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Jensen Beeler

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Kawasaki will be bringing WSBK-influenced changes to the 2016 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, the company said in a press statement today, thus confirming earlier reports about a new superbike for the upcoming model year.

Kawasaki says that the new model will have a direct link to the World Superbike Championship winning machine that is being campaigned by both Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes at the moment.

The new ZX-10R will feature a “subtle yet highly effective” change to the cowling design, in addition to new suspension and braking components, but Team Green is quick to say though, this is not a ground-up new bike from Kawasaki.

Ducati has just teased the first images of its most powerful naked bike ever, calling the machine the Ducati Monster 1200 R, which is set to officially debut on September 14th.

The Italian motorcycle company says that the Monster 1200 R has a “more powerful engine, a sportier chassis and an advanced design,” though fails to say in comparison to what – we presume the Monster 1200 S.

Perhaps one of the most well known names worldwide for motorcycle stunt riding, Chris Pfeiffer has decided to retire from the sport. This marks an end to the 45-years-old’s 20-year career, which has seen him perform around the world at thousands of shows.

Largely responsible for legitimizing stunt riding beyond just hooligan antics, the BMW-sponsored Red Bull rider announced his retirement on his Facebook page yesterday, much to the dismay of 270,000+ followers.

One of the greats in motorcycling, Pfeiffer says he is leaving stunting to the next generation of riders. His message to fans is after the jump.

American Honda has released pricing details on the 2016 Honda Africa Twin today, an eagerly awaited nugget of information for many adventure-touring riders who are interested in the CRF1000L.

We won’t waste your time with hyperbole, if you want a Honda Africa Twin, you’ll need $12,999. If the dual-clutch transmission model is your cup of ADV, then you’ll need some extra coin, as its MSRP is $13,699.

Our first day in earnest sees our group leaving our Radisson hotel in Munich, walking across the street to the massive München BMW dealership, grabbing our respective bikes – a fleet of F800R, F800GT, R1200R, R1200RS, R1200GS, and S1000XR motorcycles – and heading out on the autobahn, towards Austria.

Since our group is full of early risers, we got things moving ahead of schedule. For some, this meant extra time to meet our fellow riders; though for one member of the group, it meant a little extra time to shake off the cobwebs with a pre-ride beer – an occurrence that unfortunately became more of a ritual.

Joining me on our trek through the better parts of Europe is a dynamic group of individuals: there are a bunch of NY/NJ guys from N2 Track Days, an Apple engineer with an affinity for Triumphs, a designer with the gift of gab, and a former World Champion motorcycle racer.

The show is orchestrated by Cat MacLeod, a tall Scotsman with bleached white hair that ends in a ponytail, and his team of European tour guides and logistic personnel who are eager to help us navigate some of the best roads in the world, as well as the nightlife that surrounds them.

With nearly 500km of riding to report for Day 1, we better stop stalling and get to it, eh?

Asphalt & Rubber will have a decidedly European kick the next few days, as David and Tony are in the UK for the British GP, and I will be in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy for a bit of motorcycle touring.

I got this amazing opportunity to join Leod Motorcycle Escapes for their “Alps & Sachsenring Dream” tour, which means for the next five days I’ll be riding in the German/Swiss/Italian Alps, as well as the Italian Dolomites. Once that’s done, we head back into Germany for a two-day track day at Sachsenring. Schwing!

Over the course of the trip, I will be riding the new BMW R1200RS (maybe a little seat time on the S1000XR too) during the touring sections, and throwing a leg over the updated 2015 BMW S1000RR while at Sachsenring. It’s a hard life, right?

The boys are in Silverstone this weekend, for the British GP. On the mics for this episode are David (MotoMatters), Neil (Road Racing World and Crash.net), and Tony (Asphalt & Rubber and BikeSportNews), and they discuss the contract happenings in the paddock, the view for 2016, and who they favor on Sunday.

As you can imagine, the boys are keen on the British riders this episode – as it’s the Brits’ home round, and the PPP crew all hail from island nations in the North Sea.

We think you’ll enjoy this episode (see who gets their predictions right for Sunday), as we continue to refine this new venture of ours.

The Erzbergrodeo billed as the toughest single-day motorcycle race on the planet – a name the race more than live up to each year. For 2015 though, Sunday’s Red Bull Hare Scramble, as its known to the marketing-hip, was something out of Dante’s seven circles of Hell.

500 riders qualified for the main event, a number that was whittled down from the 1,500 entries. Of those 500 riders though, only 5 of them finished the course, known better as “The Iron Giant”.

Though the Erzbergrodeo is known for its low-finishing rate, this year’s event was extra difficult because the race organizers added an additional 21 miles to its length, including the new “Downtown” section, which was a virtually impassable with its ravine and steep muddy hill.

With four co-winners (Jonny Walker, Graham Jarvis, Andreas Lettenbichler, and Alfredo Gómez), and a fifth lone finisher (Mario Roman Serrano), we bet this will be a race talked about for some time. Luckily if you missed it on TV, we have the full TV episode right here, after the jump. Enjoy!

The 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show is just around the corner, and while the event is typically a four-wheeled affair, Honda is cooking up something that piques our two-wheeled interest here at Asphalt & Rubber.

Calling it the Honda Project 2&4, the concept is simple: a futuristic and sporty car that is powered by Honda’s championship-winning, 1000cc, 90°, V4, RC213V MotoGP engine. See, it’s piquing your interest too.