It is surprising to us that Kawasaki has been so tight-lipped about its upcoming Ninja ZX-25R model.
It is not like the Japanese brand has been shy about talking about the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R, instead they just don’t seem to want to say anything of substance about the machine.
Maybe it is because we already know the most important aspect about the ZX-25R – namely that it has a 250cc four-cylinder engine that revs to the moon, along with traction control and other go-fast electronics.
COMOTO the parent company to RevZilla, Cycle Gear, J&P Cycles has just settled a dispute with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for the alleged selling of non-exempted add-on or modified motorcycle parts in California.
In total, COMOTO will pay $1,937,500 to resolve the alleged violations, in a mixture of fines to CARB and payments for environmental projects that benefit the community.
Autonomous vehicles are set to upend the transportation industry, including how motorcyclists enjoy the roadways. This much, we know. But, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says that the effect might not be as large as we think it will be.
According to a recent study that they performed, the IIHS says that autonomous vehicles will only prevent about one-third of on-road accidents.
The work by the IIHS is interesting, though the study comes with some rather large caveats to come to its conclusion.
Nirjar Mardal’s concept of the rumored BMW M1000RR superbike is blowing up the internet right now, and we can tell why. It looks really good.
Taking the pleasing, but safe, lines of the BMW S1000RR and then cranking them up to 11, these renders from Mardal make for a lurid idea.
The bike is much more angular than the S1000RR model, and numerous upgrades can be spotted in the render’s design.
The most notable one though is what appears to be an electric supercharger, which is appropos since the Bavarian brand was spotted last year patenting ideas around this concept.
For the past 24 hours, the internet has been blowing up over multiple reports that HRC is about to drop Alex Marquez from its factory MotoGP team, and replace him with Pol Espargaro in the Repsol Honda squad.
The news has been covered by Sky Sport Italia, Autosport, Motorsport, and The Race, and those reports have led to an interesting rebuke (of sorts) on by HRC’s Alberto Puig on the MotoGP.com website.
Continuing our live chat video series on YouTube with members of the motorcycle industry, on Monday, June 8th at 10am PDT / 7pm CEST, Asphalt & Rubber will be sitting down with Walt Siegl.
Getting a chance to talk to one of the most-regarded builders in the motorcycle industry should be a great opportunity for a discussion about the current trends in motorcycling.
Of course, we will also be talking about Walt’s work, in particular how he approaches his motorcycle builds, finds inspiration, and makes motorcycles that look good and still perform well.
Ever since the opening round at Qatar, the schedule for the 2020 MotoGP Championship has been in limbo. And for American fans, this hasn meant a tremendous amount of uncertainty regarding the grand prix round held outside of Austin, Texas.
Though we are seemingly no closer to knowing if and when the Americas GP will take place, American fans have now been at least provided a timeline on when we will know: the end of July.
If you have a 2019 or 2020 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R series motorcycle, then this latest recall from Kawasaki is for you.
The issue stems around poor ECU programming on the superbike’s computer, which can cause a backfire during high-engine load and use of the quickshifter.
The backfire can create a big combustion force in the exhaust system, which can lead to the air suction valves melting and/or catching on fire.
Episode 147 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one is another special show, where we take questions from you, our listeners, and dive into those topics on the show.
As such, this episode sees David Emmett, Steve English, and Neil Morrison on the microphones, sharing their collective racing knowledge.
That motorcycle sales are down because of the coronavirus lockdown seems like an obvious thing to state. Just for clarity though, American motorcycle sales through the first four months of the year are down 9% compared to last year.
Truthfully, that number is far less than we were predicting here at Asphalt & Rubber, and there is a good reason for that. While the COVID-19 scare has decimate on-road sales (-23%) and scooter sales (-24%), this has not been the case for off-road motorcycles sales totals, which are up 30%.
Even dual-sports seem to be buoyed by having a tire in the dirt, with sales reported to be down only 5% during the same time period.
Looking deeper into the dual-sport numbers though appears to give an insight on this odd dichotomy between street and dirt sales in the motorcycle industry.
The headline sort of says it all: Triumph Motorcycles will be releasing roughly 400 workers worldwide (240 from its headquarters in England).
With roughly 2,500 employees around the world, this reduction in staffing accounts for 16% worldwide – and it is a 24% reduction of Triumph’s UK workforce.