#maybach

Cal Crutchlow may or may not be your favorite MotoGP rider, Bruce Allen, but the outspoken 32-year old scrapper – following a highly professional win two weeks ago in Argentina – is the first Brit to lead the premier world championship since Barry Sheene 40 years ago. Next on the schedule is this weekend’s US MotoGP at Circuit of the Americas in Texas, a gruelling 20 laps around a bumpy 3.4-mile circuit loaded with long straights ending in heavy braking zones into slow, switchback corners. Fastest speed last year: Jorge Lorenzo’s Ducati, 214.7 mph.

It is always exciting to see what our favorite MotoGP athletes come up with for their helmet design. Whether normal race season, winter test, or home race, There is always something new and exciting. Can you identify whose MotoGP helmet belongs to who with only the clips below?

When Editor Duke messaged me to ask if I was interested in attending a dinner with 15-times world champ Giacomo Agostini, it took me all of a second to reply with a big yes. The dinner was an exclusive event of just 27 MV special customers and selected media, part of Australia’s International Festival of Speed, formerly known as the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed, held at Sydney Motorsports Park.

Were he still alive, Barry Sheene would turn 67 in 2017. A British racing icon, he remained the last grand prix world champion until Danny Kent won the Moto3 title in 2015. Known for his bravado and hard-charging style, Sheene won over fans from around the world. Including France, where this story originates.

There was a lot of hoopla last weekend over the accomplishment of Cal Crutchlow being the first Brit to win a premier-class Grand Prix race since Barry Sheene in 1981. Congratulations, Cal, don’t get cocky. Which is exactly what he did following the race referring to his competitors as “wimps” – an accusation basted with the decorum of his enrollment in “the Donald Trump School of Tact and Grace,” according to Bruce Allen’s post-race autopsy. So let’s put this in perspective; Cal won a race – a rain race due to lucky tire selection – not a championship based on skill and season-long consistency.

The Barry Sheene Festival Of Speed is one of the most exciting weekends of racing for any petrol-head motorcyclist. For anyone who enjoyed following Grands Prix in it’s two-stroke heyday and the heady days of air-cooled AMA Superbike, 1980s and 1990s GP bikes and F1 TT racing, this is the event you need to get yourself to one day!

Both music and motorcycles appeal to us on a visceral level. They seem to reach down below the thought and behavior that makes us human. Instead, they appeal to our baser side, the side of ourselves that we often lack complete control over. Perhaps this is why so many motorcycle songs have a more hard-nosed rock-n-roll vibe.

You can’t get much more of an American icon than Harley-Davidson. Ranked among the most recognizable brands in the world, along with the likes of Coca-Cola and Apple, the manufacturer has overcome its fair share of ups and downs over the years but is still here to tell the tale. Needless to say it has certainly earned the right to celebrate a century and a decade of building two-wheeled freedom machines exclusively in the U S of A.