05 Yamaha Banshee on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Casey Stoner to Retire After 2012 MotoGP Season

Two-time MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner has announced he will retire following the end of the 2012 season. Rumors of Stoner’s impending retirement plans have been floating around for weeks with the 26-year-old Repsol Honda racer saying he will continue racing until he no longer enjoyed it. That seems to be the case now as the 2007 and 2011 MotoGP Champion announced he will retire at a press conference ahead of this weekend’s French Grand Prix at Le Mans.

Yamaha Reports Q2 2012 Results

Yamaha has lowered its 2012 year-end sales forecast by 14.3% after reporting disappointing first half results. The Japanese manufacturer reported a profit of 14.5 billion yen (US$184.3 million), a 49.8% decrease from a profit of 29 billion yen reported in the first half of 2011. According to the company’s financial report for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, Yamaha‘s net sales totaled 632.2 billion yen (US$8.04 billion), a 4.6% decrease from net sales of 663.1 billion yen reported in the same quarter of 2011.

2014 Yamaha MT-09 Three-Cylinder Street Bike Announced for Europe – to be Named FZ-09 in US

A couple of weeks ago, Yamaha Europe released a video called “Dark Side of Japan” teasing a new street bike it claimed would “change the sport motorcycle world.” Today, the company revealed its new model, introducing a new naked sportbike powered by a “Crossplane” three-cylinder engine called the MT-09. (EDIT: and we can now reveal that the North American version will be known as the Yamaha FZ-09.) The 2014 Yamaha MT-09 is powered by a new 847cc three-cylinder engine first teased at Intermot last year. According to Yamaha, the MT-09′s engine produces 113.4 hp at 10,000 rpm and 64.5 ft-lb.