2008 Yamaha Xv1700 Xv 1700 on 2040-motos

Yamaha Other tech info

Type:Cruiser Phone:(888) 226-0320

Moto blog

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!

Milan Show: Moto2 tried and tested

The insanity of Moto2 doesn't seem like the right home for the elegance of the Rizoma brand. But the Rizoma ProGuard system has helped secure the levers of Toni Elias on his road to championship success in the inaugural Moto2 season. The example above was on an attractive Rizoma-enhanced BMW S1000RR, but the lever guards are not limited to sports bikes, they were also visible on Yamaha's FZ8.  The patented design can tilt up to 10 degrees providing full lever coverage and can be added by simply replacing the bike's existing bar-ends.

2013 Star V-Star 1300 Deluxe Unveiled

Yamaha has introduced a new 1304cc bagger to its Star Motorcycles lineup. The new 2013 Star V-Star 1300 Deluxe comes with hard luggage, batwing fairing and audio and navigation system but at a impressively low $13,690 price. Powering the Deluxe is the same 80 ci liquid-cooled V-Twin engine with computer-controlled twin-barrel fuel injection used in the base V-Star 1300 and V-Star Tourer.