The term “strike while the iron is hot” comes to mind with the news that Ben Spies is currently in talks to re-up his contract with Yamaha. Already contracted to ride with the factory Yamaha team in the 2011 season, Spies is looking to cash in on his MotoGP Rookie of the Year title, and lock up a deal with Yamaha Racing that would see the Texan on the squad through 2013.
After clinching the MotoGP Championship title while abroad, Jorge Lorenzo came home to a hero’s welcome when he returned to Spain this week. With most of the country hopping on the Jorge bandwagon, the most impressive honor we’ve seen so far is this huge mural on the side of an Air Europa airplane. Don’t expect the airline to be sponsoring Lorenzo anytime soon though, as Air Asia is reportedly closing in on a title sponsorship deal with Yamaha, while Fiat’s money is surely leaving the tuning fork brand with Valentino Rossi’s departure.
Source: Jorge Lorenzo (Twitter) via Bikes in the Fast Lane
More bad news for BMW owners as the German manufacturer has also released a recall notice for a number of its K-bikes. A problem with the front-wheel bearing could lead the bearing’s corrosion, which would affect the movement of the linkage lever. BMW has not said how many motorcycles this recall will affect, but the issue spans the 2004 to 2010 model years of the following bikes: K1200GT, K1200R, K1200S, K1300GT, K1300R, & K1300S.
BMW has issued a recall order with the NHTSA for certain F650GS motorcycles built between 2007 and 2010. Due to a washer that may interfere with the front disk brake fastener, there is a chance a fastener or multiple fasteners could come loose, which would result in the brake disc coming loose as well. Because of this BMW has issued a recall that affects approximately 1835 motorcycles, but has not released a remedy or schedule for the planned recall.
The World Superbike season may be over, but testing for 2011 is about to get underway, and Infront Motorsports has released its official testing schedules. Leading into the 13-round 2011 Superbike World Championship, the first official testing session will be at Portimao. For WSBK and WSS, tesing will start on Wednesday January 26th, while the the 1000 & 600 Supertock series will start Tuesday January 27th. Testing will conclude for everyone on Friday the 28th.
The second testing session will be held at Phillip Island, which will also be the first venue of the 2011 season. Testing at Phillip Island for all the series will start Monday February 21st, and end Tuesday the 22nd. These dates are in addition to the unofficial testing sessions, which have been scheduled by the teams themselves.
UPDATE: The 2011 Triumph Daytona 675R will not receive any engine modifications over the base model.
More Triumph goodness has seeped onto the internet this morning, and it’s the 2011 Triumph Daytona 675R sport bike that we get to feast our eyes upon as photos of the sporty triple have been leaked ahead of EICMA. Öhlins forks and shock, radially-mounted Brembo monoblock calipers, a carbon fiber fender, and supposedly an upgraded spec sheet? Yes please.
Triumph’s three-cylinder sport bike has always set itself apart in an market segment dominated by inline-fours and v-twins, and with the 675R being a bit of a looker, we think that trend will continue. No word on pricing or hard performance stats, we might have to wait until EICMA for those. Check the photos after the jump.
UPDATE: Triumph has debuted the Tiger 800 & Tiger 800 XC at EICMA.
After a single photo of the 2011 Triumph Tiger 800 XC made its way onto the interwebs last week, we finally have the full set of pictures from that photo shoot, along with action shots of the Tiger Triumph 800, and studio shots of both bikes.
The two Tiger 800’s are essentially the same beasts underneath their slightly different exteriors, but the most obvious differences gleaned from these photos is the Triumph Tiger 800’s shorter length forks compared to the Tiger 800 XC’s, which obviously have to accomodate a larger-sized wheel (21″ compared to the road-going 800’s 19″ wheel).
Additionally the Tiger 800 XC gains pieces that add to its off-road prowess, such as hand guards and longer mud guard. Optional accessories seem to include fog lights, skid guards, crash bars, and an Arrow exhaust system. We’ll have to wait longer for official specifications, but check-out the gallery of 37 photos after the jump.
It’s a bit of irony that Casey Stoner was the first MotoGP alien to to make his move in the 2010 silly season, yet is the last MotoGP alien whose fate we know completely. Signing with Honda it was assumed that Stoner would be a part of a three-man team within Repsol Honda, with HRC saying as much during its press announcement with the Australian rider. When the budget necessary to field a three-man team failed to materialize from Repsol, HRC began looking for other options, with the most prominent being a single-man team (likely with Casey Stoner), possibly sponsored by Red Bull. Unable to get the energy drink company to foot the bill, HRC then turned to satellite squad Gresini, where Marco Simoncelli, another HRC contracted rider, currently resides.
Andrea Dovizioso seemingly drew the short-straw in that arrangement, with HRC pressuring the Italian to move into Gresini with the promise of factory support being made for both riders. Dovizioso is reported as having a performance clause in his contract that guarantees him a seat in a factory team should he meet certain criteria. With Dovi honoring his end of the agreement, he looked to HRC to honor its side of the contract, and a Honda Gresini ride is not what the Italian had in mind. Making matters worse is HRC’s history of not honoring support agreements to riders once they leave the folds of the factory team. As such Dovizioso held his ground, and rightfully so.
With the 2011 season likely to see four factory-backed Honda riders, something had to give, and that something seems to be Repsol Honda. According to MotoWorld, Repsol Honda agreed at the Australian GP to up its MotoGP funding from €10 million to €15 million, and support a three-man Repsol Honda factory team. With Stoner, Pedrosa, and Dovizioso tucked away under one tent for the 2011 season, and Marco Simoncelli staying in Gresini Honda, that leaves a vacancy in the quasi-satellite team that will surely be filled by Hiroshi Aoyama.
Ever since it was confirmed that Valentino Rossi would be heading to Ducati for the 2011 & 2012 seasons, speculation began to swell about whether famed Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess would join the Italian rider at his new squad. The man behind Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan, and of course Rossi, Burgess’ talents in the pit box are confirmed by the number of race victories and series championships he’s been a part of in GP racing. With many believing Rossi could not be successful on the Ducati without Burgess by his side, the Australian crew chief’s decision to follow Rossi to Ducati is an integral piece to the team’s success in the coming years, especially as Ducati prepares a new 1000cc machine for the rule changes scheduled in 2012.
With speculation rife that Burgess might stay at Yamaha (presumably to help Rookie of the Year Ben Spies), or even retire at the end of this season (Rossi said at Laguna Seca he wasn’t sure if Burgess would continue after this season), Burgess’ move to Ducati was anything but a sure thing. However this weekend at his home venue of Phillip Island and during the Australian GP, Burgess officially announced his intention to SportRider magazine that he would be following Rossi to Ducati, and continuing the pair’s successful history together.
While MotoGP fans were watching the Australian GP at Phillip Island, current FIM President Vito Ippolitio was having a race of his own, as he looked to be reelected to his role in the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) during an election being held at Macau, China. With 98 of the FIM’s 101 federations in attendance, Ippolito managed to squeak another term through the year 2014, winning the vote 55-41 against French candidate Jean-Pierre Mougin.
Ippolito has come under fire for the dwindling grid size in MotoGP, and the growing number of issues that concerns Infront Motor Sports’ rights with the World Superbike Series in relation to the new GP rule structure with production-based motors. To a lesser extent Ippolito has also drawn criticism for the FIM’s involvement in alternative energy, most notably with the TTXGP series split. Now securing his role for another four years, it will be interesting to see how Ippolito cleans the FIM’s house.
Named after the poison used by Brazilian Indians to tip their arrow with for hunting, the Wunderlich Curarê is the German tuning house’s take on the BMW S1000RR. Clad in the blue and orange colors of Gulf Oil Racing and plenty of carbon fiber and titanium, the Wunderlich Curarê is mix of something new with something old, and celebrates 25 years of the company’s business. Making only modest performance enhancements to the S1000RR, Wundrlich has instead focused its efforts on improving the bikes ergonomics and aesthetics (they left the winking headlight in though). Photos and more after the jump.