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Moto blog

Kevin Ash, one year on

I’ve lost dozens of friends in bike racing over the years, and while each death was a shock and incredibly sad, I’ve always had some kind of internal coping mechanism that allowed me to carry on relatively unaffected.  Maybe it’s because I was always extremely passionate and committed when taking part in my dangerous sport so was also prepared to pay the ultimate price should things go wrong.  Rightly or wrongly I’ve taken comfort from the fact that these unfortunate racers have checked out while doing something they love.   I’ve also lost a few journalist friends in bike accidents over the years but for some reason these have hit me harder.  The worst and possibly as it is the most recent is Kevin Ash who was killed last January while on a BMW launch in South Africa.  Starting in 2001, over a period of ten years, I was in Kevin’s company on countless new bike launches in pretty much every corner of the world.  At times he was cocky and occasionally irritating but always entertaining with a wicked sense of humour.  He was many things but no one can deny he was a brilliant journalist and his technical knowledge was second to none.  I always appreciated his complete enthusiasm to all things biking as he would ride through any weather on a daily basis to jobs or airports and seemed to always be tinkering with winter projects (mainly Ducatis) at home.  I also admired how much work he got through as he had columns in more than one weekly publication plus all his launch and web work. He was a competent safe rider who was certainly quick enough to evaluate any new bike thrown his way.  Kevin also drove a Porsche but then none of us are perfect!   I looked to Kevin as a wise Owl so not long after I started working with TWO/ Visordown, I asked him on an R1 launch in Australia he thought the motorcycle industry was currently in a good place.  His reply was, ‘we’ve just been flown here business class, been taken by speed boat to our five star hotel under Sydney Harbour Bridge, Yamaha have wined and dined us and furnished us with expensive gifts each day, what do you think Niall?  How times have changed.  On the subject on air travel he once told me, ‘when travelling business or first class it’s not about the pampering, comfy beds or fine dining, the important part is looking smug as you walk straight past all the people lining up at the cattle class check in! On more than one occasion I had food or drink spurt out when Kevin would deliver unexpected one line funnies at the dinner table.

Yamaha Unveils 2012 MotoGP Livery – Massive Gallery and Video

Yamaha has pulled the covers off the 2012 edition of its YZR-M1, the machines which racers Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies will ride to compete in the 2012 MotoGP World Championship. While last year’s M1 was predominantly blue, the new 1000cc version of the M1 sports more white paint with wide bands of Yamaha blue on the front fairing and along the side, flowing along the line of the seat. Like most MotoGP squads, Yamaha doesn’t want to be too specific about its MotoGP bike’s potential, estimating the power output from the crossplane crankshaft engine at over 240 hp.

US Motorcycle Thefts Down 6% in 2011

Americans reported 46,667 motorcycle thefts in 2011, a 6% decrease from 49,791 stolen motorcycles in 2010, reports the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Despite the drop in reported thefts, the non-profit organization representing nearly 1100 property and casualty insurance companies says the theft rate still averages out to one motorcycle stolen every 11 minutes in the U.S. The numbers were published in the NICB’s 2011 ForeCAST Report which examined theft reports as well as recoveries.