mika
Still Wondering
oliepeil.nl: Voxan Roadster
Another aggressive looking solo ride.
thevintagent.blogspot.com: Motorcycle monstrosities
sportrider.com: Suspension setup guide.
motorniews.nl: 2009 Moto Guzzi Millepercento BB1
Some limited information from Motor Niews on a new model from MC boasting 117hp and looking very handsome to my eye. (My translator does not the best at Dutch.)
More details of the BMW S1000RR from Spanish site Solomoto30.com
roadracingworld.com: AMA Schedules Fifth Internationa Women & Motorcycling Conference
Video Test Suzuki RM-S 450 SM
This video is by way of motoblog.it. The riding is fun to watch and the views of the bike interesting, the voice over in Italian may or may not be helpful depending on your language skills.
None of that is why I am posting it. Most of the footage in the video is taken by stationary cameras at the side of the track. Watch for a shadow approximately 40 seconds into the video and note two things. The sequence is being shot from a lead bike. Based on the shadow is the cameraman is riding the pillion backwards while filming, or is the that just a big camera hanging off the back. Either way I am very impressed with the test bike and more impressed with the chase bike no matter how it is set up.
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World Superbike returns to Miller Motorsports Park
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MCN (UK) gives a walk around of the new Aprilia RSV4 road bike.
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abc-wec.com: The WEC 2009 is being prepared
The WEC site gives a glimpse into the WEC preparations worked on in their meeting 13 December.
treas.gov: Treasury releases term sheet for automotive plan
treas.gov: Secretary Paulson statement on stabilizing for the automotive industry
Santa!!!
motorauthority.com: Imola Racing builds widebody Ferrari 612 Scaglietti.
autospot.com: Richards considering Honda resuce.
Prodrive’s David Richards has been rumored to be looking at purchasing Honda since their withdrawal announcement.
bmwf1blog.com: The Kubica KERS
F1’s Bernie Ecclesotne and Ferrari’s Luca de Motezemolo are fighting and using big bags of money to hit each other.
Updat 1 – Motor racing – Ecclestone says Ferrariget special deal
Even billionaires are acting out under the economic pressures.
Honda hs withdrawn from racing in F1 but the team is still forging on toward a sale.
[url=http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_4670834,00.html]planet-f1.com: Honda’s new car still on track
autopsies.com: Which German company has the best current lineup and future roadmap, Audi, BMW or MB
theglobeandmail.com: Canadian aid could reach more than $4-billion
freep.com: Canada: (and the winning number in the Canadian bailout is
$3.29 billion to Big 3 subsidiariesAutomakers worldwide have been holding their breath to see what the US would do with an auto bailout. Now that action has been taken the terms for initial action have been set for other countries.
Over the time of doing this I found two good BMW cage blogs. I am going to let them cover the series car part of BMW for us so I may tilt at other windmills. The links to their RSS feeds will be found here.
BimmerFile
Bmw Blog
BMW Motorrad WSBK Blog – by J??rgen Fuchs
12/15/08
The first trial of strength in Kyalami will tell us more about the brand new superbike S 1000 RR!! But what about the BMW’s serial production bike? J??rgen Fuchs, Ex GP rider and MOTORRAD test rider has ridden both versions.
The instructions were to cover 3000 km of race track in one week! One of the many endurance tests required to get the BMW S 1000 RR ready for serial production. The setting was Albacete in Spain, where the latest super sports bike fought it out at the Master Bike 2008.
Solid holding in the seat with a push of over 180 bhp, knees hugging the fuel tank in the hard braking zones, the position of the handlebar butt for easy hanging off – these are the main ergonomic requirements of a super sports bike. BMW even went a step further! There is plenty of space even for test riders over 180 cm tall, and I can really move my body. When hanging off at the extreme, the handlebar weights were the only thing that got in my way. BMW modified them right away on site. We easily stayed on schedule during the endurance test, there were no technical problems – but bad weather was forecast. So a comparative test with Honda – the winner of the 2008 Master Bike – which had been planned for later was pulled forward. I’m not allowed to spill all the beans …. but I will say this much: the data analysis indicates that the times when Japanese bikes thundered past a BMW on the straight are now over!
The next day it really did rain. We were on road tyres, not rain tyres! Not pleasant! But it was a good opportunity to activate all the buttons on the handlebars and to try out the new ABS and DTC. It was not long before I had full confidence in this safety feature and was able to make perfect use of the various possibilities offered by the system. I have never had so much fun in the wet. The electronic system has an awful of work to do in such poor conditions, and it did so with flying colours. This applies both to the traction control function and the ABS. After an entire testing day in the rain, I was sure I would not have been able to do this speed without a fall if I hadn’t had the electronic assistants.
My conclusion: the basis is just right, reliability is there, riding fun is guaranteed, the chassis and electronic system still require some fine tuning.
Since doing this test I am a fan of ABS and DTC. BMW impressively combines safety and sporty flair.
The next tests are already planned for February …
Stefan Sagmeister on what he has learned
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The tube is a great tool for getting around London. But when I have spent time in London on business or pleasure I use the bus as much as possible. The bus combines transport and site seeing at the same time. I like the double deck London Routemaster bus and was disappointed when a law suit by an American looked to be the demise of them. Transport for London put out a design request for a new double deck bus. Autobloggreen.com has renderings of the what appears to be the unlikely winning designer, Aston Martin.
Kudzenol
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thenewspaper.com: Maryland students use speed cameras for revenge
webbikeworld.com: 2008 J.D. Power Motorcycle Surveys
webBikeWorld.com has a good follow up piece to the J.D. Power survey I posted in another thread.
autobloggreen.com: economic downturn hits the hydrogen economy
nytimes.com: Recalls of Chinese auto parts are a mounting concern.
I post this article with mixed feelings about the extrapolated conclusions that readers sometimes make. The concerns about imported parts themselves or imported parts supplied to manufacturers and incorporated into their products are a very legitimate concern.
Fans of the BMW marque of cars and motorcycles have expressed concerns with BMW’s use of ‘imported’ parts and entire sub-assemblies such as the G 450 and 650 engines and what that means to BMW customers. BMW uses parts from a variety of sources and countries to assemble its cars and motorcycles. My take is that in the end with regard to BMW the responsibility of quality rests with BMW and does not serve as a launching pad for tirades on supplying countries. Caveat Emptor applies to BMW in its selection of suppliers as much as it serves advice and warning to buyers of their products.
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WOOT.com
Bike Candy
Via: OttoNero.com
Commetnts:
