3 Months to Go…
Counting down for this year’s TT!
This vid has been doing the rounds the last couple of weeks. I’m certain either this or an edited version of it was shown during the Senior TT highlights coverage last year. In any case, high end production values and a string quartet playing Lynyrd Skynyrd show how much the coverage of the TT has improved since ITV4 (via North One TV) got hold of it:
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[sidebar: forgive the rant, but will someone please make the Steve McQueen quote illegal? It’s beyond cliché now, very few ever get it exactly right and it always reminds me of the scene in Wayne’s World where Wayne and Garth are in a guitar shop, and the salesman points to a sign on the wall saying “No Stairway to Heaven”]
The Best Saves of MotoGP
I’m not a big fan of the motorcycle crash compilations that seem to fill Youtube. Even tough I know that in most situations the riders didn’t get hurt (seriously hurt at least) in most cases the bikes get hurt, seriously hurt, destroyed and I can’t help but feeling sorry for those inanimate pieces of metal.
Yes, it’s incredibly stupid, but I love bikes!
So this is why this video is amazing, it’s a compilation of the most amazing near crashes, wobbles and saves from the guys in Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP. Some seriously ball busting situations that don’t end in a crash thanks to the good help of traction control, rider talent or shear luck!
The only one missing from this video is Collin Edwards save in Jerez 2008:
Left Side Story – Truly Inspirational!
If you don’t already know who Alan Kempster is, you should!
Alan Kempster is a total B.A.M.F. biker who was involved in a horrible crash caused by a drunk driver that lead to the amputation of both his Right Arm and Leg.
What did he do when he was left in this terribly disabled condition? He decided he wanted to race motorcycles!!
To be honest I don’t know how the f**** he does it, but the truth is that not only can he balance himself on the bike, but he is actually properly fast!
Check the videos below (Portuguese and English version) and Alan Kempster’s facebook and site, I promise it’s well worth your time!
Rally Dakar 2013 – Best Photos
I must confess I don’t follow the Dakar Rally very closely anymore.
Ever since it was cancelled a couple of years ago and was moved to South America I fell like it lost most of it’s charm. What it hasn’t lost however is the fact that ALL guys that ride it are absolutely amazing, so here is my selection of photos from this year’s edition (all photos by MCH Photography)
Ruben Faria
Ruben Faria
And Ruben Faria again!
[VIDEO] Something to watch on a rainy day – Isle of Man TT: A Dangerous Addiction
Fantastic documentary about the Isle of Mann TT and the guys that ride it. It’s 40min well spent on Youtube!
Get your name on a Dakar Bike
A fantastic fund raising iniciative by Team Bianchi Prata, a Portuguese Team looking for funding for another participation on the Rally Dakar.
For just 1€ you can have your name on the support truck, 5€ gives you your name on the bike, 7€ on both vehicles and a signed poster, for 20€ you also get a signed T-Shirt with your name on it.
If you’re Portuguese give Bianchi Prata a hand, if you’re not but would still love to have your name written on one of the Dakar bikes, this is your chance.!(If you have any questions about the translation of the site, let me know).
Check it out: http://bianchiprata.com/vamos-ajudar/
Retro Racing – The 1980 Paris-Dakar on a Vespa
Celebrating my recently found love for this little bikes I’ve just found out that back in 1980 4 crazy guys decided to take on the most challenging offroad competition on Vespa 200s.
It was the second edition of them emblematic rally and the small 150cc scooter like bikes with nearly no suspension travel and tiny wheels were thrown in the desert! I can only imagine what a challenge it must have been, with only minor modifications made to the bikes: an extra fuel tank on the pillion area and reinforcement to the steering, fork, rear shocks and tyres.
And there they went, Yvan Tcherniavsky on bike #5, Bernard Tcherniavsky on #6, Bernard Neimer #7 and Marc Simonot #8. with 4 Land Rovers as a support crew ( N º 196: Henri Pescarolo / Mauro Bellatriacia n º 197: René Trautmann / Roberto Valleci No. 198: François Brébant / Dominique Nayrole n º 199: Jean-Pierre Hanrioud / Bertini Moreno n º 200: Jean-François Piot / Bruno Spragia)
Struggling with huge dificulties during the stages, almost always being the last vehicles to arrive and sometimes finishing one stage 10min before the begining of the next day’s. But the fact is that from the 4 vespas that started the rally, 2 of the made it to the finish line! What an adventure it must’ve been. In your face GS riders! :p
If you can read French, take your time to look at the first hand report at the dakardantan website: Click Here
Here are some photos taken from the dakardantan website:
Now this is a proper Hayabusa: Yoshimura Hayabusa X-1
Keeping to the Hayabusa subject (yes I know this blog is supposed to be about the ZZR1400, but cut me some slack, I’ve finally found a half decent Hayabusa, it deserves mentioning!).
It’s actually quite an old bike but I had never heard about it since recently. Back in 2000 the guys at Yoshimura decided to create 100 units of a very special Hayabusa, a track ready edition built to enter the Japanese Formula X.
The bike allegedly weighed 215kg fully fuelled and turned out 190hp at the back wheel some serious power even by today’s standards!
From the 100 units built only a few made it out of Japan and a recent auction by Bonham’s saw one of them being sold for over 24.000€! Serious money for a 12 year old bike.
For the rest of us that can’t afford to spend that on a old bike, there’s always the 1/12 scale version by Tamyia!
You can check the Spec Sheet for the bike at: Yoshimura Hayabusa X-1
Sources:
Bikebros.co
Motociclismo
[VIDEO] Serious Balls! Irish Road Racing Series
Sorry, still haven’t had time to finish the post about my Tour of Picos de Europa, in the meanwhile check out this video of the Ulster GP – NW200. Irish Road Racing series at it’s best!
Select HD (720p)
Making the 990 Super Duke Track Ready – part 2 : Removing Indicators and Disconecting Lights
Before taking the KTM to the track I tapped up headlight and the tail light, removed the indicators and the mirrors.
Here are a few tips if you’re planning on doing the same.
Removing the mirrors is a no-brainer, just lift the rubber coating on the bottom of the steam and using a spanner unscrew the whole thing rotating counter-clockwise
My bike as a set of aftermarket indicators, and a tail tidy so removing the license plate and the rear indicators is a 30s task. Just disconect the connectors on the wires that run under the seat to the indicators, remove two screws on the license plate, and the whole thing comes off.
The front indicators are just as easy to remove, although take longer to reassemble. The wires that come from the indicators have been soldered to the original wiring and the conectors from the original wiring are to big to go through the nut that holds the indicator stem, so the only solution is cutting the wires. I’ll have to solder them again or use a set of electrical conectors when I assemble them again.
Open Sesame
The next thing I hade to do was disconect the front and rear lights, otherwise they would overheat the tape and the optic would be left full of glue residues from the tape at the end of the day. This, as I’ve found out is extremely easy to do on the Super Duke, just disconect a plug behind the headlight and another one under the seat and you’re done! No lights and the bike’s diagnostic system doesn’t even complain! Great job KTM! 🙂
Disconecting Headlight
Disconecting Tail Light
And here it is, no mirrors or indicators and ready to hit the track:
Making the 990 Super Duke Track Ready – part 1 : Fitting Crash Protection
As you may have read in my previous post I had ordered a full set of crash protectors for the KTM, after I canceled this order I searchd online a bit and ended up buying three separate kits from diferent sources:
– 1 Set of Front Fork Sliders from KTM Power Parts Catalogue (46€)
– 1 Set of Upper Frame Sliders (Crash Bobbins) from Evotech (113,98€)
– 1 Set of Swingarm Spools with bobbins from MCMOTOPARTS (20,78€)
The front fork sliders from KTM where again a dificult buy, first the guy at the store didn’t receive my email and so the ordered was delayed a week, then the set that arrived was the wrong one, luckily they had another set in stock (the right one) which they supplied me right at the last minute, the day before I went to Portimão.
The set itself is a new version, which is different from the one on the 2012 Catalogue and I’m not very impressed by it’s quality. Although I bought the specific version for the SuperDuke the set was clearly made to fit most KTM bikes, so instead of having a longer aluminum rod to fit the longer spacing between fork stanctions on the Super Duke, it comes with a longer collar bolt on one side.
This way both bobbins fit and are conected to each other, but the one on the left side of the bike is held only by the bolt (the aluminum rod isn’t long enough to reach recess on the inside of the plastic bobbin) and therefore it seems that in the event of a crash this left bobbins is more subject to ripping of (when the collar bolt bends or snaps) then the one on the right. I’m not sure if I made myself clear but bottomline: KTM for this price you could at least supply a set with a aluminum rod 2cm longer instead of a last minute fix with a collar bolt.
Fitting them is quite straightforward: just remove the nut on the left side of the axle and replace it with the new aluminium nut that comes with the kit. Be careful not to overtighten it, it’s supposed to be tightened to 40Nm so use a Dynamometric Wrench if you have one. Next just screwn the right bobbine to the aluminum rod an insert it trough the axle, then tighten the collar bolt on the left hand side. I use a bit of Bison Metal Lock to stop the screws from loosening with vibration.
After fitted this is how it looks:
As for the Crash Bobbins (Upper Frame Sliders) from Evotech I can only recommend them. The communication was excellent and the item arrived exactly when they said it would. It came neatly packed in individual bagsin a card box with lots of foam padding and has an added bonus they threw in a gift. A small LED flashlight. Great Costumer service!
Evotech Crash Bobbins
Gift Flashlight
The Bobbins itself consist of a aluminium milled bottom piece that fits in the place of two frame bolts (wich are replaced with longer ones).
The bobbins are an external polymer cylinder with a removable aluminum core that screws in the bottom piece. The whole thing is very nicely finished and looks really high quality.
Fitting them is quite easy as long has you have a good set of tools…which I haven’t and has the bolts on the frame where seized I had to request the assistance of my trusty mechanic to fit the Bobbins. But it basically consists in undoing the bolts that are on the frame and replacing them with the longer ones as you fit the bottom piece and then just screw the bobbins to it.
Finally the Swingarm Spools. They where shipped pretty quickly as I wasn’t expecting to receive them before going to portimão, but they ended up arriving (from Hong Kong) only a week and a half after I made the order. They look pretty good and are obviously the easiest to fit, just a drop of Bison Metal Lock and screw them to the swingarm!
The swingarm spools fitted
The Front Fork, Frame and Passenger Footpeg Sliders
The complete set of crash protectors fitted
Doing my Homework – AIA Portimão
Found this online, it’s the Layout of the Portimão Circuit scribbled with notes from the master Garry McCoy.
Not having the Portimao circuit in any Plasystation game this is the next best thing to try and “learn my way” around the circuit before actually getting there.
[Video] – ZZR 1400 on Track
Nice video of a ZZR 1400 being thrown round a track.
It’s almost time!
KTM 990 Superduke @ Autódromo de Portimão (AIA) soon… really soon! 😀
Can’t wait!!
P.S – Check out www.tugabikers.com for info about Portuguese Superbike Championship and other track related events
Enduro Worldcup right at my doorstep
Woke up this morning with the sound of single cilinder enduro bikes. One of the rounds of the Enduro Worldcup is taking place this weekend in the hills around my place. 😀
2012 MotoGP @ Estoril – Photos
You can see the classifications pretty much everywhere online (click here) so instead fo talking about the races I’ll just post some photos taken yesterday and today @ Estoril. Hope you’ll enjoy.
Ticket
#35 Crutchlow
#35 Crutchlow
#35 Crutchlow
#35 Crutchlow
#17 Abraham
Pedrosa & Crutchlow
Stoner leading, Lorenzo second
Stoner leading, Lorenzo second
Moto2
And a pair of Cinemagram GIFs:
I still have a few more photos and videos to post, but no available time rigth now. I’ll update as soon as I can.
#35 Cal Crutchlow on the first row @ Estoril
Great result for #35 Cal Crutchlow, first row qualify, behind Stoner and Pedrosa. Would be great to see his first podium finish this weekend @Estoril.
Collin Edwards unfortunately was involved in a crash with De Puniet and broke his collarbone.
I have some photos e videos from FP3 and Qualifying, but no broadband Internet so I’ll upload them later.
Should be a great race day tomorrow!
ZZR 1400 Touring 