#KevinDuke

We’ve dedicated a couple stories this week to Nicky Hayden, The Kentucky Kid  and his World Superbike-spec Honda CBR1000RR competing this weekend at Laguna Seca. From Tom’s Top 10 reasons to visit Laguna Seca this weekend to this poll on Nicky’s chances this weekend, you’ll forgive us if we’re pouring out some love for the 2006 MotoGP champion. So for this weekend’s Church feature we’re keeping the love pouring, with this interview with Hayden shortly after he announced he was moving to the Ducati MotoGP squad. History will tell us that the move ultimately didn’t bear the fruit Hayden was hoping for, but ever the professional, he’s always been optimistic about his chances.   

When Yamaha made new-model announcements at its big EICMA show shindig last fall, MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo rode onto the stage on the MT-10, an ultra-modern, anime-influenced streetfighter based on the seductive R1 supersport introduced the year prior. In the meantime, Yamaha has introduced the MT-10 to global markets while we have been left sitting on our hands waiting for the day when the American arm of the tuning-fork brand announces it will come to our shores.

Back in April we noticed the Star Motorcycles website was being redirected to Yamaha’s website, and we broke news with an official response from Yamaha that its Star Motorcycles brand was being reabsorbed into Yamaha’s street lineup now split into four segments: Sport, Super Sport, Sport Heritage, and Cruiser.

We’ll forgive you if you’ve never heard of SWM, as neither had we. And figuring out how the story gets from Italy in 1971 back to Italy today is a convoluted and fascinating international journey.

Motorcycle safety instructor, researcher and advocate Duncan MacKillop was the first presenter at the International Rider Training Symposium. MacKillop, Alf Gasparro, and Kevin Williams are the founders of No Surprise: No Accident – an initiative proposing that motorcycle crashes are largely a product of prediction failures.

I feel pangs of guilt from time to time, like I haven’t been upholding my part of an unwritten bargain. You see, I have a daughter who just turned nine, and, as much as I love motorcycling, I haven’t yet passed on that love to her. Despite a regular stream of new bikes and moto apparel around the house, she has thus far avoided the lure of the funnest form of practical transportation on wheels.

Triumph’s investment in its all-new liquid-cooled engine family continues to pay dividends, with a new Scrambler the latest beneficiary of the parallel-Twin. The prototype seen in these photos reveals several commonalities with the new Street Twin 900 but adds typical scrambler features like a high-level exhaust and wire-spoke wheels with semi-off-roady tires.

I didn’t pay to watch Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice because I’m failing to see the struggle. College Humor best surmises my disposition of the movie. Besides, why go the make-believe DC Comics route when we have a real-world shield and spear paradox between two super-powered nemeses right here before us: Aprilia’s Tuono V4 1100 Factory and KTM’s 1290 Super Duke R.

Of the world’s finest naked sportbikes, the KTM Super Duke R and Aprila Tuono 1100 Factory stand above the rest of the streetfighters on offer from major manufacturers. This might be an overly bold statement had we not already published four comprehensive shootouts and almost 45 minutes of video in this category during the last two years.

Writing about motorcycles for a quarter century has given me incredible opportunities on and around bikes of all sorts, many of which are the kinds of behind-the-velvet-rope things available only to motojournalists. I feel truly blessed when I look back at the breadth of experiences bestowed upon me just because I can fumble out a few words describing them.

Moto Guzzi is a brand unlike any other. Now in its 95th year of uninterrupted production, Guzzi remains entirely authentic in its retro appeal. Some other manufacturers resort to conjuring up a pseudo historical style and attempt to breed in some characteristics of yesteryear.

In its 95th anniversary year, Moto Guzzi debuts a new platform called the V9. It’s an offshoot of the existing V7 but angling toward a cruiser style rather than the V7’s standard/roadster meme. The V9 Roamer version employs classic design elements and extensive brightwork, while the Bobber version (pictured above) uses matte finishes and a fat front tire to deliver an element of badassitude.

If you saw my text review of KTM’s new SD GT, you witnessed an old grown man gush about a new Austrian motorcycle. If I had to choose a bike to ride across this vast country to a trackday, it’d probably be this one.

We probably didn’t need to travel to Spain to find out the Super Duke GT is a terrific motorcycle. After all, it’s based on our 2014 Motorcycle of the Year, the wonderfully capable and funtastically fast Super Duke R. What was yet to be discovered was how the changes from R to GT worked to transform the hooligan roadster into a proper grand tourer.

News flash: Motorcycling can be dangerous. Illustrating this fact are the left hands of myself and international roadracer, Jeremy McWilliams, seen in the above picture, a photo I imagine many would think is more than a touch morbid. The missing digits are the result of crashing motorcycles while racing.