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IOMTT: Royal London 360 Superstock TT Race Results

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Motorcycle road racing resumed on Tuesday, after the weather gave an early end to Monday’s events, and accordingly riders geared up their more street-going machines for the Superstock TT race.

A perfect day for racing, things got off to a rocky start, as a accident on the course (before the roads were closed to traffic) caused a delay to the Superstock start.

That news would be a bad omen, as the fatal crash of Karl Harris during the race halted the rest of the day’s events, leaving the Superstock TT as the sole spectacle for Tuesday.

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Racing

IOMTT: Dainese Superbike TT Race Results

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The late evening practice sessions have finally given way to the mid-day races at the Isle of Man, and that means that the 2014 Isle of Man TT has started in earnest. As always, the Dainese Superbike TT was the opening event, which is just the perfect way to start the TT…with the big toys on the Mountain Course, right?

This year’s event brings all sorts of questions. Will Michael Dunlop continue the domination he began back in 2013? Or will John McGuinness reclaim his crown, and make further progress into besting Joey Dunlop’s outright TT race win record? How about fan favorite Guy Martin, and his hunt for his first Isle of Man TT race win? Thankfully, some of those answers can begin to come forthwith.

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Recall

Another Recall for the 2013 BMW R1200GS

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After an a recall early in 2013, involving high oil pressure levels in the transmissions of certain 2013 BMW R1200GS models, BMW was forced to install an oil restrictor to reduce oil pressure at the transmission output.

At the time, BMW was concerned about the high oil pressures in the transmission causing the rear sealing ring to come unseated and leak oil onto the rear tire.

After plugging that leak before any of the bikes managed to reach dealers, and despite installing the oil restrictor, the issue has resurfaced, this time leading to a non-serious accident in Italy, in March of this year.

After engineering analyses were completed last month, BMW determined that the oil restrictor was not sufficient enough to keep oil pressure levels in the transmission from pushing the sealing ring out of place and keeping oil off the rear tire.

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Bikes

BMW Concept Roadster – Nom de Dieu!

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For a foreign language in school, I took French — nine years of French, to be precise. Knowing the “Language of Diplomacy” doesn’t help one too much in the motorcycle industry, which is dominated by Spanish and Italian speakers, and it certainly doesn’t help one when dealing with the newest release from BMW Motorrad.

Like the Alsace-Lorraine in 1940, we were surprised today by a secret that the Germans had been keeping from us, the BMW Concept Roadster. A boxer-twin powered streetfighter (125hp / 92 lbs•ft), BMW says that the Concept Roadster is an expression that “motorcycling is much more than just perfect function.”

Equipped with a single-sided swingarm, driveshaft, LED headlight, and tubular steel frame, the BMW Concept Roadster sounds on paper a lot like the BMW’s we are used to, but one look at the styling of the concept betrays that thought, and we like that.

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News

Small-Displacement BMW Motorcycles Debuting in 2015

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I had to check the date on when we last talked about BMW and TVS partnering up to build small-displacement motorcycles together, and it looks like it was almost exactly a year ago. In that timeframe, the two companies have been quietly working, but rumors have started to heat-up as to when we could see a sub-500cc BMW motorcycle.

A cynic’s response might be that BMW doesn’t want to be perceived as late to the small-displacement party, especially since its sub-500cc machines won’t be ready until Q3/Q4 of 2015.

With Honda, Kawasaki, and KTM already debuting their 250cc & 300cc  models, and Yamaha & Triumph set to debut 250cc machines shortly, it seems the only manufacturer without a small-displacement offering either available or in the works is Ducati.

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News

BMW Developing OLED Lighting Technology

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As one of the leaders in today’s automotive and motorcycle advancements, BMW is again pushing the envelope of technology and blurring the lines between science fiction and reality.

The German manufacturer prides itself on state of the art safety features on both cars and motorcycles, most notably the introduction of ABS for motorcycles in 1988 and their semi-active chassis which was released in 2012.

More notably are BMW’s recent updates  in motorcycle lighting technology which include BMW’s adaptive headlight technology for the 2010 BMW K1600GT and GTL models, which uses ride height and pitch sensors to automatically level the headlight.

Also, the 2012 BMW R1200GS which was the first motorcycle to feature an LED main headlight with integrated daytime running light.

For 2014, BMW has announced the introduction of Organic LEDs (OLED) which are claimed to be a vast improvement over the inorganic LED lighting that is currently being used.

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Bikes

BMW S1000F Spotted in the Wild

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Just last month we brought you news about BMW Motorrad working on a possible sport-tourer that was based off the company’s BMW S1000RR superbike. Well today we get confirmation of that machine, with the BMW S1000F being caught in the wild, panniers and all.

The S1000RR’s motor and exhaust are clearly visible in this side profile picture, as are the mounting points for side bags and a top box. With the S1000F sporting noticeably taller suspension than its sport bike sibling, one has to wonder if BMW isn’t trying to make another adventure-touring model, one that could compete against the Ducati Multistrada 1200 in sportiness.

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Racing

Michael Dunlop and BMW Talk About Racing in 2014

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Michael Dunlop’s shock announcement that he will be racing with a factory-backed BMW for the 2014 Isle of Man TT is still percolating through the road racing paddock.

It was only in November of 2013 that the Irishman announced that he was likely to sit out the 2014 season, after failing to come to an agreement with the factory Honda squad, the Honda TT Legends.

Winning four solo-races in the 2013 Isle of Man TT, Dunlop solidified himself as being the man to watch in 2014, and perhaps the racer with the best chance of challenging John McGuinness on race day.

With Honda keen to see McPint break Joey Dunlop’s record of 26 TT race wins (McGuinness has 20 thus far), the backstory for Dunlop seems fairly obvious to guess.

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Rumors

Is BMW Working on an S1000RR Based Sport-Tourer?

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Rumors out of Germany say that BMW Motorrad is working on a new variations of its “S” platform, which would see the S1000RR used as a base for a Multistrada-esque four-bikes-in-one type of machine.

According to the well-informed folks at Motorrad magazine, the new BMW model could be seen at this year’s trade shows (we would expect an INTERMOT debut, over an EICMA premiere), and would feature dynamic damping control, ride-by-wire throttle maps, ABS, and traction control.

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Racing

Confirmed: Michael Dunlop Signs with BMW for IOMTT

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Officially official now, and despite his previous denial of the news, Michael Dunlop will be riding in the 2014 Isle of Man TT, and on a factory-backed BMW, no less.

A seven-time TT race winner, Dunlop’s star rose considerably higher in last year’s Isle of Man TT, and his absence from the 2014 gathering seemed unconscionable.

Thankfully TT fans will get to watch the nephew of Joey race again around the Mountain Course, as well as at other road racing events this year after all.

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