moto-vation

movin' on up

2008-03-07T22:36:00.002-05:00

after a few months at blogger, i’ve decided to move the site to wordpress.

the new site address is motovation.wordpress.com

wordpress is easier to use and i liked this theme. i’m currently migrating the posts over so there may be some broken links and formatting irregularities.

sorry for the inconvenience. and please update ur bookmarks and feed.

motogp's night light

2008-02-26T21:00:00.009-05:00

motogp will be kicking off this season in a rather unique way. qatar will be the first track to hold a premier class motorsports event under the lights (nascar has been doing this for years but they are far from premier let alone class). teams will have a chance to acclimate to the new conditions this thurs during an official two day test.

losail international circuit teamed up with american lighting specialists musco sports lighting to accomplish this enormous challenge. they basically had to light the whole facility but without causing shadows. this required 3700 lighting sources and enough electricity to power 3000 homes or 5.4 megawatts. that's a shit ton of energy!!! only in qatar...

last year, several riders have already had a crack at the circuit albeit under partial lighting conditions and they seemed to be happy with it. teams will have to adjust to the change in time, lower track temps, and the lights. the race will be held around midnight, ten hours later than usual. and since the track is in the middle of a desert, the temps will be lower with higher humidity than a day race which means grip could be an issue. hopefully, riders will be able to adapt to the lights and all will be well.

to me, motogp under the lights is a gimmick. it cheapens the sport making it more of a spectacle. the unique conditions will either influence or worse overshadow the racing. and why spend all this money and energy to hold a race at night? at a time when global warming and recession are on everyone's minds, qatar rubs their frivolity and extravagance in our face.

(man, this turned into a depressing post...)

all things aside, i'm just happy to see motogp racing is only 12 days away!!! hit the switch, carmelo!!!

wsbk/wss qatar roundup

2008-02-25T01:34:00.007-05:00

what a fantastic day of racing in the desert!!! so many things to cover...

superbike

ducati's 1098rs faired fairly well in its debut. no engines self-destructed and they somewhere between more-than-competitive and dominant.

former wsbk champ troy bayliss on the factory ducati took race 1 (on the last lap no less) with max biaggi and troy corser rounding out the podium. this was a great result since this is the only track that ducati hasn't won at. in race 2, alstare suzuki rider fonsi nieto captured his first wsbk win followed by a trio of ducati's (ruben xaus, biaggi, and bayliss, respectively).

3 out of the top 4 bikes were italian in both races. will these results give officials a reason to penalize the duc's? probably not. but if we see them dominate phillip island next week we could see the bologna bullets get a pack on some pounds.

i was surprised to the suzuki battling at the sharp end. in both races, an alstare suzukis was was leading the race at one point. they looked incredibly fast down the 1200m main straight besting both the ducati's and yamaha's.

the yamaha's got off to great starts in both races but faded at the midpoint. corser managed a disappointing 3rd in race 1 but couldn't muster anything in the second. haga, in race 1, uncharacteristically overreacted to biaggi's hard pass and duffed it as a result. just get on with it. he was an also-run in race 2.

speaking of also-runs... honda and kawasaki made no impression on me this weekend. they looked to be struggling with setup as soon as they took the bikes off the trailer. i guess i shouldn't be surprised. for some reason both manufactures delivered bikes late which impeded testing.

best moment: bayliss staring down biaggi's desperate counterattack in the last corner. priceless.

supersport

what can i say, supersport is unpredictable. there's always plenty of action!!!

the factory r6's were 1-2 for the most of the race with a hodgepodge of bikes behind. fabien foret had a commanding lead until he ran out of petrol on final lap. talk about frustrating. then it was a dash to the finish between foret's teammate broc parkes and honda rider joan lascroz. parkes narrowly took the win with an incredible draft pass down the main straight. craig jones took the final podium position.

an incredible crash on the 2nd lap between hannspree ten kate teammates jonathon rea and andrew pitt. rea's rear tire stepped out as he was exiting turn 3 (i think) and consequently viscously flicked him off. pitt was closely following and there was no way to avoid the carnage. he was punted over the bars and looked in bad shape.

it wouldn't be a proper moto-vation article if there was no mention of the 675. briefly, triumph scored their first wss points with be1 racing's ivan clementi's 12th place finish. garry mccoy on the factory bike looked impressive climbing his way up to a best 5th position but subsequently suffered engine failure (overheating???). in addition, mark aitchison was doing well until he crashed out. all in all, the 675 is raceworthy but it's still in development.

best moment: parkes pipping lascroz on the last lap.

next week is phillip island. can't wait. the motorcycling season hath begun which means spring is right around the corner!!!

aprilia reveal next gen superbike

2008-02-22T23:39:00.005-05:00

aprilia has been on hard times lately but the italian bike maker is slowly making a comeback. scooter giant piaggio acquired the struggling company several years ago and the investment appears to be paying off... big time.

aprilia is revamping its product line. they just released the much anticipated shiver 750 streetfighter and today they unveiled the successor to the flagship rsv 1000 - the rsv 4.

the rsv 4 is bad ass.

bold statement, i know. but it's a bold looking bike. like a cross between a stealth fighter and motocycle.

developed in aprilia's skunk works, the 1000cc v-4 engine is a technological powerhouse. u know what other bike has this same type

of engine? the ultra-exotic ducati desmosedici rr motogp repli-racer (oh and the honda vfr1000, but that's besides the point). aprilia claim it'll be making at least 200hp and employ ride-by-wire, aka traction control. hope the engine management is better than their failed rs^cube motogp machine. it'll make it's debut late this season in wsbk and be ready for the street in '09. homologation rulz!!!

from marcello's picasa album:

and click here for the movie!

read

triumph-sc unveil livery

2008-02-22T22:58:00.008-05:00

it's not that big of a deal for most of u but it is for me so :P

the factory boys finally unveiled their paint scheme in qatar during fri practice. gone is the monotone silver of preseason testing. triumph-sc are sporting a classy blue-silver-black paint job. triumph stickers must've been on sale because there are about a bajillion of them all over the bike. "lookin' good, billy ray!"

furthermore, franco farne went with tried and trued temignoni for the exhaust. amazing the influence this guy has. the whole triumph675.net community couldn't get akra to develop a can... franco gets what franco wants. i want one too!

in related news, garry mccoy lead the triumph charge in qualifying setting the 7th fastest time of the day. he was closely followed by fellow triumph and be-1 racing rider ivan clementi who was a tenth behind. atcho brought up the rear in 11th ahead of some reasonable talent. amazing that all triumph bikes qualified ahead of suzuki and kawasaki. booyah suckas!!! the race will be held sat instead of the normal sunday (crazy muslims) and hopefully we'll see a little of this from mr mccoy:

zx-10r cleans up good too!

2008-02-22T00:34:00.004-05:00

so a few days ago i posted on how much better the race version of the honda cbr1000rr looks compared to the street. to say the least, the stock exhaust was horrendous.

the same goes for the kawasaki zx-10r. a humungous unwieldy exhaust scarred the bike's aesthetics. factory wsbk team psg-1 racing fixed this by installing a custom akrapovic exhaust (no '08 zx10r product on the site yet) and it looks good. zx-10r owners will be clamoring for this exhaust as soon as it's released.

too bad looks don't count in racing. kawasaki is struggling to find a setup for this weekend's race in qatar. not a good way to start the season.

stoner again making it look easy - official irta test

2008-02-18T00:12:00.012-05:00

current world champ, casey stoner, started off this season like he ended the last one - on top of the podium and winning a bmw.

the motogp season officially kicked off this weekend with the jerez irta test that extends until monday. stuck in the middle is the bmw m award, a mini-competition to set the fastest lap during the sunday afternoon session. the winner gets the keys to a brand new z4 m roadster and bragging rights for the rest of season.

heading into the weekend, michelin looked extremely competitive locking in the top 5 spots in the saturday session. nicky hayden, randy de puniet, and james toseland impressed me the most setting a quick pace on less than ideal equipment. remember, all these riders are using last year's spring-valve engines while the likes of rossi and stoner are riding the latest kit. rossi and stoner were down in 8th and 9th, respectively, which was perplexing.

conditions deteriorated over night and rains soaked the track for sundays' test sessions. the wet track made for a rather boring m award competition. riders were tip-toeing the bikes around trying to avoid an off and injury. stoner set the fastest lap of the day with a 1'49.263 on his 5th lap (of only 9) with 26 mins left in the session. it was then a matter of the field playing catch up. rossi managed a 1'50.580 in the tricky conditions as a dry line was slowly developing. it boggles my mind (and probably the rest of the field's) that stoner can run so few laps yet be so fast. as rossi and melandri said earlier this week, stoner is the master of traction control and it showed sunday afternoon.

even though there's still a day left in the test, my faith in randy de puniet was restored saturday with a stupendously fast time on qualifiers that was almost 2 sec quicker than last year's pole. furthermore, his pace on race tires wasn't too shabby either. i'm calling it right now that the "crash king" will be the most improved rider for '08 and will be at the sharp end of the grid. lucio cecchinello may have another ace in his hand like he did 2 two years ago.

[UPDATE] randy continued his quick pace on race and qualifying tires on mon. he had the fastest 5 lap stint and the 4th fastest single lap time.

cbr1000rr: from bland to bitchin'

2008-02-17T02:13:00.011-05:00

don't get me wrong, honda's cbr1000rr aka fireblade is some serious kit. it has been given a major update this year and journo's have given it stellar reviews despite the stiff competition. great engine, great suspension, great controls, great styl... fuck no!!! the styling is atrocious!!! it makes cream-of-wheat seem interesting. the bike lost all the aggressiveness and sportiness of the previous generation. gone is the underseat exaust and cat-like mug. now we have a bike with a bulbous erect prick for an exhaust, featureless side fairings, and droopy-eyed headlights. totally disappointed.

that is until i peeped the race-prepped version...

the short motogp-inspired exhaust looks great and clearing off the license plate assembly cleans up the tail.

below is a video from mcn that show a little more detail of the ten kate bikes. looks like they're sporting an arrow exhaust that will hopefully trickle down to the consumer. sexy. sexy.

be1 racing ready for battle

2008-02-15T01:17:00.004-05:00

earlier this week in qatar, triumph be1 racing fired a warning shot across the wss paddock's bow. they took part in a preseason test just 10 days before the start of the 2008 season to work on bike setup and tire testing. one would think the 675 would behind in development but it looks like it'll be competitive right from the get go.

rookie rider, mark aitchison, posted the fastest time of 2'03.1 ahead of some notable riders like fujiwara, walker, and notably his teammate, ivan clementi (1+ sec back). respect!!! [/ali_g]

mark aitchison

[translated/google]"Although the work has been to prepare for the race, I managed to pull an excellent time which I repeated on several occasions. I'm really satisfied with the team and the team are working very good and I hope to continue on this path. I have reached a good basic set up that gives me confidence prior to my debut."

ivan clementi

[translated/google]"We worked very hard to get useful data to understand the reactions of the bike on this track, the right relationship and the wear on tires. This data will help us tackle the race. Unfortunately at the end day when I had the track to myself to put some fast laps in, I encountered a technical problem that forced me into the pits."

note: i'm unsure if all the teams were here for this test as the press release only contained 4 positions.

coffee talk with masao furasawa

2008-02-13T00:12:00.012-05:00

i can hear it now. yamaha's engineering gm, masao furasawa, dressed in drag and talking in a jewpanese-brooklyn accent. i swear it's the weather...

is it me or does it seem that the teams in the motogp paddock have been unusually candid during the preseason tests?

ducati said they didn't really change anything while yamaha and honda are looking for a little more power out of their pneumatic valve engines. are the teams trying to psych each other out or is this for realz???

furusawa revealed that they picked up 5 hp since last year but they want/need 3-4 more by the jerez test. he also confessed that the use of pneumatic-valves is far from an obvious engineering choice.

"From the theoretical point of view we don't need to use the pneumatic valves, because the rev limit is around 19,000 rpm [achievable with valve-springs].

"Basically the engine shape is also still the same and, even though we changed the cylinder head, the centre of gravity location is almost the same as well. Of course some of the internal parts are different, because otherwise we cannot increase the horsepower."

so why did they go with the pneumatic valve system? are they looking to push the rev-limit past 20k or increase reliability?

furasawa also adamantly denied development of a "screamer" engine due to the "noise" it generates at high rpm. allegedly the rider can't feel what the engine is doing with this firing pattern.

most of the info about the '08 honda rc212v has come from former world champ, nicky hayden. according to him, "every nut and bolt is new." but new isn't always good. honda is still working the kinks out of their pneumatic engine. in fact, hayden has only ridden this engine publicly once this year at sepang II - day 2.

on the flip side, kawasaki and suzuki are staying out of the limelight only exposing their new liveries. not too much technical information has been gathered from these two teams.

did randy lose his mojo???

2008-02-12T23:52:00.005-05:00

did michelin steal randy's mojo?

after a great start to the year, lcr-honda rider randy de puniet has been off the mark lately. at the sepang II preseason test, he led the first two days and wasn't far behind on the final day. he looked consistently fast. de puniet was well off the pace at phillip island just a week later. it's not like he wasn't work hard. he put in 115 laps on the final day trying to sort his issues. what happened, randy??? i had high hopes for you this season but alas u dashed them :(

pan-pacific preseason wrapup: phillip island + sepang III

2008-02-12T01:18:00.003-05:00

the motogp paddock split up after the january's sepang preseason test and either stayed or flew south (waaaay south) for the phillip island test. fiat-yamaha "took the week off" and hung around the the malaysian circuit while the rest of the paddock did work on the island. note the quotes as i'm sure fiat yamaha didn't sit back and relax.

in phillip island, casey stoner dominated the three day test and crushed the circuit lap record set by dani pedrosa last year during qualifying. not only is he good on qualifiers but his race pace is scary fast. casey and ducati are firing on all cylinders and look to be a formidable team beat. wish i could say the same for marco and the pramac crew who can't seem to get to grips with the gp8.

like sepang a few weeks ago, nicky was again fast on qualifiers but the michelin package can't hang during race simulation. he was around 1.5 secs slower than the world champ. rookie, james toseland, also impressed on the final day with a nice time on qualifiers that would've landed him on the outside of the first row. and his tech-3 teammate, colin edwards, showed some speed on the first day taking fastest time.

the paddock returned to sepang circuit until next fall's race minus a couple red duc's. fiat-yamaha brought in reinforcements for this test to help rossi develop the m1/bridgestone package. poor jorge... he must feel all alone in the neighboring garage :( but it looks like the japanese rubber is paying dividends as rossi lit the tarmac up with a devastatingly quick qualifying lap on the first day and the circuit lap record was once again broken. this is very good news for bridgestone since their qualifiers couldn't match michelin last year. rossi seems to have the bike sorted as well on race tires. teammate, lorenzo, was also quick on his michelin-shod m1 taking the fastest time on the third day of testing. yoink!!!

honda factory rider, nicky hayden, also hung in there trailing fiat-yamaha's coattails. surprisingly, the honda seems down on power compared to yamaha and ducati. they'll be looking to make progress in the engine dept as the first race is looming in the not-so-far distance (about 30 days).

next up, the official irta test in jerez, spain from feb 16-18. this year is shaping up to be a good one (knock on wood). factory ducati and yamaha seem to be on point while honda is struggling to make up ground. the fact that pedrosa is out doesn't help either. and it's anyone guess which satellite team will scrap it out with the leaders. damn it feels good to be a gangster!!!

slacker

2008-02-08T01:50:00.000-05:00

i've been busy and out of town so i haven't got a chance to update the blog. there were a couple motogp tests and some other interesting news. watch for some posts over the weekend...

break out ur tea and crumpets!!! 675 in bss

2008-01-31T01:28:00.000-05:00

oy!!! it looks like triumph is racing in a bunch of series this year thanks to the fim allowing 675cc triples to race supersport. yeah, capitalism [/austin_powers]!!!

emabassy racing was chosen by triumph to race the 675 in this year's british supersport and nat'l superstock championships. the team's main sponsor will be map electrics and will compete under the map/embassy racing banner. bss riders are the highly experienced glen richards and paul young. rookie, aj venter will race in the nsstk bike.

man, racing-underground is going to be under assault from me trying to keep up on all the racing. i'll be following motogp, wsbk, wss, and now bss.

cheerio...

be1 racing moves up to wss

2008-01-30T23:50:00.000-05:00

be1 racing will be joining big brother triumph-sc on the wss grid fielding none other than the world's best supersport bike - the daytona 675 :D last year, be1 raced a 675 in the italian supersport championship and managed a best second place finish at mugello.

be1 brought their bikes to valencia to test in early january and looked impressive. veteran rider, ivan clementi, posted a time that would land him on the front row of last year's grid while teammate, mark aitchison, was 7-tenths behind.

a few weeks later, they were back in spain at the almeria wss test. despite its short development, the 675 was very competitive. clementi posted the 2nd fastest time of the event behind gb-honda rider craig jones who broke the circuit lap record. according to clementi, who was running an advanced marelli marvel 4 ignition system, "the new engine management is undoubtedly a step forward." on the standard bike, aitchison managed a very respectable 6th place.

a new sheriff's in town and the wss paddock is shaking in its boots. yeeehaaaw!!! the next wss test is in doha feb 10-11. stay tuned...

check out the be1 racing triumph's in action:

ivan clementi

mark aitchison

in yer face!!!

2008-01-29T00:03:00.000-05:00

colin edwards claims that he set his best lap of the sepang test on the last day using none other than a "run-of-the-mill" race tire. psychological gamesmanship or truth??? it was the butler in the pantry...

with his move to tech3-yamaha, colin threw out all the old data from the 2007 season and started fresh. probably a good idea considering that colin came in 9th position last year. or maybe the yamaha-michelin combo isn't so bad after all??? randy de puniet backed up michelin's progress with fastest lap for the first two days.

anyway, colin looks to be in good form this but the same can be said for the last two and where has he been. mid-pack... let's hope that he translates these quick test laps into a quick race pace.

internal strife - honda hrc

2008-01-27T21:09:00.001-05:00

seems like there's some animosity between honda hrc teammates dani pedrosa and nicky hayden. in a press conference discussing his fractured hand, dani talked shit on both his boss (honda) and his co-worker (nicky):

"I still don't know what happened to cause the crash. I think that is was something on the bike that maybe failed. The team are looking for some data from the bike that might indicate the something that happened to cause the crash."

"I want to get back on the bike as soon as possible. Historically, Nicky has not been very beneficial when he has taken on the responsibility to evolve the motorcycle."

talk about hurting feelings... remember when pedrosa torpedo'ed nicky in the penultimate round at estoril almost ruining hayden's championship in 2006??? even though you could see hayden was pissed, he never trash talked his teammate.

read

break out the qualifiers: sepang preseason test - day 3

2008-01-24T21:05:00.000-05:00

nicky hayden, the hardest working man in motogp, finished the sepang preseason test with the fastest time of the day and overall. this time was faster than last year's pole by more than a second and even bested the circuit lap record by almost 3-tenths of a second. granted, nicky was on qualifiers but so were most of the riders today.

1. Hayden 2.00.326 / 77
2. Stoner 2.00.660 / 27
3. Lorenzo 2.00.766 / 63
4. Edwards 2.01.179 / 34
5. Hopkins 2.01.198 / 42
6. Rossi 2.01.425 / 48
7. Dovizioso 2.01.447 / 51
8. Toseland 2.01.745 / 45
9. Vermeulen 2.01.748 / 70
10. Capirossi 2.01.778 / 62
11. De Puniet 2.01.873 / 56
12. Nakano 2.02.032 / 38
13. De Angelis 2.02.198 / 37
14. Melandri 2.02.725 / 58
15. West 2.02.978 / 39
16. Elias 2.02.995 / 67
17. Jacque 2.03.030 / 40
18. Guintoli 2.03.628 / 39
19. Canepa 2.03.703 / 49
20. Serizawa 2.04.354 / 27

as u can see from the fastest lap time chart below for all three days, de puniet was consistently the faster rider (order determined by avg time). current world champ stoner trailed in second followed by rookie lorenzo. they're avg times along with hayden were significantly helped by the running qualifiers on the last day. edwards and rossi along top half of the field look good.

as reported yesterday, hayden was testing a pneumatic-valve engine but it turns out that he was in fact running the traditional spring-valve engine today. he was running the '07 engine in the '08 chassis which led to the record breaking laps along with setting his fastest lap on a race tire. when hayden spoke to crash.net, he stated that "the pneumatic-valve engine - as much as I hate to say it, because i know it's the future and where we need to be - is just not fast enough. i mean the engine performance is not fast enough to check anything." however, he's hoping that honda will figure it out by the season-opener.

rossi was undeterred by his teammates faster pace and felt that his bike (new chassis + new engine + new tires) is more balanced on the whole... except on qualifiers. "this afternoon i tried out different rear qualifying tires and wasn't particularly quick. in my opinion that's the area we need to work on the most with bridgestone." has rossi's gamble with bridgestone rubber paid off??? not yet as he's got several michelin riders ahead of him and more importantly his main rival for 2008, casey stoner.

one other development that came to light on the final day of testing came from kawasaki. they are not only developing a pneumatic-valve system but also a "screamer" engine. kawasaki have been using the gas-charged valvetrain since the start of the 2007 and haven't had any real problems with it. instead of retrofitting it to an existing engine, they developed the engine from ground up around the system. they've also been sending out their test riders (jacque and serizawa) on "screamer" engines. motogp inline-4's are typically operate on "big-bang" timing where a pair of cylinders fire, followed by a long break, and then the second pair of cylinders fire, followed by a long break. this helps with traction giving the rear tire time to recover from the power pulses. a screamer engine fires each cyclinder one after the other. advantages according to kawasaki are higher revs, smaller package, and lower cg.

next week brings the second preseason test at phillip island. it'll give us three more days to scrutinize and speculate on the season to come.

randy!!!: sepang preseason test - day 2

2008-01-23T19:50:00.001-05:00

lcr honda's randy de puniet topped the time sheets on day 2 of the sepang test. maybe he's onto something. but testing is testing...

times all across the board continued to drop. there are many more riders in the 2'01s than yesterday. according to motogp.com, both valentino rossi and nicky hayden were out testing new engines with pneumatic valvetrains. rossi felt that his bike "is already a little faster than last year" while the honda had some teething problems. hayden commented that "pneumatic valves are the way to go because the engine's got more potential." i hope these engines are more reliable than last year (but i guess if it doesn't work u can always hit them with it :D).

colin edwards had a big day posting the 2nd fastest time just 2-tenths off de puniet (both on michelin) but he could've been on qualifiers (damn u, speculation!!!). it's been a while since we've seen the texas tornado at the front of the grid.

1. De Puniet 2.01.139 / 63
2. Edwards 2.01.327 / 46
3. Rossi 2.01.437 / 60
4. Lorenzo 2.01.583 / 54
5. Stoner 2.01.638 / 34
6. Hopkins 2.01.874 / 50
7. Capirossi 2.01.917 / 59
8. Dovizioso 2.02.006 / 54
9. Nakano 2.02.095 / 54
10. Hayden 2.02.102 / 66
11. Toseland 2.02.276 / 59
12. Vermeulen 2.02.371 / 44
13. West 2.02.579 / 59
14. De Angelis 2.02.914 / 41
15. Elias 2.03.311 / 57
16. Melandri 2.03.380 / 46
17. Jacque 2.03.462 / 36
18. Guintoli 2.04.217 / 37
19. Serizawa 2.04.382 / 49
20. Canepa 2.04.427 / 47

i'm kind of disappointed to see alice/ducati so far down in the order. elias and guintoli seem to struggling with the gp8 and are 2+ sec from the front.

and one last thing, dani pedrosa returned home and had surgery on his hand today. he should be back on his feet by the time the second sepang test begins.

i'll be thoroughly impressed if de puniet keeps up the pace and even carries it into next week's test at phillip island. it's good to see new faces mixed in with the battle-tested veterans.

[correction] i forgot that lcr honda is running michelin so make that 5 out of the top 7 on bridgestone

great balls of fire: sepang preseason test - day 1

2008-01-22T23:55:00.000-05:00

who brought the marshmallows?

w00t bitches!!! the 2008 motogp has commenced and what a drama-filled day it has been. there were several crashes that included valentino rossi imitating a fairy (literally and figuratively) and dani pedrosa hitting the deck and his bike going up in flames. most riders walked away unscathed but dani fractured his hand and will probably be out for some time (the next test is at phillip island next week). liam from motoliam.com speculated that the crash was caused by a rear suspension failure.

the day went to lcr honda rider, randy de puniet, with the fastest time of the day. one thing to remember about preseason testing is that it's difficult to interpret the results. motogp.com reports only the fastest time of the day and the number of laps completed. but u don't know if the rider went out on race tires or super-soft qualifiers which dramatically skew the times. i'd like to see avg lap times with a standard deviation along with the fastest time. dropping a single fast lap using qualifiers doesn't say anything. being consistently fast does.

TIMES:

Pos. Rider Bike Time Fast Lap Total Laps

1 Randy de Puniet Honda 2'01.377 65 68
2 Dani Pedrosa Honda 2'01.864 19 47
3 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 2'02.074 47 57
4 Loris Capirossi Suzuki 2'02.416 53 61
5 Casey Stoner Ducati 2'02.457 21 36
6 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 2'02.490 44 44
7 Colin Edwards Yamaha 2'02.549 17 29
8 Nicky Hayden Honda 2'02.558 64 85
9 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 2'02.563 38 43
10 Shinya Nakano Honda 2'02.622 62 63
11 John Hopkins Kawasaki 2'02.628 61 62
12 Andrea Dovizioso Honda 2'02.783 38 52
13 James Toseland Yamaha 2'03.264 41 45
14 Alex de Angelis Honda 2'03.301 47 47
15 Anthony West Kawasaki 2'03.387 30 51
16 Olivier Jacque Kawasaki 2'03.863 39 53
17 Toni Elias Ducati 2'03.954 48 55
18 Marco Melandri Ducati 2'04.414 43 52
19 Niccolo Canepa Ducati 2'05.580 17 48
20 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati 2'06.00 17 36
21 Tamaki Serizawa Kawasaki 2'23.590 6 6

some interesting notes:

-the top 3 riders were probably on qualifiers. the majority of 02's were mid to high

-capirex was probably the fastest rider on race tires. looks like he's adapting well to the suzuki

-stoner started the day slowly but is now looking fierce

-6 out of the top 7 are on bridgestone rubber

-rossi is right behind stoner (due to tires??? edwards is behind him on michelin)

-melandri doesn't look happy so far down the field (almost 2 s off stoner's time)

but take these observations with a grain of salt. this is the first day on new machinery. all this is assumption and u know what they say about that... can't wait for day 2 and the rest of the year. hope it's not a rerun of last years tepid racing.

dorna/apple partnership blossoms

2008-01-21T21:53:00.000-05:00

dorna sports, commercial rights holders of motogp, picked apple (no fucking pun intended) to produce the motogp experience - from video editing to web site creation and management. they using final cut studio to create a highlight reel of the race for tv stations moments after the checkered flag is waved.

but i'm most interested in apple's contribution to the motogp.com site. currently, the website navigation is completely based on flash and sucks the life out of ur computer while video is streamed via windows media or realplayer, two horrendous apps/plug-ins. it's rumored that motogp.com will be revamped using quicktime technology to stream live video. furthermore, we could be seeing an hd (h.264) feed as well as distribution on itunes and portable playback (ipods and iphone).

this partnership benefits most the viewers. video will be higher quality, easier to watch and go with u anywhere.

read

can u spot the differences???

2008-01-21T02:20:00.000-05:00

2008 yamaha yzr-m1

2007 yamaha yzr-m1

over the weekend, yamaha unveiled the 2008-spec yzr-m1 that they'll campaign this year in motogp at press event in turin, italy, the hometown of title sponsor fiat. furthermore, it was the official debut of valentino rossi's teammate 250cc champ jorge lorenzo.

no information was given to the changes to the new bike but as u can see in the above photos there are subtle aerodynamic differences. the 2008 bike appears to be sleeker than the previous iteration. the front fairing has a smoother and more rounded shape along with a slightly taller windscreen. the angle may also be a little steeper. the rear fairing has been dramatically reshaped. there is more curve to the underside making it look like the backside of a hornet. these aero updates should help increase top speeds. no mention of any changes to the engine but then again i don't expect yamaha to reveal those details. but it is interesting that the exhaust is exposed this year. i can't figure out why - cooling?

we'll see if yamaha has stepped up their game when motogp resumes testing in sepang, malaysia this week.

cannondale "ON" concept

2008-01-20T21:21:00.000-05:00

it's not exactly motorcycle news but cannondale did dabble in dirtbikes (big mistake) a few years back and it does have two wheels.

debuted at eurobike last august, cannondale's "on" concept city bike pushed the design envelope one notch further. the project was in development for 3 years and takes the styling cues of the iconic raven and apply it to an urban bike. it incorporates a revolutionary drivetrain that is a single-sided stressed member combined with a carbon fiber main frame and "righty" fork. a pivot hinge in the middle of the frame allows it to fold onto itself for easy storage/transport.

cannondale teamed up with sram to develop the "case closed" drive system. basically, a cnc'ed aluminum single-sided arm completely houses the drivetrain. a custom i-motion 9 9-speed hub with integrated disc was used instead of a conventional cassette to complete the transmission. although only a concept, it showcases the strength and talent of cannondale's r&d dept.

i'm hoping to pick up a new bike. i'm thinking cannondale rush carbon...

outlaw showdown: 848 v 750 v 675 v 600

2008-01-20T18:08:00.000-05:00

cue the western music.

the feb issue of superbike (uk) pits several outlaw bikes against each other on the track and street. they took ducati's all-new 848, suzuki's revamp'ed gsx-r750, a triumph daytona 675, and honda cbr600rr to hit some spanish twisties. i haven't gotten a chance to read the full article but here's a preview:

"We've been analysing the datalogging results from our Ducati 848 vs Suzuki GSX-R750 vs Honda CBR600RR vs Triumph 675 test last week in Almeria. And we've found some pretty interesting results. Here are the fastest apex speeds from each of Almeria's 13 turns, by bike:

Turn speed(kph) bike

One 91.9 GSX-R750

Two 128.8 675

Three 100.6 GSX-R750/675 (joint)

Four 107.6 675

Five 129.2 CBR600RR

Six 109.2 675

Seven 94.9 GSX-R750

Eight 104.9 848

Nine 98.6 848

Ten 93.7 GSX-R750

Eleven 77.4 848

Twelve 94.3 CBR600RR

Thirteen 65.2 675

So – the 675 had the most top corner speeds, at five (including a joint one with the 750). Suzuki's 'old' GSX-R750 still manages four top corner speeds, Ducati's 848 manages three, and the Honda gets two.

Does that mean the 675 was the fastest bike at Almeria? You'd think so wouldn't you? But it wasn't the case... The 848 lagged a bit behind our expectations to be honest..."

so the 675 didn't come in first but it didn't come in last. here's my guess to the outcome of this test:

1. gsx-r750

2. daytona 675

3. 848

4. cbr600rr

with 3/4 maybe switched.

the suzuki has a power advantage over the 675 that is esp useful down the 900m front straight. however, according to last year's performance bikes (uk) endurance test the 675 lapped almeria close to a second a lap faster than the 750 (before an engine meltdown). also, remember that the triumph hasn't been changed since it's debut in 2006 (a 2009 update is rumored). anyway, the biggest disappointment is the 848. ducati will not be happy with this result [/understatement].

more to come...

last call down under

2008-01-11T01:13:00.000-05:00

yukio kagayama of wsbk team alstare corona suzuki eeked out the fastest time of the 3rd and final day of testing at phillip island. under hot conditions, yukio blazed a time of 1:32.1, a tenth of a second ahead of xerox ducati troy bayliss. bayliss wasn't able to improve on his time as he had a rough highside at the bottom of mg breaking his collarbone in the accident. he should just barely be healed by the time the 2008 season kicks off in qatar in early feb. another rider making noise in the paddock is ruben xaus, who posted the 4th fastest time on his sterilgarda 1098r. ruben has been recently struggling and looks to be in good form.

despite electrical gremlins on day 2, triumph-sc was again able to drop their times a further 0.2 sec with gary mccoy grabbing 8th fastest time of the wss testing session.

wsbk @ phillip island

2008-01-09T01:53:00.000-05:00

a lap around phillip island

this week marks the second session of preseason testing for world superbike and supersport teams. it's taking place in the land down under at phillip island. ducati dropped its 1200cc bomb on the competition with troy bayliss leading the first day. the new 1098r looks to be a force to be reckoned with this year. also of note, the triumph-caracchi 675 put the 5th fastest time in ahead of several veteran supersport riders.

ducati reveal gp8

2008-01-09T00:48:00.000-05:00

over the weekend, ducati marlboro was the first unveil their 2008 machine, the desmosedici gp8, on the slopes and frozen lake of madonna di campiglio ski resort in northern italy. it was also the formal introduction of marco melandri as the new member of the team. more an evolutionary step, the gp8 looks exactly the same as last year's championship winning bike. but as they say, never judge a book by its cover...

man, it seems like only ducati is in the news these days.

RUMOR: motogp to go to single ecu?

2007-12-27T00:50:00.000-05:00

after reading dennis noyes' article on electronics in motogp, i'm torn (like an old sweater) between the two sides. the world's premier class of motorcycle racing should be both the bastion of technological development as well as great entertainment.

the 2007 season was quite the snoozfest with ducati running away rider, constructor, and team championships. great for ducati. not so great for the fans as tv ratings were fading as quickly as michelin rubber.

enter carmelo ezpeleta, ceo of dorna, to save the day. under pressure from investors and riders, ezpeleta stated that it was time for motogp to consider a single standard ecu a la formula 1. this is quite the turnaround from earlier this year when he advocated the safety of traction control.

many of the old school riders (rossi, mamola, criville, rainey to name a few) think that traction control has dumbed down the sport making it more like a videogame than an arena to display courage and talent. basically, the computers are taking all the fun out of the racing. no more slides, tire smoke, and spectacular saves. just the stuttering of the engine as ignition timing is pulled.

but isn't motogp supposed to be the epitome of motorcycle technology? every 2008 liter bike has traction control. so now a run-of-the-mill production bike has this technology but a multi-million dollar prototype doesn't?!?!?! that doesn't make sense. motogp machinery should be the best of the best, expense-be-damned, fastest of the fast.

motogp is in a real dilemna. it is at a crossroad. one leading to fun-filled exciting racing and the other to technological superiority. a compromise is in order to get the best of both worlds...

ducati's lead designer leaves

2007-12-21T02:45:00.000-05:00

pierre terblanche, ducati design boss for the past decade, will be leaving the italian marque to set up his own design studio at the end of the year. dunzo!!! considered the chris bangle of the motorcycle world, terblanche is credited with the designs of the 900SS, 999, supermono and multistrada.

the 999 design was a total departure from the infamous 916. it was definitely unique but people either loved it or hated it. the most controversial decision was the replacement of the single-sided swingarm to a conventional one.

the fact that the 1098 did not carry over any design elements of the 999 rather the 916 probably spelled the end of terblanche at ducati.

read

bmw to go racing

2007-12-19T01:15:00.000-05:00

in 2008 there'll be some new players in the ama formula xtreme series. one of them will be bmw. they'll be campaigning the all new 1200cc hp2 sport.

for those unfamiliar with formula xtreme it's basically a free-for-all. bikes are highly modified and are of various engine displacements (up to 1350cc for air-cooled twins).

it'll be interesting to see how well the boxer engine competes against the popular i-4 600's. it's cousin, the r1200 s won its class at le mans this year. in stock trim, the hp2 sport is on par with the power of a 600 but it has gobs more torque.

the season kicks off in march with the grueling daytona 200. so only a few more months for them to develop this engine...

TECHNIQUE TUTORING: norifumi abe

2007-12-18T01:26:00.000-05:00

first off, this is one of the sickest photos i've ever seen!!!

not sure when or where it was taken but it was probably during his brief stint in world superbike aboard a yamaha r1. considered one of japan's finest riders, he passed away in a motorcycle accident this past october...

norick demonstrates how u want to be exiting a corner. he keeps his weight on the inside rearset while standing the bike up. this fades the bike to outer apron and allows him to apply the throttle earlier to get good drive out of the corner. he also has his upper body forward and behind the fairing which keeps the nose down and aerodynamic.

note the tire bending at the contact patch as it clings to the tarmac. simply amazing...

TECHNIQUE TUTORING: casey stoner

2007-12-18T00:51:00.001-05:00

this photo was captured during the waning stages of the 2007 malaysian grand prix as already crowned world champ casey stoner charged to the win. it's amazing that these racers set the fastest laps as tires fade and fuel loads lighten.

stoner has his gp07 cranked tilting the horizon to near vertical. as with all members of this elite class, he has pretty much perfect body positioning. he keeps his body compact and weight forward. his head looks through the turn focusing on the line to the next bend.

flame on!

2007-12-17T02:23:00.000-05:00

oh, the sweet sound of a ducati 1098. this video is from british tuner bsd. check out the flames on the over-rev!

a little off topic but the 675's headers allegedly glow red when wrung out. i'd like to see a pic of that...

stomping grounds-beaverun

2007-12-13T01:18:00.000-05:00

enjoy!!!

video by dennys passetto along with fellow 675er scott rosey in hw twins race

RUMOR: sketch of the ariel motorcycle

2007-12-11T22:58:00.000-05:00

i ganked this sketch (1 of 3 proposed) of the new ariel motorcycle off mcn.com

looks to be a cafe racer with ariel's signature trellis frame wrapped around an air-cooled single engine (supposedly sourced from honda). sounds a bit mundane. that is until u hear that it'll be SUPERCHARGED! good luck trying to keep the front wheel on the ground :D

among the other ideas ariel is tossing around: an electric bike and naked city bike

TECHNIQUE TUTORING: gregorio lavilla

2007-12-10T22:54:00.000-05:00

2005 bsb champ, gregorio lavilla, will be making the bump to wsbk riding a cbr1000 for paul bird motorsport next season. opening race begins feb 23 at qatar.

check the lean angle of the bike (about 60 deg from vert) and body positioning. he's lowering the cg of the bike by getting his cheek off the seat and putting pressure on the inside peg. note that his knee is tucked close to the fairing instead of perpendicular to bike. upper body is relaxed and he's looking through the turn.

RANT: '08 wsbk engine rule change a farce

2007-12-09T22:48:00.000-05:00

as most of u know, there's going to be a big change in world superbike for 2008.

ducati will be allowed to campaign a 1200cc twin while inline-4s stay at 1000cc. the reason: ducati threatened to pull out of wsbk. do u smell something??? i smell a whiny bitch! let's see, ducati dominated wsbk winning 14/19 championships. now that they're stuggling to find power with an engine that's reached the peak of its development, they force an increase in engine capacity or they leave.

why doesn't ducati use their v-4 found in the desmosedici rr? this engine was derived from their motogp program and is a great solution to their problem. an easy way to find power is to increase rpm. the v-4 has smaller pistons and less rotating mass yet the v-layout provides great torque characteristics.

i give ducati a wag of the finger. and i'm even more disappointed in the ruling bodies of wsbk for letting ducati run all over them.

quasi-REVIEW: ktm rc8

2007-12-09T16:32:00.000-05:00

ktm, a manufacturer most known for their off-road bikes, has finally released their first superbike, the rc8. the concept was revealed in 2005 and after 3 years of development have released it to the public, amazingly with very little changes to the original design.

the shape is divisive. either u love it or hate it. i'm not too keen on the sharp angular surfaces, especially the tank and headlight. in fact, it kind of resembles the '08 zx-10 minus the bazooka exhaust can. speaking of, the one design element that i dig is the under-engine exhaust. it really cleans the bike up (hint hint honda, kawasaki, and suzuki).

the engine is a bored-and-stroked variant of the highly acclaimed lc8 v-twin of super duke fame. capacity is 1190 cc. 155 hp. 88.5 lb/ft of torque. this engine is a direct competitor to ducati's 1098r which is 1198 cc and cranks out 180 hp and 100 lb/ft of torque. the rc8 has some serious catching up to do, especially since it's 50 lb heavier.

the chassis is a steel trellis frame a la ducati and suspension duties are carried out by wp (good stuff!).

i welcome a new manufacturer into the sportbike arena. i hope ktm comes out w/ a middleweight contender. but they has some staunch competition coming from the land of rice and spaghetti.

more to come when someone gets to ride this thing...

[UPDATE] sweet promo vid:

rossi hearts bridgestone

2007-12-08T18:58:00.000-05:00

crash.net is reporting that rossi likey his new shoes.

valentino rossi had a tough 2007 season with michelin. the 7-time world champ struggled throughout the year on tires that couldn't go the distance. halfway through the race and u'd see him spinning the rear donut up leaving strips of french caoutchouc (not to be confused w/ "capote", look it up) on the tarmac.

'08 will be a little different. make that a lot different. ever since rossi's promotion to the premier class of motorcycle racing, he's only ridden on michelins. for next season, he'll be on japanese kit. in fact, it seemed like the whole paddock wanted to ditch michelin for bridgestone...

at first, i thought it was an easy excuse for a rotten year. but after pondering about this topic for a couple months, i believe that "the doctor" has a valid reason for the switch. his prescription for bridgestone rubber puts him on equal footing w/ his main rival for '08 and current world champ, casey stoner.

read the full story here

REVIEW: 2008 yamaha r6

2007-12-08T18:50:00.000-05:00

no, i didn't get a chance to ride the '08 r6 (going to have to talk to yamah na about this) but motorcycle-usa.com got a chance to and they gave it a rave review at first look. more of an evolution than a revolution, yamaha refined the chassis, suspension, and engine.

check out the first-look and vid here

dec doldrums

2007-12-08T13:21:00.000-05:00

the last winter test for motogp concluded a couple weeks ago w/ danny pedrosa (honda hrc) topping the timing sheets. world champ, casey stoner (marlboro ducati), fell and strained his shoulder. and valentino rossi (fiat yamaha) made his debut on bridgestone rubber.

now we wait until jan 22 for testing to resume at sepang, malaysia. what to do...???

RUMOR: ariel to develop two-wheeled terror

2007-12-08T12:58:00.001-05:00

so i said that this blog was going to be only about motorcycles. and u're prob thinking to urself, "what's that got to do w/ ariel?" the resurgent car company that builds the amazingly fast atom is rumored to be taking the same formula and applying it to a vehicle of two-wheeled persuasion.

you can read more at autocar

triumph to take on wss in '08

2007-12-08T03:08:00.000-05:00

last 675 post... for now :twisted: (arghhh!!)

triumph has teamed up w/ scuderia caracchi (formerly ncr ducati) to field a 675 in world supersport next year. it's been some time since triumph has backed a race team and they're doing it right.

they did some testing in qatar last weekend and didn't do too badly albeit a little off the race pace. not to make excuses, but word on the street is that they were running w/ a stock engine. goes to show u how good the 675 is straight off the factory floor.

Day 1:

1 Parkes Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Motor Italia WSB 2’03.5

3 Pitt Honda CBR600RR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 2’03.9

4 Foret Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Motor Italia WSB 2’04.2

5 Mc Coy Triumph 675 Triumph - SC 2’07.2

6 Paul Young Triumph 675 Triumph - SC 2’12.0

Day 2:

1. Parkes (Aus-Yamaha) 2’03”0;

2. Foret (Fra-Yamaha) 2’03”0;

3. Pitt (Aus-Honda) 2’03”3;

4. McCoy (Triumph) 2’05”0;

5. Young (GB-Triumph) 2’07”0.

Day 3:

1 Parkes Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Motor 2’01.9

2 Foret Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Motor 2’02.5

3 Pitt Honda CBR600RR Ten Kate Honda 2’03.0

5 Mc Coy Triumph 675 Triumph SC 2’03.5

6 Paul Young Triumph 675 Triumph SC 2’06.5

675 - my favoritest number evar ^_^

2007-12-08T02:46:00.000-05:00

for those who know me, u'll get this and tell me to stfu :wink: (where are those damn emoticons when u need them?)

the 675 is hands down the best bike. yeah, i said it.

but don't believe it because of me. believe it because 18 journalists from bike magazines around the world agreed that it is. not once but twice. two years in a row, the 675 has won the supersport class of masterbike beating out all the japanese riceburners.

oh yeah, it also won supertest for the second time :twisted: (cursed emoticons)

first!

2007-12-08T01:39:00.000-05:00

what a pain in the ass!!!

it's almost impossible to find a good, available name for a blog. i spent way too much time thinking and searching to find this one. in fact, i had to hyph-enate it because some twat decided he'd like to post pics from his/her shite motorola cameraphone. so if u're looking for anything concerning motorola u can get the FUCK OUT!!! all u'll find here are my random thoughts on all things motorcycle related.

now let's get on w/ it...