Because of our good friends at SoCal Buell Riders, we have to spend the rest of the day replacing the A&R office keyboards, which are now soaked with this morning’s coffee. You have to admit though, the headlight on the new VFR does borrow heavily from the Centurion’s jaw-line…enough to make one wonder if it’s from the 13th colony of Kobol. If you have no idea what we’re talking, you need to watch more Battlestar Galactica.
A reliable source in the AMA has just tipped us off to the fact that Ben Bostrom has signed with Pat Clark Motorsports (PCM) for the 2010 season. PCM, which has been linked to Bostrom since the beginning of the month, is keeping the deal under wraps though as they try to sign both Jake Zemeke and John “Hopper” Hopkins to the team as well. If successful, this would mean PCM is building the Deathstar of AMA Superbike teams for the 2010 AMA season.
UPDATE: Andrew Pitt has confirmed that he has signed with Reitwagen Racing for the 2010 WSBK season.
After BMW added a satellite team to World Superbike, the German team, Reitwagen Racing, was expected to have Austrian Roland Resch at the helm of one of the team’s S1000RR bikes, with a second bike rumored to be still open.
A week later, Mat Mladin shook things up in WSBK, after he tweeted that he was contemplating an offer to ride in the World Superbike Championship. After this news, links began to be made between Mladin and Reitwagen Racing program.
Any hopes of the Australian AMA champion riding the Bavarian machine though seem to be dashed now though, as fellow Australian Andrew Pitt is expected to take up the second seat on the satellite squad instead of Mladin.
In a candid perspective on the current rule changes to MotoGP, Michael Czysz detailed his thoughts on the switch to the 1000cc format for 2012, and what it means to MotoCzysz and it’s racing goals.
After Czysz’s hopes of racing in the pinnacle motorcycle racing series were dashed by the switch to the current 800cc format, the new rules adopted for 2012, which will bring the racing format back to 1000cc’s, may not only breathe life back into the company’s ICE racing hopes, but also give MotoCzysz some advantages as they consider another MotoGP entry.
Someone in the Yamaha North America Marketing Department is clearly bucking for a promotion.
After producing the extremely funny videos of the Yamaha MotoGP squad working at Yamaha HQ, and the in-depth explanation of the Ben Spies’ Method of motorcycle racing, the coming holidays have inspired Yamaha to make a Christmas card.
Seen in the photo is soon-to-be MotoGP racer Ben Spies, Motocross phenom James “Bubba” Stewart, and the Doctor, Valentino Rossi…along with some of the worst holiday sweaters we’ve seen to date.
Wishing us some holiday cheer, we see the trio bringing their holiday knits to some undisclosed cabin in the woods, complete with Rossi’s “Phillip Island kitten” in-tow.
After having five strong years, Stiggy Honda has announced that it will be withdrawing from the 2010 World Superbike and World Supersport Championships. Despite the team’s successes, their financial situation is the cause of their undoing, with Stiggy squarely pointing the finger at partner S2 Racing.
After spending time in Italy, it’s clear that there is some sort of connection between the country’s culture and motorcycling, which in Milan manifested itself as a physical calling. Italians seem incapable of simply just looking at a motorcycle, with many of our shots ruined by a hand grabbing of a tail section, or someone swinging a leg over a bike. Clearly, motorcycling is more than just a passive relationship here in Italy.
In just a few short hours, it’s already become clear that many of you are viewing the “Girls of EICMA” post earlier today, so we thought we’d conclude our coverage of EICMA with an opportunity this Sunday to repent. Bless me father, for I’ve bought a Honda. Be sure to check out the Carbon/Italian F4, and others after the jump.
When BMW announced the S1000RR, they claimed power figures of 193hp at the crank. While the clear class winner on quoted power figures, OEM claims on horsepower are “ambitious” when viewed in even the most favorable of light. However as Bike found out in the case of the S1000RR, it would seem that BMW might have actually under-promised on the bike’s performance potential, and then over-delivered.
BMW is recalling over 2000 K1300S & K13ooGT motorcycles, from the 2009 & 2010 model years, because of a possible issue with their fueling system, which may lead to the motorcycles stalling during operation. When fueled with poor quality gasoline, the throttle bodies on the K-bikes run the risk of becoming clogged with small deposits, which could lead to the motor stalling.
It’s been nearly six months since the inaugural TTXGP race at the Isle of Man, but electric motorcycle racing seems to be a growing subject as of late. As discussion surrounds both the FIM and TTXGP, and their respective series, we’re beginning to see teams make their 2010 racing commitments. We reached out to Michael Czysz of MotoCzysz to see why his company has been suspiciously silent on the issue to date.
The Grand Prix Commission met today, and came to a resolution on what direction the MotoGP series would take in the coming years. As expected the committee members agreed to a 1000cc format for the 2012 season, and finally revealed some of the details of that switch, such as a maximum of four cylinders allowed in the race motorcycles, and a bore size that can be no larger than 81mm. The announcement was devoid of any further details about “production motors“. More after the jump.