Racing at the highest levels is a game with very high stakes, and teams are willing to spend a fortune to eke out the smallest advantage over their competition. So if you’ve got a race series designed to showcase up-and-coming riders, how do you limit costs and make sure the playing field is relatively level…
Unlike Honda’s NSR250R, the RS250R was Honda’s over-the-counter race bike intended for privateer teams. Of course, if you were a factory outfit, you could get your hands on something like the NSR250 or RS250RW, which honestly gets a bit confusing. Especially the fact that the NSR250 and NSR250R are completely different bikes, and the one…
One school of thinking about fast bike riding posits that the goal is speed, and that the motorcycle itself is a mere tool for achieving that end. But although a track-day GSX-R makes plenty of sense from a purely practical point of view, practical can be a little boring, so why not go fast with…
The early ’80s were a great time to be an enormous Japanese superbike, as Wes Cooley, Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer and Eddie Lawson were busy catapulting your fortunes into the stratosphere. The Kawasaki KZ series in particular was enjoying the fruits of Lawson’s labor, as the flat tracker from Upland, California won the AMA Superbike…
With the exception of the swingarm, engine, chain and paint, basically everything about the 2018 BMW HP4 Race is made of carbon fiber. Bodywork? Check. Wheels? Yep. Frame? You bet. 2018 BMW HP4 Race for sale on eBay That’s right, the frame is made of the black stuff, molded using a special technique to increase…
For some people, a race replica just isn’t enough. And if you want the real thing, a genuine racebike can be very pricey to run, and parts might be literally, not just figuratively, impossible to find. Sure, you can occasionally buy an NSR500V, but can you find parts to rebuild the engine? No, you cannot.…
Aprilia’s RSV1000R was built from 2004-10 though its roots go further back to 1998 and the RSV Mille superbike. The 998cc magnesium-cased twin has gear-driven cams and has proved a reliable mill, this vintage producing 139 hp and 79 ft.-lbs. torque. The race-only bike presented here was campaigned in ’09 by Chaz Davies in the…
Fans of modern machinery may not understand how Moto Guzzi, with their clunky driveshafts and pushrod v-twins, is allowed even a grudging membership to the sportbike club. Of course, a look back a bit further shows Guzzi was very successful in a variety of racing classes throughout the 40s and 50s. But they wanted to…