Cal Rayborn's 1968 Daytona Harley

In honor of Harley-Davidson's announcement of agreeing to purchase MV Agusta and Cagiva, here area few photo's from Hard-ly's "golden age".
(I'm still not sure what to think of this announcement....harley laying off workers this year, purchasing flailing italian brands...who knows? Hopefully all works out for the best)

Cal Rayborn's 1968 Daytona racer

(photo's courtesy of the fantastic http://www.harleykrxlrtt.com/ site)

July 16th - Ride to Work Day '08

Down at the shop.... :BMW HP2 Sport

Down at the local shop today, British USA (http://www.british-usa.com)
I was walking around waiting for a friends service to be complete and low and behold....


The first HP2 Sport I've seen in person. The carbon fiber was crazy. Looking into the bike you could see the thing screaming "quality... race... factory"...It was beautiful.

Lotta Torque About Norton

Sideburn Magazine Review

If you've been round the web, you've noticed all the gloss going on with the new Sideburn Magazine "project" as they call it.

Brianchild of Gary Inman and Ben Pert....dunno about Ben, but I really respect Gary Inman's writing, taste in bikes and his work with Performance Bikes magazine (which I pay an arm and a leg for a subscription to).




Anywho...I shelled out the cash for this booklet, cause it's yet to be a real 'subscription magazine'. 12$ US, a bit pricey but it's from the UK so I'll try it out.

And? ...Meh.

84 pages (adverts included), A5 sized (half normal size for us Ameericanz) full color and plowed with whizz-bang cooler than thou design.

Content? Well the boyz there have set out to (quote) "Show americans how to appreciate dirtrack". So there are stories about some grassroots racing, a Jay Springsteen story, some custom trackers that really don't belong anywhere near dirt, and some really cool vintage photos.
Verdict? ....again, Meh.



Is it cool? YES. It should be a free pick-up pamplet at every motorcycle shop in the world.
But at 12$...6 pound or the 9 Euros they charge, its a bit silly really.
But hey! look, they have T-shirts...40 freaking dollar Tshirts. Or a 6$ sticker sheet. c'mon guys.

Summary: More wrenching and riding content for the common man, and less gloss please.

The magazine itself reminds me of a really fancy motorcycle shop that searves a 6$ cup of latte and you can browse through the manufacturer branded casual wear while you wait for your bike to get 'serviced'. ...the oil change you can't do yourself.
know what I mean?

I guess I expected a bit more. Anyway, if anyone wants to check it out I have a slightly used copy occupying the toilet reading material at my house. I'll send it to you for 4 Euros, half price!

Mighty High-Side: Lorenzo's Chinese MotoGP crash

Whoa, maybe the best highside photo I've ever seen.

Jorge Lorenzo highsided in this morning's 1st practice for this week's upcoming Chinese GP. It seems he landed very hard and it would be amazing if he's not seriously injured, but no official word yet.
Check out this fantastic photo sequence courtesy of motogp.com

I tell you one thing, I'm thankful right now for being three times his size....cause I'm damn sure my big ass wouln't fly that high.

BMW officially unveils World Superbike contender - Holy ****!!

Hendrik von Kuenheim
General Director BMW Motorrad
BMW Motorrad Media Talk 2008 - Munich, 16 April 2008

"Ladies and Gentlemen,
let us put an end to this speculation today,
BMW Motorrad’s first Supersports will be the “S 1000 RR”. "

193 HP in stock form, around 400 LBS.

The following information from MCN via motorcyclistcafe.com

BMW oficially unveils World Superbike contender
These are the first official pictures of BMW’s 2009 World Superbike (WSBK) contender, which was unveiled to a select group of journalists in Germany this morning.

The motorcycle is named the S1000RR, and BMW plans to produce 1000 road-going versions in 2009 to satisfy World Superbike homologation requirements.

The road-going version is due to feature traction control, and BMW is working towards a target weight of 190kg, and power of 190bhp.

BMW has also specified that the road-going version should be comfortable to ride and easy to move around on, despite being light and compact.

Adrian Roderick, general manager of BMW Motorrad UK told MCN that the S1000RR is unlikely to be in dealers until early 2010, as the World Superbike homologation rules give the firm until December 2009 to build road-going motorcycles.

While the firm has yet to set the price for the road motorcycle, it is aiming to keep it competitive, relative to Japanese superbikes.

MCN estimates the model would need to be priced around the £10,000 mark to satisfy that requirement.

BMW has set ambitious targets for the race bike, looking to be a consistent top-10 finisher in 2009 with a two-man team comprising one experienced rider, and one young-gun.

The aim for 2010 would be to start winning races, with a view to wrapping up the championship in 2011 or 2012