Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

video

Browsing
Bikes

The MV Agusta Lewis Hamilton Dragster RR is Coming to a Burnout Near You

By 7 Comments

You remember the MV Agusta Dragster RR right? The Brutale 800 without a tail section? Of course you do…it was pretty bold design from MV Agusta, which is probably saying something, considering that the Varese brand tends to lead with design, rather than follow.

It turns out that Lewis Hamilton is a bit of a fan of the machines from MV Agusta – it also helps that AMG has a 20% interest in the Italian brand, and Hamiliton is the team’s star F1 driver, at least when teammate Nico Rosberg isn’t around – so, in true MV Agusta fashion, a special limited edition machine must be produced, right?

Behold, the Lewis Hamilton Dragster RR: a collaboration between the F1 World Champion and the Italian motorcycle marque. MV Agusta hasn’t quite revealed the machine yet, but this teaser video does a pretty good job of getting the point across. We took some stills, just in case the edits were too much for you.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Watch the Husqvarna 701 Supermoto Do Its Thang

By 9 Comments

Maybe it’s because my supermoto season officially ended this weekend (without me, I should add), with our last scheduled sumo session at the go-kart track here in Portland passing by this weekend, or maybe it’s because we just want the Swedish brand to deliver the Husqvarna 701 Supermoto already…either way, consider our appetite whetted by this last video from Husky.

Finally giving us a showing of the 701 Supermoto on a proper race track — not that the ice course with spiked tires wasn’t cool (no pun intended) — we get to see the 701 at home in its natural element: hitting apexes, sliding tires, and crushing lean angles.

We imagine that the nearly as powerful, and considerably lighter Husqvarna FS 450 supermoto would be the better weapon on the track, but the 690cc power plant on the Husqvarna 701 Supermoto is certainly the better choice for a machine that will roll a tire on public roads…and that’s sorta the point of the machine.

We’ll be eager to see this Husqvarna hit showrooms in Europe this November, and thus being the long wait for it to come to the USA in February 2016. Could the Husqvarna 701 Supermoto be the ultimate city hooligan bike? Time will tell…we’re certainly eager to find out, though.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Triumph Begins Teasing the Liquid-Cooled Bonneville

By 8 Comments

That headline is a bit of a misnomer, since the new liquid-cooled Triumph Bonneville has been “spied” for some time now in the media.

Triumph is at least capable of admitting that its hipster machine is getting an update now, releasing this teaser video that hints at “something big” coming our way – if liquid-cooling an engine is something big, then we couldn’t agree more.

Keep Reading
By
News

Ducati Asks “What is Black?” in New Teaser Campaign

By 20 Comments

In addition to the new Ducati 959 Panigale and the 937cc Ducati Hypermotards dropping today via CARB filings (OEMs control when those documents go public, by the way), we have more news from Ducati, namely its mysterious “This is Black” teaser campaign.

Complete with video that asks more questions than it answers, we know the campaign is tied to an EICMA reveal, since the debut date is the same day as Ducati’s press event in Milan.

What Bologna will announce though is a bit of a mystery, one whose solving is not aided by its accompanying press release and dedicated website.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Suter MMX500 Two-Stroke Beast Caught Testing

By 2 Comments

We may live in a four-stroke era, but the enthusiast-factor for two-strokes is extremely strong. One look at the popularity of our story on the Suter MMX500, a bike that hasn’t even been launched yet (or is that, re-launched?), confirms as much.

Narrow powerbands, high horsepower figures, and featherlight weights are three key ingredients to the strength of two-strokes. Huffing pre-mix helps too.

To help fuel that fire, no pun intended, we bring you this highly suspicious video of the Suter MMX500 “caught” testing. It seems staged, and that’s fine, just show us the damn bike already. Ra-dinnnng-a-ding-ding!

Keep Reading
By
News

Unfold Honda’s “Power of Dreams” in Paper

By 13 Comments

It’s easy to focus on what is right in front of us, but every now and then you have to stop and think about the past – and a company like Honda certainly has a storied past.

Honda helped contribute to the rise of a post-WWII Japanese economy. It has built some of the most iconic vehicles in modern time, some of them two-wheeled, some of them not.

And for as much grief we give Big Red sometimes, it is one of the few brands in the motorcycle industry that truly sets the tone for everyone else. When Honda talks, everyone listens.

Maybe that’s what makes this short video from Honda, which debuted on Sunday during primetime football, so appealing to us – both as lovers of motorcycles, but also good branding.

The commercial is clever and well executed, and in less than two minutes it not only reminds us of the pedigree that is the Honda brand, but also of all the milestones the company has achieved in what will be 67 years at the end of this week. Pretty impressive stuff.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Ducati Monster 1200 R – Powerfully Naked

By 19 Comments

As promised, the Ducati Monster 1200 R debuted today, making this new top-of-the-line Monster the most powerful naked bike ever from the Bologna brand.

Helping Ducati with that powerful claim is the use of the 160hp Testastretta 11° DS engine on the Monster 1200R, which is an interesting choice, as it’s not the DVT units found on the new Ducati Multistrada 1200.

Helping Testastretta motor are large oval throttle bodies, 58mm exhaust ports, and a compression ratio of 13:1. The Monster 1200 R is still EURO 4 homologated though, making the machine both powerful and friendly to the environment.

Other noticeable enhancements for the “R” model are the new tail and front section designs, along with revised chassis that includes higher-spec Öhlins suspension, fore and aft.

For good measure, the wheels are forged aluminum Marchesini units, which should help make the 456 lbs (curb) mass of the motorcycle move a little more easily.

Available in either “Ducati” Red or “Thrilling” Black, the 2016 Ducati Monster 1200 R will be available at dealers in early 2016, says Ducati North America.

Keep Reading
By
Dirt

Watch Only Five Competitors Finish the 2015 Erzbergrodeo

By 5 Comments

The Erzbergrodeo billed as the toughest single-day motorcycle race on the planet – a name the race more than live up to each year. For 2015 though, Sunday’s Red Bull Hare Scramble, as its known to the marketing-hip, was something out of Dante’s seven circles of Hell.

500 riders qualified for the main event, a number that was whittled down from the 1,500 entries. Of those 500 riders though, only 5 of them finished the course, known better as “The Iron Giant”.

Though the Erzbergrodeo is known for its low-finishing rate, this year’s event was extra difficult because the race organizers added an additional 21 miles to its length, including the new “Downtown” section, which was a virtually impassable with its ravine and steep muddy hill.

With four co-winners (Jonny Walker, Graham Jarvis, Andreas Lettenbichler, and Alfredo Gómez), and a fifth lone finisher (Mario Roman Serrano), we bet this will be a race talked about for some time. Luckily if you missed it on TV, we have the full TV episode right here, after the jump. Enjoy!

Keep Reading
By
MotoGP

Hitting the Apex – Mark Neale’s New Movie About MotoGP

By 24 Comments

MotoGP fans should recognize the name Mark Neale, as he has produced some of the sport’s most popular movies, such as Faster, The Doctor, The Tornado and The Kentucky Kid, the sequel Fastest, and now Hitting the Apex.

Continuing the timeline of Neale’s films, Hitting the Apex chronicles six riders: Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner, Marco Simoncelli, and Marc Marquez.

The movie picks-up just as Valentino Rossi is making his way from Yamaha to Ducati, carries us into the start of the 2015 season, and touches on the major events of those seasons. Neale as always provides a good balance between making MotoGP appealing to non-enthusiasts, while keeping plenty on the table for avid fans.

We’ll do a full review closer to the movie’s debut, but we think that fans and soon-to-be-fans will enjoy the two-hour film. We certainly did.

After the jump is the trailer for Hitting the Apex, and you will note it is narrated by Brad Pitt, who Neale tells us was instrumental behind-the-scenes in getting the movie released.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

James Hillier Talks About Taking a Lap Around the Isle of Man TT Course Aboard the Kawasaki Ninja H2R

By 9 Comments

What is it like to ride a supercharged 300hp hyperbike around the Isle of Man TT? Somewhat terrifying, and that’s coming from a guy who does it for a living: James Hillier.

As you might know, Hillier rode a Kawasaki Ninja H2R around the Isle of Man TT road course as part of an exhibition lap during this last TT fortnight, much to the delight of fans lining the Manx hedgerows.

Now we can relive that experience, since Kawasaki put together a short video on James’ impressions riding the supercharged carbon fiber beast, complete with on-board footage. Enjoy!

Keep Reading
By
Lifestyle

Watch These Urals Ford the River, Oregon Trail Style

By 9 Comments

I don’t really get the people who obsess about riding a Ural – a Russian knock-off of a German sidecar just doesn’t strike me as an enjoyable time on a motorcycle.

Of course, my saddle time on a Ural has been relegated to around-town and highway riding, which isn’t really the Ural’s domain of choice. These Cossack bikes really shine off-road, where their funky WWII-era 2WD design becomes an asset, not a hinderance.

Add to the fact that Urals are bone-simple to work on — owning a Ural means you will be wrenching on it, a lot, by the way — and you’ve got a motorcycle that’s well-suited to the rough-and-tumble lifestyle of where the road ends…especially when the road ends in a river.

Attempting to ford the river, Oregon Trail style, these Ural owners are experiencing all that the Russian marque has to offer. Seeing is believing, after the jump.

Keep Reading
By