Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

photos

Browsing
Racing

LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl Rides thru San Francisco

By 8 Comments

LCR Honda and team rider Stefan Bradl are in town early this week, doing a little promo work for US GP title sponsor Red Bull. Before heading down to Laguna Seca tomorrow (a track Bradl already scouted out with a local track day earlier this year), Bradl was in San Francisco yesterday, popping wheelies on Treasure Island and trying not to crash while going down Lombard Street (any SF motorcyclist could have told you the treachery of the iconic San Franciscan street).

MotoGP.com’s video of the event might be a little less than inspiring, but let us all just be thankful that the folks are Dorna actually made one of their YouTube videos web-embeddable for a change. Meanwhile, the photos from Red Bull are quite a treat. 23 of them await you after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Leon Haslam Strips Down to Promote WSBK at Silverstone

By No Comments

World Superbike’s next stop is Silverstone, and BMW Motorrad’s resident Brit was willing enough to bear all to help promote WSBK’s stop at his home round. Stripping his leathers down to his waist, Leon Haslam got his torso and arms painted by by double World Body Painting Champion Carolyn Roper. Taking three hours to complete the effect, Roper’s work is pretty phenomenal, as was Leon’s patience.

“It was frustrating having to stand in one place for three hours and not see what was going on, but I couldn’t believe it when Carolyn had finished applying the paint and I was finally allowed to look in the mirror,” said Haslam. “The body paint was unbelievably realistic and the attention to detail, right down to the sponsors’ badges, was incredible. Carolyn is amazingly talented.”

Check after the jump for the superb photos by the UK’s renowned photographer Gary Prior, along with a time-lapse video of the whole process. Don’t worry ladies, we have embedded the full-resolution photos in the post, while the “smaller” 2000px photos are in the gallery.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Momoto MM1 – Bringing the Petronas FP1 Dream Back

By 28 Comments

Remember the Petronas FP1? Sure you do. It was the fire-breathing three-cylinder rolling piece of sex-on-wheels whose teal livery rode to the podium twice in the 2004 World Superbike Championship.

Though the 900cc triple was campaigned by Carl Fogarty and ridden by Troy Corser with some early success, the move to 1,000cc for all motors in WSBK diminished the team’s chance of winning with its homologation special. Spearheaded by the Malaysian petroleum company Petronas, the project was ultimately abandoned in 2006.

Said to have built 150 units to meet homologation requirements (100 of which were available for purchase), the actuality of that number varies depending on whether or not you believe the rumors about shipping containers from England to Malaysia and double-counting.

With the project scrapped long ago, it seemed the Petronas FP1 dream was resting six-feet-under, until now. Rebranded under the name Momoto, the Momoto MM1 is the Petronas FP1 in new clothing. Said to be once again available for public consumption, our details and information on the bike are sadly very sparse. Though we do have a bevy of media waiting for you after the jump. Thanks for the tip Zaini!

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

More Photos of the Husqvarna TR 650 Strada & Terra

By 8 Comments

Just judging from the popularity of our posts on the Husqvarna TR 650 Strada & Husqvarna TR 650 Terra, it seems you all are about as enthralled as we are with the latest models to come out of BMW’s little dirt bike brand — that is to say, not enthralled at all. Maybe it is because the Strada & Terra feel like a rebadged BMW GS, maybe it is the angular styling that Husqvarna has been applying to its on-road machines, or maybe it is because the Husqvarna brand seems to lack any real focus whatsoever.

Whatever the reason may be, hopefully it is due in-part to the fact that we didn’t really get a good look at the Husqvarna Strada & Husqvarna Terra motorcycles when they came out a couple days ago, as at that time the German-owned, Italian-based, Scandinavian brand only released a few basic studio shots for your retinal enjoyment. Fixing that problem now, 42 high-resolution photos await you in the gallery after the jump. Enjoy.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Husqvarna TR 650 Terra – An Off-Road Strada

By 2 Comments

In addition to debuting the Husqvarna TR 650 Strada, our favorite German-owned Italian-based Scandinavian-branded motorcycle company has released a 21-inch-wheeled version of the Strada that is destined for more off-road use. They call it the Husqvarna TR 650 Terra. Using the same 652cc water-cooled single-cylinder DOHC motor, the Husqvarna Terra also makes 58hp and 44.25 lbs•ft of torque, just like the Husqvarna Strada.

Tipping the scales a bit lighter than its road-going sibling, the Terra has a dry weight here in the United States of 368 lbs (410 lbs wet). Available with ABS as an option in other markets, it appears our more feature-reluctant American riders will only be given the non-ABS variant of the pseudo off-road machine (apparently Husky isn’t a part of BMW’s pledge for universal ABS). While the Terra shares many components with the Strada, BMW Husqvarna hopes that the minor changes between the two bikes will help facilitate the Husqvarna Terra’s more off-road oriented purpose in life.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

BMW R12 Concept by Nicolas Petit Motorcycle Crèation

By 8 Comments

The work of designer Nicolas Petit is one of those gems in motorcycling that really gets our imagination here at A&R working at high-speed. It probably has something to with Petit’s simple, practical, but stunning designs that grab our fancy, and make us think “yeah, I could see one of those in my garage” — such is the case with the BMW R12 concept.

A clean and modern café racer design, Nicolas Petit’s BMW R12, which is based off the BMW HP2, is something we’d like to have in our stable for when the journey, not the destination, is the order of the day. Enjoy his sketches and renders after the jump, and to save you the trouble when you go scavenging for boxer-twins, here’s a link to craigslist.

Keep Reading
By
Banter

Lamborghini vs. BMW — It’s Not What You Think

By 19 Comments

A crime against motorcycling, one Lamborghini Murcielago owner may have inadvertently thrown some more fuel on the car vs. motorcycle fire with this latest bone-head move. Losing control of the Lambo outside of a BMW dealership in Como, a certain Italian driver is responsible for sending nine german two-wheelers to the scrapyard. The motorcycles were parked outside of the dealership’s showroom, as the driver and his occupant careened through the row of bikes.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

2013 KTM Moto3 250 GPR Production Race Bike

By 10 Comments

Taking advantage of a quasi-home round for the MotoGP Championship at the German GP, Austrian company KTM debuted it latest “ready to race” machine, the 2013 KTM Moto3 250 GPR production race bike. A for-sale-version of its Moto3 Championship contender, the KTM Moto3 250 GPR borrows heavily from its GP-class predecessor, though comes in a slightly lower state of tune.

Featuring forged aluminum OZ wheels instead of magnesium ones, the production racer also comes sans Brembo brakes and WP suspension (items race teams would likely get from suppliers separately anyways). There is however one big technical difference, as KTM has reduced the bike’s maximum engine speed to 13,500 rpm, down from the 14,000 found on the factory bikes. This leaves the 2013 KTM Moto3 250 GPR production racer with just under 50hp on tap.

Keep Reading
By