Yes bike fans, that’s right. Take one of these:

A lot of knuckle grease, sweat and tears and you get this!

Owner Engelbert Visscher of Enschede, Netherlands describes the bike as being a “Zero Cafe Racer, XV750 1981, total rebuild, sharp steering low, ground clearance, bad brakes but f…… faaaaaaassssssssstttttt”.

MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi has just signed a two-year contract with Ducati for next season, bringing an end to his successful run at Yamaha.

31-year old Rossi will part company with the Fiat Yamaha team by the end of the current season, bringing a hugely successful seven-season association with the team to a close.

Rossi has won four MotoGP world titles with the Japanese manufacturer since joining from Honda in 2004.

“Now the moment has come to look for new challenges; my work here at Yamaha is finished. Unfortunately even the most beautiful love stories finish, but they leave a lot of wonderful memories,” said Rossi.

All will be revealed on Sunday. The seven-time MotoGP world champion has been rumoured to be leaving his Fiat Yamaha team for Ducati in 2011.

Former world champion Casey Stoner revealed last month he would be leaving Ducati at the end of the season to join Honda.

Stoner’s departure would create an opportunity for Rossi to sign with Ducati.

“Sunday, after the race you will know what I will do in 2011,” he told reporters before joking “if I was Yamaha, I would give me a trial, we’ll see”.

Based on a 1983 Honda CB900 F2 Bol d’Or, the Spanish customiser Cafe Racer Dreams (CRD) has produced this masterpiece. Run by Pedro Garcia and partners, CRD produces customs based on Japanese motorcycles from the 70s and 80s. Updates are posted on their blog.

Harley-Davidson announced that it is selling their MV Agusta brand to Claudio Castiglioni‘s wholly owned holding company, MV Agusta Motor Holding, S.r.l.

Castiglioni, who kick started Cagiva and then bought over MV Agusta, Ducati and other brands, sold a controlling stake in MV Agusta to Proton, the Malaysian carmaker in 2004 for 70 million Euros. Proton Holdings then sold it’s 57.57 percent stake in MV Agusta Spa to an Italian company Gevi Spa in 2005 for only 1 Euro. Gevi Spa assumed MV Agusta’s debts and working capital requirements totalling 139.44 million euros. The move was announced by Proton Holdings as part of it’s non-core asset divesting exercise.

Harley-Davidson has not announced any financial data but according to Autoblog, despite spending about US$109 million for MV Agusta and spending money to revamp the product lineup. There has been information published saying that Castiglioni probably isn’t going to be paying more than 1 Euro for it!

Harley-Davidson President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Wandell commented, “Our decision to divest MV Agusta reflects our strategy to focus our efforts and our investment on the Harley-Davidson brand, as we believe this provides an optimal path to long-term growth.”

REFERENCE: Proton Berhad – Disposal of interest in MV Agusta SpA

Don’t try this at home!

Honda’s RC211V gave Repsol Honda rider Valentino Rossi a distinct edge over the competition, an edge he used to win the 2002 MotoGP world championship. There was one particular advantage, though, he used to devastating effect: The ability to open the throttle earlier when exiting a corner. That advantage is directly attributable to Honda’s new Unit Pro-Link rear suspension, as used on the RC211V–and now on the CBR600RR.

The first generation of Honda’s Pro-Link rear suspension (which made its production debut on the 1981 CR250R) was unique because of its lower link pivot. That characteristic allowed the linkage design to create the desired degree of manually produced progressive spring rate. Unit Pro-Link takes the same concept to the next level.

Conventional rear suspensions attach the top eye of the shock unit to an upper rear frame cross-member. Unit Pro-Link, though, attaches the top eye to the top of the braced swingarm structure itself. Below the shock is a joined pair of arms at roughly right angles to each other, pivoting on a shaft attached to the bottom of the swingarm. One of these arms connects to the bottom shock eye, while the other is joined to the bottom of the frame by a pair of tension links.

As the rear wheel rises in passing over a bump, the pull of the tension links rotates the arms, compressing the shock from the bottom. The fact that the top of the shock moves upward with the swingarm is compensated for by increasing the rate at which the bellcrank compresses it from the bottom. Depending on the geometry of the linkage, the bottom of the shock moves more, and more rapidly, than the top of the shock. Compared to the shock used on the F4i, the RR’s shock has increased damper volume, and no hose connecting to the piggyback reservoir. The heavily braced swingarm features a press-forged right-side arm and a box-section extrusion left-side arm, both welded to a cast crossmember/pivot.

The Unit Pro-Link design provides a wealth of benefits. To begin with, the shock is contained entirely within the swingarm, and the shock is positioned lower than in a conventional design. Both contribute to mass centralization, in part by giving the centrally mounted fuel tank room to extend downward to the engine crankcases.

More importantly, with the top eye mounted to the top of the swingarm, shock absorber loads don’t get fed into the frame, so engineers were free to tune the frame to the best stiffness for superior handling. A new construction technique–Hollow Fine Die-Casting–also aided engineers in tuning the frame. Compared to the F4i, the CBR600RR’s frame features greater torsional stiffness at the steering head, decreased lateral stiffness via thinner rear frame rails, and vertical stiffness uncompromised by a beefy structure for the top shock mount. All together, those qualities reduce wheelspin when exiting corners, which allows the rider to start accelerating earlier. The result: Earlier throttle application translates into quicker corner exits, and the additional speed can be carried all the way down the next straight.

It’s a benefit that made the difference in the RC211V’s winning the MotoGP championship in its first year. It’s also an entirely new, groundbreaking technology that had been confined to the race track–until now, and the CBR600RR.

Yes bike fans, that’s right. Take one of these: A lot of knuckle grease, sweat and tears and you get this! Owner Engelbert Visscher of Enschede, Netherlands describes the bike as being a “Zero Cafe Racer, XV750 1981, total rebuild, sharp steering low, ground clearance, bad brakes but f…… faaaaaaassssssssstttttt”.

read full story of "YAMAHA VIRAGO CAFE RACER"

MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi has just signed a two-year contract with Ducati for next season, bringing an end to his successful run at Yamaha. 31-year old Rossi will part company with the Fiat Yamaha team by the end of the current season, bringing a hugely successful seven-season association with the team to a close. Rossi [...]

read full story of "VALENTINO ROSSI TO JOIN DUCATI IN 2011!"

All will be revealed on Sunday. The seven-time MotoGP world champion has been rumoured to be leaving his Fiat Yamaha team for Ducati in 2011. Former world champion Casey Stoner revealed last month he would be leaving Ducati at the end of the season to join Honda. Stoner’s departure would create an opportunity for Rossi [...]

read full story of "WHO WILL ROSSI RIDE FOR IN 2011?"

Based on a 1983 Honda CB900 F2 Bol d’Or, the Spanish customiser Cafe Racer Dreams (CRD) has produced this masterpiece. Run by Pedro Garcia and partners, CRD produces customs based on Japanese motorcycles from the 70s and 80s. Updates are posted on their blog.

read full story of "CAFE RACER DREAMS CB900"

Harley-Davidson announced that it is selling their MV Agusta brand to Claudio Castiglioni‘s wholly owned holding company, MV Agusta Motor Holding, S.r.l. Castiglioni, who kick started Cagiva and then bought over MV Agusta, Ducati and other brands, sold a controlling stake in MV Agusta to Proton, the Malaysian carmaker in 2004 for 70 million Euros. [...]

read full story of "HARLEY-DAVIDSON SELLS MV AGUSTA TO CLAUDIO CASTIGLIONI"

Don’t try this at home!

read full story of "MINIBIKE STUNTS"

Honda’s RC211V gave Repsol Honda rider Valentino Rossi a distinct edge over the competition, an edge he used to win the 2002 MotoGP world championship. There was one particular advantage, though, he used to devastating effect: The ability to open the throttle earlier when exiting a corner. That advantage is directly attributable to Honda’s new [...]

read full story of "HONDA’S UNIT PRO-LINK"