Aprilia

  ALL NEW FLY BY WIRE APRILIA SHIVER 750 LANDS AT DEALERS TODAY

It is certainly no easy matter to take the lead in a class as fiercely competitive as the middleweight naked class.  A class where the battle is not just about technology and performance, but also design, component rationality and riding ease and pleasure, elements which are not always compatible and are particularly demanding for designers and engineers.

 

Aprilia accepted this challenge and addressed it by applying its own successful philosophy to a completely new design, destined to set new standards for years to come.  A bike both strongly aggressive and at the same time clean-cut and elegant, in perfect Aprilia style.  A bike at the top of its class for its sporty personality, designed on the basis of the know-how of a company which has to date won 250 world championship victories.

 

Key features of the new Shiver include:

·          Racing brakes with radial mounted caliper at front

·          90° V2 engine with four valves per cylinder, double overhead camshaft and liquid cooling

·          Ride-by-Wire technology for electronic control of the throttle bodies

·          Electronic fuel injection with latest generation injectors

·          Mixed gear and chain valve timing

·          Three way catalytic converter on the exhaust, with Lambda oxygen sensor

·          Modular trellis/aluminium frame for high torsional rigidity

·          Aluminium swingarm with reinforcement truss and lateral shock absorber

·          43 mm upside down fork

  

For more detailed information about the SL 750 Shiver go here.

Daytona 200, March 6th 2009

TOURING SPORT DUCATI TAKES SECOND AT DAYTONA!

Reining champions Touring Sport Ducati had a great start to the 2009 season, securing a second place finish in the SunTrust MotoGT race run at Daytona
International Speedway this past weekend. The two man team fought hard against the Pair-of-Nine Kawasaki finishing with less than a minute gap in
the two-hour race, putting them on the podium. This year’s series will be run in conjunction with select AMA Superbike rounds, bringing in even stiffer competition and higher stakes than previous years.

The team started the race on pole after team owner, Frank Shockley, secured  the fastest time in a crafty double-draft maneuver on the last lap of qualifying. Shockley took the first 50 minute stint aboard the Ducati PS1000LE, racing handle bar to handle bar with Jay Springsteen’s Kawasaki 650R Ninja the whole time. The rivaling riders pitted a lap apart when Shockley swapped with team mate Brad Phillips. A lightening fast pitstop saw the Kawasaki return to the race in the lead, which they held to the end. 

“Once they’d got a gap on us we just couldn’t get it back”’ said Shockley after the race. “It’s going to be a hard year this year with the tougher competition and the grueling schedule but we aim to take our third consecutive championship and this result stands us in good stead”.

 

Next race will be at the team’s back yard at Road Atlanta on April 5, 2009,  where they are planning to run two teams on identical bikes.

Ducshop proudly builds and maintains the PS1000LE engines. The team is also  sponsored by Touring Sport Ducati, Öhlins USA, Speedy Moto, Robby Byrd,
USDESMO, Swatt Motorcycle, JVE Limited and Pilot Leathers.

Picture courtesy of MotoGT

BMW Section

The New 2009 BMW K 1300 S, K 1300 R and K 1300 GT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exactly 25 years after the launch of the groundbreaking K bikes, BMW has unveiled the newest generation of this line of powerful inline-four machines. The new K bikes sport a larger displacement, now with 1,293 cc, and an array of new enhancements and features. The 2009 K 1300 S, the most powerful street legal BMW, now offers 175 hp and the torque has been bumped by 7.5 ft-lb to a very impressive 103 ft-lb at 8250 rpm.

“We have sold almost 65,000 four-cylinder motorcycles in the past four years,” said Hendrik von Kuenheim, the President of BMW Motorrad at the K1300’s press launch at INTERMOT in Germany. “Now the time has come to give this attractive model series a new and powerful impulse. I use the term ‘new’ K Series on purpose because we have conducted profound changes both with regards to the technology and visual appearance. Our aim was to significantly improve the three models in terms of performance, handling, dynamics, visual appeal and quality.”