Tuesday, December 01, 2009
[b]Racing[/b]
[url=http://www.worldsbk.com/en/news/latest-news/1294-superpole-format-slightly-modified-for-2010-season.html]worlsbk.com[/url]: Superpole format slightly modified for 2010 season
[url=http://www.fim-live.com/en/media/news/news-detail/article/1259588071-yoshimura-team-to-race-world-superbikes/]fim-live.com[/url]: yoshumura team to race World Superbike [Selected Races]
[url=http://www.fim-live.com/en/media/news/news-detail/article/1259586936-new-womens-enduro-world-cup/]fim-live.com[/url]: New WomanÔÇÖs Enduro World Cup
[url=http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/MotoGP/2009/November/nov3009-capirossi-urges-suzuki-improvement/?R=EPI-120467]motorcyclenews.com[/url]: Loris Capirossi urges Suzuki improvement
[url=http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2009/LCR+Hondas+2010+prospects+with+Cecchinello]motogp.com[/url]: LCR HondaÔÇÖs 2010 prospects with Cecchinello
[b]On the Street[/b]
[url=http://www.thebeachcruiser.com/blog/?p=2865]thebeachcruiser.com[/url]: Car Compare: All-Purpose Bikes
The BMW K 1300 S and Suzuki Bandit 1250S ABS are both all-around motorcycles good for fun rides and long commutes
[url=http://www.sportrider.com/features/146_0912_riding_bmw_k1200rs/index.html]sportrider.com[/url]: Riding the BMW K1200RS
[url=http://thevintagent.blogspot.com/2009/11/bmw-sale-at-bmw-museum.html]thevintagent.blogsport.com[/url]: BMW sale at the BMW Museum
H-D continues to make the news with its recovery process. This time it is bonds and TALF that play a role as [url=http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/business/76289287.html]Harley sells $562 million in bonds backed by motorcycle loans.[/url]
The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. (JAMA) reported OctoberÔÇÖs [url= http://www.jama-english.jp/statistics/production_export/2009/index.html]Production and Export Summary[/url] and it is not a pretty site. JAMA represents and reports the Japanese motorcycle manufactures also. For the previous 25 months JAMA has reported decreases in production, domestic sales, exports and revenue. October ÔÇÖ09 takes the string to 26 months for JapanÔÇÖs motorcycle manufacturers.
- Motorcycle production in October 2009 was recorded as 51,018 units. Compared with the 120,123 units total recorded for the same month of the previous year, this is a decrease of 69,105 units or 57.5%.
- Domestic sales (factory shipment) in October 2009 stood at 25,658 units, a decrease of 27.7% as compared with the same month of the previous year.
- Motorcycle export in October 2009 was recorded as 41,143 units. Compared with the 90,702 units total recorded for the same month of the previous year, this is a decrease of 49,559 units or 54.6%.
- Total value of motorcycles exported for October 2009 was $334.12 million including $229.94 million for vehicles and $14.18 million for parts. This is a decrease of $263.09 million or 44.1% as compared with $597.21 million recorded for the same month of the previous year.
When you look through the numbers it is easy to be a bit dismissive at first. We are accustomed to seeing numbers for the North American market reported in the big bike class which is 650cc and greater. The JAMA numbers are reported in four classes ranging from 50cc and under to the big bikes which for JAMAÔÇÖs purposes are over 250cc. Yet the revenues from the mix of large and small that pay for R&D for bikes like the VFR1200F that help push the market forward, pays for SBM racing at the national and world levels and more.
The two plus year downward slide puts even more pressure on new releases to be wheel standing successes. For Honda the VFR1200F seems to be doing a stoppie instead of a wheelie as far as MCN is concerned.
[url=http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/First-rides--tests/2009/November/nov3009-honda-vfr1200f-not-good-enough/?R=EPI-120478]motorcyclenews.com[/url]: Honda VFR1200F first road test verdict
[url=http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/11/30/a-better-understanding-of-stoplights/]yankodesign.com[/url]: Eko stoplight by Damjan Stankovic
I am not certain about the ecological implications of this stop light but I like the idea. Countdown style cross walk signs have become common and have gone a long way to making my walks safer. Why not a count down stop light like this?
[url=http://www.xkcd.com/atom.xml]xkcd.com[/url]
[url=http://www.motobasturds.com/feed/]motobastards.com[/url]
[b]Bike Cruller[/b]
[url=http://www.demonstener.com/]Demonstener D1200R[/url] BMW is going into VERY limited production run of 5 units. When it first appeared as [url=http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2008/10/22/bmw-d1200r-from-concept-to-finished-motorcycle/]a concept bike[/url] on The Kneeslider website I posted their article in Motorreads. That was a year ago. It has gone from concept to production, all be it very limited production.
[img]http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Demonstener-D1200R-BMW-1.jpg[/img]
Via: [url=http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/11/30/d1200r-bmw-goes-into-limited-production/]thekneeslider.com[/url]