Motorcycle Blog on 2040Motos

Ducati vs. Honda vs. Suzuki: MotoGP porn

For all you lovers of perfectly welded titanium, amazingly machined aluminium and lovingly crafted fasteners; this blog's for you. These pics were shot at the Sepang MotoGP tests where the bikes were presumably being warmed up, ready for action. Take a look at that Suzuki, it's a work of art.

Bradley good to go

Whitley Bay is not somewhere you’d ever expect to meet a Grand Prix star in the off season but that’s exactly where I happened to bump into Bradley Smith at the weekend. We were up there joining a whole load of generous bikers in the Trojan Rooms on South Parade for a cracking night with the proceeds going to the Faraha orphanage in Kenya. I noticed our Bradders has grown a few centimetres but that matters less now as he has moved from a 125 to the more spacious Tech 3 machine with Mike di Meglio as his team mate.

Spanish real road racing = mental

Taking the ingredients of real road racing and multiplying it by the running of the bulls gives us the insane Spanish road race around closed streets in the small town of La Bañeza. Watching between the gaps of my fingers I find myself transfixed by the onboard footage, almost as if I am an addict to the rush of someone else's adrenaline. It strikes me as a surprise that the La Bañeza race isn't a huge global event of the same size as the Isle of Man TT.

Hipsters: How not to live your life

I have to start this piece by stating that I'm not from London. I may work here but I grew up in a remote North Western market town where people were (rightly) suspicious of anything or anybody new. Back to London.

Nicked by a horse

I've done some pretty strange things on motorcycles over the years. The less said the better, really. But getting nicked by a horse mounted copper was a first for me.

Ducati Diavel Carbon, with a cherry on top

Here at the launch of the Ducati Diavel, there's a Diavel Carbon on display with a few extra Ducati goodies, including the 20mm lower 'Touring' seat. It's trick.. The only thing I'm not so sure about are the wheels, which are black and metal cut finish, as standard on both bikes.

New Ducati Diavel Gallery

Ducati has released number of new photographs of the new Diavel ahead of the sports cruiser’s worldwide press launch. Motorcycle.com‘s Kevin Duke has already shared his thoughts after having a seat on the Diavel at the L.A. Auto Show, and Pete Brissette will get his chance in his upcoming review.

A bit of retroness from Alpinestars

Looking cool on a scooter: It's hard but I think this jacket might help me out. It's the Alpinestars Velocity. A retro-styled jacket with CE approved armour, a removable liner and YKK zips.

More Brit: Teutel's 1957 Ariel T-5 up for sale

Paul Teutel Senior of “American Chopper” fame is having a clear-out of his bike collection but the machines on offer are a far cry from the overblown customs he's renowned for building. Instead, they reveal a passion for vintage British machinery.Check out his 1957 Ariel T-5. Currently up for $12,000 (£7,300)

Teutel's 1943 BSA M20 up for sale

Paul Teutel Senior of “American Chopper” fame is having a clear-out of his bike collection but the machines on offer are a far cry from the overblown customs he's renowned for building. Instead, they reveal a passion for vintage British machinery. One of his auctions is for a 1943 BSA M20 and it's currently at $4,500 (£2700) with a $5,000 (£3,080) Buy It Now price

New stuff - Racer Titan winter gloves

Racer is a Austrian brand that is well known for manufacturing top end gloves. These, the Race Titans are the winter versions of the full on summer race glove called the Sicuro as worn by BSB racer Josh Brookes. Winter gloves have long since been a frustration for many biking buddies we’ve met of the years.

Mud, sweat and boys toys

If you’re into boy’s toys then a day out at the newly opened Westlands Activity Centre, near Annan on the Scottish border, might just hit the spot while you’re waiting for some better biking weather to arrive. Last week I had the honour of opening this seventy acre, fun filled facility where you can quad, mini moto, kart, paint ball and shoot clay pigeons, and all in a stunning woodland complex. Yvonne and Billy Kelly, together with sons Ross and Scott (Scott races in British Supersport) recently moved from Northern Ireland to launch their dream business.

New stuff - Uvex Enduro helmet

If a spot of snow sports is your thing then you will be very familiar with the name Uvex. They pretty much conquer the ski helmet and goggle market with a reputation for high quality anti fog lenses and cool frame designs. What you may not know is that have also been making motorcycle helmets for many years using their expertise to create cool looking helmets with big fighter pilot style visors.

Epic biking holidays - of a lifetime?

I never had the rudimentary gap year traveling before university, seeing it as a bit of a cliché I set upon knuckling down with my studies and getting a degree. I never had that moment of discovery and finding out 'who I really am' and to some extent it's a regret. But I'm feeling inspired and the inspiration comes from two adventures offered by Compass Expeditions.

How not to live your life

Been eyeing up Beetle-engined trike kits recently? No? Thought not.

Bring on the clean: Meguiar's motorcycle range

Well, it's the end of winter, there's no snow around and I'm riding a lot more. Because the roads are wet and generally 'orrible, my bikes are looking like they've been rolling around in a field. I knew that Meguiar's were well established in the car world, but I didn't know they did a motorcycle specific range, so I thought I'd get some in to try it out.

Japanese Speedway nutters

Speedway is mad, no question. Ice speedway is madder but Japanese speedway must be the maddest. The riders have to be quarantined during a race meeting to stop anyone 'fixing' them.

Electric bike is fun: shocker

Nipped along to the NEC Expo trade show the other day. We were just about to leave when we spotted on the ‘you are here’ map that we’d missed the electric bike corner. Intrigued, we made our way over there.

Mad Skills Motocross App [video]

Now available in the iTunes App Store for $1.99, this motocross video game is already ranked as the top racing game and comes with many rave reviews.  You can race against others and even tweet your results are some of the cool features with this new app, not to mention the fast-paced, smooth and slick game play.  The first-time Swedish game designer, Tobias Andersson of Turboilla was obviously shocked with the immediate success. Check out the video demo after the jump. Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Street Triple gets a Yoshi boost

Yoshimura, the purveyors of fine aftermarket exhausts have put the heads together for these fine looking high-level cans for the Triumph Street Triple. According to the PR; the exhausts offer a considerable gain in performance over the stock items (dyno results below), with a significant weight reduction. The stock exhausts top the scales at 7.2kg and with the top-of-the-range carbon slip-ons, the weight is shaved down to 3.5kg.

Ultimate Addons iPhone motorcycle mount - review

The Iphone4 has a really cool navigation app that lets you use the phone as a satnav. Ultimate Addons make a waterproof case  and fastening system for us bikers that allows you to mount your phone to your bike so you can make use of the navigation software. Last week I was heading down to Devon so I thought I would give it a go.

When MotoGP had more money than sense

The year is 2003, there's plenty of cash in MotoGP. AMA Superbike champion Nicky Hayden joins Rossi at Repsol Honda and Biaggi and Ukawa front-up the Camel Honda squad. Exciting times..

Scooter versus roundabout

This just in from our Midlands scooter correspondent: I reckon this thirteen inch wheel scooter driving against the outside edge of this kids' roundabout offers pretty low gearing. It's the sort of gear ratio that Dougie Lampkin would use. They'd be much better off with something like a cross-plane crank R1 or maybe a 1098.

Ultimate Trackbike 5: Chili's WSB Ducati 916

Occasionally, some seriously trick bikes with a decent pedigree come up for sale on eBay. Here's the first in a small series of bikes that we've dug up for sale on eBay now. Queston is, which one would make the ultimate track bike?

Ultimate Trackbike 4: Hizzy's 2003 BSB R1

Occasionally, some seriously trick bikes with a decent pedigree come up for sale on eBay. Here's the first in a small series of bikes that we've dug up for sale on eBay now. Queston is, which one would make the ultimate track bike?

Ultimate Trackbike 3: Swan Honda BSB Fireblade

Occasionally, some seriously trick bikes with a decent pedigree come up for sale on eBay. Here's the first in a small series of bikes that we've dug up for sale on eBay now. Queston is, which one would make the ultimate track bike?

Ultimate Trackbike 2: Dunlop's GSX-R1000

Occasionally, some seriously trick bikes with a decent pedigree come up for sale on eBay. Here's the first in a small series of bikes that we've dug up for sale on eBay now. Queston is, which one would make the ultimate track bike?

Ultimate Trackbike: Colchester ZX-10R

Occasionally, some seriously trick bikes with a decent pedigree come up for sale on eBay. Here's the first in a small series of bikes that we've dug up for sale on eBay now. Queston is, which one would make the ultimate track bike?

Steam Punk Bike

This steam-punk inspired bike is the work of LA based sculptor and, er, free thinker, Baron Margo. From what we can work out is uses an early eighties air-cooled Z1000 Kawasaki as a base and is cloaked in this hand beaten alloy and copper bodywork. Can’t imagine it’s much fun in a cross wind, though.

Golf and motocross spin-off

Braaaaaap instead of 'fore'. It's always been a dream of mine to tear across a golf course on a motocross bike. The layout of the green is perfect with the rolling hills and the bunkers ideal for getting some serious air and kicking up some virgin dirt.