Hometown hero Ryan Dungey put a stop to Ryan Villopoto‘s winning streak, taking the victory before 48,846 supportive fans at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Red Bull KTM rider from nearby Belle Plaine, Minn., stalked Monster Energy Kawasaki‘s Villopoto for most of the race before taking the lead and winning the 20-lap race by just 0.903 seconds. The win put Dungey into second place in the standings ahead of Rockstar Suzuki‘s Davi Millsaps and perhaps more importantly, cut away at Villopoto’s points lead.

The main event started with holeshot specialist Mike Alessi of MotoConcepts Suzuki first around the first turn. It didn’t take long however before Villopoto with an inside pass to take over the lead. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider won five straight races heading into Minneapolis and took aim at his sixth in a row but Dungey remained close behind ready to strike. Continue Reading »

BMW Motorrad Goldbet racer Chaz Davies scored his first career World Superbike double victory, taking both races at Spain’s Aragon circuit. The wins were the second and third of Davies’ WSBK career (the first came last year at Nurburgring for the ParkinGo Aprilia team) and the second ever double in the series for BMW.

The Welsh rider and former AMA Pro Racing competitor has had some success at Aragon, getting his first career WSBK podium at the Spanish track in 2012. Davies continued his good form, taking third in the Superpole to start on the front row. Continue Reading »

Kawasaki received four awards including gold medals for Best Venue and Best Cinematography at the New York Festivals International Television & Film Awards for ads featuring the Ninja ZX-6R (636) and the Z800.

The New York Festivals have been celebrating the best in television and films for 55 years. This year’s awards, announced at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas, awarded 119 gold medals, 145 silver medals, 10 bronze medals and 327 finalist certificates for entries representing 50 different countries.

Kawasaki submitted the videos for the Ninja ZX-6R and the Z800 and received four medals and a finalist certificate. Continue Reading »

A new survey conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center finds BMW and Harley-Davidson  owners are much more likely to report major problems with their motorcycles than owners of Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha motorcycles.

The survey, which will appear on the April 2013 issue of Consumer Reports, says one in three BMW owners reported experiencing a major problem with their bikes in the last four years. Harley-Davidson owners were slightly better, with one in four reporting serious issues. By contrast, only one in 10 Yamaha owners reported serious issues with Honda and Kawasaki owners having similar numbers.

And yet despite the issues, BMW and Harley-Davidson owners are more likely to buy their motorcycles again, if given the chance to do it over. According to the report, 75% of Harley-Davidson owners say they would definitely buy still their motorcycles if given the chance to make the decision again. BMW owners were nearly as loyal with 74% saying they would repeat their purchases, all things considered. Continue Reading »

Ryan Villopoto continues to be in championship form, taking his third consecutive victory and sixth of the season with a win at Lucas Oil Stadium for the Indianapolis round of the 2013 AMA Supercross Championship.

The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider had a calculated, methodical race to take the win and expand his championship lead to nine points ahead of Davi Millsaps.

Millsaps took the holeshot in a chaotic start to the main event that saw several riders go down at the opening corner. Millsaps’ lead was shortlived, as the Rockstar Suzuki rider went too far wide on a turn, allowing Yoshimura Suzuki‘s James Stewart to take the lead. Millsaps managed to stay ahead of Villopoto with Red Bull KTM‘s Ryan Dungey also in the mix. Continue Reading »

The International Motorcycling Federation has updated its homologated model list for the 2013 World Superbike, Supersport, Superstock and Endurance racing seasons. The list is largely unchanged from the list released in February with the exception of a couple of additions.

The Superstock 1000 and Formula Endurance World Championship list now includes the 2013 Ducati 1199 Panigale R and the MV Agusta F4 RR. On the previous list, the F4 RR’s status was listed as being “in progress” while only the S version of the Panigale was initially homologated for Superstock 1000 and Formula Endurance.

Also worth emphasizing is the 599cc Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R remains homologated for the FIM’s Supersport and Superstock 600 championships but the 636cc version is not eligible for those classes. The homologation list distinctly includes the Ninja as the “ZX 600 R F” but not “ZX 636″. AMA Pro Racing differs in this regard, including the 636cc version on its list of eligible racebikes for 2013. Continue Reading »

Ryan Villopoto won his fifth main event race of the year at Daytona to take over the lead in the 2013 AMA Supercross championship standings.

The win is the third at Daytona in the Monster Energy Kawasaki racer’s career, matching the totals set by Bob Hannah, Mike Kiedrowski, Jeremy McGrath and Chad Reed. Only Ricky Carmichael, who designed the sand-based Daytona track, holds more Supercross wins at Daytona with five victories.

Villopoto took the holeshot in the main event, trailed by Red Bull KTM‘s Ken Roczen, the current 250 West points leader making a rare start in the 450 class. Not far behind Roczen were Team Honda Muscle Milk‘s Justin Barcia and Roczen’s teammate Ryan Dungey. Villopoto looked to expand his early lead but made a mistake rounding one of the track’s many hairpin turns, dropping him down to third. Continue Reading »

The 2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R has been homologated for AMA Pro Racing, making it eligible for the Daytona Sportbike and Supersport classes for 2013. The news comes as a bit of a surprise as those classes typically consist of Inline Four racebikes with a displacement smaller than 600cc.

The new Ninja ZX-6R immediately carries a displacement advantage over its I-4 competition in the class such as the Honda CBR600R, Suzuki GSX-R600 and Yamaha YZF-R6. Also eligible in those classes are the Ducati 848 (a Twin) and the Triumph Daytona 675 which uses a three-cylinder engine. The 636 will carry a weight penalty however, facing a minimum weight of 375 pounds compared to 355 pounds for the sub-600cc bikes.

The last time Kawasaki had a 636cc Ninja, it produced a 599cc  ZX-6RR for competition purposes. Kawasaki did the same this time for Japan, introducing a limited production run of the 599cc Ninja ZX-6R because the 636cc version did not qualify for its domestic racing program. The AMA has decided this wasn’t necessary and gave the new, larger Ninja approval.

The 2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R will also be eligible for various classes in the WERA, CCS, AFM, MRA, CVMA, CMRA and UtahSBA championships. Continue Reading »

Ryan Villopoto captured his series-leading fourth win of the season in a red-flagged main event before a record crowd of 60,178 at St. Louis’ Edwards Jones Dome, as the 2013 AMA Supercross season reaches its midway point.

The race started with MotoConcepts Suzuki rider Mike Alessi taking the holeshot with Muscle Milk Honda‘s Justin Barcia and Yoshimura Suzuki‘s James Stewart on his tail. Last week’s winner Stewart later quickly moved into the lead but the race was soon halted on Lap 3 after JGRMX Yamaha‘s Kyle Chisholm and BTO Sports KTM‘s Matt Goerke collided on a jump.

The race was halted so a medical crew could attend to Chisholm. While the red flag was out however, Villopoto performed a double jump instead of rolling through it as required, forcing officials to penalize him on the restart. After Chisholm was carted off the track, the riders lined up in a staggered formation in the order they were in the previous lap, except for Villopoto who was penalized three positions, dropping him to sixth from third place. Continue Reading »

Earlier this year, we reported on Dakar racer Hugo Payen and his X-rated sponsor, pornographer Marc Dourcel. Payen seems to have started a trend as British MotoGP team Paul Bird Motorsports has signed a sponsorship deal with erotic movie website MinxFlix.com.

The website will back PBM’s Michael Laverty and Yonny Hernandez who will ride on CRT machines featuring Aprilia V4 engines and its own proprietary chassis developed with builder GPMS. MinxFlix.com will also sponsor PBM’s British Superbike team of Shane “Shakey” Byrne and Keith Farmer on their Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R racebikes as well as team owner Paul Bird’s Ford Focus WRC07 rally car. Continue Reading »