1990 Yamaha Venture Royale 1294 on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Ben Spies Signs Contract Extension with Yamaha

Yamaha has signed Ben Spies to a one-year contract extension to continue racing on its MotoGP factory team in 2012. The extension comes after Spies, currently seventh in the Championship standings, recorded his first podium finish of the 2011 season, a third place result at Catalunya. Spies earned two other podium finishes in 2010 in his Rookie of the Year winning debut in the class with the Tech 3 satellite team.

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.

The Yamaha FZ-09 Really Can Do It All – Video

Around here, it’s no secret we’re fans of the Yamaha FZ-09 (MT-09 for those reading this outside the U.S.). It’s a great do-it-all motorcycle, and for $7990 it’s a great value, too. Apparently, Mark Toia is well aware of how useful the FZ-09 can be as well.