The new superbikes from Honda and Suzuki have been grabbing the headlines recently, but its the updated Aprilia RSV4 RR and Aprilia RSV4 RF superbikes that we are most excited to see for 2017. The factory in Noale, Italy has been smart about consistently updating the RSV4, keeping its stout superbike package constantly relevant – the 2017 model year machines are no different. New for this year is improved suspension, brakes, and electronics (now with cornering ABS), along with Euro4 homologation, which comes without a power decrease, thanks to an extra 300 rpm from the lighter engine components. The 2017 Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 RR and Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 Factory get similar upgrades, and help to round out Aprilia’s sport bike lineup.
Changes are afoot at Yamaha Motor USA, as the company’s US President Terry Okawa announced a bevy of changes to…
Scouring through the timesheets after the second day of the MotoGP test at Phillip Island, and reading through everything the…
The ECSTAR Suzuki squad rolled on the track day with its new aerodynamics package on full display, showing how the Japanese manufacturer was going to cope with the ban on winglets on its GSX-RR race bike. Like the solutions we have seen thus far from other manufacturers, Suzuki is using vanes that are covered by an external fairing to channel the airflow and create downforce. The solution is a clever adaptation to the MotoGP rulebook, and solutions like Suzuki’s should allow for teams to to tune their aerodynamics package during the season, without running a foul of the homologated fairing rule. As my colleague David Emmett pointed out, the design should carryover to future street bikes, where we would expect the 2018 Ducati V4 superbike to be the first model to show such advances
You may remember the LEGO Technic set of the BMW R1200GS Adventure motorcycle that we featured not too long ago. Now the German automotive brand and Danish toymaker have collaborated to bring an “alternative model” to the 603-piece building block toy set. Making the R1200GS Adventure model toy now a 2-in-1 kit, the collaboration between BMW and Lego has produced a futuristic flying motorcycle called the Hover Ride Design Concept. Interestingly enough, the BMW Junior Company – a BMW Group training unit – will build a full-size replica of what this flying R1200GS could look like (complete with its boxer engine, which of course makes perfect sense).
Winglets may have been banned for 2017, but the drive for aerodynamics development continues. This time, however, winglet development will…
In case you didn’t see this last MotoGP season, you may not have heard of the shenanigans going on in the Repsol…
