Update: Kenny Roc finishes 4th in MX2 qualifying for the GP of Italy on the good old KTM 125 2-stroke.

my 2 smoke for this we;-))) yeeehaaaa sexy biitch
via Twitter

Roczen’s KTM 125 SX for the next race!

Back in the day when I used to skate a lot, there was nothing as good as getting a new board. The feel of the clean tacky grip tape under my feet, the smooth pop of the new wood. Times have changed as has my mode of transport, but the feeling of some new rubber on my duke is every bit as sweet. I was never really into the old race focused super corsa pros the duke came with, they just took way too long to get warm and you had to push pretty hard to keep the temperature up. After only a short drive home the michelins already felt much better so where once i would have popped an Oli i couldn’t resist popping a nice long wheelie instead and ended up with a stern finger wag from a bus driver in return.

As I drove past the KTM shop on the way home I had to do a double take and circle on back to see. An SMR450 2012? I thought they stopped making this bike. Seems they made such a small run they don’t even have the bike on the KTM website. Would love to put those wheels on that 6 days EXC behind it and have it for the road. Oh to be rich.

Spotted this at the garage this morning.

As far as I know this article doesn’t have all of it’s info 100% correct but it’s the most information out there so far on the new KTM electric bike so worth a post.
Was hoping for a test ride last week on one of the  R & D bikes but we got rained out. boo.
iPhone photo of the old show bike by my desk.

Originally presented in 2010 the first models of KTM FreeRide will be available in 2012.

Why have they been so long? They focused on the development and reliability of the bike in order to meet the technical specs announced in the reveal of the concept and not to disappoint the fans with a product not meeting the standards of the brand…

Its aluminum and steel lightweight frame, has been developed especially in house to offset the weight of the battery and results in a bike that is lighter and more powerful than its competitors.

The engine is provided by a specialized subcontractor based in Salzburg, it delivers a torque of 43Nm which is available for 500 rpms and a maximum continuous power of 10hp reached at 6000rpms (30hp peak power)!

According to Harald Fraueneder, director of the development of electric vehicles at KTM, the 2,5kW Lithium-Manganese battery pack allows one hour of range.

In order to challenge the competition that already produces and sales electric bicycles for several years, including Zero Motorcycles and Quantya, KTM plans to stand out by battery rental services and therefore a swappable battery system designed especially for the race that would allow a quick stop at the stands without having to wait for the battery to charge up (even short with 1h30 announced).

Special protection is also developed for the transmission and wiring to go through 1m of water.

VIA

You don’t see all that many of these bikes around so when I drove past it on the way to work I thought it was worth stopping for.
iPhone photos.

Rode some perfect waves the last few days. I always liked surfing but never fully got the bug until now. Fiending for more but our trip is nearly done. Heading back to Europe this week so updates should become more regular again soon. Thanks for hanging around.

Have seen surprisingly few motorbikes over here and even less cool ones, but they have loads of good magazines. Never seen this one before it’s pretty rad.

Was planning a quick stop here but it seems to be getting longer and longer.

Photo shot in manly where we are staying by saltmotion.com
Big swell here at the moment.

Takeoff and touchdown.

15 hours of torture in a tin can with a screaming baby in between. 30 hours travelling total. Can only get better hopefully! Couldn’t have done it without Jule who kept her cool when I was freaking out even more than the little’un when he had about his 6th screaming fit and we still had 11 hours left to fly.