After the news regarding the cancelation of the MotoGP races in Qatar, it was perhaps only a matter of time before Dorna realized that it has another series headed to the Gulf state, which would have to deal with the new Qatari travel restrictions.
Accordingly, it is not surprising that the FIM and Dorna have announced that the Qatar WorldSBK round, which was slated to take place in two weeks’ time (March 13th thru 15th), has been postponed until further notice.
If you own a 2019 Yamaha YZF-R3, then we have two recalls that you may want to look over, as they pertain to the braking system on this fun-sized sport bike.
Both recalls affect roughly 1,500 units, and center around two separate issues concerning the front brakes on the Yamaha R3.
The first recall is for the front brake hose, which may touch the horn lead wire when turning the handlebars from left to right. As a result, this could cause wear to the hose itself, which may cause it to leak brake fluid and thus affect braking ability.
In the second recall, the brake hose holder may come off the front fork bracket due to incorrect bracket hook shape. As a result, this could cause the hose protector cover to touch the front fork tube and cause premature wear to the cover. A worn cover could expose the brake hose to wear, causing it to leak brake fluid and affect braking ability.
It was less than 24 hours ago we reported to you the news that the MotoGP race for the Qatar GP would be canceled because of travel restrictions related to the coronavirus, and that possibly other rounds of the world championship could be affected.
And now, we get word (now confirmed by the FIM) that the Thai GP round at Buriram will be postponed will be postponed as well, with MotoGP hoping to reschedule the round at a future date. Currently, the rumor is for the Thai GP to take place in October, but that has yet to be confirmed by a statement from Dorna.
The move comes from concerns from the Thai government, as Thailand continues to battle with infection not only within its borders, but also within the borders of its surrounding neighbors. Eager to stem-the-tide, a large gathering with possibly infected persons seems like a less-than-optimal idea.
In an attempt to bury the news in the Friday rush for the weekend, we now get a surprise announcement from Harley-Davidson saying that the Bar & Shield brand has parted ways with President and CEO Matt Levatich.
Harley-Davidson maintains that the move was “mutual” in its published statement about the news, but any broken hearted teenager can tell you that is never mutual, and in the business world this is especially the case when the news is dropped at the end of the weekly news cycle, and no permanent replacement is announced.
Episode 132 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one comes to us from the WorldSBK paddock, as Steve English and Gordon Ritchie join us from Phillip Island, just ahead of the season-opening round.
As you would expect, the duo catches us up on the pre-season happenings in the production class, and give us a preview of things to come from the Australian round.
I just had to add a new tag to the Asphalt & Rubber WordPress story tagging engine: “performance bagger”. It seems a bit oxymoronic if you ask me, but yet, here we are.
What prompted this…unique…addition is the news that MotoAmerica has announced the 14 teams that will compete in the baggers race scheduled for the Laguna Seca round.
Ever since it was quietly made known that Ari Henning and Zack Courts, along with Spenser Robert, would be leaving the MotorTrend family, and their two-season-old show Throttle Out, we have been wondering where the trio would land…and now we know.
Announcing that they have joined the content and media team at Comoto (which was recently in the news for its acquisition of J&P Cycles), the move sees Courts, Henning, and Robert staying in Los Angeles and starting Comoto’s first West Coast office.
Hello from a sunny Ronda, Spain where we bring you a different type of “Gone Riding” review. Instead of a particular bike to test, we will be hopping onto a plethora of motorcycles, in an effort to put the new Metzeler Sportec M9 RR tire through its paces.
The successor to the highly revered Sportec M7 RR, the Sportec M9 RR has a high standard to live up to, especially as the “hypersport” tire market has seen an influx of strong competitors.
It has been a curious thing to see the European press beginning to make hay of the news that MV Agusta has filed trademark renewals for the Elefant name.
Some publications have even gone on to suggest that the move could see the Varesini factory come to blows with its rival in Bologna: Ducati Motor Holdings.
These reports, while interesting to anyone who studies the flow of information in modern journalism, are a bit ridiculous in their reality…for several reasons.
The last of the factory teams to unveil their 2020 team and livery, Aprilia Racing is showing off an early iteration of its 2020 Aprilia RS-GP MotoGP race bike.
Unlike some other debuts, Aprilia (like KTM) is showing us some of the actual changes we will see for next season, most notably the RS-GP’s revised intake and aerodynamics package.
Of note is the lengthy amount of work gone into streamlining the front wheel area of the Aprilia RS-GP, and we can see that the tail section sports a salad box configuration, similar to what Ducati pioneered.
The Borg collective that is Comoto Holdings continues to assimilate large brands into its collective of retail enterprises for the motorcycle industry. No, not familiar with the name Comoto?
Surely though you have heard of – if not shopped at – the companies that Comoto controls, as it is the holding company for RevZilla and Cycle Gear, and it is also now the new business entity that owns J&P Cycles.