2008 Yamaha Tw200 Dual Sport on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Shawn Higbee Wins On The Brough Superior Taylor Made Racing Moto2

In only its second race appearance, the Brough Superior Taylor Made Racing Moto2 bike competed in the WERA F1 and B Superbike events on April 27th at the Autoclub Speedway in Fontana, California, run in conjunction with the first round of the GEICO Superbike Shootout, presented by Yamaha. During the F1 race, rider Shawn Higbee moved up to as high as 2nd place from a 5th row start on the Brough Superior TMRGP2 bike.  The TMRGP2′s lightweight all carbon fiber chassis and 600cc Honda powerplant demonstrated impressive cornering speed on the tight infield sections but could not match the top speed of the heavily modified 1000cc F1 bikes on the long straights. On the last lap Higbee was shuffled back to 4th place at the finish line.

Rainy BSB tests are nothing new

THE combination of bad weather in the UK and a European testing ban means that most BSB teams will now start the season with very little track time. This sounds like a disaster for the top teams but history has proved this isn’t necessarily true and it sometimes doesn’t matter how much pre season preparation has taken place.  Back in 2002 Sean Emmett won on the IFC Ducati at the opening Silverstone round after first riding it in unofficial practice the same weekend. Steve Hislop took the other win on Pauls Bird’s well sorted Ducati. More recently in 2009, Leon Camier took an untested new model R1 Yamaha to victory at the Brands Hatch opener after GSE took delivery of the bike just the week before. Sylvain Guintoli won the other race on a well developed, well tested Crescent Suzuki. You could argue if no one has had testing then it is a level playing field but you have to feel for riders moving up to the superbike class in the world’s toughest national series.  Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobson is one such rider but having spent some time with him over the past few weeks he seems to be taking it all in his stride. It may be the confidence of youth or maybe the fact he has won in every other class he has entered in his short BSB career, but I suspect he fancies at least standing on the Superbike podium at Brands (He also does a bit of ice racing which is not dissimilar to the this year’s UK testing).  The testing ban was implemented with all the best cost cutting intentions and if it had been any other year in the past decade all would be well. The teams may be feeling frustrated but the fans should be excited. With so many unknowns, the 2013 BSB opener at Brands Hatch could be the best ever!

2013 US Motorcycle Sales Data

The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) reported a modest 1.4% growth in U.S. motorcycle and scooter sales in 2013, with consumers purchasing 465,783 vehicles. The sales data represents numbers from the MIC’s member brands which include BMW, Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, the Piaggio Group (which includes Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Vespa), Victory, Suzuki, Triumph and Yamaha.