Cadwell Park is a motor racing track in Lincolnshire, UK, that was originally built in 1934 by the owner of the land to give his two motorcycle-crazy sons somewhere to race each other. It’s 3.6 kilometres of challenging and varying turns with frequent elevation changes due to its valley setting, and it has hosted everything from Formula 3 and Superkarts to its current most popular event - British Superbikes. Here’s an exciting onboard lap.
But Cadwell Park is most famous for one simple feature - “the Mountain,” where bikes exit a right-hander into a wicked uphill slope that frequently launches the fast boys well up into the air. So after the jump is a collection of photos from various sources - and a video of one of the most horrific race crashes I’ve ever seen. Enjoy! (more…)
This is big news… China now produces around 11 million motorcycles a year. Its production capacity and sheer volume of manpower position it as the world’s greatest manufacturing centre, and it seems the Chinese aren’t happy to let Japan keep the meat of the world’s motorcycle market.
So, in order to prove themselves on the world stage, China’s biggest bike maker Haojue (remember that name) is entering 125GP in 2009 as the Maxtra team, coincidentally 50 years after Honda first entered the TT. And they’ve assembled quite a team to make it happen, including John Surtees, the only man ever to win world championships in motorcycle GPs (7 times) and Formula One. (more…)
We love a good wheelie here at TheBikerGene, and this Michigan-born stunt god of the 70s and 80s was a true pioneer of the art. Doug Domokos was professionally known as “The Wheelie King” as he travelled the world with his stunt show - but he’ll be best remembered for the big event stunts he performed.
Like the time he set the world record for the longest wheelie - at 145 miles long. Or the time he passed the Georgia State motorcycle license test on one wheel. Or the time he pulled the “world’s tallest wheelie” - five laps around the roof of the Empire State Building in New York. Or the time when he wheelied a quad bike with no less than 11 passengers on board. (more…)
Two stroke racing has been on its last legs for some time. Two stroke bikes have largely disppeared from major manufacturers’ road and offroad lineups because the factories say it’s too difficult to make them pass Euro emissions testing. GP bosses have felt for some time that despite the immensely exciting and competitive racing the two strokes deliver, they’re becoming irrelevant in the scheme of motorcycle development - so they’ve been searching for alternatives. Big singles? Supersport-style 600s? Production engines in prototype chassis? It seems the question has now been answered. (more…)
Even if the UnoMoto is effectively just Segway technology in an R1 frame with footpegs, it’s a pretty incredible achievement for its builder. I mean, how many other 18 year olds can claim to have built an electric commuter vehicle in their back yard, let alone one that is operated without any controls other than two stabilising gyroscopes?
Gulak was inspired to build this unusual vehicle after a visit to China in 2006. The thick smog and choking pollution left Ben wondering how he could contribute to a cleaner future by building an electric commuter vehicle. (more…)
It’s a sad fact that if you ride motorcycles for any length of time, you’re more than likely to run into somebody who used to ride bikes but can’t any more due to catastrophic injury - often these are injuries sustained in bike crashes. I’ve known several ex-bikers who have sustained life-changing injuries through the sport, and a few common threads emerge: most have no regrets, most are getting on with life with strength and dignity, and most would desperately love to ride again one day. And not a trike, a proper, leaning-in-the-corners, motorcycle.
Whether or not they should ride again is one question - a question upon which these folks’ families would probably have a fairly firm opinion - but thanks to West Australian company Dreamfit and its founder Darren Lomman, paraplegic riders can now have a motorcycle retrofitted to allow them to re-live the freedom of the open road on two wheels.
The dreamfit retrofit addresses several different areas in which wheelchair-bound riders are compromised: (more…)
So it *is* possible to highside these “sanitised,” traction-controlled 800cc MotoGP missiles! These spectacular images from crash.net show Jorge Lorenzo’s flying exit from today’s free practice at Shanghai. The Yamaha/Michelin rider damaged both ankles after a monster highside threw him several metres in the air and flipped him 360 degrees.
Check out the video at the bottom, this might be the best, er, sorry, worst highside I’ve ever seen.
More images and the jaw-dropping video after the jump. (more…)
Does this thing qualify for a mention in motorcycle blog? The Stealth Tryke is a twin front-wheeler with flat profile tyres, no ability to lean, a foot throttle and a steering wheel. But it’s got a Gixxer engine and a chain drive, so we’ll let it through just this once.
Lehigh Valley Choppers have clearly been inspired by other performance three-wheelers like the exotic-looking Canadian T-REX, which is based on the ZX-12R and ZX-14R engines. The Stealth Trike’s GSX-R1000 engine is no slouch for horsepower either, as the above video shows. Despite the enormous, fat back tyre, the Tryke has no trouble lighting up its rear wheel.
