Honda Shadow Motorcycles in Merrimack, page #76

Moto blog

South West Motorcycle Show 2010, August 28th & 29th

Need something to do on August Bank Holiday weekend, then read below: "Although the South West Motorcycle Show has been running at the Westpoint Arena for the last sixteen years, 2010 is the first year that the show hosts the all-new Vertical Trix European Stunt Championship. The show contains all the usual attractions that have been delivered to motorcyclists from over the south-west and further afield since 1994 – including all the appropriate trade stands, and with strong support from local dealers – plus attractions such a a dyno on site, restaurant, bar, bike displays, live music and of course the live action arena. Although the action in the show arena has previously been stunt displays, rather than a full-on competition.

Honda’s View of the Motorcycle Industry in Canada

Recently here on Motorcycle.com, we’ve been bringing you reviews of a handful of Honda scoots that are available to our neighbors (or is that neighbours?) to the North in Canada, yet remain forbidden fruit for American consumers. Reviewer Costa Mouzouris gave us a look at the naked CB1000R that Honda Canada is considering importing, the already-available half-faired CBF1000, and the entry-level CBR125R. Meanwhile, Honda’s competitors have also announced some new products for Canada that have yet to be made available in the U.S.

McGuinness' Guinness 'Blade at Lancaster Honda

That picture is of John McGuinness' actual 'Guinness Rep' Fireblade. The bike is on show at Lancaster Honda. The 15 times TT winner has been (quite rightly!) given this 'Blade by Honda, but you can order one for yourself.

Electric Motorcycle Conversion [video]

If you were ever curious how to convert your smelly, noisy and dirty gas powered motorcycle into a quiet and zero emissions electric motorcycle then you have to check this video out from GomiStyle.  They take an old Honda Rebel 250 and customize the frame to accommodate the electric motor and batteries, they claim the conversion should take about two to three days to complete, the batteries will take about 5-8 hours to charge and will give you a top speed of 45 mph. Here is a link to the step-by-step instructions, check out the video after the jump. The GomiCycle – An Electric Motorcycle Conversion from Media Sapien on Vimeo.

The Japanese oddity to naming teams

Whenever the calendar shifts to a major Japanese race, such as the Suzuka 8hr, one of the more amusing things to do is glance down the team sheet This years highlight for me has to be team Moto Bum, with other stand outs including aprilia D.D.BOYS, Team Etching Factory Yamaha and MITO MOTO & e'freaks Honda. Looking back through the ages some of the great Japanese team names have been Burning Blood Racing Team, Dog Fight Racing and Team Moto Space amongst others. Credit to a member of the Twitterati @temalive

So that's why he's called RANDY de Puniet

RANDY de Puniet may well have just been ejected from his LCR Honda RC212V MotoGP racer during qualifying for Sunday's Sachsenring GP but that ain't gonna stop him from bringing one of the company perks with him to Dr Costa's on-circuit surgery. The Frenchman crashed during qualifying after hitting oil and water spilled on track by Jorge Lorenzo's Fiat Yamaha, after it spewed its guts along almost the entire length of the start finished straight. Following the crash De Puniet was whisked away on a stretcher with a suspected broken foot.

Gardner chilling out and taking it easy

Away from the pressures of being a Grand Prix racer in the days when fierce on-track battles and unexpected highsides were common place, Wayne Gardner throws a Honda VFR750F around Oran Park in Australia. The bike that Wayne is likely to be riding is special VFR750F, that was given the codename '6X'. The VFR was an experiment with prototype components including titanium valves and magnesium flat-slide carburetors, the result was the bike that weighed less than a factory RC30.

Old Spice ad gets, er, spiced up

WE CAN'T believe an aftershave worn by most of our grandfathers is still on sale, or that people actually buy it, but Old Spice has given a new twist to their popular TV ad by including a motorcycle in the promo.The commercial stars former American football player Isaiah Mustafa and ends with, what looks like, a 1970s Honda twin in a jacuzzi.It's all completely bizarre but clever.

How to solve the mystery of the wildcard replacement

With the two test riders coming forward to act as replacement riders for the injured Rossi and Aoyama, it brought back memories of the days when the grid would be gifted with wildcard riders from the respective countries. The Japanese rounds were always attended by some of the top guys with experience of the 500GP and MotoGP bikes, through racing them in their domestic championships. What resulted was getting to witness the exciting and talented Japanese riders, and bring new riders to the attention of the teams.

Parrish's predictions for Silverstone MotoGP

I'm at Silverstone for the British MotoGP and Steve Parrish spoke to us all about his predictions for the podium. Parrish has gone for Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa to take the top three spots and spray the bubbly at the end of the race. Not too sure on his call though as I think Dani will be riding on a high after winning at Mugello and surely the speedy Spaniard will take full advantage and wring the neck of the Honda at the (supposedly) high speed Silverstone Circuit.