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Recall: Yamaha WR250R & WR250X Dirt Bikes

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If you are the owner of a 2008-2011 Yamaha WR250X or 2008-2015 WR250R dirt bike, this recall might concern you. Affecting 12,721 units in total, Yamaha is recalling its WR off-roaders because of the insulation on the starter coil, which may become damaged and short-circuit due to insufficient heat resistance.

The result of such a failure would result in the battery not getting charged, and thus ultimately dying. This can cause the engine to stall, which in-turn can be a safety concern for the rider.

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Dirt

Husqvarna Will Race in the 2016 Dakar Rally

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There has been a lot of movement in the rally raid scene lately. First, Laia Sanz jumped ship from Honda to KTM, then Marc Coma announced his retirement from racing and that he will become the new Sporting Director for the Dakar Rally, and now we get word that Husqvarna will enter the world of rally racing with a factory team.

The move is perhaps not that surprising, considering that KTM now owns the Husqvarna brand, and that the Austrian company is a fierce rally raid competitor, but this means also that the historic Husqvarna name will return to one of the most iconic races in the world.

Making a strong debut, the Husqvarna factory team effort is comprised of riders Ruben Faria of Portugal and Pierre-Alexandre Renet of France, who will in-turn race upon the the Husqvarna FR 450 Rally bike, which is likely to be very similar to the KTM 450 Rally race bike.

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Bikes

2016 Montesa Cota 300RR Trials Motorcycle

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Do you enjoy jumping rocks, crossing logs, and generally being a two-wheeled bad ass on a motorcycle? If you responded with a “hell yes!”, then trials might be the sport for you.

We’ll be the first to say, we’re not experts on riding trials motorcycles — the site is called Asphalt & Rubber for a reason. That being said, the 2016 Montesa Cota 300RR looks like silly fun, as well as some serious motorcycle porn…even if you’re not a true trials competitor

The Cota is bred for competition though, and it is the same machine that Cody Webb is competing on in the AMA NATC MotoTrials USA National Trials Championship, and it also is based off the Montesa Cota 4RT260 that Toni Bou uses to dominate the international trials scene.

Accordingly, the Montesa Cota 300RR has a 288cc Honda single-cylinder engine, which has a longer stroke and larger bore than the Cota 4RT260. The ECU is programmable for fine-tuning the bike for conditions, with two selectable maps controllable from the handlebars.

Other tasty features include a titanium header pipe, aluminum forks, a monoblock four-piston front brake caliper, and aluminum D.I.D. wheels. All of this means 4 lbs have been dropped from the 2015 design, making the 2016 model a paltry 159 lbs dry.

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Dirt

Will MV Agusta Be Reviving the Cagiva Brand? Should It?

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Talking to the Varese News, MV Agusta Executive Vice President Giorgio Girelli let slip a number of interesting tidbits about the Italian company — the biggest news of course concerns another company, Cagiva.

Acknowledging the circulating rumors about the revival of the historic brand, Girelli was quick to point out that it’s not in the company’s current plan, but that the possibility was certainly there.

Going further about the idea, Girelli suggested that Cagiva would make the most sense as a purely off-road brand, which would compliment MV Agusta’s pure on-road offerings.

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Dirt

2015 Erzberg Rodeo Finishes With Four-Way Tie

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The Erzberg Rodeo billed as the toughest single-day motorcycle race on the planet, and all you have to do in order to check that superlative against hyperbole is to ask a competitor about the Red Bull Hare Scramble event.

With 500 riders qualifying for Sunday’s Red Bull Hare Scramble, out of some 1,500 entries, only five…yes five…finished the gruelling “Iron Giant”.

As if the past races in the open-air Austrian pit mine, haven’t been hard enough, this year’s event included a number of changes, including an all-new section lovingly named “Downtown” that was right before the finish line.

Adding 21 miles to the previous course length, the Downtown section was virtually impassable with its ravine and steep muddy hill, even for the top entries. Accordingly, the Top 4 riders banded together in order to make it through the meatgrinder and finish the race.

As such, Jonny Walker, Graham Jarvis, Andreas Lettenbichler, and Alfredo Gómez are this year’s joint Erzberg Rodeo winners, with Mario Roman Serrano credited as the fifth and final race finisher.

In case the race wasn’t breath-taking enough, the photos seemingly do it justice. We have 71 high-resoltuion shots for you, after the jump.

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Dirt

Superprestigio of the Americas Announced

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With the success of the Superprestigio in Spain, AMA Pro Flat Track is looking to copy the model for the American market. Dubbed the Superprestigio of the Americas, the November 21st race will presumably heavily feature American riders, though no names have been announced just yet.

The announcement is just the latest of events to come from the Daytona Motorsports Group, in order to promote the sport of flat track racing in the USA. As you may know, Just recently flat track racing was included as part of the X Games in Austin, Texas, which gave the sport a captive mainstream TV audience.

Now appealing to riders from road racing, supermoto, and other two-wheeled diciplines, the Superprestigio of the Americas can bring together fans from different parts of the two-wheeled racing world…just don’t expect to see Marc Marquez going head-to-head again with America’s finest.

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Bikes

Ducati Scrambler Baja Racer Concept by Oberdan Bezzi

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After a bit of delay, the Ducati Scrambler is finally hitting US dealerships in meaningful numbers, so it is timely that we see a concept piece by Oberdan Bezzi on the affordable Italian twin.

With a name like “Scrambler” a certain off-roading heritage is implied by the new Ducati model, despite its low-to-the-ground stance and clearance-challenged exhaust pipes.

Ducati’s whole marketing campaign envisions some sort of beach-ready romp machine, which taps into the California Coast lifestyle. We doubt too many owners will be scrambling on their Ducati Scramblers, but then again, we could pass the same generalization about the venerable BMW R1200GS. Anyways, we digress.

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Dirt

Gas Gas Files for Bankruptcy

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Perhaps already a reflection on the waning popularity of the brand, but the slow-to-break news this week is that Spanish motorcycle brand Gas Gas has filed for bankruptcy.

The news comes after an earlier effort by the Spanish company to try and reconcile its debt of roughly €30 million, and to restructure its business to be more profitable.

With a last-minute deal between the shareholders falling through, Gas Gas had no choice but to file with the Spanish courts.

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Bikes

Honda Africa Twin Confirmed – CRF1000L Coming for 2016

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American Honda dropped a bombshell today, confirming that the teased “True Adventure” ADV model will enter production, and be named the “Africa Twin”, as expected.

Officially designated at the Honda CRF1000L, the Africa Twin will be a 2016 model (in dealerships early next year), and best of all, it will be coming to the USA.

The 2016 Honda Africa Twin draws upon a legacy of rugged off-road race-proven machines that also wore its name, a sign that Honda intends the CRF1000L to be very capable off-road, and thus not follow the road-going adventure-sport trend.

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