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The Top 15 Motorcycling Roads According to AMA Members

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The American Motorcyclist Association has taken nominations and votes on where the best motorcycling roads in the United States are located. With over 100 roads were submitted, the organization’s 230,000 person membership voted on the entries via the AMA’s website (although were not told how many actually voted). With the tallies finally in, the AMA has chosen 15 routes in all, with some honorable mentions as well.

With an equal showing of roads in the west coast, Rocky Mountains, and southern states, the AMA’s list also includes roads in the midwest and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, seemingly leaving not region unaccounted for in the results. Did your favorite road gain the top spot as “The Best Motorcycling Road” according to AMA members? Find out after the jump.

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Racing

FIM e-Power/TTXGP Merger Well Underway

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Rumors of an FIM e-Power and TTXGP merger have been quietly floating around for the past week, and before we could report on those whispers of the event, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme has scooped us with the story that it has been holding conversations with the folks at TTXGP regarding the two series running joint events during the 2011 electric motorcycle season, with a possible final joint Championship to take place at the end of the year.

Sources close to the talks have told Asphalt & Rubber that a merger between the two series is imminent, with many of the stakeholders already signing-off on the deal. The likely outcome would be a series that lives on with the e-Power name, promoted by none other than Dorna Motor Sports, of MotoGP media fame. The FIM’s impetus seems to be in consolidating the two diverging series, and finally integrating them into established professional road racing.

Conversely, TTXGP will be able to find a financial exit from the rumored deal, something its investors will surely be happy to see. TTXGP has been able to piggyback off of local and club racing events, making deals with the tracks themselves, rather than the organizing bodies, in an effort to expand rapidly. While TTXGP has seen push-back from the Isle of Man TT, FIM, and AMA, the series has proven to be more adept at marketing itself than the FIM with its e-Power.

More on this as we get it, for now both parties are only admitting to the fact that they are talking about “collaborating” with one another. Joint statement from the FIM & TTXGP after the jump, along with their 2011 racing calendars.

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Racing

Isle of Man TT Looking to Make a TT World Championship

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The Isle of Man TT has just confirmed that it has launched a feasibility study into whether TT-branded events could be held around the world, as a part of a larger TT Championship racing series. The study is to start soon, as the Isle of Man Government’s Department of Economic Development is considering whether taking the IOMTT global could help the event, with plans to implement the idea possibly occurring as early as 2014, should the study show favorable interest.

The Isle of Man TT lost its World Championship status in the 1976, when the FIM stopped sanctioning the event because of safety concerns, and an exodus of prominent riders. Despite that setback, the historic race just celebrated its 100th racing year anniversary (racing was interrupted during World War II), and has been at the forefront of pushing motorcycle advancement since its first race in 1907. The 99th running of the IOMTT was also the first sanctioned electric motorcycle race ever, another hat-tip to the series’ forward-thinking direction and prestige. Thanks for the tip Frank!

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News

Honda, Suzuki, & Yamaha Halt Production After Earthquake

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The fallout from the now upgraded 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan, which saw a massive tsunami and nuclear meltdown follow in its wake, has devastated the island nation — for which the true lasting damage will likely take years to fully assess and understand. While the international community continues to rally around Japan, offering support and resources, the resolute country is showing its unwavering calmness and preparedness as it handles an event that many are comparing to those of World War II.

Paled in comparison to the events surrounding it, the Japanese motorcycle industry has naturally been affected by the natural disaster, with Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha releasing press releases describing what measure their business are undertaking in these changing conditions.

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News

“Crash Proof” Motorcycle Hoax Video Revealed

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You’ve likely seen the video where a “crash proof” motorcycle, which has rider detection aids on-board, gets plowed by a truck as it enters the highway. If you haven’t seen this video, well…we just sorta ruined it for you, and we’re going to ruin it some more for the rest of you who thought it was real, as the group behind the video’s making has finally stepped forward, and revealed it was all a hoax to get you thinking about rider safety.

Produced by the Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership (TVSRP), as part of the Safer Rider campaign, the locale has been trying to make riders in their 30’s and 40’s aware of the area’s high casualty rate on the roadway. “Our aim was to produce a video that encouraged people to discuss the attitudes and ability involved when riding a motorcycle and for it to spread virally within the motorcycle community,” said Craig McAlpine of TVSRP.

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Racing

Day Two: Who Really Was the Fastest Around Losail?

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Continuing our thought on who really was fastest at the Qatar test, the idea of comparing best lap times again seems more than moderately preposterous, considering last night’s sessions were for testing purposes. That’s not to say however that some basic understanding of how teams are shaping up before the season cannot be divined, and by looking at the individual lap times we can get at least an impression of whom is finding some consistency on the desert track.

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Racing

MotoGP: Japanese GP Rescheduled

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While the world holds its breath and watches Japan contend with the aftermath from an earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown, MotoGP has decided to give the island nation less things to worry about, rescheduling the Japanese GP that was to be held at the Twin Rings circuit in Motegi, Japan on April 24th, to later in the year on October 2nd.

While Dorna publicly announced yesterday that it would abide by whatever decision Japan would make in regards to hosting MotoGP in April, the reality is that the area surround Motegi that typical hosts the teams was ravaged by the earthquake. Reports also indicate that the Twin Rings circuit has actually been damaged from the natural disaster, further solidifying the decision to postpone the race.

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Opinion/Editorial

If I Were Testing the Waters on a New Motorcycle…

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Making a new motorcycle is a tricky business. Despite the image that motorcyclists are these rebels without a cause and offshoots from the so-called mainstream of society, the truth of the matter is that as a whole, motorcyclists are just about the most resistant group to change as you can find. When a manufacturer wants to release a new motorcycle, it has to take into account that if it strays too far away from what has been previously proscribed, the motorcycling community is likely going to hate it (or at least say it hates it).

This is why manufacturers now make bikes by committee, consult with focus groups/experts, and tease concepts (or spy shots of actual bikes). These processes give motorcycle manufacturers valuable feedback into how their product will be received in the marketplace, and this concept extends to markets outside of motorcycling. If I was a new manufacturer, and I was about to launch a whole new motorcycle, I’d be very careful on how I introduced the bike to the painfully orthodox members of the Church of Motorcycling.

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Racing

MotoGP: Qatar Test Day Two Results

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MotoGP’s last pre-season test concluded today in Qatar, as riders finished their second day of lapping around the Losail International Circuit. Conditions were colder than yesterday, and the wind made its presence known earlier in the day than before. At the start of the session, riders seemed reluctant to take to the track, but it wasn’t long before testing was underway in earnest.

Once again the Hondas proved to be very fast, accounting for three out of the Top 5 fastest riders for the day. Unlike Sunday, the Yamaha camp was divided in progress, as Ben Spies was very comfortable with the day’s results, while Jorge Lorenzo, in the best of light, was frustrated with being unable to keep pace with Stoner and Pedrosa (and his teammate). The Ducatis continued to struggle in the windy conditions, again showing issues with turn-in. Sixth quickest, Randy de Puniet topped the time sheet for the Italian manufacturer, followed by Nicky Hayden (9th), Hector Barbera (11th), and then Valentino Rossi (13th). MotoGP’s testing at Qatar saw just about every Ducati end up in the gravel trap, with the majority doing so at Turn 2, a problem spot on the track in the past.

MotoGP riders will get Tuesday off from riding, and then go into a four-day program for this race weekend, taking to the track once again Thursday night. Stay tuned to Asphalt & Rubber, as we’ll will be here in Qatar for the rest of the week covering the first race of the 2011 MotoGP season.

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News

New Jersey to Allow Motorcycle Dealers to Sell on Sundays

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If you read Asphalt & Rubber regularly, you’ve likely realized that New Jersey isn’t exactly our favorite state. Really, it’s any state that’s not California that gets some loving jabs from us, and even then we have our preferences on where is the best locale in The Golden State. It’s all good fun to us, and we thank the citizens in the rest of the US for playing with to our humors. That being said, New Jersey is rapidly improving its standing here at A&R (recent office polls place it higher than Iowa!), signing into law today a bill that will allow dealers in New Jersey to sell motorcycles on Sunday. Amen.

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