On an irregular basis I visit the excellent kneeslider web site. These guys have an eye for the unusual, the special and the sometimes way out but it’s always worth a read. Today I stumbled across this little gem. A guy who is building a 1000cc road bike out of two 500cc single cylinder two stroke motocross engines. Sounds wacky, I know, but follow the link and be amazed like I was.
DIY 1000cc Two Stroke road bike.
I wish him every success.
Remember the entry a couple of weeks ago about Italian bikes? Remember I mentioned Moto Morini and I said that they had gone bust (again) and that they hadn’t even been able to sell their plant and equipment? Well, apparently, they did because, like a phoenix from the ashes, the new owners of Morini have released details of the their new bikes for 2013. Nothing new here, just the two models that the old factory was producing before the GFC meltdown. Thanks to the always reliable visordown web site and Ben Cope, their ace photographer for the details.
Further news is filtering through about the WSBK possibles and probables for next year. It seems at this stage that there might only be two teams running the controversial Panigale next year. One is the factory who are still finalising their arrangement with Francis Batta to run the team under the Alstare banner and the other is the German MR team who will be running the crash-prone Max Neukirchner on an 1199. With Yamaha getting their toe back in the water with a Supersport entry for next year, it could signal a return of the Japanese factory to the top level in 2014. And, speaking of 2014, Eugene Laverty has issued a spray on the proposed regulations for that year saying that 2013 is probably going to be the last year to see REAL superbike racing before the new owners, DORNA, dumb down the series so that it doesn’t compete too much with their other product, MotoGp.
And, speaking of MotoGp, it seems that the DORNA/Factory impasse has not been resolved (yet). The latest twist is a really interesting one, however. News out of Japan says that Yamaha is working on a lease project for 2014 that will allow owners to lease an M1 engine and associated electrics from the factory and put it in their own chassis! Yes, finally, a useful suggestion to go with Honda’s intention of SELLING customer prototype bikes in that year as well. Should both of these plans come to fruition, we may see a grid filled with PROPER bikes and the useless CRT experiment consigned to the bin where it has always belonged. Mind you, if you ally this with Laverty’s criticism of the “dumbing down” of WSBK, you can see what he is worried about. A full grid of MotoGp bikes is definitely going to impact upon the availability of top riders to support WSBK.
In a move that sends a few shockwaves through the industry, Suzuki’s American subsidiary has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy citing increased costs and decreased profitability. They go on to say that the motorcycle and ATV division is not affected, only the car side of the company. Sighs of relief all round.
Chaz Davies had his first ride on the BMW at Jerez yesterday but the day was cut short by rain so not a lot can be gleaned from it at this stage. (see pic above)
Finally, something that isn’t specifically motorcycle-related, but could be. A hand-operated battery charger to keep your phone charged when you are away from mains power. Long-distance tourers and adventure riders may well find this useful.
Hand cranked mobile phone charger.
