In what will surely encourage squids around the world to push the limits on public roads, the now infamous RNickeyMouse brings us another video from Mulholland.
Our protagonist brings his Yamaha R1 around, and while dragging his knee on the J-Turn corner, grabs a GoPro camera that has been placed on the double-yellow line.
As the video description advises, do not try this…you will crash.
It’s been a tough season on the Bonneville Salt Flats, as the weather has played havoc on the narrow window that land-speed record pursuers have to operate. One of the groups looking to make history is Triumph, which is looking to break the 400 mph mark on a motorcycle.
Campaigning the Triumph Castrol Rocket, with Jason DiSalvo at the helm, Triumph hoped to be speeding down the salt these past few weeks, but instead the team has been rained out of competition thus far.
There are still opportunities remaining this year for the Triumph Castrol Rocket squad, the next being the rescheduled Mike Cook’s Bonneville Shootout, which will take place on October 5th thru 10th, where the streamliners two Triumph Rocket III engines will roar again search for the outright two-wheeled record.
Husqvarna as a brand is seeing new life within KTM, albeit currently as dressed up KTM and Husaberg models. Still, Husky fans have to be happy to see the once Swedish brand living with some stability in its life. Nixing bikes like the Husqvarna Nuda, as well as the Husqvarna Moab and Husqvarna Baja concepts, the Husky reboot has been absent of on-road machines.
The Husqvarna FS 450 doesn’t really change that reality, as the supermoto comes in race-only trim (it’s really just a KTM 450 SX-F with the appropriate SM modifications), but the FS 450 certainly is a good start in that direction.
Supermotos might be the most fun you can have on two wheels, and Husqvarna’s video makes us hope that a ‘tard finds its way to the US market, with lights and turn signals preferably.
The supercharged Kawasaki H2 teasers continue to come from Team Green, though none since the “sound video” have really given anything away about the new sport bike. Today’s video, the fifth installment, doesn’t really whet our appetite either, though we thought we’d share it for one good reason, the Kawasaki River Mark logo.
There is something fundamental that motorcycle enthusiasts have to understand about the Japanese manufacturers, and that is the fact that their motorcycle business constitutes a very small portion of the companies’ overall operations and incomes.
Historically, the motorcycle divisions of the Big Four have been the epicenter for corporate bragging between these Japanese conglomerates — they told all of Japan, “look what we can do.”
In the case of Kawasaki, it is truly only a small part of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which builds ships, heavy equipment, aerospace parts, trains, and even parts for nuclear power plants. There aren’t too many industries where Kawasaki doesn’t have an interest, and its motorcycle division is where it shows off its technological prowess…at least, that’s how it used to be.
At the end of this month, Kawasaki is set to debut a supercharged sport bike, which the Japanese company says will be a game-changing event.
We’ve already seen the Kawasaki H2’s supercharged inline-four engine, as well as the supercharger’s patent, and Team Green has even been kind enough to send us the H2’s exhaust note as well.
Continuing to tease the new Ninja’s debut video short web videos, Kawasaki is finally giving us an idea of what to expect visually from the new H2.
Making an homage to the big-displacement motorcycle of Kawasaki’s past, you’ll want to watch the video after the jump. We’ve enhanced a screen grab for you as well.
As expected, Nicky Hayden will not be at the Misano round of MotoGP. In a video posted on Youtube by the Drive M7 Aspar team, Nicky Hayden discusses the progress he has made in recovering from the major wrist surgery he underwent after the Sachsenring. His recovery is going well, and Hayden has already been back riding dirt track bikes.
The ride was to test his wrist, at the request of his doctors, and Hayden said his wrist was holding up as expected. Riding dirt track is very different to riding a MotoGP bike, however, and Hayden is not yet fit enough to do that.
That means Leon Camier will ride Hayden’s Honda RCV1000R at least one more time at Misano. Hayden hopes to be fit enough to ride again at the Motorland Aragon round in three weeks time.
Continuing to build the buzz around its newest sport bike, Kawasaki has sent us a sound clip of the new H2 motorcycle, which the company will debut at the upcoming INTERMOT show.
Team Green has been pretty tight-lipped about the Kawasaki H2, though there have been plenty of clues sprinkled around for us to suss out that it will be a sport bike with a supercharged inline-four engine.
Listening to the provided sound clip seems to confirm our notion that Kawasaki’s new supercharger system is at work.
Kawasaki is teasing a new model today, which it will unveil at the upcoming INTERMOT show in October. Called the Kawasaki H2, the name harkens back to a pivotal time in Kawasaki’s motorcycle history, where the Japanese company made one of the most highly regarded line of sport bikes of its time.
While the video itself reveals very little in information, and only a couple looks at the machine, the teaser website provides us with a little more information.
Hidden in the website is the following phrase: “The Ninja H2 was not designed with meeting regulations a primary concern. Kawasaki’s latest flagship is the result of a pure exercise in pushing the limits of motorcycle technology with the goal of creating the ideal road sports bike.”
The Yamaha YZF-R1 is a fantastic machine, in just about any iteration you can find. A potent weapon on the track, the R1 might not have all the bells and whistles that are found on European superbikes, but the Japanese liter-bike makes up for it with precision handling, great reliability, and gobs of tractable power.
This is great for two-wheeled enthusiasts, who ride the twisties or at local track days, but Yamaha’s crown jewel poses as a tough mark to beat when someone goes looking for something “more” from the design. DR Moto might have that answer though, for track enthusiasts who want something closer to what they see on Sunday’s race day, without the compromises that come with production/street machines.
Still recovering from wrist surgery, where three bones were taken out of his wrist, Nicky Hayden and the Drive M7 Aspar Team are being cautious about returning the American too quickly to racing action.
This meant that the Kentucky Kid missed the Czech GP, and he will also be sitting out MotoGP’s next stop, which is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
While Leon Camier will continues to fill in for Hayden, MotoGP fans will be pleased to hear that the 2006 MotoGP World Champion hopes to be back in action in time for the San Marino GP at Misano, September 14th.
Hayden gave his fans an update on the status of his wrist, his recovery to racing form, and his plans for the rest of season in short a video on social media. It’s after the jump.