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2016 Dakar Rally – Stage 1: Canceled

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The 2016 Dakar Rally is off to a poor start, as the first stage of the event had to be canceled today, on account of the weather. While yesterday’s prologue in Rosario was under 104°F sun, lightning storms prevailed in South America today, along with heavy rain.

The intensity of the rainfall saw the river crossings swell in size, while the heavy wind and rain meant that the safety helicopters couldn’t safely operate. As such, the ASO had no choice but to scrub today’s stage, citing safety concerns for the competitors.

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Dirt

Paddock Pass Podcast – Episode 13 – Superprestigio

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Just because it’s the off-season, doesn’t mean that the Paddock Pass Podcast has a dearth of topics to cover. As such, Episode 13 comes to you from Barcelona, where the guys were on-hand for the third meeting of the Superprestigio event.

This special race, hosted by Marc Marquez, once again showed some close racing from riders across a variety of disciplines and nationalities. If you happened to miss the Superfinal, or your live feed died on you mid-race, you can watch/re-watch it on FansChoive.tv now.

In addition to all the happenings in Spain, the crew also wraps-up some updates from the MotoGP and Moto2 paddocks, namely the progress of KTM’s factory MotoGP team and the departure of Suter Racing from the Moto2 series.

If you notice a new voice on the show, it’s because Steve English is back on the mics with us. We are very happy to have Steve working with us again, and we think his exceptional insights will be enjoyed by all racing enthusiasts.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the show on iTunes and SoundCloud – we even have an RSS feed for you. If you like the show, we would really appreciate you giving it a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

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Bikes

Alta Motors Makes First Redshift Customer Delivery

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It has been a long time coming for Alta Motors (the electric motorcycle company formerly known as BRD) to bring its electric motorcycles to market, but that day has finally arrived.

Alta Motors has delivered its first motorcycle to a customer yesterday, with Eric Gauthier and Jeannine Smith of Suspension Performance taking delivery of their new Redshift MX.

“We’ve been quietly driving towards this moment for over 8 years in pursuit of creating the best motorcycles money can buy,” said Marc Fenigstein, Co-Founder and CEO of Alta Motors.

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Bikes

A KTM 1290 Super Duke R Dirt Bike?

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When it comes to inappropriate dirt bikes, we’re your guys. So, it shouldn’t surprise you then to read that we’re all about this KTM 1290 Super Duke R that’s set to compete in the 2016 Erzbergrodeo. After all, what’s not to like in a 180hp off-roader?

I’m not going to lie, I have a school boy’s crush on the KTM 1290 Super Duke R, after finally getting a chance to swing a leg over one; and there’s something that tickles me about the idea of using a square peg to fill a round hole, when it comes to motorcycles.

That all being said, Ji?í Heiník’s latest creation, the “KTM 1290 Super Enduro” tickles us just in the right way…he’s clearly our sort of crazy.

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Dirt

2015 Superprestigio Set for December 12th in Barcelona

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The Barcelona Superprestigio race is becoming a regular fixture in the winter break, and this year is no exception. The third edition of the race is due to take place on December 12th in the Palau Sant Jordi, part of Barcelona’s Olympic Ring up on the Montjuic hill which sits on southwest edge of Barcelona.

Once again, the feature will pit some of the best MotoGP riders in the world against the cream of the US flat track scene, as well as top riders from many other motorcycling disciplines.

Star of the show is once again Marc Marquez, the man who helped organize the show after hearing about previous editions of the race which had been run in the 1980s and 1990s.

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Dirt

Husqvarna Factory Rally Team Members Announced

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We already knew that Husqvarna would be entering the competitive world of rally raid racing, but now the Husqvarna Factory Racing Rally Team has finally announced its team members.

Headlining the Husqvarna team is Ruben Faria, the Portuguese rider a familiar name for anyone who has been following rally raid racing or the Dakar Rally. Faria will be joined by two-time Enduro World Champion Pierre-Alexandre Renet from France, and Dakar stage-winner Pablo Quintanilla of Chile.

The team doesn’t have long before the 2016 Dakar Rally, but Husqvarna hopes for a podium result at the iconic race. The team will campaign on the Husqvarna FR450, which we assume will closely resemble the KTM 450 Rally.

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Bikes

Wunderlich Hybrid BMW R1200GS LC with Electric 2WD

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BMW aftermarket parts specialist Wunderlich really knows how to promote itself. The German company is known for its one-off machines and concepts, some which have tipped BMW’s hand when it comes to new models. For a boutique German brand, it is impressive that it is known around the world.

So, it shouldn’t surprise us that Wunderlich is grabbing headlines once again, this time with an intriguing concept: a two-wheel drive BMW R1200GS that uses a hybrid drivetrain with an electric front-end that was developed with Italy’s electric specialist Evolt.

Wunderlich calls its creation the BMW R1200GS LC, and it features a 10 kW hub motor on its front wheel, in addition to the GS’s boxer-twin gas engine. The electric motor has regenerative braking, which helps charge its modest battery pack (located under the front beak, to our eye).

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Bikes

Triumph Debuts Six New Tiger Explorer Models

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For 2016, Triumph is revamping its Tiger Explorer offering, and like with the Tiger 800, the big adventure-touring machine gets a bevy of different variations to cater to a wider variety of riders.

The lineup is a bit of an alphabet soup, so we’ll try and break it down for you. First up, there are two basic models: the Tiger Explorer XR & Tiger Explorer XC. The XR is Triumph’s on-road ADV bike, while the XC is geared to go off-road.

Within the Triumph Tiger XR on-road line, the base XR model is the cheapest and most basic model, and the line has two higher-spec machines: the XRx & XRt. Similarly, the the Triumph Tiger XC off-road line and the XC is base model. The higher-spec off-road models are the XCx and XCa.

We asked Triumph to clarify the differences between the four higher spec models, and the six models in general, but it seems that the OEM doesn’t have that answer at their fingertips. I have no words to respond to that with.

There’s no information on the company’s website, we’ll tell you just about everything that is in the company’s press release in this article, and it seems even other publications don’t seem to have an answer – this is a first for me, in my seven years of running Asphalt & Rubber.

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Bikes

2016 Moto Guzzi V7II Stornello Scrambler

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It was 1967 when Moto Guzzi first introduced the Stornello scrambler to the US market, and now for 2016 the Stornello scrambler returns.

Using the Moto Guzzi V7II platform for this rebirth, the 48hp 2016 Moto Guzzi V7II Stornello is a fetching motorcycle with dubious off-road ability – not that the latter really matters in this all-show, no-go space.

Honestly, we can’t fault Moto Guzzi for trying, as the Italian brand seems to be gravitating towards the heritage demographic, which is currently inundated with “post-authentic” retro models, and as such the scrambler is the moto du jour in the industry – the 2015 EICMA show is proof of that.

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Bikes

2016 Benelli Leoncino Brings Back the Lion Cub

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Benelli is not a brand we usually talk about with great reverence, as the Italian company has steadily lost its luster since its acquisition by China’s Qianjiang Group.

Benelli’s motorcycles were never known for being terribly reliable, and unfortunately the artful designs that they exuded have slowly eroded away over time.

The big announcement for Benelli at the 2015 EICMA show is the new Benelli Leoncino, the “lion cub” model that’s rooted in Benelli’s post-WWII history.

This modern take on the classic Benelli Leoncino is an attractive scrambler model, which makes 47hp from its 500cc parallel-twin engine.

This also means that the Benelli Leoncino a well-suited A2 license machine in Europe, and its wire-spoked wheels are 19″ in the front and 17″ in the rear, and should make the Leoncino surprisingly adapt at light off-road use.

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Bikes

BMW R nineT Scrambler Mega Gallery

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BMW Motorrad says that the BMW R nineT Scrambler model revives a chapter in the German brand’s storybook, where BMWs of the 1960’s and 1970’s were fitted with knobby tires and high-mount exhaust, and were prominent on both road and trail.

The scrambler heritage model is a popular one nowadays, and BMW Motorrad is using one of its few remaining 110hp, 1,1700c, air-cooled engines to power the retro-styled BWM R nineT, and now the BMW R nineT Scrambler.

In an unusual move for BMW, the R nineT Scrambler features telescope forks, which are mounted right-side up. The front wheel is a cast 19″ unit stock, while the rear is 17″ hoop. Both wheels are stopped with ABS brakes that are axially mounted, and can be replaced with laced wheels.

The bike is Euro4 compliant, but we think would-be owners are going to be more concerned with the accessories packages available for the BMW R nineT Scrambler, which take the Scrambler from road bike to trail machine.

We’ve got 90 high-resolution photos of the BMW R nineT Scrambler after the jump, for your viewing pleasure.

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