OSTRA GRAY BMW Other Motorcycles, page #28

Moto blog

WSBK 2013: Aragon Race Report

BMW Motorrad Goldbet racer Chaz Davies scored his first career World Superbike double victory, taking both races at Spain’s Aragon circuit. The wins were the second and third of Davies’ WSBK career (the first came last year at Nurburgring for the ParkinGo Aprilia team) and the second ever double in the series for BMW. The Welsh rider and former AMA Pro Racing competitor has had some success at Aragon, getting his first career WSBK podium at the Spanish track in 2012.

New: BMW System 6 Evo helmet

BMW has released the new System 6 Evo flip-front helmet.  It retains the clean lines of the System 6, while increasing levels of comfort and practicality with a more scratch-resistant internal sun visor, a more robust visor mechanism designed to make operation with gloved hands easier, improved ventilation control on the chin, and a revised spoiler for better aerodynamics. BMW says it has a unique chin bar pivot which reduces the size of the helmet when the chin bar is upright. Weighing in at 1.57kg, the ECE 22-05 homologated Evo is a quiet lid, with noise levels registering at 84-86 dBA at 62 mph. The helmet comes ready for installation of the BMW Communication system, offering a Bluetooth connection to the BMW Navigator IV sat-nav, music players, mobile phones and other BMW helmets.

AMA Pro Racing Announces Basic Twins Flat Track Class for 2014 Season

AMA Pro Racing announced a new class for Flat Track racing designed to provide a new stepping stone for up-and-coming Pro-licensed racers, replacing the Pro Singles class in 2014. The new class, to be called Basic Twins, is more or less a revival of the Basic Expert Twins division that ran during the 2007 and 2008 seasons, but dropped when the Pro Singles class was introduced for 2009. The new class will give young racers a chance to showcase their skills on Twins, easing their transition to eventually enter the Grand National Expert Twins class.

Greg Tracy to Ride Amarok P1A Electric Sportbike for Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Canada’s Amarok Racing has secured quite a coup in signing six-time Pikes Peak International Hill Climb winner Greg Tracy to ride its P1A electric superbike for the 2013 edition of the event. Tracy has six class victories in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, winning in 1996, 1999, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. His victories have come riding motorcycles from several manufacturers: Honda, Yamaha, BMW and, more recently, Ducati.

BMW Partners with India’s TVS Motor, Plans Sub-500cc Models

  BMW announced it has signed a long-term agreement with Indian manufacturer TVS Motor to develop and produce small-displacement motorcycles. The two companies have been in discussions for several months now, but alliance is only now official. Under the agreement, BMW and TVS will work together to develop a new model with an engine displacement smaller than 500cc.

BMW S1000RR drag bike

Whilst stretched out bikes aren't that popular over here in the UK, you can certainly appreciate them a whole lot more more when you know they're going to be used at a drag strip. This video shows bike builder and ex-racer Roland Sands work his magic on a BMW S1000RR. Future plans are to increase the engine to 300bhp, and achieve speeds of 220mph.

Ex-BMW Executive Pieter De Waal Joins Zero Motorcycles Board of Directors

Zero Motorcycles announced the addition of Pieter De Waal as the newest member of its board of directors. De Waal provides Zero with more than 30 years of experience in the automotive and motorcycle industries. Formerly of Nissan, Delta (General Motors), Mercedes Benz and, most recently, BMW, De Waal has experience dealing with many facets of the industry, from engineering to sales.

Survey Says Harley-Davidson and BMW Motorcycles Less Reliable Than Japanese – But Owners Don’t Care

A new survey conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center finds BMW and Harley-Davidson  owners are much more likely to report major problems with their motorcycles than owners of Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha motorcycles. The survey, which will appear on the April 2013 issue of Consumer Reports, says one in three BMW owners reported experiencing a major problem with their bikes in the last four years. Harley-Davidson owners were slightly better, with one in four reporting serious issues.

2014 BMW R1200RT Spied Testing

With the new 2013 BMW R1200GS now launching worldwide, it really should be no surprise BMW is working on more models using the GS’s new liquid-cooled boxer engine. A contributor to French site MotoMag happened upon a crew of test riders on heavily camouflaged test mules of what appears to be the 2014 BMW R1200RT. The swirly camo pattern does little to hide the new “precision cooling” liquid-cooled engine, easily identified by the pipes exiting from the bottom of the cylinders.

BMW Reports 2012 Sales Results

BMW released its year-end 2012 financial report, reporting revenues of 1.49 billion euros (US$1.93 billion) from its motorcycle business in 2012, up from 1.44 billion euros in 2011. The increased revenues came in a record year for BMW with the company selling an all-time record of 106,358 motorcycles in 2012. Despite the increase in sales revenue, BMW reported a much smaller profit from its motorcycle business, earning 9 million euros (US$11.6 million) in 2012, compared to 45 million euros in 2011.