. Finally, pictures of the 2009 BMW S1000RR have made their way outside the walls of BMW HQ and onto the internet. Without a formal press release the details are a bit sketchy right now, but the Street-going S1000RR is expected to tip the scales at 403lbs (dry), have a 999cc inline four motor, and cost €15,150 ($19,438) when it goes on sales in Germany this summer. Also present are ABS brakes and traction control. More news as we get it.
The addition of the new Moto2 class, which is set to replace the 250cc 2-stroke GP class, has caused a number of interested parties to begin work on their entry into the mini-MotoGP. While we expect the Hondas, Suzukis, etc to be in the new series, some of these companies are outside the list of the usual suspects, such as the possible Triumph entry, and now news comes that Bimota may be working on a Moto2 contender. Bimota is focusing their interest specifically on the chassis development side of the 600cc prototypes, and supposedly the boutique firm is ready to produce key components for the inception of the new class.
A return to the World Championship would see Bimota come full circle in their focus as a company. In the early 1970’s, Bimota was focused solely on producing parts for Grand Prix bikes. Renowned for their work with frames, shock absorbers, and chassis development, Bimota worked in collaboration with most of the top motorcycle producers of their time, sourcing power plants from them. We can’t wait to see what they come up with now, its about time we saw Bimota on the premiere circuits again.
Bimota will be revealing more details on their intended Moto2 involvement on their website, .
Source: MotoGP
How do you drive motorcycle journalists crazy? Run a feature photo shoot with WSBK race bike, a helicopter, and a hot blonde model. Its not that we don’t like these things, it’s just that we like answers more. BMW seems to have an endless supply of photos that keep us perpetually guessing what the production S1000RR will look like. Sure the carbon fairings and tasty race bits are nice and pleasing, but we want to see some OEM ABS plastic, horrible CAFE compliant exhaust pipes, and maybe a blinker here and there. Lately, it seems like only the race bike seems to be getting love from Mr. Nikon and Mr. Canon…and it keeps us up at night.
Times are tough in MotoGP if you haven’t noticed, and the penny-pinchers are in full-force both in the paddock and at Dorna Sports. Word has it that new rules are being discussed, and could be implemented in order to cut the costs of running a MotoGP team down. Continue reading for 3 of the major proposals on the table.
Yamaha has unveiled its YZR-M1 for the 2009 MotoGP season in a special online presentation. On-hand for the event at Yamaha-Italy HQ were riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Yamaha’s rider line-up remains unchanged of course, and the 2009 bike is pretty much indistiguishable on the outside from the 2008 variant. However, its what’s underneath that counts. According to Tech3 team manager Poncharal, “Not one part of new M1 is the same as 2008 bike”. Continue on for pictures, specifications, and unveiling video.
Pirelli’s Cyber Tire will provide real-time tire performance information via a chip/transponder setup embedded in the tire tread. The system will send and store a myriad of information such as: operating temperature, pressure, road conditions, and vertical load. The system will work in conjunction with another Pirelli invention, the Cyber Wheel, which will convey wheel information such as hub loads in a similar fashion. While the naming is gruesome, the potential for data logging and analysis could be extremely useful to racing and enthusiasts.
Pirelli has also partnered with Brembo and Magnetti Marelli on the Cyber Tire project. While details are not certain, we’d suspect the partnership would mean a system that quickly transfers information from the tire to the driver, car, and brakes, and allows for more informed and instantaneous performance changes based on driving conditions.
The technology’s use is centered around automobiles, but the mechanics and application could easily be carried-over into motorcycles. Just don’t hold you breath on seeing it soon though. The car version is expected in 2010, with no details on whether there will be a motorcycle version. As we are all well aware, motorcycle tires already cost considerably more than car/truck tires, and last an even shorter amount of time. Presumably the decreased longevity and added costs of the Cyber Tire/Cyber Wheel system would make the technology a bit harder to justify cost-wise in a motorcycle application outside of racing.
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According to a study done by Randall Dale Chipkar, author of Motorcycle Cancer?, the vibrations caused by modern motorcycles do not cause impotence, erectile dysfunction disorder, or cancer.
Let’s all breath a collective sigh of relief.
However, Chipkar postulates in his book that while the vibrations and pressure from the seat do not cause these medical problems, the electromagnet fields coming from the bike’s electronics do. Luckily, Chipkar has a solution for us concerned motorcyclists, an electromagnetic shielding motorcycle seat, which he also just so happens to hold the patent on. According to the book, the electrical components a motorcycle generate an electromagnetic field, which in turns causes all sorts of problems in the male baby-making area.
At least now motorcyclists can cite a book when someone accuses them of compensating for something.
The rumor that Rizla would be withdrawing its sponsorship from Suzuki in MotoGP has been rolling around the paddock for some time. The rumors started after Rizla announced that it would be withdrawing its backing from the Crescent Suzuki British Superbike team, which is part of the same program run by Paul Denning and Jack Valentine, who run the Suzuki MotoGP team.
While this speculation has been a common theme for paddock gossip since the latter half of 2008, the news that Rizla will be withdrawing its sponsorship from Suzuki’s MotoGP team is moving rapidly from the realm of speculation to the world of fact.
Italian magazine Sport Moto is reporting this speculation now as fact. According to them, Rizla will withdraw funding from Suzuki’s MotoGP team, cutting into the teams bottom line to the tune of 3.5 million euros per year.
It is impossible to talk about Rizla pulling out of Suzuki and not in the same breath talk about Suzuki leaving MotoGP. This possibility has been flatly denied both by Team Suzuki and MotoGP. The lost 3.5 million euros is a paltry sum to the factory team, with reports showing that it likely barely covered the salaries of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi.
Ironically, the rest of the paddock may be relieved to see Rizla depart as a sponsor. Not because of the blow to Suzuki, but because it was widely felt in MotoGP that Suzuki had given Rizla a title sponsorship role at a rock bottom price. The paltry sum asked by Suzuki has dragged down the price that other teams could demand from sponsors for similar title sponsorship. Now with that sponsors precedent gone, teams in theory should be able to command more money for the title sponsorship advertising package.
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Yamaha is reporting its first quarterly loss in over 4 years, with a fourth-quarter loss of $467 million (compare that to its profit of $41 million in the fourth-quarter of 2007). Since Yamaha gets nearly 90% of its revenue outside of Japan, the strong yen doesn’t help matters much either. The yen gained 17% against the U.S. dollar in the fourth quarter, thus eroding the value of overseas sales from their usually fat margins.
It should shock few people at that is point that in 2008, Yamaha lost customers in North America and Europe as would-be buyers cut recreational toys like motorcycles out of their budgets due to the…you guessed it…credit crisis and falling home values. In response to this, Yamaha is expected to cut the salaries of its executives by as much as 20% from February to December in order to hedge cut-costs and as a sign of unification within the corporation (a common act in Japanese corporations, GM take note).
Despite this litany of bad news, Yamaha’s shares were seemingly unaffected, and closed at 880 yen at the end of trading yesterday. Also, the stock has only dropped 5.6%t so far this year. Investors are either hopefully of Yamaha’s ability to weather the financial storm or saw this coming a mile away. We’re guessing the latter.
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Loris Capirossi is ready and raring for another season in the MotoGP World Championship, one that will see him riding a heavily redesigned Suzuki GSV-R for his second year with the Japanese factory. The 2009 GSV-R will be a different bike all-together from the GSV-R of 2008. Capirossi and teammate Chris Vermeulen have both taken part in wind tunnel testing in Japan in order to redefine the optimal form for the 2009 prototype, with the results used by engineers during the testing embargo.
“The aerodynamics, engine and chassis are all-new, and I am expecting a lot from them because of the hard work that has been going on in Japan. I’ve got high hopes because of this!” says the Capirossi.
Rizla Suzuki had its ups-and-downs last year with only a few podiums last year. Hopefully with all of the time the teams has been spending in the wind-tunnel will payoff and we’ll see the boys in powder blue up-front dicing it up some more.
Suzuki has initiated a safety improvement campaign, which is not a recall…but kinda really is totally a lot like one…sorta. A safety improvement is not conducted under the United States Safety Act, but is carried out when a manufacturer voluntarily modifies or replaces a vehicle already out on the road. This one is in regards to a potential frame problem with the 2005 and 2006 GSX-R1000, which means it affects over 26,000 motorcycles.
The safety improvement is being conducted because cracking or breakage of the bike’s frame can occur in certain extreme situations where unusually high stress is placed on the frame. Repeated hard landings from hazardous maneuvers such as extreme or extended wheelies or other stunts may generate sufficient stress to cause this problem. If the frame becomes broken during extreme use, a crash could occur.
Gixxer 1000 owners should take their bike down to the local Suzuki dealer for an inspection for cracks. If no cracks are found, a frame reinforcement brace will be attached to the frame using bolts and epoxy adhesive. Should cracks be found during the inspection, the frame will be replaced with a new frame that has the reinforcement brace installed. The campaign began on January 21, 2009. Owners may contact Suzuki at 1-714-572-1490.
There’s a certain irony to this article that we can’t quite place our finger on…
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