If you watched the Japanese GP this weekend, then you have already seen that the ECSTAR Suzuki MotoGP team has updated its aerodynamic package for the season, adding a more radical design to the Suzuki GSX-RR, in the pursuit of better lap times. The new aeros take some visual inspiration from what we have already seen from Ducati Corse, adding a complex shape that mimics a winglet design, while staying within the letter of the law of MotoGP’s current winglet ban. Unlike some of the designs that we have seen, namely the ones from Honda and Ducati, Suzuki’s doesn’t appear to have the capacity for modular changes – that is to say, the aerodynamic package doesn’t appear to be adjustable for different conditions.
Two years ago, Yamaha set out on an ambitious adventure: to create a motorcycle riding robot that can ride a motorcycle as fast as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time, Valentino Rossi. Besides being a solid PR stunt, the development of Motobot brings with it some seriously powerful technology and insights into one of motorcycling’s great mysteries: rider dynamics. With a machine the is capable of replicating human inputs on real-world motorcycles, Yamaha can improve its breed, both on the street, but also on the race track. Now, the Japanese firm (with help from its Californian subsidiary) is just about ready to show us the results of its head-to-head matchup between Motobot and Valentino Rossi, but first it wants you to guess the results.
Yamaha has a bevy of tech that it plans on displaying at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month, and one of the more intriguing world premieres is the Yamaha MOTOROiD concept. A futuristic take on the motorcycling condition, Yamaha’s MOTOROiD seems to be part motorcycle and part pet dog, with the two-wheeler able to recognize its owner and interact with them, like a living creature. This is because the Japanese brand boasts that it will use artificial intelligence to bring people new experience of “Kando” – the Japanese word for the simultaneous feelings of deep satisfaction and intense excitement that we experience when we encounter something of exceptional value. The concept is certainly an interesting take on how humans interact with their motorcycles.
For the 2018 model year, Aprilia is updating two long-time members of its lineup, creating in the process the Dorsoduro 900 and Shiver 900 motorcycles. Today we will focus on what it is like to ride the Shiver 900, though many of our thoughts about this updated roadster are similar to those we published about the Dorsoduro 900 yesterday – you can read those here. While previous iterations of the Aprilia Shiver 750 were fairly forgettable, the overhaul that has been given to the Aprilia Shiver 900 makes the peppy roadster one worth considering. Dare we say, it surprised us. The engine is of course revised, and is now Euro4 compliant, but Aprilia has added a more robust electronics suite, as well as new hardware pieces and chassis updates.
It is tough work reviewing two motorcycles in one day, but that is exactly what we did this past week in Ventura, California – as Aprilia USA had us riding the new Dorsoduro 900 and Shiver 900 motorcycles. Coming to the United States for the 2018 model year, the Aprilia Dorsoduro 900 gets a much-needed update for its tenth birthday, with Aprilia overhauling the affordable maxi-motard with some needed upgrades and modern touches. In addition to a revised and bigger engine, which is now Euro4 compliant, the Aprilia Dorsoduro 900 gets a modest electronics suite added to it, as well as new hardware. The overall design of the bike hasn’t changed much, which is perhaps a good thing, as the Dorsoduro has always been a visually appealing motorcycle.
Outside of an exploratory time in college, I will admit to a certain amount of naiveté when it comes to women’s makeup, but I do know a few things about motorcycle racing, and a little bit more about the motorcycle industry as a whole, which is why today’s news is a pretty big deal. Motorcycle racer and motorcycle school instructor Shelina Moreda has been named the newest CoverGirl, as the American cosmetic brand is looking to broaden its reach with women, which in turn also helps the motorcycle industry broaden its reach with women. Moreda is known best for racing in the MotoAmerica paddock, along with stints abroad, racing in China, Japan, Qatar, and Spain.
The electric motorcycle lineup from Alta Motors quietly grew larger today, with the San Francisco startup adding an electric enduro model to its range. As such, say hello to the 2018 Alta Motors Redshift EX. The bike is pretty straightforward, as it takes the motocross-focused Redshift MX, makes some chassis changes and adds a license plate, so you can go shredding off-road and on-road alike. To the finer details, the chassis changes include an 18″ rear wheel, narrower rake and larger offset, a WP rear shock with a custom reservoir, a smaller rear brake, and Metzeler 6 Days Extreme tires. All of this adds up to a 275 lbs electric motorcycle (which is kind of a thing right now) with 40hp at the rear wheel, and 120 lbs•ft of torque at the countershaft sprocket.
Could we see the return of Ben Spies to motorcycle racing? That’s the talk of the paddock right now, and the former MotoGP racer is helping fuel the fires with his social media posts. Our sources point to Spies gearing up for a return to domestic racing, as he looks to ride in the MotoAmerica Championship (presumably on a superbike), and possibly also as a team owner as well, fielding his own entry. This should come as a surprising but welcomed bit of news to motorcycle racing fans, as the 33-year-old seemingly retired from motorcycle racing after the 2013 MotoGP Championship season, after extensive damage to his shoulders seemed to rule him out of a future of racing motorcycles.
Reports out of Italy are confirming the news that Ducati will remain as a part of the Volkswagen Group, with the German company ceasing its pursuits of divesting the Italian motorcycle company from its ranks. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone following Ducati’s business situation, as reports of the divestiture stalling out were circulating this time last month. The news seems to come with a bonus, with Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali reportedly confirming the news internally (other reports quote Audi CEO Rupert Stadler doing the same as well). With that, Evercore Partners – the investment bank that was hired to solicit bids on Ducati Motor Holding – will stop pursuing brands that may want to see Ducati within their corporate holdings.
I like this rumor. I like what this rumor says. And, I like that this rumor doesn’t seem to go away. The scuttlebutt of the motorcycle industry right now is suggesting that the street-shredding Kawasaki Ninja H2 might be joined by a sport-touring variant. This Kawasaki Ninja H2 GT – as some are calling it – takes the potent supercharged liter-bike, and makes it a little bit better suited for long-distance riding…well, as better suited to touring that a 200hp+ fire-breathing motorcycle can be. It remains to be seen how Kawasaki plans to expand its supercharger lineup of motorcycles: whether these rumored new machines will vary slightly in form-factor to accommodate different kinds of riding (using the current H2 as a platform for new models), or if Kawasaki will debut an all-new chassis design for these rumored motorcycles.
Documents filed with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) show that no changes will be coming for the 2018 BMW S1000RR, with the emission levels for the popular superbike shown to be the same as those for the 2017 model.
This means that it is unlikely that we will see a new S1000RR model debut at EICMA later this year, despite seeing spy photos of a restyled S1000RR a month ago.
Hello and welcome to Asphalt & Rubber’s 2017 Superbike Deathmatch – our take on the motorcycle media’s superbike shootout review format, and the solitary path for a motorcycle to become A&R’s Superbike of 2017. Booyah!
What makes the Superbike Deathmatch different from other shootouts, you might ask? Well for starters, instead of renting a track out for a day, and spending only a limited amount of time on the plethora of machines available, we decided instead to take a lesson from college basketball’s very own March Madness.
That’s right, we are using a single-elimination head-to-head bracket system to find out which superbike is the best of the best, and thus worthy of being our Superbike of 2017. Think of it like a two-wheeled Thunderdome: two bikes enter, one bike leaves.
At eight years old, the BMW S1000RR has aged remarkably well, due in part to a healthy update for the 2015 model year.
But, when compared to the cutting edge bikes in the market right now, the venerable “RR” does seem to be lacking some modern touches, so it shouldn’t surprise us to see the German brand updating its machine for the 2018 model year.
Caught testing by the busy lenses at Motorrad Magazine, the 2018 BMW S1000RR appears to be an all-new motorcycle, with several noticeable changes to the chassis, and rumored changes to its four-cylinder engine.
BMW Motorrad is recalling a combined 21 units of its 2017 BMW S1000R and 2016-2017 BMW S1000RR motorcycles because of a rear suspension bolt that may become loose. According to BMW’s NHTSA filings, more specifically the recall affects one S1000R unit and twenty S1000RR units.
The bolt is part of what BMW calls the rear suspension deflection lever, and when it loosens it may adversely affect the handling of the motorcycle.
If you are like us, you can’t get enough of the BMW HP4 Race, which debuted today in Milan, at the 2016 EICMA trade show. Featuring a carbon fiber frame, carbon fiber wheels, and carbon fiber bodywork, not to mention a bevy of premium-spec components, the BMW HP4 Race is the track bike of your wet dreams.
BMW Motorrad plans on making the HP4 Race a production model too, with an expected release date somewhere in the second-half of 2017. Quantities will be limited, and each BMW HP4 Race will be hand-built. So basically, we are telling you that the price tag will be not be cheap.
So for many of us, photos are as close as we are going to get to this supreme beauty. Luckily, we have some ridiculously large photos for you to drool over. Enjoy!
We already had a pretty good idea what to expect from BMW Motorrad at the 2016 EIMCA show, but it is good to see that the Germans can still surprise us – and what a surprise it was, indeed.
Sort of a “one more thing” moment in Milan, the BMW HP4 Race was teased to the assembled EICMA press – giving us a look at their ultra-premium version of the BMW S1000RR Superbike, and it drips in carbon fiber.
Of course what really sets the BMW HP4 Race apart is the fact that it uses a twin-spar carbon fiber frame, making it, and the recently debuted Ducati 1299 Superleggera, the only production motorcycles with such a feature.
Details beyond what we can see are very scarce from BMW Motorrad, though we do know that we can expect the BMW HP4 Race to debut in the second-half of 2017. The name suggests that the bike might not be homologated for street use, but time will have to tell on that.
BMW Motorrad has tallied the sales results for the first half of 2016, and the German manufacturer is on track for another record sales year. BMW says that over 80,000 motorcycles have been sold in the first six months of this year, which is itself a record for the marque.
To be precise, 80,754 BMW motorcycles were sold so far in 2016, a 3% increase over this time last year. Unsurprisingly, Germany remains the strongest market for BMW Motorrad, with 13,792 units sold thus far this year (17% of BMW’s total production).
However, BMW Motorrad saw strong results as well in Spain (+22.6%), Italy (+6.9%) and France (+5.6%). BMW Motorrad also leads the 500cc+ market in Spain, Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa.
To say that Michael Dunlop rode to an impressive win on Friday’s Senior TT, might be an understatement. While winning the Senior TT is his second TT race win for the 2016 Isle of Man TT, Dunlop’s true accomplishment can be found on the time sheets, with his record-breaking pace.
A fortnight of records dropping, this year’s Senior TT was no different, and Dunlop set not only the fastest lap of the Senior TT race, but also the fastest lap of any Senior TT race ever held at the Isle of Man TT: 133.962 mph.
This mark is also the fastest lap ever recorded during an Isle of Man TT race, and is the fastest outright lap ever at the Isle of Man TT. In other words, this is the new mark that all other riders will aspire to surpass in the coming years.
The Senior TT is the blue ribbon event at the Isle of Man TT – it’s the race that every rider wants to win. Don’t let the name fool you, the Senior TT isn’t for riders that are over the hill; in fact, it is the most hard-fought class at the Isle of Man.
Most of the machines on the Senior TT grid are the same as those found in the Superbike TT, but in years passed we have seen specialty bikes built just for the class’s looser set of rules. The last race of the Isle of Man TT fortnight, the Senior TT ends things with a supreme spectacle.
For 2016 though, riders and fans would have to wait a considerable amount of time before the Senior TT would kick off, with the the fog and mist delaying the day’s start considerably. Thankfully the weather gods eventually gave way, and racing commenced. And it was good.
If you have been following our Isle of Man TT coverage, then you already know that Michael Dunlop was the first rider to break the 133 mph lap barrier, the first rider to do a sub-17-minute lap time, and the outright fastest man ever around the Snaefell Mountain Course.
Mickey D would go on to win the Superbike TT race as well, setting a good tone to his Isle of Man TT race week.
Thanks to the miracle of on-board video technology, and the media-friendly forward-thinkers at the TT press office, we can bring you Michael Dunlop’s full record-setting lap.
If you have an extra 16 minutes and 58.254 seconds in your day, we suggest grabbing a beverage, cranking up the volume, and experiencing two-wheeled nirvana. Enjoy!
