It was only a few months ago, June 6th to be precise, that BMW Motorrad advised owners of the new liquid-cooled BMW R1200RT, who had the optional Dynamic ESA suspension package equipped, to stop riding their motorcycles until a solution to a collapsing rear shock defect could be found.

Ultimately, BMW and its parts supplier decided to replace the rear shock entirely, recalling all the 8,000 units worldwide (950 of which are in the United States) — they made that announcement just a month ago, though have been giving R1200RT owners a varying number of other options as well.

For those R1200RT that elected not to have BMW Motorrad buyback their machines, riding should commence sometime this month. BMW Motorcycle Magazine is reporting that BMW Motorcycle dealers should have replacement shock absorbers in two weeks’ time, and thus be able to begin fixing affected machines.

Recall

The following is perhaps one of the more interesting recalls to come across our desk, and it affects the 2014 Harley-Davidson Dyna Low Rider. It seems that if owners install “certain optional performance electronic control module calibrations” the bike’s ignition switch can go from “IGN” to “ACC”, thus causing the motorcycle to shutoff mid-operation. The reason for this though is because the aftermarket ECU upgrade allows the 2014 Harley-Davidson Dyna Low Rider to rev its motor beyond the stock 5,600 rpm redline, where at 5,800 rpm a resonate frequency with the ignition switch occurs. Held at this frequency, the key can turn to the accessories position — a dangerous, if not fascinating, show of physics.

MotoGP

It looks like Ducati will get their all-Italian line-up after all. Announced today, Cal Crutchlow will be leaving Ducati to join LCR Honda for the 2015 season. Officially, Crutchlow had until 31st July to exercise his option to leave Ducati, but it appears that Ducati management agreed to an extension, while negotiations continued with Honda. An agreement was reached late last night, with one of the main points of contention being the payoff Crutchlow would receive from Ducati for leaving. A week ago, Crutchlow announced that he would be staying with the Italian factory at the World Ducati Week event. Since then, however, the situation changed, with Crutchlow’s manager Bob Moore reaching agreement with Ducati management to explore further options. That led directly to the release of Crutchlow to join LCR.

Bikes

Just a couple weeks ago, we got to ride the Energica Ego, a bike that made quite an impression on us. Now it seems Energica is readying an encore to its first electric motorcycle, the Energica Eva. Details are light at the moment, though we know the Eva will debut at EICMA, and be based off the Ego’s platform. A streetfighter to the Ego’s superbike format, we expect the Eva to come with the same 134hp PMAC motor and 11.7 kWh battery pack. With less fairings and a more upright riding position, the Energica Eva will go more head-to-head in form-factor to the Brammo Empulse R and Zero SR. As such pricing will be key, and if they Energica Ego’s cost is any indication, the Energica Eva will certainly be on the higher-end of the price spectrum.

Bikes

This isn’t the first year where the Honda COTA 4RT 260 has been available in the United States, but until now only a limited number of these trials bikes have been available to American riders. Thankfully Honda America is changing that though, officially announcing the 2015 Honda COTA 4RT 260 & 2015 Honda COTA 4RT 260 Race Replica for the US market. Essentially rebadged Montesa machines that come from Honda’s partnership with the Spanish marque, Honda’s COTA 4RT 260 models represent Big Red’s attempt to offer a competition-grade trials bike (2015 Honda COTA 4RT 260 Race Replica, shown above) as well as an entry-level trials bike (2015 Honda COTA 4RT 260) to American motorcyclists.