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Jensen Beeler

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Some of That 30th Anniversary Suzuki GSX-RR Goodness

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I’m not gonna lie, we sorta dropped the ball when it came to sharing with you the 30th anniversary livery that Team Suzuki Ecstar is rocking in MotoGP. If anyone asks, it’s all Tony’s fault. Totally on him. Like, for reals…all Tony. Bad Tony! Bad!

While Tony works on a personal apology note, hand-written naturally, for each and every one of you, we’ve got a small collection of his photos from Sachsenring and Indianapolis of Suzuki’s tribute to the GSX-R line.

We think it’s pretty fetching, which only adds to the fact that the Suzuki GSX-RR MotoGP race bike is one of the best looking machines on the grid. I actually had a dream about it last night…I’m not ready to talk about it.

Photos after the jump, ok? Enjoy! And Tony, I want those notes on my desk by Monday. Chop! Chop!

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Bikes

Is The Honda RC213V-S Really Your Dream Bike?

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Roughly four years ago, I wrote a story called “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” that implored the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers to build elements into their brand that went beyond the tangible and into the intangible — I was basically asking these brands to create what motorcyclists call soul.

From that story, I got a number of insightful emails from employees at these Japanese brands, who shared my frustration with the soulless machines their employers were creating. Despite those emails, when the Honda RC213V-S debuted, I was struck by how extensively that message had fallen on deaf ears.

The day of the RC213V-S’s launch, I asked my Facebook followers if the Japanese brand had “just pulled a Honda” on its release Honda RC213V-S – debuting a machine that ticked all the right objective boxes, but failed the most subjective of all tests: my lustful desire to own it.

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Racing

Triumph Postpones Land Speed Record Attempt

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Racing at the Bonneville Salt Flats has been a tumultuous affair for 2015, with the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) forced to cancel its Speed Week event for the second year in a row, just to see the AMA now proclaim its Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials event a tentative “go” barring more weather in the Salt Lake City area.

One of the teams we hoped to see competing on the salt flats was Triumph, with its Triumph Rocket III Streamliner and Guy Martin at its helm. With Guy Martin’s savage crash at the Ulster GP leaving the Lincolnshire-man with a broken back, sternum, and ribs, Triumph has had to re-think its 2015 land-speed record program.

As such, Triumph is calling this year a wash, and will return to the salt flats in 2016, where hopefully conditions, and more so fate, will allow the team to race towards its 400 mph goal.

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Bikes

E-Raw Electric Motorcycle Concept by Expemotion

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Over the past few years, the electric motorcycle segment has been a playground for industrial designers to think outside of the box, especially when it comes to challenging traditional motorcycle design.

The Mission One, MotoCzysz E1pc, and Xenophya Design EV-0RR come to mind when thinking about the more interesting design experiments we’ve seen from the E2V crowd, though there are certainly others we are missing.

The Expemotion E-Raw concept reminds us of those earlier bikes, where the design conventions of the internal combustion crowd are deemed irrelevant for an electric two-wheeler. Maybe that’s why the E-Raw has a laminated wood seat.

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Bikes

There’s So Much “Zef” in this Triumph Tiger Explorer

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Eleven years ago I saw this short CGI’d film about robotic police officers that patrolled in South Africa, in lieu of humans. It was really well-done and impressive short, more so because over 10 years ago it was really incredibly hard to make passable CGI.

This video, “Tetra Vaal” by Neill Blomkamp (of District 9 & Elysium fame, and embedded after the jump), just recently became the launching point for the box-office buster Chappie.

The feature film is a bit painful, especially if you’re not into the whole “zef rap” scene (I honestly wouldn’t click that link, NSFW). But, the movie touches on some interesting nerdy points, such as artificial intelligence and generally how messed up South Africa is, as a country.

This discussion of special effects, musical tastes, and semi-opinionated geo-politics is all necessary and relevant because of a Triumph Tiger Explorer concept inked by Jakusa Design, which riffs heavily on the Chappie‘s namesake character.

Such is the soft spot in my heart for the lovable robot Chappie, that I’m forcing this concept upon you. Sorry for partying…but more sorry for adding zef to your lexicon.

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News

Benelli Makes a Return to the US Market

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Absent now for more years than we can remember, the historic Italian brand of Benelli is returning to the United States. While it Is always the more brands the better, when it comes to consumer choices, this news is perhaps a mixed bag for motorcycle enthusiasts.

SSR Motorsports will be the official importer and distributer for the Qinjiang Group, bringing Benelli motorcycles and Keeway scooters to the USA. This part we like.

The caveat though is that our favorite machines from Benelli are not going to be making it stateside for now, as SSR will initially only bring the Benelli BN302 and Benelli BN600i, with MSRPs of $3,999, and $6,999 respectively.

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Racing

AMA Says Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials Still a “Go”

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UPDATE: The 2015 Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials has now been canceled, due to salt conditions.

The conditions at the Bonneville Salt Flats are worrying, to say the very least. Each year the conditions of the salt flats are worse and worse, and 2015 marks the second year in a row that Speed Week has been cancelled by the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) because of the conditions.

Last month, when Speed Week was cancelled, there was a lot of doubt cast on the rest of the land-speed record season, but the AMA says that its Speed Trials event has found a suitable course its motorcycle-only land-speed racers.

Set to run August 29th thru September 3rd, as of right now the “AMA Land Speed Grand Championship” that is the Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials is a tentative “go” for racing.

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Bikes

First Sketches of Norton’s 200hp 1,200cc V4 Superbike

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Norton Motorcycles recently got £4 million in grant funding from the UK government, funds that will go towards creating a new manufacturing facility, more jobs, and new models. All-in-all, it’s good news for the British marque and its suppliers, who will also benefit from the grant.

The good news for us though is that Norton plans to bring to market a 200hp V4-powered sport bike, not too dissimilar to the “SG” models that have been raced at the Isle of Man TT.

Adding to the good news is that British site Bike Social has gotten their hands on the sketches, and had a chance to talk to Norton’s Head of Design, Simon Skinner, about the new model and Norton’s future.

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Bikes

Suzuki GSX-R1000 Red & Black Commemorative Edition

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Suzuki already has a classic blue and white commemorative livery for its GSX-R line of motorcycles, but today at the Indianapolis GP, the Japanese brand debuted another commemorative edition of the Suzuki GSX-R1000, this time in red & black.

While the blue and white livery has become the more traditional colors for Suzuki and its GSX-R sport bikes, it was the red and black GSX-R750 machines of Yoshimura Suzuki that dominated the Suzuka 8-Hour in 1986, the first year of the bike’s debut.

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