KTM Duke 890 Motorcycles in Illinois, page #23

Moto blog

Carbon Fibre race bikes, and a KTM makes it debut on the BSB Motostar rostrum

Many think Carbon Fibre chassis are relatively new to motorcycle racing but I can lay claim to having been there and done that almost thirty years ago. I first rode a Carbon/Kevlar 250cc Armstrong in 1983 before going on to grab four British titles and pretty much every national lap record over the next three years. I also had some top ten 250cc Grand Prix finishes although I was totally gutted when my team mate Donnie McLeod topped me by finishing 2nd in the Belgian GP at Spa.

KTM Fines MX2 Factory Racer Jeffrey Herlings for Bad Behavior – Video

KTM has issued a fine and a warning to its own factory motocross racer Jeffrey Herlings for “certain behavioral issues” from the past two MX2 World Championship rounds. Herlings currently leads the MX2 World Championship standings, winning five of seven rounds including eight of 14 motos. KTM did not specify exactly what Herlings did, but the tipping point was dropping the F-bomb on live television in a post-race interview.

2012 Erzberg Rodeo Results – Only 7 of These People Finished the Race

You know it’s a tough race when less than 2% of the starters make it to the finish. That’s what happened this Sunday at Austria’s Iron Mountain for the 2012 Red Bull Hare Scramble. KTM factory rider Jonny Walker was the first of just seven competitors to make it to the top in the 3.5-hour time limit out of a field of 500 entries.

KTM to Broadcast Live Streaming of 2012 Red Bull Hare Scramble

The  2012 Red Bull Hare Scramble finals at Austria’s “Iron Mountain” will be streamed live on KTM’s website. The annual Hare Scramble is the culminating event of the 18th Erzberg Rodeo at Austria’s Erzberg “Iron Mountain”. The Red Bull Hare Scramble attracted 1800 entries this year from 35 countries.

KTM RC8R: The first month

First impressions are everything so the gearbox niggles on the first RC8s meant I didn’t become an instant fan. There was never a problem for normal road riding but when the pace was increased on track days false neutrals were found and gears were missed. Ironically I might have been able to help here as KTM signed me up for pre-production shakedown testing before I got sidelined with appendicitis.

2013 KTM SX Lineup Revealed

KTM revealed its 2013 motocross model lineup featuring a new 250 four-stroke engine and updates to the 350 powerplant. The 2013 KTM 250 SX-F gets a new powerplant said to be lighter than the previous engine thanks to a new high-strength aluminum alloy. The new engine has a 78mm bore and a 52.3 mm stroke, compared to the previous model’s 76mm bore and 54.8mm stroke.

WSB, Nobby Ueda and my KTM RC8R

WSB last weekend at Donington Park, once again delivered some amazing racing but I'm not sure what Leon Haslam has to do to get that first victory on the BMW. He looked the strongest prospect for the win in race one until Marco Melandri appeared to brake a tad early at the Esses sending the Pocket Rocket across the gravel. I really believe it was a case of innocent victims though at the last corner on the last lap in race two.

Report: KTM Developing 375cc Twin for Bajaj

Austrian manufacturer KTM is reportedly working on a new 375cc Twin-cylinder engine for Indian partner Bajaj. Bajaj owns a 47% stake in KTM and the two companies have worked together in the past for the KTM Duke 125 and Duke 200 as well as the Bajaj Pulsar 200NS (pictured above). According to India’s Business-Standard, KTM and Bajaj are collaborating on a new 375cc engine at Bajaj’s research and development facility in Akurdi, India, outside of Pune.

AMA Supercross: 2012 Las Vegas Results

Ryan Dungey scored his fourth win of the season but it was not enough to take second place in the points race behind champion Ryan Villopoto. That honor went to JGRMX Yamaha‘s Davi Millsaps who placed second to Dungey in the season-ending race at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. Dungey took the holeshot and led every lap to take the win for Red Bull KTM.

A postcard from Moto GP Jerez

If the weather over the Jerez Moto GP weekend was dull then the atmosphere in the press room was the complete opposite.  After the carnage and chaos during the Moto 3 race, the amazing Romano Fenati (in only his second GP) had the Italian journalists celebrating as he crossed the line to win. I smiled as they simultaneously began singing ‘Y Viva Espana’ as if to signify the end of Spanish dominance in the junior GP class.