2003 Honda Shadow Spirit 750 on 2040-motos

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Moto blog

Bahrain track days

A few months ago, expat (and ex racer) John Beddall made contact to ask if I fancied doing some track day instruction out in Bahrain.  After thinking about it for two seconds, flights were booked and a plan was put in place to look after around forty riders for a day at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).  Young Taylor Mac was also recruited to look after any tasty riders that I couldn’t deal with   The Brits out there love their bikes, however, quite a few locals also turned up plus a few others from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.  Most were on high end Superbikes, like S1000s, Panigales and RSV4s but there was also a healthy number R6s and new 675Rs.   Although this fabulous Hermann Tilke designed circuit is around ten years old incredibly it has never hosted a bike race.  The highlight of the year there is F1 but being owned by the Bahrainian Royal family, there is no desperate need for the circuit to operate as a profitable business.  The track reminded me of Qatar but much more interesting as some great undulations have been built into its desert location. We shared the track with Supercars on the day (20mins on/20mins off) and as you might imagine it was betty swollocks for seven hours in the 30 plus temperatures.  As usual there was a few offs with poor old RS1000 Aprilia mounted Andy breaking his femur early in the day.  Two other buddies appeared to swap bikes mid air in another incident but fortunately escaped unhurt.In the evening everyone stayed for an al fresco dinner in the paddock with the craic going on for hours as the Fosters kept flowing.   All in all it was a brilliant trip and it has left me thinking there could be cost effective ways of getting Brits out there for track days next winter.  I'll keep you posted.Cape Town next to make my racing comeback at the Killarney 8 hour on a CBR150 Honda.  Hopefully I can manage the beast, I'll post a full report next week.

Own A Scale Model Of The Elf5, One Of The Most Unique Racing Motorcycles Ever

If you’re a fan of scale model racing motorcycle kits, this 1/12 scale model of the Elf5 racer, as ridden by Ron Haslam in 1988, should make your mouth water. Designed by famous F1 designer André de Cortanze, the Elf5 was the culmination of a radical experiment by de Cortanze and Elf, the French petroleum giant. And even though it didn’t claim the racing success Cortanze and Elf had hoped, the experimental Elf motorcycles hold a distinctive place in motorcycle racing history, with some of its technology still in use today.  Powered by a Honda NSR500 V4 engine that served as a stressed member and main mounting structure for the single-sided swingarms both front and rear, this recently released scale model is based closely on the actual Elf5 racing machines. This full detailed kit maintains the single-sided suspension, with the front suspension consisting of aluminum alloy and springs that will be partly movable.

MotoGP 2011: 'Expert' Predictions

What's instore for the 2011 MotoGP season. Anticipation for exciting racing that's more likely to be largely dull, one-horse races. Here are the Visordown predictions for the top three this year: Ben Cope: Stoner Lorenzo Pedrosa James Whitham: Stoner Lorenzo Rossi Niall Mackenzie: Pedrosa Rossi Spies Mark Forsyth: Stoner Spies Lorenzo Robin Goodwin: Stoner Pedrosa Spies Barring Mackenzie and his far-out choices, it's a unaminous Visordown support for Casey Stoner on the Repsol Honda.