Motorcycle Racing News

Michael Czysz Prototype

Several years ago, the motorcycling ether was finely misted with intriguing rumors of a man in Oregon embarking on the daunting task of creating a new American motorcycle. Industry press and curious enthusiasts ruminated on what the machine might be.

Roger Goldammer's simple complexity.

With motocrossers' designs in a maturation phase, the big changes in the dirt are happening off the closed courses. These three bikes reflect that reality.

Motorcycle MV Amore

Motorcycles are visceral things. They ignite the same kind of irrational passions that fuel amorous feelings between two people. They fill the devout enthusiasts with irrepressible euphoria, inspiring them to almost ridiculous impulsiveness. How fitting that Italy, a country renowned for its amoré—almost an official national treasure—would also be the romantic epicenter of motorcycling, producing some of the world's most alluring examples of two-wheel lust.

Certainly every motorcyclist knows something about this motorcycle legend. A 1947 Fourth of July weekend Gypsy Tour gathering of bikers in Hollister, Calif., was embellished by the fanciful imagination of a San Francisco Chronicle reporter and became “4000 Touring Cyclists Wreak Havoc in Hollister.” The story is picked up across the country, culminating with the infamous staged photo of a slovenly, drunken biker in Life magazine, who became our unelected representative. The image was burned into America's collective cornea and we've been dealing with the fallout ever since.

Limited to only 150 units.

Based on James Stewart's '06 World Supercross Championship-winning KX450F.

BMW R 1200 S 

My introduction to BMW motorcycles occured in the summer of 1975. I was 17 years old and had exuberantly nailed a job at a Honda/BMW dealership, indenturing myself to uncrating motorcycles. A perception of BMW elitism was immediately instilled simply by virtue of how the German machines were boxed up at the factory. Unlike their Japanese counterparts, the BMWs came fully assembled. All that needed to be done was  raise the handlebars and attach the mirrors.

Supermoto Review

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were literally hundreds of companies around the world building motor-cycles, all vying to capitalize on the burgeoning new industry of powered, two-wheel transportation.

Functionally single-minded.

In the late 1990s, Lance Smail was a lone wolf competing in the vaunted AMA Supercross championship series on this Tom Moen-prepared, four-stroke powered KTM. By virtue of being the sole four-stroke in a series populated exclusively by two-stroke machines, Smail and the KTM were instant outsiders. However, at every stadium the bike appeared, the fans went crazy for it. In a field of buzzing, shrieking two-strokes that sounded like agitated bees, the distinctly aggressive thumping of the KTM, with its signature backfire, made it a crowd favorite. (Click image to enlarge)

The perfect gift for the incorrigible speed freak.

Ninja ZX-14 

As with all bikes manufactured since the dawn of motorcycling history, Kawasaki's new Ninja ZX-14 accelerates when the rider applies throttle. However, unlike any mass-produced bike before it, the ZX-14 produces horsepower that has been measured within a few clicks of the 200 mark when ram air is in effect, essentially making it the fastest motorcycle on the market, at the moment.

Ducati Project

When one has the resources of Lockhart Phillips USA at his disposal, he can be certain of getting precisely the motorcycle he desires. Such is the case with Wendell Phillips' Ducati ST4R, a tour de force of supersport touring customization.

In 1953 the Kronreif, Trunkenpolz, Mattighofen Motorcycle Company entered their first racing activities, the fifth running of the Gaisberg competition, and finished with first, second and third place honors. Fifty years later, KTM—as the manufacturer is now known—has emerged as a modern builder of high-quality, reliable, exceptionally well-engineered motocross, enduro and supermoto machines. They are also the motorcycle of choice by the majority of the two-wheeled field in the Paris/Dakar Rally, taking top honors the last few years in the world's ultimate endurance race.