Love it or hate it, Yamaha’s “Race Blu” livery is back for a bevy for Yamaha’s 2014 models, including the 2014 Yamaha YZF-R1 and 2014 Yamaha YZF-R6. Debuting in Silverstone during the British GP, the special livery is supposedly based off the colors that the factory Yamaha Racing team uses in MotoGP, except for the minor detail that the special color scheme really looks nothing like the livery currently found on Lorenzo or Rossi’s Yamaha YZR-M1 race bikes (expect a livery change in Misano, perhaps?).
That being said, it is an attractive design with its matte black and shiny blue paint, and the Race Blu livery should help sell a few more units for Yamaha, as we have gotten word that the R1 and R6 will go without a refresh for the upcoming model year…again. Last year the Race Blu painted bikes stayed in Europe, and we expect the same for this year as well. Sigh…maybe 2015 will have some surprises in the sport bike category from the tuning fork brand.
Celebrating 50 years in the United States, Suzuki has a “special edition limited production” Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the 2014 model year. Only fifty units of this machine will be sold to brand enthusiasts in the USA (100 units worldwide), with the 2014 Suzuki GSX-R1000 SE Limited Production debuting today at the Indianapolis GP.
Like the 2013 Suzuki GSX-R1000 “One Millionth” Special Edition we saw late last year, the machine is mostly a cosmetic exercise. Highlights include a chrome-plated frame, and a polished chrome rims that have blue spokes. Other blue bits abound, for +1,000 biker boyz bling points.
If this sort of thing gets you going, you’ll have to check with your local Suzuki dealer about getting one. As of this moment, pricing and availability have not been announced. An attractive, though entirely unmoving, machine — you will find photos after the jump.
Just the other day we were wondering what was going on with Horex, as we haven’t heard from the German brand in nearly nine months. Finally shipping its first bike, the Horex VR6 Roadster, Horex has now announced a second model that is geared more towards mass consumption, the Horex VR6 Classic.
A re-styled, and apparently de-tuned version of the Roadster model, from what we can gather from Horex’s press release, the big changes for the Classic are its new aesthetic and reworked motor, which produces 124hp compared to the roadster’s 161hp peak figure.
Getting on the track one out of the two planned days at the Twin Ring Motegi Circuit last week (Day One was hampered by rain), Suzuki Racing got some more time on the track with its MotoGP race bike. With test rider Randy de Puniet on the track, the Frenchman posted a 1’48:60 as his best lap time of the day, about the same pace as his previous outings in Japan, though on par with the less grippy post-rain conditions.
Able to push the Suzuki to a GP race pace, De Puniet’s input has helped steer the Japanese manufacturer. As a result, Suzuki Racing has chosen to further develop one of the two chassis configurations it brought to Motegi, and will test that chassis again next month in Misano, as the company ramps up its efforts for a 2015 re-entry into the premier class.
MotoGP fans will be pleased to hear that Suzuki Racing has been getting pressure from Dorna to enter as many wild card races as possible in 2014, which will help bolster the grid at a select number of events. If you haven’t already seen the interview videos with Davide Brivio and Randy de Puniet, we suggest you check those out. Otherwise, there are 47 high-resolution photos waiting for you after the jump. Enjoy.
It seems Erik Buell Racing has been thinking about alternative-fuel vehicles, as the company from East Troy had filed and received a patent for a hybrid drive motorcycle design.
There is nothing particularly astonishing about EBR’s patent, after all with hybrids being all the rage in the four-wheeled world, it was obviously only a matter of time before that same trend transitioned to motorcycles as well.
However, what is interesting about Erik Buell Racing’s patent is that it doesn’t set forth the Prius-inspired setup that you would expect, where an electric motor takes over or assists an internal combustion engine.
Instead, EBR’s setup is more like the Chevy Volt, with a small petrol-fueled generator being on-board to charge the bike’s batteries once they have been depleted by the electric motor, and thus killing the range anxiety that is prevalent in current EV bike designs.