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Moto blog

Q3 2013 US Motorcycle Sales Results

Motorcycle and scooter sales in the U.S. in 2013 remain consistent with last year’s figures, according to data released by the Motorcycle Industry Council. Several manufacturers blamed poor weather for the poor start this year, and the rebounding sales in the third quarter helped to negate the slow sales from earlier in the year.

Rainy BSB tests are nothing new

THE combination of bad weather in the UK and a European testing ban means that most BSB teams will now start the season with very little track time. This sounds like a disaster for the top teams but history has proved this isn’t necessarily true and it sometimes doesn’t matter how much pre season preparation has taken place.  Back in 2002 Sean Emmett won on the IFC Ducati at the opening Silverstone round after first riding it in unofficial practice the same weekend. Steve Hislop took the other win on Pauls Bird’s well sorted Ducati. More recently in 2009, Leon Camier took an untested new model R1 Yamaha to victory at the Brands Hatch opener after GSE took delivery of the bike just the week before. Sylvain Guintoli won the other race on a well developed, well tested Crescent Suzuki. You could argue if no one has had testing then it is a level playing field but you have to feel for riders moving up to the superbike class in the world’s toughest national series.  Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobson is one such rider but having spent some time with him over the past few weeks he seems to be taking it all in his stride. It may be the confidence of youth or maybe the fact he has won in every other class he has entered in his short BSB career, but I suspect he fancies at least standing on the Superbike podium at Brands (He also does a bit of ice racing which is not dissimilar to the this year’s UK testing).  The testing ban was implemented with all the best cost cutting intentions and if it had been any other year in the past decade all would be well. The teams may be feeling frustrated but the fans should be excited. With so many unknowns, the 2013 BSB opener at Brands Hatch could be the best ever!

Chris Ulrich Takes Passengers on Charity Record Ride

During the eighth annual Roadracing World Action Fund (RWAF) at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, Team M4 Hammer GEICO Suzuki rider Chris Ulrich felled every existing record for a two-up track riding charity event During the course of the two-day event Ulrich, on his GEICO Suzuki GSX-R1000,  carried 71 passengers around the Speedway 213 times for a total of 489.9 miles. This beats previous RWAF records for most two-up rides and also sets new fund-raiser records for most laps completed in one day with a passenger (114) and over two days (213), plus the most miles ridden in one day with a passenger (262.2 vs. 248.4) and over two days (489.9 vs. 432.2 miles).