Yamaha enters the adventure scooter segment with the new RW series and launches three models at once. The RW700 uses the Ténéré 700’s twin along with chain drive and the Y-AMT gearbox, while the smaller RW350 gets a new engine and its own drivetrain concept.
The electric brand LiveWire officially doubts that it will survive the coming year, and its stock lost almost half its value in a single day. Behind the crash are a surprise change of CEO, an expensive restructuring expert and a parent company that no longer wants to put in more money.
Yamaha is not sending any of its four MotoGP bikes to the Qatar Grand Prix, openly defying the organiser. MotoGP is sticking to the race, threatening the manufacturer with consequences and at the same time having to deal with a rider field that mostly does not want to go to Lusail at all.
Decisions on new closures and restrictions for motorcycles are usually made once the season is over. On the B500, near Oberhof and at the Sudelfeld, such decisions are due in the coming weeks.
Six-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea rode a Honda Fireblade around the edge of the pitch at Northern Ireland’s national stadium. His lap was the finale of a relay with which Northern Irish football is raising money for Cancer Fund for Children.
In the Außerfern region, further roads could soon be closed to motorcycles with a stationary noise level above 95 decibels, as the Tyrolean state parliament reviews an extension of the ban. Ironically, the justification is motorcycles that are avoiding the existing closures.
Italy has issued new rules for underride protection on crash barriers, which is meant to protect fallen motorcyclists from posts and edges. A single serious accident can trigger an obligation, but designers and road operators may opt out with a justification.
After a summer of many fatal motorcycle crashes in the northern Black Forest, authorities are relying on rumble strips, drones and more checks. A traffic psychologist thinks this is not enough and wants to tackle risky riding where he believes it starts: in the mind and on the smartphone.
