Big announcements came out of Brno this week, with the 2010 season starting to shape up with riders solidify positions for next year. With plenty of silly season ahead of us, we can at least reflect on the racing from the Czech Republic, which has once again shaped the MotoGP Championship standings.
We find ourselves down the California Coast this weekend, hobnobbing with the suits down at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Amongst the bevy of tasty four-wheeled vehicles that seem to abound here (who knew?), we found a few motorcycles that we thought would fancy you, our dear reader. First up, is this 1979 MV Agusta Magni Superlight that is up for auction at the MidAmerica Auctions here at the Concours.
After a two week hiatus, MotoGP is back to racing with a stop in the Czech Repubilc. Amongst the press conferences, and positioning for next year, the riders actually made it out to the track to qualify for Sunday’s race. The masters of two-wheels clearly used their break to hone their game, and for the first time a pole position record was broken since the introduction of the one-tire rule.
Today at Brno, HRC President Tetsuo Suzuki announced that Honda would be signing Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso for two more years. Despite this announcement, neither rider has apparently signed an actual contract with HRC yet, as minor terms of the contract still need to be ironed out.
Rumors are already flying about the 2010 Yamaha R6, which is due for an update this next model year. One of the prominent theories is that that supersport would inherit the cross-plane crankshaft found in the current R1 liter bike. While Yamaha has officially been quiet on this matter, R1 project leader, Toyoshi Nishida, has pretty much ruled out the possibility of that technology trickling down to the 600cc bike. However, it does seem certain that the new R6 will tip the scales at a paltry 385 pounds or less…wet.
How do you race in a flat-tracking event at the Springfield Mile in style? With a modified Ducati 749, that’s how. And that’s exactly what Kurt Marmor did at this year’s event. Unfortunately, Marmor wasn’t able to qualify for the main event, but we have a feeling that the Duc-track will show up at other events this year, and regardless, the bike sounds sooo good on the dyno video below. We just might have to get into this flat-tracking thing.
With only 70 examples and built for pure race use, the Ducati Supermono is one of the rarest bikes to come out of the Bologna factory. Tipping the scales at 269lbs, and making 81hp, the bike was lightning quick in its day, and despite being 15 years old, could probably stomp on a few bikes today as well. Today we find on eBay UK Supermono #59 up on the auction block.
Jorge “Aspar” Martinez hopes of entering MotoGP with Spanish rider Alvaro Bautista in-tow seem to have disappeared today. After calling an emergency meeting with the young Spanish rider today, Aspar had hope to be able to persuade Bautista to not sign with the Rizla Suzuki factory team, which has an exception to the rookie rule. Those hopes, however, no seem to be in vain as early indications point to Bautista instead opting to ride for the Rizla Suzuki team.
Asphalt & Rubber has gotten our dirty little paws on a 2009 Ducati Streetfighter for long-term review, which was a supremely poor choice according to the little old lady that gave us the bird on our first test ride out. Despite her discouraging use of the bird, we’re so far quite impressed with this spaghetti rocket. Built of the 1098 Superbike platform, the Streetfighter is true to its name, having the punch of a 155hp v-twin motor. This is the sort of bike that when you sling a leg over it, you just look down and say, “Scream if you want, no one is coming to save you.” Continue reading for our thoughts, impressions, and a few photos.
Motor manufacturer and tuner, Ilmor Engineering, has branched out from its Indy Car, Formula One, NASCAR, and MotoGP duties, and produced what they call a five-stroke motor. With dual camshafts and an asymetrical three-cylinder configuration, the Ilmor is more than intriguing with its design, and promises to bring real benefits both to the race track, and to road-use. Most notably is a 10% increased fuel efficiency, and 20% weight reduction in power-plant weight.
According to the latest polls conducted by PowerSports Business, the cruiser segment of motorcycle sales have been hit the hardest during the current economic meltdown, seeing nearly a 31% drop over last year’s numbers. Following close behind are dual-sport sales, which were reported to be down 29%. Touring bikes have fared better than the rest of the industry, showing only an 9% drop in sales figures.
No numbers were released for the sportbike segment, but these numbers do seem to be better a better outcome than what was being reported by the metric manufacturers earlier this month. Without more data, it’s hard to say who/where the most pain is being felt in the industry, but there clearly are brands and segments that seem to be more insularly to the fluctuations in our economic condition.
Source: PowerSports Business