Jensen Beeler

WorldSBK

Kenan Sofuoğlu Will Retire After Imola Round

By Jensen Beeler May 23, 2018

In the World Supersport Championship, one name has dominated the results list for the past decade: Kenan Sofuoğlu. This is because the Turkish rider has posted five championship titles since he entered the class, along with 43 race wins in the WorldSSP class.

And now, the Kawasaki rider is ready to hang up his spurs, announcing that he will retire from motorcycle racing, after the WorldSBK paddock races in Imola this coming weekend.

Never fully recovering from a crash he sustained at Phillip Island during the 2015 season, Sofuoğlu broke his hip during a crash at Magny-Cours last season, and as a result the 33-year-old narrowly missed out on his sixth WorldSSP title.

Sofuoğlu has talked many times about his retirement from racing, and now with his family, he decided it was time to move on from racing motorcycles.

Going forward, Sofuoğlu will focus on his riding school, where he has been working to develop local Turkish racing talent. He will also remain with the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team, helping its riders in the WorldSBK paddock.

“As how the President wishes I am going to retire from racing this weekend,” said Sofuoğlu. “I will celebrate my 20 years of racing anniversary this weekend! Last couple of months I had a few injures which made my family very afraid, also our President.”

“We decide to retire from racing earlier then what I was thinking. I can’t say I am sad because I have already a few Turkish riders which I trained to race and carry our flag. Twenty years ago I started my racing career with a goal to race in the world championships.”

“We won five times the world title. I am very thankful for that. Many people supported me while winning these titles I want to thank everyone for that. For Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Team and for my fans I will be last time on the track on 12-13 May in Italy.”

Fans of the Turk are using the #ThankYouKenan hashtag on social media to send their goodbyes and well-wishes to Kenan Sofuoğlu.

Source: Kawasaki Racing

Keep Reading

News

Your Next Ford Could Have a Built-in Motorcycle

By Jensen Beeler May 23, 2018

For quite some time now, manufacturers have been focusing on this concept called the “last mile” – the idea that the final mile of a daily commute will have to be undertaken with something other than an automobile.

Driving this concern is the vehicle crackdown in urban centers, with cities like London, Paris, and others already creating congestion zones for their city centers, which all but outlaw the ability for one to commute via car into a downtown area.

Mass transit is surely filling this void, as are taxis, but we have also seen a shift towards two-wheeled solutions. That is where today’s story kicks in, as Ford is looking at its own city center solution, patenting a car concept that has a built-in motorcycle.

The US patents accordingly show some sort of electric motorcycle that is carried inside a car chassis.

Despite this intellectual property, Ford’s plans for its “batcycle” are unclear, and it should be noted that the American car-maker isn’t the first to float the concept. We should also say, patents certainly don’t show an intent to produce.

Of note too, Ford has recently been in the news for effectively killing off its car business, discontinuing its Fiesta, C-MAX, Focus, Fusion, and Taurus models, which leaves only the Mustang and the yet-to-be-released Focus Active to hold things down. Crazy times.

We are certainly doubtful that anything will come from Ford’s patent ideas, but it does show the folks in Michigan are looking at new ways to innovate in the people-moving business.

The transportation landscape is rapidly changing, and while Ford’s idea here seems a little silly, it is not unreasonable to think that creative solutions like this one will be common place in the coming years or decades.

Thanks for the tip, Jon!

Source: Autoweek

Keep Reading

MotoGP

Miguel Oliveira into MotoGP in 2019 with Tech3

By Jensen Beeler May 23, 2018

It has been a big weekend of news for KTM at Jerez. First, there was Pol Espargaro extending his contract. Then the factory KTM team announced they had signed Johann Zarco.

And now, the first seat at the KTM Tech3 team has been filled, with Miguel Oliveira moving up to MotoGP for 2019.

The Portuguese rider had been widely expected to make the move. Oliveira has progressed all the way through the KTM Red Bull project, from Moto3 to Moto2 and now up to MotoGP.

He has been a consistent challenger in both Moto3 and Moto2, and has led KTM’s charge in the Moto2 class, winning three races on the bike last year and finishing on the podium for the past two races.

Who the second rider at Tech3 will be is yet to be determined. Bradley Smith is determined to earn a seat back at Tech3, but will need to have a very strong season if he is to earn a place in the team.

Oliveira’s Moto2 teammate Brad Binder is another option, but he is yet to make a decision on his future, and he has been outperformed by Oliveira so far.

But current Tech3 rider Hafizh Syahrin is probably the favorite to keep the ride, the Malaysian rider enjoying strong support from the Sepang International Circuit.

Keep Reading

A&R Pro

The Only Motorcycle Statistic That’s Worth a Damn

By Jensen Beeler May 23, 2018

Every year the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) releases data about motorcycle fatalities in the United States. The results are never that surprising, and despite some fluctuations year-to-year, the basic takeaways are always the same.

Motorcyclists are way more likely to die (28x more likely per mile traveled) than automobile drivers and passengers; fatal motorcycle crashes are more likely to involve alcohol than other vehicle fatalities (25% vs. 21% for passenger cars); and motorcycle fatalities closely correlate to new motorcycle sales.

The figures are of course important, but reporting the results is an exercise in playing a broken record, over and over again. Except for one statistic that caught our eye this year: motorcycle fatalities as a percentage of overall vehicle fatalities.

Keep Reading

Bikes

Come Drool Over SERT’s All New Endurance Race Bike

By Jensen Beeler May 23, 2018

The winningest team in the FIM Endurance World Championship, the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team is the standard by which other endurance teams are measured…and that is a measuring stick that has seen a lot of use in recent seasons.

This is because the FIM EWC is a hot bed for competition right now, with a bevy of factory-backed teams capable of winning on any race weekend.

This has made it tough for SERT, and its riders Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson, and Gregg Black, who currently sit sixth in the 2018 FIM Endurance World Championship standings.

For this season, SERT hopes that a new racing platform will make the difference, as the French team has finally jumped onboard with the current-generation Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Last year, SERT was still using the old GSX-R1000, despite the superbike being replaced with a new model for consumers in 2017.

Like with any new model, there is a teething process, and it perhaps shouldn’t surprise us to see that SERT is still coming to terms with such a radically new superbike at their disposal.

As such, SERT has posted mixed results so far for the 2018 season. At the season-opener at the Bol d’Or, SERT finished seventh, which was a respectable result for the 24-hour race.

At the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans however, SERT’s luck wasn’t so good, with the team finishing 24th overall.

54 points behind the championship leaders (F.C.C. TSR Honda) at this point in time, SERT has a tough climb ahead of them. But, there are three more rounds still to go in the season, and anything can happen in endurance racing.

We’ll see if SERT can get the job done in 2018, and make it 15 titles in the FIM Endurance World Championship. Until then, we can drool over what has to be the finest looking Suzuki GSX-R1000 on the planet. This bike is truly amazing to look at.

Photos: Suzuki Racing

Keep Reading

MotoGP

The First Domino in the MotoGP Silly Season Has Fallen

By Jensen Beeler May 23, 2018

With the MotoGP paddock back in Europe and heading to Jerez, the first round of contract announcements is upon us, with the second wave not far behind.

First domino to fall for the moment is Pol Espargaro, who will be staying at KTM for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Ahead of his first home grand prix of 2018, KTM today officially announced that they will be retaining the services of the Spaniard for the next two years.

Espargaro’s signing had been broadly expected. The Spaniard has outperformed his teammate Bradley Smith, and with the Austrian factory’s MotoGP project moving from the development phase to the point where they need to start producing results, Espargaro has been favored over Smith.

Espargaro’s contract may not be the only rider signing to be announced in Jerez, though. It now seems certain that Johann Zarco will be joining Espargaro in the factory KTM team, and the announcement could come as early as this weekend.

Zarco also had an offer from HRC to partner with Marc Marquez in the Repsol Honda team, but the Frenchman is believed to have preferred to try to beat Marquez on different machinery, rather than face him on the bike developed around him.

The logical place to announce Zarco’s signing would be Le Mans, but it may not be possible to sit on the news for that long, as the MotoGP grapevine cannot keep secrets for that kind of duration.

Jerez is likely to be a very busy weekend for rider managers. UK publication MCN is reporting that the deal between Suzuki and Jorge Lorenzo is as good as done, despite the financial obstacles such a deal faced.

As Lorenzo also faced a drop in salary at Ducati, if he had chosen to remain there, he may have decided to jump to a bike that suits his style better, and which he may believe he will be capable of winning on straight away, without having to work so hard to adjust his riding style to.

Whether that deal gets done or not at Jerez, the Spanish circuit will be a busy weekend for Suzuki. The factory’s top brass will be flying in to Jerez for talks with the Marc VDS team about becoming a Suzuki satellite team for the next three years.

Marc VDS as Suzuki satellite squad would help, not just with development – it is likely that Suzuki would be providing bikes of almost identical spec to the factory bikes to the team – but also as a conduit for talent.

Franco Morbidelli is a hot property in MotoGP, and having the young Italian on the Suzuki would offer the Japanese factory a way to deepen their talent pool. It would also allow Joan Mir to step up to MotoGP in 2019.

A deal with Suzuki will have to be signed at Jerez, to allow Marc VDS to be able to prepare in time for next year.

Other contracts to be discussed at Jerez include Andrea Dovizioso, who is still in talks with Ducati and will sign with them again at some point, with only the details to be left out. With Lorenzo likely to leave Ducati, the second seat in the Italian factory is open.

Nominally, Danilo Petrucci has an option for that seat should it become available, but the option for that lies with Ducati, rather than Petrucci. Ducati could choose to put Pecco Bagnaia straight into the factory squad alongside Dovizioso, rather than putting him into the Pramac team first.

Or they could look at some of the displaced riders, such as Dani Pedrosa – who is certain to lose his Repsol Honda seat – or Andrea Iannone.

Having Iannone back would be a stretch, however: the Italian was not a good fit with Dovizioso when the pair were racing together, and with Dovizioso performing as he is, Ducati may not want to risk ruining the atmosphere.

There is still a lot of ground to cover before all of the contracts are signed for 2019 and MotoGP’s Silly Season is in the books.

Yamaha has to find a team to run satellite Yamahas, and once again, MCN added an interesting wrinkle to this story, Simon Patterson reporting that the Sepang International Circuit is looking to collaborate with an existing team in MotoGP, to keep Malaysian rookie Hafizh Syahrin in the premier class.

This tallies with what circuit boss Razlan Razali told Crash.net’s Peter McLaren earlier this year, where he mentioned the possibility almost as a joke. The meeting rooms in team trucks will be fully occupied this weekend at Jerez.

Keep Reading

Analysis

Motorcycle Sales in Europe Show Strong Growth

By Jensen Beeler May 23, 2018

Motorcycle sales in the United States might be tanking, but things are looking fairly positive across the pond in Europe, as the ACEM reports a 4.7% increase in motorcycle sales for Q1 2018, for a total of 203,853 units sold in the first three months of this year.

The increase in sales is due to key markets like France (+9.1%), Germany (+1.9%), and the UK (+7.4%) showing good growth, compared to Q1 2017.

However, not all the European countries are showing increases in motorcycle sales, with the Czech Republic (-17.3%), Poland (-28.7%), and Austria (-18.9%) pulling the sales growth figure down considerably.

Not all segments are growing too. While the big bikes are seeing sales increases, European sales for mopeds are down considerably for Q1 2018 (40.2%), to the tune of a 24,996 unit sales decline over last year.

Part of that decline is due to the rise in electrics. To that tune, electric motorcycle sales are up 118% (1,726 units sold) and electric moped sales are up 50.8% (5,848 units sold).

The rise in electric moped and motorcycle sales surely doesn’t account for the huge drop in the sup-50cc category, but it is worth noting the transition in that space from gas to electric.

The missing figure from the ACEM report is the meteoric rise of e-bike sales in Europe, which are surely aiding in the declined use gas-powered of mopeds.

It is a fine distinction between an electric moped and an e-bike, though the growing legal divide between the two is helping spur electric bicycle sales for short-distance urban people-moving.

As such, e-bikes account for roughly 30% of the European bicycle market now, which is a pretty astounding figure. The motorcycle industry should be taking note, if they aren’t already.

European Motorcycles for Q1 2018:

Country	Q1 2017	Q1 2018	% Change
France	33,884	36,979	+9.1
Netherlands	3,647	3,489	-4.3
Italy	45,495	46,126	+1.4
Belgium	5,624	6,004	+6.8
Spain	24,898	29,063	+16.7
Austria	4,846	3,929	-18.9
Poland	2,937	2,095	-28.7
UK	21,874	23,485	+7.4
Denmark	715	502	-29.8
Germany	35,401	36,058	+1.9
Slovenia	498	334	-32.9
Portugal	4,011	4,674	+16.5
Finland	466	340	-27.0
Croatia	315	146	-53.7
Latvia	126	92	-27.0
Czech Republic	2,316	1,915	-17.3
Estonia	103	83	-19.4
Lithuania	65	60	-7.7
Luxembourg	341	378	+10.9
Slovakia	729	620	-15.0
Romania	127	183	44.1
Total	194,655	203,853	+4.7

Source: ACEM

Keep Reading

Rumors

This Week’s Honda V4 Superbike Rumor

By Jensen Beeler May 23, 2018

I have to admit, this rumor is more than a week old, as Japanese magazine Young Machine breathed new lifeinto the Honda V4 superbike rumor mill about a month ago.

And of course, the reality is that this rumor is much, much older than this tiny fraction of time.

If you know your motorcycle news history, talk of a Honda V4 replacement for the CBR1000RR line has existed for almost two decades now…but hey, a broken clock is correct twice a day, right?

So what is new from the Land of the Rising sun that we haven’t heard before? The big eye-catching component to this story is that Honda has/had a two-stage upgrade path for the CBR1000RR, of which we are about to see the second phase.

We witnessed the first iteration of this plan last year, with the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR. Debuted as a “new” bike, the Honda CBR1000RR was a gentle massaging of the nearly decade-old model it replaced.

Now with ride-by-wire, traction control, and cornering ABS (on the SP models), the Honda CBR1000RR got a much-needed electronics upgrade. And while the horsepower figures for the inline-four engine were bumped up, the CBR1000RR still made considerably less power than its competitors.

Too little too late has been the general consensus from moto-journalists, though the Honda CBR1000RR is perhaps one of the best handling superbikes on the market, thanks to its currently class-leading curb weight.

What is to come for the 2019 model year? According to Young Machine, we will see the next step in Honda’s upgrade plans – with 2019 being a bigger step than 2017. As such, a V4 is expected to finally debut…

We have heard this before, of course, many times. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire? Fake news? Something in between? It’s hard to say, really.

A two-year revision schedule seems like a tall order in the 2018 sport bike market, but considering how modest Honda’s updates were in 2017, maybe it is not too crazy to think the real “all-new” motorcycle is for next season, with last year merely planned to tide us over.

Honda could certainly do well to release an affordable V4 superbike, and talk of such a model for the 2019 model year isn’t new.

To be successful, Honda will have to hit the required 200hp mark that is standard in the space now. Electronics will have to be robust and easy to navigate and edit (something that they are not, right now), and the design will have to be fresh.

As for this rumor, color me interested, but unenthusiastic. We have been here before, and as of this writing, the A&R Bothan Spy Network has been mum about a new superbike from Big Red.

That being said, we were told to expect a big reveal later this summer. As always, time will tell.

Source: Young Machine

Keep Reading

Bikes

Here Is the Curtiss Zeus, An Electric Cruiser

By Jensen Beeler May 23, 2018

We will have a full account of the 10th Annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering posted soon, but I wanted to highlight one of the more notable events at the California motorcycle show – the debut of the Curtiss Zeus, an electric cruiser with tech from Zero Motorcycles and styling from the now defunct Confederate brand.

The first all-new machine from the Curtiss brand (we are not counting the Curtiss Warhawk, which looks remarkably like something from Confederate’s previous offerings), the Curtiss Zeus features two electric motors from Zero, which share a common shaft, and help produce a claimed 290 lbs•ft of torque and 170hp.

That bonkers feature is matched to an equally divergent style, which builds upon the design ethos that Confederate established previously. For instance, note the front-end setup, which is a carryover from the Fighter line of bikes from Confederate.

The body is a bare exposition of machined aluminum, with ample grooves and tooling marks exposed on the otherwise spartan layout. The wheels are carbon fiber discs, and are mated to Beringer’s double-rotor brake design.

Meanwhile suspension is handled by Race Tech, with shocks fore and aft. The front fork design is a double-wishbone layout, while the rear swingarm has a concentric pivot point with the electric motors’ driveshaft.

Other interesting points are the iPad dash mounted to the top of the frame, the various thin LED lighting strips, and the clear panels below the seat, which show off the electric powertrain pieces from Zero.

Expected to be a 2020 model from Curtiss Motorcycles, there is no word yet on pricing for the Zeus – though if history tells us anything, if you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it.

What do you think? Is the Curtiss Zeus the “most innovative” motorcycle at this year’s Quail Motorcycle Gathering? The judges certainly seemed to think so.

Keep Reading

Racing

Official: Alta Motors Racing at the 2018 Erzberg Rodeo

By Jensen Beeler May 23, 2018

We broke the story yesterday, but today the news is officially official: Alta Motors will race in the 2018 Ezerberg Rodeo, which is part of the Red Bull Hard Enduro series.

The most grueling and difficult single-day event in motorcycle racing, the Erzberg Rodeo sees 1,500 entires whittled down into what is usually a single-digit summation of race-finishers – and not every year sees a racer cross the finish line – that’s how tough this race is.

Racing for Alta Motors will be Ty Tremaine and Lyndon Poskitt, two riders with a lot of off-road experience.

For those who don’t recognize those names, Tremaine is currently racing with Alta in the 2018 AMA EnduroCross series, meanwhile Poskitt has previously competed in a number of enduro events, including the Ezberg Rodeo, and most notably just soloed the 2018 Dakar Rally to completion.

Alta’s entry into the 2018 Erzberg Rodeo is a first for an electric motorcycle OEM, and a notable feat for the San Francisco startup, as Alta has had a tough time convincing racing series to allow electric motorcycles on their grids.

“We built the Redshift to compete head-to-head with the best gas bikes in the most brutal environments in the world. The Erzberg extreme enduro is the place to demonstrate that,” said Alta Motors CTO and Co-Founder, Derek Dorresteyn.

“The race comes at a time when electric bikes are struggling for acceptance in international competition.”

“We are grateful that the Erzberg organizers share our belief that competition should be about advancing technology—not restricting it—and that they are providing a platform to demonstrate that electrics should have the right to compete.”

Alta’s breakthrough moment was the 2016 Red Bull Straight Rhythm event, where Josh Hill embarrassed more than a few gas bikes on his Alta Redshift MX.

Getting more love from the energy drink purveyor, it makes sense that Red Bull would see the value in promoting electric motorcycles like Alta’s in their events, especially with Alta’s new edition of bikes showing more performance, and better sales at the dealership level.

Entering a race where finishers are numbered in the single digits – if anyone even finishes the course at all – Alta’s entry comes with little risk to the motorcycle brand.

Finishing the race would be a huge coup for the startup, and surely the expectations are even lower, as a strong result on the course would be considered a win against the gas bikes and more experience Erzberg riders.

Of course, everyone will be curious to see how an electric off-road bike handles the “Iron Mountain” but we think many are going to be surprised, as the low-speed and technical course should play to Alta’s strengths.

Source: Alta Motors

Keep Reading