There should be word on the 2019 YZF-R25 for our market soon.
The new bike’s styling is directly inspired by the YZF-R1.
The 2019 Yamaha YZF-R3 has been revealed and it looks like the wars in the category are going explode.
However, before we proceed any further, we received word there is a launch of the 2019 Yamaha YZF-R25 happening in Indonesia. But no matter, the R3 and R25 will share the basic bodywork, if not componentry.
It is apparent that the YZF-R3/R25 bears uncanny resemblance to its open-class YZF-R1 brother, apart from the dual LED headlights. The central “air intake” is non-functional. However, the windscreen is now much taller and larger.
From the side, the profile is now more aggressive and looks like a proper big-cc superbike. The tailsection terminates with a sharp edge and will definitely look good with a tail tidy kit.
The forks are now upside-down for better handling (and style). There is no news if other parts of the chassis have been updated likewise.
Moving upwards, the 2019 YZF-R3/R25 will receive a fully TFT display. The data displayed includes gear position. The handlebars remain as clip-ons.
No word yet on when we will receive the bike in Malaysia. Besides that, it will definitely be the 250cc instead of 321cc version. The 321cc engine produces 41 bhp and 29.6 Nm of torque. It will be interesting to see how the 2019 YZF-R25 goes up against the 38 bhp Kawasaki Ninja 250.
French customizer Hedonic built this Triumph Thruxton R called “Amazing.”
The bodywork and components are all hand-shaped aluminium.
The bike’s polished aluminium bodywork complements the engine casings.
All pictures by Return of the Cafe Racer
We concluded that the Triumph Thruxton R is the most fun factory café racer after our testing. We also said that it was beautiful especially when fitted with the optional “bullet” fairing. It’s as close as you could get to perfection. Well, Hedonic thinks it could be improved on when they built this Thruxton R.
At Hedonic, Frenchman Serge Heitz and his team of craftsmen build custom bikes to order and this Spirit Racer Thruxton R demonstrates their abilities.
Hedonic is relatively new in the custom motorcycle building business. Serge set it up due his passion for cars, boats and motorcycles, although not in that particular order. But while the Spirit Racer is designed and built entirely by Hedonic, customers are treated to a hands-on designing process so they can develop unique bikes tailored to their own tastes.
Appropriately named “Amazing,” the Hedonic Triumph Thruxton R demonstrates the builder’s skills in metal shaping. The fuel tank, fairing, fender, belly and side covers are one-off pieces to complement the lines of the bike. They spent more than 150 hours in forming the aluminium components which are then polished.
The Thruxton R is already equipped with a pair of excellent Showa BFF forks but Hedonic decided to fit Yamaha YZF-R6 forks as they are shorter. The wheels are 16-inch items and fitted with classic-looking Firestone tyres. The stock brakes are retained.
The clip-on handlebars are custom fabricated to integrate the brake master cylinder, clutch cable and inverted levers.
The cockpit consists of a single Motogadget gauge, ignition barrel and ignition button. The warning lights were relocated to the left-side switch cluster.
Hedonic finishes off the build with a fabricated custom exhaust system to improve on the Thruxton R’s grunt.
The judge in Nicky Hayden’s case has found the car driver who struck Hayden guilty of homicide.
The driver was sentenced to one year of imprisonment, his license revoked and needs to pay the costs of the court.
Hayden’s family is also proceeding with a civil suit of $6 million against the driver.
It has been more than a year since Nicky Hayden succumbed to his injuries after being struck by a car while he was cycling on the outskirts of the Misano Circuit in Italy.
His loss was and is still felt around the world but while many are moving on, the legal proceedings were being carried out in Italy.
Now, the Italian courts have found the driver of the car which struck Hayden guilty of homicide.
The unnamed, 31-year-old drivers was handed a suspended one year in prison, revocation of his driving license and must pay the costs of the court.
The courts found that the driver had been driving at 70 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. It was deemed that the driver would have been able to avoid the accident if he had travelled at the speed limit, regardless that Hayden had failed to stop at his stop sign.
The judge is expected to disclose his reasoning behind his decision in 90 days.
There are actually two matters being filed in the courts. The first was for criminal proceedings and the other is a civil suit.
The driver’s family will appeal the judgment of the criminal court.
Hayden’s family is also pursuing a $6 million civil suit against the driver. The sum is the maximum allowable by Italian insurance policy.
The 2019 BMW S 1000 RR superbike was caught undergoing road trials.
BMW Motorrad then released a teaser video a few days after that.
The new bike will be unveiled at the EICMA show in November.
BMW has announced that will launch nine new models for 2019 and a new 2019 BMW S 1000 RR is one of them.
There have been many speculations, as usual, plus a patent filing which was leaked but a Spanish BMW Motorrad dealer caught sight of the prototype undergoing road tests.
Referring to the photos, the design has definitely undergone some changes but still retains some of the S 1000 RR’s defining features.
The central air intake, “split” fairing panel, seats and fork bottoms are the dead giveaways of the old bike, but new are the symmetrical headlamps, front turnsignals that are integrated into the rearview mirrors.
The new engine is reported to produce 210 bhp but the biggest change is the counter-rotating crankshaft. There is also a possibility of variable valve timing on the cards.
There are also rumblings of the 2019 S 1000 RR with different options and trims for different needs. It is a good call, in our opinion, as not all riders are track riders and may not access every single function a bike provides. It represents some cost savings for them, too.
However, if the leaked photos caused a sensation, BMW Motorrad has also released a teaser video, “promising” to unveil the new bike at the EICMA show at Milan, Italy in November.
Omar Jumiran of Eastern Bobber has won second place in the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building.
Omar’s creation, Bone-X, beat out tens of other custom bike builds.
The trip and entry to the AMD at Intermot was sponsored by Motonation.
Omar Jumiran of Eastern Bobber has been crowned the First Runner Up the prestigious AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building at the Intermot Show in Cologne, Germany.
Omar’s creation, Bone-X, was the winner at the 2017 Motonation Custom Ride Championship event in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. Judging was performed by AMD Showmaster, Neil Blaber. Bone-X beat out all other competitors’ bikes and earned Omar a place at the AMD finals in Germany.
Motonation funded the customizer and Bone-X’s trip to the show.
Bone-X had breezed through the preliminary rounds at Intermot and was among the Top 10 finalists. Judging was conducted by other builders’ and carefully chosen VIP judges. Points were awarded for creativity, execution, finishing, among other criteria.
Omar’s bike came in second after the points were tallied. The winner was “Insomnia” built by Russian customizer Dmitry Golubchikov.
Where to from here?
Malaysia is full of motorcycle customization talents but they have operating “underground” for many decades due to lack of recognition, not by fans, but by certain governmental agencies. A number of these customizers had almost nothing to live on but by their insatiable passion to create wonderful works of art on wheels.
Shows such as Art of Speed and Motonation (to a smaller extent since they are new) have brought these builders and their creations to the fore but there is still much more that needs to be done, because more publicity is needed. And publicity costs money.
Omar Jumiran’s success at the international stage will spur the authorities and private entities to pay more attention to the Malaysian custom motorcycle scene in both local and international events.
The fifth edition of BMW Motorrad Nightfuel was held at Puteri Harbour, Johor Bahru.
BMW Motorrad Malaysia launched the F 850 GS during the event.
Almost 600 bikers took part.
BMW Motorrad Malaysia held the fifth edition of their lifestyle event – BMW Motorrad Nightfuel – at Johor Bahru over the weekend.
Nearly 600 bikers joined the party from all over Malaysia to celebrate the good life of BMW motorcycle ownership. The event was held at the picturesque Puteri Harbour marina, within view of luxury yachts.
For us in the Klang Valley, the event began with a massive ride consisting of BMW owners who gathered en masse as the Dengkil R&R. The riders were notified by their respective BMW Motorrad dealerships.
Almost every BMW model were present ranging from the new K 1600 B, to the R 1200 RT, S 1000 RR, S 1000 R, S 1000 XR, variants of the r nine T, and of course many R 1200 GS and R 1200 GS Adventure.
Thankfully, the weather stayed dry all the way to Johor Bahru despite this rainy season. When the rain did come down the riders were already checked in and relaxing in their hotel rooms.
At the event grounds afterwards, the riders picked up their BMW Motorrad Nightfuel JB T-shirts, goodies, wristbands and lucky draw tickets at the registration booth. BMW Motorrad had encouraged online pre-registration to guarantee availability of T-shirt sizing and avoiding the long queue like the one at Nightfuel Putrajaya earlier this year.
Participants were then free to try and browse on new BMW Motorrad riding gear in the pop-up container. An r nine T Racer was secured to the roof.
They also had the chance to participate in the Match and Win game. Participants of three persons to a team need to put together a complete picture of either an S 1000 RR HP4 Race or R 1200 GS Rallye under 1 minute 30 seconds to win an exclusive BMW Motorrad baseball cap for each person.
Additionally, BMW Motorrad Malaysia had demo bikes on display on which participants could get on and take photos with.
Besides that, they were encouraged to autograph a BMW Motorrad Community Top Box. The item will then be mounted to a BMW and brought around. The last such project was signing on the fuel tank of the r nine T Scrambler which we rode to the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride 2018 in Melaka the previous week.
Of course, there was food and drinks. As with each Nightfuel, the caterers served well-known local food, besides grilled and BBQ meats. Laksa Johor and nasi briyani gam got the pick this time.
No alcohol was served.
The local band Nine Lives was back to rock the crowd with classic rock hits that could well be Top 10 Riding Songs.
Mr. Owen Riley, the Head of BMW Motorrad Malaysia took to the stage to deliver his welcome speech and conducted three lucky draw sessions, giving away exclusive BMW Motorrad gear.
BMW Motorrad Malaysia had always used the BMW Motorrad Nightfuel as the platform to launch the latest models and it was the much-anticipated F 850 GS tonight. BMW knows that the 800cc adventure category is hard fought and the F 850 GS would bring them back into the fray. Please click on the link below to learn more about the bike.
