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Sunday at Indianapolis with Daniel Lo

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I’ve shot from the grandstands every single year since MotoGP started racing at Indy in 2008. I almost didn’t do so this weekend, but towards the end of the race most riders were too spread out for group photos so I autopiloted back to my favorite vantage point.

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Peering through a lens sometimes makes you oblivious to what’s happening right in front of you. I didn’t realize until well after the fact that Andrea Dovizioso had just gotten bumped off line and ended up last barely two corners into the race.

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Park ferme is an ideal place to capture portraits of riders in a reasonably good mood.

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MotoGP

Saturday at Indianapolis with Daniel Lo

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Every once in a while, riders inadvertently do me a big favor by glancing over as I’m taking pictures. Eye contact is always a bonus.

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This was a continuation of an idea that I started trying a couple years ago, but I forgot about. I tried to use the track to add a bit of interest to the foreground, while making sure the rider was making an interesting shape. Cal Crutchlow was the only rider to dangle his leg, making him the ideal subject.

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This is what happens when riders are asked silly questions during press conferences.

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MotoGP

Friday at Indianapolis with Daniel Lo

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Turn two at Indy generally doesn’t generate interesting images aside from the opening lap of a race, but I decided to make a brief stop since I was in the area.

The first couple riders went by and I quickly remembered why I don’t really spend much time there. Next thing I know, Alex Marquez runs wide entering the turn and skids into the grass making odd shapes along the way.

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At the moment, the outside of turn three is the most interesting spot I know of at Indy that plays well with the morning light. The first time I shot this corner was three years ago, just before Marc Marquez entered the premier class, and the riding style did not look quite like this.

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This angle only works with riders with a certain riding style. Jorge Lorenzo is one of them.

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Bikes

Yamaha Debuting an FZ-09 Powered Side-by-Side?

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A teaser video from Yamaha Europe is very clear on the fact that Yamaha is getting ready to debut a sporty off-road side-by-side, for the European market and likely the American market as well.

The interesting thing, and the reason we’re talking about it here at Asphalt & Rubber, is the four-wheeled desert-shredding monster is powered by a three-cylinder engine – a peculiar choice of lumps, from the Tuning Fork brand.

Of course the only model in Yamaha’s lineup that has such an engine is the FZ-09 (that’s an MT-09 to you non-Americans), which has been the basis for the FJ-09 sport-tourer as well.

Perhaps hoping to get some more mileage, no pun intended, out of its three-cylinder engine design, Yamaha has repurposed its triple for this unique use.

We will likely have to wait a little while longer to see what Yamaha has brewing, though it does seem intriguing…if you like to sit-down and steer your adult-sized toys.

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Dirt

Robbie Maddison Shows How To Go Surfing…on a Dirt Bike

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Let’s just be clear: this is the coolest thing you will see today. Robbie Maddison is better known for his non-surfing abilities, but after today’s video – “Pipe Dream” – by DC Shoes, that might change.

Riding the waves iconic waves of Tahiti (Teahupoo and Papara), Maddison takes his two-stroke KTM where no dirt bike has gone before in French Polynesia.

We are all aware that with enough speed, and motorcycle can hydroplane over small bodies of water, and with some modifications, longer water excursions are possible.

For some reason though, no one ever seemed to think that surfing on a motorcycle could be possible. That is, until now. Seeing is believing, after the jump.

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Racing

Watch Dani Pedrosa Rip It Up on a Supermoto

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A riding buddy of mine taunted me last night about how he was going out to the supermoto track, while I’ve been itching to get out on mine…so we’re starting today off with a little homage to the Sultans of Slide, the European Luc1 supermoto team.

I hope all motorcycle racing teams take a long look at what Luc1 is doing, because they not only win on the track, but they also win at content creation. At the end of the day, professional motorcycle racing is about selling for sponsors, and Luc1 not only gets that, but they excel at it.

Take this video here, where they are joined by Dani Pedrosa, who has a little free time right now since it is MotoGP’s summer break. Good things happen.

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Bikes

Victory Empulse TT — A Rebadged Brammo Empulse R

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When Polaris acquired Brammo’s electric motorcycle business, and left the startup to be its electric drivetrain guru, much was talked about what would come to the electric motorcycle manufacturer. So, when a Brammo Empulse RR electric race bike showed up at the Isle of Man TT in Victory Motorcycles livery — let’s not forget the Brammo employees in Victory t-shirts — a bit of Polaris’ game was tipped.

Therefore it is perhaps without surprise that today we bring you the Victory Empulse TT, which is basically a rebadged Brammo Empulse R street bike.

There are some improvements to the Victory Empulse TT over the Brammo Empulse, namely a larger battery pack (+10% for 10.4 kWh nominal), a narrower rear tire (180 is now a 160), a new seat, and most importantly, a rubber cush drive for the rear wheel.

We won’t waste words hyping a motorcycle that has effectively already been on the market for several years, but we will point out two things: 1) Brammo Victory has improved upon an already competent design, and 2) the addition of the cush drive could change our luke-warm opinion of the Empulse R.

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