Piaggio Group Americas is recalling a bevy of models for a front brake master cylinder that may allow air in the hydraulic lines.
The recall affects 1,628 units of the 2014-2015 Aprilia Tuono V4 1000, 2016 Tuono V4 1100, 2015 Caponord 1200 ABS/ADD, and 2016 Caponord Rally motorcycles, which were manufactured June 18, 2013 to June 13, 2016.
Some illness amongst our crew is the reason this show is getting to you a bit late, but never fear, Episode 39 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is here.
Re-capping the Aragon GP, David Emmett, Neil Morrison, and Steve English talk about the racing events in Spain, and place a friendly wager about how the rest of the season is going to shape up in the MotoGP paddock.
Turning to more serious discussion though, the guys also examine the FIM’s concussion protocol, as it was center stage in Aragon after Danilo Petrucci’s heavy crash, and perhaps hasty return to riding a motorcycle.
The attention then turns to the World Superbike paddock, with a talk about the recent round at Magny-Cours, and how the production-class racers are faring so far this season, and what is in store for next year. We also have a short interview with rider Chaz Davies about the progress of the Ducati squad.
We think this show is well worth the wait, so we hope you like it.
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!
News from the INTERMOT show is winding down, with the motorcycle industry waiting until the next trade show (AIMExpo) to get its fill of new motorcycles and products.
Such is the time of the season, where we jump from one headline to the next, as we get our first glimpse of next year’s wares. Sorry for flooding your social media feeds.
In my opinion, INTERMOT is the second-most important trade show on the schedule (the first being EICMA), as we always see strong showings from the Germanic brands at INTERMOT, and we can count on a few surprises from the Japanese OEMS as well.
When it occurs (INTERMOT is held every-other year, unlike EICMA and AIMExpo which are held every year), the German show is good for revealing trends in the industry, and this year was no different.
As such, I saw three big trends emerge from INTERMOT this year, which promise to shape the motorcycle industry for several years to come.
While we expect to see the KTM 390 Duke to get a minor update for the 2017 model year, along with a refresh of its design and graphics, it seems its sport bike counterpart, the KMT RC390 will just be getting the “bold new graphics” treatment.
This makes some sense in a way, since the KTM RC390 and its kin came to market a year after the KTM 390 Duke debuted. This could mean then that a model refresh is due for the pint-sized racer for the 2018 model year.
These leaked photos apparently confirm that the KTM RC390, KTM RC200, and KTM RC125 will get only changes to their liveries for the 2017 model year.
I was trying to come up with some sort of excuse to show this video about the 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000R, since it’s basically just a two-minute orgasm about Suzuki’s new superbike.
If you can’t tell, I’m pretty jazzed about the new Suzuki GSX-R1000R and its lower-spec sibling, the 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000.
I think there would be more buzz about the new GSX-R if Suzuki hadn’t basically shown the superbike to us a year before its release, but that seems to be the Japanese manufacturer’s jam right now.
I wont’ waste your time further. Close the office door, hide the kids, pour a drink, grab a towel, and press play.
The provisional calendar for the MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Race Championship has been released, and it features a 10-stop tour for American road racing.
The 2017 calendar looks like an improvement over the 2016 schedule, with fewer gaps between races and no repeat venues. Fans will also welcome the return of Sonoma Raceway (that’s Sears Point to you locals) to the calendar, as well as the debut of Pittsburgh International Race Complex (one of my personal favorite tracks).
Geographically, the 2017 MotoAmerica calendar makes a lot more sense too, with more of a logical progression across the map between races, a benefit for teams and logistics personnel.
Fans from around the USA should be able to get to at least one round within a day’s travel by car, which should help attendance numbers.
It looks like Norton wisely waited until after the bevy of press releases from the INTERMOT show, before teasing its V4 superbike again. Actually, it looks like we will have to wait until after the EICMA show as well, since Norton’s new teaser video promises a November 19th debut.
Norton’s V4 superbike has been coming for a long time, so the unveiling should be something interesting to finally see. The British firm has been targeting 200hp from its 1,200cc V4 engine.
The Brits over at MCN say that there will be two versions of the machine, a base model that costs roughly £28,000, and a higher spec version that will be limited to 200 units and cost closer to £40,000.
Ducati North America is recalling a number of its XDiavel power cruisers for final drive pulley that may not have been sufficiently tightened at the factory. The recall affects 1,433 units, bike manufactured between July 7th, 2015 to June 22nd, 2016.
With the pulley not properly tightened, there might be a loss of power to the rear wheel, which increases the risk of a crash. As such, Ducati dealerships will install a new washer under the final drive pulley, in order to increase the tightening torque. This will be done free of charge.
It doesn’t look like 2017 KTM 1290 Adventure S is coming to the USA, but our European readers will enjoy the street-focused ADV bike, as it straddles somewhere between the touring-focused KTM 1290 Adventure T and the off-road shredding KTM 1290 Adventure R.
The KTM 1290 Adventure S offers a turnkey street bike with ample power (158hp), while the 19″/17″ dual-sport cast aluminum wheels give added off-road abilities.
KTM has also added semi-active suspension from WP, as well as traction control (with an off-road setting) and the Bosch cornering ABS package.
In reality, the 2017 KTM 1290 Adventure S helps the Austrian brand keep a strong hand on the 19-inch wheel portion of the adventure-touring segment, helping keep at bay bikes like the potent Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro and the BMW R1200GS.
With a revised look for the 2017 model year, and all the promise the previous model years have shown, we expect sales to be strong for the KTM 1290 Adventure S.
For our American readers, the photos after the jump may be as close as we get to this machine. Many thanks to our friends at MotoFire for sharing them with us.
It might seem like the 2017 Kawasaki Z1000SX brings only modest updates to Team Green’s liter-bike street bike, what with Kawasaki touting the machine’s “double-bubble” adjustable windscreen, LED headlamps, revised rider and passenger seats, and pannier mounts.
Yawn. Nothing to see here, right? Thanks for playing Kawasaki…but wait…hold on a second. What really sets the new Kawasaki Z1000SX apart is the fact that it also includes a six-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU).
This ties into the brakes, traction control, and riding modes on the 2017 Kawasaki Z1000SX, adding another level of sophistication to this popular sport bike, while also raise the high-water mark in the street bike market.
If were to judge things by traffic on Asphalt & Rubber alone, the new Ducati SuperSport was the bike of the 2016 INTERMOT show in Cologne, Germany. The return of a cult classic, it seems Ducati has successfully tapped into the vein that made the original so well-loved.
Releasing pricing for the US market today, there might be more to love about new SuperSport and its up-spec SuperSport S sibling, as both bikes come with attractive price tags.
As such, the 2017 Ducati SuperSport will MSRP for $12,995 in the USA, while the 2017 Ducati SuperSport S will come with a sticker price of $14,795 MSRP.