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Daytona 200 Lives on with ASRA Sanctioning

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Now that the Daytona Motorsports Group is no longer in control of AMA Pro Road Racing, intrigue has surrounded DMG’s home race, the Daytona 200. An event that usually kicks off the motorcycle racing season in March, the Daytona 200 has been an outlier with its early schedule, endurance format, and technical challenges.

The race always seemed forced upon the AMA schedule, and it required teams who wanted to be competitive to run different equipment and tires than what they were using for the rest of the season.

The limitations on tires ultimately meant that the Superbikes, the premier road racing class, could not compete in 200 mile race, leaving the event for the aptly named Daytona SportBike category, which was a mix of middleweight machines.

With The KRAVE Group now in charge of professional motorcycle road racing in the United States, with its MotoAmerica series, there is little desire to continue the oddity that is Daytona. That hasn’t stopped DMG though from putting on the historic event, which will have its 74th running of the Daytona 200 on March 14, 2015.

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Bikes

Suzuki V-Strom 1000 Desert Edition – So Much Khaki

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If you like the Suzuki V-Strom 1000, but have been holding back because they don’t make one in a desert beige, then today we have good news for you.

Released at the Motorcycle Live show in the UK, the 2015 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 Desert Edition is what you might imagine from the name: a khaki-colored ADV bike that looks equally sharp paired with a navy blue blazer or with one of The Desert Fox’s classic pincer movement maneuvers.

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Racing

2015 Dakar Rally Details Revealed

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The route for the 2015 Dakar Rally has been confirmed, and details have been dropped on what could be the most grueling motorcycle event on Earth. The 14 day, 13 stage Dakar will take competitors through Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and back to Argentina again, making for roughly 9,000 kilometers of terrain to navigate.

The 68 motorcycle competitors will have the added challenge of two marathon stages — stages where only the riders can work on their bikes, and can receive no help from their support crews.

Marc Coma is a heavy favorite for the 2015 edition, especially with rival Cyril Despres making the career switch to race on four wheels with Peugoet. However Coma can expect strong competition from his teammate Ruben Faria, not to mention from the likes of Joan Barreda on his Honda, and Olivier Pain on the Yamaha.

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Bikes

Up-Close with the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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With the track-only Kawasaki Ninja H2R putting out 300hp from its supercharged 998cc displacement, the 200hp Kawasaki Nina H2 street bike seems positively demure, by comparison.

Of course, any 200hp machine is more than a handful, and we doubt many H2 owners will keep their machines street legal for very long — it’s been explained to A&R that it doesn’t take much work to uncork the H2…we’re just not sure if that’s a good or bad thing though.

Ostentatious might be the best way to describe the new H2. Bringing back forced induction to the sport bike scene is a pretty bold move from Kawasaki, and something we will likely see more of from the Japanese manufacturers. The styling of the H2R was certainly…eye-catching…with all the winglets and dramatic lines, the H2 street bike is only slightly watered-down from that lurid design.

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Bikes

Up-Close with the 2015 Ducati Multistrada 1200

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If there’s a motorcycle that launched at EICMA that I wish we had given more coverage to, it would be the 2015 Ducati Multistrada 1200. The new adventure-sport machine from Ducati is all-new for the next model year, though it would be hard to tell it from the photos. Even our modest collection of “up-close” photos here don’t do justice to the venerable Multistrada.

The face of the Multistrada 1200 has been reworked, with the “beak” softened a bit from its falcon-like profile. The intake inlets are larger in appearance, and the headlight housing is noticeably different with its six LED projectors for the Ducati Corner Lights system  (on the “S” model).

This perhaps makes for an interesting “face” on the motorcycle, and like its predecessor, you will either love it or hate it.

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MotoGP

Marco Melandri Returns to MotoGP, with Aprilia

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After finishing fifth in the 2014 World Superbike Championship with Aprilia, Marco Melandri will continue with the Italian manufacturer, but switch to the MotoGP paddock for next season.

Melandri will join Alvaro Bautista in the Aprilia Racing garage, where they will compete on an updated version of the ART machine, which was originally built to compete under the CRT bike rules.

The team, now operated by Gresini Racing, will come up to speed during the 2015 season, and in 2016 they will race with a brand new race bike, which will use the compulsory “open” spec-electronics from Magneti Marelli.

For Melandri, the move to MotoGP is a bit of gamble, with Aprilia’s program uncertain. But with the Italian brand pulling resources from its WSBK project for its one in Grand Prix racing, the writing has been on the wall regarding which series would take priority.

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WSBK

World Superbikes Coming to Thailand in 2015

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Motorcycle racing is expanding further into Asia. The World Superbike series has agreed a three-year deal with the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand to stage a round of WSBK at the track.

The track at Buriram was completed earlier this year, and had already staged several rounds of car racing, as well as a round of the FIM Asia Road Racing championship.

After an inspection by Dorna and the FIM, the track was homologated earlier this year, and will now see a visit from World Superbikes. The WSBK round is seen by Dorna as a test for MotoGP, with a chance of the premier class visiting the circuit from 2016 onwards.

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Bikes

2015 Triumph Tiger 800 XCx — Another Flavor of ADV

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Triumph’s other “x” bike at the EICMA show, the 2015 Triumph Tiger 800 XCx is like the Tiger 800 XRx, with more features and refinements than the base Tiger 800 XC.

The biggest additions are an ajustable traction control system, three riding modes, adjustable ABS, and cruise control, all as standard on the off-road slanting ADV bike.

No word yet on pricing from Triumph for North America, but we do know that both the Tiger 800 XCx and the Tiger 800 XRx will be coming to the USA.

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Bikes

Husqvarna 401 Svartpilen Concept

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The second of Husqvarna’s street concepts, the Husqvarna 401 Svartpilen is a scrambler styled machine that uses the same 373cc single-cylinder engine as the Vitpilen concept. Swedish for “Black Arrow”, the Svartpilen continues the idea that less is more, and applies the concept to a more off-road motif.

Not all the dissimilar to the Moab and Baja concepts the Husqvarna showed before its acquisition by KTM, clearly the Swedish brand is keen to tap into its lost history of Steve McQueen and the scrambler motif. Perhaps Ducati’s foray into this space is added motivation, but the Husqvarna 401 Svartpilen concept is a bike unique to itself.

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Bikes

2016 Husqvarna 701 Supermoto – 690cc of Street Hooligan

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We perhaps over-thought Husqvarna’s first proper street bike announcement, as the firm has debuted the Husqvarna 701 supermoto at the EICMA show today.

Refining its 701 concept from last year’s show, the 2015 Husqvarna 701 is a 690cc supermoto, that continues to borrow from KTM’s common parts bin.

Already with a race-ready 450cc supermoto in its arsenal, the Husqvarna 701 adds another more street-oriented motorcycle to the Swedish brand’s dirt-heavy 2015 lineup.

Putting down 67hp through the big four-stroke thumper, the Husqvarna 701 supermoto tips the scales at 320 lbs (145kg), and comes with an APTC slipper clutch, ABS brakes, WP suspension, and ride-by-wire with different riding modes.

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