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Aprilia RSV4 Allowed to Use Gear Driven Camshaft Motor in World Superbike Racing

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World Superbike has clarified its position after teams lodged a complaint against Aprilia for the team’s use of a gear-driven camshaft motor during the practice session at the Phillip Island WSBK stop. Despite the fact that the gear-driven camshaft is a publicly available upgrade to the RSV4 motor, and was not specially outlawed in WSBK regulations, other teams in the paddock threw a fit when they got word that Aprilia was testing the motor while in Australia, and planned to use it in Portimao.

Not wanting to be on the wrongside of the rules, Aprilia refrained from using the technology at Portimao, but it looks like WSBK’s clarification of Rule 2.4.8 would have left the Italian team in the clear, with a caveat.

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Banter

Spyder Down Under: A Photo Journal of 6 Days in Oz

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Photo journalist Sandeep “Sunny” Gajjar recently took a six day, 2,000km (1,240 mile) trip around the eastern coast of Australia on Can-Am Spyder. Taking his camera along, Gajjar captured some spectacular HDR photos of his trip and journey down under, and even proved the Spyder has some chops even when not on the asphalt. A self-described motoGrapher, Gajjar is a man of few words, so we’ll let his photos do the talking. Check them out after the jump.

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News

April Fools: Buell/Bombardier Team Up to Launch Bomber Motorcycles – 1190cc Motorcyle in the Works [UPDATED]

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UPDATE 3: April Fools.

UPDATE 2: Avril Foujour of BRP has made a statement to Asphalt & Rubber confirming the press leak.

UPDATE: It looks Bomber Motorcycles has twitter and Facebook accounts both suggesting news to be released on Friday. Logo addded to the story.

A day ahead of its scheduled release, it would appear that someone inside Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) has leaked an announcement that Erik Buell Racing and BRP will form a new motorcycle company called Bomber Motorcycles. The press release, which was posted on the Buell enthusiasts forum Bad Weather Bikers has now been taken down, perhaps by request of Erik Buell Racing or Bombardier. But it appears to have come from someone at Bombarider, and was thankfully forwarded to us by a quick spotting member. This would seem to confirm earlier chatter we heard last week in the Buell camps about a Bombardier connection that we dismissed as fallout from the Alan Cathcart article in DealerNews.

The surprise announcement couldn’t come on a worse day, although it looks like it was actually scheduled to occur tomorrow to avoid April Fools confusion. Never-the-less the press release outlines the creation of a joint-venture between the two companies, with a 1190cc sportbike slated for arrival late in 2010. Dubbed the Stratofortress, the bike features what sounds like a new Rotax powerplant that has 1190cc’s on board, and uses a 60 v-twin configuration. According to the release, the Bomber Stratofortress certainly sounds the part, making 160hp and weighing an alleged 365lbs dry. More after the jump.

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Bikes

Triumph Scrambler in Black & White

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Triumph has made a great name for itself with its modern take on vintage motorcycles, the “Bonnie” being our personal favorite. So what better way to promote the Triumph Scrambler than to take it out for a vintage style photo shoot using some black and white film? The result is 15 photos that could have been taken a weekend ago, or a generation ago. We especially enjoyed the obligatory cigarette in mouth while sliding shot. Check it out after the jump.

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Products

Shield Tech Visor: Transition Lenses for Your Helmet

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S.H.I.E.L.D. Tech has taken the concept of transition lenses to its next logical step, tint transitioning helmet visors. For the rider that’s had to pack a clear shield when going out on a long ride, or for the time you wore sunglasses under your clear visor, now there’s a helmet visor the eliminates the need pack multiple shields for changing light conditions (and to comply with Johnny Law).

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Racing

Video: Max Neukirchner Escapes a Nasty Highside During the Portimao Superpole

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Max Neukirchner was a unlucky (or is it lucky?) man this weekend while World Superbike made a race weekend at Portimao. While racing during the Superpole event at the Portugese track, the German rider found himself and his Ten Kate Honda on the wrong end of a nasty highside. Cresting over the hill, you can see Neukirchner spin like a top, while his Honda CBR gets its rear wheel crushed. As you’ll see in the video after the jump, Neukirchner came out of the crash relatively unscathed, and was able to start Race 1 at Portimao.

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News

European Commission Could Be Considering 100HP Limit for Motorcycles

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Several publications are reporting the possibility that the European Commission (EC) could be preparing to implement a European-wide limit of 100HP on motorcycles when the European executive power meets this summer. The issue arises after France instituted a 100HP ban on new motorcycles, causing the country to be out of line with the rest of European Union. France’s new law places an undue burden on manufacturers, who must now make a French variant for each new EU motorcycle model (or just not offer the bike in the French market all-together), and as such the EC aims to bring the EU under one policy.

This has created cause for alarm in the industry (or just in sensationalist journalists) who fear that the EC could place 100HP limits across the entire EU, along with other hindering provisions as well (mandatory ABS brakes seems to be the other main concern), in order to bring balance to the Union’s approach on motorcycles. If that sounds ridiculous to you, then you’re in the same boast as us. Considering how the EC and EU directives, regulations, and decisions actually operate, the real likelihood seems to be the possibility of France’s law being repealed, but that doesn’t mean activists have any less cause for alarm.

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Video: Rider Crashes in Front of CHP

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Seeing a low-speed lowside crash on Mulholland isn’t exactly a rare event with so many inexperienced riders taking to the infamous twisty SoCal roadway. Caught on video though, this Kawasaki ZX-6R was surprised to see one of CHP’s finest waiting for him around the apex of a turn. Showing his greeness to trail braking, our protaganist grabs a fistfull of brake, and promptly tucks the front tire in front of the officer. Check out the video after the jump.

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Bikes

KTM Freeride Video and More Photos

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KTM has released the rest of its press materials on the Freeride dirt and street concepts, including a short promo video that has both bikes doing their thing. The photos are mostly from the Tokyo show, but also include some action shots. The dirt bike clip caught our eye as the Freeride looked very strong. We can’t wait for a chance to give it a turn and see if its just movie magic we’re seeing, or the real thing. Photos and video after the jump.

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News

Norton NRV700 in the Works – 210HP Rotary by 2011

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We were disappointed last summer when the Norton NRV588 didn’t take a lap at speed around the Isle of Man circuit during the TT, but that didn’t stop the British racing team from clocking 178mph on the salt flats. It looks like Norton Racing has taken the data they’ve learned from the NRV588 and plan to refine the machine into a 700cc race-spec motorcycle that’s an evolution of the current 588cc pocket rocket. Altough Norton plays it coy on their website, rumor has it that they’re reportedly eying the British Superbike series and maybe even a World Superbike comeback within the next three years.

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Video: BMW S1000RR Valves Redux

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You may remember the cult motorcycle YouTube classic “BMW S1000RR Titanium Valves at 14,200 RPM“, well now we have a sequel to that movie. Showing the BMW’s titanium valves from a cylinder’s point of view, this S1000RR is rev’d through the rpm range with interesting results.

Because of the shutter effect on the video recorder we see the valves go through their motions until finally seemingly stopping as the shutter rate and valve moment go out of sync and re-sync. If you ever wanted to know what was going on inside you bike, here’s a good start on the subject. Video after the jump.

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