50 years, thats how long Yamaha has been in business and to memorate the event Yamaha is intruducing a special, limited-production World Grand Prix Racing 50th Anniversary Edition in the same color scheme that Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies used at Assen, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.The Anniversary machines will have numbered plaques and 50th Anniversary emblems on the fuel tanks, gold-colored tuning forks in the Yamaha emblems.

More details

Here are some of the new specs:

• Seven-level Traction Control System allows the rider to get more traction while exiting corners.

• New ECU settings for a greater derivability on low and mid rpm acceleration.

• New top triple clamps, reminiscent of the MotoGP® powerhouse YZR-M1.

• The footrests have been redesigned for great boot sole contact and advanced rider/motorcycle interface.

• New headlight cowl styling and LED position lights.

• New silencer heat guards and end caps are re-styled to give the rear end of the bike a more compact look.

The R6 and the FZ8 will also come with the same livary .

Today race was more of a Musical Chairs game, riders were going down one by one because of  rain…Rossi was the first to go down and he took Stoner with him when he was performing a late breaking maneuver but he went down as soon as he let go of the break, unlike stoner he managed to ride the bike again and finish 5th !!

Simoncelli lead most of the race and just when we thought he’s gona win he went down at a slow curve, Lorenzo was behind him and kept a steady pace until he claimed the race.

I have been asked many times about the new Kawasaki ZX10-R, but all i could say was that Kawasaki USED to “Let the good times roll”….especially that they issued a technical recall on the ZX10-R a month after it the launch.

I did not get an invitation to the launch at Lossil in Qatar last Nov, so i haven’t ridden the green yet, and i can only quote whatever is circulating around the net and what the journalists that rode it has to say.

MCN did a group test last week between the ZX-10R, S1000RR, Honda Fireblade, Yamaha R1 and Suzuki GSX-R1000, and the above video should summarize it.

Friday morning rides are very exciting when racing fellow riders, and the laugh we enjoy after the race is unbelievable …the above video was subtitled by one the riders, he did a good job in twisting the story to his advantage, but it describes what happened last Friday in a hilarious way.

Enjoy.

Just incase you missed the most intense race of the season.

This may sound a repetition of the previous post.

SWA -Supertest World Association- is an organization that runs the world biggest track test with motorcycle journalists from all around the world to compare the latest bikes in the market.

This year test took place in Greece, with the absence of Ducati, KTM and Bimota, the final ranking -based on lap times, dyno power and torque measurements, comfort, price/performance ratio- was as follows:

1-BMW S1000RR (with distinction)
2-APRILIA RSV4
3-MV AGUSTA F4 1000
4-KAWASAKI ZX-10R
5-SUZUKI GSX-R 1000
6-YAMAHA YZF R1
7-HONDA CBR1000RR

2010 is the year of the European manufacturers’, as they were the ones with a lot of cash during the global recession and continued to feast us with new products while the Japanese went into hibernation.

Motorcycle of the Year BMW S1000RR
Best Sportbike BMW S1000RR
Best Standard Kawasaki Z1000
Best Touring BMW R1200RT
Best Sport-Tourer Ducati Multistrada
Best On/Off Road BMW F800GS
Best Off-Road Yamaha YZ450F

Finally, and in my humble opinion the most beautiful sport bike Aprilia RSV4.
Via Motorcycle.com

Lorenzo may have won the championship today but the Dr. definitely won the race, and am sure Rossi will not stop amusing us the final 3 rounds of season.

Personally i can’t wait for the 2011 season to see Rossi competing from on top of the Ducati.

It was a very fast and entertaining race yesterday at Laguna Seca, it kicked off with the trademark start by Pedrosa from the second row all the way to leading the race.

Both Lorenzo and Pedrosa were pushing it to the limit until Pedrosa crashed, and Lorenzo cruised to the checker flag, we were hopping to witness a fight between Rossi and Stoner but the gab was a bit big, on the other hand Rossi fought well for the 3rd position which was very entertaining.

According to MCN, Valentino Rossi will be quitting Yamaha to sign a deal with Ducati.

The trusted insider told MCN that Rossi is walking out because of a dispute over the renewal of his multi-million contract and his refusal to continue racing with Jorge Lorenzo as his team-mate.