Episode 179 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one is our final show of 2020. Naturally, we have something special for you, as we take a look at Joan Mir’s season.
On the mics, we have Neil Morrison, Steve English, and our newest member to the show, Adam Wheeler (from the magazine On-Track Off-Road).
Joining the trio is MotoGP World Champion Joan Mir, along with his manager Paco Sanchez. This is definitely a show you want to give a listen.
When it comes to race-ready minimotos, the name Ohvale is all you need to know. The Italian brand has stormed onto the scene, and quickly found traction with youth riders and old pros alike.
It is easy to see why, as the platform offers top-shelf kit in a space that has been mostly about heavily modified Honda Grom street bikes and cheap dirt bike conversions.
If you were serious about developing your road racing skills on a go-kart track, then the Ohvale GP-0 190 was the beast for you.
It is no secret that motorcycle racers at the top of the sport use flat track as a way to hone their skills during the season. The practice dates all the way back to Kenny Roberts Sr., and has stayed in the grand prix paddock ever since.
Like all great champions though, Valentino Rossi has taken things to the next level, building his own private flat track course near his home in Tavullia, Italy.
Ever since 2018 when A&R first caught wind of the Aprilia RS 660, we knew this twin-cylinder sport bike was going to be a class killer.
Up until its introduction, the middleweight twins segment has been full of either outdated legacy machines, or bikes that serve a price point above all else.
There is nothing wrong with that per se, but it left the door open for a brand like Aprilia to come in and mix things up with a cutting edge motorcycle.
That is where we are today with the Aprilia RS 660, with its high-power, high-revving parallel-twin engine, its advanced electronics, and its track-tuned chassis.
Episode 47 of the Brap Talk motorcycle podcast is back with another weekly episode, for your two-wheeled listening pleasure.
In this episode, we take a long hard look at the dealer relationship with manufacturers, and how that dynamics works (amongst other conversations).
Episode 178 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one starts our review of the 2020 MotoGP Championship season, as we take a look at the fates of the various manufacturers.
On the mics, we have Neil Morrison and our newest member to the show, Adam Wheeler (from the magazine On-Track Off-Road).
Taking the manufacturers two at a time, this episode focuses on the results of the Aprilia and KTM squads during the year.
The first of KTM’s 500cc lineup is expected to be ready by 2022. This isn’t exactly new information for those who have been following the space, but it is the first time that we have heard it from the horse’s mouth.
This is because KTM CEO Stefan Pierer sat down with journalist Sir Alan Cathcart, and discussed the new models (you can read his full interview on Motoring World) and several other items in an expansive interview.
Owners of a Ducati Scrambler 1100 model, model years 2018 thru 2021, should take note of this latest recall from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
At issue is the potential for the exhaust cable on the Scrambler 1100 series to touch the main positive battery wire. If this were to occur, it could cause the motorcycle to short-circuit and cease operation.
The long-lap penalty will be coming to the WorldSBK Championship, starting in 2021.
Adopting the rule after its successful rollout in the MotoGP Championship, it only makes sense for the long-lap penalty to carryover into the production superbike series.
The Yamaha MT-09 isn’t considered one of the more beautiful motorcycles on the market, but thankfully the three-cylinder street bike is offered in a more palpable café racer version, the Yamaha XSR900.
This is where we begin today’s story too, thanks to Yamaha’s Yard Built program, which encourages tuners and designers to take their hands to these affordable machines, and restyle them into something new and beautiful.
With that, we see the work of David Sánchez from Bottpower with his XR9 Carbona build, which will also be available as a body kit for those who are looking to spice up the looks of the Yamaha XSR900 sitting in their garage.
Another juicy news item that comes to us straight from the Brap Talk motorcycle podcast, we get word that Kramer Motorcycles is working on a cheaper version of the Kramer HKR Evo2 race bike.
Based around the 690cc single-cylinder engine from KTM, the Kramer HKR Evo2 R is current available for a gasp-worthy amount of $22,500, which is obviously a lot of coin for a lightweight-class race bike.
Hoping to make that entry into the brand a little easier, and to provide racers with a platform that they can develop and customize themselves, we get word that Kramer is looking at a cheaper version of the Evo2, which will cost south of the $15,000 price point in the USA.