New Year's Day: Dakar Race Begins

The 33rd running of the Dakar Rally begans in Buenos Aires on New Year's Day, covering a looping 9,000 kilometers between Argentina and Chile in 16 days.
Designed to test both riders and machinery to the limits of endurance, the race loops through Argentina and Chile, covering a huge variety of terrain, including the Andes and the Atacama Desert, recognized as the driest place on the planet.

The 2011 Dakar Rally reached full registration in the bike and quad categories, four months ago promising to offer excitement for all participants and avid off-road race fans.

Pictured (above) Spain's Gerard Farres Guell kicks up sand with his Aprilia during the 4th stage of the Dakar 2010 between Fiambala, Argentina, and Copiapo, Chile on January 5, 2010. Spain's Marc Coma won the stage, France's David Casteu took the second place and France's Cyril Despres the third. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images.) See more pictures.

This Year's Course
This year, riders will go very close to Bolivia and reach the northern-most tip of Chile on the border of Peru. To increase the level of suspense, organizers have designed the route so that the more difficult stages are in the second half of the rally. Read full article.

Last year, 362 Teams began the race with 176 motorcycles and quad bikes, 134 cars, and 52 trucks. 187 Teams finished the race, including 88 bikes, 14 quads, 57 cars and 28 trucks.

Click the map for an enlarged view.

The 2008 Dakar rally was cancelled on the eve of the race due to terrorist threats in North Africa, and organizers decided to move the event to South America.

A limited 200 motorcycles and quads are allowed to start the race, in order to provide for the best possible management of the sporting event. 

In the 33rd edition of the now famous race, the maximum engine size has been limited to 450cc. So racers like Cyril Despres and Marc Coma can no longer dominate the race on their 640+ cc KTM engines, but will instead be running on the new KTM 450s.

It will be a new era for the Austrian KTM motorcycle manufacturer with four factory-supported riders competing on the latest KTM 450 Rally enduro motorcycle. KTM will be attempting to capture the enduro title for the tenth consecutive time. 

Spearheading the KTM attack are two Dakar trophy riders that are recognized as the world's finest exponents of the sport - French-born Cyril Despres and Spaniard Marc Coma.

In 2011 they lead two separate teams and their co-riders are Ruben Faria of Portugal and Juan Pedrero Garcia of Spain. All four riders will be onboard the brand new KTM 450 Rally bike, which has been designed by KTM's R & D Department in close cooperation with the KTM Racing Department with valuable input from the two key factory riders.

The KTM 450 Rally has been specifically developed for the Dakar in response to a rule change by the organizers in 2009, which limited the engine size down to 450 cc.

The new bike, unveiled to the general public at Milan's EICMA Motorcycle Show in November, first saw action in the Rally of Morocco in October 2010 when Cyril Despres won the title.

Riders can cover 800-900 km (500-560 miles) per day, although some stages are shorter. The majority of the competitors are amateurs, many competing to fulfill a lifelong dream. KTM is not only at the Dakar to support its own factory riders but also to give practical support to a large contingent of privateers.

Milan Motorcycle Show Update: New Bikes Unveiled

UPDATE: Here's footage of the new Ducati Diavel 1200 super street bike unveiled at the 68th (EICMA) Milan Motorcycle Show. (Nov. 2 to 7, 2010.) While it has some of the dirt-tracker looks of a Harley-Davidson XR1200, it also resembles the recent wave of high-tech musclebikes from the Yamaha V-Rod and the BMW K 1200 R. The new Ducati, which is scheduled to go on sale in late winter or early spring of 2011, uses the same Testastretta engine used in the company’s top-of-the-line superbikes. The Diavel will also offer anti-lock brakes, traction control, and electronically adjustable riding modes aimed at increasing safety and comfort.

Hosted in the trade fair district of Fiera Milano Rhò in Milan, Italy, the EICMA draws 400,000 to 500,000 visitors and is attended by more than 2,000 journalists from more than two dozen countries. It is the largest bike show in the world and includes MOTOLIVE demo raceway, and this year a Custom City devoted to custom-built motorcycles.

Here are also photos of the Honda Crosstour released at EICMA.

Click to enlarge images.

Harley-Davidson presented the new SuperLow, together with four new CVO models.

Key features of the 2011 XL883L SuperLow include: An air-cooled Evolution® 883cc V-Twin engine with Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI), rated at 52 ft.lbs (70Nm) of torque at 3750rpm. It has a broad powerband for easy get-away from a stop and smooth power out of corners. 

• 39mm Showa® fork with 4.1 inches (108mm) travel. • Coil-over pre-load adjustable rear shocks with 2.5 inches (54mm) of wheel travel.  • The 17 Litre fuel tank offers extended range and helps give the SuperLow a low-profile appearance. • Mid-mount foot controls.


Yamaha presented an electric scooter, a city mobility prototype. Kawasaki, Moto Guzzi, Piaggio, Triumph and others, also launched new models at the Milan Bike Show. Read more. 

EICMA Milan Motorcycle Show To Feature Custom City

The 68th (EICMA) Milan Motorcycle Show, Nov. 2 to 7 will feature the unveiling of the new Ducati 1200 super street model, “Diavel” and eight new models by Honda. It will also feature a new Custom City,  dedicated entirely to custom bikes.

Hosted in the trade fair district of Fiera Milano Rhò in Milan, Italy, the EICMA draws 400,000 to 500,000 visitors. It is the largest bike show in the world.

More than 2,300 journalists from 31 countries attended the 2009 EICMA.

CUSTOM CITY is being introduced at the 2010 Milan Motorcycle Show as a “show within the show”, in the same way that “Green Planet” was introduced last year for hybrid and electric vehicles.

The idea matured thanks to the insistence of motorbike companies, manufacturers and enthusiasts, but finds its rational justification in numbers: against current downhill market trends, the share of vehicles dedicated to custom and touring bikes has slowly grown to represent 17.5% of the sales market.

CUSTOM CITY will be set up in Hall 2 of Fiera Milano, in collaboration with Terre di Moto srl, which will notably be putting on a show, and is fully sponsored by Biker's Life Motorcycle Magazine.

Biker's Life also supports the Italian Padova Bike Expo, and flies the top three winners and their bikes to compete each year at the Rat's Hole Custom Bike Show during Daytona Bikeweek. Bike builders from all over eastern and western Europe compete in the Padova Show in January for a large purse and prizes that include flights to compete in March during the Daytona Bikeweek rally that draws half a million bike enthusiasts worldwide.

So it will be interesting to see what may develop from this sponsorship.

The opening trade-show days (for press and industry) are Nov. 2 & 3, 2010.

EICMA will be open to the public Nov. 4 to 7 with opening hours from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., every day except Friday, when the show stays open until 10.00 p.m.  Ticket and tavel info:  eicma.it/moto

In recent years, MotoLive has been introduced and has become a "must see" event at the massive expo. In the brand new American Pavilion, seven new electric models by Brammo will be presented. The Scootergirls from Los Angeles made their fashion debut last year in the city known for fashion and they will be back to preview a colletion for men. The company speciaizes in protetive motorcycle garments with high fashion appeal. 



UPDATE: Here's footage of the 2011 Ducati Diavel super street bike unveiled at the EICMA Show. In some ways, the stripped-down machine recalls the original Ducati Monster 900, a lightweight bike, elegant in its simplicity, that essentially saved the company nearly two decades ago.

The Diavel features a superbike-derived Testastretta 11° engine and 456lb of authentic Ducati performance, including ABS, Ducati Traction Control and Ducati Riding Modes.

The new motorcycle is sure to excite longtime Ducati fans, especially those who long for the form-follows-function approach the company took to bike design in the 1970s and 1980s. Unlike many bikes nowadays, the Diavel looks more like a horse and less like a two-wheeled car, but it is also loaded with modern performance and safety features.

Its name comes from the “Devil” in Bolognese dialect, and is pronounced dee-AH-vel. The company says when an early prototype was assembled and shown to group of Ducati engineers and technicians, one person said: “Ignurànt comm’ al diavel!” that’s Bolognese for, “Evil, like the devil!”

While it has some of the dirt-tracker looks of a Harley-Davidson XR1200, it also resembles the recent wave of high-tech musclebikes from the Yamaha V-Rod and the BMW K 1200 R. The new Ducati, which is scheduled to go on sale in late winter or early spring of 2011, uses the same Testastretta engine used in the company’s top-of-the-line superbikes. The Diavel will also offer anti-lock brakes, traction control, and electronically adjustable riding modes aimed at increasing safety and comfort.

Harley Davidson will present the new SuperLow, together with four new CVO models.

Yamaha will present an electric scooter, a city mobility prototype.
 
Italian visitors will also have the opportunity to view the new ZX-10R, the Z750R by Kawasaki due to be launched on the market at the same time. KTM will present the Duke 125 in its naked version. Aprilia presents two 4-cylinder models: Tuono 1000 and RSV4 with traction and wheelie control, as well as the Dorsoduro 1200. And BMW presents two Touring motorcycles: a 6-cylinder K 1600 GT and K 1600 GLT.

At Triumph all eyes will be on the official presentation of the new Tiger 800 enduro with 3-cylinder engine. Piaggio presents a comeback of the Vespa Classica (the PX 125 with handlebar gear lever) and the Piaggio Typhoon.

The novelty at Moto Guzzi will be the V7 Racer. And the helmet manufacturer, Kali, will be presenting its ROAD Line series for the first time ever.