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Vince Lombardi once said that he “firmly believes that any man’s finest hour is that moment when he has worked his heart out for a good cause and he lies exhausted on the field of battle. Victorious.”

The day is done, the battle is won, and for a third consecutive year, Yamaha lifted the Suzuka 8-Hours trophy.

It was a dominant performance by the #21 crew, and in the aftermath they sat and enjoyed their success. They weren’t exhausted, but for Alex Lowes, Michael van der Mark, and Katsuyuki Nakasuga this was the final moment of their 2017 in Suzuka, Japan.

Sitting in their paddock office, the trio of riders were relaxed, but the emotions of the day were starting to take hold.

Typically, Honda and Yamaha see themselves as competitors in the two-wheeled space, but today it seems that the two brands are going to work together, to further along the process of bringing electric motorcycles to market.

The partnership sees Honda and Yamaha working with Saitama City (just north of Tokyo), in order to begin testing an electric motorcycles rental program. The project aims to put 30 small electric motorcycles (really electric scooters at this point) onto the roadways, with charging and battery swap stations available.

Yamaha Motor USA is recalling about 40 units of its 2017 Yamaha YZF-R3 motorcycle because of an issue with the bikes’ vehicle identification number (VIN) label.

Apparently, the affected machines were manufactured with Canadian Motor Vehicle Certification labels, instead of proper VIN labels for the US market. 

Since this means that the machines fail to comply with federal laws concerning the certification of vehicles, a recall must commence.

We have a soft spot for the FIM Endurance World Championship series, here at Asphalt & Rubber.

Not only does the FIM EWC showcase several manufacturers, with strong race-winning potential each of the championship’s multiple iconic events, but it the series is the last great venue for a proper battle between the different tire brands.

Add to that the fact that the Endurance World Championship is comprised not only of endurance specialists, but also with some of the top names from motorcycle racing, both in factory and satellite teams, and it’s easy to find a reason to cheer for a particular entry.

The best part though might be the photography that comes from motorcycle racing, which often spans from daylight and into the darkness of night. This year’s 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans event was no different, and we have a bevy of photos to share with you from France.

While it has hardly been surprising to see Ducati and Kawasaki maintain their position as the dominant forces at play in WorldSBK, the battle for best-of-the-rest has been an interesting subplot for 2017.

Over the course of the opening three rounds of the campaign, the form of Honda and Yamaha has been marked by their stark contrast in fortunes.

Last year, Honda had been a podium and front-row regular as the season moved into the European swing, and Yamaha looked to be clutching at straws and looking for any positives they could find on their return to the series.

This year has seen their roles have reversed, with Yamaha consistently the best-of-the-rest and in position to fight for a rostrum finish. Honda on the other hand have had a disastrous start to the campaign with an all-new Fireblade.

Confirming our report from several weeks ago, Yamaha has issued a recall through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for several of its three-cylinder motorcycle models for the 2015-2017 model years: FJ-09, FZ-09, and XSR900.

The recall affects 22,433 units, and centers around the fact that the handlebar might come loose while riding. According to filing documents made to the NHTSA, this is due to a painting problem at the factory, which caused not enough locking agent to be applied to the mounting bolts.

Episode 49 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is mostly about our chance to ride the 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 at Thunderhill Raceway, though there are certainly enough rabbit holes of side-discussion that we suppose we can make note of a few other topics that we covered as well.

Obviously, the show includes a look at the supersport segment, as we talk about the latest 600cc four-cylinder machine to hit the motorcycle industry. We also talk about the Bridgestone R10 DOT race tire, as well as the Bridgestone W01 full-rain race tire, both of which we got to try at Thunderhill in mixed conditions.

In our talk about the “new” Yamaha YZF-R6, we got side-tracked by a number of interesting topics, like wet track riding and chassis setup/dynamics, as well as the problem of choice overload, as it pertains to the motorcycle industry. Another Two Enthusiasts classic, we hop you listen and enjoy the show.

You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Enjoy the show!

What you see here is the very unassuming 2017 Yamaha YZF-R15, a 155cc single-cylinder sport bike that was designed with the Asian market in mind – as such, the bike will debut in Indonesia in April 2017, and the rest of the ASEAN market later this year.

Hold on before you click through though, as while the R15 might be too small by our Western market standards, the new Yamaha YZF-R15 packs some interesting technology, namely Yamaha’s variable valve actuation (VVA).

Because of this technology, Yamaha says that the 2017 model of the YZF-R15 achieves a 18% increase in power output (19hp in total), and a 4.7% increase in fuel efficiency, all from its 3% engine displacement increase and with the VVA technology.

Multiple three-cylinder motorcycle models from Yamaha are about to be recalled for a safety issue. The recall concerns the lower handlebar, which may have been improperly painted, and as a result the stud bolt threads may not have had enough thread-locking agent applied.

This means that if the handlebar is struck hard enough, the paint on the handlebar holder might be damaged, which in-turn could cause there to be enough of a clearance difference on the stud bolt to allow it to loosen itself from engine vibration.

Since this could cause the handlebar to come loose (or off) while riding, it poses a safety hazard to the rider, and Yamaha intends to recall the affected models, which includes the 2015-2017 Yamaha FJ-09, 2014-2017 Yamaha FZ-09, and 2016-2017 Yamaha XSR900.

The 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 is more than just “bold new plastics” as one A&R commenter said, with traction control, ABS, new suspension, and R1-esque bodywork being added to the supersport machine – among other changes.

Still very much “evolution” rather than “revolution” for the Japanese manufacturer, the Yamaha R6 however is a very striking machine, visually, and that’s what we wanted to share with you today.

Yamaha isn’t shy that the R6 gets its look from its older sibling, the YZF-R1, with both bikes sharing a number of visual elements: MotoGP-inspired air intake, koi fish headlights on the fairing, vented tail section, and sinister LED marker lights – just to name a few.

The effect though is perhaps the most dramatic change to the venerable supersport, as it takes the 12-year-old design for the YZF-R6 and gives it a modern look and feel.

Since 1999, Yamaha has sold over 153,000 YZF-R6 supersport motorcycles, and for the 2017 model year the Japanese manufacturer adds a new chapter to that 19-year history.

Big Blue calls the 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 a fourth generation motorcycle, but for those paying attention, it is obvious that Yamaha has merely taken its class-leading 600cc sport bike, made some refinements to the machine, and added an electronics package to the mix.

While there is disappointment that Yamaha didn’t bring as revolutionary of a debut to the YZF-R6 as it did just recently with the YZF-R1 superbike, we should state quite clearly that the Japanese brand continues its dominance in the 600cc sport bike realm with this most-recent addition to its lineup.

We should also give full-marks to the the realization that for Yamaha’s competitors in the supersport category, it will be considerably harder going forward to compete with Yamaha’s 600cc offering – a task that has already been a tough feat.