Grey Honda Shadow Motorcycles, page #67

Moto blog

X-ray: Marquez's Suter Moto2

Learning in the quickest and most painful manner with some huge crashes, Marc Marquez has grown into a championship contender in his first year in Moto2. A debut win in Le Mans saw the rookie go on to win four races in a row and become a glaring orange nuisance in the championship peripherals of Stefan Bradl. As success has gone Marquez's way there have been complaints from riders of the same chassis that this is down to Suter giving the Spaniard preferential treatment.

Schwantz School, the ultimate track experience?

If having one-to-one instruction from an ex-MotoGP World Champion is your dream, then why not put the Schwantz School on your Christmas list for 2012. Ok, it’s in America and slightly more expensive than your average track day ($2750 for two days at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) but many satisfied customers will argue this is the best rider training experience in the world. Your hard earned Dollar will see you alternate between the classroom and track from 8am until 4pm, then Kevin will take you on a track tour where he explains riding techniques and answers questions (he even drives the bus).

14-Year-Old Canadian Stacey Nesbitt First Woman to Win a National Road Racing Title

Quebec teenager Stacey Nesbitt has won the Canadian Superbike Championship’s 2011 Honda CBR125R Challenge title. We’re still checking, but organizers are already calling Nesbitt the first woman to win a  national road racing championship (excluding women-only categories). The 14-year-old from St-Lazare, Quebec, swept both Honda CBR125R Challenge races in the season finale at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario, to win the title with 421 points, 52 points ahead of runner-up Austin Shaw-O’Leary.

Did you get your bike serviced at George White Slough?

Unfortunately, The George White branch at Slough has closed which means the sales, clothing and servicing departments are all gone. I got to know a few of the guys there as they're local to me and helped put my 848 Challenge bike together. If you used to get your bike serviced there, you might wonder where you can now go to get it done.

2012 Honda CBR1000RR Leaked

Pictures of the 2012 Honda CBR1000RR have leaked from a distributor in Hong Kong, revealing some updates including a Showa Big Piston Fork, updated display and styling facelifts. The photos show the new Honda Fireblade (as it’s known in other markets) in HRC tri-color trim which, judging from color options offered on other recent Honda models, won’t be available in the U.S. 2012 also marks the 20th year of the RR so an special anniversary paint scheme might be offered.

Simon and Leo

If you are a track day regular this year, you may well have bumped into former racer and friendly Kiwi, Simon Crafar. I first met him in Malaysia in 1990 when he was riding for a Yamaha dealer team, sweating his way round circuits like Shah Alam and Johor Bahru but with a long term plan to make it onto the World scene. And he didn’t take long as after riding for Honda in the UK in 1992 he moved to WSB in 1994 and enjoyed success with both the Honda and Kawasaki factory teams.

Hero Honda Rebranded as Hero MotoCorp

Honda’s former joint venture in India has officially rebranded itself as Hero MotoCorp, revealing the company’s new logo and signaling the beginning of a new era for India’s largest motorcycle manufacturer. Formerly known as Hero Honda, the joint venture claims a share of nearly half of India’s two-wheeled vehicle market. Honda decided in late 2010 to end its 27-year partnership with India’s Hero Motors, buying out its 26% share for $855 million, about half the market price at the time.

2012 Honda NSF250R Race Bike Coming to America

American Honda announced it is bringing the new 2012 HRC NSF250R Moto3-spec race bike to the U.S. Though it was developed primarily for competition in the Moto3 World Championship, the 249cc Honda NSF250R will be legal for some racing classes in the U.S. including in USGPRU and WERA.

Honda Reports Q1 2011-2012 Results

Honda reported a 88.3% year-on-year decrease in net profit over its first quarter ended June 30, 2011, thanks in large part to the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunamis in Japan. Honda reported a profit of 31.7 billion yen (US$411.1 million) over the quarter, a fraction of the 272.4 billion yen (US$3.53 billion) reported over the same quarter last year.  The decrease came mainly from a large dropoff in automobile sales. Net sales from the motorcycle division helped keep Honda in the black despite a drop in unit sales.

US Motorcycle Sales First Half 2011 Results

The U.S. motorcycle industry saw a 4.6% decrease in year-on-year sales over the first six months of 2011, thanks mostly to a 17.3% drop in ATV sales. Motorcycle and scooter sales however saw a 1.7% bump in the first half .