The Austrian GP might be tomorrow, but today the news is all about MotoGP’s newest entrant, KTM Racing. The Austrian team used its home to debut officially its MotoGP program, showing the KTM RC16 MotoGP race bike in its officially Red Bull livery for next year.
The livery itself is what you would expect between at KTM/Red Bull collaboration, with the same blue and orange paint scheme as can be found on the Red Bull KTM Moto3 squad. The big difference of course is the rumored fire-breathing, 270hp, V4, engine, which Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro will attempt to tame.
At the MotoGP test at Spielberg, the KTM RC16 was two seconds behind the incredible lap times that the Ducati machines were capable of at the Austrian track, which bodes well for the project.
The bike’s next outing will be at Valencia, where Thomas Lüthi and Mika Kallio will ride with the MotoGP-regulars once again, competing as wild card entries.
The best apples-to-apples comparison though might be the subsequent MotoGP test at Valencia, where Smith and Espargaro will get their first rides on the KTM RC16.
So far though, the indications are good. In the meantime, if you’re looking for a new desktop background, these photos are MEGA high-resolution – because we love you.
“It’s like drinking from a firehose” is the phrase I would use over and over while telling people about my recent trip to this year’s World Ducati Week.
The three-day event attracted 81,000 rabid Ducati fans through the gates of the Misano race track, which is just a stone’s throw from Italy’s Adriatic Coast. One of the best race tracks in the world, along one of Italy’s best beaches…the recipe for success here might seem obvious.
Beyond these factors though, World Ducati Week itself is a magnet event that attracts Ducatisti from the world over by offering them the ultimate Ducati experience.
Strangely enough though, you don’t even have to be a Ducati fan to attend – though it helps – as WDW2016 is something that any motorcyclist can enjoy.
For my part in this, I will admit to having more than one Ducati in my garage (none on press loan, mind you), so consider my glass of Kool-aid aptly filled, but truthful Ducati has put together a motorcycle enthusiast agenda that other brands and venues should take note of .
As such, World Ducati Week is a great example of how to get motorcyclists excited about being…well, motorcyclists.
Ducati does this by having no shortage of events and spectacles for fans to enjoy, and while the venue is a race track, most of what makes World Ducati Week special doesn’t take place on the Misano Circuit itself.
Instead, the key to World Ducati Week’s success is the carnival atmosphere, that immerses attendees in the very best that the Ducati brand has to offer.
Our friend and photographer Stephen McClements was recently out at the Southern 100, that other road race that’s held each year at the Isle of Man.
Set in the scenic town of Castletown, the Southern 100 doesn’t run on the famous TT course, instead racers compete on the Billown Circuit.
Though it’s not as famous as the Isle of Man TT, the Southern 100 still manages to attract some recognizable names from the TT and Irish road racing championship.
For instance, this year’s race saw entries from Michael Dunlop, Dave Molyneux, Dean Harrison, Ivan Lintin, Dan Kneen, and James Cowton.
Stephen brought Asphalt & Rubber some great high-resolution photographs from the 2016 Southern 100, we hope you enjoy them, after the jump (above: Dan Kneen at the Church Bends stone wall).
The Honda City Adventure concept is set for production, according to a new teaser video from Honda. Now called the Honda X-ADV, the basic idea is to have a step-through scooter design with off-road “ADV” attributes, such as longer suspension and dual-sport tires.
Showing us a short video with a scooter that looks almost identical to the Honda City Adventure concept, the clip hard-cuts between city scenes and dirt roads. Ending with a nod towards August 30th, we can almost certainly expect Big Red to debut this adventure scooter then.
The idea of an adventure scooter is a weird notion, to be sure, but Honda likes remixing established segments to create new machines, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by this recent mashup.
The rumor was that we would see the 2017 Honda CBR250RR debut this week, and that news didn’t disappoint.
Getting our first glimpse of the machine today, the Honda CBR250RR is finally breaking cover, and we can bring you the first images and technical specs of the quarter-liter sport bike.
As we already knew, the Honda CBR250RR will use a 250cc twin-cylinder, DOHC, eight-valve, liquid-cooled engine that revs to a 14,000 rpm redline. There’s no word yet on power, but we would expect it to surpass the other 250cc offerings from the Japanese manufacturers.
We also expect a 350cc version for markets like North America and Europe, though there’s no official word on that, just yet.
I’m in North Carolina right now, about to take a ride on the 2017 Yamaha FZ-10 – the Japanese brand’s R1-powered streetfighter that looks like it just stumbled off the set of a Michael Bay movie.
This Bumblebee lookalike is growing on me though, and it’s easily one of the top new bikes I’ve been itching to try since last year’s EICMA show debut. Thankfully, I’ll soon get that chance.
Before we get into that though, Yamaha has a bevy of high-resolution photos to share with us for our two-wheeled pleasure. These photos represent the finalized USA-spec machine, whereas previous photos you’ve likely seen on Asphalt & Rubber were either of the European-spec Yamaha MT-10, or the non-finalized FZ-10.
The differences between the motorcycles are subtle, but we didn’t need much of an excuse to share the photos with you. No doubt, more than a few readers will find their future computer desktop picture in the files below.
Many of you have likely seen Walt Siegl’s “Bol D’Or” custom MV Agusta Brutale 800 with a retro-flare. It is an amazing piece of work, and the basis for today’s post, which brings you a glimpse of the David Yurman Forged Carbon Moto by Walt Siegl.
Actually the first model from Walt Siegl’s Bol B’Or line, we are just seeing this motorcycle now because it comes with a twist: it has forged carbon parts, crafted by jewelry maker David Yurman.
A lot can be said about forged carbon, enough worthy of its own article, but the tl;dr version is that the composite material is set to replace traditional carbon fiber parts – in a big way.
