If I’m doing my math right, it’s Monday back home. Time to get the week started. Time to start the countdown to the next weekend. If you cringed at the thought, we have something to help get you through the rest of the day. Dubstep, meets flat track racing at the Springfield Mile, meets slow-motion cinematography. It’s not going to win at Sundance, but it’s highly mesmerizing…and flat track is just damn cool.
The new “EVO” style rules for the 2015 World Superbike Championship are having some interesting effects. Honda may or may not finally release its V4 superbike, Yamaha has two versions of its YZF-R1 set to unveil at EICMA, one a homologation special, Ducati has the new 1299 debuting, allegedly with Superleggera innards in the motor, and now we see something from MV Agusta.
A leaked powerpoint slide seems to outline a new model, the MV Agusta F4 RC, which will be the company’s racing platform in WSBK going forth; and unsurprisingly, the racing F4 has many engine modifications made to the “street bike” for homologation purposes (EVO rules don’t allow much engine tuning for WBSK race bikes from stock).
Sepang International Circuit is a short car ride from downtown Kuala Lumpur — under an hour, if the traffic conditions are right. It’s near the airport, which means it’s near the palm tree farms I saw during our plane’s approach to KLIA. If you look closely while driving to SIC, you can see that there are two kinds of palm tree plants lining the roadside.
The old palm trees have very long branches and leaves, while the newer palms are shorter overall in radius. This change in plant design is so that more trees can be planted per acre. Other changes to the palm trees mean less water required (palms require a massive amount of water from the ground, something Malaysia has no shortage of, thankfully), more liters of oil per tree, and quicker growing times.
Sitting in the car ride, listening to the banter of my colleagues, I can’t help but think that the noble palm tree is a metaphor for this country. Eager to provide, and ready to adapt to the realities of the world around it. Malaysia reminds me, in part, of a younger America.
Thirsty for the ingress of foreigners, accepting of a mosaic of cultures and religions, and a budding epicenter of the reginoal economy. If one thing relevant came from our hours of talks about Malaysian tourism and government goals, it is that this tiny country wants more from itself.
No one can deny the growing importance of Asia, in particular Southeast Asia, especially when it comes to the motorcycle industry, but it is of note that Malaysians are eager for a bigger seat at the table. To that end, the construction of looming towers, the building of new offices and houses, the shifting the economy from labor to services, all signal what Malaysia is willing to purse for…more.
It’s hard to tell if the jet lag is responsible for my almost hourly wake-ups at night, or if it’s the gallons of water we have been drinking, trying to stay hydrated in the oppressive heat of Kuala Lumpur. It’s also hard to fathom that Malaysia gets hotter than this, but it does — that’s the nature of an equatorial climate though.
It seems difficult to imagine, but this really is the most ideal time of the year to run the Malaysian GP. Sure there is the torrential rain that comes with the 90ºF temperature and its 50% humidity, but the summer months are even hotter. With track temperatures approaching 130ºF now already, we would have riders dropping like flies in June, July, and August.
It’s an attribute that comes with the track, just like how Qatar has its lights, Phillip Island has its mercurial weather patterns, and Laguna Seca has its Corkscrew turn. It is a part of what makes Sepang International Circuit a special venue, and part of what tests the mettle of the riders.
We wouldn’t know any of this first-hand though, as we have yet to be at the track so far in this trip. I have to remind myself that we are playing tourist for our Malaysian hosts, here more to experience the country than to report on the grand prix (thankfully, A&R has David and Tony for that job).
Instead Day Four sees us soaking up some more staples of KL culture, and of course us four American journalists singing for our supper…almost literally.
The topic of lane-splitting is heating up in California, after the California Highway Patrol (CHP) posted guidelines for the legal practice to its website, and then was forced to remove them after a formal complaint that the posted recommendations constituted the CHP making legal regulations.
Now finishing a year-long study regarding the safety of motorcycles splitting lanes in The Golden State, the CHP has found that lane-splitting is no more dangerous than riding a motorcycle in general, provided a rider doesn’t exceed the flow of traffic by more than 10 mph.
Where have the days gone? Well, the international dateline is partially to blame, as today’s installment of my trip to Malaysia officially comes to you from Thursday, local time. In that timespan, I’ve been on four airplanes, two monorails, and a handful of taxicabs — which really just means that not too much has really happened worth reporting.
The first 24 hours were spent sitting on a plane. First, Delta to get me from Florida to San Francisco (via Atlanta), and then Cathay Pacific to get me from San Francisco to Kuala Lumpur (via Hong Kong). I endured 15hrs from America to Asia in the middle seat, between two lovely elderly Indian ladies, whose names I did not catch, so thus named them Fay and Doris, as it corresponded to their seat letters.
Fay enjoys Bollywood movies like it’s life’s greatest guilty pleasure, while Doris was a no-nonense kind of gal, who took a walk on the wild side this flight with her non-vegitarian meal choices. We became immediate friends during our journey, and promptly never spoke to each other once the landing gear deployed. Tyler Durden was right.
The Husqvarna brand will be returning to the street, as the now KTM-owned motorcycle company will release three street models at the upcoming EICMA show. Husqvarna says that the new models will “give a clear understanding of the future of the brand” — which hopefully means how Husqvarna will define itself differently that being just rebadged KTM.
Already releasing the the Husqvarna FS 450, a 450cc class supermoto, Husqvarna says that one of the three models will be a new large-displacement single-cylinder street bike, and will feature premium components and state-of-the-art technology (traction control?).
Rumors have been hot and heavy that MV Agusta will announce at EICMA that Mercedes-Benz will become a minority shareholder in the Italian motorcycle company. Those talks of investment have been confirmed by our friends at Canada Moto Guide, however in talking to Giovanni Castiglioni, the young Italian said the deal hasn’t been completed yet.
Getting a chance to bend the ear of Castiglioni at the Dragster RR/Brutale 800 RR launch this weekend, CMG’s Costa Mouzouris was told by Castiglioni that “if it happens, I would be the manager of the year; you can imagine it is a big deal for a small company, family owned, to sell a minority share to a huge company like Mercedes.”
The provisional calendar for the World Superbike Championship hasn’t been released yet, but American fans can start planning their pilgrimage to Laguna Seca, as the sole US round has secured its racing weekend. Hosting WSBK July 17th thru July 19th, Laguna Seca is once again host to the premier production racing class.
“We continue to be pleased with the growth of the fan base for the Series,” said Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca CEO & General Manager Gill Campbell. “With the continuation of GEICO as title sponsor, it seems clear that the U.S. motorcycle industry also sees this as an important event in which to reach out to their enthusiasts.”