On the 3.048-mile, 14-turn Miller Motorsports Park circuit in Utah, Yamaha World Superbike sensation Ben Spies had a brilliant afternoon on Sunday as the Texan made it clear his home race belonged to him and him only. Spies led both races from the go with arguably his best race starts of the season ensuring he took the holeshot and had a clear circuit to work his magic on. Having extended a 4.2 second lead in the first race it was red flagged six laps in when Karl Muggeridge crashed out. The race was re-started and run on aggregate timing to ensure any advantages from the first start where not lost. From the second start Spies led again with a convincing start over second place Checa to take his first win of the day. Race two saw another incredible start from Spies, keeping his pole position at the front of the pack. Followed closely by Michel Fabrizio, Spies ran a perfect set of 21 laps in the front to take his second win of the day to the delight of the home crowd.
Now known as “The Holeshot Kid”, Mike Alessi utilized one of his ”‘good as gold” starts to win the first 450cc moto of his career on Sunday afternoon, the victory coming at the 41st Annual Dirt Diggers Hangtown Motocross Classic near Sacramento, California. (Hangtown hosted its first professional motocross race in 1968 and has been a part of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship since 1974). Initially leading the race, the Californian made a mistake, exiting the track after getting out of shape exiting an off-camber turn. Alessi kept his cool and he and his RM-Z450 reentered the race back sixth place. From there Red Bull Honda’s Ivan Tedesco took control of the race, while Alessi picked up the pace and began a charge back towards the front. As the race forged on, Alessi was up to third and in the waning stages of the moto, was right on the rear fender of Tedesco. Stalked by the #800 bike, Tedesco made a mistake on one of the many Hangtown hills his gaffe allowing Alessi by and into the lead, a lead he maintained to the finish line. Tedesco placed a disconsolate second, one spot ahead of teammate Andrew Short and two places ahead of JGR Yamaha’s Cody Cooper.
The 645cc liquid-cooled, carbureted 90-degree V-Twin devoid of bodywork took almost no time to reach cult status with its sporty handling and user-friendly low-end and mid-range grunt. Its un-faired design caused the eye to immediately focus on the unique mill hanging from the aluminum, oval-tube trellis-style frame. Not many bike makers in those days embraced the naked streetfighter style for the American market.
Nevertheless, the SV’s ease-of-use made it a hit with Average Joe Rider for commuting and weekend play, while its overall performance caused a groundswell in club racing across the country, all for the 1999 MSRP of $5,699. The bike really was all that and a bag of chips.
The first major update to the SV – and the partially-faired SV650S model introduced in 2000 – arrived in ’03 and included fuel-injection, a new beefy square-tube truss frame and marginal increases in power and torque. In 2007 ABS became on option on either model, and in 2008 the S model went full-fairing as the SV650SF. For 2009 Suzuki perceived performance characteristics between the SV and SF models to be too close, so an all-new model emerged to adapt to changing market demands. We know everyone loved the good ol’ SV, but Suzuki has come up with a solution to fill the gap left by the standard SV’s departure: the 2009 Gladius.
With a street-tuned suspension and re-engineered drive train, the SF is designed with “an air of purposeful aggression” and includes a blackened frame and sleek black/grey bodywork. The new setup is perfect for me because I was already flogging the S-model around the City of Angels when I couldn’t get myself out to the trails. As an urban commuter mount, requiring barely more space to park than a downhill mountain bike, the SF is rip-roaring fun.
For the most part, the new SF model is a city-slickened and supermoto-styled KLX250S with the same four-stroke liquid-cooled 249cc DOHC four-valve Single. On the Area P dyno, the SF was able to crank out 2.5 horsepower more, up to 20.5 ponies at 8,800 rpm - possibly due to a better transmission of power from the street tires than the S’s knobbies. Torque is up marginally to 13.7 ft-lbs at 7,400 rpm. The SF model employs a taller 39-tooth rear sprocket and street rubber to deliver more confident higher-speed street riding. Redlining at 10,500 rpm with a sweet spot between the 7,000 to 9,000 rpm rev range, the SF sure is a screamer.
KTM’s RC8 spent so many years being a concept - a V4 and then a V2 - that no one knew whether this crazy orange design would ever see the light of day. I for one am glad to see it in its first evolved state after the 2008 world launch at Ascari. KTM must be a huge fan of Ducati as everything KTM has done with the RC8 from the L-twin (V75-V90) configuration, Ascari launch and then Portimao launch is all in the footsteps of the red giant from Bologna, Italy. But was it a wise move? Isn’t V4 the future now?
Those are questions yet to be answered, but one question I do know the answer to is whether the 1198 RC8R is a Ducati killer or not. It definitely isn’t yet, so today I’m comparing it to the liter fours and the latest and best 600cc in-line fours instead.
And it wouldn’t stand a chance there either I hear you whisper? Well, it’s not quite as clear cut as that. While cornering on the brand new Bridgestone BT-003RS tires the RC8R leans with great willingness and turning from an extreme left lean to an extreme right is the easiest thing in the world. Only the 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R felt better in this area on Almeria.
The Brembo monoblocks worked very precisely on the RC8R with a fantastic initial bite. The 43mm WP USD fork felt fine, but not with the same feedback as the Ninja. The new fully adjustable WP mono shock must have helped a lot at the rear because the RC8R could be fired very hard out of the corners without much of a rear wheel slide. The RC8R was also of the best bikes along with the 600s for a circuit that can be ridden in second gear between the two straights. Plenty of low-end, traction-friendly V-twin torque.
BMW took the official wraps off its new literbike contender, the S1000RR, at the legendary Monza Racing Circuit last weekend in conjunction with an Italian round of the World Superbike Championship.
Although we already teased you with some details that have trickled out about the bike in our A Closer Look article, we now have been given full details about BMW’s new Superbike contender.
The pertinent numbers are a claimed 193 horsepower (at the crankshaft) and a 403.5-lb claimed dry weight. In a ready-to-ride form including fuel, BMW says to expect 450 lbs of weight. DTC Dynamic Traction Control is an appealing option, as is the Race ABS that adds just 5.3 lbs to the bike’s weight. Also innovative is the RR’s variable-length intake tracts that work in harmony with a 14,200-rpm redline, the highest among its rivals.
The 2009 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup kicks off with a double-header, May 2-3 in Jerez, Spain, with live video coverage of the entire season available over the Internet.
Race fans can watch their favorite future Grand Prix racers such as American teenagers Benny Solis, Jake Gange and Hayden Gillim thanks to a live satellite feed on the Rookies Cup website, www.redbullrookiescup.com .
The recorded race coverage will also remain in the site’s Rookies TV section for later viewing.
The Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup features riders age 13-18 on factory-prepped KTM RC125 motorcycles competing at select MotoGP rounds.
The three American Rookies will try to match the achievements of Washington native JD Beach who won the 2008 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. Beach is currently racing AMA Supersport, riding a Honda CBR600RR, and AMA Pro Flat Track Singles, riding a Honda CRF450.
BMW’s S1000RR road bike is being revealed now in undisguised, finished form at the Jerez MotoGP round.
The bike is being used as safety bike for the MotoGP race this weekend in a surprise public appearance before the official unveiling at Monza World Superbikes next weekend.
MCN has exclusively revealed the BMW S1000RR is putting out around 10bhp more than any other 1000cc rival – 182bhp was the peak power figure on a leaked dyno graph obtained by MCN.
We know it has a four-way adjustable ABS system and race-derived traction control.
What we don’t know for certain are the full technical details of the engine which is thought to be one of the most compact four-cylinder motors ever built.
All of this will be revealed in full by BMW at the official press conference at the Monza round of the World Superbike championship on May 9.
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