The Grand Prix Commission has released a new set of regulations for disciplining riders who consistently commit offenses such as endangering other racers or assaulting marshals and race officials. The new disciplinary rules were among a number of other new regulations announced for MotoGP as well as the Moto2 and Moto3 World Championships.

Effectively immediately, riders will be subject to a point system for penalties. Race Direction may issue anywhere from one and 10 points for various infractions, in addition to other sanctions. Points will accrue through the season and, when a rider’s penalty point total reaches certain thresholds, additional sanctions will be automatically applied.

When a rider receives four points through a season, the rider will be penalized by having to start from the back of the grid for the next race. At seven points, a rider will have to start from pit lane for the next race. Should a rider receive 10 points through the season, that rider would be automatically disqualified from the following round, and the points would reset to zero. Points will also reset at the end of a season and do not carry forward to the next season. Continue Reading »

American Suzuki has agreed to a number of sanctions including an $885,000 penalty for importing ATVs and off-road motorcycles that do not meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‘s emission control standards.

The EPA and Suzuki negotiated the monetary penalty as well as other sanctions for the 25,396 units of the 2006-2009 LT-R450 ATV and the 62 units of the 2010 RMX450Z. While the models in question were tested and certified by the EPA, the testing was done on the electronic engine control module’s standard map.

What Suzuki did not disclose in the certification process was the RMX450Z and LT-R450 also had a racing map that would push emissions outside the accepted control standards. These racing map were only accessible from a third-party aftermarket product known as the “Cherry Bomb“, but because the map was pre-programmed into the stock machine, Suzuki was required to disclose the ability to adjust the air-fuel mixture through engine mapping when filing for the certificate of conformity. Continue Reading »

Current New York state law and Federal law prohibit motorcycles from emitting exhaust noise in excess of 80 decibels. In a move to enhance the enforceability of laws governing exhaust noise specific to motorcycles, the New York City city council has drafted a proposed law, No. 416-A, to aid various law enforcement agencies in what would effectively be elimination of many motorcycles from the City of New York.

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