After the race in Motegi, Nakagami will undergo an operation on his shoulder to resolve an injury that has troubled him throughout the season. The nature of the operation warrants an extensive recovery period, forcing the Japanese rider to end his 2019 season early. By performing the operation now, Nakagami is aiming to be fully fit for the first test of the 2020 season in Sepang on February 07.
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
After the race in Motegi, Nakagami will undergo an operation on his shoulder to resolve an injury that has troubled him throughout the season. The nature of the operation warrants an extensive recovery period, forcing the Japanese rider to end his 2019 season early. By performing the operation now, Nakagami is aiming to be fully fit for the first test of the 2020 season in Sepang on February 07.
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
Western Australian scores 10th in Queensland’s opening round.
Image: Foremost Media.
Kyle Webster admits representing Team Australia at the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations (MXoN) last month hindered his preparations for the 2019 Australian Supercross Championship, the SX2 challenger earning 10th at Brisbane’s season-opener.
The Western Australian received the call-up for MXoN in just his initial days of being on a supercross track this season, prompting him to put testing on hold in favour of preparing for the Assen event.
Despite arriving home days out of Brisbane’s first round, the Penrite Pirelli CRF Honda Racing rider still lined up for the opening stop of the series, transferring directly to the main events, where he posted a DNF-10 scorecard.
“The whole MXoN experience was amazing, but it did mean my build up for the supercross championship was limited and I only had a few days of supercross training before we lined up in Brisbane,” Webster explained.
“I really struggled with how small and tight track the track was at Brisbane, so now we’ll just move on and I’m excited to put in a solid week of riding, and I cannot wait for the next round at Adelaide.”
The Australian Supercross Championship visit Port Adelaide this Saturday for round two of the series.
Source: MotoOnline.com.au
With Phil Aynsley
An all too brief revival of the famous Moto Morini name commenced in 1999 when Alfonso Morini’s nephew, Franco, bought the name back from Ducati (who had acquired it in the TPG buyout in 1996). The new joint-stock company Morini Franco Motori S.p.A. came into being in 2003.
The following year saw the announcement of a completely new motorcycle – the 1200 Corsaro. It was powered by a 87° DOHC V-twin that was designed by Franco Lambertini – who had been responsible for Morini’s V-twins, such as the 3½, back in the ’70s.
Corsaro Veloce, Sport & Scrambler variants followed before the enterprise went bankrupt in 2009. About 40 bikes were assembled from spare parts in early 2011 before the name was sold to Eagle Bike (a company run by two Italian entrepreneurs).
Limited production continued, from 2014 at a new location in Trivizio. The management changed again in 2015 with one of the owners leaving, the dropping of internet only sales and the establishment of a dealer network. New models were introduced including a revised Granpasso, Scrambler and Corsaro ZZ.
Moto Morini are about to be re-born yet again with a display at EICMA next month where the company will present a new platform of mid-engine size motorbikes. A new platform which will be available in different models starting from the Naked and Adventure segment, a first teaser image of that new bike is below.
The new Morini range will be powered by the CorsaCorta 1200 cc engine, composed by the sporty Corsaro ZZ, the Corsaro ZT and the Milano, the company will also present a new element with what they claim will be a definitive version of the Super Scrambler.
In this feature though we focus on this June 2008 build Corsaro Avio that has only done 250km, and apart from being fitted with factory accessory Termignoni mufflers and having the pillion pegs removed, is in completely standard condition. Power output is claimed as 120hp at 8500rpm pushing a dry weight of 198kg.
Source: MCNews.com.au
British contender earns second in the final encounter.
Image: Supplied.
Scoring a podium in race two was a positive end to Argentina’s 12th round of the 2019 FIM Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) for Chaz Davies, who was one of six riders that sat out the opening encounter with safety concerns over track conditions.
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati contender recorded a 4-2 scorecard, lifting the British ace’s spirits after being disappointed by Saturday’s controversy.
“It was a really good way to finish the weekend,” said Davies. “This morning in the Superpole race I was able to finish in fourth place which put me on the second row of the grid for race two. Unfortunately, in the second race I made a bad start and I was swamped by several riders at the first corner.
“I felt comfortable enough however and began to pick my way through the pack. When I got up to second place the gap to Jonathan was almost three seconds, and although I closed it down a bit, it was impossible to get any closer to him. Pity because I think if I had been there from the beginning, it might have been a nice race.
“However, we were competitive on another track, that’s four or five now where we’ve been near or on the podium. A big thanks to the team for their work but also for standing by me yesterday. Hopefully now we can go to Qatar and continue the momentum to finish the season strong.”
Davies sits seventh in the championship standings ahead of Qatar season-finale on 26 October.
Source: CycleOnline.com.au
South Australian denied of podium result in Brisbane.
Image: Foremost Media.
Penrite Honda Racing’s Brett Metcalfe has described his race two crash at Brisbane’s supercross opener as ‘indoor racing at its finest’ after the South Australian was pushed wide over a berm, ultimately denying him of a podium following a commanding P2 result in main event one.
The former international immediately picked up the form that took him to runner-up honours in the 2018 championship, and was on target to reach the podium before going down in the early stages of the final encounter. His 2-5 results saw him equal for third, although credited fourth on countback.
The tight nature of Brisbane Entertainment Centre delivered a number of on-track clashes throughout the night as expected, however Metcalfe’s incident has only fuelled his motivation ahead of a home round in Port Adelaide this weekend.
“I qualified well, heat race went good and I had a good start, which was important to get through to the main events,” Metcalfe explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “We missed a little on our set-up going in, so we’ll work on that and improve for the rest of the rounds.
“In the last main event, it was indoor racing at its finest – I got put over a berm and went down. I had to charge from last – it happens. I’m definitely motivated, and I’m pretty angry [laughs].”
The Australian Supercross Championship heads to South Australia this weekend, the same venue Metcalfe heroically won at last year.
Source: MotoOnline.com.au
One of the earliest motorcycle number plates to come to public auction, ‘4’, has sold at auction for $150,000, setting a Victorian record.
The plates sold at the weekend Shannons Motorclassica plate auction and was only tipped to fetch up to $80,000.
There are two because motorcycles used to have a front number plate as well. Some safety Nazis and cops still think they should make a comeback so riders can be detected by front-facing speed cameras.
It was the only motorcycle plate in the auction which fetched $2.4m, including an auction record $181,000 for a “Q1” car plate.
The “4” motorcycle number plate is not the most expensive in Australia. It is believed the 80-year-old NSW “1” plate may have sold for close to $1 million.
That plate was originally owned by Bennett and Wood in 1918. It was bought by Honda’s General Manager in 1935 and spent time on an MV Agusta in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
Personalised motorcycle number plates are big business, but they are not as valuable as car plates.
The Australian record for the most expensive car number plate was set in 2017 at the Shannons Sydney Autumn Auction where “NSW 29” fetched $745,000, beating the previous 2003 record of $689,000 for “NSW 2”.
But that is nothing compared with world record prices.
The world’s most expensive plate is believed to be “25 O” which is on a Ferrari 250 SWB enviously owned by guitar god Eric Clapton.
The plate is now owned by Ferrari deal principal John Collins who paid £518,480 in 2014 and fitted it to his Ferrari 250 SWB.
However, that could be eclipsed by British car mod businessman Afzal Kahn who is asking more than £12m for his “F1” plate which is on his Bugatti Veyron.
He has previously turned down an offer of £6 million.
He bought the plate for £440,000 in 2008, setting a UK record.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
Yamaha is stepping up its electric program with removable batteries, but not in a full-size electric motorcycle.
That’s probably just as well as Harley-Davidson has hit a short circuit with the introduction of its LiveWire.
Instead, Yamaha will unveil two electric scooters, an electric bicycle, an electric mobility scooter and an electric personal scooter at next week’s 46th Tokyo Motor Show.
Yamaha has not revealed many details of its new electric program at the Tokyo show, but they do promise fast-charging, extra range and removable batteries.
So far, Yamaha has only produced the electric PES1 (Passion Electric Street) road bike and PED1 (Passion Electric Dirt), but neither is available in Australia.
In June, Yamaha unveiled their EC-05 electric scooter with Gogoro lithium-ion battery packs you can easily swap at a convenient roadside vending machine.
In Tokyo they will unveil the small E02 scooter and classic-looking E-Vino, both with removable batteries.
There will also be a YPJ-YZ pedal-assisted e-bike, an electric tilting three-wheelers mobility scooter, and the electric Land Link Concept.
The latter uses artificial intelligence image recognition technology to autonomously move over “vast” outdoor terrain. It is likely designed to transport cargo.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
Difficulties continue for the GRT Yamaha rider in Argentina.
Image: Supplied.
Retiring Marco Melandri has stated his riding style seems to be incompatible with the GRT Yamaha YZF-R1 after another weekend of difficulties at Argentina’s penultimate round of the 2019 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK).
Melandri suggests the bike and himself are ‘working in opposite directions’, despite many efforts from the squad in endeavouring to adapt the bike to his style.
The Italian was one of six riders who elected to sit out the opening race due to safety concerns on the track conditions, however returned to racing on Sunday to post a 15-14 scorecard.
“This has been another weekend where I’ve struggled a lot,” Melandri admitted. “My main strength is my riding style and, unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be compatible with the bike.
“Every time I tried to push harder after a few laps I made a lot of mistakes and lost ground. It looks like me and the bike are working in opposite directions still. I’ve tried many things with the team to find a solution this season but, as the results show, we’re still looking.”
Melandri announced his retirement from professional racing in July, with just one race left in his career at Qatar’s season-finale.
Source: CycleOnline.com.au
Harley-Davidson’s electric LiveWire motorcycle has hit a short circuit with production stopped for a “nonstandard condition” involving the home charger.
The company has asked owners only to charge their bikes with the DC fast charger supplied at some HD dealerships.
There is no other information from the company.
Even though it doesn’t arrive in Australia until late next year, we asked Harley-Davidson Australia for comment and received an unusual stoney silence.
Which leaves us speculating.
The strongest possibility is that the home chargers overheat which could cause a fire.
In March, the entire fleet of 18 Energica electric motorcycles for the MotoE series were destroyed in a blaze that was blamed on a short circuit in one of the charging units.
Electric vehicle and charger fires can be caused by short-circuits, power surges, impact, excessive discharge or overheating.
They also cause special concerns for fire fighters.
Lithium batteries are obviously made with lithium which is highly flammable and stored in mineral oil.
While it is not toxic, it can cause nausea, diarrhoea, dizziness, muscle weakness, fatigue and a dazed feeling.
Electric vehicle and battery fires can also release sulphuric acid, carbon monoxide, copper and cobalt.
Fire fighters can’t douse the flames with water as the high voltage can cause an electric shock or electrocution.
Instead, they have to disconnect the power supply (usually an orange plug) and contain the fire to let it burn itself out.
This short circuit to Harley’s electric motorcycle program follows a month delay in deliveries to US dealerships where it has created a lot of interest, but not a lot of sales.
Buyers are apparently baulking at the $US29,990 price (about $A44,000).
Some dealers are even rejecting the expensive DC fast-charger installation which is a requirement of being able to sell the bike.
So Harley has two major PR exercises going at the moment to rescue the LiveWire.
Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor are currently shooting Long Way Up from the bottom to the top of the Americas, riding LiveWire motorcycles.
And now HD has brought in Hollywood action star Jason Momoa who plays Aquaman and Khal Drogo to test ride the bike.
“Harley wanted me to test one of the new LiveWires, I was kind of like ehhh. I like the idea of it but I wanted to hear it,” says Jason who is more at home on pushrod fuel burners.
While filming on the Gold Coast in 2017, he took delivery of a Softail.
Now he says he is stoked by the electric bike.
“I have never been on anything this fast, it kind of blew my mind,” he says.
“I am in love with it, it’s amazing and I look forward to the future of many more of these bikes.
“It’s so fast, faster than I need, it’s amazing. It’s good for the planet, beautiful, we’re moving with the times.
“Best part is, it’s the future. You can have this and your old one. It’s amazing.”
Harley is going to need a lot of star power to help the LiveWire over this current short circuit!
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
