If one of the goals of an advertising campaign is to be talked about, Buell's latest has to be considered a home run. In announcing the discontinuation of the Buell Blast, the two-page spread shows one of the bikes crushed into a cube. We're told that it now makes, "...a killer ottoman. Or end table. Or art piece."
The ad has generated outrage, like this letter from reader Brian Hass of Northbridge, Massachusetts: "Has Erik Buell gone mad? His new 'ruthless engineering' advertising campaign shows him crushing a Buell Blast into a block of wrangled steel and rubber because it wasn't 'innovative' and didn't represent the type of performance machine that Buell wants to be known for. Don't current Blast owners find this just slightly offensive? So, what constitutes a Buell performance machine? I own an XB9S Lightning, a bike I thoroughly enjoy, and although I'm certain that it could outrun a conventional cruiser, a CBR or Gixxer would leave me in the dust. How long before Erik Buell tosses my Lightning in the crusher? I wonder what the resale value will be?"
The ad has also received the thumbs-up. CW Forum poster Quagmire wrote, "I laughed my fool butt off when I saw that ad. Maybe Buell has been inspired by their recent racetrack performance and are going to be serious about future models competing with the Asian brands."
Fellow poster Buelligan was a little more succinct: "Buell finally found a way to improve the looks..."
So what of Buell's beginner bike, introduced in 2000? Says Paul James, Harley-Davidson PR chief, "A limited number of 2010 model year units will continue to be available through H-D/Buell dealers either as new-vehicle sales from dealer inventory or as unregistered new-unit sales coming off the Rider's Edge (training) Program. These 2010 motorcycles will be branded Blast, with primary Buell badges removed."
It looks like we've seen the last of the Blast.
—David Edwards
The story behind the 2010 Buell Blast Motorcycle
CW'S YOUNGEST READER Only 3 years old and a Potty Animal. 08.27.2009
For the record, this makes about the 50th kid-on-potty-reading-magazine shot we've received over the years. We joke that we should run a montage of the photos on the magazine's "Slipstream" humor page with the caption, "Please, no more!" Same goes for dogs on bikes, btw.
And yet, they do bring smiles. And in this case, a cute story. So congrats, young Grant Goldan, you're a star. And, later in life, don't blame me when this blog is passed around at family gatherings. Your mom Heather sent in the report:
"My 3-year-old son likes his privacy in the bathroom, and always requests a book. I left him in the bathroom with his kid's book, but soon started hearing vrooming noises coming from the bathroom. I snuck in and found he had grabbed your magazine from our bathroom rack. He was saying, 'Go, motorcycles, GO!' and then told me he was going to ride bikes 'fast' like his daddy. Thanks for a great magazine!"
Thank you for sharing, Heather, sounds like you'll soon be minibike shopping...
—David Edwards
KEEPING EYES OPEN Moto Guzzi's V8 was a techno-feast. 08.26.2009
Final 1957 version of the V8 on display in the Moto Guzzi museum. Is it time for the concept to be revisited?
With technology changing as fast as it does, it's tempting to imagine that if a gadget or idea wasn't created in the last five years, it is of no possible interest to anyone but antiquarians.
A case in point is Moto Guzzi's famed V8 Grand Prix bike of 1955–57, a beautiful creation. Yet its complexity was so ambitious that its creators couldn't keep up with its appetite for development. Why did designer Giulio Carcano waste time with half-measures that caused big-end failures? What the engine needed was strong one-piece rods with caged roller big-ends, assembled onto a multi-piece crank built with Hirth face splines. Well, the postwar motorcycle boom was already fading when the V8 was born, and that Hirth crank can't have been a cheap solution. Gilera, after all, ran practice with cheaper, simpler cranks, then put in Hirth cranks for the race itself.
Another problem was ignition—the Eight needed 800 sparks a second at 12,000 rpm. Enough magnetos for that job would've weighed as much as the whole engine! So coil-and-battery seemed the solution. But to run off and hide from the four-cylinder opposition...only to have a battery wire break? Or to lose all the coolant through a burst hose? These are the nickel-and-dime failures that testing should have nailed. But you know what they say, "No bucks? No Buck Rogers!"
But let's have another look. Isn't that a swingarm pivot, cast right into the back of the gearcase? And didn't Honda hail that in 2001 as "Pivotless Suspension?" Isn't it a feature of present-day Ducati racers? It appears it's not new.
Here's another detail: To avoid the extra weight of forests of head bolts to keep gaskets in place, present-day F-1 engines adopt liners that screw into the head—no gaskets. Here on the drawing it looks like the Guzzi V8 has this very feature. Hmmm, maybe this Carcano fellow had more than one good idea.
And by golly, it looks like this compact little V8 has vertically stacked transmission shafts—a length-saving feature found on just about every up-to-the-minute sportbike from Japan's Big Four. Yessir, here it is, right on the drawing. But in our era, we reckon this concept is from Yamaha's adoption of it on the YZR500 GP bike at the end of the 1983 season. Carcano had the idea 28 years before that.
So the bottom line is, good ideas are everywhere and we should keep our eyes open—without historical prejudice.
—Kevin Cameron
YANKEE DOODLIN' Pinstriped Pag Custom. 08.25.2009
Viewed from the mound, this customized Big League bobber looks every bit a grand slam. The one-of-a-kind, Yankees-themed Johnny Pag Barhog model is powered by a liquid-cooled, 300cc, four-stroke parallel-Twin; once completed, the bike will feature some highly collectible bits, including a team-autographed baseball embedded in the gas tank and a seat covered in genuine catcher's-mitt leather.
The Pag custom cruiser is to be auctioned off at the Jorge Posada Foundation's 8th-annual Heroes 4 Hope Gala being held September 10, 2009, at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers in Manhattan. Founded by Yankees All-Star catcher Posada and his wife Laura, the foundation provides important funding for programs and grants that help families affected by the congenital medical condition of craniosynostosis, abnormal development of the skull, which can also affect brain development. Open to the public, this year's event will honor the 20 greatest living New York Yankees catchers.
"As someone with a close friend whose child has craniosynostosis, I've seen first-hand how families can be affected," said JR Pagnini, CEO of Johnny Pag Motorcycles. "I'm grateful to be able to support Jorge and Laura Posada and the foundation's amazing work — and I'd like to challenge every rider, New York Yankee fan and Johnny Pag enthusiast to bid on that bike!"
A huge contingent of motorcycle racers use cycling as a training activity, whether you are talking about MotoGP, World Superbike, AMA Superbike or AMA Motocross/Supercross. Guys like Nicky Hayden (that's him in the lead photo with his custom-painted Specialized Tarmac Pro), Casey Stoner, Ben Spies, James Stewart, Josh Hayes, Ben and Eric Bostrom, Jamie Hacking and countless others spend serious time aboard bicycles. Most of these riders have bicycle sponsors; Ben Bostrom not only is sponsored but has been very successfully racing mountain bikes in his spare time for Team Sho-Air.
So when a few of us bicycle-loving jouno-types got wind that there was going to be, as we were told, a bicycle race on the Thursday prior to MotoGP at Laguna Seca, we signed up with no delay. Specialized Bicycles, who sponsors a bunch of the aforementioned riders, and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca together host a Twilight Bike Ride in the summer, so it was only natural that they would host a pre-GP bike event.
My buddy Mike Monticello from our sister publication Road & Track and our friend Josh Jacquot from Edmunds.com set out onto the track for the "big race" only to discover that not only was there no racing going on outside of our threesome, but most of the professional riders were taking it easy as they had real racing of the motorcycle kind to worry about all weekend. This was probably a good thing in this case as just looking at Ben Bostom, I can tell you that he'd kick my ass on anything with two wheels! But I did take the opportunity to pass as many of the AMA and MotoGP regulars as I could in my nine laps around the 2.238-mile course—whether they were trying or not. Hey, it's never going to happen on a motorcycle! Race or no race, it was fun blasting down the Corkscrew on a road bike, but it will never compare to the thrill of doing the same thing on a motorcycle.
GRADED ON A CURVE Yamaha WSB manager Massimo Meregalli gives Ben Spies high marks. 08.20.2009 | Photos by Andrew Wheeler
Yamaha Motor Italia Team Manager Massimo Meregalli is elated with the performances Ben Spies has delivered in his debut World Superbike season.
When did Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Motor Italia team manager and an ex-racer himself, know Ben Spies could win races and possibly the World Superbike title in his rookie season?
"At the end of last year, I was not expecting a good result," Meregalli admitted. "But when Ben came to Portugal and tested our bike, after the first day, I immediately understood that everything was possible. What he is doing is really great, for sure."
Spies' results are even more impressive when one considers that the three-time AMA Superbike champion is racing an all-new motorcycle—the crossplane-crankshaft YZF-R1—at racetracks that for the large part he had never seen, on tires with which he was likewise unfamiliar.
"I think this bike is really good," Meregalli offered. "Last year, we were fighting a lot with tire traction. This year, we solved this big problem. We didn't solve it 100 percent—maybe 75 or 80 percent. Also, this bike, we have a good crew to develop it. They are quite happy with it. They say the best points are traction, stability, drivability and also braking."
I also asked Meregalli how Tom Houseworth, Spies' former Yoshimura Suzuki crew chief, has fit in with the Yamaha Motor Italia new team. "Tom is learning the Italian way," Meregalli joked. "At the beginning, it was, okay, a little bit strange. For him, I think it was not so easy to work. Now, he is working well."
Meregalli is also pleasantly surprised by Spies' newfound celebrity status, particularly in Italy. "I was not expecting this," he said. "It is unbelievable."
Get used to it.
—Matthew Miles
READY TO RACE Happiness is a well-stocked parts box. 08.19.2009
Tech. Ed. Cameron went from tuning privateer Yamaha TD-1s to working on Boston Cycles' TZ750 shop racers. That's Jim Evans in the saddle.
Boston Cycles became a center of life for me in the mid-1960s. I rebuilt crankshafts there. I bought parts there. I collected there the rumors that fed my two-wheeled imagination.
Proprietor John Jacobson had inspired despair in his businessman father when he'd operated a scooter-rental service in Harvard Square, and when John opened his Yamaha agency, his dad insisted he include a line of men's ready-to-wear suits, available for inspection to the right of the door upon entering.
I got $10 to rebuild a Twin crank and $5 for a Single. Retail is about 25 times more than that now—for the few crankshafts still assembled by press-fitting. The work paid for my racing parts. John would issue me a chit that I would take to Rose, the company's accountant. Disbursing funds troubled her—I could see it on her face when I went to collect my $10–$20. But she would brighten when I handed through the same window cash I owed for parts. Three dollars for a piston for my Yamaha TD1-B; $3 for the single ring, and a bit more for the wristpin, small-end needle bearing and wristpin clips. We felt privileged to pay cost-plus-10. These pistons, the late Gordon Jennings was telling us, embodied the latest hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloy technology. Three dollars, please.
Having parts made us feel good. Parts were wealth. They were life on two wheels. Before leaving for the races at 11 p.m. on a Friday, we had carefully packed the parts box, a cheap steamer trunk. There were the pistons and rings in their cheerful, promising little white boxes in the top tray. Fresh pistons. There was also a spare crankshaft, should anyone need it. Clip-ons, right and left. A sensible person carried all crash-damage parts—footpegs, handlebar levers, cables, fairing brackets. In compartment boxes were all the small items—the carefully hoarded eccentric adjusters for the magneto points (not sold separately!), needle bearings, nuts, bolts, washers. Spare magneto coils, too, should one begin to die by sparking through its linen-and-varnish insulation to the oh-so-close rotor magnet.
Those bikes are museum pieces now. A breathtakingly beautiful TD1-B restoration can be seen in Yamaha's Media Center in Hamamatsu. All its colors, surface textures, and metal finishes correspond exactly to the feelings of elation that still reside in me from those times, from first seeing those wonderful, able locomotives.
In absolute terms the bikes were unreliable, steps along the way, but we loved what they did for us. As Ing. Todero of Moto Guzzi once said to John Wittner, "A racebike must always be ready, but it is never finished."
—Kevin Cameron
CHOPPER FOR THE LONG RUN A 500,000-mile Triumph. 08.18.2009
As the staff long-bike aficionado in the midst of bringing a Von Dutch Triumph back to life, I shouldn't be too surprised that any chopper letters (snail or electronic) eventually get routed to my desk.
Paul Hope's example is a little out of the ordinary. A 650 Bonneville, it was customized in 1971 and he's owned it ever since. Tasteful job, too. Bolt-on hardtail, trident sisssybar, hexagon oil bag, sprung saddle (and pity the poor passenger), Bates headlight, good use of chrome and lots of fire-engine-red paint with ghost flames on the tank.
Somehow, Paul resisted the usual urge to cut the frame and extend the fork tubes; he even runs the stock 2LS brake, albeit dipped in the shiny stuff. All of which means that unlike most over-the-top choppers, Paul's remained rideable, so it didn't get parked or crashed or forgotten. It now has more than 500,000 miles on the clock, which has to be some kind of chopper record!
SHOW YOUR FACE! Go helmet-to-helmet with Rossi. 08.10.2009
A real headcase: Rossi beside himself. You, too, can put yourself atop an AGV.
Last year at the Mugello MotoGP race in Italy, Valentino Rossi's helmet graphic was his bug-eyed face clearly printed on top. A limited-edition consumer version of the AGV sold out in just a few days.
Now AGV is offering everyone the chance to show their own face—or any other photo—on their own helmet. Just go to www.italianlegendaryprotection.com and follow the directions to complete your work of art. Like Rossi's, your GP-Tech AGV helmet will be produced in the Italian province of Padova, and your $999 online purchase will be at your door 10 weeks after you've placed your order.
Then, wearing a virtual version of your own personalized helmet, you (and other participants) can challenge Valentino's lap time around Mugello—an arcade videogame of the circuit will be set up and circulated on Facebook. You'll have a chance to win prizes offered by AGV.
—Mark Cernicky
SKELETOR'S RIDE Da wrist bone connected to da axle bone... 08.10.2009
Here's something you're not likely to see every day: a motorcycle designed to emulate a human skeleton. I'm no expert on the anatomy of our species, but this creation looks to have all the correct major bones, including those of the fingers, the feet, the rib cage and even the spine.
Supposedly, this bizarre machine was built by an orthopedic surgeon, which explains the authenticity of the structure but still leaves unanswered one important question: Why?
These photos were e-mailed to me by a friend who knows absolutely nothing about the bike except for the alleged occupation of its builder, so I can't tell you much that you can't see for yourself. The engine looks to be an automotive inline-Four, complete with bell housing, alternator and large radiator, but just about everything else appears custom-made.
Considering the absence of some all-important equipment—chain, handlebar and foot controls, as well as no apparent gas tank and tires that appear to be entirely unused—I assume this machine is non-functional. Maybe it is yet to be completed, maybe it never will be. But it sure is an attention-grabber, and I thought you might enjoy seeing it.
If anyone out there knows more about this far-fetched fabrication, including its location and the name of its owner, please let us know. Not only would I like to learn all about the bike, I've been having some problems with my left knee...
RUNNING ON EMPTY Bingo fuel on Honda's CBR1000RR. 08.10.2009
I spent the last week in July commuting each day aboard a 2009 Honda CBR1000RR between my home and the Home Depot Center, the site of Summer X Games 15 located in Torrance, California. Over the past four years I've burned vacation time moonlighting for ESPN, undertaking the role of race director for the Supermoto and Super X events. The work is enjoyable, although the days can be long and, in my case, culminated by a 50-mile trek south on the 405 Freeway.
Following the Thursday-evening Super X Adaptive (handicapped) practice session I hit the highway with my thoughts occupied by the day's activities and still-to-do-list for the following morning's Supermoto practice/seeding sessions. No sooner had I settled into the carpool lane when the CBR's reserve light illuminated. Dang it! Suppose I should have gassed up before hitting the on ramp. The Honda's informative dash displays fuel-mileage info and also begins counting the amount of fuel consumed in tenth-of-a-gallon increments once the reserve light comes on. I did a quick mental calculation, like a naval aviator returning to the boat in a "bingo" fuel state, only I didn't know exactly what the CBR's reserve capacity was...one of those details an actual owner would know.
Have to say it was pretty nerve-racking as the digital readout clicked from 0.8 to 0.9 gallon consumed. I was within a mile of my target destination, a Shell station just beyond the I-405/I-5 merger when 1.0 gal. displayed on the dash. Seconds later the engine sputtered and died. Fortunately, I was able to dead-stick 'er in, tapping the dregs of the tank with just enough slosh to get one last brief burst of power at the base of the off ramp and silently glide up to the pump.
Honda's specifications for the CBR1000RR list a 4.7-gallon capacity, including 1.06-gallon reserve. The pump meter read 4.697 gallons in topping her up while the 185.4 miles displayed on bike's trip meter equates to 39.47 mpg for that sortie. Needless to say, I plan to keep fuel-range testing a bit more, er, reserved in the future.
—Don Canet
SALT WARRIOR A Star at Bonneville. 08.06.2009
All hunkered down and ready to haul ass. Joe Bishop poses with the Absaroka Racing Warrior.
What's that old saying? There are those who race, and those who just talk about racing? CW reader Joe Bishop does more than just talk.
Not that he has a beaucoup-bucks, tricked-to-the-gills racebike. In fact, Bishop hit the salt at Bonneville in 2008 just to see what his stock (right down to the much-maligned "water heater" exhaust canister) Star Warrior streetbike would do.
"Last year, we ran the Warrior stone-cold stock in the Stock class on the salt flats and could only pull 115 mph," Bishops says. "We could not get enough air through the stock airbox, and the rear tire started spinning at 110."
Now he and his Absaroka Racing team are headed back to Bonneville with a little more serious effort, this time in the Special Construction class by virtue of the Warrior's new rearset footpegs and laydown riding position.
"We have lowered the bike 3 inches front and back, added a Pingel air-shifter, a Baron's Big Air kit and tach, a Barnett clutch pressure plate and Warrior flat bars from Yamaha," he says. "We also have been experimenting with an array of Harley-Davison rear pulleys. Harley and Star use the same bolt pattern, which has given us more gearing options.
"We have also added ballast and have been testing it out at Rocky Mountain Raceway near Salt Lake City, as well as Firebird Raceway in Boise, Idaho. The 1670cc Twin still has stock pistons and cams for now; we wanted data from a mostly stock motor before we cam it. We figure this package is going to be the best shot a stock motor is going to have to go fast on the 3-mile course at Bonneville—amateur full-throttle racing at its best! We're trying to prove to Warrior owners that there really is a lot of power to be found in their stock motors with just a few changes," Bishop says.
Good luck, Joe, let us know how it goes.
—David Edwards
SUPER DAVE'S SUPER MAXES A man who believes that more is never enough. 08.06.2009
Recently got an e-mail from Dave Rudolph, an old friend and co-worker I had not heard from in close to 40 years. Dave and I worked at Washington-Pittsburgh Cycle in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, in the late 1960s, and we raced together in a local TT scrambles series for several years back then.
Aside from being an exceptionally talented racer who won quite a few championships, Dave was a superb mechanic and a resourceful fabricator. He often would envision owning some kind of vehicle that either did not exist or he could not afford, and then build it himself using only the tools and materials readily available to him. A perfect example is the first stretched vehicle I had ever seen, which Dave built by grafting together two Dodge vans—one that he already owned and another with a crashed front end. The result was so long that when you opened the back doors, it looked like you were staring down a bowling alley. Dave also built a Triumph TT scrambles sidecar rig with a homemade hinged "flexi-car" that allowed both the bike and the car to lean through the corners like a solo machine. It was fun to ride—except off of jumps. You never knew which way it would dart when it landed.
I lost touch with Dave after I moved to upstate New York in 1970 to work for Yankee Motor Company. I do know that he later embarked on a career as a motorcycle jumper, which gave rise to the "Super Dave" moniker, but that endeavor came to an abrupt halt—literally— after an encounter with an electrical wire along the jump site that apparently was not as high as Dave had anticipated.
Dave currently owns and operates Super Dave's Motorcycle and ATV shop in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania, where he has become "Mr. V-Max." He owns four of those beloved V-Four power-cruisers, including a first-year 1985 that he bought new. "It's almost all chrome," says Dave, "and I put a nitrous system on it in 1993. I call it the 'Chromax.'"
More interesting is a 1993 V-Max that Dave has outfitted with a Magnuson supercharger and tuned-port fuel-injection using Ford Mustang injector nozzles and a 75mm BBK throttle body. "I've been riding it on the street for five years," says Dave, "and it's not a bottle rocket; it's very reliable and fast. It's called 'Climax.'" Except for the supercharger itself, virtually all the parts and pieces were either fabricated or extensively modified to fit by Dave at his shop.
Rudolph also has a 2009 VMax equipped with a nitrous system. "It needed a little more," he says. He really didn't have to tell me that; it's encoded in his DNA.
If you want to learn more about Dave, his shop and his bikes, log onto www.superdaves.com.
HIGHLAND RIDER Touring Scotland with John Wayne. 08.05.2009 | Photos by Mike Müeller/Samplay
Highland Rider: Peter Macintyre leads guided tours throughout Scotland.
When Colin Bell needed a tour guide this past July to lead the world's moto-press around Scotland for the launch of Lockout, W.L. Gore's new waterproof polymer alternative to conventional coil zippers, he turned to fellow countryman and good friend Peter Macintyre.
Macintyre, 59, owns and operates Highland Rider (www.highlandrider.com), Scotland's only full-service motorcycle touring company. He also strongly resembles the late Marion Morrison, better known to movie fans as John Wayne. In fact, Macintyre won a Wayne-lookalike contest in 2002.
Macintyre, whose name means "son of carpenter," can trace his family roots back 1000 years, when his ancestors built ships for the Vikings. His father died when Macintyre was just 10 years old, and he dropped out of school at 15. Shortly thereafter, he and his twin brother, John, started a business selling fresh fish. John eventually moved on to hotel ownership, while Macintyre continued to expand the fish business, eventually supplying 500 commercial customers with the catch of the day.
Gore Lockout is a new, waterproof closure intended to replace conventional coil zippers.
In 1998, after suddenly deciding to sell his business (the deal was done on a pub napkin), Macintyre started Highland Rider. The premise, as his brochure says, is "Motorcycle guided tours through Scotland's beautiful and dramatic scenery with traditional Highland hospitality." Prices are high, but the all-inclusive tours—four, five, six, seven or eight days in length, from April through September—are always fully booked, and Macintyre boasts many return customers. BMW, Suzuki and Triumph motorcycles are available for hire, or you can bring your own machine.
Macintyre made me promise to join him for a whiskey on the final evening of our trip. But with another tour beginning just two days later, he packed up and left for home before I could take him up on his offer. Guess I'll just have to make another trip to Scotland...
—Matthew Miles
GIVE ME THE ROAD But where is my Concours 14? 08.03.2009
We've had a long-term 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14 for just about two years now. I got to go on the press introduction on the Sonoma Coast in northern California, and since that first ride, the C-14 has been a favorite for touring and commuting.
I was wandering through the photo archives and found this picture from my first go on the bike, and it reminded me of the glory of the road and how much nicer it is to be riding—almost anywhere—rather than sitting at a desk. So as I sit here and type this, I can't help but wish I were arcing my way out of a long sweeper on Highway 1 in the late afternoon with the Conc 14's 1352cc inline-Four cranking out enough torque to leave a black line on the tarmac. But apparently everybody else wishes the same thing because, as a credit to the bike, it is never available when I want to go ride it. Somebody else is always doing the right thing and burning up the miles.
After a lot of, er, sole searching, I finally ended up getting me some new Ducatis. Desmosedici? Not quite! Limited Edition Troy Bayliss 1098R? I wish. Supermono? In my dreams! 888? All super-bitchin' bikes that happen to ride around in the back of my mind. But no!
I'll give you a hint: These Ducatis can haul butt at race pace or comfortably cruise around town. Keep the treads clean and you can moto inside the house, or for that matter, around the office—they handle the tightest terrain without getting tied in knots.
I'd all but given up on getting a set of fine Italian footwear to call my own. Then came the international introduction of the new Ducati Streetfighter, held at Ascari race resort in Spain. Thanks to my high-handlebar hacking skills—earned riding lots of Supermoto— I managed to chase down Ducati MotoGP test rider Igor Gerresi for some close-riding tire-tucking fun. During the dinner that followed, Ducati tribesmen where looking at me more strangely than usual...something on my shirt?
Soon after returning home from that trip, a nondescript box showed up at the door, and there they were, finally! A pair of the unobtainable orange Ducati Pumas. After a short break-in period, you can bet these high-performance size 9's will be tearing up the road and running paths near my home. Vi ringraziamo vivamente i miei amici!
