For the 2022 model year, the Honda Africa Twin 1100 family isn’t getting too many updates, save for one that might turn a few heads – Honda is updating the settings on its dual-clutch transmission.
According to Honda’s release, both the Africa Twin and Africa Twin Adventure Sport with the DCT will see “refined” settings on the ECU, which Big Red says will bring smoother handling in the first two gears when starting and at low speeds.
The wait is finally, finally over. The third generation Suzuki Hayabusa is now out in the wild, officially, and that means we can talk about every detail of this iconic hyperbike. Don’t worry, it will be a short conversation.
Despite calling it an “all new” motorcycle (Suzuki claims over 500 parts have been changed), there are only a handful of items that are truly new about the 2022 Suzuki Hayabusa.
The chassis is very much the same, with a few tweaks here and there, and the 1,340cc inline-four engine gets an update to make it compatible with emission standards around the world, but it is still certainly a refresh of the current design.
We should say, there is a full suite of electronics to get excited about, and as you can tell from the photo above, Suzuki have given the Hayabusa a serious makeover, with the help of the company’s wind tunnel and CFD work. So, let’s get on with it.
Just two weeks ago, we were rounding up the rumors on the next Honda CBR600RR, with talk that the 600cc supersport would be making an August arrival, and sadly not be an all-new machine.
Those rumors seem to be spon-on, because Big Red is now teasing the 2021 Honda CBR600RR on its Japanese website as well as YouTube. As such, we now expect to see the new Honda CBR600RR debut on August 21st.
Episode 149 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one is a special show that dives into everything you ever wanted to know (and more) about electronics and data as it pertains to motorcycle racing.
As such, this episode sees David Emmett hosting a special guest on the show, data engineer Peter Bom, who is a former crew chief and data recording engineer for the Moto2, Moto3, and WorldSBK classes, as well as an analyst and commentator for Dutch Eurosport
Admittedly, we had some technical difficulties with the recording, so it might be a bit rougher than you would normally expect from the Paddock Pass Podcast, but what Peter has to say is incredibly insightful and interesting, and certainly well worth the effort.
Six races into the season gives everyone a chance to size up where the riders, and more importantly, the manufacturers all stand.
Teams have had a few races to analyze and optimize the setup of the 2019 bikes, plus a test at Jerez to find upgrades and solutions to problems which only emerge during race.
Mugello is the third European race, meaning the paddock is back at tracks that they know like the back of their hand. There may still be a long way to go until the title is settled, but the shape of the championship is starting to shake out.
That leads to frustration for the riders who feel their manufacturers are not making progress. At Mugello, the frustration felt by factory Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro boiled over into outright criticism of the Italian factory over the lack of progress being made.
The Grand Prix Commission is to tighten the noose on electronics a little further, in an attempt to prevent cheating. The GPC today issued a press release containing the minutes of their meeting held at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.
There, they agreed restrictions on the ECU, agreed to limit riders in all classes to FIM homologated helmets, and increased the penalty for speeding in pit lane.
The two changes to the electronics are aimed at restricting the ability of teams to alter the data on the official ECU.
While it’s not the completely new superbike that was rumored extensively this year (see you in 2020?), updates have come to the 2019 Honda CBR1000RR, which make smart changes to the Japanese superbike.
The EICMA show waits for no motorcyclist, and we love us some superbikes, so let’s just get right down to it.
Sometimes, it seems like motorcycle manufacturers are intentionally tanking the supersport segment. For proof of this, I look at the electronics available, on this supposedly cutting-edge segment.
Something as ubiquitous as traction control is still slow to come to the supersport space, while it remains a standard feature on virtually every new street bike model. The concept is so foreign in this segment that less than half of the available supersports on the market have a traction control option.
One of those brands is MV Agusta, which was the first motorcycle marque to bring TC to the supersport class. Now, the Italian brand is ready to raise the bar another notch further, bringing the power of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to supersport riders.
Heads up GP fans, as the MotoGP Championship is set to close two crucial loopholes in its rulebook for the 2019 season, which the Grand Prix Commission says in its press release are needed in order to keep the sport within the spirit of the rules.
The first loophole blandly affects the spec-ECU and its CAN protocol and connection, which is fairly innocuous until you read between the lines of it, while the second concerns the regulation of aerodynamic bodywork, which should be more obvious to regular MotoGP fans.
Recall news from Suzuki Motor of America, as Suzuki is recalling certain 2017-2018 Suzuki GSX-R1000 motorcycles, for an issue with its electronics and drivetrain. This problem affects roughly 3,100 motorcycles.
According to recall documents, the chain on the GSX-R1000 may break when upshifting between first and second gear. This occurs if the rider fails to engage second gear, and a neutral condition gets created, which may cause very high engine RPM.
If the rider then shifts into second gear, without disengaging the clutch, the motorcycle’s chain may stretch or break, which is an obvious safety hazard.
I was a bit surprised when Ducati announced pricing on the new Panigale V4 model.
I knew the Italian brand would command a premium for the latest edition of its flagship model, but what took me aback was how high the price had climbed ($21,195) in one swoop, even though prices on the Ducati 1299 Panigale have steadily been creeping upward over the past few years.
Part of the blame is surely comes down to simple currency conversion between the euro and dollar, which has also been climbing steadily in the past year (after a sudden and sustained drop for the past three) and is now nearly at its year-long high.
When it comes to the US market though, currency fluctuations are only part of the puzzle when it comes to understanding the pricing programs put together by motorcycle manufacturers.
Motorcycle manufacturers subsidize (and inflate) their prices for the US market, based on the goals of the company, and Ducati is no different.
For European manufacturers too, it is important to understand a fundamental difference in economics: that pricing in Europe reflects a value-added tax (VAT), which is typically close to 20% for motorcycles – an inflation of consumer cost that doesn’t occur in the United States.
That being said, in the same breath I should mention that sometimes tariffs come into play for the US market…but that’s a whole different story. For now, let’s stick to how Ducati superbike prices have climbed over $6,000 in just over 10 years’ time.