It is the end of the week, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the weekend than to ogle some ultra high-resolution photos of the KTM RC 8C.
Zie Austrians uploaded these to their media site well after the fanfare of the track-only bike had settled, so I don’t think they have really been seen until now – the fact it sold out in less than 5 minutes probably didn’t help that fact either.
On the KTM social media channels today, the Austrian brand has let slip that it plans on making a limited edition run of “Moto2” track bikes, for a select number of riders worldwide.
As such, Only 100 units will be made worldwide, according to the video, which is certainly an exclusive number.
Episode 46 of the Brap Talk motorcycle podcast is back with another weekly episode, for your two-wheeled listening pleasure.
In this episode, we took a little break from talking about the news that has happened in the motorcycle industry, and tried our hand at breaking some stories.
Continuing our live chat video series on YouTube with members of the motorcycle industry, on Monday, June 15th at 5pm PDT / 8pm EDT, Asphalt & Rubber will be sitting down with Joe Karvonen, of Kramer Motorcycles USA
As usual for our live chats, I will of course have some questions of my own for Joe, but we want to make the show interactive, so we will be taking questions from the audience as well.
Episode 21 of the Brap Talk podcast is now out for your two-wheeled audio pleasure, and it is packed with some interesting motorcycle discussions.
The show starts with some catching up on Jensen’s racing season, which ended with a five-hour endurance race in Minnesota with Kramer Motorcycles and colleagues Rennie Scaysbrook (Cycle News) and Troy Siahaan (Motorcycle.com). Joined by local fast guy Kris Skellenger, the foursome won the GP2 class in the CRA endurance race, and finished 5th overall.
For those that haven’t been keeping track on Asphalt & Rubber, the Brap Talk podcast, and on social media, we are spending more than a little bit of time at the track this year, racing with the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association (OMRRA) to chronicle what it means to become an amateur racer.
I have already outlined my reasons for wanting to go racing, but I wanted to spend the next two article mentioning what I am racing with, both in terms of machinery and gear. First up is an introduction to our racing platform, which for this season is a Kramer HRK Evo2 S.
We have already talked about Kramer’s ready-to-race single-cylinder motorcycles, and in fact our race bike for this series is the same bike featured in that article’s story.
Previously a demo bike for Kramer in the Pacific Northwest, this “S” model machine found its home in my garage, and as you can see from the photo above, it has been on quite the journey since.
Over the course of this year, we are going to bring you a number of motorcycle stories that focus on the experience of going motorcycle racing at the amateur level. We call the series “Gone Racing”, and if you have been following us on Instagram or listening to the Brap Talk podcast then you have likely already been privy to some of the preparation for these features.
The concept is pretty simple, yours truly will be competing here in Portland with the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association (OMRRA) – as a true blue novice – using a Kramer HKR EVO2 as a racing and testing platform.
The goal of the series is to give a glimpse into what it is like to go from a track day rider to novice racer, and to use that experience as a springboard to explore various topics, like getting a race license, what gear to use, setting up a bike for racing, preparing as a rider, and so forth.
For our A&R Pro readers, we will also have some stories that take a deep dive on various technical topics, like the number of fuels available to racers (aka the cost-benefit analysis of MR12), how to read your tires (aka the dark art of the black round things), and the real difference between braking components (aka why does the Brembo GP4-RR cost as much a decent track bike?).
We are very excited today to introduce to you our newest audio production, the Brap Talk Podcast.
Hosted by yours truly Jensen Beeler and Shahin Alvandi, the Brap Talk Podcast picks up where the Two Enthusiasts Podcast leaves off, as that show will not be continuing.
As such, the concept is simple and straight-forward: two friends sitting on a couch, talking about motorcycles.
Kramer Motorcycles is ready to make its sequel to the potent single-cylinder Kramer HKR EVO2 track bike, and again the German manufacturer has tapped a unique KTM engine to power this next edition race-focused motorcycle.
Debuting today at the Barber Vintage Festival, the Kramer GP2 prototype has broken cover, and it features the 790cc parallel-twin engine from the KTM 790 Duke. The Germans plan to develop the bike over the next 12 months, with an eye on providing a potent twin for those who are racing inclined.
Episode 77 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is out, and in it we talk about our trip to Austin, Texas for the MotoGP race, as well as some news items we’ve missed in all our travels.
Most notably, we talk about the Krämer HKR EVO2 R track/race bike from Germany, which uses a 690cc single-cylinder engine from KTM inside a bespoke steel trellis frame.
The bike makes 80hp, inside a 280 lbs package, and has been quite the talk of our local road racing club. Once the drool has been mopped up, we change gears at look at what is going on inside the motorcycle industry.
As you can expect, it is not good news. But, the landscape is rapidly changing, and our conversation turns to how manufacturing is about to change dramatically for the motorcycle industry.
Somewhere along the way too, we talk about Erik Buell’s latest project. Overall though, the show is quite interesting and we think you will enjoy it.
You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well.
We hope you will join the conversation, and leave us some audio comments at our new email address: twoenthusiasts@gmail.com.