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Two Enthusiasts Podcast #62 – Diss Invited

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Episode 62 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is out, and it covers an omnibus of motorcycle topics.

Things start with a discussion about the recently spied 2018 Honda Gold Wing, and its Hossack-style front-end. Our conversation then turns to the resurrection of the Skully helmet brand, which culminates in a frank conversation about head safety and concussions.

With injuries on the brain (see what I did there?), we can’t help but talk about Valentino Rossi and his return to MotoGP action after breaking his tibia and fibula. Note, this show was recorded before Sunday’s Aragon GP race.

We finish the show talking about the official unveiling of the Ducati Desmosedici Stradale V4 engine, and the unofficial leaking of the Ducati Panigale V4 photos. As you can imagine, Quentin and myself have some strong feelings about both those topics.

There’s a little something for everyone in this show. We think you’ll like it.

You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well.

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News

Skully Technologies Clarifies How It Will “Make It Right”

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We broke the news last week that helmet tech-startup Skully was rising from the dead, and today we have more news from Skully Technologies and how it plans to correct the wrongs of its predecessor.

In a letter to its “SKULLY Nation”, Skully Technologies lists how various backers of Skully’s Indiegogo campaign will be treated under the new company.

While the plan lists several bullet points for the various supporter levels, along with caveats, the short version is that Skully Technologies will honor all of the Indiegogo campaign promises make by Skully, Inc, substituting the Skully AR-1 helmet with the new Skully Fenix helmet, of course.

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News

Bimota: We’re Not Dead Yet!

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Things don’t look great for Bimota, one of the most iconic motorcycle brands ever created. The happy merger of the talents of Valerio Bianchi (BI), Giuseppe Morri (MO), and Massimo Tamburini (TA), Bimota has a storied past of failure, and a history of rebirth.

Several weeks ago, we covered a report from Cycle World’s Bruno dePrato, which outlined the currently dire state of the company. It seemed that once again that Bimota was falling on hard times, and the future of the brand remained uncertain.

Bimota took issue with this news, naturally.

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Bikes

Should Suzuki Bring the V-Strom 250 to the USA?

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The Suzuki V-Strom 250 is already available to our riding compatriots across the pond, but Suzuki Motor of America is considering bringing the model to the United States, which is a bit of good news.

The quarter-liter ADV machine shares a motor with the Suzuki GSX250R, which is really just the Suzuki Inazuma in new clothing. Still, 2018 Suzuki V-Strom 250 provides new riders and attractive entry into the ADV space, at an affordable price point.

The 248cc motorcycle makes just a touch under 25hp from its parallel-twin engine, which gets 88mpg and should be good for roughly 300 miles of range.

Suzuki is looking for feedback as to whether they should being the V-Strom 250 to the USA. So, if you like what you see here, speak-up in the comments section.

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Bikes

Yamaha XSR700 Brings the Hip to the USA for 2018

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Announced today at the AIMExpo, Yamaha is bringing the XSR700 to the US soil, as the tuning fork brand sees an opportunity for the twin-cylinder heritage model in the land that brought hipsters their skinny jeans.

The choice must have been an easy one for the folks at Yamaha Motor USA, with the Yamaha FZ-09 and Yamaha FZ-07 selling well here in the United States, and the XSR900 already being critically acclaimed by the US moto media.

Adding the Yamaha XSR700 to the 2018 model lineup seems like an obvious no-brainer for Yamaha, and we are happy to see it finally coming to the United States of America.

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Reviews

Superbike Deathmatch Round #1: Aprilia vs. Ducati

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Hello and welcome to the first installment of Asphalt & Rubber’s 2017 Superbike Deathmatch – our take on the motorcycle media’s superbike shootout review format, and the solitary path for a motorcycle to become the A&R Superbike of 2017. 

For those just tuning into the Superbike Deathmatch, the rules are easy. In each round, two bikes enter the race track, but only one bike leaves.

We have six motorcycles from the eight superbike manufacturers on the market, and the trim-level for each bike has been carefully chosen so that all the superbikes have a similar price and feature set as the other motorcycles in the comparison.

This means that we are looking at motorcycles around the $20,000 price point, all of which have IMU-powered electronics and brakes, along with up-spec components. Our goal here is to compare apples to apples, and see which one tastes best.

Our venue is the Portland International Raceway, and to evaluate these machines we have four riders that vary in skill levels and physical attributes, from professional racers to track day enthusiasts, from tall to short, and from skinny to….less skinny.

For our first round, we have started things off with a special treat, and a battle for the right to call a bike the “Best Italian Superbike” on the market. That’s right, we are going to pit the Ducati 1299 Panigale S against the Aprilia RSV4 RF.

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Bikes

Photos of the 2018 Honda Gold Wing Leak Online

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What you see here are early leaked photos of the 2018 Honda Gold Wing – one of the most successful and important motorcycles for the Western markets.

Honda is expected to debut this new model at a media event in October, but our friends at MaxxMoto and Oliepeil managed to get their dirty Dutch-speaking mits on these low-res gems, ahead of time.

Beyond the styling refresh, the most obvious change that we can see for the Honda Goldwing is the new front-end, which appears to be a Hossack-styled design – similar to what BMW uses on its K-series motorcycles.

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Racing

Video: Going 160mph+ on a Water-Powered Trike

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Here’s an interesting video, and an interesting lesson in physics. Filling a tank with water, and then pressurizing it with air, François Gissy has made a drag racing trike that gets up to 160 mph with only power from the jet stream of water it produces.

This exercise in Newton’s third law of motion contains a considerable amount of force, accelerating Gissy and his rig to over 5gs, as it only takes half a second to go 0-60 on the track. It’s pretty impressive to watch.

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast #60 – San Marino GP

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Episode 60 of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees David Emmett and Neil Morrison on the mics, as they cover both the San Marino GP at Misano.

Despite the absence of Valentino Rossi, who injured himself just before the race weekend, the coastal race was a busy one, as MotoGP once again saw a new championship leader emerge from Sunday’s results, Marc Marquez.

Further back in the finishing order showed some big changes for the championship title as well, with Dovizioso settling for third, Viñales getting fourth, and Pedrosa struggling just to finish a lap with his ever-cold tires.

Analyzing what this all means for the end of the season, Neil and David provide some great insights, and also discuss what is going on in the Moto2 and Moto3 categories.

After a quick talk about Moto2 and Moto3, the conversation turns to the big winners and losers of the last two rounds. It’s another great show from the Paddock Pass crew, and you won’t want to miss it.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the show on iTunes and SoundCloud – we even have an RSS feed for you. If you like the show, we would really appreciate you giving it a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

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Bikes

Benelli 302R – Rebranded & Now Euro4 Compliant

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The Benelli Tornado 302 is an adorable motorcycle that boasts Italian design with Chinese manufacturing. When we showed it to you two years ago, it received positive acclaim, and was one of a handful of stand-out bikes that the Italian brand surprised us with at the 2015 EICMA show.

It seems now that Benelli is relaunching the Tornado 302, under a new name, the Benelli 302R. Little seems to have changed in the past two years, aside from a new graphics package on the bodywork, Euro4 compliance, and over course the new moniker.

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