Saturday November 21, 2009
Perhaps the only possible downside of
two-up touring through Tuscany-- a landscape graced with some of the most beautiful terrain on earth-- is not being able to point out those stunning visuals to your riding partner. Really, can you ever excitedly scream "Did you see that?!" too many times?
I spent about 570 miles testing Cardo's bluetooth system in Italy, and put in a few more hundred miles stateside so I could gauge the unit's cell phone, FM radio, and MP3 capabilities. See how it fared in this Cardo Scala Rider Q2 Multiset Bluetooth System Review.
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* Coincidentally, Cardo just made the news by announcing a distribution partnership with Polaris and Victory Motorcycles.
Photo © Cardo; click for review
Friday November 20, 2009
Things change pretty quickly in the motorcycle world: when I tested a SportClassic GT1000 Touring model in Italy just two months ago, it and the '09 Multistrada were the only Ducatis set up for long-distance riding.
Since then, the new high-tech 2010 Multistrada 1200 has been revealed and the SportClassic GT1000 has been discontinued from the 2010 lineup, making my tester either obsolete or a sudden collector's item, depending on your level of optimism.
See how the bike fared in my 2009 Ducati SportClassic GT1000 Review, check out this photo gallery, and comment on whether or not you think this naked tourer will become a covetable commodity when the bike's remaining inventory has been moved off dealer lots.
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Photos © Basem Wasef; click for review
Friday November 20, 2009
You may recall this two month-old image, immortalizing Buell rider Danny Eslick's
clinching of the AMA Daytona Sportbike championship on an 1125R. Based on today's official statement from Harley-Davidson, Erik Buell appears to be hoping to create more triumphant moments by leaving the company to establish Erik Buell Racing, an "independent motorcycle race shop."
Offering race-only parts, competition-ready 1125R bikes, and technical support, Buell says "I'm looking forward to helping Buell racers keep their bikes flying," and that "We've got some exciting race development projects in the works and it will mean a lot to me personally to see Buell racers competing for wins and championships in the 2010 season and beyond." His new venture's website can be found at www.erikbuellracing.com.
As happy as I am for Erik Buell's racing endeavors, it would have been interesting to see how far he could take his street-legal motorcycle engineering and manufacturing. On the other hand, if Buells end up winning on Sunday, maybe there's a way they can sell on Monday... after all, anything is possible now that Erik Buell is now freed from his corporate responsibilities, right?
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Photo © Buell; click to enlarge
Thursday November 19, 2009
At last year's
Grand Prix of Italy, I spent some downtime hanging with Red Bull Rookie racers Cameron Beaubier and future 2008 championship winner JD Beach, who were both as plucky as you'd expect teenage knee-draggers to be. When they raced later that day, the drama of 13 to 17 year-olds battling it out at speeds up to 140 mph was nothing less than intense. A few months later, the high stakes of the series were driven home when 14 year-old rider Toriano Wilson was fatally struck during a race following an accident at Virginia International Raceway.
Chronicling this year's Rookies Club competition from the perspective of the series' three American riders, a new eight-part web series called Ride Fast. Live Young. premieres tomorrow (Friday, November 20) on www.VBS.tv. This YouTube trailer gives you an idea of what to expect, and begs the question: would you encourage your kid to compete in a series intended to groom youngsters for the ultimate goal of MotoGP racing? Drop a line with your thoughts.
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Photo © Gillim Solis for GEPA Pictures; click to enlarge
