It has been a long, long time since Valentino Rossi found himself outside of a factory team in grand prix racing, but the 2021 season sees The Doctor in the Petronas Sepang Racing Team, alongside Franco Morbidelli.
Rossi’s long racing career has bore championship fruit nine times, and while no one expects the Italian to add to that tally in the coming season, the 42-year-old can certainly surprise on race day, and certainly has some race wins still in his future.
Four major players in the motorcycle industry have joined forces when it comes to electric motorcycles, as Honda, Piaggio, KTM, and Yamaha have signed a letter of intent to create a consortium on swappable battery bikes for motorcycles and light vehicles.
The news that the Buell Motorcycles name would return from the shadows of the motorcycle industry has certainly stirred the two-wheel world . The American brand was not without its rabid fans, but it garnered plenty of detractors as well over the course of its history, and through its various incarnations.
Never quite at home inside the Harley-Davidson family, the Buell Motorcycle Company was shuttered in October 2009. Not one to quit though, Erik Buell continued the company’s ideals in another self-branded endeavor: Erik Buell Racing.
This startup would be short-lived though, bringing only two models to market, in its roughly five-year run. Despite being unshackled from Harley-Davidson, EBR foundered in the marketplace, and floundered on the race track.
At the conclusion of both of these separate ventures, there was Liquid Asset Partners – a Michigan-based company that makes its business from buying the assets of bankrupt companies and flipping them to buyers for a profit.
But for Bill Melvin (the CEO of LAP), the motorcycle brands of Buell and EBR were not business as usual.
At the end of EBR’s road under Erik Buell’s management, LAP continued its operations, albeit in a very limited manner, assembling motorcycles from the plethora of parts LAP had acquired in the bankruptcy proceedings, and selling them to EBR’s remaining enthusiastic customers.
When the chance came to buy the Buell name from Harley-Davidson, LAP didn’t hesitate. The two estranged motorcycle companies of Erik Buell could now merge under one roof, and Buell Motorcycles was born again.
Aprilia is continuing its curious launches for its 2021 motorcycles, trickling out information about the machines over multiple “debut” releases.
While we still wait for a glimpse of the right-hand side of the 2021 Aprilia RSV4, today we are getting some new information about the soon-to-be-released Aprilia Tuono 660, which is going to change how this bike is perceived in the US market.
Rumors of a proper mid-sized adventure bike from Honda have been percolating for some time now – as far back as eight years ago.
The news gained traction again last year, with rumors from Japan suggesting that an 850cc model was in the works, which be offered alongside the now 1,084cc Africa Twin 1100.
Episode 55 of the Brap Talk motorcycle podcast is out with another weekly episode, for your two-wheeled listening pleasure. The show has only three real topics, though it takes us nearly 2 hours to get through all of them.
Continuing the release of MotoGP liveries for the 2021 season, next up we have the Repsol Honda squad, with their new rider Pol Espargaro. We can spot 11 changes to the Repsol Honda livery for the 2021 season, can you name them all?
For four-and-a-half years now, Ducati has had an ongoing recall with the XDiavel motorcycle and its faulty kickstand design. Today, we get news that problems stemming from this performance cruiser’s side stand continue on.
This iteration of the Ducati XDiavel kickstand recall sees the kickstand bracket at fault, as it may fatigue under load, which could result in a failure of the side stand assembly and a potential for the motorcycle to fall when stationary on the stand.
MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden is set to be inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, along with eight other legends of American motorsport.
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America says that it singled-out Hayden for his 2006 MotoGP World Championship title, and other feats while rising in the world of motorcycle road racing:
An updated KTM 1290 Super Adventure R debuted yesterday, but unfortunately we had only low-resolution photos to share with you, and that is simply just not how we do things here at Asphalt & Rubber.
With no pixel left behind, we bring you a fresh set of “Ready to Race” photos of the 2021 KTM 1290 Super Adventure R, to sustain you as we wait for this capable adventure bike to his US soil – it’s going to take a while.
That long wait is a shame, because the 2021 KTM 1290 Super Adventure R looks like a ripper for ADV riders that are looking for a machine with a 21″ front wheel.
The Austrian have changed a number of key items on this bike for the 2021 model year, most notably the fairing design.
The chassis has been modified too though, and the engine is now Euro5 compliant. The 7″ TFT dash is sure to impress as well, as KTM has revised the user interface on it, while also modernizing the bike’s handlebar switchgear.
Episode 187 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one dives back into the team launches for the MotoGP Championship, as we look at Repsol Honda’s team debut for the season.
To handle that topic, we have Neil Morrison, Steve English, David Emmett, and Adam Wheeler on the mics, and before they weigh-in on Repsol Honda’s bold new graphics, they each give a moment and some thoughts about Fausto Gresini, who recently passed away after battling COVID-19.
His absence in the grand prix paddock will surely be felt, and he will be missed. If you would like to get a fuller picture of the man, there is also this obituary by Mat Oxley on Motor Sport Magazine.