Of all the charity events we know of, Kenny Roberts’ True American Heroes benefit is at the top of the heap. Getting a chance to meet King Kenny is exceptional on its own, but being able to visit his storied ranch vaults the event into something extraordinarily special. Oh, and don’t forget the event is also attended by World Champs Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson and KRJR.

Please read our coverage from last year’s event, and check out our preview of this year’s event that included an appearance by Bo Derek!

Although we were unable to attend last week’s festivities, we came across a spectacular photo of Kenny Roberts in a full-lock powerslide on Star’s new Bolt cruiser shot on his ranch’s dirt track. Continue Reading »

Yamaha Motor reported a 3.7% increase in net sales for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013. Net sales from motorcycles increased by 4.6% despite an 8.1% decrease in unit sales. Overall, the company reported a profit of 7.5 billion yen (US$73.3 million) over the quarter, down from the 27.0 billion yen reported last year.

According to Yamaha‘s first quarter report, the company sold 1.470 million motorcycles over the first three months of the year. That’s down from 1.599 million motorcycles sold in the same quarter of 2012. Sales were up in Japan but down in North America, Europe and Asia.

Despite selling about 129,000 fewer motorcycles, sales revenue grew to 219.5 billion yen (US$2.15 billion) from net sales of 209.9 billion yen in the first quarter last year. Costs were up however, reducing operating income from motorcycle business to 3.0 billion yen from 5.4 billion yen. Continue Reading »

Harley-Davidson dealers outscored dealers from other brands to take the top spot in the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index U.S. Motorcycle Industry Study for the second consecutive year.

The annual study measures the effectiveness of motorcycle dealerships, rating them on how they perform in different categories, such as inviting customers to sit on a floor model, offering demo rides and asking for a customer’s contact information. The study was conducted from July 2012 to April 2013 with data collected by 2,503 hired “mystery shoppers”.

We’ve included the full scores below as well as the scores from past years. One caveat however: Pied Piper PSI has rejigged its study questions and adjusted the weighting and scoring for the 2013 study to achieve an average score of 100. This resulted in a significant scoring changes compared to last year’s study and a wider range between the highest and the lowest scores.

Continue Reading »

The morning after riding his Yamaha M1 to a sixth-place finish at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, nine-time Grand Prix World Champion Valentino Rossi landed in Charlotte, N.C., to race around another track; only this time there were no right turns. (UPDATED with additional photos.)

Rossi met up with NASCAR racer and fellow Monster Energy-sponsored athlete Kyle Busch to ride Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch, winner of the last three Nationwide Series races, gave Rossi a walkaround of his car before taking the Yamaha factory rider around a few laps of the Charlotte  Motor Speedway 1.5-mile oval.

After a brief visit to the pit area, it was Rossi’s turn to climb into the driver’s seat and took his turn around the oval’s 24-degree banked corners, reaching speeds of about 185 mph. Continue Reading »

The Tech3 MotoGP team put the Circuit of the Americas‘ emergency systems to the test after a small fire broke out in the team’s garage. Tech3 says the fire should not affect its participation in this weekend’s Grand Prix of the Americas race.

The fire, which ignited some time overnight, was quickly doused by COTA‘s sprinkler system. The fire itself did not cause any serious damage, though fire retardant and water from the sprinkler system damaged some of the team’s computer equipment. Tech3 says the fire was caused by an electric starter that was plugged in and recharging over the night.

“We have suffered quite a lot of damage and of course it is not ideal preparations but thankfully the fire prevention measures undertaken by the Circuit of the Americas and the assistance of the local Fire Department were invaluable in limiting the damage,” says Herve Poncharal, Tech3 team manager. “The sprinkler system was immediately activated and fire crews on scene promptly and I am grateful for that” Continue Reading »

Yamaha revealed a maxi-scooter for the European market. The new 2013 Yamaha X-Max 400 is the latest model from the X-Max family which is also available in 250cc and 125cc configurations. The new model uses the 395cc engine from the Yamaha Majesty.

The liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine has been tweaked a bit however, with Yamaha claiming an output of 31 hp at 7500 rpm and 25 ft-lb. at 6000 rpm, both down from the claims of 33 hp at 7000 rpm and 27 ft-lb. at 6000 rpm for the Majesty.

Where the X-Max trumps the Majesty is its lighter weight and bigger front wheel. Yamaha claims a wet weight of 465 pounds for the X-Max 400 compared to 485 pounds for the Majesty. The lighter weight can be attributed in part to the new chassis which Yamaha says is the lightest and most compact in its class. Continue Reading »

Dorna Sports announced there will be a MotoGP test at Argentina’s Circuito Internacional Termas de Rio Hondo in July to allow teams to prepare for the track’s expected addition to the 2014 MotoGP calendar.

Argentina was actually supposed to join the MotoGP tour this season, but the round was scrapped because of a dispute between the country and Spain after the Argentine government seized control of a Repsol subsidiary. Repsol is, of course, a prominent sponsor of several teams including Honda‘s factory team.

A number of teams will take part in the test, which will take place July 1-5 following the TT Assen in the Netherlands. Dorna has not said which teams will take part in the test, only stating representatives of Ducati, Honda and Yamaha will be taking part. MotoMatters however reports the Repsol Honda factory team, the LCR Honda team as well as the factory Yamaha team will not be present. Continue Reading »

Yamaha is opening a new research and development company for the Indian market. The newly-formed Yamaha Motor Research and Development India Pvt. Ltd., (YMRI) will be based in Surajpur, on the outskirts of New Delhi, near India Yamaha Motor‘s offices.

YMRI will be Yamaha‘s fifth R&D firm to be located outside of Japan, following locations in Italy, Taiwan, China and Thailand. The new company will part of Yamaha’s “New Medium-Term Management Plan“, and will work on creating new products for the Indian market.

According to Yamaha, India accounted for sales of 14 million motorcycles and scooters in 2012, with continued growth expected to push that number to 16 million units by 2015. Yamaha itself sold 350,000 units in 2012, but the company hopes to increase that number to 500,000 units in 2013 and 1 million by 2015. The new R&D center, as well as the opening of a second factory in Chennai in 2014 should help contribute to that goal. Continue Reading »

Yamaha announced it will offer a leasing arrangement for its YZR-M1 engines to teams interested in racing in the MotoGP World Championship. The Japanese manufacturer has signed a leasing arrangement with MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports to supply engines for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Racing teams will be able to lease a Yamaha M1 engine on a per-year basis for their own race bikes. Teams will be free to develop their own chassis or use a chassis from suppliers such as FTR or Suter. Yamaha will not provide any additional engine development on leased engines, so teams will be responsible for their own engine improvements.

Full details including pricing will be released shortly, but interested parties can contact either Dorna or Yamaha for more information. Continue Reading »

Yamaha recently announced it is adopting a new slogan to go with its “New Medium-Term Management Plan” for 2013-2015: “Yamaha Revs Your Heart“. The new slogan connects two key themes for Yamaha, the sound of its engines racing and the passion its products instills in its customers.

To introduce its new brand slogan, Yamaha Motor produced a video featuring thousands of cascading dominoes. The video features several segments: city, sea, snow mountain and the race track. Each segment representing different aspects of the company’s business, including motorcycles, marine, snowmobiles and, of course, racing.

The new slogan and video mark the start of Yamaha’s new plan, which calls for 250 new products to be introduced in the next three years, starting with the recently unveiled Star Bolt. Continue Reading »