Reigning AMA Daytona Sportbike Champion Martin Cardenas has signed on to race in the AMA Superbike class for Yoshimura Suzuki. The move was rumored to be in the works for quite some time now, especially following Cardenas’ release from the final year of his contract with his former employer Team Hammer.

Cardenas will return to the Superbike class this season, riding a Suzuki GSX-R1000 alongside teammate Chris Clark. Cardenas last raced in the class during the 2011 season, finishing fourth overall with a single race victory. That lone Superbike season was sandwiched by championship-winning campaigns in the 2010 and 2012 Daytona Sportbike class where Cardenas rode a Suzuki GSX-R600.

“I am extremely happy to have the opportunity to race for one of the best, if not the best, Superbike teams in the U.S.,” says Cardenas. “It’s really a dream come true to become part of the Yoshimura Suzuki team. I will give everything I have to try to obtain the best results for the team and for me. And hopefully I will be in the mix for the top spot in the championship.” Continue Reading »

James Stewart and the Joe Gibbs Racing MX (JGRMX) Yamaha racing team have agreed to cut ties, ending their multi-year contract after a single AMA Supercross season. Stewart almost immediately signed a new multi-year deal with Yoshimura Suzuki to compete in both the AMA Supercross and AMA Motocross Championships.

Stewart had a promising start to the season with JGRMX but wasn’t as competitive as eventual champion Ryan Villopoto or Ryan Dungey. After winning the Daytona Beach, Fla., round, Stewart was injured in a crash at the following round in Indianapolis. Since then, Stewart has missed several rounds, scoring only a single point in the final seven rounds. Continue Reading »

Yoshimura made a name for itself tuning championship-winning Suzuki racebikes, but for the first time, the company is producing a run of limited edition Gixxers for the public.

Yoshimura R&D of America is offering a number of 2011 and 2012 Suzuki GSX-R600s, GSX-R750s and GSX-R1000s equipped with a host of upgrades.

Each individually numbered GSX-R comes equipped with EPA- and CARB-compliant Yoshimura R-77 carbon fiber slip-ons and a number of aluminum CNC machined components. Continue Reading »

Yoshimura is playing to the green movement with its new R-77 slip-on canister with integral catalytic converter.

The version ready for the 2008-09 Honda CBR1000RR is claimed to be three pounds lighter than stock and offers a big bump in midrange power. Most importantly to the greenies, however, is that it produces fewer emissions than other performance mufflers.

For more information, visit http://www.yoshimura-rd.com.

If you have a Yoshimura exhaust on your bike you are eligible to enter their photo contest in order win some free Yoshimura apparel.  Yoshimura will choose a winner every month, go to their site for all the details, good luck!

Hit the jump and check out some of the submissions so far.

Continue Reading »