If you like the Suzuki V-Strom 1000, but have been holding back because they don’t make one in a desert beige, then today we have good news for you.
Released at the Motorcycle Live show in the UK, the 2015 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 Desert Edition is what you might imagine from the name: a khaki-colored ADV bike that looks equally sharp paired with a navy blue blazer or with one of The Desert Fox’s classic pincer movement maneuvers.
KTM fans should brace themselves for another model, as the Austrians have been caught teasing a successor to the KTM 990 SMT. Based of the KTM 1290 Super Duke R platform, the new SMT borrows the Super Duke’s core, and adds proper panniers, taller suspension, more cowling, and a windscreen.
Visibly similar on the SMT are the chassis and motor of the Super Duke R, and as such the SMT highlights the same steel trellis design and single-sided swingarm.
The LC8 engine can easily be seen as well, and the SMT-sucessor can be seen with even the same stock exhaust as found on the 1290 Super Duke R.
There has been a resurgence of energy in American road racing, after MotoAmerica replaced AMA Pro Road Racing as the national championship in the USA. At the helm of the resurgence is former World Champion Wayne Rainey, who is part of the KRAVE Group – the media rights holder to MotoAmerica.
Adopting class structures that fit in line with the rules and regulations found in the World Superbike Championship, MotoAmerica’s goal is once again to flood the international road racing scene with talented American riders.
Talking a little about that philosophy, with a healthy Yamaha commercial in the middle of it all, Rainey helps set the table to what American road racing fans have been waiting to hear for a long time. A stronger racing series domestically, and a path to see Americans competing at the highest levels of the sport internationally.
Hosting a ceremony today in Tokyo, Honda Motor Company announced that it has produced cumulatively 300 million motorcycles worldwide.
The milestone, which was actually reach in September of this year, but just now celebrated by the Japanese company, comes in Honda’s 66th year of making motorcycles, when the brand entered the market with the Honda Dream Type-D in 1949.
The ballots are in, and Vito Ippolito will continue as the President of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), for the next four years. Ippolito was re-relected at the FIM General Assembly held in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. With 103 national motorcycle federations taking part in the voting, Ippolito defeated rival Jorge Viegas of Portugal with 62 votes to 41.
For those who don’t know the sixty-two-year-old Venezuelan-born Ippolito, he has an impressive career in motorcycling. He was the manager of Team Venemotos, during the period their rider Carlos Lavado won the 250GP World Championships in 1983 and 1986. He was also the President of the FMV (Venezuelan Federation) from 1992 to 2006, and has been involved with duties at the FIM since 1984.
It’s almost the weekend, which means the end of another grueling work-week for many of our readers. With winter upon us, the release of riding a motorcycle after a long week has been diminished, if not extinguished entirely, which only adds to the no-motorcycle doldrums.
We have a little something for that though: 45 minutes of good ol’fashioned two-stroke awesomeness. The sequel to the much loved The Unrideables documentary, we bring to you The Unrideables Part 2, which picks up from its predecessor and covers the Rainey/Schwantz era of racing. Enjoy!
Erik Buell Racing’s release of new models has been slow and steady, despite the American company teasing the names of its first three consumer-level machines from day one. EBR gave the world an early look at the 2015 Erik Buell Racing 1190SX, the streetfighter version of the company’s EBR 1190RX superbike, and now we await the company’s third model.
It has long been rumored that the third model from Erik Buell Racing, the EBR 1190AX, would be an adventure-touring model, and Gary Pietruszewski, the Vice President of Global Sales at Erik Buell Racing, confirmed as much while talking to Autoevolution.
The 48th annual Macau Grand Prix was underway this past weekend, rounding out the 2014 road racing season, all the way on the other side of the world from the normal Irish and Manx roadways.
As much of a spectacle as its European counterparts, the Macau GP is set in the downtown area of the Special Administrative Region of Macu, and is proper elbow-to-elbow motorcycle racing.
A spectacle to see with the tight corners and dense cityscape, we regrettably didn’t cover the race this year due to a communication error on my part with our correspondent (my pay has been docked accordingly).
To try and at least make up for that error, we have for you the video highlights of the race, which Stuart Easton won quite comfortably, bringing his tally of Macau GP wins up to four now.
The route for the 2015 Dakar Rally has been confirmed, and details have been dropped on what could be the most grueling motorcycle event on Earth. The 14 day, 13 stage Dakar will take competitors through Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and back to Argentina again, making for roughly 9,000 kilometers of terrain to navigate.
The 68 motorcycle competitors will have the added challenge of two marathon stages — stages where only the riders can work on their bikes, and can receive no help from their support crews.
Marc Coma is a heavy favorite for the 2015 edition, especially with rival Cyril Despres making the career switch to race on four wheels with Peugoet. However Coma can expect strong competition from his teammate Ruben Faria, not to mention from the likes of Joan Barreda on his Honda, and Olivier Pain on the Yamaha.
It is an exciting time for the Husqvarna brand, as it finds a new home within the KTM family. Reunited in a sense with Husaberg, the remnants of the motorcycle company when it left Sweden for Italy, Husky motorcycles are little more than rebadged Austrian machines at this point in time, though Stefan Pierer and his team would like to change that.
We have already seen Husqvarna return to the road with a supermoto model, in the Husqvarna FS 450, as well as the Husqvarna 701 street; and the company has also debuted two intriguing street concepts at the EIMCA motor show (based off the KTM 390 Duke), which may go into production.
Husqvarna seems determined to distinguish itself from KTM, and it is drawing heavily on its past and history for inspiration going forward. It should be interesting to see how the company evolves over the next few years.
After torrential rains this weekend, the MV Agusta factory has been flooded by the nearby Lake Varese. The MV Agusta factory sits on the edge of the lake, and the recent weather has brought the waterline to include the Italian company’s R&D, racing, and testing facilities.
Because of the flooding (nearly a meter higher than usual), production has been halted, and the ~100 employees have been sent home. It’s not clear how long the flooding will continue in Varese, though the current weather, and future forecasts, are favorable to the water subsiding.