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Praëm SP3 – A Modern Take on the Honda RC-51

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What you are looking at it is perhaps the most unique Honda RC-51 we have ever seen. For those who know their Hondas, and are paying close attention, this particular bike used to be a Honda VTR1000SP1 – though it has gotten more than a once-over by the crafty hands at French upstart Praëm.

If you are familiar with the work of Holographic Hammer, then the Praëm SP3 should look stylistically familiar, as its the product of Sylvain & Florent Berneron – Sylvain being a former BMW Motorrad designer, while Florent has a background in aeronautics and mechanics.

Tasty bits on the Praëm SP3 includes Öhlins suspension, Rotobox carbon fiber wheels, Brembo brakes and carbon discs, and other pieces from Rizoma.

We think the item that most people will be interested by though is the Praëm SP3’s fairings, which aren’t made of metal sheets, but instead a countless number of wires that have been pulled taught over a backing and frame. The effect is certainly an interesting one.

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MotoGP

Friday Summary at the Jerez MotoGP Test: Redding Reveals Ducati Dominance, & Where Honda Is Going Wrong

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So, testing is over and the winter test ban can start. Riders who intend to race in 2016 are banned from testing between December 1st, 2015 and January 31st 2016.

Engineers now have a long winter ahead of them to try to make sense of the data gathered at the test at Valencia and Jerez, or else send their test riders out in the chill of winter, as Aprilia intend to do at Jerez in a few weeks. Those engineers have an awful lot of work ahead of them.

The men and women at Ducati will be getting the most time off over the holiday period. It is clear from the first two tests that the Italian factory has hit the ground running with the new unified software, and have the systems working relatively well.

One Ducati engineer reckoned that they were already at about 50% of the potential of the software, far more than the 10% MotoGP’s Director of Technology Corrado Cecchinelli had estimated at Valencia.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast – Episode 10 – EICMA, Part 2

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As promised, here is Part 2 of the 2015 EICMA show coverage by the Two Enthusiasts Podcast. Episode 10 covers all the non-Italian motorcycle manufacturers: BMW, KTM, Triumph, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, and Victory – whereas Episode 9 deals with all the Italian bikes at the show.

This episode has a bevy of new models to cove;, and as usual, the guys do it with their usual pop-culture references and general irreverence to the motorcycling status quo. We think this is a show you will enjoy greatly – just in time for the holiday weekend.

If you haven’t listened to Part 1 already, you should do so as well.

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MotoGP

Thursday Summary at the Jerez MotoGP Test: Honda’s Overpowered Engine vs. Ducati’s Friendly Delivery

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Have HRC made the same mistake again? In 2015, the Honda RC213V was a nasty beast to tame, suffering with an excessively aggressive engine.

The engine was probably the single most important reason Marc Márquez could not mount a realistic defense of his second title, forcing him to try to make up in braking what he was losing in acceleration, and crashing out as a result.

At the Valencia test, all eyes were on Honda’s new engine, to see if they had finally fixed the problem.

Valencia turned out to be a little too complex to make a real judgment. The switch to spec-electronics and Michelin tires introduced way too many variables to be able to filter out a single factor, Honda engineers taking a long time to extract some kind of consistency from the new unified software all MotoGP bikes must now use.

The 2016 RC213V engine seemed a little less aggressive, but the new software made it hard to tell. The current test at Jerez was supposed to give a clearer indication, with HRC’s engineers having a better handle on the unified software.

Though the verdict is not yet in, it is not looking good for the 2016 engine Honda brought for the tests in Spain. Both Dani Pedrosa and Marc Márquez have reported the engine as still being too aggressive, and difficult to manage, though the engine character has changed.

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MotoGP

Officially Official: Casey Stoner Leaves Honda, Becomes Test Rider & Brand Ambassador for Ducati

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Casey Stoner is to leave Honda and work with Ducati as a test rider and brand ambassador from 2016. Two press releases, one from Honda and one from Ducati, today confirmed the rumor that had emerged at Valencia during the race weekend, and especially after the test.

Honda thanked Stoner for five years of collaboration, including two years of racing, during which he won fifteen races and a MotoGP championship. After his retirement, at the end of 2012, Stoner continued as a test rider for HRC, but rode only sporadically, no more than a couple of days a year.

This, it appears, seems to have been the trigger for Stoner to make the switch to Ducati as a test rider. The Australian had always retained good ties with the Italian factory, and the arrival of Gigi Dall’Igna as the head of Ducati Corse made a return to Ducati even more attractive.

Stoner knows Dall’Igna well from his time racing an Aprilia in 125s and 250s, a period in which he finished as runner up in the 250 championship to Dani Pedrosa.

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Bikes

Honda CBSix50 Is a Scrambler for the Rest of Us

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The Honda Six50 concept continues where the Honda CB4 concept left-off in exploring what other machines could be created from the Honda CBR650F platform. Instead of a café racer though, the Honda CBSix50 is more of a modern-take on the popular scrambler genre.

To that vein, it works well with the Honda CB4 concept, as both machines attempt to tackle popular hipster tropes currently in the two-wheeled space, but with decisively modern and unique approaches.

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Bikes

Things We Like, Part 1: Honda CB4 Concept

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Honda isn’t saying too much about its CB4 concept, and we are not sure they need to – the motorcycle speaks for itself. Just in case you can’t hear it, the retro-style standard is an appealing machine, which draws a distinct line to the Hondas of a couple generations ago.

The Honda CB4 concept seems to be built off the Honda CBR650F platform, though the concept is certainly as far as you can get from the CBR650F in terms of feeling and inspiration.

To that end, a single-sided swingarm has been added, the exhaust routed stylishly and polished, and we are a big fan of the solid iron front brake discs with radially mounted Tokico calipers, in red…naturally.

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WSBK

First Photos of Nicky Hayden on the Honda CBR1000RR

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Nicky Hayden is back to work this week, testing his new WSBK-spec Honda CBR1000RR race bike at the Motorland Aragon race track. An important day for the Kentucky Kid, the weather unfortunately didn’t get the memo and thus didn’t cooperate – heavy fog engulfed the track, along with very cold temperatures.

As such, Hayden didn’t get much time on the Honda CBR1000RR, riding only a handful of laps during the test – mostly fulfilling team media obligations and getting the Honda’s basic setup to his liking.

Hayden will have a second opportunity to test the Honda CBR1000RR at Aragon on Tuesday, and later this week he will appear at the EICMA trade show in Milan, Italy.

If you want an advance preview to Hayden’s appearance, Honda Pro Racing has put together a nice video interview with the former MotoGP champion. Check it out, after the jump.

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Bikes

Honda City Adventure Concept – An ADV Scooter?

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Now, I’m not one to talk when it comes to slapping knobby tires on an inappropriate street bike, and heading out to the dirt trails on it. But that being said, the Honda City Adventure concept takes the notion even farther than we could imagine.

For those times when you feel like getting your ADV on, but you know…with a scooter…the Honda City Adventure concept is there for you, and it debuted today at the EICMA show in Milan, Italy.

Honda seems to like blending different kinds of bikes in order to create new segments, we have seen this practice with a number of machines, and it has produced some interesting ideas.

The Honda City Adventure concept is equally interesting, though it seems like the answer to a question no one is asking. Maybe we are wrong though, and there are just thousands of scooter riders out there, eager to hit the trails on their feet-forward machines…

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Bikes

2016 Honda CB500F Gets Much-Needed Facelift

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When the Honda CB500F first debuted, it was a welcomed addition to Honda’s lineup, as the Japanese brand was really filling out its 500cc/A2 offerings, but the bike itself was hardly something to get excited about, especially in the looks department.

That seems to have changed now, with the release of the 2016 Honda CB500F at the EIMCA show in Milan, as the street “standard” is looking a lot more aggressive and edgy with its new haircut.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast – Episode 8 – Schwartz

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The EICMA show is nearly upon us, so Quentin and Jensen walk us through what bikes are expected to debut in Italy, and what bikes the pair would like to see at the show. It’s a pretty exhaustive overview recording, and thus a little longer than the normal Two Enthusiasts Podcast, but we don’t think you’ll mind.

There’s some good stuff in Episode 8 you won’t want to miss, and it expands on our EICMA show preview story, though pre-dates it. Obviously some news has come out since this show’s recording, but we seem to be pretty good a predicting some things. Take a lesson, and get ready for EICMA starting on Monday.

As always, 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. Cheers!

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