2010 Honda Metropolitan Scooter on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Suzuka Eight Hour capers

Chatting to TT legend John McGuiness recently about his first Suzuka Eight Hour experience got me thinking of a few capers the boys and me managed a few years back at what is still Japan's most important race of the season. It is a unique event that starts at 11am and finishes at 7pm making  it a pukka endurance race as the last hour is run with headlights on in the dark. It is essentially an eight hour sprint that showcases the trickest endurance machinery and manufacturer’s sales can be affected the following year depending on who wins or loses.

Honda’s V-4 History

As Honda prepares its new VFR1200 for its official unveiling, the red-wing company has set up a website detailing its long involvement in V-4 engines. It began back in 1979 with the introduction of the NR500 grand prix racebike. Rather than fielding a 500cc two-stroke engine, Honda used a four-stroke oval-piston V-4 motor – essentially a V-8 with four cylinders that could be revved to 19,500 rpm!

Ronax 500 – the Street Legal Two-Stroke GP Replica

After teasing us for nearly two months, German brand Ronax has revealed its 500cc two-stroke sportbike. Ronax isn’t saying it’s a street-legal replica of the Honda NSR500 that Valentino Rossi rode to win the 2001 Grand Prix world championship – probably because they legally can’t – but that’s essentially what the 500 is. Get the Flash Player to see this player.