Back in September, Yamaha revealed a special “Race Blu” livery for a the YZF-R1, YZF-R6 and the YZF-R125 for the European market. Yamaha promoted the new color scheme with Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies sporting the colors on their leathers and M1 race bikes at the Misano and Aragon MotoGP rounds.

North American consumers were left out, however, getting a Team Yamaha Blue and White version instead for the R1 and R6 (the R125 isn’t offered here either). Not that there’s anything wrong with the Team Yamaha versions. They do however lack the Race Blu’s darker blue hue and the matching wheels. Yamaha later added a Race Blu option for the XJ6, XJ6 Diversion, FZ8 and Fazer8 for Europe.

Of those models, only the FZ8 is offered in the U.S., but only in black, meaning the Race Blu color is still not offered for the American market. That isn’t the case north of the border. Continue Reading »

It’s been about a year since Bombardier Recreational Products announced it was developing a hybrid version of the Can-Am Spyder Roadster. Developed in partnership with the Advanced Technology Center at Sherbrooke University in Quebec and with funding from the Government of Canada, the hybrid Spyder is an ambitious project for BRP.

We met up with Scott MacWilliam from BRP at the Toronto Motorcycle Show to take a look at a working prototype of the Can-Am’s hybrid three-wheeler. The Can-Am Spyder Hybrid project is still early in its development, just a year into the projected four-year program, but MacWilliam says BRP is on track of its performance goals.

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American Honda has not included the recently revealed NC700S and NC700X models in its 2012 list of offerings, but it looks like the two motorcycles will be available in Canada.

Honda Canada has not made an official announcement but a dealership in Kelowna, B.C., has published a press release that appears to have come directly from Honda Canada saying the two models will be available in Canada in the summer of 2012.

(EDIT: Honda Canada has confirmed the NC700 models will be at the Toronto Motorcycle Show Dec. 9-11 for what will be the North American debut for the two models.)

Honda unveiled NC700S standard and NC700X adventure bike debuted earlier this month at the 2011 EICMA show in Milan, but were absent from a list of 2012 models announced by American Honda. That doesn’t mean they won’t  still be announced at a later date however. Continue Reading »