ducati XDiavel’s fastening screws on its kickstand plate, which may not have been sufficiently tightened.
These loose screw may cause the XDiavel to fall over, and during normal use on the road, the loosened screw could cause damage to the kickstand sensor switch, which would cause the engine to stall.
Like with its three-cylinder counterparts, virtually no changes come to the 2017 MV Agusta F4 RC – the Varese company’s 212hp homologation special (with the supplied race kit, of course).
Still, this fine-looking Italian is worth some pixels, especially in high-definition photos.
Though MV Agusta is making great strides in the World Superbike Championship, next season will see Leon Camier using the same machinery as this year, with the team working towards its first podium finish with the MV Agusta F4.
With MV Agusta’s financial future still a bit uncertain, it’s not clear when we will see the next generation superbike, with the 2018 season being the earliest hope for Camier and the Reparto Corse team.
Until then, we will have to make do with these drool-worthy photos. You have to admit, no matter how it performs on the track, MV Agusta makes one good looking superbike.
Ducati has begun teasing something very special, which for now is going by the name of “Project 1408” on a micro-website the Italian manufacturer has setup.
The site itself has no information, and doesn’t even tease what Project 1408 could be, but Ducati has already begun reaching out to its VIP customers, teasing something made from carbon fiber.
Sources tell us though that the Ducati Project 1408 is a new Superleggera model, based off the Ducati 1299 Panigale platform.
This new superbike isn’t just the Ducati 1199 Superleggera with the 1299 motor bolted into it though, with our sources saying that the Ducati 1299 Superleggera takes the weight savings a step further, with the highlight being a carbon fiber chassis.
American MotoGP fans, along with MotoGP fans in general, will be pleased to hear that Nicky Hayden will swing a leg over a MotoGP bike once again. Replacing the injured Dani Pedrosa, Hayden will race at Australian GP with the Repsol Honda team.
Pedrosa is expected to miss the rest of the flyaway races, after breaking his collarbone during the Japanese GP. With Hiroshi Aoyama replacing the HRC rider at Motegi, Hayden will now fill in at Phillip Island.
Fans will remember that the Kentucky Kid has already had some seat time on the 2016-spec Honda RC213V race bike, substituting for Jack Miller during the Aragon GP.
Now with more experience with the Michelin tires, we expect Hayden to improve upon his 15th place finish in Spain.
In addition to bringing the Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled to market at the upcoming EICMA show, Ducati will pair its off-road focused scrambler model with a café racer version of the Scrambler, which has cleverly been named the Ducati Scrambler Café Racer.
The models will use the same 803cc air-cooled v-twin engine that we’ve seen already in the Scrambler lineup, and as you would expect, the machine will have the typical café racer aesthetic, with a round headlight and bullet fairing.
As with all of the Scrambler Ducati lineup, you can expect customization to be a big part of the Ducati Scrambler Café Racer’s appeal. Keep an eye out for its debut, November 7th in Milan, Italy.
We know from filings with the California Air Resources Board that we should expect two new Scrambler models for the 2017 model year – a “DS” model and a “CR” model.
With photos of a long-travel suspension Scrambler circulating, we assumed that the “DS” designation stood for “dual-sport”, but the latest teaser video from Ducati corrects our almost-right assumption.
While Ducati will indeed launch a more off-roady Scrambler model, as we expected, the 803cc machine will be called the Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled, an homage to the Baja-busting bikes of yore that carried the same name.
The 2017 Honda CBR1000RR was easily one of the most talked about machines at the 2016 INTERMOT show in Cologne, Germany.
The new CBR1000RR is still the same platform that we have seen from previous model years, though it is also a big step for Honda, keeping the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer relevant in the superbike segment.
This mixture of old and new has certainly lead to some intrigue from the sport bike community, so in effort to answer some of the questions posed by our readers, we reached out to American Honda for some answers.
Leon Camier will continue with the MV Agusta factory team in World Superbike next season, signing a new contract with the Italian factory during the Jerez race weekend.
This is good news, both for Camier and MV Agusta, as the pair have made great strides this season with the MV Agusta F4 racing platform. Camier currently sits eighth in the World Superbike standings, and has finished in the Top 5 on seven occasions so far this season.
Consistently punching higher than his weight class, with the aged superbike, Camier will head into the 2017 with good momentum, and a team that seems to grow stronger with each passing round.