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The Honda CBR250RR is getting closer to breaking cover, with a teaser video of the quarter-liter sport bike coming to us this week from Honda’s Indonesian importer.

The video doesn’t give away too much on its face, but it does confirm the “RR” status of the new bike, and shows that many of the details that we have seen already on the Honda “Light Weight Super Sport” concept have made it into the production machine.

This bodes well for small-displacement motorcycle fans, with the upcoming Honda CBR250RR likely being the bike that many hoped Honda had initially produced, instead of the Honda CBR250R and Honda CBR300R combo.

We’ve been following the guys at Bottpower for quite a while now, with their latest efforts revolving around the Bott XR1 – an intriguing street bike concept that uses a Buell “Thunderstorm” v-twin engine.

They project lead to the Bottpower XC1, a café racer variant of the street bike, and today we are going to give you a preview about Bottpower’s third iteration, the BOTT XR1R.

A torquey track bike, for those who want something a little different. For right now, the Bottpower BOTT XR1R is a testing platform for the Spanish outfit, serving as a the proving grounds for new bike components and systems.

As such, the BOTT XR1R features a titanium frame and a full suite of racing electronics, which includes traction control, launch control, three selectable engine maps, and data acquisition. Bottpower’s aim with the BOTT XR1R is to achieve a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio, with a target of 150hp and 150kg.

The Osman Gazi Bridge in Turkey is the fourth largest suspension bridge in the world – it spans 1.66 miles, with its center span almost a mile long.

Why are we telling you this random fact? Becasue Kenan Sofuo?lu just took a Kawasaki Ninja H2R to to 400 km/h (~250 mph) on the Turkish bridge. We all know that the supercharged, fire-breathing, 300+ horsepower, Kawasaki Ninja H2R is no joke in a straight line.

And while it seems trite to just turn the throttle and hold on, anyone who has touched 200+ mph can tell you that the aerodynamic pressure hitting the rider is more than a force to contend with, if you will pardon our pun.

To hit nearly 250 mph, in less than 30 seconds, is a serious undertaking. Perhaps what is more important though, is that the media-catching run comes during a period where Turkey is increasingly trying to find its place in the world, as the magnificent country straddles the boundary between east and west.

The gearbox recall for the 2015 Yamaha YZF-R1 was a massive undertaking. In total, the recall affected 2,921 motorcycles, with Yamaha estimating almost 16 hours of labor per bike in order to change out the gearbox. That’s a lot of shop time for each individual motorcycle.

That time isn’t cheap either, and the cost of the labor alone was somewhere around the $5 million mark. By the time you threw in the cost of the parts, the R1 recall likely cost Yamaha somewhere north of $10 million.

To get a sense of how long that recall work took, checkout this time-lapse video that a mechanic made while working on one of the affected superbikes. Be sure to note that the video spans two days of shop time. It’s quite the process.

The pace of development on the electric motorcycles at the Isle of Man TT has been astonishing, with each year seeing more and more progress on the lap times from the top teams.

This year, Team Mugen once again is the paddock favorite, with expectations of a 120+ mph lap resting on their shoulders. With two riders capable of such a lap, John McGhinness and Bruce Anstey, a lot of pressure has been on the Mugen squad to continue to raise the bar.

While Mugen has been the paddock favorites, we’ve seen strong showings from the Saroléa bike from Beligum, and Victory’s entry from the USA. Saroléa is in the hunt for a 120 mph lap, while Victory’s goal sees to get past the 115 mph lap marker.

While many thought the podium was set before the TT Zero race was even away, competitors found out the hard way that there is a reason we lineup to go racing, because anything can happen.

A crash at the Isle of Man TT is not a light affair, and more often than not, a mistake by a rider means grave bodily harm, and even death. The TT course is unforgiving like that, lined with houses, trees, posts, and all other manner of obstacles. This isn’t the Grand Prix, there are no run-offs.

James Cowton got this reminder the hard way, running wide on a turn during the Superstock TT race. In the video, you can see Cowton crashing into the barrier, and taking the sponsor banner with him. Cowton then rolls back into the racing line…right in front of Horst Saiger, who was trailing close behind.

Saiger manages to miss Cowton, only hitting the sprawling banner on the road with his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. This is a crash that with a difference of just millimeters could easily have meant the end for both riders.

Cowton walked away with bumps and bruises, and Horst finished the race in 13th place – his personal best. A very lucky crash, indeed.

If you have been following our Isle of Man TT coverage, then you already know that Michael Dunlop was the first rider to break the 133 mph lap barrier, the first rider to do a sub-17-minute lap time, and the outright fastest man ever around the Snaefell Mountain Course.

Mickey D would go on to win the Superbike TT race as well, setting a good tone to his Isle of Man TT race week.

Thanks to the miracle of on-board video technology, and the media-friendly forward-thinkers at the TT press office, we can bring you Michael Dunlop’s full record-setting lap.

If you have an extra 16 minutes and 58.254 seconds in your day, we suggest grabbing a beverage, cranking up the volume, and experiencing two-wheeled nirvana. Enjoy!

It’s been seven perfect days of weather at the Isle of Man TT, which is a rarity for the island nation, which sits in the turbulent Irish Sea. That has boded well for Saturday’s opening race, the RST Superbike TT, as riders have been putting in scorching laps so far this practice week.

All expectations were for a record lap to be set, especially after Ian Hutchinson set an “unofficial” outright lap record the day before during practice, but the question was from whom would the record be broken by officially, as a number of riders were showing good race pace.

Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you. That was the case for Chaz Davies at Donington Park today, as the Ducati rider found his Panigale R race bike going up in flames during FP2.

An unknown mechanical issue forced Davies to pull off the track, and not long after getting his bike to a stop did flames started erupting out of his Ducati Panigale R.

The bike was a total loss, and the whole ordeal cost Davies a valuable time during the practice session, but at least Davies didn’t have to abandon ship at full-speed – like Colin Edwards did on the Aprilia RS Cube.

The Erzbergrodeo is billed as motorcycling’s toughest single-day event, and it certainly lives up to the hype. Last year, only five competitors crossed the finish line, after the event organizers decided to “toughen up” the already grueling day of racing by adding the new “downtown” section.

With its iconic start out of the bottom of a open-pit iron mine, those riders that can make it up the mine’s walls are then a barraged by a numbers of hard enduro sections – it is easy to see why the hare scramble styled event is so popular with fans and competitors.

The 2016 edition of the Erzbergrodeo is this weekend (the main event is Sunday), and it is anyone’s guess as to who, and how many, of its competitors will even finish the race, let alone win it.

To get us pumped up for this weekend, event sponsor Red Bull has put together a video that tells the history of the off-road race. Enjoy it, after the jump.

Forgive us as we play into Alpinestars’ marketing game, as the video we are about to show was made strictly to help sell more motorcycle leathers. But still, it is also a great insight into a MotoGP rider that has been hogging headlines recently, Maverick Viñales.

Tipped by many in the paddock as the next alien, Viñales was the major roadblock in this year’s MotoGP contract negotiations, as the young Spaniard had a difficult time choosing to leave the factory Suzuki MotoGP team for the factory Yamaha outfit.

Viñales even tells of his thought process for that decision in the video, which is remarkably candid of him to do, especially considering that the media is a sponsor’s marketing video.

Other items of note is how Maverick Viñales nearly found himself racing MX bikes, instead of GP bikes. He also talks about how he trains on the motocross track with his girlfriend, Kiara Fontanesi, who also happens to be a four-time Women’s Motocross World Champion.

Long story short, the video is well worth a watch. Check it out after the jump.