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BMW Motorrad Posts Best Quarterly Sales Ever

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The BMW Group has released sales information for its motorcycle sales in Q1 of 2011, and the results are impressive. Posting its best quarter ever, BMW Motorrad sold 23,109 motorcycles in the first three months of this year, up nearly 11% from last year’s figures. True to trend, but still interesting enough, March lead the quarter, accounting for nearly half (11,675) of those sales for BMW (January had impressive numbers too though). BMW doesn’t state which models are responsible for this record number of sales, but educated guess would again suggest the hot S1000RR superbike and K16000-series tourer, along with the always well-sold R1200GS.

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Racing

First Shots: Rossi Rides the Ducati Desmosedici GP12

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Under some sunny and warm skies at Jerez, Valentino Rossi got to meet the Desmosedici GP12 for the first time today. In total Rossi slagged the GP12 across the Andalusian circuit for a total of 50 laps saying, and was seemingly pleased the the new machine.

“I’m happy,” said Valentino Rossi after the test. “I like the GP12. In my opinion, it’s more enjoyable, more fun to ride. It was the first time we had it on the track, so we had some work to do, but the engine is nicer. It’s a lot of fun, and you can do some nice slides. It’s the bike we’ll ride next year, so it was very important—and also very nice—to be among the first to take it on the track.” Photos, video, and more are awaiting you after the jump.

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Racing

Paul Denning Explains the 2011 Suzuki GSV-R

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While the 2011 Suzuki GSV-R may look the same on the outside as the 2010 machine, but as Rizla Suzuki Team Manager Paul Denning explains, nearly everything on the bike has either been changed, modified, or optimized for the new season. In all fairness, the team really has just continued development of their current race package, but it is interesting to see what changes they’ve made to be more competitive in the 2011 season.

With the team showing improvement and promise during testing at Qatar, Álvaro Bautista’s unfortunate injury will, in the best of conditions, only delay any sort of progress on the results sheets for the GP team. Still Rizla Suzuki managed to score some points with John Hopkins at the helm during a rainy and crash-happy Spanish GP, but Denning and his crew are shooting for better results this season with their single-rider team. Check out the video after the jump as the Rizla Suzuki boss man explains the 2011 Suzuki GSV-R.

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Racing

Valentino Rossi Will Test the Ducati Desmosedici GP12 Tomorrow – Nicky Hayden Will Test on Saturday

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After a day of successful testing at Jerez with Franco Battaini and Vittoriano Guareschi on the GP12, official word has come down from Ducati Corse high command that Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden will swing a leg over the new 1,000cc machine tomorrow and Saturday, respectively. Valentino Rossi has presumably already made the trek back to Spain this evening, and will test the Ducati Desmosedici GP12 tomorrow, while Nicky Hayden will return his press junkets from Germany, and have his turn on the GP12 this Saturday.

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Bikes

2011 MV Agusta Brutale 1090R Outed in Canada – Replaces the MV Agusta Brutale 920?

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UPDATE: According to CMGonline, the MV Agusta Brutale 1090R will replace the Brutale 920 only in the Canadian market.

The Canadian importer of MV Agusta motorcycles has once again outed a new model from the Italian company. First it was the entry-level (if you can call it that) 2011 MV Agusta Brutale 920 that broke cover because of our neighbors to the north, and now the Canadians have let slip news of the 2011 MV Agusta Brutale 1090R, another lower-spec version of the Brutale 1090RR (let us pause for a moment while we collectively go “hmmm…”)

Available in Summer 2011, the MV Agusta Brutale 1090R is sporting a $16,695 price tag in Canada, which will likely translate into a sub-$15,000 MSRP here in the United States. At the core of the Brutale 1090R is a 1078cc that’s good for 144 hp, which is based off the Brutale 990R’s motor, but makes similar spec’s as the lump found in the Brutale 1099RR.

If you’re asking yourself why does MV Agusta need another lower-spec Brutale? “It doesn’t” would be the answer, but the Italian company has seemingly quietly nixed the Brutale 920, presumably in favor of the 1090R instead. With the Italian site still listing the entry-level Brutale as a 921cc model, Canada has either outed a new model, or the news that the Brutale 920 will be replaced by the Brutale 1090R (interestingly enough, the Canadian site has done away with almost all reference to the 921cc machine). Either way, details on this bike are after the jump.

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Racing

Spies: “Thirty Seconds Before the Race, It All Goes Quiet”

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A quick hat tip to the folks making these rider videos at Alpinestars (& Lexar this time around), as they always seem to come out telling a good story about our favorite motorcycle riders. Up again is another video with Ben Spies, whose determination and focus on winning a MotoGP race & MotoGP Championship are again evident with his spoken conviction. Spies also talks about why he rides bicycles in his downtime, and we get a pretty good look at his swank bachelor pad in Dallas. All-in-all it seems to be the good life for the Texan, but after last weekend’s race, we’re sure there’s a lot of “what if’s” going on in his mind.

Source:

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Opinion/Editorial

Michigan Eyes Dropping Helmet Law…Again

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Twice now Michigan has come close to repealing its helmet law for motorcycles, with both instances being vetoed by Democrat Gov. Jennifer Granholm. But now with Gov. Granholm no longer in office, and with Republicans also having control over the legislature, the stars have seemingly aligned for the state’s riders to make another bid on nixing the law.

I should preface that there are two separate proposals being lobbied in Michigan. First there is House Bill 2008, submitted by Rep. Richard LeBlanc, and the Michigan State Senate has its own bill to contend with, Senate Bill 291, which is co-sponsored by five Democrat and twelve Republican State Senators. The bill in the Senate is your typical approach to helmet laws, and holds that anyone who is over 21, and has either passed a motorcycle safety course, or had a motorcycle endorsement for two years, can ride a motorcycle without a helmet.

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News

Infographic: Electric vs. Gasoline Motorcycles

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If you’ve been out of the motorcycling loop for the past couple of years, and want a quick primer on what’s going on with electric motorcycles, this infographic by Family PowerSports may be of some help. The graphic focuses mostly on the Brammo Enertia, but most of the information crosses over to other electric models. There’s a lot of interesting points made on the infographic, but we take a little issue with the sales figures as correlated to gas prices.

Generally speaking, bikes sales go up as gas prices at the pump go up…of course, bike sales also tend to go down when there’s a credit crunch followed by an economic recession. Make your pick on which one you think played the bigger role in fewer motorcycles being sold in 2009-2011. The complete graphic is after the jump (click it for the full size).

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Racing

Dani Pedrosa Has Successful Second Surgery

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As planned, Dani Pedrosa went under the knife after the Spanish GP, hoping to relieve the pain in his shoulder caused by the plate that was decompressing his left subclavian artery. The procedure was preformed by vascular surgeon Dr. César García-Madrid and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Joaquim Casañas at the Teknon Medical Center in Barcelona, and the operation has been considered a success after tests showed a return of subclavian flow.

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News

Big Dog Motorcycles Shuts Its Doors

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More bad news from the business sector this week, as reports are starting to come in that Big Dog Motorcycles has shut its doors after being taken over by the company’s creditors. With the banks halting the production line, this is effectively the end of one of the largest (if not the largest) custom motorcycle builders in the world. Cyril Huze broke the news on his blog on Monday that the company had closed its doors, but Big Dog President Mike Simmons denied that news on Monday.

However Big Dog dealers have since confirmed that company owner Sheldon Coleman has contacted them, informing them of the bank’s take over, and that the business and production would be ceasing. Coleman is reportedly planning on starting a new company that would supply parts to current Big Dog owners.

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Bikes

Radical Ducati Raceric

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As we look at the latest creation from Radical Ducati, a Spanish custom shop whose name you should know by now if you’re a regular A&R reader, there’s always something about their design that just grabs you and sucks you us into the motorcycle (check the RAD02 Imola Café Racer, 9½, Café Veloce, and Mikaracer). We don’t agree with all the choices they make (of course that might be why we’re blogging, and they’re building), but Radical has certainly created a distinct look that you can spot a mile away. Combine that with some superb photography (they always throw in a couple artsy shots for us it seems), and it shouldn’t be a big surprise as to why their work makes it onto our pages so regularly.

The Radical Ducati Raceric was built way back in 2010 (check out this Facebook album with older photos), which technically doesn’t make it a new creation from the Spaniards, but the folks at Radical Ducati did enlist Paolo Grana to take some more shots of the bike, and that’s good enough for us. Radical did-up both monoposto and biposto seat for the Raceric, and in these news shots we see only the biposto version. Half the fun with the bikes from Radical Ducati is spotting which parts came from which Ducati models. The photos are after the jump, shout out what you see in the comments.

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