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2014 Yamaha MT-09 Street Rally – Three Cylinders of Hoon

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We wouldn’t call it a new model from Yamaha, but one of the new releases from the tuning fork brand at the 2013 EICMA show is the 2014 Yamaha MT-09 Street Rally.

A collection of bolt-on pieces for your Yamaha MT-09 (that’s the Yamaha FZ-09 for us Americans), the Yamaha MT-09 Street Rally started life as dealer-made bike in Europe, but Yamaha liked it so much it has become an official option when buying the new three-cylinder street bike.

A pretty aggressive working over on the otherwise conservative MT-09, the Street Rally includes new fuel tank shrouds, side number plates, and fork covers, which give the MT-09 a more supermotard look.

The Yamaha MT-09 Street Rally is also trimmed in a “Tech Graphite” paint scheme; and lastly, headlight covers, knuckle guards, along with wider footrests and a slimmer seat complete the package.

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Bikes

More Photos and Video of the 2014 Kawasaki Z1000

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We already showed you the first glimpse of the 2014 Kawasaki Z1000 two weeks ago, but with just a few days until the start of the 2013 EICMA show, Kawasaki’s new naked bike is giving us the full monty, courtesy of Japan’s Mr. Bike. Getting a chance to film the new Kawasaki Z1000 with up-close panning shots, we are even treated to the new Z’s exhaust note.

For the new model year, things seem to be mainly an aesthetic overhaul — the great internet debate is now whether the new Z1000 retains its predecessor’s 136hp motor, or whether the machine gets the 140hp lump from the Kawasaki Z1000SX. One would presume the latter, though both engines are of the same ilk and difficult to distinguish from visually.

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Bikes

First Photos & Video of the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800

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The 2013 EICMA show is just a couple days away, and the first OEM on the docket to reveal its new models is MV Agusta. We already know what MV Agusta’s big reveal is the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800, which will be a high-sitting sport-touring machine, complete with hard-bags, that features the company’s 800cc three-cylinder engine.

Teasing the new model now in a video, we can get our first glimpse at what MV Agusta has been cooking up back in Varese. Fusing the three-pipe exhaust of the MV Agusta F3 with the squared-off exhaust tips of the MV Agusta F4, MV Agusta has taken many design elements from its other models to make the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 — note the Rivale handguards and signals, for instance.

We’ll let the video and screen grabs do the rest of the talking, but a couple features of note are the full-LED headlight, Sachs semi-active suspension, and what looks like some sort of Bluetooth / cellphone connection system. We like what we see, and we like what we hear…Monday can’t come soon enough.

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MotoGP

Video: Kazutoshi Seki, The Man Behind Rossi’s Electronics

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The role that electronics plays in MotoGP cannot be underestimated. Every aspect of bike performance depends on how well the the systems monitoring the bikes read the data, interpret it, and then modulate the power as it is applied to the road through the rear tire.

Despite their performance, the systems which provide that control are kept carefully hidden from the public, and the people behind those systems remain anonymous.

Yamaha has sought to change this, producing a video spotlighting the work of Kazutoshi Seki, the engine control engineer for Valentino Rossi. The two have worked together at Yamaha since 2004, when Rossi first joined the factory, and again since Rossi’s return after his two-year hiatus at Ducati.

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Lifestyle

Trailer: Why We Ride

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Though the trailer to Why We Ride has been around for some time now, we have been getting emails about the two-wheeled documentary ever since its limited screening at the AIMExpo in Orlando, Florida. Encompassing every form of the motorcycling lifestyle, all accounts we have heard about the film say its a feel-good movie with a positive message about motorcycles. Think of it as a recruitment film for future motorcyclists.

Screenings of Why We Ride are limited though, with the movie set to debut in New York and Los Angeles, and with future screenings being held in the Southern California area. Hopefully the Why We Ride team can add other locales to the list. If they want to have a screening in San Francisco, Asphalt & Rubber is down to help with that. The trailer is after the jump. Enjoy!

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Bikes

On-Board Video of the Ducati 899 Panigale at Imola

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Asphalt & Rubber may not have been in Bologna for the international press launch for the Ducati 899 Panigale “super-mid” sport bike, so unfortunately we can’t give you any first-hand experience with Ducati’s newest sport bike (newest for a little while longer, at least).

However, we are in luck because Ducati test rider Alessandro Valia was on-hand for the event, and did some hot laps for the camera. A super nice guy and a very talented rider, we met Valia earlier this year at the Ducati 1199 Panigale R press launch, where he helped us find the right lines around the very technical Circuit of the Americas.

Now, Valia takes us for a spin around one of Italy’s most iconic circuits, Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari — or as it is better know, Imola. No music, to fast-cuts, just a bike being ridden hard on a sunny afternoon. Enjoy!

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Lifestyle

Stan Dibben, No Ordinary Passenger

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With all the negative attention that motorcycling has been receiving in the mainstream consciousness lately, we are looking at you Hollywood Stuntz, we thought it would be prudent to highlight some positive press our beloved sport has received recently. As such, here is a great video-short by the New York Times that features Stan Dibben, winner of the World Sidecar Championship in 1953.

Mr. Dibben personifies just about every sidecar driver and passenger we have ever met: brazen, fearless, and slightly daft. You would have to be a combination of those three elements to do the things sidecar racers do on the motorway, even more so to do it on 1950’s machinery. Take seven minutes from your day, and enjoy this well done production from the NY Times.

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Banter

Insane Video of a Bikejacking at Gunpoint in Brazil

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This might be the most intense video we have ever seen, which says a lot considering the recent events in NYC. Riding through traffic in São Paulo on his Honda CB600F Hornet, this Brazilian motorcyclist gets a surprise as he merger into a new lane, as pair of hijackers pull-up next to him on another bike, grab for his handlebars, and demand to have his motorcycle at gunpoint.

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