Triumph is celebrating 15 years of the Speed Triples with…well..a 15th Anniversary Special Edition model of the Speed Triple. First introduced in 1994, Triumph has sold over 35,000 Speed Triples in the past 15 years. Read more about the SE model after the jump.
We don’t care if it’s because of changing tastes and trends, or if the naked/standard motorcycle is the industry’s attempt to tempt drivers away from their 4-wheeled cages, but these are the hot bikes of 2009. While this Abarth Assetto Corse FZ1 is merely just a show bike to help commemorate 100 years of Fiat sport-tuning, it’s choosing comes days after the release of the Ducati Streetfighter debut (and new Monster style launch), as well as KTM’s Super Duke R recoloring, just to name a few. Pictures and more after the jump.
It wouldn’t be the weekend if we didn’t bring you Japanese police officers showing their slow speed motorcycle handling skills, and choreography prowess.
Source: Someone needs to talk to them about this uniforms though.
Buell has completed their 125,000th motorcycle, a 2009 white 1125R bound for Australia. Not bad for some good old boys.
Source: That really is a big air intake.
There were 876 crashes this past GP season. That’s a lot.
Between free practices, qualifying, and races, the 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP series racked up 30% more crashes than last year, with an average of 48 crashes for each race weekend. It should be noted that this was the wettest season in the history of the series, with 16 out of 18 race weekends having at least one day of rain in the official three days of racing. While the rain certainly is a factor, it should also be noted that Randy de Puniet crashed 22 times this season, and only took his shirt off twice.
The crash numbers for the past seasons for the quant-jocks in the room:
1999 – 565
2000 – 633
2001 – 634
2002 – 646
2003 – 705
2004 – 706
2005 – 737
2006 – 647
2007 – 672
2008 – 876
Source: GPone
At least Randy looks really, really, really ridiculously good looking when he crashes.
Jorge Lorenzo really does have the hard life. It must be hard to go into your second season of MotoGP racing, and have people expect you to win the Championship. It must be hard being that good.
With only a limited number of tests scheduled on the new 2009 Yamaha M1, Lorenzon will have to spend the extra free-time figuring out what number to run in next year’s GP. High on the to-do list is retiring his “48” number plate for a new one. Lorenzo still has some time to decide between “23” and “99” before the start of the season in Qatar.
“We’ve done some tests to see how the two would be aesthetically, but the decision will be made further down the line. We will definitely make the choice in January.”
This officially makes MotoGP racing the worst job ever. With all the one-off ultimate performance bikes, tall leggy umbrella girls, and tough decisions like these, I don’t know why anyone would want to be a professional motorcycle racer. I guess it’s just for the money.
Source: MotoGP
Don’t work too hard Jorge, we wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.
Electric motorcycle manufacturers, Quantya, in partnership with Shredelectric, have set up their first dealership in the US. The Swiss company has been selling its electric dirt bikes in Europe with what they describe as some fair success. Pictures and more after the jump.
Artist conceptual drawings for the soon upon us Terminator 4: Salvation are out, and there’s a motorcycle. A motorcycle with twin Gatling cannons, red eyes, and a hearty thirst for human blood. Apparently from the drawing, the cannons will be on a self-leveling rig, making the manslaughter that much more easy.
I don’t want to give anything away plot wise…but Christian Bale is in fact both Batman and John Connor. *Gasp*
As you may remember, we brought you the story that MotoGP will be hosted in Hungary for the 2009 season and on. Well, the symbolic first stone of Hungary’s new $64 million Balatonring circuit was laid into place at its new home near Savoly in Western Hungary today.
The full event consisted of laying the first stone for the track’s construction, and burying a “time capsule” containing mementos, as well as the Hungarian and Spanish flags. Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, was on hand for the ground breaking ceremony as well to mark the event.
The Balatonring will host MotoGP racing for the next five years starting from 2009.
We have no idea why the Spanish flag was put in the time capusle either. Take that Spain.
The 2009 Super Duke R is unchanged from the 2008 model, but you wouldn’t know it the way we’ve been talking about it on A&R. What can we say? We’re smitten.
KTM isn’t making it easy when they keep releasing shots of the bike in new colors. Today’s color is white, as in white hot. 130 ponies. 75 foot pounds of torque. The 999cc Super Duke has the spotlight, at least until the Ducati Streetfighter shows up.
You’ll run out of color eventually KTM. Until then, you have our attention.
Like the title says, BMW has released a teaser video showcasing the S1000RR race and street bikes. The video is reminescent of the old BMW Films that were commissioned to highlight the four-wheeled Bavarian variety. No Hollywood stars here, but similar production quality. The video is being released on BMW’s new web-tv site. A&R looks forward to future versions…hopefully staring Clive Owen…and Madonna…maybe not in the order.
Source: BMW
Achtung!