Video: Max Neukirchner Escapes a Nasty Highside During the Portimao Superpole

Max Neukirchner was a unlucky (or is it lucky?) man this weekend while World Superbike made a race weekend at Portimao. While racing during the Superpole event at the Portugese track, the German rider found himself and his Ten Kate Honda on the wrong end of a nasty highside. Cresting over the hill, you can see Neukirchner spin like a top, while his Honda CBR gets its rear wheel crushed. As you’ll see in the video after the jump, Neukirchner came out of the crash relatively unscathed, and was able to start Race 1 at Portimao.

2009 Buell 1125R hits the streets

Buell Sportbikes are in full control in 2009, ready to fuel the passion of the most demanding riders on the road or at the race track.

Buell sportbikes put the rider in a bold athletic position over a motorcycle showcasing the three legs of the Buell Trilogy of Technology of chassis rigidity, mass centralisation, and low unsprung weight. Designed to respond intuitively to rider commands, Buell sportbikes balance real world street performance with the spirit of the racetrack. With incomparable styling, the Buell 1125R blends aggressive ergonomics and innovative technology with premium components to create an energising and visceral riding experience.

The 2009 Buell 1125R stands out in the sportbike field with exotic styling and technical innovation, including the performance of a 146-hp liquid-cooled V-Twin engine.

Buell Sportbikes Take a Dark Turn for 2009
The primal nature of the Buell sportbike is darkly sculpted in style for 2009 with new black components such as the Phantom Metallic frame and swingarm with blacked-out footpeg mounts and heel guards.

Buell 1125R Details

Continuing to help redefine the superbike category, the 2009 Buell 1125R is powered by the 1125cc liquid-cooled 72-degree V-Twin Helicon engine generating 146 crank hp and 82 ft. lbs. / 111 Nm of peak torque. With a foundation built on the core Buell Trilogy of Technology creating optimum performance, the 1125R remains just as true to Buell’s original sense of sportbike style and design.

In addition to new blacked-out chassis components, the 2009 Buell 1125R adds a variety of styling and design cues, including Racing Red and Arctic White bodywork colours and new graphics schemes. Wheels also receive new translucent colours of Velvacoat Black with the Racing Red and Midnight Black bodywork and Hero Blue with the Arctic White bodywork.

A new tinted windscreen (Hero Blue on the Arctic White bodywork and Smoked on the Racing Red and Midnight Black), leads the way on the 1125R, while there is a new gear position readout that can easily be scrolled to read with digital display on the instrument cluster. A high-output alternator has increased capacity for accessory use and a slider bobbin to support a track stand has been added to the swingarm for easier maintenance.

The front wheel rides on fully adjustable Showa 47 mm upside-down forks, while the Buell ZTL2 front brake has an eight-piston caliper. A smooth-shifting six-speed transmission works with a HVAS (Hydraulic Vacuum Assist Slipper) clutch that uses engine vacuum for easy clutch-lever action.

Quiet Zone aerodynamics optimise air flow around the rider for enhanced race bike performance and rider comfort. The fairing shape is inspired by the Buell XBRR and features four-bulb headlamps, while turn signals are integrated into the mirror housings.

The Buell 1125R is offered in Midnight Black or Racing Red with Velvacoat Black wheels, or Arctic White with Hero Blue wheels.

Sport bikes racing.......

Triumph unveiled its new Daytona 675SE sports bike

Written by admin on 18 March 2010

In the line of Motorcycle manufacturer, the Triumph is a world famous Motorcycle Manufacturer. In present, for the motorcycle riders, the Triumph has introduced its latest sports bike “Daytona 675SE”. As well as, this Daytona 675SE is available with blue and white colors.

In motorcycles shops, this particular Daytona 675SE is available with starting price £8,199 along with this specific sports bike “Daytona 675SE” come with accessories of worth more than £500.

As same as the 2009 special edition, at this time on 2010, the 2010 special edition Daytona 675SE comes with remarkable features like stunning Pearl White bodywork by including a sparkle Blue frame.

Including it, this specific Daytona 675SE has been featured with new graphics flanks, race – inspired brake, white striped wheels, clutch levers and a special host of carbon fibre parts by the courtesy of Triumph’s accessories catalogue.

Besides it, the Daytona 675SE has been equipped with the latest chassis technology, hold highly sophisticated plus an adjustable suspension rear & front.

For the excellent performance it has 126bhp 675cc triple standard machine, Plug & play quickshifter set, modern silencers and exquisite race style foot rests.

2010 new Versys motorcycle of Kawasaki

Written by admin on 15 March 2010

In the modern world, for the bike riders, there are so many charming motorcycles available at most affordable prices. At this time, a specific motorcycle is in focus because of being the new motorcycle of year 2010.

This particular new motorcycle of 2010 is well known by the title “Versys”, for providing the great speed performance this specific Versys motorcycle has strong mid range torque that is available with 650cc and two special cylinder engine.

To get this specific motorcycle “Versys”, the buyers will have to get deal with the Kawasaki dealer showrooms.

Including it, this particular “Versys” motorcycle is available with special headlamp, strong bodywork, better frame covers, and excellent fuel tank as well as this Versy motorcycle is so stylish according to the modern world.

In reference of this new “Versys”, the Michael Jhonstone who is the Kawasaki UK’s Marketing manager said that this motorcycle is a best bike that provides the amazing riding experience while riding.

New Design of Rizla Suzuki MotoGP bike introduced by the designer Troy Lee

Written by admin on 13 March 2010

Those people, who love the motorcycle, must have the new sports bike “Rizla Suzuki MotoGP” this particular bike “Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has been designed by the Troy Lee.

At this time, this particular bike “Rizla Suzuki MotoGP” has just unveiled by the new design of Try lee. This particular motor bike is good team effort of fantastic bike designers of Troy Lee’s team.

In reference of the bike designer Troy Lee, he has designed so many sports bikes and cars such as four wheeler Indycar, NASCAR, Supermoto, FreeStyle, Road Racing, Dirt Track, Enduro, Mountain Biking, BMX bike, really the Troy Lee has designed so many world class bikes.

In honor of Troy Lee Designs, the Paul Denning said that Troy Lee is himself an iconic person in motorsport world as well as it is appreciable thing about the “2010 Rizla Suzuki MotoGP” because it is being introduced by the designer Troy Lee.

As well as, in the upcoming days, Troy Lee will create hospitality unity and Team’s s pit- box plus team clothing also.

More stylish motor bike Yamaha YZF R15 at 1, 03,000 MRP

Written by admin on 22 February 2010

Ride a superb bike of Yamaha. In the market of bikes, there are so many motor bikes available at their most reasonable prices as well as all the motor bikes have their different styles and passions.

At Present, a specific motor bike has launched in India, in relation of this motor bike, it is known by the Yamaha YZF R15.

In reference of the added features of this Super Sort motor bike Yamaha R15, it is powered by a liquid cooled 149.8 cc, six speed gear transmission, Deltabox frame, 4 valve fuel injected engine and while riding this particular bike provide gliding experience.

Including it, the Yamaha YZF R15 has also been equipped with some more striking features like Front & Rear Disc Brakes, Front & Rear Tubeless tyres, follow the r series styling plus design therefore YZF R15 look strong muscular giant while riding on road, well design offer better control while riding on roads, Delta box frame to get comfortable plus easy handling feature.

This Yamaha YZF R15 come with different color options like Yamaha Blue, Sunset Red, Impact yellow, mid night Black and Yamaha white. In market, this Yamaha YZF R15 is available with starting price 1, 03,000 MRP.

Reduce Calories by Recumbent Exercise Bike

Written by admin on 23 January 2010

Exercise bikes are the good option for the people to get the fitness. In market, the exercise bikes are available in wide range with the affordable prices so that all people could fulfill their need of exercise bike within minimum budget.

Most amazing thing in relation of the exercise bike, at present for having the exercise through the exercise bike, the customer can choose a best one amongst three types of exercise bikes, semi-recumbent, recumbent exercise bike and upright exercise bike.

Selection of these exercise bikes depend on the needs of you. Amongst these three unique exercise bikes, for reducing the extra calories and getting an attracting figure, the recumbent exercise bike is a best selection.

Besides it, it will be good to have the recumbent exercise bike because with the good loss of calories, the Recumbent exercise bike also help in lessening the level of blood pressure. For better exercise, the recumbent exercise bike has been equipped with control display that helps in adjusting the speed and much more.

More interesting thing by the assistance of the recumbent bike’s control panel reading the people can get the reading of pulse rate, number or level of calorie burnt, heart rate and how much distance are travelled etc. One most appreciable advantage of the recumbent bike is that by the assistance of recumbent bike any one can start exercise at any time.

For giving preference to the comfortableness, the Recumbent Exercise bike could be adjusted according to the height. But a most essential suggestion while starting exercise on recumbent exercise must take the advice from the doctor so that you could escape from the risks related to the medical complication.

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Internet Bike Shop Can Provide Motor Bike Shop Arnold and Sports Bike Shop

Written by admin on 06 January 2010

Bikes have become the first choice of youths. Youth desires to use bikes for going to college, schools, institutes and offices. Bike shop is having great marketing over the online and offline market places. Many bikes have come in market according to youth desires. A stylish bike is desired by youth.

Motorbike shop, Bike Shop Arnold and sports bike shop have been opened in internet. Thus many internet bike shops are working in online market. Now a person can obtain any of bikes over the market. It has been seen that, if you have bought any foreign bikes then you get difficulty in get parts of that particular bikes. However, internet bike shops have cleared all ways for you. You can get best bike shops now.

You can obtain best bikes according to your desire over the online market places now. Even if you desire to buy the latest bikes of any other country then you can reserve bike over the bike shop and you can get your any desired bikes from Leslie bike shop, sports bike shop, internet bike shop, bike shop derby, spokes bike shop and motorbike shop.

Many people are running also cycle surgery over the online market places. You can get modification in your cycle. If you desire any gear and chain for your cycle then you can buy from bike shop.

If you do not like your city bikes then you can place your order for any other bike. You will get your bike in less timing. Bike shopkeepers provide entire facilities to you. Whenever your mechanic is unable to understand functions of your bike then he or she can get ideas over the bike shopkeepers over the online market places.

Considering online value, every thing is becoming online now. You will be very happy to use there services. You can get best bikes at affordable prices. You can also contact to foreign bike shop keepers at any time. They will surely respond you.

Buy original or only once used mountain bike “SCOTT RANSOM 40 FULL SUS”

Written by admin on 06 December 2009

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Mountain bikes are really an outstanding creation from the bike riders; it is a special creation for facing the tough roads. In recent, you will know about a new model of mountain bike which has been run by a rider but again it is in sell by the courtesy of its first owner. In reference of this mountain bike, it was run once only around the lakes (Approx 1.5 miles) and after that just putted back in store.

For getting this specific mountain, you could contact on this phone no. 07522 029983 or you could purchase an original first hand bike through any dealers of mountain bikes. In reference of this mountain bike, it is recognized by title” SCOTT RANSOM 40 FULL SUS mountain bike. Most charming thing about this mountain, it comes with user manual and a special pump for tyre.

Now know the brief description and features of this SCOTT RANSOM Mountain bike.

Frame – Scott

Brakes – it has Avid juicy 3.5

Shifters – SRAM X-5 trigger

Tires – 2 26 x 2.4

Saddle – Scott EC

Seat post – 34.9mm

Handlebars – 26mm rise

HONDA: COMING WITH ELECTRIC MOTOR CYCLE

Written by admin on 28 November 2009

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The world is moving with a lightning fast speed, so in order to keep going with it we also need to go fast in every aspect of life. The most important factor is time. We need to save it during transport. Most of the people prefer motor bikes for this purpose all over the world. Motor bikes are of different patterns and sizes. People prefer to have the latest bikes according to their comfort.

So for all the bike lovers, there is a big surprise waiting for you as Honda is current designing an electric motor bike which is battery operated. Its specialty is that it doesn’t emit CO2 which is much harmful for the mankind.

Honda is hoping to launch this motor bike by 2010. It must also be noted that normally bikes run on diesel and petrol that creates a lot of pollution. But this bike is free of pollution as it runs on electricity. So this is an ideal bike for short distances. This bike will be cheap, compact, and easy to park.

Bikes are the cheapest and widely used mode of transport all over the world. So just wait a little for this dashing bike.

Must get a Motorbike Insurance through Wright Insurance Companies

Written by admin on 23 November 2009

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Do you want real freedom while riding your motor bike then must take motorcycle insurance? All around the world, there are so many Insurance companies which provide this particular motorcycle insurance. For motorcycle insurance, there are so many Insurance companies offer their best claiming schemes because of stiff competition as well as through the internet; you can get the information about so many Insurance companies that provide motor cycle insurance.

Before driving in Public roads, it is essential that you should have motorbikes insurance. Generally, many motor bike accidents occur due to inattention of your or other drivers and in comparison to Cars, the bike has so many unwanted circumstances such bike stole, higher risks of accidents thus the motor cycle insurance is must. Just driving a car is totally different from riding a bike and there are so many benefits to get multi bike insurance.

Generally, the motor cycle insurance depends on the basic of your motor cycle; if your motorcycle is less expensive then insurance will be also less expensive as well as fuel for riding will be also less expensive. In current, there are so many online sites which are providing information about right Insurance Company. In Los Angeles the motor bike accidents are of higher risks in comparison to the small town that’s why in Los Angles, there are so many Insurance motor Insuring companies are available. But before getting a motor bike insurance, it also come to know that “high speed bikes” like “bullet bikes” become of higher risks of accidents, so the Insurance company will charge more on them.

Ducati’s sport bikes are no.1 choice for men sport bike riders

Written by admin on 16 November 2009

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In today world, the men love the sport bikes because of their outstanding speed performance. Generally, the youth desire to get the Sport bikes as well as in the sport bikes they desire special features like light weight, stylish and high horse power capacity.

For better performance, the sport bikes are equipped with relatively high-performance engines along with enriched with better braking system. Most appreciable thing about the Sport bikes, amongst group of several sport bikes, there are also some sport bikes that could be run on any racing track without any modification.

In these days, many automobiles companies are launching their latest hi-fi sport bikes for this year 2009. In this year, one of most famous automobiles making company, “Ducati” will release its latest models in the range of sport bikes.

In reference Ducati, it is situated in Bologna Italy as well as known for making the best and finest sport bikes all around the world. In this year 2009, Ducati Company released some sport bikes like Ducati 1098, Ducati 1198, Ducati 848, Ducati Hypermotard, Ducati Streetfighter, Ducati Multistrada and Ducati Monster.

Now,in this year, the coming model of Ducati company is Ducati 11985 model. In reference of this new releasing model, it has most significant plus slickest Ducati Traction Control system, 4 cc engines, 170 BHP horse powers, about its torque 97 lbs, in market available with variety of colors, Fuel storing capacity is about 4.1 gallon and its expected price is around $21,795.00.

Characteristics Of Sport Bike Motorcycles

There are different types of motorcycles that are designed for high speed on the roads. Some of the most popular ones are sport bikes.

Sport bike motorcycles put emphasis on performance and speed. That means that the motorcycle’s riding comfort and luggage carrying capacity is sacrificed.

Sport bike motorcycles are fast and highly maneuverable. They can accelerate and decelerate quickly. The engines of these bikes are high performance and are placed inside lightweight frames.

This arrangement ensures that these vehicles have rigid chassis and good structural integrity. High performance braking pads and multi-piston calipers that are clamped into large vented rotors highly improves the motorcycles’ stopping power.

Sport bike motorcycles also have suspension systems that are made up of special, lightweight alloys and materials. The front and rear tires of sport bike motorcycles are wide and large. The tires enable them to handle high cornering speed at bigger leaning angles.

The fairings or covers of a sport bike motorcycle are designed to minimize aerodynamic drag but offer less wind protection for the rider. Such high performance bikes are so well designed that a rider can put one on the race track after buying them straight from the show room.

Although superbly designed and fine tuned, sport bike motorcycles are not recommended for riding in the street in comparison to other motorcycles. For example, the rider has to place his feet on higher foot pegs that move the legs closer to the body.

He has to lean low over the gas tank to grip the handlebars, giving him a lower profile to reduce drag. This places the rider’s crotch in close access with the fuel tank and the seat.

Due to this riding position, sport bike motorcycles are sometimes coined as “crotch rockets.” This position is quite uncomfortable after quite a while.

Also, sport bike motorcycles do not have enough room or features for rider comfort. For example, they do not have large windshields, center stands, fairings for protection against the rain or braces for saddle bags.

An offshoot of a standard sport bike is the sport touring bikes. Although sharing the same characteristics, they are endowed with more comforts than a typical sport bike.

For example, they have more comfortable rider ergonomics and added capacity for storage. However, they are heavier and are not as powerful as standard sport bikes.

The aerodynamic design for such a large, fast and powerful bike makes sports bike motorcycle visually appealing. Driving one will surely make you an eye turner.

Fat Tire Sportbikes

Fat tires on choppers are commonplace but it isn't quite as common on sportbikes, yet. Orlando, Florida have fat tire kits for selected sportbikes that put a monster rear tire out back for a truly phat look. I have to say it looks pretty cool. The photo at right is one of their custom project bikes, a Hayabusa, that has a lot of other very trick components, including an air ride suspension.

I do wonder how a bike like this handles. Choppers with wide tires have some interesting handling characteristics, of course, choppers aren't known as canyon carvers in the first place. These kits include a lot of parts including a new front wheel and tire so it looks well thought out. Custom sportbikes at this level are just that, custom bikes, so if there is a penalty in the twisties, the buyer probably doesn't mind.

New Sound Technology for Your Sportbike

Breaking the Sound and Performance Conundrum
D&D Performance Enterprises is proud to introduce two new exhaust packing for sportbikes. The “Street Pac” canister for reduces sound by 50% and pump up horsepower. D&D’s new “Race Pac” canisters are developed for the high-performance enthusiasts where sound restraints are not an issue.

Local Laws are Changing
In recent months, due to local area laws changing, D&D has been developing a new exhaust system for riders to get the same great performance with half the noise.

After much research and MANY months of dyno testing on numerous sportbikes from multiple manufacturers, D&D has produced a new packing system that allows enthusiasts to select half the noise while retaining the same great power numbers.

D&D Performance Enterprises has made its mark in the motorcycle exhaust industry for the past 30 years, producing only the best performing and meanest sounding exhausts available on the market.

Street Pac
The new Street Pac canisters are available for riders who want to get the extra gain in performance and add a little more sound to the stock motorbike.

The benefit of the Street Pac system is that it will not wake up the neighborhood every morning when enthusiasts start their bike up, or when coming in late at night from a long weekend ride.

How it Works
D&D utilizes a layer of stainless steel wool wrap directly around the internal baffle in addition to a thick layer of glass temp mat exhaust packing.

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Street Pac System

The Street Pac system allows for more sound absorption into the packing thus reducing the sound volume by almost half of the regular D&D Performance Exhaust signature.

Race Pac
D&D’s signature sound of exhaust is for the rider who wants to let people know their coming. Race Pac produces a super aggressive sound and allows enthusiasts to leave the competition in the dust.

Race Pac System

Dyno Testing
D&D completes extensive dyno testing to fine tune the packing system to offer enthusiasts the most power and performance. Canisters are developed with targeted performance and sound attributes. Both the Street Pac and Race Pac system delivers razor sharp performance.

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Available for most motorcycles, contact D and D Performance Enterprises now at:

Sales: 817-834-8961
Tech Support: 817-834-0996

D&D Performance Enterprises
Style and Performance, No Compromise!

New York Sportbike Winners Announced!!

New York City hosted the largest crowd to date for the 2006-2007 Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows Presented by Toyota and the Sportbike Custom Showcase was just as large with a host of custom builders and owners displaying their best in front of the 74,000 plus attendees that entered the Javits Center last weekend.

The Big Twin Customs Showcase Presented by Newmar housed the largest number of custom builds of the season, and the quality of the machines were over the top. Be sure to check out the complete recap if you haven't already, it was custom bike heaven in New York!

For the Sportbikes, we had bikes from the best on display. Two Wheel Tuner Magazine was on hand shooting the sportbikes in a special photo booth that they had set up at the show and were thrilled with what they got to see.

Larry Somma's Street Fighter 650 - Built by Scott Kolb, Kolb Machine & Fabrication - Kingston, NY
Paint by Sean Lezotte : Connecticut Cycle Refinishing, Bridgeport, CT

Lawrence Somma brought out the 'Kolb 650 Street Fighter' from Kolb Machine and Fabrication and took home the largest number of votes for New York.

Jerry Peters 'Flippin the Bird' with the NOS and chrome everything took a very close second in the voting!

'Da Bollox' courtesy of Joe Scanlon was a nearby 3rd in the overall voting in New York!

Brent Feurer had 'Blackbird 1100XX' on stage in the display. Courtesy of Dorian Agency and Hudson Valley Motorcycles.

Robert Guida and his CBR with a fresh new paint job from Aggressive Paint Works.

Geo's Custom Cycles "ZX6-R Trike" wowed the crowd and ended up in the AP photos as far away as Florida!

Bryan Peter's 'Money Pit' Courtesy of Jerry Peters

Jason Lee's 'From the Darkside' courtesy of Jerry Peters and Darkside Graphix

Jonathan Morse brought 'Lil' Blackie' to the party in New York!

Gerald Ruiz's 'Shinobi's Nine' didn't disappoint!

Keon Inglehart's 'Venom' displayed some awesome artwork and chroming!

BIKES RACER

We've taken a big interest in the forthcoming TTXGP race – the world's first carbon free contest to be held at the Isle of Man during TT week ... Scroll down for the full story

We've taken a big interest in the forthcoming TTXGP race – the world's first carbon free contest to be held at the Isle of Man during TT week. At the recent unveiling of the teams, we got talking to Kingston University's Paul Brandon who heads up the student scuderia. He's just been in touch after his team fared very well at the Alternative Energy Drag Race at Santa Pod. Here's his report.


Due to the progress we have made with the TTXGP bike we decided to get involved with another zero emissions project.

6 weeks ago we took the decision to enter a motorbike into the Alternative Energy Drag Race 2009 (the aim is record the quickest time over a ¼ mile sprint). This took place at Santa Pod – the European home of International drag racing. There are 2 classes, alternative fuels (such as Biodiesel, Ethanol, etc) and Zero Emissions (such as Electric, Hydrogen, pneumatic, etc). We initially thought of using the TTXGP bike but decided it would need too many changes to be competitive in this ¼ mile sprint. Our goal was to record a sub 15s time.

Although the students doing the TTXGP project wanted to get involved in this I decided they already had enough to do with the TTXGP bike. Instead I approached my 1st year students to see if anyone would be interested. As luck would have it one of the 1st year students (Andy Irvine) had been drag racing since he was 9 and was really up for this. So I sat down with Andy 6 weeks ago and we designed a bespoke chassis and powertrain solution that would be suitable for the event. Andy then single handily took on the task of making the whole bike from scratch in only 6 weeks – a phenomenal challenge. LifeBatt (current supports of the TTXGP bike) provided the sponsorship necessary for this project. Last week was very hectic as time was running out and the race was only 5 days away. Grant Fraser (another 1st year student) and Barry Wade (Auto Lab Technician) both offered some help and we managed to get the bike running in the Roe Vale car park by Thursday at 8pm. We packed it all up in the van Thursday evening and set off at 06:30 am Friday, heading for Santa Pod. We had some final setup issues to sort out Friday am before the racing started from 13:00 to 17:00.

Our first run at 13:16 was a very respectable 18.6 seconds – outstanding really given we had only started building this bike 6 weeks ago. After various changes to the electronics, motors and batteries we had managed to reduce our time down to 15.021s, just outside our goal of sub 15s. One final adjustment and we were sitting on the start line for our last run of the day at 16:54. Expectations were high and we were confident we could achieve a sub 15s time. Andy was on the start line, we were all looking at the lights, the green light came on and Andy took off, we then focused on the timing board and all held our breath. He crossed the ¼ mile timing mark and up popped his time 14.998s – we had done it. Ideally we would have liked to walk away with the record or 14.417s , but I had called the gearing incorrectly and we could not change this at the track L. However, we did win the fastest zero emission vehicle of the day.

Future plans for this bike include a sub 12s time for the ¼ mile and then an attempt on the world speed record for an electric bike!!

Super-Bikes: Riding Challenge

Apparently this wasn't really necessary. The game immediately didn't appeal to me anymore from the moment it was on my harddrive. Why? Well, I was done installing and anxiously started it up, a bit curious whether this relatively unknown title could alter my vision on moto racers... The game started up with a breathtaking... low resolution. Of course you immediately look for the options to increase this but the sad thing was that you can't. You can adjust detail levels but what is the advantage of putting anti-aliasing on if you remain with 640*48? Indeed, very little as you remain seeing every little block on the screen. Scared I went looking for a setting icon in my Windows start menu and yes, through a splash screen I was able to adjust the settings. A bit irritated I changed the resolution and a couple of others things and after having lost 5 minutes of my life I was ready to roll.

There are various single player modes including a "Free Ride" which does what the name says, touring the circuits with your bike without any pressure of racing, a "Career mode" where you have to become the best moto racer in history and unlock all kinds of stuff going from bikes to clothing and circuits to race on. As last there's also the "Riding School" where you can learn things by doing small tests and watching short movies. There's also a wide variety of bikes and clothing available (including the entire catalogue of Dainese) for the real lover of bike racing.

Multiplayer is also available but in its smallest possible form. You can play with 2 people and not over the internet. Indeed, good old-fashioned split-screen all the way baby! No different modes here either, just racing and driving tracks until you bore yourselves to death. This doesn't require more explanation, it really feels like "it's there because you need to have multiplayer".

The driving itself isn't worked out any better than everything we've talked about before. You can lie down to get higher speeds or sit straight up to brake a bit, but that's where the controls end. Taking corners is pretty awful as you've got totally no feeling with your bike. The thing seems to turn in squares rather than in arches, a bit like racing games from 5 years ago (and even those tend to be better than this one on this part). Secondly you can just start braking in the mids of a curve, or get into one while braking without even the slightest possibility of slipping (I'm also talking about the rear brake). The only good thing with the curves and realism is that if you push the gas a bit too much when getting out one, you can hit the asphalt if you don't look out.

It isn't all "bad" in Super-Bikes: Riding Challenge. There's a new gameplay element that gets introduced to the genre. You can intimidate your opponent and that way have him make steering flaws. You can start following the guy in front and make him take a bad turn so that you can pass him. Of course this also works in the opposite direction and you can get intimidated too. This will result in worse steering and hitting the floor easier with your expensive wheels.

Graphically we can't say the game comes short, rather it's a low average. You won't see spectacular effects or highly detailed environments, but neither will you get butt ugly things like a square wheel. As said: an average player in the world of graphics.

When talking about the sound, we're going downhill again. Let's put it this way: if my bike would sound like this, I wouldn't DARE to drive it anymore. This in combination with bad quality (you constantly hear disturbances in the audio track) makes people getting a headache when they enter the room where this game is being played.

Awesome Supercross Pictures - Feb 16th 2008

These supercross pictures were shot at the third round of the New Zealand Supercross Championships. This took place on the virgin grounds of the Telstra Clear Events Center in Auckland.

This one-off, purpose built supercross track hosted the largest supercross race Auckland has held so far. And what a fantastic day it was! Warm, mid-summer sunshine and a couple of lazy, dust-settling showers, made for near perfect conditions for both riders and spectators.

With riders such as Daryl Hurley (N.Z), Tye Simmons (AUS), and Billy Ainsworth (U.S) going head to head, the scene was set to be an all out battle... and it was! But when the dust settled, there was one clear winner of the senior 250cc class.

Daryl Hurley (#912) rode in fine form from the very beginning. When I first arrived to the show and asked which rider Hurley was, I was told to "just look for the guy in front". What an amazing rider to watch. So quick, smooth and calculated. Made it look easy almost. Kinda peeved me off.

Another rider, that I must say, impressed the crowd more than anyone else, was Haki Waller (N.Z). This 12 year old brave heart of a kid was hitting the biggest jumps on the track on his KX85. Not only that, but he was whipping his bike harder than a Roman slave! And he even coughed up a heel clicker just for the crowd (1st photo). Hats off to Gonad Boy.

So, all in all it was a great day had by everyone, apart from a few injured riders who lost wrestling matches with their bikes.

As for me? I ate far too many hot dogs, received 2nd degree sunburn, couldn't find a cold beer tent, and inhaled more than my fair share of dust trying to get some good pics for you... but, I loved it! And I hope you enjoy these supercross photos from The Auckland Championships 2008.

Click on each image to see an enlarged version.

Remember, you can right click on these supercross pictures and select 'set as desktop (or wallpaper) background'. I suggest you use the 'tile' option.