2005 Yamaha Road Star on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Mystic Mac's 2014 MotoGP predictions

There is no real off season in Moto GP.  Although we complain about being starved of racing, for those at the sharp end, in little more than two months they have new bikes to assemble, team staff to put in place and sponsors to nail down that will pay for it all.  This time frame is also tight for riders, as it seems more every year go straight under the surgeon’s knife after the last round and spend the short winter recuperating for the season ahead. The 2014 Moto GP championship looks like a cracker as apart from the ten full factory riders we now have at least eight non factory riders with properly competitive machinery.  We also have five Brits on the grid, two with podium potential.  Whatever happens though (providing you have BT Sport) you can just sit back and enjoy watching the incredible Marc Marquez do things that shouldn’t be possible. Speaking of whom, I didn’t believe a Rossi replacement would come this soon.  And when I say replacement, I mean a rider that is the full package.  Although in some ways quite different to Vale, he’s an equally phenomenal talent plus a very likeable character that appeals to the masses and although respectful to his rivals off track, deadly competitive in the heat of battle.  Being young and good looking he’s obviously a dream for sponsors and the sport in general.  Marquez has evolved in his own way but thankfully into a perfect replacement for our sport when the VR steps down.

R1 noise, bike porn and a quick lap

Trawling the internet for a sound clip of the Crossplane Crank Yamaha R1 on full chatter, I came across this: a few fast laps on board with New Zealand Superbike racer Tony Rees as he works the CABS Throttle Blipper on his 2011 R1. (Skip to 7:35 for the fast ones.) CABS is a system used by Superbike teams that makes use of the R1’s digitally controlled throttle. When you change up a gear, the bike blips in the perfect amount of revs to save time on track and make downshifts as quick and easy as clutch-less upshifts.

Yamaha Trademarks Logos for YZF-R9

Signs point to an EICMA announcement Ever since we first uncovered evidence of a YZF-R7 based on the MT-07, people started to ask when Yamaha would do the same to the MT-09 and release an YZF-R9 sportbike using the same 890cc Crossplane Triple. The questions picked up a few months later when we dug up trademark filings for a whole range of model names from an R2 to an R9. With the 2023 model launch season in full swing, and EICMA less than two weeks away, we’ve got more fuel for the old rumor engine with two new Yamaha filings, this time for figurative trademarks for “R9” and “YZF-R9.” The trademarks were filed Oct.