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Rossi Decision Expected at Catalunya

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News regarding Valentino Rossi is at a fever pitch, as it is expected the Italian rider will announce at the Catalan GP his intentions on where he will race in next season. For weeks, if not months now, Rossi has been linked to a very lucrative €15 million deal with Ducati Corse, while Fiat-Yamaha have reportedly scaled back their offer on the GP Champions from his current €14 million salary to €9 million.

Paddock gossip has said that Rossi has been considering both offers; however, at Barcelona we should finally know the answer to what team Rossi has picked, but some sources are already claiming they know the answer.

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News

MIC Launches Electric Vehicle Task Force

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The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) has formed a task force to study the issues surrounding electric motorcycles and other vehicle segments in the powersports industry. While the task force’s participants aren’t being named, almost all the major OEM manufacturers are involved, as well as most of the electric motorcycle producers. While the groups hasn’t finalized its priority list of issues, performance standards and consumer education seem to be top-billed action items for the task force, as group looks to create fair comparisons between the budding industry and entreached ICE market.

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Racing

Tackling Pikes Peak, as Seen Through the iPhone 4

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Pikes Peak Ducati rider Greg Tracy has posted a quick documentary on his blog today that shows a behind the scenes glimpse of racing to the clouds at Pikes Peak (and winning). On-board the Pikes Peak Multistrada 1200S, along with teammate Alexander Smith, Greg set the second fastest two-wheeled time up the 2010 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

In the footage we get to see the Tracy’s talking about the family rivalry, as well as the dangers of riding Pikes Peak. With a Cameo appearance by Rhys Millen, this is a very well done clipe. And for bonus points, it was all shot on an iPhone 4. Check the video out after the jump.

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Bikes

2011 BMW S1000RR – Now Available in Yellow

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The big news for the 2011 BMW S1000RR is that you can now get the superbike in “Sun Yellow”, which is replacing the Acid Green paint job that made motorcycle journalists collectively heave, pregnant woman prematurely give birth, and BP pump massive amounts of oil into the Gulf Coast. Also available is a “Light Grey Metallic”, which is replacing the Silver Metallic…if you’re just as confused as we are on the distinctions between light grey and silver, check after the jump for photos.

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Bikes

Ducati Mega-Monster Spy Shots

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MotoBlog.it has snagged some spy shots of the rumored Ducati power cruiser, or Mega-Monster as it’s now being called in the press (the Ducati Vyper nomenclature has seemingly been dropped). Aimed to take on Yamaha V-Max and it’s crew, the Mega-Monster is a big step for Ducati in tackling new market segments.

Taking a page from the Multistrada 1200 campaign, which saw a plethora of “leaked” images, we don’t really know if you can call these photos true “spy shots”. As with that release, these photos are clearly being staged by Ducati PR people, and then being leaked to motorcycle magazines.

With each rider clearly wearing Ducati apparel, the dots are being connected for us as we can see that the Bologna brand has indeed been working on a cruiser-styled bike, despite saying the project was canned last year. Photos and more after the jump.

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News

MotoGP TV Ratings Continue to Drop Without Rossi

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TV ratings for the Dutch TT at Assen are in for the Italian TV market (one of the largest markets for MotoGP), and once again they show a decline in MotoGP’s allure without Valentino Rossi. With 2,579,000 viewers, making up 16.79% of the total television audience, MotoGP in Holland attracted only half the audience from last year’s event (5,249,000 viewers, 31.69% of the total television audience). With a similar trend in 125GP and Moto2, some in the Italian press are calling for Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta’s resignation, as these ratings are surely a sign of the sport’s demise.

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Racing

Moto3 Rumors Continue – The Death of 125GP & Two-Strokes Seems Nigh

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After the GP Commission convened at Assen to meet regarding rules for the 2011 season, and other GP affairs, talk quickly began to spread that rumors of a Moto3 class were true. Seeing the success of Moto2 in replacing 250GP, the GP Commission seems to think that a similar race series could successfully replace the 125GP class, making all of GP racing a four-stroke affair as early as 2012 or 2013.

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Rumors

Rumor: 2011 Aprilia RSV4 to get Traction Control?

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UPDATE: The 2011 Aprilia RSV4 will get traction control according to sources close to the company.

Well this didn’t take long. No sooner did the 2011 Aprilia Tuono V4 show up sporting signs of an anti-lock braking system and rumors of a traction control system, do we know hear rumblings from Italian site OmniMoto about the 2011 Aprilia RSV4 getting similar treatment. Whether its an informed postulation or idle speculation, Aprilia seems certain to offer ABS and traction control on the Aprilia RSV4, as it logically aims to compete with the offerings from Ducati and BMW.

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Products

MV Agusta Cannonball Kit Adds 21hp to the Brutale

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Have you ever wanted a 2010 MV Agusta 1099RR, but thought the bike’s 144hp just wasn’t enough umpf for you. Well MV Agusta has you in mind with this “track only” Cannonball Kit that adds 21hp (165hp in total) to the top of the 1099RR’s peak horsepower figure.

Not an actual new bike from MV, the Cannonball Kit features a new ECU, cylinder head, camshafts, valves, and titanium exhaust system, which boosts horsepower on the Brutale 1090RR without sacrificing any of the bike’s down low torque, which remains at 84.81 lbs•ft.

The intention is to make the Brutale 1090RR a track day weapon, however we think most of the kits will find their way onto daily riders…but keep that on the down-low, it’s not exactly street legal.

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Racing

Our Test Rider is Faster than Your Test Rider

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After the collective groan that emanated from MotoGP fans around the world when Wataru Yoshikawa was announced as Valentino Rossi’s replacement, Interwetten Honda is feeling a bit frisky about MotoGP’s next stop at Barcelona for the Catalan GP.

As such the team has challenged the Fiat-Yamaha substitute rider to battle with their own replacement for Hiroshi Aoyama: Kousuke Akiyoshi. With neither rider likely to make much of a showing against the MotoGP usuals, Interwetten Honda boss Daniel Epp sees a battle of the backmarkers as a way to spice up the race.

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News

Video: Shinya Kimura – Motorcycle Artist

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Don’t call him a custom motorcycle builder, Shinya Kimura is really more of any artist whose medium is on two-wheels (among other formats). In an industry that centers around products that should resonate with their owners, Kimura finds a way to put more soul into metal than just about anyone else we know. Check out after the jump this unlisted YouTube video by Henrik Hanssen, which shows Kimura and his work from his shop Chabott Engineering.

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