Motorcycle Blog on 2040Motos

Romanian Novel: My Life on the Hayabusa – Available in English

Romanian author Dan A. Tano has released his third novel, My Life on the Hayabusa. 100.000 km on a motorcycle, in both English and Romanian versions which are now available on Amazon.com.

Harley-Davidson Museum’s Custom Bike Show Weekend on Labor Day

Labor Day weekend 2014, the place for Harley-Davidson fans to be is at the Harley-Davidson Museum. Starting Thursday, August 28 at 5:00 PM, the biggest bike night of the riding season kicks off the event-filled weekend. The holiday gathering will also include two custom bike shows, a women’s ride, displays of the 2015 Harley-Davidson Models, and the last chance to see the H-D Museum’s summer show entitled The American Road.

Earl Hayden’s Book Unveiled Today At Indy

Earl Hayden, along with his family, launched his first book The First Family of Racing in front of the press gathered for the USGP today. Cowritten by Danny May, the book gives readers a look at the life of Earl Hayden, father to 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden, and AMA Pro Road Racing National Champions Tommy and Roger Hayden. Anyone who follows American roadracing or MotoGP is familiar with Earl’s presence at the events.

Lorenzo Signs Two-Year Extension with Yamaha

Two-time MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo has signed a contract extension with Yamaha to see him race on the company’s factory team through the 2016 season. The signing comes as no real surprise, following similar two-year contract extensions for teammate Valentino Rossi and Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa. Ducati also confirmed it would field Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone next season, so unless Lorenzo wanted to spend a season or two developing Suzuki‘s or Aprilia‘s new prototypes, Lorenzo’s only option for a factory ride was to re-sign with Yamaha.

2014 LA Calendar Motorcycle Show Concourse d’ Elegance Report

The 2014 edition of the LA Calendar Motorcycle Show continued its now 23-year tradition as the premier outdoor streetbike event in America with producer photographer Jim Gianatsis moving the show this year to the beautiful green lawns of the Malibu Golf Course among the twisty canyon roads in the Santa Monica Mountains alongside the Pacific Ocean. Highlighting this year’s exciting activities was the emergence of another new and soon to be renown custom bike builder to the sport for which the Calendar Show is known for cultivating. Taking Best of Show in this year’s Calendar Bike Building Championship was Calin Senciac’s Imagine Vehicles International / ImagineVehicles.com motorsports fabrication shop with an incredible custom billet aluminum designed chassis built by Terry Ward and the shop crew, housing a legendary 1979 Honda CBX 1047cc air-cooled in-line 6-cylinder engine.

Stefan Bradl Signs with NGM Forward for 2015 MotoGP Season

NGM Forward Racing has signed Stefan Bradl to race in the 2015 MotoGP season. Bradl will ride the Forward Yamaha Open class machine next season after spending his entire premier-class career with the LCR Honda team riding the RC213V. “It’s with great pleasure that we welcome Stefan Bradl in our team,” says Giovanni Cuzari, Forward Racing team owner.

Royal Enfield Names Rod Copes President, North America

Royal Enfield, the world’s oldest motorcycle brand in continuous production, has named industry veteran Rod Copes as President, North America. Rod will be responsible for driving Royal Enfield’s businesses in the United States and Canada. By naming Copes to a top-level executive position, Royal Enfield has firmly stated its intentions to rapidly expand the brand in the U.S., its top export market.

Yamaha Champions Riding School August Update

Our friends at the Yamaha Champions Riding School have been busy lately. Since moving to New Jersey Motorsports park in April, traffic has steadily risen, with June being sold out and July not far behind. August is very promising with some new ideas (one-day clinics to bring a more economical program to a larger group of riders) being inserted into the mix as well as a normal two-day school at the end of the month, which is already 80% full thanks to the yearly visit from the engineering department of Harley Davidson. Following August YCRS will have two schools the week directly after the AMA Pro races at NJMP.

BMW Reports Q2 2014 Financial Results

BMW reported an 11.2% growth in motorcycle sales revenue for the second quarter ended June 30, 2014, thanks to a new best-ever quarterly record of 42,259 motorcycles sold. The record sales quarter also led to a record of 70,978 motorcycles sold in the first half of 2014, the most motorcycles BMW has sold in a six-month period in the company’s 90-year history in the business. The second quarter sales result represents a 5.1% increase on the 40,209 motorcycles sold in the same quarter last year.

Cal Crutchlow Leaves Ducati for LCR Honda

Cal Crutchlow has signed on to race for the LCR Honda team for the 2015 MotoGP season. To make the jump, Crutchlow secured an early termination to his contract with Ducati. The switch comes as a bit of a surprise after Crutchlow had confirmed he would honor the final year of his contract at World Ducati Week.

Join MotoGP Stars In Saying Farewell To Colin Edwards In His Final USGP Appearance

This weekend’s Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix will be Colin Edwards’ final MotoGP race on American soil, and to commemorate the occasion, Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A., invites you to join a special “Farewell To The Texas Tornado” live event Saturday evening on the center stage at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The celebration begins at approximately 5:30 PM EST Saturday. “This is going to be a special evening that’s sure to bring lots of laughs, along with possibly a few tears of emotion, as we look back at the racing career of one of Yamaha’s most popular and colorful legends,” commented Bob Starr, General Manager of National Communications for Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.

Indian Announces Removal of Brake Throttle Override

Today, Indian Motorcycle Product Director, Gary Gray, told us that, because of feedback from journalists and the riding public, effective immediately, the Brake Throttle Override (BTO) system developed to prevent unintended acceleration in its ride-by-wire throttle system will not be installed on any of the 2015 Indian models. Additionally, owners of a current Indian who wish to have the BTO disabled on their motorcycle can simply take it to an Indian dealer to have its ECU flashed with the new software. Although the BTO has been present on all Indian models since their release last year, we first noticed its effects on a group ride at the Roadmaster’s introduction.

Hollywood Electrics Adds Brammo To Its Product Lineup

If you’ve been following our electric motorcycle exploits on Motorcycle.com, you should be familiar with the name Harlan Flagg. Proprietor of Hollywood Electrics, Flagg has been involved in many of the exploits we’ve taken part in with various Zeros. From racing at Pikes Peak, competing in a 24-hour race, playing in the dirt, or giving supermoto a go.Through it all, he’s managed to run the nation’s largest Zero dealer.

Metzeler Launches “Risk Free” Guarantee For U.S. Motorcyclists

In a bold move, today Metzeler announced the launch of the ‘Metzeler Risk Free Guarantee’, a 30 day trial program that allows riders to return a set of Metzeler tires within 30 days of purchase if they are not satisfied with their experience. This major initiative marks another first for Metzeler for the US motorcycle industry, marking their commitment to riders within the North American region. What would tempt a tire company to offer such a thing? “The Metzeler Risk Free Guarantee shows how confident we are in our tires,” says Marco Zambianchi, Metzeler General Manager NAFTA.

Piaggio Group Americas Names Mario DiMaria New CEO

Piaggio Group Americas has named Mario DiMaria its new CEO. He will be replacing Roberto Colaninno in the position, a Piaggio representative revealed to Motorcycle.com today. DiMaria has been with the Piaggio Group since 2007, but his experience in the powersport/automotive industry is vast, first serving as Area Manager for Nissan in 1996.

Indian Teases A New Model Announcement

Indian Motorcycles is big on history. So, if recent history is applicable, we expect to see a new Indian model announced tomorrow at the 74th annual Sturgis Rally. The clues are everywhere.

Vespa Launches The 946 Bellissima

At almost $10,500, the Vespa 946 might be a pricey scooter, but boy is it good looking. Well, leave it to Vespa to up the purdy level even more with the 946 Bellissima. Limited to only 100 units, the Vespa 946 Bellissima offers exclusivity and distinction in unique Vespa fashion.

Sign Up Now For An Edelweiss Harley-Davidson Tour

Edelweiss Bike Travel has over 34 years of expertise in worldwide motorcycle touring and has created a range of once-in-a-lifetime touring rides for both new and experienced riders. The new Harley-Davidson Authorized Tours provided by the Edelweiss team include a breathtaking ride through the beauty of the Bavarian Forest and ancient Habsburg Empire, a spectacular journey through the rugged scenery of Scotland and an unforgettable adventure through the stunning landscape of Morocco on the African continent. Harley-Davidson Authorized Tours operates over 200 tours globally each year.

KTM to Enter MotoGP World Championship in 2017

KTMannounced plans to enter the MotoGP World Championship with a brand new V-4 prototype to be called the KTM RC16. KTM would be the latest major manufacturer announcing plans to enter the series, following the current ongoing projects by Aprilia and Suzuki. Chief Executive Officer Stefan Pierer announced the news in an interview with Swiss site Speedweek.com, saying the company plans to reveal the RC16 in fall 2015 and spend 2016 developing it.

GearBrake Introduces Automatic Brake Light Module

We know we’re preaching to the choir, here, but motorcycles suffer from a visibility problem out on the mean streets of the world. With car drivers having an ever-increasing number of distractions fighting for their immediate attention, riders need to find ways to reach through the visual clutter and grab drivers’ attention. Brake light modulators have been around for a while and have provided many variations of pulsing and flashing the brake light and/or turn signals.

Indian Unleashes Sturgis Event Schedule

Indian’s recently introduced Roadmaster may be stealing all of the headlines, but the motorcycle company isn’t stopping there. The Indian event schedule for 74th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is packed with events designed to capture the attention of Indian owners and possibly create some new Indian owners. As one would expect, Indian will have its entire model line available for the public to lust for and fondle at the Indian Motorcycle Display at 3rd and Lazelle.

Harley-Davidson Hitting Sturgis In Full Force

Harley-Davidson is kicking off the 74th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in the Black Hills of South Dakota with a full arsenal of activities and events that will electrify all motorcycle enthusiasts. The highly anticipated rally runs from Saturday, August 2 through Saturday, August 9. With activities, rides and demos scheduled throughout the week, Harley-Davidson created a free mobile app to help attendees navigate all the action.

Dream Ride Experience To Benefit Special Olympics, Aug. 16-24

For the 13th year running, The Dream Ride Experience will pack 1,900 miles of riding into a week-long adventure. All to raise funds and awareness for the special olympics. Started by Mike Bozzuto, CEO of Bozzuto’s Inc., one of New England’s largest food wholesalers; it grew from his dream to raise funds and awareness of intellectually challenged children and adults and to make a substantial contribution to Special Olympics. The ride turned into an international fund raising effort that now spans three countries and 12 states, all for one cause: to celebrate with Special Olympic athletes and to recognize their achievements and efforts to overcome intellectual challenges.

Honda Reports Q1 2014-2015 Sales Results

Honda reported sales of 4.137 million motorcycles over its first quarter ended June 30, 2014. That represents a 2.0% increase over the results of the same quarter the previous year, which doesn’t sound like much. But then you remember that 2.0% still represents an additional 83,000 motorcycles (including ATVs), such is the scale involved in a company like Honda.

Colin Edwards’ Gear Being Auctioned For Feed The Children

While Colin Edwards may no longer be a factory Yamaha racer these days, he still enjoys a close bond with the tuning fork brand. So much so that Yamaha has announced a unique opportunity to bid on a historic set of road racing leathers, boots, gloves, and helmet as worn by Edwards during this, his final season in MotoGP. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Feed the Children, which is Yamaha Motor Corporation’s official corporate charity.

Patented: The Motorcycle Urinal

We truly live in a marvelous age in motorcycle technology, with wonders such as semi-active suspension, ABS and traction control that works in corners, and 134 hp electric sportbikes. And then there’s the motorcycle urinal. Patented by inventor Anthony J.

2015 Honda COTA 4RT260 Trials Bikes Announced

American Honda surprised almost everybody when it announced it would offer a trials bike earlier this year. The Repsol-colored 2014 Montesa Honda COTA 4RT was only offered in limited numbers for the U.S. market, but if you missed out on that initial batch, there’s good news, as Honda will again offer it in 2015, with some new updates.

Harley-Davidson Confirms Project Livewire Will Appear In Avengers Movie

From the “Unless-You’ve-Been-Living-Under-A-Rock” department comes Harley-Davidson’s announcement today at the San Diego Comic-Con, that H-D’s first electric motorcycle, the Livewire, will indeed be used in Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron movie as the ride of choice for Natasha Romanoff (a.k.a. Black Widow) played by Scarlett Johansson, in an epic scene with Captain America in the film. Of course, if you’ve been following Motorcycle.com for a while you’ll have known this already, as we brought you the scoop about Livewire.

CycleAT Lets You Monitor Your Tires In Realtime + Video

As the only pieces of your motorcycle (or bicycle) actually in contact with the ground, tires play a vital role in your safety while on two wheels. With the proper care and maintenance, tires can last a long time and perform at their best. However, not everyone remembers to take care of their bikes.

Michelin Launches Motorcycle Tire Review Site

Michelin’s Two-Wheel business has launched a new online tool designed to capture consumer feedback about the performance of Michelin motorcycle tires. The site, located at mototirereviews.michelin.com, represents a continued effort to seek consumer feedback in an effort to provide products to meet the needs of today’s motorcycle riders. The site highlights consumer feedback of products with a five star rating system as well as allowing users to provide their riding profile along with their motorcycle’s year, make and model, share their personal experience with Michelin motorcycle tires, and upload two favorite photos.