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2011 marks another iteration of the venerable Suzuki GSX-R platform, with the GSX-R600 and GSX-R750 getting an overhaul that sees both bikes’ weight lowered to near anorexic levels. Starting with first with the GSX-R750, it’s hard to believe though that this superbike, along with the GSX-R1000 & GSX-R600 can trace their heritage back 26 years, with many of those years being at the pinnacle of motorcycle performance, racing, and design.

To commemorate and highlight the company’s achievements, Suzuki has put together this short video that underlines the models that have come from the GSX-R’s rich history. Some of the technical achievements are pretty astounding when you see when they occurred (for example, electronically adjusted suspension (NEAS) in 1986…that’s just now becoming an optional feature on consumer streetbikes). It’s a pretty neat history lesson on one of the most recognizable brands in the sportbike market. Check it out after the jump.

Motus Motorcycles has just released the second part of its Daytona launch video, which unlike the first version, is chalked full of close-up and detail shots of the Motus MST and the performance-packed Motus MST-R. The Daytona Bike Week was the public launch of the new American-made sport-tourer, which features the KMV4 1,645cc V4 pushrod motor with gasoline direct injection. Motus’s approach with the KMV4 is to take a page out of America’s rich hot-rodding tradition, and therefore has built a power plant that tuners and hobbiests should find the designs of familiar.

Helping Motus build this tiny buy powerful engine is Pratt & Miller Engineering, who have made a name for themselves building all sorts of racing engines, including those from the C6R Corvette Racing squad, which coincidently also uses a pushrod design. This has lead to many calling the KMV4 as simply half a Corvette motor, which the math doesn’t really support, but the philosophy surely does.

Next for the Motus crew is a ride around the United States that will not only serve as an R&D/proving method for the new bikes, but will also help drum-up interested buyers and the much needed dealers to get the motorcycle company launched off the ground. We’re looking forward to seeing the 161hp sport-tourer come to San Francisco, we just hope the rumors we’ve been hearing of a $30,000+ price tag aren’t true. Get ready to bust out your “V4” gang signs, as the video is after the jump.

In case you missed yesterday’s big news, the Circuit of the Americas track (the new world class venue being built outside of Austin, TX) has signed a 10-year deal to host motorcycling’s premier racing series starting in 2013. Securing both MotoGP and Formula 1 right out of the gates is a huge coup for the Texan track, and the prospect of having potentially three American-based GP’s is tantalizing to any motorcycle enthusiast that bleeds red, white, and blue (we guess having F1 return to American soil is pretty cool too).

With less than 24 hours since its announcement, the Austin track has already thrown together a promotional video that outlines the circuit’s facilities, features, and of course whets our appetite for the 2013 Austin GP (or is it Texan GP?). Check it out after the jump, and be sure to clear out some space on your 2013 calendar.

The Piaggio Group launched the 2011 Aprilia Tuono V4 R to the press this past weekend in Valencia, letting the maximum power street-naked out of its shell for the first time. We’ve already hypothesized that electronics are the new horsepower, but Aprilia is seemingly hedging its bets, supplying the Tuono V4 R with not only its WSBK derived APRC electronics package, but also 167hp on tap.

What’s not to like about a bike distilled from the potent Aprilia RSV4, right? Well it does have a face only a mother could love, but we’ve got plenty of paper bags to fix that problem if one shows up in our garage. The mother load of pictures is after the jump (how does the yellow paint grab you?), along with a fairly painful to watch promo video (really guys, we need to stop with the 30 second “dive! dive! dive!” warning horn).

Launched at the 2010 EICMA show, Ducati has updated its top-of-the-line Monster for 2011, creating the Ducati Monster 1100 EVO. Distinguishing itself with the return of the shotgun style exhaust, the 2011 Ducati Monster 1100 EVO takes an aesthetic revision to the iconic two-valve v-twin motorcycle. With an even 100hp on tap, the 373 lbs machine should be a fun city romper, and comes packed with features like Ducati’s ABS, traction control, and data acquisition system.

We’ll have to wait until the Monster 1100 EVO makes it stateside to get our first glimpses of the street naked, and see how it compares to its predecessors. Until then though, feast your eyes on 15 images of the new Monster, along with a promotional video.

Here’s something to start your work week off on the right foot: a short film by Michael Schmidt that features Garage Company, a vintage motorcycle shop in Inglewood, California. Done as a promotion for the Born Free 3 gathering, Schmidt profiles shop owner Yoshi Kosaka, who started Garage Company back in 1987 as a way to store his ever-growing motorcycle collection.

With Yoshi working on his bikes in his shop, one thing lead to another, and what had been a hobby started becoming a business, and well…the rest is history (if you don’t already know it, the whole story is actually pretty neat, and you can read it on Garage Company’s site).

There’s a feel good vintage vibe to Schmidt’s vidoe, which seems to jive well with Yoshi’s down-to-earth classic motorcycle shop. Check out this great video after the jump, and get ready for some old-school motorcycle treats.

While the 2011 Suzuki GSV-R may look the same on the outside as the 2010 machine, but as Rizla Suzuki Team Manager Paul Denning explains, nearly everything on the bike has either been changed, modified, or optimized for the new season. In all fairness, the team really has just continued development of their current race package, but it is interesting to see what changes they’ve made to be more competitive in the 2011 season.

With the team showing improvement and promise during testing at Qatar, Álvaro Bautista’s unfortunate injury will, in the best of conditions, only delay any sort of progress on the results sheets for the GP team. Still Rizla Suzuki managed to score some points with John Hopkins at the helm during a rainy and crash-happy Spanish GP, but Denning and his crew are shooting for better results this season with their single-rider team. Check out the video after the jump as the Rizla Suzuki boss man explains the 2011 Suzuki GSV-R.

A quick hat tip to the folks making these rider videos at Alpinestars (& Lexar this time around), as they always seem to come out telling a good story about our favorite motorcycle riders. Up again is another video with Ben Spies, whose determination and focus on winning a MotoGP race & MotoGP Championship are again evident with his spoken conviction. Spies also talks about why he rides bicycles in his downtime, and we get a pretty good look at his swank bachelor pad in Dallas. All-in-all it seems to be the good life for the Texan, but after last weekend’s race, we’re sure there’s a lot of “what if’s” going on in his mind.

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Repsol Honda has debuted a new advertisement to go in-line with the MotoGP Championship stopping in Jerez, Spain this weekend. Drawing on the petroleum company’s sponsored riders in GP racing, we see Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso, and Marc Márquez making an appearance for their benefactor. We can only imagine the acting direction that must have been given to the riders for this video: “Marc, you’re the youngest so no talking and only use your hands. Dani, divide a really big number by another really big number while staring off into space. Andrea, you’re hot, so very, very, very hot…do something about it. Casey, you’re a sweaty boy, and everyone knows it.”

While we don’t speak a lot of Spanish here in the A&R office, we imagine the real message here is about teamwork, winning, and using Spanish gasoline…at least that’s what we’re hoping for, and that this is not the making of a motorcycle-themed boy band music video. Honestly though, it’s a pretty cool video with the slow-motion shots, and luckily for Repsol it looks like they have a good chance of being on the podium this weekend to go along with this campagin. Check out the making of this video after the jump, as it looks like there’s some A-quality footage still to be used. Do we smell a sequel coming on?

There you are, riding your dirt bike through the grocery store with reckless abandon, and just as you are bout to weave through the aisles and head for the sliding-door exit, the darn thing doesn’t open in time, and you go crashing into it. You’d think in modern society we could make automated sliding glass doors in supermarkets that can pick up punk kids riding their two-wheelers through the market, but we can’t, and the world is the lesser for it.

While we wait for this pressing technological breakthrough to occur, here comes a video of a kid in Australia who had just this very same problem. We don’t really know the “why” but we’ve got a pretty good glimpse at the “how” in this story, and we’re pretty sure he’ll be ground well into his next lifetime.

Slap! And that’s what happened when Max Biaggi stopped by Marco Melandri’s pit box after qualifying, after the two riders traded moments stuffing each other during the Superpole sessions. While out on his fastest lap in Superpole 2, Marco Melandri came onto the slower lapping Max Biaggi, and according to Melandri, Biaggi blocked his fellow Italians fast lap.

Subsequently, Melandri returned the favor on Biaggi’s fast lap attempt, while Biaggi would go on to do the same to Noriyuki Haga (and others reportedly) as well. After Superpole concluded however, it was Melandri that got The Emperor’s wroth in the paddock, as the reigning World Superbike Champion stopped by the Yamaha pit, and gave Melandri a couple of light slaps on the face during a worded exchange. Video after the jump.