Honda CB Motorcycles in Chanute, page #25

Moto blog

Day 1 Dakar 2014: Barreda Draws First Blood

Team HRC’s Joan Barreda on the Honda CRF450 Rally, got off to a storming start in day one of the 2014 Dakar rally, clocking up the fastest time of all the 175 riders at the first time-check. The former Husqvarna rider who moved to Honda in the middle of the season inaugurated his 2014 Dakar with an acrobatic performance. The motorcycle competition was expected to be wide open, and that is indeed what the classification shows after the opening stage. It was a very early start for the Rally Dakar. The pack of riders headed off at four in the morning on a long 251 miles that took them towards the vibrant city of Rosario for the start of the 112 mile special.

Day 2 Dakar 2014: Sunderland Wins First Special Stage

Honda won the second day of competition with Team HRC’s Sam Sunderland claiming victory in the first special stage of this year’s Dakar. Sunderland has had a frustrating time at previous Dakars, dropping out after three days of racing in 2012 and withdrawing a month before last year’s event due to fracturing both his wrists. Today, however, Sunderland made a grand entrance into the club of elite riders by brilliantly winning his first special stage of this year’s Dakar. Having started well behind his teammate, Joan Barreda, the 23-year old Brit superbly overtook Michael Metge and Juan Pedrero on the first part of the route.

2014 AMA Supercross – Anaheim 1 Results

KTM rookie Ken Roczen captured his first 450 class win in the AMA Supercross world championship, taking the season opener at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. An audience of 45,050 fans watched a clean race from the rookie while errors by veterans like James Stewart and three-time reigning champion Ryan Villopoto knocked them out of contention. Villopoto had a strong start, taking the holeshot and leading the first eight laps, just like the Kawasaki rider had done so often the last few seasons.

Team HRC CRF450 Rally Prototype Video

In a just released video HRC Team Director Katsumi Yamazaki describes Honda’s Dakar weapon, the CRF450 Rally. Warning: Yamazaki-san’s monotone delivery manages to snuff the excitement factor of what is an incredibly trick motorcycle, but it’s still interesting to watch. Honda returned to the Dakar Rally for the first time in 24 years in January 2013.

Dakar Begins This Sunday!

Dakar is an international, bad-ass, multi-day off-road event and if you’re not a fan you should be. Crossing the borders of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile the route takes motorcycle and ATV competitors through more than 5400 miles of extreme riding conditions. Competing cars and trucks go even farther.

2014 Monster Energy Supercross Season Preview – Video

The highly anticipated 2014 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season, gets underway this Saturday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., as three-time 450SX Class Championship Ryan Villopoto will stage his title defense against the deepest field of riders the sport has ever seen. Live coverage will begin at 10:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

Classic Race Finishes: 1991 250cc Misano Grand Prix – Video

More than just a medium to view countless hours of cat videos, YouTube allows us to look back at classic motorcycle races otherwise lost to the depths of the VHS tape. This time around features the no-holds-barred, back-and-forth action between Luca Cadalora, aboard the Rothmans Honda NSR250 and Helmut Bradl, father of current MotoGP rider, Stefan Bradl, riding the HB Honda NSR250. The stage is the 1991 250cc Italian Grand Prix at Misano — back when it was run in the correct, counter-clockwise, direction.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Groms

We’re big fans of the Honda Grom, not just because of the grin-inducing experience it offers but also for its potential for customization. Just look at the RC-X Mini Vintage Racer for an example of the Grom’s ability to transform. MORE: Top 10 Modified Honda Groms It’s no surprise then that Honda would present some more special Groms for the upcoming Tokyo Auto Salon, an annual showcase for automotive performance and customization similar to the SEMA show here in the U.S.

Honda Team HRC To Compete In 2014 Dakar Rally

Today Honda announced that through its official racing arm, Team HRC, the company will be tackling the 2014 Dakar Rally, one of the most grueling off-road races in the world. The race starts on January 5 and lasts until January 18. Five riders—Helder Rodrigues (Portugal), Sam Sunderland (United Kingdom), Javier Pizzolito (Argentina), Joan Barreda (Spain), and Paulo Goncalves (Portugal)—will ride the CRF450 Rally, a rally-racing bike specially developed for the 2014 Dakar.

Bahrain track days

A few months ago, expat (and ex racer) John Beddall made contact to ask if I fancied doing some track day instruction out in Bahrain.  After thinking about it for two seconds, flights were booked and a plan was put in place to look after around forty riders for a day at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).  Young Taylor Mac was also recruited to look after any tasty riders that I couldn’t deal with   The Brits out there love their bikes, however, quite a few locals also turned up plus a few others from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.  Most were on high end Superbikes, like S1000s, Panigales and RSV4s but there was also a healthy number R6s and new 675Rs.   Although this fabulous Hermann Tilke designed circuit is around ten years old incredibly it has never hosted a bike race.  The highlight of the year there is F1 but being owned by the Bahrainian Royal family, there is no desperate need for the circuit to operate as a profitable business.  The track reminded me of Qatar but much more interesting as some great undulations have been built into its desert location. We shared the track with Supercars on the day (20mins on/20mins off) and as you might imagine it was betty swollocks for seven hours in the 30 plus temperatures.  As usual there was a few offs with poor old RS1000 Aprilia mounted Andy breaking his femur early in the day.  Two other buddies appeared to swap bikes mid air in another incident but fortunately escaped unhurt.In the evening everyone stayed for an al fresco dinner in the paddock with the craic going on for hours as the Fosters kept flowing.   All in all it was a brilliant trip and it has left me thinking there could be cost effective ways of getting Brits out there for track days next winter.  I'll keep you posted.Cape Town next to make my racing comeback at the Killarney 8 hour on a CBR150 Honda.  Hopefully I can manage the beast, I'll post a full report next week.