The 2015 Isle of Man TT festival has been a corker. McGuinness, Hutchinson, Anstey and a host of up and coming riders set lap records and made history. And to cap it, the island has bathed in near-perfect weather. Save for a few days in practice week where the a storm and the misty ‘Cloak of Mannanan’ descended upon the island, wreaking havoc with riders, campers and race organizers, we have been blessed with sunny, warm Northern California-esque conditions for virtually the entire meet.

As qualifying for the 2015 Grand Prix Monster Energy de Catalunya closed on Saturday, one got the sense that The Usual Suspects might not make it to Sunday’s podium. The ascendant Suzuki Ecstar team had crashed the party, seizing the first two spots in Row 1 (for the first time since 1993), while Aliens occupied spots #3, 4, 6 and 7. The upstart Ducati duo of Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone were mired in 5th and 12th places, respectively. On Sunday, eight riders failed to finish, but when the smoke cleared, the Alien Class of 2012 – Yamaha mandarins Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, and Repsol Honda #2 Dani Pedrosa – climbed the steps, the cheers of 97,000 Spanish fans ringing in their ears.

I have heard the future. And if you listen closely to the video snippet below, you will as well. It’s the whining sound barely discernable under the commentary on the loudspeaker and the beating rotors of the helicopter. That is John McGuinness rounding the corner at Creg-ny-Baa on his way to winning today’s Isle of Man TT Zero race, at a new lap record of over 119 mph. The snippet following that is of Lee Johnston on the Victory electric prototype. Johnston claimed third place at 111.620 mph, a stellar accomplishment for the American brand that is pressing forward into segments and markets virtually unthinkable just a few months ago. Johnston had been running increasingly faster laps throughout practice as he became more familiar with the bike, and he rode his fastest lap when it mattered most.

I’ve been told you can put a frog in a pan of cold water and set it on a low fire, allowing the water to heat up gradually until the frog, just sitting there minding his own business, is cooked. Playing the role of the frog at present and wearing #93 is defending world champion Marc Marquez, trailing series leader Valentino Rossi by 49 points as the 2015 season passes the one third pole. Marquez fans around the world are going all Nelly, suddenly aware that “it’s getting’ HOT in here.”

It takes a few days to settle in after landing on the Isle of Man for the TT races. This is the result of jet lag, the overwhelming assault on the senses that the races provide, and of course, late evenings in the pubs. The best way to clear the head is to get on a motorbike and tour this magical island. I wrote about it last year, and after eight IOM visits and many miles, the absolute pleasure of riding here is undiminished.

Among the perks of being a motojournalist mogul is preferred parking, and at the Sacramento Mile, it had never been more preferential. We had to wait for practice to end, but then the gate opened and we drove across the back straight and across the huge grass infield (complete with good-sized lake) toward the grandstand as if the old Jaguar were a prairie schooner, finally dropping anchor about 30 feet from Turn 1.

Week one of the 2015 Isle of Man TT race meet, humbly called Practice Week, is wrapping up, with the usual mix of triumph and tragedy. I arrived on the Isle just as qualifying started, and made my usual rounds: Checked in to the Arrandale Hotel, ideally situated within walking distance to the grandstand, paddock and Douglas Promenade. Picked up a roarty little Triumph Street Triple, and did a few laps of the TT Course, followed some off the beaten path back roads, where the soundtrack of the three-pot mill acted as a handy sheep repellant. I registered at the TT Marshal’s hut, hit the Woodbourne Pub for reconnection with old friends (IoM pub reports to follow), and started to immerse myself in the wonder that is TT Practice Week which challenges TT Race Week for atmosphere and spectating with the added benefit of un-crowded motorbike touring.

For the third round in succession, Movistar Yamaha stud Jorge Lorenzo jumped out to an early lead, switched on the autopilot on his YZR-M1, cranked up Kings of Leon on his MP3 player, and never broke a sweat in winning the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM. What was suspected after Le Mans has now been confirmed at Mugello – Jorge Lorenzo is the man to beat for the 2015 MotoGP championship. The only way things could get any worse for Honda’s double defending world champion Marc Marquez would be if Lorenzo were to steal his girlfriend.

The Isle of Man TT, which kicks off yet again this Saturday, May 30, occupies a special place in the world of motorsports. An unmatched two-week spectacle in an idyllic setting with almost unimaginably brave athletes, the TT proudly sticks a middle finger in the face of the banality and conformity that rules modern life and more pedestrian sporting events.

MotoGP brings its act from the bucolic French countryside to the hills of Tuscany as Round 6 of the 2015 season arrives. Within the top tranche of the premier class food chain, the standings are scrambled, while the rest of the top ten reside pretty much where we expected heading into the year. Team Yamaha has been hot of late, and this trend could continue in Italy unless Repsol Honda double defending world champion Marc Marquez gets himself together. Right now would be a good time to do so.

The seventh-annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering is in the books, with another record turnout. Although the Carmel Valley temps were cool and skies overcast, a couple thousand of the faithful eyeballed more than 350 machines on the golf course. The featured marques this year were Military Vehicles, Formula 750 roadracers and a variety of Choppers, believe it or don’t.

On a picture-perfect afternoon in the French countryside, Movistar Yamaha bruise brothers Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi delivered a clear message to the grid, notably Repsol Honda upstart Marc Marquez: anyone even hallucinating about a world championship in 2015 will need to go through them. Lorenzo, in a replay of his win in Jerez last time out, took the early lead and was never challenged on the way to his 35th career victory in MotoGP. Rossi had to slice his way through several Ducati GP15s to secure his ninth podium in a row and 13th out of 14 dating back to last year. Meanwhile, it was another forgettable Sunday for Repsol Honda.

MotoGP makes its annual pilgrimage to France’s Loire River valley for Sunday worship services at Le Mans, one of the shrines of motorsports. The main combatants in this week’s tilt – Movistar Yamaha teammates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, and Repsol Honda phenom Marc Marquez – have won the last three rounds of an intriguing season. If it rains as per usual, the fourth Alien, Andrea Dovizioso, on the factory Ducati, a known mudder, could contend as well.

The decision to get creative with rules and regulations is in keeping with the all-bike-brands-welcome spirit experienced at all Deus get-togethers. Another big plus was not only the variety of bike flavors – from small-displacement chittychittybangers to rorty Laguna Seca-ready hyperbikes – but also the wide spectrum of people who helped rev up the energy level. So, for this coverage, we do a little adapting as well, with a focus on five of the machines entered into the competition and then some handing out of my own non-official citations of excellence. Strangely enough, most of my early pix also scored with the judges. Yeah, great minds thunk alike.

In the run-up to today’s Spanish Grand Prix, several things were clear. Defending world champion Marc Marquez would be riding wounded with a broken left pinkie. Jorge Lorenzo, dominating the practice sessions, had that look in his eye reminiscent of 2010, 2012 and late 2014. The Ducatis were having a tough time getting anything going in the Spanish heat. And Valentino Rossi had a great chance to secure his 200th career podium.

First it was Dani Pedrosa, after a disappointing season opener in Qatar, announcing that his chronic arm pump issues would require immediate surgery, keeping him out of the saddle indefinitely. Then, just the other day, we learn that teammate and Supreme Intergalactic Potentate Marc Marquez smashed the little finger on his left hand to bits in training, necessitating a delicate surgery and some hurry-up physio. Pedrosa is out, and Marquez has been deemed “questionable” for Round 4 this weekend. Several Italians smell blood in the water.

The second Grand Prix de la República Argentina of the modern era started out as a parade and ended with everyone – riders, fans, announcers – gasping for air, going mad over the events on Lap 24. Defending world champion and Honda poster boy Marc Marquez would have, could have and should have won this race. But two errors on his part, combined with one of Valentino Rossi’s finest hours, spelled disaster for the young Catalan, who now sits squarely behind the eight ball heading to Jerez.

One year ago, heading into Round 3 in Argentina, I was pretty sure of two things: 1. Marc Marquez was going to win a second MotoGP world championship in 2014, and 2. Valentino Rossi’s alien days were behind him. Going 1-for-2 is great in baseball, not so much in the world of motorcycle prognostication. As it turns out, Rossi may offer the biggest obstacle to Marquez’ quest for a third consecutive title. And Andrea Dovizioso’s application for membership in the alien club has now been approved, at the apparent expense of Repsol #2 Dani Pedrosa.

Repsol Honda reigning champion Marc Marquez extended his winning streak in the U.S. to six, taking an easy win at Circuit of the Americas by a country mile over Ducati #1 Andrea Dovizioso who had himself fought off several challenges from Yamaha former world champion Valentino Rossi. Confirming that Losail was an outlier, and tightening the standings at the top of the premier class food chain, COTA was revealing.

For the second year in a row, The Grand Prix of Qatar delivered a riveting race with unexpected results. The 2014 edition saw putative race favorite Jorge Lorenzo dump his Yamaha M1 on the first lap, paving the way for a cage match between teammate Valentino Rossi and defending Repsol Honda world champion Marc Marquez in which Marquez prevailed by a quarter second. A year later, it was the favorite Marquez going walkabout on Lap 1, setting up a night-long rumble between the factory Yamahas and the factory Ducatis (what?) in which Rossi eventually pipped Andrea Dovizioso at the flag.

There is a reason 36 year-old Valentino Rossi is still the most revered motorcycle racer on the planet. In his 313th grand prix start, Rossi, on the factory Yamaha, delivered a dazzling performance in the 2015 season opener, going hammer and tongs with factory Ducati #1 Andrea “DesmoDovi” Dovizioso all night before punking his compatriot by 17/100ths of a second to take the lead in the title chase for the first time since 2010.

All of the story lines leading up to the 2015 MotoGP season boil down to one: who has the stones, and the bike, and the team, and the vision to take the title away from Marc Marquez? Is it only Marquez himself, some suddenly reckless version way different from the 2013 and 2014 champion, who crashes early and often and digs himself a hole that Jorge Lorenzo or Valentino Rossi or maybe Dani Pedrosa or possibly one of the Andreas from the factory Ducati team rushes to fill…

Pulling into the camping area at Daytona for the 200 weekend is a reunion of sorts for me. I always meet a regular group of friends under NASCAR Turn 3, but this year seemed a bit different than the last few years.

On an abnormally beautiful Valentine’s Day weekend in Portland, Oregon, love was truly in the air as motorcycle enthusiasts of all types, shapes, and sizes turned out to see the sixth year of The One Motorcycle Show. The event was hosted in the lower Eastside industrial area of Portland in an old historical manufacturing warehouse with more than 20,000 sq.-ft. of floor space.  Additionally, the building had a massive fenced in parking lot that was perfectly set up for mini-bike races, beer and merchant booths.

Grab a hat, sunscreen, sunglasses and a cold beverage. It is Australia Day weekend over here and the biggest classic bike event Down Under is on. Time to soak up the atmosphere and fumes of the largest historic motorcycle racing festival in the Southern Hemisphere.

Michael “Woolie” Woolaway, Deus ex Machina’s in-house bike builder, was launching his new “Dreamliner” Ducati hypo-custom, so what better reason than that to throw an Italian Day at Deus, the party complete with opera virtuoso singing Pagliacci. In any case, the bevy of well-tuned classic, vintage and race bred Italian bikes literally filled the parking lot and the adjacent sidewalks to overflow capacity. The event? Deus called it Raduno Ducati.

Miles south of the Vegas strip, the South Point Casino and Exhibition Hall rises from the desert like a giant sandstone monolith. At first sight, just one word, despite its constant misuse and triteness, comes to mind: Awesome.

We all know the real meaning of that coy slogan about what happens in Vegas. It really means that what stays in Vegas is your money. It should read: “To play in Vegas, you gotta pay in Vegas.”

Neale Bayly is one of the most laudable motorcyclists we know. He’s not only a talented rider, an accomplished journalist and a TV personality, he’s also an admirable philanthropist who donates much of his time and efforts into helping needy and disadvantaged people. His philanthropic endeavors began in South America and were highlighted in Neale Bayly Rides: Peru in 2013.

During the early morning hours of Sunday, December 14, while traveling north from L.A. on the 101 Freeway, you might’ve found yourself in the company of a flurry of bikes, primarily of the Harley chopper family, burbling and growling their way through the slower car traffic. What’s the buzz all about? Well, that would be the pilgrimage to the 11th Annual Chopperfest Motorcycle Art and Culture event, now held at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

Well it looks like I drew the short straw again. Most of the other MOites have young kids and/or needful spouses which all provide convenient excuses, so I was the guy who’d have to ride the BMW R1200RT (MO’s Sport-Tourer of 2014) up to Healdsburg, an hour north of San Francisco, for a chamber of commerce-sponsored junket where I’d have to spend several days riding around sampling the area’s finest wines and haute cuisine with a bunch of foodies and wine snobs. Why me, Lord?

The Dirtbag Challenge – there’s nothing like it: nichts, nada, Ничего. To my knowledge (a modest caveat) this moto-happening in the San Francisco Bay area has no counterpart, anywhere. Also known as the “Low Rent Chopper Build Off,” it’s a high-octane blast.

The Hansen Dam Rally, officially known as the All British Hansen Dam Ride, is a SoCal tradition decades in the making and hosted the first week of every November by the Southern California Norton Owners Club (SCNOC). The  day-long event includes a 95-mile loop through the canyons of the western San Gabriel Mountains and culminates in a bike show at the Hansen Dam Recreational area located in the northeastern San Fernando Valley, some 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles.

In the modern era of MotoGP, no rider has crafted a season comparable to Marc Marquez in 2014. Among the records he established this season are most wins in a single season, becoming the youngest rider to repeat as world champion, and claiming the most poles in one season. At age 21, the MotoGP world is his oyster. As announcer Nick Harris asked repeatedly during today’s contest, where will it all end?

For the 20th time in 22 years, MotoGP steams into the season finale with the title already decided. Repsol Honda phenom Marc Marquez, fresh off his white-knuckled win in the Malaysian furnace arrives, title in hand, looking to break Mick Doohan’s 1997 record of 12 wins in a season. The Twin Powers at Movistar Yamaha, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, have an appointment at Circuit Ricardo Torma to decide whom will finish second in 2014. But Repsol #2 Dani Pedrosa, having screwed the pooch (twice) in Sepang, may have some plans of his own this weekend.

The motorcycle show season continues in Milan, Italy, for EICMA, the World Motorcycle Expo. Last year’s show was fantastic, but the 2014 edition promises to be even more spectacular as EICMA celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Under a blistering Malaysian sun so hot the track itself was sweating, Repsol Honda champion Marc Marquez returned to his winning ways, claiming his 12th win of the 2014 season and tying Mick Doohan’s 17 year-old record. The Bruise Brothers of the factory Yamaha team, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, joined young Marquez on the podium in the festival-like atmosphere of Sepang, suddenly one of the great venues of MotoGP.

After the carnage in Phillip Island, the prospects of the various Aliens have changed significantly. If pending 2014 champion Marc Marquez is to challenge Mick Doohan’s all-time record of 12 wins in a season, he needs to win here. Dani Pedrosa, having spent the bulk of the season in second place, now finds himself fourth, looking up at both of the factory Yamahas, who made hay at his expense Down Under. Jorge Lorenzo, who many gave up for dead back in May, could finish the season in second place. As could teammate Valentino Rossi, who, at age 35, is entering the realm of “timeless elegance,” the finely crafted Swiss watch of motorcycle racing.

Simply looking at the final results, the 2014 Tissot Australian Grand Prix appears to have been a clear Yamaha triumph. In fact, it was a demolition derby in which the winners managed to survive, rather than dominate, the proceedings. True, at the end it was an all Yamaha podium, featuring Valentino Rossi on top, followed by Jorge Lorenzo and first-timer Bradley Smith. But with nine riders having crashed out or retired, the phrase “you need to be in it to win it” has never been more true.

In what is likely to be a preview of the rest of the decade in MotoGP, three Aliens not named Marquez will begin their assault on the vice-championship this week at Phillip Island. Heading into Round 16 Down Under, a mere three points separate Yamaha ironman Jorge Lorenzo from teammate Valentino Rossi, who sits tied with Repsol Honda mini-Marc Dani Pedrosa. While world champion Marc Marquez’ mom dusts off some space in the family trophy case for the 2014 hardware, there’s plenty of racing left this season.

The second annual AIMExpo is here, and Motorcycle.com is live in Orlando to bring you the latest news from America’s newest motorcycle show. The 2014 AIMExpo kicks off with two full media days Oct. 16-17 before opening its doors to the public Oct. 18-19.

On a cloudy, cool Saturday afternoon in Haga District, Tochigi, Japan, 21-year old Repsol Honda pilot Marc Marquez clinched his second world championship in the premier class of MotoGP. This follows earlier championships in the Moto2 and 125 classes, giving him four titles in five years of grand prix racing. We at Motorcycle.com are impressed.

The Motul Grand Prix of Japan marks the beginning of the annual late season three-races-in-three weeks “Pacific flyaway” during which the MotoGP world championship is usually clinched. Last year, for only the second time in 21 years, the grid traveled to Valencia with the title, eventually won by then rookie Marc Marquez, up for grabs. This year appears certain to revert to form, as Marquez stands on the cusp of his second premier class title.

The fall motorcycle season kicks off in Cologne, Germany, with the 50th edition of the Intermot show. The biennial showcase rivals EICMA as one of the biggest motorcycle shows in the world with more than 200,000 visitors expected. Several major manufacturers will be revealing new 2015 models at Cologne. BMW has already confirmed it will reveal three models including an updated S1000RR for its home motorcycle show, while its Austrian neighbor KTM has also announced it will present its 1290 Super Adventure. Ducati‘s lengthy teaser campaign for the Scrambler will finally come to a head at Intermot, while Kawasaki’s supercharged Ninja H2 is already an early favorite to be the biggest news of the show. Other brands such as Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Yamaha have already released information on their new Intermot show models, but we wouldn’t be shocked if they have a few surprises in store as well. Motorcycle.com will bring you all of the latest Intermot updates from Germany starting Sept. 30. Keep checking this space throughout Tuesday morning for more 2015 model releases as they happen!

The 800th MotoGP premier class race in history started today in conditions resembling the first, held in 1949 as the Isle of Man TT – cloudy, damp and cool. When the weather here is dry, the place looks like something straight out of Mad Max; the only things missing are the sidecars and tanker trucks. When it rains, anything can happen, as today’s results demonstrated.

For Repsol Honda super soph Marc Marquez, who flirted with perfection for much of the season, there remain but three goals for the 2014 MotoGP championship. First and foremost – win the title, which is pretty much a done deal. Second – stay out of the hospital, which is to say take no unnecessary risks in a sport which is, by its very nature, risky. Third and last – break Mick Doohan’s all-time record of 12 wins in a single season.

Talk about your mixed media. The seventh-annual Venice Vintage Motorcycle Rally welcomed bikes and riders of all stripes, and polka dots, ribbons, bows, tattoos, skinny jeans, Esther Williams bathing suits, porkpie hats, retro, techno, punk, funk, goth and every fashion statement in between.

The 2014 GP TIM di San Marino e Della Rivera di Rimini will be remembered for a number of things in years to come. The 54,543 Italian fans in attendance experienced the ecstasy of watching their idol, Movistar Yamaha mullah Valentino Rossi, win for the first time since Assen in 2013 and for the first time in Italy since Misano in 2009. They witnessed the annual crash of the impertinent Marc Marquez, who laid his Repsol Honda down going perhaps 35 miles per hour in Turn 4 of Lap 10. They saw their national motorcycle, Ducati, place two riders in the top five. And, for the first time since The Renaissance, they could head home feeling their country may have turned the corner after 500 years of uninterrupted decline.

With Repsol Honda #1 Marc Marquez relentlessly closing in on the 2014 MotoGP championship, attention is gradually turning toward the 2015 grid, where confusion reigns. Players in this evolving Keystone Kops comedy include Scott Redding, Fausto Gresini, Mika Kallio, Aprilia, Honda and Marc van der Straten. Out on the horizon, teenagers Alex Marquez and Alex Rins are plotting their own invasion of the premier class in the not-too-distant future.

Okay, we gotta admit it’s a tiny bit macabre to find a stellar group of antique, vintage and high-performance motorcycles on display at a cemetery, literally the last place a bike fan wants to visit. But, there was lively reasoning behind the appearance of 13 “celebrity” two-wheelers at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, the 1906 historic landmark located in Glendale, CA. The museum, part of the 300 acre property since 1957, has previously offered a wide variety of exhibits as they are “committed to enriching the community through the educational and entertaining presentation of artwork that focuses on history, culture or religion.”

One of the clichés in sports is that combatants need to have short memories, so as not to dwell on previous setbacks and lose focus in the heat of the moment. Under idyllic late summer British skies today, Repsol Honda ace Marc Marquez showed no recall of the startling events at Brno two weeks ago, while shadowing Yamaha double world champion Jorge Lorenzo for most of 20 riveting laps. Marquez took a run at Lorenzo on Lap 14, but couldn’t make it stick. On Lap 18, though, after a little bumping and grinding, the young Catalan wonder went through for good on the way to his 11th win of the season.

So, I imagine most of you reading this are saying “I told you so,” taunting me for my naiveté in believing Repsol Honda pilot Marc Marquez could run the table in 2014. Victory has a thousand parents; defeat is an orphan, etc., etc. But after the surprising result in Brno, there’s still plenty to discuss. Including the possibility that Marquez might one day go Pee Wee Herman and claim, “I meant to do that.”

Most of the 131,800 fanatics who attended Sunday’s Czech Grand Prix at Brno – hoping to boast to their grandkids that they were there the day Repsol Honda icon Marc Marquez broke the record for consecutive wins to start a season – were reduced, at best, to bragging they were at the race Marquez lost in 2014, when he went 17 for 18 on the way to his second premier class title in two seasons. With Yamaha studs Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi joining winner Dani Pedrosa on the podium, it was just like the good old days, before the annoying Marquez came along, in 2012, when the three of them used to win everything.

An idea that was once viewed as preposterous is now causing some MotoGP fans to become bored. The notion that one rider could sweep an entire 18 race season, in the midst of Aliens, bad weather, reckless competitors, a bunch of ticky-tacky rules, and plain old bad luck, has been widely dismissed for the last 40 years, since the ancient days of Giacomo Agostini. And yet here we are, on the cusp of one of the most amazing feats in motorsports history.

While it’s difficult to say which is the top rally in the popular consciousness of American motorcycling, both Daytona Bike Week and Sturgis feature prominently in biker mythology. If you break down both events into their most basic components, they look something like this: Bikers arrive from all over the country and other parts of the world, take over the main venues of several local cities/towns, make lots of noise, consume tons of food and drink, go for rides around the local area, consume more and make more noise, spend tons of money, and go home happy, already talking about next year. Daytona has a little more racing (to this crowd) and Sturgis has a lot more riding. Both are considered must-do motorcycle events.

If you had watched only the first six laps of today’s Indianapolis Grand Prix, you might think the Marquez magic had ended back in July. It was an absolute dogfight, with Italians on Yamaha s and Ducati s holding the upper hand, or hands. Ultimately, though, as the day wore on, the natural order of things in the premier class was restored, and Marc Marquez secured his 10th win in 10 tries in 2014.

After what seems like months the 2014 MotoGP season heads for the back nine, beginning at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While Repsol Honda phenom Marc Marquez has been basking in his ridiculous domination of the grid, a bunch of other riders have been busily defecting, or getting ejected, from their current teams such that the 2015 grid will have a much different look to it. None of which will prevent Marquez from continuing to treat the premier class like his own personal sandbox.

The bad news is there’s limited cell phone service in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The good news is there is limited cell phone service, so you can disconnect for a while, be more attentive to your travel partner(s), and engage at a deeper level with the local people you meet along the way. Sitting outside the country store in Slatyfork and listening to Tom Shipley tell how his family had been in the area since the 1700s was just one of the incredible stories I heard during my visit; and just one of the many times not reaching for the cell phone every time we stopped paid huge dividends during my stay in Pocahontas County.

Picture this: you’ve packed up the RV and the family, and you decide to travel to Northern Ontario for a weekend of relaxation. Instead of heading to your regular campground, you decide to mix things up a bit and head to the dragway. Yep – you read right, the dragway. Camping, family togetherness and motorcycle racing are all available at King of the North Dragway and Event Park, located 15 minutes east of North Bay, Ontario.

This original Motorcycle.com editorial content was sponsored by American Honda.